Transliteration:( Kalla law ta'lamoona 'ilmal yaqeen )
6. It means, O infidels! Had you accepted the punishment of the grave, the accountability for your deeds, the Day of Judgement, etc. in the world? Or, O negligent believers! Had you pondered over the acrimony or unpleasantness of death, the horrors of the grave, the occurrence of the Day of Judgement, etc. than the love of the world would not have made you neglect Allah Almighty. Thus, the function of "if" is concealed. It should be remembered that faith after hearing is convincing knowledge but faith after seeing is positive knowledge, while faith after it has manifested on you is absolute knowledge.
A classical example of this is accepting the sanctity of Makkah after hearing about it, then accepting it from a distant sight of it and then accepting it after entering the city and travelling in it. Our faith is thus based on convincing knowledge, while the belief of the Holy Prophet is based on absolute knowledge; in fact it is of positive knowledge. The Noble Companions, in fact some special saints obtain positive knowledge of matters relating to faith. Though being in the world they see Paradise and Hell.
The tafsir of Surah Takathur verse 5 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Takathur ayat 1 which provides the complete commentary from verse 1 through 8.
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