Verses 66–72
This set of verses refers to the same context of the set of verses (59-63). It can be regarded as an appending part to the verse, But there came after them an evil generation who neglected prayers and followed sensual desires, so they will meet perdition (). It refers to some of the utterances made by the evil generation because of their deviation where they express doubt or disbelief in resurrection, Prophethood and creation.
The seven verses, 66-72, starts by mentioning their false belief in the unlikeliness of resurrection. Then, the verses respond to what they said and point out to its evil consequence.
Commentary
وَيَقُولُ الْإِنْسَانُ أَإِذَا مَا مِتُّ لَسَوْفَ أُخْرَجُ حَيًّا ٦٦
(19:66) And says man: What! when I am dead shall I truly be brought forth alive?
This verse presents the discourse of the unbelievers who deny resurrection by ruling out the possibility that such thing will happen. Unbelievers include the polytheists and those who follow them such as the people who deny that there is a Creator. Indeed, the disposition of the human beings is to incline to such opinion in the beginning before returning to the evidence.
Claim: That is why this statement is attributed to man whereas one would have expected it to say: “And says the unbeliever” or “And say those who do not believe”, etc.
Reply: This does not fit His subsequent words: So by your Lord! We will most certainly gather them together and the Satans … to be burned therein. It would not be surprising if the word “man”, which refers to those who question resurrection refers only to the unbelievers who deny resurrection. They are only referred to as “man” because the better is expected from him, especially [the fact] that God has equipped him with rational perception.
This disbelieving human being is aware that God created him before, when he was nothing, so it should not surprising that He would resurrect him back to life once more. Instead, it is rather surprising that man should be incredulous regarding this reality. That is why the word “man” (insān) is repeated again in the response: Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing? In other words, it is as if it responded: “He is a human being. He should not find it difficult to believe that something similar to what he has already witnessed—and not forgotten—could happen again”. The use of the present tense in the clause, And says man may be an allusion to this incredulity continuing in those who deny resurrection or those who doubt it.
أَوَلَا يَذْكُرُ الْإِنْسَانُ أَنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُ مِنْ قَبْلُ وَلَمْ يَكُ شَيْئًا ٦٧
(19:67) Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing?
The rhetorical question signifies the exclamation and unlikelihood of man forgetting how he was created before. The meaning of the verse is obvious. The first question in verse 66, which questions the ability to resurrect the dead, is countered by the fact that a similar thing happened already when man is created. Thus, the unbelievers’ expression that resurrection would unlikely occur is countered by an example of something similar which has already occurred. This proves the ability to resurrect people.
The method of proof in this verse is similar to the proof presented in the following verse: And he strikes out a likeness for Us and forgets his own creation. Says he: Who will give life to the bones when they are rotten? Say: He will give life to them Who brought them into existence at first … Is not He Who created the Heavens and the earth able to create the like of them? ().
Claim: Arguing that the like of it has already happened only proves that the like can happen again. What needs to be proven in resurrection is that the exact same person, not to the like of him, will return—the like of something is not identical to itself.
Response: To this objection the response given is that these verses are concerned with proving that the bodies will be resurrected. Indeed, these resurrected bodies are similar to the bodies that are created initially. However, a human is defined by his distinct self not by his body. Therefore, if the body is created for the second time and the self is associated with it, the result will still be the exact same human being. This is true even if the body, which is the part of the human being made in likeness to the worldly body, is not the exact same one. This is the same as the fact that the identity of a human being and his distinctness are preserved during his life despite aging and its corresponding changes to the body such that many parts might change from one state to another, or it might even get replaced. Although in case of aging the body changes its state and differs from its original created image, man remains the same in both cases preserving his same singular identity. This is alluded to in: And they say: What! when we have become lost in the earth, shall we then certainly be in a new creation? Nay! they are disbelievers in the meeting of their Lord. Say: The Angel of death who is given charge of you shall cause you to die ().
In other words, “You will be taken intact from your bodies without being lost or going astray”.
فَوَرَبِّكَ لَنَحْشُرَنَّهُمْ وَالشَّيَاطِينَ ثُمَّ لَنُحْضِرَنَّهُمْ حَوْلَ جَهَنَّمَ جِثِيًّا ٦٨
(19:68) So by your Lord! We will most certainly gather them together and the Satans, then shall We certainly cause them to be present round hell on their knees (jathiyy).
The word jathiyy is the plural of jāthin. It is of the faʿūl adjective form. It means kneeling. [There is a hadith that] is attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās that states that it is the plural of juthwah, which is a mass of dust and stone. It means that when they are summoned in throngs and groups they will be piled on top of each other. This interpretation is more appropriate to the context.
The third person plural pronoun in the clause, We will most certainly gather them together … then shall We certainly cause them to be present refers to the unbelievers. Verses 68–70 address their predicament on the Day of Resurrection, and this is clear.
Claim: The two pronouns refer to people—both believers and unbelievers—just like the second person plural in the clause, And there is not one of you but shall come to it.
Reply: This is contradicted by the tone of wrath and punishment in the three verses which is directed specifically to the disbelievers.
We will most certainly gather them together and the Satans means gathering them outside their graves with their associates, the devils, since they are in perdition on account of not having any faith. As He says: so they will meet perdition (). God also states that, the devils will be their guardians. He says elsewhere: Surely as regards My servants, you have no authority over them except those who follow you of the deviators (). … surely We have made the Satans to be the guardians of those who do not believe ().
Alternatively it means they will be gathered together with their peers—the devils. As He says: And whoever turns himself away from the remembrance of the Beneficent, We appoint for him a Satan, so he becomes his associate. And most surely they turn them away from the path, and they think that they are guided aright: Until when he comes to Us, he says: O would that between me and you there were the distance of the East and the West; so evil is the associate! And since you were unjust, it will not profit you this day that you are sharers in the chastisement ().
Thus, the verse can be understood as saying: “By your Lord! We will most certainly gather them together on the Day of Resurrection, along with their guardians and peers from the devils. Then, We shall certainly cause them to be present around Hell to be punished while they kneel in humiliation or or while they come in groups, throng by throng”.
So by your Lord! … marks a shift in the direction of speech from addressing the unbelievers to talking about them. The reason for this change may be to keep to the dynamic elaborated upon with regards to the use of the clause, your Lord in, by the command of your Lord. This interplay of words is also found with, your Lord in this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord …
ثُمَّ لَنَنْزِعَنَّ مِنْ كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَٰنِ عِتِيًّا ٦٩
(19:69) Then We will most certainly draw forth (nazʿ) from every sect (shiʿa) of them him who is most ostentatiously (ʿitiyyā) rebellious against the Beneficent
The word nazʿ means drawing out. Shiʿa means a group who cooperate to achieve something or who follow a belief. ʿItiyy is of the faʿūl morphological form and means rebellious disobedience. It is likely that ayyuhum ashaddu ʿalā l-Raḥmāni ʿitiyyan, of them him who is most ostentatiously rebellious against the Beneficent, is an interrogative clause put in the place of the object of, Then We will most certainly draw forth to express how much attention is put into the determination of who are the most ostentatiously rebellious. It is like the verse: Those whom they call upon, themselves seek the means of access to their Lord—whoever of them is nearest (ʾayyuhum ʾaqrab) ().
Thus, the verse under discussion can be understood as: “Then We will take out of every group formed those of them who are the most rebellious against the Beneficent, that is, the chiefs and leaders of error”. Alternatively, it is claimed that it means: “We will most certainly take out the most rebellious, followed by the next most rebellious until they are all taken”.
There is a grammatical shift to the third person in ʿalā l-Raḥmān, against the Beneficent. The reason for this is to allude to the fact that their rebellion is serious because it is rebellion against Him whose beneficence applies to everything. They receive nothing but beneficence from Him—rebellion against One Who is such is not a small matter at all.
ثُمَّ لَنَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِينَ هُمْ أَوْلَىٰ بِهَا صِلِيًّا ٧٠
(19:70) Again We certainly know best those who deserve most to be burned (ṣaliyy) therein.
The word ṣaliyy is of the fuʿul form. One says ṣalā l-nār, yaṣlāhā ṣiliyyan or ṣuliyyan meaning he suffers from the heat of fire. Therefore, the meaning is: “Then God swears that He certainly knows best who most deserves the Hellfire, to suffer from its heat. The matter of degrees of their punishment and the levels they deserve is not ambiguous to Us”.
وَإِنْ مِنْكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِدُهَا ۚ كَانَ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ حَتْمًا مَقْضِيًّا ٧١
(19:71) And there is not one of you but shall come to it (wāriduhā); this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord.
The addressees of this verse are mankind in general, both believers and unbelievers. This is evidenced by what He says in the next verse: And We will deliver those who fear (God). The pronoun in wāriduhā (lit. coming to it) refers to Hellfire.
Claim: The second person pronoun refers to the unbelievers referred to in verses 67–69 and there is a shift from the third person to the second person.
Reply: The context of the verse refutes that.
Wurūd (coming) is the opposite of ṣudūr (going out). It means seeking water, as is apparent from books of language.
Al-Rāghib says in al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān:
The original meaning of wurūd is to seek water. It was then used for other things. One says: waradtu al-māʾ (I came to the water) and ariduhu wurūdan (lit., I come to it a coming). Hence, anā wārid al-māʾ (means, I am coming to the water) and al-māʾ mawrūd (means, the water is that which is come to); qad awradtu al-ibil al-māʾ (means, I led the camel to the water). As He says: And when he came to (warada) the water of Midian ().
[Al-Rāghib continues,] wird is a place designated for finding water. Wird (coming to water) is the opposite of ṣadar (returning from water). Wird can mean the day when a periodic fever comes to (waradat) the patient. The word is also used for Hellfire to highlight [how] dreadful it is. He says: … and bring them to the fire and evil the place to which they are brought (fa awradahum al-nār wa biʾsa al-wirdu al-mawrūd) (); … to hell thirsty (ilā jahannama wirdan) (); … to it you shall come (antum lahā waridūn) (); they would not have come to it (mā waradūha) ().
A wārid is someone who goes ahead of his people to draw water for them. As He says: … and they sent their water-drawer (wāridahum) (), that is, their drawer (sāqīn) of water from the water source.
The above is what exegetes rely on in support of their claim that people will be brought to the fire and look down on it without actually entering it. As evidence, they relied on His words: And when he came to the water of Midian, he found on it a group of men watering (); … and they sent their water-drawer and he let down his bucket (); Surely (as for) those for whom the good has already gone forth from Us, they shall be kept far from it; they will not hear its faintest sound ().
Reply: The use of it this way, for example in: And when he came to the water of Midian and, and they sent their water-drawer in the sense of overseeing it does not mean that it cannot also be used literally to mean entering, as is claimed with regard to other verses. As for: … they shall be kept far from it; they will not hear its faintest sound …, a possible interpretation is that they will be taken away from it after having entered it—as can be inferred from the clause, And We will deliver those who fear (God), and We will leave the unjust therein (). It is also possible that God would put a barrier to their hearing its faintest sound out of respect for them, just as He put a barrier between Abraham and the heat of the fire when He said to the fire, … be a comfort and peace to Abraham ().
Others exegetes, possibly the majority, say that the verse means that they will enter the fire. As evidence they rely on passages such as: Surely you and what you worship besides God are the firewood of hell; to it you shall come. Had these been gods, they would not have come to it … (); and, referring to the Pharaoh: He shall lead his people on the resurrection day, and bring them down to the fire … ().
More so, there is evidence for it in the next verse: And We will deliver those who fear (God), and We will leave (nadharu) the unjust therein on their knees that is, “We will leave them on their knees”. One only says nadharu, meaning we will leave behind, if someone has entered and settled down in a place before he is abandoned and left as he is. Further evidence is provided by several oral traditions that explain this verse.
Exegetes range from those who say that everyone enters Hell to those who say that only those who do not fear God enter Hell, claiming that the clause “of you” (minkum) actually means “of them” similar to: … and their Lord shall make them drink a pure drink. Surely this is a reward for you ().
However the context provided by the clause, And We will deliver those who fear (God) … does not support this.
It is unreasonable for wurūd in verses like: Had these been gods, they would not have come to it (mā waradūha) (), to mean entering. On the contrary, it is more appropriate for it to mean coming and looking down on [it] because it is clearly more eloquent. The same applies to the verse: … and bring them down to the fire (). It was Pharaoh’s function as one of the leaders of error to lead his people to the fire. As for putting them in it, that is not for him to do.
The verse that follows, And We will deliver those who fear (God), and We will leave the unjust therein does mean that the wrongdoers will be entering hell fire. This is because the word nadharu (We will leave) is used. Thus, the verse signifies entering not because wāriduhā (shall come to it) could mean entering but rather because of the use of nadharu. Similarly, saving the Godwary does not necessarily mean that they will enter hell fire. This is because saving can be used in the context of those who entered hell fire and also those who were brought near to it but got saved right before entering it, having overseen the fall of others and witnessed it.
As for the oral traditions, they are concerned with explaining the event and not determining what the word wāriduhā means in this verse. Hence, they cannot be relied on as evidence that wurūd means their actually entering Hell.
Objection: Why can it not mean the appropriateness of their entering, that is, it would not be inappropriate for any of you to go to Hell. Those who are delivered are only delivered by God. This is identical to: … and were it not for God’s grace upon you and His mercy, not one of you would have ever been pure ().
Reply: It means wurūd (coming to it) as what mankind’s nature dictates because whatever goodness and happiness he has is from God. Nothing of his own is left, apart from evil and wretchedness. However, this is contradicted by what the very end of the verse says, this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord, which clearly shows that coming to it is through God’s making mankind come to it through His unavoidable decree, as opposed to what the nature of things dictates.
The truth of the matter is that wurūd means no more than intentionally coming to and standing over—as can be inferred from dictionaries.
The clause, And there is not one of you but shall come to it only means intentionally coming to; this does not contradict the next verse’s meaning that everyone or just the wrongdoers will actually enter Hell after coming to witness it: And We will deliver those who fear (God), and We will leave the unjust therein on their knees.
The subject of the verb ‘is’ (kāna) in the clause, this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord is “the coming to it” (al-wurūd). Alternatively, the subject can be taken as the decree defined by the whole of the previous sentence, and there is not one of you but shall come to it. Ḥatm, meaning inevitability, jazm, meaning certainty, and qaṭʿ, meaning definiteness, all mean the same thing, that is, that this coming or decree is “incumbent” upon Him and unavoidable. Note that it is He alone that decrees it upon Himself because there is no higher judge by whose ruling He is “bound”.
ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَنَذَرُ الظَّالِمِينَ فِيهَا جِثِيًّا ٧٢
(19:72) And We will deliver those who fear (God), and We will leave the unjust therein on their knees.
It was stated above that the clause, We will leave the unjust therein means that the unjust will enter Hell and be left as they are and that deliverance of the Godwary—does not mean that they literally enter it. This is because the result can be achieved without their necessarily doing so, unless one takes the expressions, We will deliver those who fear (God) and We will leave the unjust therein as sharing the same context [of having occurred after having entered the Hellfire]. Use of the word “unjust” suggests that the attribute is the cause of the sentence of a given person to remain in the Hellfire.
Thus the two verses (71–72) mean:
“There is not a single one of you—either Godwary or the unjust—who will not come upon Hell. Making everyone come [upon Hell] has been decreed by your Lord upon Himself. We will, however, then deliver those of them who guarded against it, but will, leave the unjust kneeling there, because of their unjustness”.
Examining Narrations
- al-Ṣādiq was asked about God’s words, mighty and sublime is He, Does not man remember that We created him before, when he was nothing? He replied: Neither decreed nor written.
- al-Ṣādiq was asked about, Does not man remember … He replied: He was neither in a Book nor knowledge.
Author’s comment: The two hadiths mean that he (man) was neither in a Book nor in knowledge of the books of overturning making to pass [the matters of providence]. God then made it to pass that man would be when He wanted him to come to existence. As for the Guarded Tablet, nothing escapes it as confirmed by direct Qur’anic text.
- Tafsīr, al-Qummī says regarding God’s words, then shall We certainly cause them to be present around hell (jithiyyan): It means: “On their knees”.
- al-Ṣādiq said regarding (God’s words), And there is not one of you but shall come to it: Have you not heard the man say: Waradnā Banī Fulān, we came upon the sons of so-and-so [or their territories], it means, the coming upon without entry.
- God’s Messenger said about, And there is not one of you but shall come to it: People come to Hell then go out in accordance with their deeds—the first of them [will be] like a flash of lightning followed by [those] like the blowing of the wind, then like the coming of a horse, then like someone mounted, then like a sprinting man, then like a walking man.
- Abū Sumayya said: We disagreed over wurūd—some people said: It means: No believer enters it. Others said: They all enter it, then God delivers those who guarded against evil. Thereafter I saw Jābir b. ʿAbdallāh and so I asked him. He pointed with his fingers to his ears and said: (A vow of) silence, if I did not hear God’s Messenger say: Wurūd means entering. No good person or sinner will remain who does not enter it, but it will be a comfort and peace to the believers as it was to Abraham, so much so that the fire [or he said, the Hellfire] will let out its cries from the cold that befalls it. God will then deliver those who guarded against evil and leave the unjust therein on their knees.
Author’s comment: The above oral tradition is aligned with the exegesis. However, its chain of narration is weak because the narrators are unknown.
- [Majmaʿ al-bayān] also says: A Prophetic hadith (marfūʿ) on the authority of Yaʿlā b. Munabbih says that God’s Messenger said: The Hellfire says to the believer on the Day of Resurrection: Pass, believer, for your light has extinguished my flame.
- It is narrated that the Prophet was asked about the meaning [of the verses 68 to 71] and so he said: Verily God will make the Hellfire like congealed fat and gather all creation above it. The caller will then call out: Take your companions and leave mine. I swear by Him in whose Hand rests my soul, verily it knows its companions better than a mother knows her own child.
Author’s comment: The last four oral traditions are narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr on the authority of several authors of seminary books and [hadith] compilations, except that in the copy of al-Durr al-manthūr which we have, the third oral tradition does not say: Wurūd means entering (dukhūl).
- ʿUrwa b. al-Zubayr said: When Ibn Rawāḥa wanted to set off for the land of Muʾta in the Levant, the Muslims came to him to bid him farewell and so he started crying. He then said: I swear by God I do not have love for the world or longing for any of you. Nevertheless, I heard God’s Messenger recite this verse: And there is not one of you but shall come to it; this is an unavoidable decree of your Lord. I realized that I am coming upon Hell and do not know by what means I will come out of it after entering it.
Author’s comment: The reader should know that the apparent meaning of a number of the above oral traditions is that people’s wurūd with regard to the Hellfire means their passing by it. Thus, it can apply to the oral traditions about the ṣirāṭ (path); [these traditions] say that it is a bridge stretching over the Hellfire which both good people and sinners are commanded to cross over. The good cross over but sinners fall in. Al-Ṣadūq says in al-Iʿtiqādāt that the verse should be construed as such.
- Majmaʿ al-bayān says: It is claimed that coming to the Hellfire means what some oral traditions say, namely that God only sends someone to Heaven after making him look down on the Hellfire and the punishment in it to realize the completeness of the favor bestowed upon him by God and the perfection of His favor and beneficence to him. He will be even happier with and more joyful over Heaven and its comfort. He also does not send anyone to Hell until He has shown him Heaven and the various comforts and rewards therein to add to his punishment and the regret he will feel over the Heaven and comfort he has missed out on.
Discourse
The discussion “Discussion on the Permissibility and Impermissibility of Actions for God.” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.
Al-Kāfī via its chain of narration back to Mālik al-Juhnī ↩︎
Al-Maḥāsin says via a chain of narration back to Hamrān ↩︎
Tafsīr, al-Qummī via its chain of narration on the authority of al-Ḥusayn b. Abū l-ʿAlāʾ ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān on the authority of al-Suddī from al-Hamadānī from ʿAbdallāh b. Masʿūd ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ Ghālib b. Sulaymān on the authority of Kathīr b. Ziyād ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr cited by Abū Naʿīm in Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ ↩︎