Verses 69–104
After finishing the story of Moses, these verses refer to Abraham’s nabaʾ, which means “important account.” That was when he stood up for God’s unity as per his pure and unadulterated fiṭrah (innate or primary nature, inner disposition) while his people were unanimously worshipping idols. Hence, he dissociated himself from them, defended the truth, and there happened what happened to him. In this story there is a sign, but most of his people did not believe in him, as mentioned at the end of this set of verses.
Commentary
وَ اتْلُ عَلَيْهِمْ نَبَأَ إِبْراهِيمَ ٦٩
(26:69) And recite to them the story of Abraham.
The previous story—starting with “And when your Lord called out to Moses…” ()—differs from the current set of verses because here we read: “recite to them.” The purpose is to narrate Abraham’s story to the Arab polytheists—predominately the Quraysh—for he was their forefather who stood up to spread monotheism and establish the true religion. None of the people at his time believed in monotheism—that “there is no god but God”—but he aided God and God aided him until monotheism was established in the Holy Land and Hijaz [that is, the Levant and the Arabian Peninsula].
Both his fiṭrah (innate nature) and God called him to this. The polytheists of Mecca should learn a lesson from his story and thus dissociate themselves from idolatry just as Abraham dissociated himself from idolatry, from his father and from his father’s community.
إِذْ قالَ لِأَبِيهِ وَ قَوْمِهِ ما تَعْبُدُونَ ٧٠
(26:70) When he said to his father and his people: What do you worship?
He had one discourse and debate with his father and another discourse and debate with his people, as God has recounted in Chapter 6 (al-Anʿām) and elsewhere. However, since only a concise version of his story is presented here, the two debates are mentioned together in this verse and only the shared parts of the two are discussed.
…What do you worship? Here he asks about the reality and essence of their gods. He is putting himself in the place of one who has no clue about the reality of what they worship or its other characteristics. This is a technique in debate, where a debater wants his opponent to clearly state his stand and arguments so that he can then counter them using his own words.
Moreover, Abraham’s debate was right after he left his cave and entered his father’s community. Up to that day, he had not been with them to witness what they used to worship. Therefore, he argued with them based on his pure and unadulterated nature, as we discussed in detail in our exposition of Chapter 6 (al-Anʿām).
قالُوا نَعْبُدُ أَصْناماً فَنَظَلُّ لَها عاكِفِينَ ٧١
(26:71) They said: We worship idols, so we shall be their votaries (fa-naẓallu lahā ʿākifīn).
Ẓalla means “to do something continuously.” ʿUkūf regarding something means “sticking to it” and “staying with it.” The letter lām (lit. “for”) in lahā (lit. “for them”) indicates explanation and justification for the act. That is: “We continuously adhere to these gods for their own sake.” The letter fāʾ (lit. “so” or “thus”) shows consequence. In other words, their constant adherence to their idols was a result of their worship of those idols.
An idol (ṣanam) is a physical object made of metal, wood or other material in a shape that resembles the attributes of a god. The polytheists used to worship angels and the jinn, and believed them to be immaterial beings in a realm which transcends the natural world. They believed they were free from material properties and qualities. However, since it was difficult for them to turn their attention in worship to spiritual beings and comprehend them, they resorted to making physical sculptures and figures with certain forms and shapes to represent the spiritual qualities of their immaterial gods.
The same applies star-worshippers. In reality they worshipped the spirits of these celestial bodies, and the physical bodies of the stars were idols that represented those spirits. Then, since stars are not always visible and accessible, they resorted to making idols to represent the special power that each star exercises in the corporeal world under its control. For example, the active power of Venus was thought to be merriment, which was depicted in the form of a young girl. Mars was the god of bloodshed, and Mercury was in charge of knowledge and understanding. The same is true about those who worshipped idols of human saints.
Therefore, idols were adopted as mirrors reflecting the god of that idol, whether it was an angel, a jinn or a human being. However, eventually they ended up worshipping the idol itself, directing their devotional attention to it, and seeking its proximity as an ends. If they ever went beyond the idol, they would worship the god of that idol, but not God.
This explanation shows the falsity of what some have claimed: that “an idol is only a qiblah (direction of worship). One turns toward it only as a way of turning his attention to God; otherwise the idol is not intended per se. It is like the Kaʿbah for Muslims.”
The above analogy is not accurate because when Muslims pray, they direct their face toward the qiblah, but they do not direct their worship toward it! The idolaters, on the other hand, used to direct both their face and their worship toward the idols in devotion. In other words, in the case of qiblah, one’s face is directed toward that object, but his worship is for the sake of the Lord of the qiblah, that is God. However, in the case of idols, they would not only direct their faces toward the idols, but they would also worship the idols for their own sake, not for the sake of their Lord. Even if they worshipped “the lord of an idol,” it was still one of the immaterial beings besides God. Either way God was not the object of their worship.
Based on the above, when they answered Abraham’s question “What do you worship?” by saying, “We worship idols”, they clarified that these physical objects that they worshipped represented not themselves but other beings. Then Abraham challenged them by honing in on their claim “We worship” because worship is applicable when something is an object of devotion by itself, not when it represents something else. This makes these idols the intended objects of worship. If that is the case, then they must exhibit what is expected and sought from worshipping, praying and supplicating to them, such as granting some benefit or deflecting some loss. However, the idols were far from understanding any request or answering any distressed individual either by granting some benefit or removing some loss. That is why Abraham asked them: Do they hear you when you call?... ().
قالَ هَلْ يَسْمَعُونَكُمْ إِذْ تَدْعُونَ ٧٢ أَوْ يَنْفَعُونَكُمْ أَوْ يَضُرُّونَ ٧٣
(26:72-73) He said: Do they hear you when you call? Or do they benefit or harm you?
Here Abraham raises two objections to their worship of idols:
1. Worship, by nature, is a sign of the worshipper’s humiliation and need toward the object of worship. The worshipper calls upon the worshipped god, which hinges on the god’s knowing and hearing what it is being called for. However, idols are inanimate physical objects that have no hearing, and therefore there are no grounds for worshipping them.
2. People worship a god either because they hope to gain some good and benefit from it, or because they want to protect themselves against its evil and harm. However, idols are inanimate physical objects that are incapable of either bringing about a benefit or averting a loss.
Each of these two verses presents one part of his objection. He mentions them in the form of a rhetorical question so that they would acknowledge these things themselves.
قالُوا بَلْ وَجَدْنا آباءَنا كَذلِكَ يَفْعَلُونَ ٧٤
(26:74) They said: Nay, we found our fathers doing so.
It behooved them to answer Abraham’s questions by simply saying “no,” but that would have defeated their belief in idolatry. That is why they switched to something else and took recourse to the argument that they were simply being followers. In other words, they presented no evidence that they should worship idols other than the fact that they were blindly following their forefathers.
…we found our fathers doing so. That is: We found them doing so and therefore we also did as they did and worshipped what they worshipped. The verse does not say, “We found our fathers worshipping them” or something like that, but it simply says, “We found them doing so” in order to more clearly show their blind following (taqlīd). It is as if they did not know anything about these acts of worship except that they were actions like the actions of their fathers; they had no understanding of what was beyond these apparent forms and representations.
قالَ أَ فَرَأَيْتُمْ ما كُنْتُمْ تَعْبُدُونَ ٧٥ أَنْتُمْ وَ آباؤُكُمُ الْأَقْدَمُونَ ٧٦ فَإِنَّهُمْ عَدُوٌّ لِي إِلاَّ رَبَّ الْعالَمِينَ ٧٧
(26:75-77) He said: Have you then considered what you have been worshipping: You and your ancient fathers. Surely they are enemies to me, but not the Lord of the worlds.
Here Abraham dissociates himself from them, their gods, and their fathers by saying: Have you then considered… He said this when his debate with his father and his people got to a point where it became clear that they had no argument for worshipping idols except blindly following their fathers.
The word “then” in “Have you then considered” (the letter fāʾ in Arabic) indicates consequence, showing that what he is saying is based on the previous verses. In other words: “You have no proof for worshipping idols except blind following; hence, this worship is completely false, void and baseless. Since this worship is void and you have no proof for it other than following your fathers, these very idols that you see—that is, these very objects that you and your forefathers worship—are my enemies. They are nothing but enemies to me because worshipping them is only a harm to my religion and a detriment to my soul.”
He mentions their ancient fathers to show that blind following is not proof for him as it is to them; that he does not respect this practice merely because it has a long history; and that temporal precedence has no impact in making falsehood truth, or making truth falsehood.
Surely they are (innahum) enemies to me, but not the Lord of the worlds: The pronoun “they” (in innahum) is used for intelligent beings. Here it is applied to the idols because they were objects of worship, which necessitates intelligence and understanding. Such usage is found frequently in the Qur’an.
His exclusion “but not the Lord of the worlds” is a disconnected exception (al-istithnāʾ al-munqaṭiʿ) from “Surely they are enemies to me.” That is: The idols are enemies to me, but the Lord of the worlds is not so.
الَّذِي خَلَقَنِي فَهُوَ يَهْدِينِ ٧٨ وَ الَّذِي هُوَ يُطْعِمُنِي وَ يَسْقِينِ ٧٩ وَ إِذا مَرِضْتُ فَهُوَ يَشْفِينِ ٨٠ وَ الَّذِي يُمِيتُنِي ثُمَّ يُحْيِينِ ٨١
(26:78-81) Who created me, so He shows me the way: And He Who gives me food and drink: And when I am sick, He heals me. And He Who will cause me to die, then give me life.
In the last verse he [Abraham] excepted the Lord of the worlds from being an enemy. Here he continues that by describing Him by attributes which show that not only is He not his enemy, but He is rather Compassionate and Caring toward him, has blessed him with every form of good, and protects him from every evil. He starts this by saying: Who created me…
Some exegetes have suggested that these verses are a new course of discussion, but that is not the case.
Who created me, so He shows me the way: He begins by discussing his creation [by God] in order to show that God is the One Who is in charge of his affairs. This intended conclusion is found directly in the claim, “He has created me.” The proof for why the direction of his affairs are in the hands of God is that his creation and existence are from God, because creation and direction of affairs are inseparable. This is evident in material beings that gradually come to existence and perfect their being. Therefore it does not make sense for them to be created by someone but directed by someone else. Since creation and origination are from God, direction of affairs is also by Him. It is for the same reason that he then says, “So He shows me the way,” where the letter fāʾ (lit. “so” or “then”) shows that God’s guidance is subsequent to His creation. That is, He is a Guide because He is a Creator.
Apparently “showing the way” here is meant in an absolute sense, including the way to both worldly and otherworldly benefits. It is expressed in present tense (yahdīni) which indicates an ongoing and continuous act. The implied meaning is: He is the One Who has created me, has ever guided me to what is good in life, and will always do so.
Hence, this verse is equivalent to what God relates from Moses where he says to Pharaoh: Our Lord is He Who gave to everything its creation, then guided it (to its goal) (). That is: He guided it to what is beneficial for it, which refers to God’s universal guidance [of all existential beings toward their perfection].
The same idea was hinted at early in this chapter where He says: And do they not look at the earth, how many of every noble species We have caused to grow in it? Most surely there is a sign in that (). We discussed the implied argument in these verses above.
Based on this, the qualities that he mentions—“And He Who gives me food…”—are a list of specific examples of the same general idea, because they are all instances of God’s universal guidance (al-hidāyat al-ʿāmmah); some of them are worldly benefits, and some of them are otherworldly benefits.
It could also be that guidance in this verse [] only refers to religious guidance in particular. In that case, the following qualities have their own account, and the mention of guidance right after creation and before the other bounties and blessings is because it is the greatest blessing after existence.
And He Who (alladhī) gives me food and drink: And when I am sick, He heals me. This is a metaphorical way of referring to all material bounties that God has provided to fulfill his inadequacies and remove his needs in this world. The items that are specifically mentioned are the most important of these blessings: food, drink and healing.
Therefore, “when I am sick” is stated to prepare the grounds for talking about healing. Otherwise, the verses are essentially saying: “He gives me food and drink, and He heals me.” That is why he ascribes sickness to himself, for his point is to list God’s bounties while sickness is a loss of bounty. Some exegetes have said that it was Abraham’s courtesy in speech to ascribe sickness to himself even though that is also from God. However, this interpretation is not correct.
He repeats “He Who” (alladhī) instead of simply adding these to “Who created me, so He shows me the way” () in order to show that each of these qualities that are mentioned in these verse is a proof for God being the Lord Who directs his affairs, watches over him, and answers his calls.
And He Who will cause me to die, then give me life: This refers to the death that is prescribed for every soul, as mentioned in the verse: Every soul must taste death (). Death does not mean extinction or annihilation, but rather a transition from one abode to another, which makes it a part of how things are directed in the universe. “Giving life” means “bestowing life after death.”
وَ الَّذِي أَطْمَعُ أَنْ يَغْفِرَ لِي خَطِيئَتِي يَوْمَ الدِّينِ ٨٢
(26:82) And Who, I hope, will forgive me my mistakes on the Day of Judgment (yawm al-dīn).
Yawm al-dīn means “the day of recompense and retribution,” which is the Day of Resurrection. He does not talk about forgiveness as something certain, unlike the previous points, because no one is entitled to God’s forgiveness. Rather, it is a matter of God’s munificence. Of course, no one is entitled to receive anything from God, except that He has took it on Himself to guide and provide for every soul, and to make them die and bring them back to life, but He has not decreed in like manner that every sinner shall be forgiven. About the first few points, He says: And by the Lord of the heavens and the earth! it is most surely the truth (), Every soul must taste death (), and: To Him is your return, of all (of you); the promise of Allah (made) in truth (); but about forgiveness He says: Surely Allah does not forgive that anything should be associated with Him, and He forgives what is besides this to whom He pleases (, ).
He ascribed mistakes to himself even though he was an infallible prophet. This shows that what is meant by “mistake” here is not transgressing God’s authoritative commands (al-amr al-mawlawī). Instead, mistakes and sins have their own degrees according to a servant’s level of servitude; as it is said, “The good deeds by the pious are evil deeds for the intimates” (ḥasanāt al-abrār sayyiʾāt al-muqarrabīn) and as He tells His Prophet: And ask forgiveness for your sin ().
Mistakes to people like Abraham would be like the times when he was not fully engaged in the pure remembrance of God due to the necessities of life such as sleeping, eating, and drinking—even though from another angle, these are also acts of obedience. How could it be otherwise while God has explicitly stated that he was purely dedicated to God without associating anything else with Him: Surely We purified them by a pure quality, the keeping in mind of the (final) abode ()? We had a discussion related to the current topic at the end of volume 6 [volume 12 of the English translation, under verses ] and under Abraham’s story in volume 7 [volume 13 of the English translation, under verses ].
َبِّ هَبْ لِي حُكْماً وَ أَلْحِقْنِي بِالصَّالِحِينَ ٨٣
(26:83) My Lord: Grant me judgment, and join me with the good.
In the previous verses Abraham referred to the continuous, successive and abundant bounties of his Lord upon himself starting from his creation and continuing to eternity. Since he depicted the encompassment and comprehensiveness of God’s favor and kindness, he was drawn in by God’s pull of mercy to express his indigence as a servant, and was thus impelled to state his needs and requests. That is why in this verse he switches from third person to second person and asks these things.
Even though he describes God as “the Lord of the worlds” () above, here he ascribes Him to himself: “My Lord!” This is to arouse God’s mercy to answer his call and call the Lord’s care to grant his request.
…Grant me judgment (ḥukman): Ḥukm here has the same meaning as in Moses’ speech: Then my Lord granted me judgment (ḥukman) (). As we said above, it means having an accurate understanding and opinion in terms of beliefs and what is right to do, as well as acting according to it. It consists of two forms of revelation:
(1) Revelation of true beliefs and righteous deeds, which can be summarized as tawḥīd (monotheism) and taqwā (self-restraint, Godwariness). This is found in the verse: And We did not send before you any messenger but We revealed to him that there is no god but Me; therefore, serve Me ().
(2) Strengthening and grounding revelation that guides a person to righteousness in practice. This is seen in the verse: And We made them Imams who guided (people) by Our command, and We revealed to them the doing of good and the keeping up of prayer and the giving of the alms, and Us (alone) did they serve ()
Ḥukman here is in the indefinite form (nakirah), which shows exaltation and emphasis.
…and join me with the good (bil-ṣāliḥīn, from ṣalāḥ): According to al-Rāghib, ṣalāḥ is the opposite of fasād (corruption, decay, rot, disorder, mischief), which is a change from what the original nature of something necessitates. Therefore, ṣalāḥ is when something remains according to the necessities, requirements and implications of its original nature, which gives rise to the good results and benefits that are expected from it, without any decay that would prevent those desired effects.
Here it simply says ṣāliḥīn (the good), without tying it to action [that is, it says “those who are good” not “those who do good deeds”]. Therefore what is meant here are those who have a good essence, not those who are good-doers only in action, notwithstanding that having a good essence is not separable from doing good deeds. He says: And as for the good land, its vegetation springs forth (abundantly) by the permission of its Lord ().
The goodness of essence is when a being is at full potential to receive God’s mercy and every good and felicity that it can receive, without being mixed with any false belief or evil act that would corrupt it. This shows that essential good is an implication of the bestowal of ḥukm (judgment) as defined above, albeit ḥukm is more specific in this context than ṣalāḥ, and that is evident.
Hence, his request of being joined with the good results from being given judgment and is a necessary consequence of it. Thus, “My Lord: Grant me judgment, and join me with the good” () is equivalent to saying: “My Lord: Grant me judgment and bring to fruition its effect, which is essential goodness.”
We had a discussion in exposition of: “And in the hereafter he is most surely among the good (al-ṣāliḥīn)” () in volume 1 [volume 2 of the English translation] that relates to our discussion here.
وَ اجْعَلْ لِي لِسانَ صِدْقٍ فِي الْآخِرِينَ ٨٤
(26:84) And ordain for me a tongue of truthfulness (lisānan ṣidqin) among posterity.
In the expression “tongue of truthfulness,” tongue is added to truthfulness as a possessive addition, meaning a tongue that exclusively belongs to the truth, such that it does not speak anything other than the truth. Apparently ordaining such a tongue for him means ordaining a tongue [among the future generations] like his own tongue: a tongue that only speaks what he truly holds within. Thus, this request boils down to asking God to raise someone among posterity who would stand up for his call and call the people to his religion, that is, the religion of monotheism.
Based on the above, this verse is equivalent to what He says after describing Abraham in Sūrah al-Ṣāffāt: And We perpetuated (praise) to him among the later generations (). He has also said this sentence [in the same chapter] after the description of a group of other prophets including Noah, Moses, Aaron, Elijah (Ilyās). Likewise He says in Sūrah Maryam after talking about Zechariah, John, Jesus, Abraham, Moses and Aaron: And We left (behind them) a truthful mention of eminence for them (). At any rate, what is meant is the continuation of their call after their death by appointing messengers like themselves.
Some have said that is means the messengership of the Prophet, as per his hadith: “I am what my father Abraham asked for.” This is confirmed by the description of his religion in several places in the Qur’an as “Abraham’s religion” (millata Ibrāhīm). Based on this, the verse would effectively go back to what God narrates from Abraham and Ishmael when they were building the Kaʿbah: Our Lord! and raise up in them a Messenger from among them who shall recite to them Thy communications and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and purify them ().
Some exegetes have said that Abraham asked God to be praised and remembered with good reputation until the Day of Resurrection. God indeed granted his supplication, for the followers of all [Abrahamic] religions praise him and remember him in a good way.
However, interpreting “tongue of truthfulness” as “good remembrance” (al-dhikr al-jamīl) is not easily inferred from the text. The same applies to matching this request with the supplication narrated from him in Chapter 2 (al-Baqarah). They are not the apparent meanings of “tongue of truthfulness.”
وَ اجْعَلْنِي مِنْ وَرَثَةِ جَنَّةِ النَّعِيمِ ٨٥
(26:85) And make me of the inheritors of the garden of bliss.
The meaning of inheriting the Garden (that is, Paradise) was discussed in the exposition of: These are they who are the inheritors ().
وَ اغْفِرْ لِأَبِي إِنَّهُ كانَ مِنَ الضَّالِّينَ ٨٦
(26:86) And forgive my father, for surely he was (kāna) of those who have gone astray;
Here he asks for forgiveness for his father, as per his promise: Peace be on you, I will pray to my Lord to forgive you (). It can be argued that he made this supplication while his father was still alive, as per the verse: And Abraham only asked forgiveness for his father because of a promise which he had made to him; but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of Allah, he declared himself to be clear of him (). Therefore, the use of the past tense verb kāna (lit. “was”) in “surely he was (kāna) of those who have gone astray” could refer to his father being misguided some time before the time of this supplication.
وَ لا تُخْزِنِي يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ ٨٧ يَوْمَ لا يَنْفَعُ مالٌ وَ لا بَنُونَ ٨٨ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ ٨٩
(26:87-89) And disgrace me not (lā tukhzinī, from khizy) on the day when they are raised. The day on which property will not avail, nor sons. Except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart (from evil).
Khizy means “being not supported by one who is expected to support.” The pronoun “they” [in verse ] refers to the people, and there is no problem in using a pronoun without mentioning its antecedent when it is understood.
His request to not be let down on the Day of Resurrection shows that one needs God’s support on that day, because this weak body cannot bear the dreadful events that it will face on the Day of Resurrection except through His aid and support.
The day on which property will not avail, nor sons: This is in apposition to “the day when they are raised” (), as opposed to the claim of some exegetes that Abraham finished his speech in the last verse, and the next fifteen verses are God’s speech.
This verse negates the benefit of wealth and children on the Day of Resurrection. Although wealth and children are a basis of mutual help and support in this world, this relationship is only a matter of mental construct and social convention which has no impact beyond the boundaries of social life. The Day of Resurrection is a day of unveiling realities and severing ties; thus neither wealth nor children will avail people on the account of being one’s property or kin. He says: And certainly you have come to Us alone as We created you at first, and you have left behind your backs the things which We gave you (), and: So when the trumpet is blown, there shall be no ties of relationship between them on that day, nor shall they ask of each other ().
So what is meant here by negating the availing of property and children on the Day of Resurrection is the negation of their conventionally established causality and impact in human societies in this world. In our societies, wealth is a very good means and instrument to achieve one’s objective in life. Similarly, children are very good means to power, might, victory and honor. Wealth and children are the main means that one predominately relies on in the life of this world. Hence, negating their benefit is a way of negating the benefit and impact of any conventionally established means in human societies that is used to acquire worldly benefits such as knowledge, skill, or beauty.
In other words, negating them is equivalent to saying that social institutions with their conventionally established means will fall and disappear, as hinted at by the verse: What is the matter with you that you do not help each other? Nay! on that day they shall be submissive ().
Except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart (from evil) (qalbin salīm, from silm): Al-Rāghib says, “Silm and salāmah mean being free and exempt from outward and inward defects.” Given the context of the verses, Abraham’s purpose here is to provide an exhaustive description that would distinguish that day from the other days [that is, this life]. He first asked his Lord to help him and not let him down on the day when things that are useful in this world—including property and children—are of no avail. This prepared the ground for saying what would be helpful on that day, which he identifies as bringing a sound heart: Except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart (from evil).
Therefore the exception here is a disconnected one, meaning: “However, one who comes to God with a sound heart will be availed by it.” Overall, the message here is that soundness of the heart is the criterion for success on that day, regardless of whether or not a person had possessions and children in this world.
Some exegetes have said that the exception here is a connected one, where what is being excepted from is omitted. The implied meaning is: The day on which neither property nor children will avail anyone except for one who comes to God with a sound heart.
Some have said: It is a connected exception, and what is being excepted from is “the possessor” [of property and children] which is omitted. The implied meaning is: No one’s property or children will be of any avail except for one who comes to God with a sound heart.
Some have said: “Property and children effectively mean ghinā (wealth, solvency, richness), and the exception is an exception of the possessor of the same kind [that is, of ghinā] which is omitted. The implied meaning is: The day on which no riches will avail except the riches of one who comes to God with a sound heart. The soundness of heart is a form of ghinā and therefore the exception is a connected one.” However, this is an unwarranted claim.
Some have said: The exception is a disconnected one and the verses involve an omitted annexed noun (muḍāf). The implied meaning is: No property or children will avail, except for the state (hāl) of one who comes to God with a sound heart [where “state” is the omitted annexed noun].
The first three suggested interpretations [where the exception is interpreted as a connected one] imply that the verses are only about the possessors of property and children, because they effectively say: “That is a day when wealth and children will not avail their owners unless those owners of wealth and children have a sound heart.” This means that the verses are silent about those who do not possess wealth or children, which is not supported by the context. As with the fourth [and last] interpretation, it assumes an omission while there is no need for it.
These verses are similar in meaning to: Wealth and children are an adornment of the life of this world; and the ever-abiding, the good works, are better with your Lord in reward and better in expectation (). The difference is that the verses here attribute benefit to a sound heart, which means a soul that is free from the flaw of iniquity (ẓulm), including polytheism and sins. God describes that day as follows: And the faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-subsistent God, and he who bears iniquity is indeed a failure ().
Some exegetes have said: These two verses confirm that his asking of forgiveness for his father was essentially praying that he would be guided to faith, because asking forgiveness for one who has died in a state of unbelief could not possibly avail him as that would be a case of intercession [and intercession does not apply to unbelievers].
This implies that the exception here is a connected one—as this exegete has claimed—and it is based on Abraham being the biological son of Āzar. However, we discussed the falsity of this view in his story in Chapter 6 (al-Anʿām) and showed that the verses of the Qur’an explicitly refute this.
However, if we take the exception to be a disconnected one, then we can add this verse—Except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart (from evil) ()—to the verse, And they do not intercede except for him whom He approves () and infer that his asking of forgiveness was before his father’s death. That is evident.
وَ أُزْلِفَتِ الْجَنَّةُ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ ٩٠ وَ بُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِلْغاوِينَ ٩١
(26:90-91) And the garden shall be brought near (uzlifat, from izlāf) for those who guard (against evil), And hell shall be made manifest (burrizat, from tabrīz) to the deviators.
Izlāf means “to bring something close.” Tabrīz is “to show, manifest, disclose.” The contrast between the muttaqīn (the self-restrained, the Godwary) and the deviators, and the descriptions of the two groups given here allude to what God decreed when He expelled Iblīs (Satan) upon his refusal to prostrate to Adam, as seen in Sūrah al-Ḥijr: Surely as regards My servants, you have no authority over them except those deviators who follow you. And surely Hell is the promised place of them all… Surely those who guard (against evil) shall be in the midst of gardens and fountains ().
وَ قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَيْنَ ما كُنْتُمْ تَعْبُدُونَ ٩٢ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ هَلْ يَنْصُرُونَكُمْ أَوْ يَنْتَصِرُونَ٩٣
(26:92-93) And it shall be said to them: Where are those that you used to worship; Besides Allah? Can they help you or yet help themselves?
That is: Can they deflect wretchedness and punishment from you or from themselves? Overall, it will become evident to them that they went astray in worshipping other than God.
فَكُبْكِبُوا فِيها هُمْ وَ الْغاوُونَ ٩٤ وَ جُنُودُ إِبْلِيسَ أَجْمَعُونَ ٩٥
(26:94-95) So they shall be thrown down (kubkibū) into it, they and the deviators, And the hosts of Satan, all.
It is said that kabbahu and inkabba are used when someone is thrown down on his face. Kabkabahu means “he threw him down on his face over and over again.” It implies a recurrence of kabb, just like dabba vs. dabdaba (crawl), dhabba vs. dhabdhaba (protect, thwart), zalla vs. zalzala (slip, shake), and dakka vs. dakdaka (ruin, obliterate).
The plural pronoun “they” refers to the idols, as seen in: Surely you and what you worship besides Allah are the firewood of hell (). The idols are one of the three groups mentioned in these verses that will be thrown in hell. The second group is the deviators who are destined to hell as per the verse in Sūrah al-Ḥijr quoted above []. The third group is the hosts of Satan, who are the associates of the devils who, according to the Qur’an, do not leave the deviators until they enter the Fire. He says: And whoever turns himself away from the remembrance of the Beneficent God, We appoint for him a devil, so he becomes his associate… And since you were unjust, it will not profit you this day that you are sharers in the chastisement (, ).
قالُوا وَ هُمْ فِيها يَخْتَصِمُونَ ٩٦ تَاللَّهِ إِنْ كُنَّا لَفِي ضَلالٍ مُبِينٍ ٩٧ إِذْ نُسَوِّيكُمْ بِرَبِّ الْعالَمِينَ ٩٨ وَ ما أَضَلَّنا إِلاَّ الْمُجْرِمُونَ ٩٩
(26:96-99) They shall say while they contend therein: By Allah! we were certainly in manifest error, When we made you equal to the Lord of the worlds; And none but the guilty led us astray.
Apparently the deviators are speaking with themselves here. The deviators and the devils quarrel with one another, as God has mentioned in other places in His Book.
By Allah! we were certainly in manifest error: This is their confession to their error.
When we made you equal to the Lord of the worlds: The addressees in this verse could be: (1) the idols that they used to worship; (2) the idols and the devils; (3) the idols, the devils and the chief leaders of deviation whom they used to follow. The best possibility is the first one.
And none but the guilty led us astray: Apparently the speakers there mean someone other than themselves when they say, “the guilty” (al-mujrimūn). Some possible examples are:
- a leader of misguidance whom they followed in this world;
- a person who called them toward polytheism and thus they followed;
their fathers who were polytheists and whom they followed in polytheism;
- a friend whom they emulated.
Given the verses about the Resurrection, “the guilty” are those whose guilt is proven on that day and are thus sentenced to the Fire. He says: And get aside today, O guilty ones ().
فَما لَنا مِنْ شافِعِينَ ١٠٠ وَ لا صَدِيقٍ حَمِيمٍ ١٠١
(26:100-101) So we have no intercessors, Nor a true friend (ṣadīqin ḥamīm);
According to al-Rāghib, ḥamīm means “close and compassionate.” These two verses are their expression of regret for being deprived of the intercession of the intercessors and the help of their friends. The statement “So we have no intercessors” () implies that there will be intercessors on that day who will intercede for some sinners. Otherwise they should have said, “So we have no intercessor” because there would have been no need to use a plural. It has been narrated that they will say this when they see the interceding of the angels, the prophets and the believers.
فَلَوْ أَنَّ لَنا كَرَّةً فَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ١٠٢
(26:102) But if we could but once return, we would be of the believers.
This is their wish: to return to this world in order to be believers so that they may attain the felicity that the believers attain.
إِنَّ فِي ذلِكَ لَآيَةً وَ ما كانَ أَكْثَرُهُمْ مُؤْمِنِينَ ١٠٣ وَ إِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الرَّحِيمُ ١٠٤
(26:103-104) Most surely there is a sign in this, but most of them were not believers. And most surely your Lord is the Mighty, the Merciful.
“In this” refers to Abraham’s story, his commitment to monotheism according to his unadulterated fiṭrah (innate nature), his focus on the Lord of the worlds, his dissociation from the idols, and his debate with the polytheists and idolaters. In all of these there is a sign for whoever contemplates them. There are also signs for those who are possessed of intellect in his other stories, tribulations and hardships that are not mentioned here, such as being thrown in fire, receiving angels as guests, settling Ishmael and his mother in the land of Mecca, building the Kaʿbah, and sacrificing Ishmael.
…but most of them were not believers: “Most of them” means “most of Abraham’s people.” The rest of the meaning is clear based on our exposition above.
Examining Narrations
- Concerning verse (And ordain for me a tongue of truthfulness (lisāna ṣidqin) among posterity) Tafsīr al-Qummī says: That is the Commander of the Faithful [that is, Imam ʿAlī].
Author’s comment: This could be either the interpretation of the verse or an application of it.
Imam al-Ṣādiq narrated from Imam ʿAlī: A tongue of truthfulness that God assigns someone among the people is better than a wealth that he consumes and leaves in inheritance…
Qatādah said, in explaining the verse “And disgrace me not on the day when they are raised” (): We have been told that the Prophet of God said: “On the Day of Resurrection a man who was a believer will come holding the hand of his father who was a polytheist, but the Fire will seize him [the father] even though his son was hoping to make him enter Paradise. A caller will call out, ‘No polytheist shall enter Paradise.’ The man will say, ‘My Lord! This is my father, and You promised not to disgrace me!’ The man will continue to cling to his father until God transforms him into a hyena with an evil shape and a foul smell. When the man sees him like that he will dissociate himself from him and say, ‘You are not my father.’” He [Qatādah] added: We understood this to be Abraham although his name was not mentioned then.
The Prophet said: Abraham will meet his father Āzar on the Day of Resurrection while there is dust and darkness [of disgrace] on Āzar’s face. Abraham will tell him, “Did I not tell you not to disobey me?” His father will respond, “I shall not disobey you today.” So Abraham will supplicate, “My Lord, You promised me not to disgrace me when they are raised. What disgrace is greater than having such a father who is so far [from salvation]?” God will say, “Indeed I have made Paradise forbidden for the unbelievers.” Then he will be told, “O Abraham! What is below your feet?” And suddenly he will find a hyena that is defiled [in dust or filth]. It will then be grabbed by its feet and flung into the Fire.
Author’s comment: The last two narrations are based on Abraham being Āzar’s real and biological son. However, as we discussed in the story of Abraham in Sūrah al-Anʿam, these narrations contradict the Qur’an’s explicit refutation of this view.
Imam al-Ṣādiq was once asked about the verse: Except for one who comes to Allah with a sound heart (). He said: “A sound heart is that which meets his Lord while there is no one else in it.” He then continued: “Any heart in which there is some partner [for God] or doubt, shall fail. The reason why they [that is, God and His prophets and saints] have emphasized zuhd (disinterestedness, renunciation) with regard to this world is so that the hearts of the people may be freed and fully turned toward the hereafter.”
Similarly, Majmaʿ al-bayān narrates from Imam al-Ṣādiq: “That is a heart that is exempt from the love of this world.” Then it adds: This is confirmed by the Prophet’s words, “The love of this world is the root of every evil.”
Imam al-Bāqir said : And the hosts of Satan, all (): The hosts of Satan are the devils descended from him… And none but the guilty led us astray (): That is by calling us to their way. This is the same as God’s description of them when He will muster them toward the Fire: The last of them shall say with regard to the first of them: Our Lord! They led us astray; therefore, give them a double chastisement of the Fire (), and: Whenever a nation shall enter, it shall curse its sister, until when they have all come up with one another into it (). They will disassociate themselves from one another and curse one another. Each group would want to accuse and condemn another so that they may be saved and delivered from the immense calamity that has befallen them. However, it is no longer a time of test and trial, neither will any excuse be accepted, nor is there any chance of salvation.
Concerning “So they shall be thrown down into it, they and the deviators” (al-ghāwūn) () Imams al-Bāqir and al-Ṣādiq said: They [that is, al-ghāwūn] are those who advocated justice by their tongue but then deviated to something else.
Author’s comment: The same idea has been narrated by al-Qummī in his Tafsīr and by al-Barqī in al-Maḥāsin, from Imam al-Ṣādiq (as.). However, apparently the Imam said this about the verse, “And as for the poets, the deviators (al-ghāwūn) follow them” () because it then says: “And that they say that which they do not do” (). Therefore it has been mistakenly reported under verse (So they shall be thrown down into it…). This is evident to anyone who contemplates it.
The Prophet said: Some people in Paradise will ask, “What happened to my friend?” while their friend is in hell. So God will say, “Bring out his friend and take him to Paradise.” Then those who remain in the Fire will say: So we have no intercessors, nor a true friend ().
Imam al-Ṣādiq said: “By God we shall intercede for our followers (shīʿa)”—repeating it thrice—“to a point where the people will say: So we have no intercessors, nor a true friend; but if we could but once return, we would be of the believers ().” Another narration says: “to a point where our enemy will say…”
Concerning verse (But if we could but once return, we would be of the believers) Tafsīr al-Qummī says: “It means [we would be] of the guided ones.” Then he added: “This is because they will already have belief at that time because of their confession.”
Authors’ comment: What the Imam means is that they will have belief in the sense of certainty; however they will realize that this belief is not beneficial for them on that day. Instead, beneficial belief is to believe while they live in this world. That is why they will wish to return to this world so that they may have the same type of belief as the guided ones who are the real believers. They will be guided by their belief on the Day of Resurrection. This is a subtle meaning and it is confirmed by His words: And could you but see when the guilty shall hang down their heads before their Lord: Our Lord! we have seen and we have heard; therefore, send us back, we will do good; surely (now) we are certain (). They will not say, “Send us back so that we may believe and do good,” but they will say, “Send us back so that we may do good.” Contemplate this.
See verses ff. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, they are referred to as intelligent beings because they are treated as such by the audience. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, “the Lord of the worlds” is not a member of “they” in “Surely they are” to begin with. Hence, the first and second parts of the verse are two independent statements, not a continuous or connected exception. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, attributing his death to God does not contravene the purpose of these verses, which is to list God’s bounties in directing his affairs. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, goodness of essence is a higher level than goodness of deeds. One who does good deeds may not have necessarily reached the level of good essence, but one with a good essence certainly does good deeds. (Trans.) ↩︎
The verse is after talking about Zechariah, John, Mary, Jesus and Abraham, but before talking about Moses and Aaron. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, the past tense does not necessarily indicate that his father was dead when he made this supplication. (Trans.) ↩︎
“Children” in these contexts would be equivalent to “power” or “connections” in our day and age. (Trans.) ↩︎
In other words, the suggested interpretation is saying: Abraham was the real son of Āzar, and here he is acknowledging that on the Day of Resurrection he cannot avail his father—that is, he cannot intercede for him—unless he comes there with a sound heart. Therefore he must have been asking for Āzar’s forgiveness before his death, when he still had the chance to believe and acquire a sound heart. (Trans.) ↩︎
See verses . (Trans.) ↩︎
Here the author is essentially modifying the suggested interpretation above by saying that Āzar need not be Abraham’s real father in order to benefit from his intercession, but he needs to be approved by God; that is, have an approved religion, which is a sound heart. (Trans.) ↩︎
This is a matter of Arabic language. To capture this point in English, the verse could be translated as, “So we do not have any of the intercessors” which would clearly imply that there are indeed some intercessors. The singular case corresponding to a case of no intercessors on that day whatsoever would be: “So we do not have any intercessor.” (Trans.) ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Yaḥyā. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, under verse (And forgive my father), on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥamīd, Ibn al-Mundhir and Ibn Abī Ḥātim. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of al-Bukhārī and al-Nasāʾī, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Sufyān b. ʿUyaynah. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Muḥammad b. Sālim, as a part of a longer hadith. ↩︎
Al-Kāfī, via two chains of narration, on the authority of Abū Baṣīr. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān, reported as a part of a hadith narrated by Jābir b. ʿAbd-Allāh. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān, via its chain of narration, on the authority of Ḥumrān b. Aʿyan. ↩︎
Being guided by their belief on that day is confirmed by this verse: Surely (as for) those who believe and do good, their Lord will guide them by their faith; there shall flow from beneath them rivers in gardens of bliss (). (Trans.) ↩︎