Verses 13–25
These verses warn their audience of a worldly punishment befalling them akin to that which befell the peoples of ʿĀd and Thamūd because they denied the divine messengers and rejected God’s signs. They also warn them of the punishment of the hereafter, which will befall God’s enemies amongst those who obstinately deny the truth, upon whom the verdict of punishment has been realized. These verses also explain how they have been led astray in this world and alludes to their limbs testifying against them for their crimes in the next.
Commentary
فَإِنْ أَعْرَضُوا فَقُلْ أَنْذَرْتُكُمْ صَاعِقَةً مِثْلَ صَاعِقَةِ عَادٍ وَثَمُودَ ١٣
(41:13) But if they turn away, say, “I warn you of a thunderbolt, like the thunderbolt of ʿĀd and Thamūd.”
In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, we read that this is a thunderbolt (ṣāʿiqa) that will cause everything to perish.
Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī says:
“One of the lexicographers says: ‘Thunderbolts are of three kinds: Of death—as per the verses the Trumpet will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens will be struck (ṣāʿiqa) (), and so the thunderbolt seized them ()—of punishment—as per the verse I warn you of a thunderbolt, like the thunderbolt of ʿĀd and Thamūd—and of natural fire—as per the verse He releases the thunderbolts and strikes with them whomever He wishes ().’ However, these are classifications of thunderbolts based on their effects, for a thunderbolt is a tremendous explosion of the air, and it results in either just fire, punishment, or death, but the reality is that the thunderbolt in each case is one and the same and these are merely the different effects it can have.”
Based on the above, the thunderbolt corresponds to the punishments of ʿĀd and Thamūd, which are described as a ‘wind’ (rīḥ) and a ‘cry’ (ṣayḥa), respectively. The use of the past tense (in Arabic) for ‘I warn you’ (andhartu-kum) shows that this is something that is sure to happen.
إِذْ جَاءَتْهُمُ الرُّسُلُ مِنْ بَيْنِ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا تَعْبُدُوا إِلَّا اللَّهَ ۖ قَالُوا لَوْ شَاءَ رَبُّنَا لَأَنْزَلَ مَلَائِكَةً فَإِنَّا بِمَا أُرْسِلْتُمْ بِهِ كَافِرُونَ ١٤
(41:14) When the messengers came to them, before them and behind them, saying, “Worship no one except Allah!” They said, “Had our Lord wished, He would certainly have sent down angels [to us]. We indeed disbelieve in what you have been sent with.”
This provides the context for the thunderbolt that struck ʿĀd and Thamūd, as to warn someone of a thunderbolt means to tell them that it will strike them. Therefore, the meaning here is: ‘Just as the thunderbolt befell ʿĀd and Thamūd when the messengers came to them….’
Why does the Qur’an say that messengers (rusul)—in the plural—came to ʿĀd and Thamūd when their stories mention only two—Hūd and Ṣāliḥ—and hence it would have been more fitting to use the dual two messengers (rasūlān)? The plural is used here to show that all the messengers share a single call, and that when one messenger is sent to a people, it is as though they have been sent to all peoples. For the same reason, when a people deny one messenger, it is as though they have denied all the messengers. That is why God says ʿĀd impugned the messengers (), Thamūd impugned the messengers (), and Lot’s people impugned the messengers ()—amongst other examples—using the plural in each case.
Some have said that the plural messengers is used for Hūd and Ṣāliḥ, even though there are only two of them, because it is common to use the plural even for groups smaller than three, just as the verse says When the messengers came to them and ‘them’ (hum) is also a plural, even though it refers to the two peoples of ʿĀd and Thamūd. However, this is not a valid comparison, because ʿĀd and Thamūd, while being two nations, are comprised of a great many individuals and, therefore, it is appropriate to use the plural when referring to them.
…before them and behind them…: Meaning, from all directions; and it is common in Arabic to use these two directions to signify all directions. This could also mean ‘…in the past and in the present.’ With this in mind, When the messengers came to them, before them and from behind them… means that they called them towards God in every possible way, privately and publicly, individually and collectively, with glad tidings and warnings, and that is why the verse clarifies what it was they brought with them in the subsequent phrase: Worship no one except Allah!, meaning that they tried from every possible angle to win their people to monotheism.
…They said, “Had our Lord wished, He would certainly have sent down angels…”: They reject the message of the prophets by saying that if God had wanted to send a message to them, He would have sent an angel instead. As we have mentioned previously, the implication of this argument is that they reject the possibility of human prophethood.
“We indeed disbelieve in what you have been sent with”: This is the conclusion they draw from the above claim, namely: ‘Therefore, God has neither wished to send a message, nor has He sent a message, so we disbelieve in that with which you were sent’—namely, monotheism.
فَأَمَّا عَادٌ فَاسْتَكْبَرُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ وَقَالُوا مَنْ أَشَدُّ مِنَّا قُوَّةً ۖ أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا أَنَّ اللَّهَ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُمْ هُوَ أَشَدُّ مِنْهُمْ قُوَّةً ۖ وَكَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ ١٥
(41:15) As for [the people of] Ad, they acted arrogantly in the earth unduly, and they said, “Who is more powerful than us?” Did they not see that Allah, who created them, is more powerful than them? They used to impugn Our signs;
The chapter now returns to discussing what befell each of the two peoples of ʿĀd and Thamūd as a result of their disbelief. ‘Unduly’ (bi ghayr al-ḥaqq) expounds the meaning of the phrase they acted arrogantly, because arrogance is always undue by definition.
فَأَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي أَيَّامٍ نَحِسَاتٍ لِنُذِيقَهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا ۖ وَلَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَخْزَىٰ ۖ وَهُمْ لَا يُنْصَرُونَ ١٦
(41:16) so We unleashed upon them a violent gale during ill-fated days, that We might make them taste the punishment of disgrace in the life of the world. Yet the punishment of the Hereafter is surely more disgraceful, and they will not be helped.
The ‘violent gale’ (rīḥ ṣarṣar) in this verse has been interpreted variously to mean an intense and toxic wind, an extremely cold wind, or a wind so powerfully destructive as to be deafening. Meanwhile, as the antonym of ‘felicitious’ (saʿd), ‘ill-fated’ (naḥis) signifies misfortune and misery. Hence, ill-fated days are ominous and filled with bad news.
Some say that ‘ill-fated days’ (ayyām naḥisāt) refers to those days in which the dust thrown into the air is so thick that people cannot see one another. This is supported by the verse in Sūrah al-Aḥqāf: When they saw it as a cloud advancing toward their valleys, they said, “This cloud brings us rain.” “Rather it is what you sought to hasten: a hurricane carrying a painful punishment” ().
…and they will not be helped means that there will be no saviour to save them, nor intercessor to intercede for them. The remainder of the verse’s meaning is clear.
وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّوا الْعَمَىٰ عَلَى الْهُدَىٰ فَأَخَذَتْهُمْ صَاعِقَةُ الْعَذَابِ الْهُونِ بِمَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ١٧
(41:17) As for [the people of] Thamūd, We guided them, but they preferred blindness to guidance. So the bolt of a humiliating punishment seized them because of what they used to earn.’
‘Guidance’ here means that they were shown the right path, led to the truth, and that the realities of faith and practice were made clear to them. Meanwhile, to prefer’ means to desire and choose one thing over another. Blindness is a metaphor for ‘error’ (ḍalāla), which is the opposite of ‘guidance’ (hudā). This further implies that guidance is a form of sight, just as error is a form of blindness. Note that the Arabic literally reads ‘a humiliation punishment’ (ʿadhāb hūn), which serves to emphasise its severity.
Hence, the meaning of this verse is as follows: As for the people of Thamūd, we showed them the right path and taught them guidance by distinguishing it from error. But they chose error, which is blindness to guidance, which is itself sight. So they were seized by the cry of a humiliating punishment as a recompense for what they had earned.
وَنَجَّيْنَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَكَانُوا يَتَّقُونَ ١٨
(41:18) And We delivered those who had faith and were Godwary.
Here, Godwariness is joined to faith with the phrase ‘and were Godwary’ (wa kānū yattaqūn) to show that they were continuously Godwary, that they combined their faith with righteous deeds, and that this was the reason they were saved from being annihilated by divine punishment. This is on the basis of God’s promise, elsewhere: and it was a must for Us to help the faithful ().
And it appears that this verse is connected to both the stories of ʿĀd and Thamūd together and serves as a conclusion for them, even if most commentators have connected it only to the second and not the first.
وَيَوْمَ يُحْشَرُ أَعْدَاءُ اللَّهِ إِلَى النَّارِ فَهُمْ يُوزَعُونَ ١٩
(41:19) The day when the enemies of Allah are marched out toward the Fire, and they shall be held in check.
To be marched out (ḥashr) means to force a group of people from their homes in order to fight or for some other reason; this is according to al-Rāghib. To be ‘held in check’ means to detain those at the front of a group of people so that those behind them can catch up and join them as one.
Some have said the meaning of marched out toward the fire is that they will be marched out for the Resurrection in order to be questioned and judged, and that the fire’ is mentioned here because it is the ultimate goal of this process and their final destination. The evidence for this view is that the subsequent verses describe their limbs being made to testify against them, which happens before they are consigned to hell.
Others have said that the meaning of marched out toward the fire is that they are being sent to hell and that it is possible that their limbs will be made to testify against them a second time; once when they are standing for Judgment and once when they are on the brink of hell.
The phrase ‘enemies of God’ (aʿdāʾ Allāh)—according to some—are those idolaters who denied the Prophet from amongst his own people, rather than all of the disbelievers. The evidence for this view is the verse below: and the word became due against them, as it did against the nations that passed away before them ().
حَتَّىٰ إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ سَمْعُهُمْ وَأَبْصَارُهُمْ وَجُلُودُهُمْ بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ٢٠
(41:20) When they come to it, their hearing will bear witness against them and their sight and their skins concerning what they used to do’
The witnessing of a person’s limbs and faculties against them on the Day of Judgment means that they recount and enumerate the sins their owner performed with them in his or her worldly life. This means that these limbs had their own awareness in this world because, if God only granted these limbs their own sense and speech on the Day of Judgment or created a voice for them that recounts these deeds without their having any sense, neither of these scenarios could be called bearing witness,’ nor would this constitute irrefutable proof of guilt for a servant who denied their own culpability, as should be obvious.
Based on this, the error of the following claim is evident: That bearing witness’ here means that on the Day of Judgment God will endow these limbs with knowledge and give them the power of speech so that they can report the sins of their owner. Equally erroneous is the claim that God will create sounds for them with the appearance of voices, or the claim that the meaning of bearing witness’ does not refer to the literal speech of their limbs but to them confessing which sins they committed and how and when.
The apparent meaning of this verse is that the hearing and the sight will confess to what they have perceived, even if it is not a sin in whose commission they have been involved. For example, the hearing might testify to the fact that it heard the signs of God being recited but that its owner turned away from them or that it heard its owner utter a blasphemy. Equally, the sight might testify that it saw signs that attested to the oneness of God but that its owner turned away from them or that it saw its owner listening to backbiting or some other form of forbidden conversation. In this case, this verse is similar in meaning to the verse: Indeed the hearing, the eyesight, and the heart all of these are accountable ().
According to this reading, the hearing, the sight, and the skin will testify to different things on the Day of Resurrection; the hearing and the sight will bear witness to the servant’s sins, even if they did not directly participate in them, while the skin will testify to the sins to which it was a party through touch. That is why the sinners specifically address their skins in the subsequent verse: Why did you bear witness against us? ().
Based on the apparent meaning of the verse, the meaning of ‘skins’ (julūd) here is the entirety of the skin. It will bear witness to all manner of sins and forbidden enjoyments to which it was a party, such as fornication and the like. It is also possible to include the testimony of other limbs within that of skins here, such as the testimony of the hands and the feet, which is mentioned in the verse: Today We shall seal their mouths, and their hands shall speak to Us, and their feet shall bear witness… ().
Some have said the meaning of ‘skins’ is specifically the private parts, but that they are referred to as skins out of politeness.
وَقَالُوا لِجُلُودِهِمْ لِمَ شَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا ۖ قَالُوا أَنْطَقَنَا اللَّهُ الَّذِي أَنْطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ ٢١
(41:21) They will say to their skins, “Why did you bear witness against us?” They will say, “We were given speech by Allah, who gave speech to all things.” He created you the first time, and to Him you are being brought back.
They object to their own skins and rebuke them for testifying against them. Some have said this question is an expression of astonishment, as they are asking for an explanation in order to alleviate their shock, and they only address their skins rather than their hearing or their sights—even though both of these senses also testify against them—because their skins are testifying something to which they were a direct participant, while the sight and the hearing were merely observers and they are testifying to sins they saw others commit.
Others have said that the sinners are portrayed as specifically addressing their own skins in order to revile and shame them further, especially if skin here is being used as an allusion to their private parts.
They will say, “We were given speech by Allah, who gave speech to all things”: Here, the limbs and faculties are referred to as ‘they’ (even though this is normally reserved for intelligent beings) because these verses attribute witnessing and speech to them, and both of these acts are marks of intelligent beings.
If ‘speech’ (nuṭq) is being used in this verse in its literal rather than its figurative sense, then there is no doubt that it refers to the expression of a thought contained in the mind by way of verbal communication. This requires that the speaker know something and that they disclose this knowledge to another. Al-Rāghib says that ‘speech’ is almost never attributed to a non-human entity except figuratively and with a degree of anthropomorphism. However, the apparent meaning of the verses suggests that the terminology they employ—such as qawl, takallum, nuṭq (all of which signify the act of speaking) or shahāda (‘testifying’ or ‘bearing witness’)—is meant in its literal sense.
Hence, the testimony of the limbs against the wrongdoers takes the form of genuine speech and represents a disclosure of knowledge acquired previously. We can know this on the basis of the ‘skins’ saying, “We were given speech by Allah…” in response to the wrongdoers asking: “Why did you bear witness against us?” In their response, they explain what caused them to speak and disclose the knowledge they bore within themselves; God compelled them to speak, but this does not diminish the worth of their testimony or make it any less incriminating for their owners. After all, they were only being made to tell the truth and reveal what they knew, and this does not in any way impugn their credibility as witnesses.
…who gave speech to all things”: This is their description of God, in which they indicate that the power of speech has not solely been granted to the limbs, such that they alone should be asked this question. On the contrary, the power of speech has been granted to all things, and the one who granted this power to them is God Himself.
…He created you the first time, and to Him you are being brought back: This is either the conclusion of the speech of the skins or it is God speaking directly. In any case, the speaker points out that God has knowledge of their deeds in any case, and the limbs are only saying what He already knows.
In other words: Your existence begins with Him and ends with Him, so when you make manifest what non-existence had concealed—and that is your first creation—He gives you existence and endows you with attributes and the power to act, and in doing so He makes all of these things yours. Then, you return to Him, and He takes this existence back from you, but He has always been its rightful owner. So, how can he not know what you do? The disclosure of these deeds to Him when you return to Him is merely Him making you speak and testify against yourselves to Him.
Based on the above explanation, it becomes clear why the verse says, He created you the first time: It refers to the beginning of your existence.
Commentators on the Qur’an have offered a similar range of interpretations for the phrase “We were given speech by God” to those given for the earlier phrase: bear witness against them. For example, some say that on the Day of Judgment, God will endow them with knowledge and the power of speech, and they will speak. Others say that He will create sounds resembling speech for the limbs and that this is what is meant by their speaking. Still others say that this speech is a figurative representation of their condition at that time.
The same also holds with regard to the phrase who gave speech to all things. Some say that it refers only to living things and does not include inanimate objects, even though not all living things can truly speak. They argue that this use of ‘all things’ (kull shayʾ) is commonly used in the Qur’an. For example, the wind sent against the people of ʿĀd is said to have destroyed everything, even though their dwellings were left standing ().
Others argue that the speech God endows things with on the Day of Judgment—per the verse We were given speech by Allah—is actual speech, while the speech given to all things means the ability to signify a meaning. Therefore, they say, there is no need to qualify either statement.
The problem that both of these interpretations face, however, is that in order to narrow the meaning of all things in the verse to only living things or read speech as figurative rather than literal, we must make certain assumptions. Namely, that nothing aside from those creatures that we know to be living and speaking—such as humans, animals, jinn, and angels—possess either knowledge or the power of speech.
However, just because this is how the world appears to us, this does not mean we can assume this to be the reality of things. After all, there is no way to empirically investigate the reality of inanimate objects, and the apparent meaning of the Qur’anic verses discussing the Day of Judgment suggests that all of these entities possess knowledge.
Discourse
The discussions “An Excursus on the Knowledge of Inanimate Objects according to the Qur’an”; “An Excursus on the Knowledge of Inanimate Objects from an Islamic-Philosophical Perspective” appear here in the printed volume. Read them in the Al-Mizan App.
Commentary continues:
وَمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُكُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ ظَنَنْتُمْ أَنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيرًا مِمَّا تَعْمَلُونَ ٢٢
(41:22) You did not use to conceal yourselves lest your hearing should bear witness against you, or [for that matter] your sight, or your skin, but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did.
There is no doubt that God is the creator of all things and that there is no originator except Him. Therefore, there is nothing that can obstruct Him from His creation and nothing that can conceal His creation from Him; He is with all things wherever they are and in whatever state they are: Surely Allah is to all things a witness (), and: And Allah is a watcher over all things ().
Therefore, no matter where the human being goes, God is with Him. No matter what deeds He does, God is with His deeds as well. And, no matter what limb, or tool, or method, or means he uses to accomplish these deeds, God is with that limb, or tool, or method, or means as well: And He is with you wherever you may be (), He who stands over every soul with what it has earned (), Indeed your Lord lies in ambush ().
From these verses, we can deduce that the human being—whatever work He happens to be engaged in—is passing through a multitude of ambushes in which his Lord lies in wait for Him and watches Him. So, when someone commits a sin and is occupied with their vice, they are heedless of God, utterly ignorant of their Lord’s status, and dismissive of His power, while at the same time God lies in wait for them and observes them.
Based on the context, it is to this reality that the verse refers: You did not use to conceal yourselves….
Therefore, the phrase You did not use to conceal yourselves… means that they did not used to hide themselves away while committing sins when they were still alive in this world; …lest your hearing should bear witness against you… explains what they would have hidden themselves away from.
…but you thought that Allah did not know most of what you did…: ‘But’ (lākin) is used in this part of the verse in the sense of ‘no, rather’ (bal). This shows that there is an implicit meaning, namely: You did not think that your limbs did not know your deeds, but you thought that God did not know… This is a humiliating rebuke, which on the Day of Judgment will be delivered either to the idolaters in particular or to sinners in general.
The meaning of this verse can be summarized as follows: You did not hide the sins you committed while you were alive in this world from your own limbs, which you used in disobedience to God. This was not because you thought your limbs were unaware of what you did but because you thought God did not know most of what you did. In another words, you did not deem it trivial that your limbs bore witness to what you did, but you thought it trivial that We bore witness to it.
The usage of but in this verse is similar to what can be seen in the verses: and you did not throw when you threw, but (lākin) it was Allah who threw () and And they did not wrong Us, but (lākin) they used to wrong themselves (). In both cases, but is used with the meaning of ‘no, rather.’
Why does God say …most of what you did… rather than: ‘You thought God did not know what you did’? Perhaps it is because those to whom this rebuke is addressed did believe in God and His attributes, including His knowledge; they believed that God had knowledge of everything in general, but when they were sinning they thought He did not know the particulars of what they did.
From this verse we can deduce that God’s witnesses over humankind are an extension of His own witnessing, as per the verse: nor do you perform any deed without Us having witnesses over you when you are engaged therein ().
Commentators have offered other interpretations of this verse, but these are generally unsupported by its context and tend to involve a degree of intellectual gymnastics. For this reason, we have not discussed them here.
وَذَٰلِكُمْ ظَنُّكُمُ الَّذِي ظَنَنْتُمْ بِرَبِّكُمْ أَرْدَاكُمْ فَأَصْبَحْتُمْ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ ٢٣
(41:23) That is your misjudgment that you entertained about your Lord and which ruined you. So you became losers.
‘Ruined you’ (ardākum) is used here in the same sense as halāk (‘to perish’).
That is your misjudgment… is a subject and predicate pair, while which ruined you is a second predicate for the same subject. This can also be read as That misjudgment of yours…, whereby misjudgment is a permutation (badal) of the demonstrative pronoun that.
According to the first reading, the verse means: ‘That is the supposition (ẓann) you entertained, and supposition does not avail anything against the truth compared to direct knowledge or witnessing! This supposition has destroyed you, so you have become losers.’
According to the second reading, the verse means: ‘The supposition that you entertained about your Lord—that He did not know most of what you did—has destroyed you, as it made your sinning seem trivial to you, which led you to ingratitude towards God, and, as a result, you became losers.’
فَإِنْ يَصْبِرُوا فَالنَّارُ مَثْوًى لَهُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ يَسْتَعْتِبُوا فَمَا هُمْ مِنَ الْمُعْتَبِينَ ٢٤
(41:24) Should they be patient, the Fire is their abode; and should they seek to propitiate, they will not be redeemed.
According to al-Rāghib in his Mufradāt, an ‘abode’ (mathwā) means ‘a permanent place of residence.’
In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, ‘seek to propitiate’ (yastaʿtibū) means to try to please or mollify someone. It is derived from iʿtāb, an Arabic term which originally meant to send leather to the tanner to be repaired but later acquired the figurative meaning of trying to make amends with someone in order to regain their friendship as it was before.
The meaning of the verse, then, is that: If they are patient, then hell is their shelter and permanent residence, and if they seek to make amends with Us and apologize in order to escape their punishment, We will not be mollified, nor will we accept their excuses. Therefore, the verse is of the same meaning as, Enter it, and whether you are patient or impatient it will be the same for you ().
وَقَيَّضْنَا لَهُمْ قُرَنَاءَ فَزَيَّنُوا لَهُمْ مَا بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَمَا خَلْفَهُمْ وَحَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ فِي أُمَمٍ قَدْ خَلَتْ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا خَاسِرِينَ ٢٥
(41:25) We have assigned them companions who make to seem decorous to them whatever is before them and whatever is behind them, and the word became due against them, as it did against the nations that passed away before them of jinn and humans. They were indeed losers.
The original meaning of taqyīḍ (to assign) is ‘to exchange one thing for another,’ while Quranāʾ (companions) is the plural of qarīn.
We have assigned them companions…: Considering that the original meaning of assigned is exchanged, this shows that if they had been faithful and Godwary, God would have supported them with companions who would have guided them and led them aright, as per the verse: He has written faith into their hearts and strengthened them with a spirit from Him (). Instead, they disbelieved and were profligate, so God exchanged these companions for companions chosen from amongst the devils who would stay with them and accompany them. And God only did this to recompense them for their ingratitude and sinfulness.
Some have said that this means: We gave them evil companions from among the jinn and humankind instead of virtuous companions with whom they had been enjoined to associate, but they failed to do so.’ However, the interpretation we have offered above seems better.
…who make to seem decorous to them whatever is before them and whatever is behind them…: Perhaps this refers to the material enjoyments they throw themselves into in the present and their hopes and ambitions for the future.
Some have said whatever is before them refers to the evil deeds they have sent ahead of themselves, so that they will perform more of them, while whatever is behind them refers to the evil traditions and customs they have instituted to be followed by those who come after them. It is possible to include this interpretation within the above one.
Others have said whatever is before them refers to whatever parts of this world they have access to, so that they give preference to it over the Hereafter, turn towards it, and strive for it. At the same time, they say whatever is behind them refers to the Hereafter, insofar as their companions tell them that there is no resurrection, no life after death, no Judgment, no heaven, and no hell. However, this reading stretches credibility, as we would not say that someone who disbelieves in the Hereafter sees it as decorous.
…and the word became due against them, as it did against the nations that passed away before them of jinn and humans…: In other words, they were sentenced to punishment, just as people like them from earlier nations of both jinn and humankind were sentenced to punishment before. And the ‘word’ (qawl) here refers to the ‘word of punishment’ (kalimat al-ʿadhāb), as per the verses: But those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of the Fire and they shall remain in it () and I will surely fill hell with you and all of those who follow you ().
…They were indeed losers: This either explains why the word of punishment became due against them or offers an explanation for the entirety of the passage about the sinners.
This verse also shows that the certainty of death applies to the jinn just as much as it applies to humankind.
Examining Narrations
- In his Faqīh, al-Ṣadūq narrates from the Commander of the Faithful [Imām ʿAlī], in his testament to Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥanafiyya: ‘God says: “You did not use to conceal yourselves lest your hearing should bear witness against you, or your sight, or your skin,” and “skins” here means “private parts.”’
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is transmitted via a chain of narrators from Ibn Abī ʿAmr al-Zubayrī, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq]: ‘By “skins,” the verse means the private parts and thighs.’
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, [Imām] al-Ṣādiq says: ‘The believer should fear God with the same fear that he would have if he were on the brink of Hellfire, and he should have hope in God as though he was already an inhabitant of paradise. God the Exalted says: “That is your misjudgment that you entertained about your Lord.”’ Then he said: ‘Surely God follows His servants’ opinion of Him; if it is good, then He is good, and if it is bad, then He is bad.’
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is transmittered via a chain of narrators from ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. al-Ḥajjāj, from Abū ʿAbd Allāh, in a tradition, that God’s Messenger said: ‘There is no servant that holds a good opinion of God Almighty save that God follows their opinion of Him. That is God’s saying: “That is your misJudgment that you entertained about your Lord.”’
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, al-Ṭabarānī, ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd, Muslim, Abū Dāwud, Ibn Māja, and Ibn Mardawayh narrate from Jābir, who said: ‘God’s Messenger said: “Let none of you die lest he has a good opinion of God, for it was about a people whose ill opinion of God had ruined them that God said: “That is your misjudgment that you entertained about your Lord and which ruined you. So you became losers.”’
Author’s comments: Accounts have been narrated concerning the occasions of revelation for some of the verses we have discussed, but these accounts do not match the context of the verses within the Qur’an. For this reason, we have opted not to include them here.