Verses 26–39
Now the conversation returns to the discussion of the idolaters’ rejection of the Qur’an that was mentioned at this chapter’s opening and their plot to attack its credibility. These verses discuss the disbelievers and some of what lies in store for them as a result of their having gone astray, along with those who have gone aright from the faithful and some of what awaits them in the hereafter, and also various issues pertaining to the afterlife.
Commentary
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَا تَسْمَعُوا لِهَٰذَا الْقُرْآنِ وَالْغَوْا فِيهِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَغْلِبُونَ ٢٦
(41:26) The faithless say, “Do not listen to this Qur’an and hoot it down so that you may prevail.”
Lughuw (translated here as ‘hooting’) means a baseless claim or meaningless speech. Hence, to hoot it down means to make meaningless noises. The fact that the faithless say this Qur’an (using the demonstrative pronoun this or hādhā along with its name) shows that the Qur’an is their sole concern and their only wish is to prevent it having any effect.
This verse reveals their utter powerlessness to confront the Qur’an, to produce any discourse that can equal it or match it, or to offer any convincing arguments against it. They find themselves so incapable that they tell one another not to listen to it but instead to shout over it with meaningless noises when the Prophet recites its verses. In this way, they hoped to interrupt his recitation and prevent other people from hearing its message and, in doing so, blunt its effect on society.
فَلَنُذِيقَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا عَذَابًا شَدِيدًا وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَسْوَأَ الَّذِي كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ ٢٧
(41:27) We will surely make the faithless taste a severe punishment, and We will surely requite them by the worst of what they used to do.
This is a promise from God to punish the faithless. Based on the context of the verse, by the faithless is meant those who said Do not listen to this Qur’an…, even if the verse is general in its wording.
…and We will surely requite them by the worst of what they used to do: Some say that the worst of what they used to do means the totality of their misdeeds. At the same time, other commentators have said this refers to only the very worst of their crimes and does not say anything about their other sins and that this is to emphasise the severity of the punishment and dissuade others from doing likewise.
ذَٰلِكَ جَزَاءُ أَعْدَاءِ اللَّهِ النَّارُ ۖ لَهُمْ فِيهَا دَارُ الْخُلْدِ ۖ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ ٢٨
(41:28) That is the requital of the enemies of Allah the Fire! In it they will have an everlasting abode, as a requital for their impugning Our signs.
It is a subject-predicate pair, and the Fire is a permutation (badal) or an expository conjunction (ʿaṭf bayān) for That or the predicate for an implicit subject with the meaning of ‘It is…’, or the subject of the following phrase: In it they will have an everlasting abode.
In it they will have an everlasting abode…means that the fire will encompass all of them and each of them will have their own home in which to dwell forever more.
…as a requital for their impugning Our signs: ‘As a requital’ is an absolute object (mafʿūl muṭlaq) that belongs to either an implicit verb (with the meaning: They will be requited with this as a requital…) or for the aforementioned infinitive, That is the requital. This is akin to the grammatical construction of the verse, …indeed the hell shall be your requital, an ample reward ().
وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا رَبَّنَا أَرِنَا اللَّذَيْنِ أَضَلَّانَا مِنَ الْجِنِّ وَالْإِنْسِ نَجْعَلْهُمَا تَحْتَ أَقْدَامِنَا لِيَكُونَا مِنَ الْأَسْفَلِينَ ٢٩
(41:29) The faithless will say, Our Lord! Show us those who led us astray from among jinn and humans so that we may trample them under our feet, so that they may be among the lowermost!
This is what they will say when they are in Hellfire; they will ask God to show them those jinn and humans who they had followed during their worldly lives, so that they may trample on them in order to humiliate and abase them and increase their punishment: “…so that we may trample them under our feet, so that they may be among the lowermost!”
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا رَبُّنَا اللَّهُ ثُمَّ اسْتَقَامُوا تَتَنَزَّلُ عَلَيْهِمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَلَّا تَخَافُوا وَلَا تَحْزَنُوا وَأَبْشِرُوا بِالْجَنَّةِ الَّتِي كُنْتُمْ تُوعَدُونَ ٣٠
(41:30) Indeed those who say, “Our Lord is Allah!” and then go aright, the angels descend upon them. “Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the paradise which you have been promised.”
Al-Rāghib says that istiqāma (translated as: ‘gone aright’) refers to a path which follows a straight line. The way of truth is compared to a path like this in the verse: ‘Guide us to the straight path’ (al-sirāṭ al-mustaqīm, ). Therefore, istiqāma in a human being means for that person to adhere to the straight path, as per the verse: Indeed those who say, “Our Lord is Allah!” and then go aright.
In al-Ṣiḥāḥ, al-Rāzī writes: Istiqāma means to be upright.
Therefore, the meaning of and then go aright is that they remain in the middle of the path without inclining or deviating one way or the other and that they remain steadfast to their professed beliefs. God says: so long as they are steadfast with you, be steadfast with them (). Elsewhere, he says: and be steadfast, just as you have been commanded, and do not follow their desires (). Whatever else has been said about this in the various works of commentary ultimately devolves to the meanings we have discussed here.
This verse and those that follow it expound the pleasant state of the faithful in the hereafter, just as the ones before it portray the dire state of the disbelievers.
…the angels descend upon them. “Do not fear, nor be grieved! Receive the good news of the paradise which you have been promised”: This foretells how the faithful will be received by the angels and how the latter will boost their morale and comfort them by giving them glad tidings of God’s generosity.
Hence, the angels allay their fears and remove their grief, as fear arises from the expectation of some future harm, such as divine punishment, or loss, such as being denied paradise. At the same time, grief only arises from some harm or loss that has already occurred, such as the misdeeds that they regret doing or the good deeds they regret not doing. For this reason, the angels come to reassure them that they are safe and have nothing to fear or grieve; their sins are forgiven and they will be spared punishment.
Then the angels give the faithful glad tidings that paradise has been promised to them, by saying, Receive the good news of the paradise which you have been promised. The phrase which you have been promised shows that the angels are only bringing them these glad tidings after they have left their worldly life behind (in which they first received this promise).
نَحْنُ أَوْلِيَاؤُكُمْ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ ۖ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي أَنْفُسُكُمْ وَلَكُمْ فِيهَا مَا تَدَّعُونَ ٣١ نُزُلًا مِنْ غَفُورٍ رَحِيمٍ ٣٢
(41:31-32) We are your friends in the life of this world and in the Hereafter, and you will have in it whatever your souls desire, and you will have in it whatever you ask for, as a hospitality from One all-forgiving, all-merciful.
This is a continuation of the angels’ glad tidings to the faithful. They mention their friendship with the faithful in the life of this world even though they have already left it behind in preparation for mentioning their friendship in the hereafter. This is to show that their friendship in the hereafter is a result of their friendship in this world. It is as if to say: ‘We are your friends in the hereafter just as…’—or ‘because…we were your friends in your worldly life. So, we will look after you now just as we have looked after you in the past!’
The angels being the friends of the faithful does not contradict the fact that God is their friend (walī), as the angels are the intermediaries of His mercy and kindness, and they do not possess any existence independent of His. Perhaps this verse mentions the angels’ friendship with the faithful rather than God’s friendship with them in order to draw a contrast between God’s friends and His enemies. After all, God said regarding His enemies: We have assigned them companions…, so perhaps this is why the angels introduce themselves by saying: We are your friends.
By contrasting these two statements with one another, we can see that the role of the angels’ friendship is to guide and support the faithful, for the guiding angels (al-malāʾika al-musaddidīn) only aid those people who have God’s friendship. By contrast, the guardian angels (malāʾika al-ḥaras), the angels that dispense provisions and destined times of death (muwakkalū al-arzāq wa al-ājāl), and other similar classes of angel are appointed to both the faithful and the faithless alike.
Some have suggested that this verse is not, in fact, the speech of the angels but the speech of God Himself.
…and you will have in it whatever your souls desire, and you will have in it whatever you ask for: ‘In it’ in both cases refers to the Hereafter.
The word shahwa (translated as ‘desire’) originally means for the soul to be drawn towards something by one of its faculties in order to obtain enjoyment from it, such as the desire for food, drink, and sexual intercourse.
The word iddiʿāʾ (translated as ‘ask’)—derived from the same Arabic root as duʿāʾ, or ‘supplication’—means to request something. Hence the second of the two clauses here—and you will have in it whatever you ask for—is actually broader than the first one— and you will have in it whatever your souls desire—in scope, as one can ask for more than merely what one’s soul desires.
This verse () gives glad tidings to the faithful that in the hereafter they shall have everything they could possibly desire, whether food, drink, sexual intercourse, or something else. In fact, they shall have more and greater things than these, they need only wish for something and it is theirs: There they will have whatever they wish ().
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ قَوْلًا مِمَّنْ دَعَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَعَمِلَ صَالِحًا وَقَالَ إِنَّنِي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ ٣٣
(41:33) Who has better speech than him who summons to Allah and acts righteously and says, “Indeed I am one of those who submit”?
This verse contrasts with the earlier one, The faithless say, “Do not listen to this Qur’an and hoot it down…” (), for they would argue with the Prophet just as they would dispute the Qur’an, and the beginning of this chapter of the Qur’an quotes them as saying: Our hearts are in veils [which shut them off] from what you invite us to… (). In this verse, God reassures His Prophet by telling him that his call and his message are the best call and the best message.
Who has better speech than him who summons to Allah…: This is a reference to the Prophet, even if the wording of the verse includes anyone who summons to God. However, someone might also call others to God for corrupt reasons, in which case it would not be better speech. This is why the verse qualifies this statement with the phrase …and acts righteously…, as good deeds reflect noble intentions. However, good deeds do not necessarily indicate that a person’s beliefs are true or that they adhere to them, and there is no good in a message if its messenger does not believe in it, hence the verse inserts a second qualifier after the first, namely …and says, “Indeed I am one of those who submit.” And, based on the context in which it appears, the meaning of the word ‘speech’ (qawl) here is an opinion or a belief.
So, if someone submits to God and acts righteously, then calls others to God, his speech is better speech. However, the archetype of calling others to God and the role-model for all those who undertake it is the Prophet, and the Qur’an addresses him to expound the best way of inviting others towards God and the most effective means to obtain the desired result from this, which is, of course, to have an effect on people’s souls. So, it says: Good and evil are not equal.
وَلَا تَسْتَوِي الْحَسَنَةُ وَلَا السَّيِّئَةُ ۚ ادْفَعْ بِالَّتِي هِيَ أَحْسَنُ فَإِذَا الَّذِي بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَهُ عَدَاوَةٌ كَأَنَّهُ وَلِيٌّ حَمِيمٌ ٣٤
(41:34) Good and evil are not equal. Respond with what is best. Behold, he between whom and you was enmity, will be as though he were a sympathetic friend.
In other words, good and evil characteristics are not equal with respect to having a positive effect on people’s souls.
Respond with what is best: Here, it is as though the Qur’an is responding to a question from someone who has just heard the words good and evil are not equal and asked: So what should I do?’ It gives the answer: Respond with what is best… meaning that you should respond to an evil characteristic with the best characteristic that is its contrary and its opposite. So, respond to falsehood with truth rather than with another falsehood, with good sense to their immoderation and ignorance, and with forbearance to their misdeeds, and so on.
Behold, he between whom and you was enmity, will be as though he were a sympathetic friend: Here, the Qur’an foretells the effect and the outcome that responding with what is best will have. In short, if you respond with what is best, you will be surprised to see that your enemy becomes like a sympathetic friend.
The phrase …he between whom and you was enmity… is more eloquent than merely saying ‘enemy,’ even though it would have been more succinct to use the latter.
وَمَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا وَمَا يُلَقَّاهَا إِلَّا ذُو حَظٍّ عَظِيمٍ ٣٥
(41:35) But none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except the greatly endowed.
Then God magnifies the importance of responding with what is best and praises it in the most eloquent and laudatory terms: But none is granted it except those who are patient, and none is granted it except the greatly endowed—greatly endowed, that is, with human perfection and good character.
Moreover, the verse emphasizes that this great endowment belongs exclusively to those who practice patience (ṣabr).
وَإِمَّا يَنْزَغَنَّكَ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ نَزْغٌ فَاسْتَعِذْ بِاللَّهِ ۖ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ٣٦
(41:36) Should a temptation from Satan disturb you, seek the protection of Allah. Indeed He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing.
Nazgh (translated as ‘temptation’) literally means a goad or a prod that is used to strike an animal’s back or rear in order to drive it forward.
The agent of temptation here is either Satan or his pleadings and suggestions, though the former is more apposite, given the status of the Prophet, as Satan cannot tempt him through suggestions (waswās). However, this could be read as the suggestions Satan imparts to his followers amongst the disbelievers and rejectors in order to goad them into greater obstinacy and to persecute and harass the Prophet. For such people, responding with what is best is ineffective, because Satan is constantly inspiring them and urging them on in their enmity and hostility. This is also mentioned in the verses: …after that Satan had incited ill feeling between me and my brothers… () and We did not send before you any messenger or prophet but that, when he recited, Satan interjected in his recitation ().
However, if the latter meaning is meant, then it makes sense to read this as a form of indirect speech (addressed to the Prophet but intending his audience) to convey general command to the faithful.
…seek the protection of Allah. Indeed He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing: ʿAudh, ʿiyādh, maʿādh, and istiʿādha (translated as ‘seeking protection’) all mean to take refuge with God. Hence, the meaning of this passage is: Take refuge with God from Satan’s goading, for He is all-hearing of your pleas and all-knowing of your state, or He is all-hearing of your speech and all-knowing of your deeds.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ اللَّيْلُ وَالنَّهَارُ وَالشَّمْسُ وَالْقَمَرُ ۚ لَا تَسْجُدُوا لِلشَّمْسِ وَلَا لِلْقَمَرِ وَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّهِ الَّذِي خَلَقَهُنَّ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ إِيَّاهُ تَعْبُدُونَ ٣٧
(41:37) Among His signs are the night and the day, and the sun and the moon. Do not prostrate to the sun, nor to the moon, but prostrate to Allah who created them, if it is Him that you worship.
Having said that the summons of the Prophet is the best speech and having enjoined him to respond to his adversaries with the best character, the Qur’an now turns to the summons itself and argues for the doctrines of God’s oneness and the Resurrection over the course of the following three verses.
So, when the Qur’an says Among His signs are the night and the day…, it is arguing that the unity of the cosmic order points to the oneness of its Lord, who creates and directs it. Furthermore, it is arguing that the oneness of its Lord points to the necessity of worshipping that Lord alone. Hence, it follows this by saying: Do not prostrate to the sun, nor to the moon….
Hence, the Qur’an once again appears to be responding an interjection by its audience who, after hearing Among His signs are the night and the day…, asked: ‘So what should we do?’ So, it answers: Do not prostrate to the sun, nor to the moon, because they are two of God’s creations that are under His direction. Instead, you should prostrate to God alone and worship only Him. This is relevant because all of the idol worshippers would revere the sun and the moon, even if they did not worship them directly, with the exception—it is said—of the Sabaeans. The pronoun ‘them’ (hunna) in Allah who created them refers to the night, the day, the sun, and the moon together.
The phrase …if it is Him that you worship shows that worshipping Him cannot be combined with the worship of anything other than Him.
فَإِنِ اسْتَكْبَرُوا فَالَّذِينَ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ يُسَبِّحُونَ لَهُ بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَهُمْ لَا يَسْأَمُونَ ٣٨
(41:38) But if they disdain, those who are near your Lord glorify for Him night and day, and they are not wearied.
Those who are near your Lord refers to the angels whose existence is dedicated solely to the worship of God, as we have discussed in our commentary on the verse, Indeed those who are near your Lord do not disdain to worship Him. They glorify for Him and prostrate to Him ().
Note that the Qur’an says glorify for Him rather than ‘glorify Him.’ This is to show that they glorify Him alone and none other; night and day shows that this glorification is constant and unceasing, as there is no night nor day for the angels.
Hence, the meaning of this verse is: Even if those disbelievers refuse to prostrate to God alone, there are others in existence who worship Him, including those who are permanently glorifying Him without tiring, and they are the ones who are with your Lord.
وَمِنْ آيَاتِهِ أَنَّكَ تَرَى الْأَرْضَ خَاشِعَةً فَإِذَا أَنْزَلْنَا عَلَيْهَا الْمَاءَ اهْتَزَّتْ وَرَبَتْ ۚ إِنَّ الَّذِي أَحْيَاهَا لَمُحْيِي الْمَوْتَىٰ ۚ إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ٣٩
(41:39) Among His signs is that you see the earth desolate; but when We send down water upon it, it stirs and swells. Indeed He who revives it is the reviver of the dead. Indeed He has power over all things.
Khushūʿ (translated here as desolate’) literally means to be humbled; ihtizāz (it stirs’) means to move with intensity; and rubūw (swells’) means to grow and rise up. The description of the earth stirring and swelling in this verse refers to its flourishing with plants that rise out of it.
This verse presents an allegory, in which the earth’s transformation from a barren and empty place to one teeming and verdant with plant life is compared to the state of a person. Initially, this person is lowly, abject, and clad in tattered rags, but then he obtains some wealth that allows him to meet all of his needs in life, so he puts on beautiful clothes, becomes joyful and proud, and his face radiates comfort and ease.
The verse also presents its audience an argument for the Resurrection, the content of which we have already discussed in previous chapters.
Examining Narrations
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, concerning the verse: Our Lord! Show us those who led us astray… (), we read that this refers to Iblīs and his cohorts and the first tribes of Adam’s descendants who invented sinning. This is narrated from ʿAlī.
Author’s comments: This may be a case of applying the verse’s meaning to a specific instance, for it is general in its wording.
- In the same source, regarding the verse: Indeed those who say, Our Lord is Allah! and then go aright (), it is narrated from Anas: ‘God’s Messenger recited this verse to us, then he said: “People have said this, and many of them subsequently disbelieved. So, whoever says it and adheres to it until they die, they are the ones who have gone aright.”’
- In the same source, concerning the verse: the angels descend upon them’ (), we read that this refers to their time of death. This is the opinion of Mujāhid and al-Sudayy, and it is narrated from Abū ʿAbd Allāh.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, about the verse We are your friends in the life of this world’ (), we read: ‘This means: “We protected you from the devils.” And in the Hereafter means at their time of death.’
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, concerning the verse: We are your friends in the life of this world, we read: ‘It means: “We protect you in this world, at your time of death, and in the Hereafter.”’
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, regarding the verse: Respond with what is best (), it says: ‘Respond to the evil of the one who mistreats you with your goodness, so that the one “between whom and you was enmity, will be as though he were a sympathetic friend.”’