Verses 43–55
These verses draw a conclusion from the warnings found in the stories of past nations recounted in the previous section. This takes the form of an account of the Final Judgement first before returning to the fates of past nations who have been destroyed by God. After discussing their fates, it addresses the Prophet’s own people and tells them that their disbelievers are not superior, nor mightier than those disobedient and arrogant nations God had destroyed in the most humiliating and demeaning manner, and that they will not be excuses from God’s punishment, nor will their numbers provide them with any protection from the consequences of their actions. Then it turns back to the prophecies of the Final Judgement and warns them that this is the hardship that awaits them in the future, and that by denying it and persisting in their sinfulness they are only making the punishment harsher and more bitter. With this, the chapter draws to a close.
Commentary
أَكُفَّارُكُمْ خَيْرٌ مِنْ أُولَٰئِكُمْ أَمْ لَكُمْ بَرَاءَةٌ فِي الزُّبُرِ ٤٣
(54:43) Are your faithless better than those, or have you some immunity in the scriptures?
It appears that this is addressed to the Prophet’s own people, both Muslims and disbelievers, because the verses uses the expression, ‘your faithless.’ And ‘better’ (khayr) here refers to being better in the affairs of this world and its vanities of worldly life, such as wealth and children. Alternatively it could refer to being better in civic virtues, such as generosity, bravery, and compassion for the weak. Meanwhile, ‘those’ refers to the past nations mentioned in the previous section, the peoples of Noah, ʿĀd, Thamūd, Lot, and the people of Pharaoh. This is a rhetorical question, intended to evoke a denial.
The meaning of the verse is: ‘Those of you who disbelieve are not superior to those nations who were punished and destroyed before you and, therefore, they will not be spared punishment.’
It is also possible that ‘your faithless’ shows that the verse is addressed specifically to the disbelievers of the Prophet’s people, rather than both the believers and disbelievers, considering that many of the Prophet’s own people were disbelievers, and they are the main concern of this passage.
… or have you some immunity in the scriptures (zubur)? This also appears to be addressed to the Prophet’s people generally.
The word zubur is the plural of zabūr, which refers to a book. Scholars have said that zabūr specifically refers to books of divine revelation sent down to the prophets.
Therefore, the meaning of this passage is: ‘Rather, do you have some immunity granted to you in the divine books that were sent down by God, which grants you protection from His punishment or His judgement for your actions if you persist in your disbelief and go on sinning.’
أَمْ يَقُولُونَ نَحْنُ جَمِيعٌ مُنْتَصِرٌ ٤٤
(54:44) Do they say, ‘We are a confederate league (jamīʿ muntaṣir)’?
Jamīʿ (‘league’) is a group and the term is used here to emphasise their unity in decision and action, muntaṣir (‘confederate’) is derived from intiṣār, meaning either ‘revenge’ or ‘mutual assistance.’ One of the things that will be told to the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection is, ‘Why is it that you do not support one another (tanāṣarūn)?’ ()
The meaning of this verse is: ‘Rather, do the disbelievers say, “We are a people of considerable numbers who are united and who will exact revenge on anyone who wishes to do us harm or who will support one another and never be driven off.”’
سَيُهْزَمُ الْجَمْعُ وَيُوَلُّونَ الدُّبُرَ ٤٥
(54:45) The league will be routed and turn its back
Meaning: ‘The league in which the disbelievers place so much confidence will be defeated, turn its back, and flee.’
This verse prophecies that they will be defeated and routed in a war that they will initiate, as happened at the Battle of Badr. This is one of the prophecies the Qurʾan makes in its verses about the future.
بَلِ السَّاعَةُ مَوْعِدُهُمْ وَالسَّاعَةُ أَدْهَىٰ وَأَمَرُّ ٤٦
(54:46) Rather the Hour is their tryst; and the Hour will be more calamitous and bitter (amarr wa adhā).
The word adhā (‘most calamitous’) is the superlative form of dahāʾ and denotes a grave misfortune from which there is no means of escape, while amarr is the superlative of marāra, which denotes the opposite of sweet. This verse turns from threatening them with defeat and worldly punishment to threatening them with the fate that awaits them on the Day of Resurrection, which had also been alluded to in the previous section of verses, suggesting that the first leads to the second.
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is as follows: ‘Being defeated and suffering worldly punishment is not the extent of their punishment, rather the Final Judgement, whose events We have already foretold, is their destination, and the Final Judgement is more calamitous than any calamity and more bitter than any bitterness.’
إِنَّ الْمُجْرِمِينَ فِي ضَلَالٍ وَسُعُرٍ ٤٧
(54:47) Indeed the guilty are in error and blazes (suʿur)
Suʿur is the plural of saʿīr, which denotes a raging fire.
This verse explains why the Hour will be more calamitous and bitter.
Therefore, the meaning is: ‘The hour will be more calamitous and bitter because they are guilty and the guilty have strayed from the path leading to everlasting felicity, which is paradise, and into a blazing fire.’
يَوْمَ يُسْحَبُونَ فِي النَّارِ عَلَىٰ وُجُوهِهِمْ ذُوقُوا مَسَّ سَقَرَ ٤٨
(54:48) The day when they are dragged into the Fire on their faces, ‘Taste the touch of hell (saqar)!’
The day is an adverb of place for the phrase in error and blazes, from the previous verse. Saqar is one of the names for hell in Arabic, ‘the touch’ of hell is its heat and torment afflicting them.
Therefore, the meaning is: ‘They will be in error and blazes on the day they are dragged into the Fire on their faces and told: “Taste the heat and torment of hell!”’
إِنَّا كُلَّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقْنَاهُ بِقَدَرٍ ٤٩
(54:49) Indeed We have created everything with a measure (bi qadar)
A thing’s qadar is the extent beyond which it does not exceed, and its limit and shape from which it does not deviate, whether by excess or deficiency. Elsewhere in the Qurʾan, God says, There is not a thing but that its sources are with Us, and We do not send it down except in a known measure (bi qadar maʿlūm) (). Therefore, each thing has a specified limit inherent to its creation that it does not overstep, and a course laid out for its being to traverse from which it does not diverge.
This verse explains the rationale for the two preceding verses about the state of the guilty on the Day of Resurrection, as if someone had asked, ‘Why are the guilty recompensed with error and blazes on the Day of Resurrection and made to taste the touch of hell?’ And God responded by saying, Indeed We have created everything with a measure, meaning that each and every thing has a measure, and part of the measure of the human being is that God created them as a species that multiplies over the generations and forms communities and societies in the course of their worldly lives. It is in these communities that they take provisions from this transient worldly existence for their everlasting life in the world that is to come. It is also decreed, as part of this measure, that messengers should be sent to them in order to call them to the way leading to happiness in this world and the next. Whoever answers this call will find happiness, enter paradise, and be lodged near their Lord. However, anyone who rejects this call and carries on sinning will find themselves in error and hellfire.
Now, one might argue that responding to the question in this way is to commit the fallacy of begging the question (al-muṣādira), because the question posed was why God punishes them for their sins with hellfire. Therefore, the meaning of the question is: ‘Why has God decreed that the guilty should be punished with hellfire?’ The meaning of the answer given above is, ‘Because God has decreed that the guilty should be punished with hellfire.’ Alternatively, the meaning of the question is: ‘Why has God consigned them to hell?’ And the meaning of the answer is: ‘Because God has consigned them to hell.’ This is a patent case of begging the question.
However, this argument is incorrect because there is a qualitative difference between human actions and divine ones. As human beings, we base our own actions on universal laws and principles that we derive from objective reality and entified existence, and these govern our decisions and our behaviors. When we eat because we are hungry or drink because we are thirsty, we only do so in order to be satiated or quenched, because our experience of the external world has taught us that eating will satiate our hunger and drinking will quench our thirst. This also forms the basis for how we answer questions about our motivations for performing certain actions.
In short, our behavior as human beings is based on certain universal rules and general criteria that are derived and abstracted from entified existence. On the other hand, God’s actions are identical with entified existence, and the universal rational principles upon which we base our own decisions are, in fact, derived from this existence and, therefore, posterior to God’s actions and patterned upon them. Therefore, these same principles cannot be used to judge His own actions, when these are ontologically posterior to them. God says in the Qurʾan, He is not questioned concerning what He does, but they are questioned (); and elsewhere, He says, Indeed Allah does whatever He wishes (), and The truth is from your Lord ().
Therefore, it is impossible to ask ‘why’ God did something if, by this, we are searching for an external cause to explain His behavior, as there is no cause external to Him to influence His action, as all existence is His act. Therefore, it is meaningless to ask for a universal rational principle which can validate His actions, as universal rational principles are derived from His actions and, therefore, posterior to them.
Instead, when God seeks to provide a rationale for His actions, this takes one of three forms:
First: Explaining the rationale for the act based on the outcomes or benefits it achieves for His creatures (not for Him). However, it must be noted that such a rationale provides the reason for the action, not for God performing that action, but rather in the sense for why this action exists in the chain of cause and effect. We can see this sort of rationale at play in the following verses: …and surely you will find the nearest of them in affection to the faithful to be those who say ‘We are Christians.’ That is because there are priests and monks among them, and because they are not arrogant (); …So they were struck with abasement and poverty, and they earned Allah’s wrath. That, because they would defy the signs of Allah and kill the prophets unjustly. That, because they would disobey and used to commit transgression ().
Second: Explaining the rationale for the act through God’s names and attributes that are most appropriate to it, something which we can observe in many verses of the Qurʾan. For example, when He says, Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful (), or and He is the All-mighty, the All-wise (), or And He is the All-attentive, the All-aware (). The Qurʾan is replete with examples of this sort of rationale being given for God’s actions. When we ponder on this, we see that God explains His actions by invoking a specific attribute (ṣifa) derived from a general attribute. This is because the Divine Names that pertain to God’s specific actions are derived from His general acts. Therefore, when He gives one of His attributes of names as the rationale for an act of His, He is explaining a specific aspect of His actions through a general aspect of His being. For example, see the verse: How many an animal there is that does not carry its own provision. Allah provides for it, and for you, and He is the All-hearing, the All-knowing (). In this verse, God says that He provides for the needs of animals and humans, which they ask for through the language of their innate needs, because He is all-hearing and all-knowing. In other words, He created everything and their requests are heard by Him and their states are known to Him. Hence, the names all-hearing (samīʿ) and all-knowing (ʿalīm) in this verse are examples of His general attributes being used to explain a specific action. Consider also the verse, Then Adam received certain words from his Lord, and He turned to him clemently. Indeed He is the All-clement, the All-merciful (), where God explains His acceptance of Adam’s repentance by saying that He is all-clement (tawwāb) and all-merciful (raḥīm), in other words the attributes that governed His action of accepting Adam’s repentance was His clemency and mercy.
Third: Explaining the rationale for one of God’s specific act through one of His general ones. In reality, this devolve to the previous form of explanation. One example of this can be seen in the verse, Indeed the guilty are in error and flames… Indeed We have created everything in a measure (). In this verse, ‘measure’ (qadr)—which denotes a thing’s limitations which it does not overstep in the course of its existence—refers to a general act of God, from which nothing in creation is exempt. Therefore, when God attributes divine punishment to this measure, this is an instance of explaining a specific act of His (divine punishment) through a general act (measurement), and indicates that this specific act of punishing the guilty is a form of measurement. This is because it is part of man’s nature is that when he sins by rejecting the call of the prophets, he will enter hellfire on the Day of Resurrection. Another example is the verse, There is none of you but will come to it: a decided certainty with your Lord ()—here, the specific act of people being brought to Hellfire is explained through the general act of God’s divine decree.
Therefore, it is evident that the Qurʾan explains God’s specific actions through His general divine attributes, and the explanation given here is at the level of subsistence (thubūt) rather than that of demonstration (ithbāt) and, therefore, is not a case of begging the question.
وَمَا أَمْرُنَا إِلَّا وَاحِدَةٌ كَلَمْحٍ بِالْبَصَرِ ٥٠
(54:50) and Our command (amr) is but a single thing (wāḥida), like the twinkling of an eye
‘The twinkling of an eye’ refers to a momentary glance or the blink of an eye.
The meaning of amr (‘command’) here is the opposite of prohibition, rather than that of ‘affair.’ However, the variety of command being referred to here is a creative command (amr takwīnī), rather than a legislative one. This is what is referred to in the verse, All His command, when He wills something, is to say to it ‘Be,’ and it is (). Therefore, ‘command’ in this verse refers to the divine word ‘Be’, and perhaps the reason why the predicate in this verse, ‘a single thing’ is feminine is because it is referring to a ‘word’ (kalima) and, therefore, is in grammatical agreement with it.
Based on the context and tone of the verse, when the Qurʾan describes God’s command as ‘a single thing’, it means that God does not need to repeat Himself or issue multiple commands to achieve its desired outcome. Instead, all that is required is a single command in the form of the divine word, ‘Be’ and that this by itself is sufficient for its outcome to be achieved in the blink of an eye, without delay or hesitation, such that God would need to repeat the command twice or thrice.
Comparing God’s command to the twinkling of an eye here is in reference to the speed with which its desired outcome is realized, rather than to suggest that its effect endures for no longer than a blink. Therefore, it means that there is no delay, however short, in the divine command being accomplished in reality: God’s command—which is His bringing things into being and willing their existence—does not require either time, nor space, nor movement to be effective. How can it be otherwise, when time, place, and movement only exist by God’s commands in the first place.
Therefore, this verse conveys a universal truth about the creation of things, namely that their existence, insofar as they are all acts of God, is like the blink of an eye, even though these things come into being and pass away gradually in objective reality.
However, within the context of threatening the disbelievers with divine punishment on the Day of Judgement, this verse conveys the fact that the setting-in of the Hour requires but a single command from God Almighty, and that this alone is sufficient for bringing about the Day of Judgement and renewing the creation through Resurrection. Therefore, this verse is like an addendum for what has already been established in the previous verse, Indeed We have created everything in a measure.
وَلَقَدْ أَهْلَكْنَا أَشْيَاعَكُمْ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ ٥١
(54:51) Certainly We have destroyed your likes (ashyāʿ). So is there anyone who will be admonished?
Ashyāʿ (‘likes’) is the plural of shīʿa, which some scholars have interpreted to mean ‘those of past nations who are akin to you in disbelief and denying the Prophets.’
The purpose of this verse and the two subsequent verses is to affirm the proof laid out in the earlier verses that the divine punishment will encompass them without any doubt.
Therefore, the meaning of this verse is as follows: ‘The warnings that We have delivered to you about the punishment of this world and the punishment of the Hour are not merely empty claims We are conveying to you. Just look at those who were like you from earlier nations and what became of them: We have destroyed them in this world with Our punishment and they will encountered Our punishment in the Hereafter as well. Their actions are inscribed in the records of their deeds that are preserved with Us, and We will hold them to account and requite them for what they have done in their worldly lives.
وَكُلُّ شَيْءٍ فَعَلُوهُ فِي الزُّبُرِ ٥٢ وَكُلُّ صَغِيرٍ وَكَبِيرٍ مُسْتَطَرٌ ٥٣
(54:52–53) Everything they have done is in the books (zubur), and everything big and small, is committed to writing
Zubur (‘books’) refers to the records of peoples’ deeds; it is foolish to interpret this as a reference to the Guarded Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ), while—based on the context—‘big and small’ refers to minor deeds and major ones.
إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي جَنَّاتٍ وَنَهَرٍ ٥٤
(54:54) Indeed the Godwary will be amid gardens and streams (nahar)
In other words, they will be amid grand gardens too magnificent to describe, and steams likewise. Some have said that nahar refers to expansiveness and openness.
فِي مَقْعَدِ صِدْقٍ عِنْدَ مَلِيكٍ مُقْتَدِرٍ ٥٥
(54:55) in the abode (maqʿad) of truthfulness (ṣidq) with an omnipotent Sovereign (malīk muqtadir)
Maʿqad (‘abode’) is synonymous with majlis (‘court’, ‘assembly’), while some scholars have said that malīk is the hyperbolic form of malik (‘king’), and muqtadir means one who is of immense power—hence, ‘an omnipotent Sovereign’ is a reference to God Almighty.
‘Truthfulness’ in this verse refers to the truthfulness of the Godwary in their belief and action. This is associated with ‘abode’, possibly because it is where they reside because of their truthfulness, which is unpolluted by dishonesty. Hence, they are ever present in this abode and never absent, ever near to God and never far, ever blessed and never cursed, ever happy and never miserable, everlasting and never fading.
‘Truthfulness’ could also refer to the veracity of these prophecies, in the sense that they contain glad tidings and a beautiful promise of reward from God. Therefore, this draws a kind of contrast between the description of the fate of the Godwary with that of the guilty: The guilty have been threatened with punishment and going astray, on account of this being part of the irrevocable divine determination (qadar), and the Godwary have been promised a glorious reward and proximity to their Lord, the Omnipotent Sovereign, on account of this being truthfulness without any deception therein.
Examining Narrations
- In Kamāl al-Dīn, Shaykh al-Ṣadūq narrates via a chain of narrators from ʿAlī b. Sālim from Imām al-Ṣādiq: ‘I asked him about charms (ruqan), do they have any effect on the divine determination (qadar)?’ He said: ‘They are part of the divine determination.’
He also said: ‘Surely the Qadariyya are the Magians of this nation—they are the ones who wish to maintain God’s justice but, in doing so, deprive Him of His authority. It is about them that the verse was revealed, The day when they are dragged into the Fire on their faces, ‘Taste the touch of hell!’ Indeed We have created everything in a measure ().’
Author’s comments: Here, ‘the Qadariyya’ denotes those who negate predestination—meaning the Muʿtazila, who adhere to the doctrine of the delegation of free-will (tafwīḍ). When the Imām describes them as ‘the Magians of this nation’ (majūs hādhihi al-umma), this is because when they say, ‘the creator of volitional acts (afʿāl ikhtiyāriyya) is the human being, and God is the creator of everything besides this’, they espouse dualism by affirming the existence of two deities, just as the Magians affirmed the existence of two deities; the creator of good and the creator of evil.
As for when the Imām says that they ‘wish to maintain God’s justice (ʿadl) but, in doing so, deprive Him of His authority (sulṭān)’, this is because they say that the human being is the creator of his own deeds in order to avoid espousing the doctrine of predestination (jabr), which runs contrary to that of divine justice (ʿadl). However, by saying this, they deprive God of His authority (sulṭān) over the actions of His servants by negating any connection between them and Him.
As for when the Imām says that this verse was revealed about them, this means that its meaning applies to them (jarī) rather than they being the cause of its revelation (sabab al-nuzūl) or its original concern. After all, as you will recall from our commentary on it, the verse is general in meaning based on its context. There are other narrations that speak about verses being revealed concerning the Qadariyya from Imām al-Bāqir and Imām al-Ṣādiq. There are also narrations in Sunnī sources with the same meaning narrated from Ibn ʿAbbās, Ibn ʿUmar, Muḥammad b. Kaʿb and others.
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī quotes from Aḥmad, who narrates from Hudhayfa b. al-Yamān, from the Messenger of God: ‘Every nation contains a group of Magians, and the Magians of this nation are the ones who say, “No determinism” (lā qadra).’
Author’s comments: Al-Ṣadūq narrates in Thawāb al-aʿmāl, via a chain of narrators going back to Imām al-Ṣādiq, from his forefathers, from ʿAlī, a similar tradition: ‘Every nation contains a group of Magians, and the Magians of this nation are those who say, “No determinism” (lā qadra).’
- In the same source, al-Suyūṭī quotes Ibn Mardawayh, who narrates via a chain of transmitters going back to Ibn ʿAbbās, that the Messenger of God said: ‘Nahr (in ) means expansiveness and broadness, rather than a flowing stream.’
- In the same source, he quotes Abū Naʿīm, narrating from Jābir: ‘The Messenger of God was amongst us in the Mosque of Medina. Some of his Companions brought up the topic of Paradise, so the Prophet said: “O Abū Dujāna, do you not know that whoever loves us and faces trials and tribulations for it will be lodged by God with us in the Hereafter?” Then he recited the verse, in the abode of truthfulness with an omnipotent Sovereign ().’
- In Rūḥ al-maʿānī, concerning the phrase, in the abode of truthfulness, it is narrated from Imām Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq: ‘The place is praised for its truthfulness, because no one but the truthful will be able to sit in it.’
Discourse
The discussion “A Discussion on the Meaning of Qadar (Determination)” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.