Appearance
Verses 181–189
These verses are connected with the preceding ones. The general import of the preceding verses was to invigorate the believers and inspire them to fight in the way of God with their properties and their lives, as well as to warn them against their weak hearts, cowardice and niggardliness. This connects it to the Jews’ talk that Allah is poor and we are rich, together with their upsetting the Muslims’ affairs, rejecting the evidence of messengership and hiding what they had been enjoined to make known. These are the very topics which these verses deal with. In addition, they strengthen the believers’ hearts to remain firm and steadfast; urge them to be patient and courageous; and exhort them to spend in the way of God.
لَقَدْ سَمِعَ اللَّهُ قَوْلَ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ فَقِيرٌ وَنَحْنُ أَغْنِيَاءُ ۘ سَنَكْتُبُ مَا قَالُوا وَقَتْلَهُمُ الْأَنْبِيَاءَ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ وَنَقُولُ ذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْحَرِيقِ ١٨١ ذَٰلِكَ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ لَيْسَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ ١٨٢
(3:181-182) Allah has certainly heard the saying of those who said: ‘‘Surely Allah is poor and we are rich.’’ We shall certainly write what they say, and their killing the prophets unjustly, and We shall say: ‘‘Taste the chastisement of burning. This is for what your (own) hands have sent before and because Allah is not in the least unjust to the servants.’’
Those who said were the Jews, as may be understood from the next clause which mentions their slaying of the prophets, apart from other indications.
They said it after they had heard such divine words as, Who is it that will lend to Allah a goodly loan … (). This view is somewhat strengthened when it is noted that this verse comes immediately after the one which condemns niggardly person: ‘‘And let not those deem, who are niggardly in giving away …’’ Or may be they said it when they saw the poverty and starvation of most of the believers. They taunted them saying that had their Lord been rich, He would have taken care of them and made them rich; therefore He is but poor while we are rich.
We shall certainly write what they say, and their killing the prophets unjustly, and We shall say: ‘‘Taste the chastisement of burning: Writing here means preservation and recording; or it may refer to the writing in the scroll of their deeds—the net result is the same in both cases. Their killing the prophets unjustly means that they had killed them knowingly and intentionally—not by mistake, ignorance or misunderstanding. God has joined this utterance of theirs to their slaying of the prophets because this was a very grievous word; al-ḥarīq (translated here as burning) refers to the Hell-fire; or flame; it has been said that it has a transitive sense, that is, that which burns something.
This is for what your (own) hands have sent before and because Allah is not in the least unjust to the servants”: This clause, ‘‘what your (own) hands have sent before’’, means ‘whatever deeds you have sent before’; hands have been mentioned because usually they are instrumental in sending a thing somewhere. The clause, ‘‘and because God is not in the least unjust to the servants’’, is in conjunction with the words, ‘‘what your (own) hands have sent’’, and they explain the reason for recording and punishment. If God had not recorded their deeds and not rewarded or punished them accordingly, it would have been tantamount to neglecting the system of the deeds; and this in its turn would have been a gross and enormous injustice because huge number of deeds would be involved—in this way God would become most unjust to the servants; far above is He from such things.
الَّذِينَ قَالُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَهِدَ إِلَيْنَا أَلَّا نُؤْمِنَ لِرَسُولٍ حَتَّىٰ يَأْتِيَنَا بِقُرْبَانٍ تَأْكُلُهُ النَّارُ ۗ قُلْ قَدْ جَاءَكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِي بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَبِالَّذِي قُلْتُمْ فَلِمَ قَتَلْتُمُوهُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ١٨٣
(3:183) (Those are they) who said: ‘‘Surely Allah has enjoined us that we should not believe in any messenger until he brings us an offering which the fire consumes.’’ Say: ‘‘Indeed, there came to you messengers before me with clear evidences and with that which you said; why did you kill them if you are truthful?’’
It is related to the preceding, ‘‘those who said.’’ al-ʿAhd (enjoining; order); al-qurbān (that which is offered, is sacrificed like sheep, etc.); ‘‘fire consumes’’ means the fire burns it. The clause, ‘‘indeed, there came to you messengers before me’’, refers to such prophets as Zachariah and John—those Israelite prophets who were slain by the Jews.
فَإِنْ كَذَّبُوكَ فَقَدْ كُذِّبَ رُسُلٌ مِنْ قَبْلِكَ جَاءُوا بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ وَالزُّبُرِ وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُنِيرِ ١٨٤
(3:184) But if they reject you, so indeed were rejected before you messengers who came with clear evidences and scriptures and the illuminating Book.
It aims at consoling the Prophet when they belied him. al-Zubur is plural of al-zabūr (a book of wisdom and sermons). The phrase, ‘‘scriptures and the illuminating book’’, refers to such revelations as the book of Noah, scriptures of Abraham, the Torah and the Injīl.
كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَائِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ ۗ وَإِنَّمَا تُوَفَّوْنَ أُجُورَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۖ فَمَنْ زُحْزِحَ عَنِ النَّارِ وَأُدْخِلَ الْجَنَّةَ فَقَدْ فَازَ ۗ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ ١٨٥
(3:185) Every soul shall taste of death, and you shall only be paid fully your reward on the Resurrection Day; then whoever is removed far away from the Fire and is made to enter the Garden, he indeed has attained the object; and the life of this world is nothing but a provision of vanities.
The verse contains a good promise for the believer and a threat to the rejector. It begins with a general rule that encompasses every living being. al-Tawfiyah means full payment. Someone has proved the existence of al-Barzakh from this verse, because it implies some partial recompense before the Resurrection Day, when the full payment will be made. It is a good argument.
al-Zaḥzaḥah (meaning to remove far), in fact implies repeated pulling with haste; al-fawz (to attain the desired object); al-ghurūr is either infinitive of gharra (he deceived; he deluded) or plural of al-ghārr (deceiver).
لَتُبْلَوُنَّ فِي أَمْوَالِكُمْ وَأَنْفُسِكُمْ وَلَتَسْمَعُنَّ مِنَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِكُمْ وَمِنَ الَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَذًى كَثِيرًا ۚ وَإِنْ تَصْبِرُوا وَتَتَّقُوا فَإِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ مِنْ عَزْمِ الْأُمُورِ ١٨٦
(3:186) You shall certainly be tried respecting your wealth and your souls, and you shall certainly hear from those who have been given the Book before you and from those who are polytheists much annoying (talk); and if you are patient and guard (against evil), surely this is one of the matters of (great) resolve.
al-Iblāʾ (to test; to try). God first described the tests and trials that had afflicted the believers; then He mentioned the utterances of the Jews which could weaken the believers’ will. Now He informs them that such divine tests and such annoying talks of the People of the Book and the polytheists will repeatedly affect the believers; that they will have to face such things and bear such talks. They should remain patient and pious, should guard themselves against evil, in order that God may protect them from mistakes and their weak hearts; so that they should emerge as people of strong and firm determination.
This prophecy gives them advance news of what they would have to suffer in future; it aims at preparing them mentally for it before hand, so that they may reconcile themselves to it. Adhan kathīran (much annoyance) has been used for ‘‘annoying talk’’; it is a metaphorical use of effect in place of cause.
وَإِذْ أَخَذَ اللَّهُ مِيثَاقَ الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ لَتُبَيِّنُنَّهُ لِلنَّاسِ وَلَا تَكْتُمُونَهُ فَنَبَذُوهُ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِهِمْ وَاشْتَرَوْا بِهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا ۖ فَبِئْسَ مَا يَشْتَرُونَ ١٨٧
(3:187) And when Allah made a covenant with those who were given the Book: ‘‘You shall certainly make it known to men and you shall not hide it’’; but they cast it behind their backs and took a small price for it; so evil is that which they buy.
al-Nabdh (to cast away; to throw away); ‘‘they cast it behind their backs’’ is an idiom meaning ‘they left it’, ‘they neglected it’. Its opposite idiom, ‘he put it before his eyes’, means ‘he directed his attention to it’.
لَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْرَحُونَ بِمَا أَتَوْا وَيُحِبُّونَ أَنْ يُحْمَدُوا بِمَا لَمْ يَفْعَلُوا فَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّهُمْ بِمَفَازَةٍ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ١٨٨ وَلِلَّهِ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۗ وَاللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ١٨٩
(3:188-189) Do not think those who rejoice for what they have brought about and love that they should be praised for what they have not done—so by no means think them to be safe from the chastisement, and they shall have a painful chastisement. And Allah’s is the Kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah has power above all things.
The phrase, ‘‘for what they have brought about’’, means the wealth that God has bestowed upon them, which is accompanied by love of riches and niggardliness. al-Mafāzah means deliverance; safety. These people were destroyed because their hearts were attached to the falsehood, and consequently they removed themselves from the protection of the truth.
At the end, God mentions His Kingdom of the heavens and the earth and His power over everything. These two attributes may explain the reason of all things described in the preceding verses.
Examining Narrations
- Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Mundhir have narrated from Qatādah about the verse, God has certainly heard the saying of those …, that he said: ‘‘It has been reported to us that it was revealed about Huyayy b. Akhtab; when the verse [] was revealed that: Who is it that will lend to God, a goodly loan, so He will multiply it for him manifold, he said: ‘Our Lord asks loan from us! Surely a poor (man) asks loan from a rich one.’ ’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
- al-Ṣādiq said regarding this verse: ‘‘By God, they had not seen God so that they could know He was poor. But they saw the friends of God (who were) poor. So they said: ‘Had He (God) been rich He would have made His friends rich.’ Thus, they boasted against God of (their) riches.’’ (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
- al-Bāqir said: ‘‘They are those who think that the Imām is in need of what they bring to him.’’ (al-Manāqib)
Author’s comments: As described in the Commentary, the first two meanings correspond to the verse. The third tradition is based on the ‘‘flow’’ of the Qur’an.
- al-Ṣādiq said: ‘‘There was, between those who uttered (this word) and those who killed (the prophets), a gap of five hundred years; but God attached to them the (crime of) murder because they were pleased with what they [that is, their ancestors] had done.’’ (al-Kāfī)
Author’s comments: The gap mentioned in it does not agree with the current Christian Era. See the historical discourse given earlier.
- It is reported in al-Durr al-manthūr under the verse: Every soul shall taste of death: ‘‘Ibn Abī Ḥātim has narrated from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib that he said: ‘When the Prophet died and the condolence began, there came to them a comer—they heard his voice but did not see his person—and he said: ‘‘Peace be upon you, O People of the House! and mercy of God and His blessings. Every soul is to taste of the death, and you shall only be paid fully your reward on the Resurrection Day. Indeed, there is in God consolation for every misfortune, and successor of everyone who dies, and overtaking everything that is lost. Therefore, in God put your trust, and to Him attach your hope; because afflicted is he who is deprived of reward.’’ ’ Then ʿAlī said: ‘He was al-Khiḍr.’ ’’
- Ibn Marduway has narrated from Sahl b. Saʿd that he said: ‘‘The Messenger of God said: ‘Verily, a place in the Garden (just sufficient) to put a whip of one of you in, is better than the world and all that is in it.’ Then he recited this verse: then whoever is removed far away from the fire and is made to enter the Garden, he indeed has attained the object.’’ (al-Durr al-manthūr)
Author’s comments: [al-Suyūṭī] has narrated this meaning in that book through other chains from other Companions. It should be noted here that there are numerous traditions purporting to give the reason of revelation of these verses; but we have left them out because evidently they are merely people’s attempts to apply the verses to various events; they are not real reasons of revelation.
Evidently it is a slip of pen. The meaning given by the author could be in place if the verb had been in passive voice, that is, ūtū (they were given; they were brought). But it is in active voice, that is, ataw (they brought; they gave). (Trans.) ↩︎