Appearance
Verses 21–32
The verses turn to the original style, and that is addressing a present audience; so it addresses the Holy Prophet and describes to him the injustices of polytheists in pure fundamental beliefs, and that is monotheism, belief in prophethood and resurrection. This is reflected in the Divine Word: And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah …; And of them is he who hearkens to you… And they say: “There is nothing but our life of this world …”
Then these verses describe that in this was the greatest injustice from them, and a way of putting themselves to perdition and loss. Also, it became clear how these acts of injustice reflect on them and they will be fully recompensed on the Day of Resurrection; so they shall forge a lie against their souls by denying what they had said in this world, and they will desire to return to this world in order to do good deeds, and they will show their regret for what they had neglected vis-à-vis God.
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَىٰ عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِآيَاتِهِ ۗ إِنَّهُ لَا يُفْلِحُ الظَّالِمُونَ ٢١
(6:21) And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against Allah or (he who) gives the lie to His communications; surely the unjust will not be successful.
Injustice is one of the most ignominious sins; rather meticulous analysis shows that all sins are horrible and condemnable to the extent of the injustice found in them—and it means deviation and diversion from the middle course, and that is justice.
The way injustice is considered great or small based on the characteristics of the perpetrator of injustice, similarly, its greatness or smallness depends on the victim on whom injustice was done or its intended target. Whenever his status becomes greater and his rank becomes higher, the injustice becomes greater and mightier. There is no one more honourable and more respectable than God, Glory be to Him, or His signs which lead to Him; therefore, there is no one more unjust than he who is unjust to this sacred arena or to what is related to it in any way. In reality, of course, he is not being unjust but to his own soul.
God, Glory be Him, has indeed confirmed this rational theory by His Word: “And who is more unjust than he who forges a lie against God or (he who) gives the lie to His communications.”
As for forging a lie against God, the Sublime: that happens when one asserts a partner to Him, while He has no partner; or claims prophethood falsely, or ascribes an order to Him falsely and wrongly. As for the denial of His communications: that happens when one denies a true prophet in his call which is based on the divine signs, or rejects the true religion; and rejecting the creator is a part of it.
The verse applies to the polytheists, that is, the idol worshipers to whom this argument is addressed, inasmuch as they established for God, Glory be to Him, partners, claiming that they were intercessors, with whom began the affairs in the world, and on them revolves the management of the universe independently; on the other hand, they denied the divine signs which prove prophethood and resurrection.
Sometimes some (scholars) join to this mix the people who believe in the intercession of the Holy Prophet, the Purified Ones from his progeny, or Spiritual Masters from his ummah. They think that to seek their intercession in any need of this world or the next is polytheism which comes under this and other similar verses.
It seems that they are oblivious of the fact that God, the Sublime has confirmed intercession when it is joined with permission, in His Speech, without qualifying it with this world or the next. He has said—and Powerful is the Speaker: Who is he that can intercede with Him but by His permission? ().
Moreover, He has said: And those whom they call upon besides Him have no authority for intercession, but he who bears witness of the truth and they know (him), (). So, He confirmed intercession as a right of the scholars who are witnesses of the truth; and prophets are certainly among them, including our Prophet. God, Glory be to Him, has confirmed him as a witness in His Word: …and bring you as a witness against these? (); and He has clearly described his knowledge: and We have revealed the Book to you explaining clearly every thing… (). The Faithful Spirit has descended with it upon your heart (26:193–4). Can it be imagined that the Book which clearly explains every thing will be sent to a heart which has no knowledge of it? Or, God has sent him as a witness and he is not a witness with truth? God, the Sublime, has further said: …that you may be the bearers of witness to the people… () … and take witnesses from among you… (). And (as for) these examples, We set them forth for men, and none understand them but the learned; (). So, He has confirmed that there are in this ummah witnesses who are knowledgeable, and He does not confirm except the truth.
God, the Sublime, also said about His (Prophet’s) Household, peace be on them: Allah only desires to keep away the uncleanness from you, O people of the House! And to purify you a (thorough) purifying (). So, He made it clear that they are purified by divine purification; then He said: Most surely it is an honoured Qur’an , in a Book that is protected; none shall touch it save the purified ones (). He counts them the scholars of the Qur’an (which is a clarification for everything), and the purified ones are the certified group in this ummah for witnessing with truth to which no vain talks and falsity find its way. We have fully described the subject of intercession in the first volume of this book, so refer to it.
… surely the unjust will not be successful: al-Falāḥ (success), al-fawz (success), al-najāḥ (success), al-ẓafar (victory), and al-saʾādah (bliss, felicity) are all similar in meaning. That is why al-Rāghib has explained al-falāḥ as achievement of desire, which is nearly synonymous with al-saʾādah.
He said in al-Mufradāt:
“al-falaḥ means to cleave; it is said: ‘Iron is cleft with iron,’ and that is why al-fallāḥ is used in meaning of a farmer (who tills the land). al-Falāḥ is victory and achievement of desire and it is of two kinds—of this world and of the next:
(i) The achievement of this world is attainment of the blessings with which the life of the world becomes good, and they are: abiding, affluence and honour; and that were what the poet meant when he said:
Achieve what you want, as sometimes it is achieved
with weakness while the wise man is at times deceived.
(ii) And the success of the next world and that involves four things: abiding without perdition, affluence without need, honour without humiliation and knowledge without ignorance.”
So, it can be said that al-falāḥ is felicity and happiness; it is described in this way because therein is victory and attainment of desire by cleaving the snags which obstruct the way to the goal.
And this is a comprehensive meaning which is applicable to cases where it is used; like the Divine Word: Successful indeed are the believers (); He will indeed be successful who purifies it (); surely the unbelievers shall not be successful (). There are other such verses.
The words “surely the unjust will not be successful”—and injustice is taken here as an attribute—mean that the unjust ones will not get their desire that they wished to attain by clinging to whatever they hold on to because injustice does not lead the unjust to the victory and happiness which he wants to attain through his injustice.
This is so because happiness cannot be happiness unless it is desired and wanted in reality and in external existence. Thus, the thing that desires this goal and happiness in its existence will be equipped with causes and instruments which agree with this required happiness. For instance, there is a man, his required happiness demands that he should abide by replacing in his body what is dissolved in his body. Then he is equipped with the intricate nourishment system which agrees with it, including the related limbs and causes; then there is in external materials that which agrees with his body’s composition, and he takes it through the causes and instruments provided for; then he refines it and changes its shape to what resembles the dissolved parts of his body, then attaches it to his body, and thus the body becomes complete after its incompleteness. This is a general order which covers all external species which we perceive through our perceptions and which we explore, without any difference and without fail.
On this runs the system of the universe in its progress. For every intended destination and desired happiness there is a special path; no one proceeds to it except by that path. If attempt is made to reach it through a path other than the one with which the system agrees, it would cause suspension of the cause and negation of the path. This suspension and negation cause decomposition of all the causes and relationships that are related to it. For instance, let us say, there is a man who has found a way to continue his existence through a way other than taking food, swallowing and digesting. This will lead to the suspension of his nutritional power, and in its turn would create deviation in all his powers of growth and reproduction.
The divine providence demands in these species which live with perception and will that they should live by conforming their actions to the knowledge they have acquired in external world. So, if it deviates from external world it would face what would negate its action; and if this was done repeatedly, the personality would perish, like a man who wants to take food, and mistakenly takes poison as food, or clay as bread and so on.
Man has general beliefs and opinions born of the external universal system, which he treats as the basis and makes his action, conform with them, like the beliefs related to the genesis and resurrection as well as the practical laws which he treats as the standards for his actions like worship and trade deals.
These are the natural paths to the human felicities; there is no path to them other than these. If man proceeded on it he would get his desire and achieve his felicity; but if he deviated to some other path—and that is injustice—it would not lead him to his desire, and even if it led to it, it would not be lasting; because all paths and ways are related to it. So, they would fight against it, and oppose it with their full power and ability. Also, the parts of the external world, which are the cause of the genesis of these opinions and orders, would not conform to it in practice; and would continue on this condition until the affair is changed, his felicity is destroyed and his life becomes loathsome.
Often an unjust man in his greed uses his power with sin to acquire his desire and felicity through unlawful means. Thus, he opposes correct belief relating to the monotheism; or disputes legal rights of the others and transgresses the limit to unjustly usurp the people’s property; or to disgrace their honour by violently tearing their curtains; or to meddle with their lives without any right; or to disregard the sanctities of divine worship like prayer, fast, ḥajj, etc.; or to commit sins related to them, like falsehood, wrong accusation, cheating and so on.
He commits the above-mentioned sins, and sometimes gets what he intended to, i.e. happiness with achieving his goal as he had wanted, but he is oblivious of his great loss in this world and the next.
As for the worldly loss, the path he has trodden on is the path of turmoil, confusion and chaotic system; had it been the right path it would have been used in general, and if it had been used in general, then the system would have been destroyed; and with destruction of the system, the life of human society would have been nullified. Any system, which guarantees the continuity of the human species, whatever it may be, would dispute with him about what he has acquired through his illegal activities; and it would continue in this dispute until it nullifies for him the demand of his action and result of his disgraced endeavours, be it immediate or deferred; and certainly his injustice will not continue.
And as for the next world, it is because his injustice is written in the book of his deeds, and it is engraved in the tablet of his soul through the marks he brings over it; then he is requited for it and lives in its style; and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it ().
God says: Do you then believe in a part of the Book and disbelieve in the other? What then is the reward of such among you as do this but disgrace in the life of this world, and on the Day of Resurrection they shall be sent back to the most grievous chastisement, and Allah is not at all heedless of what you do (). Those before them rejected (prophets), therefore there came to them the chastisement from whence they perceived not. So Allah made them taste the disgrace in this world’s life, and certainly the punishment of the hereafter is greater; did they but know! (). And among men there is he who disputes about Allah without knowledge and without guidance and without an illuminating book, turning away haughtily that he may lead (others) astray from the way of Allah; for him is disgrace in this world, and on the Day of Resurrection We will make him taste the punishment of burning. This is due to what your two hands have sent before, and because Allah is not in the least unjust to the servants (). There are numerous verses in this meaning.
The verses—as you see—cover the injustices affecting the society and the individual; so they confirm the topic described above; and the most comprehensive of all is the verse under discussion, “surely the unjust will not be successful.”
وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُوا أَيْنَ شُرَكَاؤُكُمُ الَّذِينَ كُنْتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ ٢٢ ثُمَّ لَمْ تَكُنْ فِتْنَتُهُمْ إِلَّا أَنْ قَالُوا وَاللَّهِ رَبِّنَا مَا كُنَّا مُشْرِكِينَ ٢٣
(6:22–23) And on the day when We shall gather them all together, then shall We say to those who associated others (with Allah): “Where are your associates whom you asserted?.” Then their excuse would be nothing but that they would say: “By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists,”
The adverb, “the day”, is related to a deleted verb, and its full form is: And remember the day… The word: “all together”, asserts that the divine knowledge and power do not miss any one among them; so God encompasses all of them with knowledge and power, He certainly will enumerate and gather them all together, and will not leave any one out.
This sentence aims at explaining the preceding phrase: surely the unjust will not be successful. It is as though when it was said, surely the unjust will not be successful; it was asked: How would it be? The reply was given: Because God will soon gather them together and will ask them about their associates, then they will be lost to them and will not find them; so they will deny their polytheism and will swear falsely by God. If these unjust people would have been successful in ascribing partners to God, their associates would not have been lost and they would not have told lies against themselves. They would have rather found them with the claimed partnership and intercession, and enjoyed their intercession.
The words, “Then their excuse”: It is said that the word, al-fitnah (translated here as excuse) means reply, that is, their reply was only that they swore falsely by God that they were not polytheists.
Another explanation: It means the end result of their involvement with idols would be nothing but that they would say… Also, it is said that the word, al-fitnah, means excuse. And each interpretation has a justification.
انْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَذَبُوا عَلَىٰ أَنْفُسِهِمْ ۚ وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ ٢٤
(6:24) See how they lie against their own souls, and that which they forged has passed away from them.
It points to the important feature of their story on the Day of Resurrection. It means that they will soon reject themselves and will not find what they had forged (in this world); if they were successful in their injustice and succeeded in their desire, their end would not lead to its loss and to this lying against their own selves.
As for them rejecting themselves: It is because when they would swear by God that they were not polytheists, they would deny what they had claimed in this world that God had partners; they were insisting on it and had turned away from every clear proof and manifest sign, all because of their injustice and arrogance. So, this would be their lie against their own selves.
And as for the passing away of that which they had forged, it is because that will be the day when it will be manifestly clear that the rule, the kingdom and the power all belong to God, and nothing belongs to any one else except the vileness of servitude, and the inherent readiness without any independence. God says: and O that those who are unjust could see, when they see the chastisement, that the power is wholly Allah’s and that Allah is severe in chastisement (). To whom belongs the kingdom this day? To Allah, the One, the Subduer (of all), (). The day on which no soul shall control anything for (another) soul; and the command on that day shall be entirely Allah’s ().
At this time they will see with their eyes that the divinity is reserved for God Who is alone and has no partner; and their idols and associates will be exposed before them, that they own neither any harm nor any benefit for themselves or for others. Then they will realize that all the attributes of divinity and intercession etc, which they had ascribed to them, belong to God only. They had fallen in confusion and had imagined it for others, and what they had forged had passed away from them.
Now, if they would ask them for help, they would be replied in a way that would cut every hope off. God says: And when those who associate (others with Allah) shall see their associate-gods, they shall say: “Our Lord! These are our associate-gods on whom we called besides Thee.” But they will give them back the reply: “Most surely you are liars.” And they shall tender submission to Allah on that day; and what they used to forge shall deport from them (). This is Allah, your Lord, His is the Kingdom; and those whom you call upon besides Him do not control a straw. If you call on them they shall not hear your call, and even if they could hear they shall not answer you; and on the Resurrection Day they will deny your associating them (with Allah), (). And on the day when We will gather them all together, then We will say to those who associated others (with Allah): “Keep where you are, you and your associates.” Then We shall separate them widely one from another and their associates will say: “It was not us that you worshipped. Therefore Allah is sufficient as a witness between us and you that we were quite unaware of your worshipping (us).” There shall every soul become acquainted with what it sent before, and they shall be brought back to Allah, their true Patron, and what they devised shall escape from them ().
It appears from meditation on these verses that the departure of what they had forged means exposure of the reality of their associates who do not have the attributes of association and intercession; and their realization that what had appeared to them of these things in the world was nothing but an optical allusion, a mirage. God says: And (as for) those who disbelieve, their deeds are like the mirage in a desert, which the thirsty man deems to be water; until when he comes to it he finds it to be naught, and there he finds Allah, so He pays back to him his reckoning in full ().
Question: The verses dealing with the description of the Day of Resurrection—as given above—show that on that day the realities will appear and come out of the hiding and confusion which are inseparable attributes of this worldly life; as God says: The day when they shall come forth; nothing concerning them remains hidden to Allah (). So, what benefit can they get from their lie? And how will they tell lie when they see with their eyes opposite of what they spoke of lie? God says: On the day that every soul shall find present what it has done of good and what it has done of evil ().
Answer: The information that they will tell lie and swear falsely on the Resurrection of Day, has come in the Divine Speech time and again. See for example the verse: On the day that Allah will raise them up all, then they will swear to Him as they swear to you… (). That lie of theirs and their swearing on it will not be with the aim of achieving wrong purposes or to hide the truth, as it is done with lie in this world; and the next world is the place of recompense, not that of action and earning. However, as they had become habituated to come out of dangerous and perilous situations, and to gain benefits with false swearing and forged information, all this for deceiving and diverting (from the truth), the trait of lie has become deeply-rooted into their souls (or into their psyche). And when the trait is deeply rooted in the soul, the soul is compelled to response to its calls. For instance, look at a ribald obscene person, when the trait of abuse settles in his soul, he is unable to refrain from it, even if he so decides. Likewise, an arrogant person cannot bring himself to show humility to others—even if on a dangerous occasion he shows humility it is only in appearance, but in his heart he is as he was, he will not change, will not show remorse.
This is the secret of their speaking lie on the Resurrection Day, because it is the day when hidden things will be made manifest; and the heart bonded with lie, there is nothing in it except lie; so it will become then manifest, as God has said: …and they shall not hide any word from Allah ().
Similar to it is the dispute found among the people of the world, and it will appear exactly among them on the Resurrection Day, and God has mentioned it in several places in His Speech; and more beautiful is the expression: That most surely is the truth: the contending one with another of the inmates of the Fire (). This is about the inhabitants of the Fire. As for the inhabitants of Paradise and forgiveness, there will appear what was in their souls here of the purity and safety. God says: They shall not hear therein vain or sinful discourse, except the word peace, peace (). Understand it.
وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ ۖ وَجَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَنْ يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا ۚ وَإِنْ يَرَوْا كُلَّ آيَةٍ لَا يُؤْمِنُوا بِهَا ۚ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءُوكَ يُجَادِلُونَكَ يَقُولُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ ٢٥
(6:25) And of them is he who hearkens to you, and We have cast veils over their hearts lest they understand it and a heaviness into their ears; and even if they see every sign they will not believe in it; so much so that when they come to you they only dispute with you; those who disbelieve say: “This is naught but the stories of the ancients,”
al-Akinnah (pl. kinn) means the cover in which a thing is hidden; al-waqr means heaviness in ear; al-asāṭīr (pl. usṭūrah) means lie and falsehood as is narrated from al-Mubarrad; its basis is al-saṭr which means a line of writing, a line of trees or men, and it is mostly used for false stories that has been collected, organized and arranged (in a systemic style).
The apparent context demands that the statement (of disbelievers) should have been: “They say: ‘This is naught but the stories of the ancients;’” however, the verse says, those who disbelieve say: … Probably this style was used to point to the reason of this statement, i.e. disbelief.
وَهُمْ يَنْهَوْنَ عَنْهُ وَيَنْأَوْنَ عَنْهُ ۖ وَإِنْ يُهْلِكُونَ إِلَّا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَمَا يَشْعُرُونَ٢٦
(6:26) And they prohibit (others) from it and go far away from it, and they only bring destruction upon their own souls while they do not perceive.
Key Debate: The Faith of Abū Ṭālib →
“Prohibit others” that is from following it; al-naʾy (to be far away). The restriction in, “and they only bring destruction upon their own souls”, is that of reversal in the sense that they thought by prohibiting others from it and going far away from it, they would destroy the Holy Prophet and frustrate his divine mission, but God willed to complete His light; so they shall be destroyed in a way that they do not perceive.
وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذْ وُقِفُوا عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُوا يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ٢٧ بَلْ بَدَا لَهُمْ مَا كَانُوا يُخْفُونَ مِنْ قَبْلُ ۖ وَلَوْ رُدُّوا لَعَادُوا لِمَا نُهُوا عَنْهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ ٢٨
(6:27–28) And could you see when they are made to stand before the Fire, then they shall say: “Would that we were sent back, and we would not reject the communications of our Lord and we would be of the believers..” Nay, what they concealed before shall become manifest to them; and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, and most surely they are liars.
This describes what will be the result of their denial and of their insistence on disbelief and discarding the divine communications.
The words: “Would that we were sent back, and we would not reject the communications of our Lord …”—with the final consonants of nukadhdhiba (we would not reject) and nakūna (we would be) pronounced with a—show their desire to return to the world and to be enrolled in the list of the believers, so that they may be rescued from the punishment of Fire on the Day of Resurrection. This speech of theirs is similar to their denying polytheism and their falsely swearing by God for it; it would be manifestation of their psychic traits on the Day of Resurrection. It is because they were habituated to express their desire of those things which they had no way to attain it, from the good and benefits which they had missed, especially when that missing was caused by their wrong option and their defective actions. Also, it is similar to what will soon come regarding their regret about their negligence of the Hour.
Expression of desire is correct in impossible matters as it is allowed in difficult possible things. For instance, the desire that the past could come back, etc. The poet says:
Would that, and if ‘would that’ was of any benefit,
would that youth were sold, I would have bought it.
As for the words: “Nay, what they concealed before shall become manifest to them”, apparently the point of reference of all the pronouns—they, concealed, them—is the same, i.e. the polytheists who were discussed earlier; ‘before’ refers to this world. So, the meaning would be: When these polytheists will be made to stand before the fire, what they were concealing in this world shall become manifest to them; and its manifestation will make them to desire to be sent back to the world, to believe in God’s communications and to enter into the fold of the believers.
(So, what did appear to them?) Nothing except the Fire before which they stood on the Day of Resurrection; they had hidden it in this world by disbelieving, hiding the truth and concealing it after its manifestation, as the following Divine Word point to it: Certainly you were heedless of it, but now We have removed from you your veil, so your sight today is sharp ().
As for the truth itself which they rejected in the world in spite of its manifestation to them, it was manifest to them from before; and the context rejects the idea that merely the manifestation of the truth to them (regardless of the appearance of the fire and the terror of the Day of Resurrection) would cause them to express this desire.
And some similar verses about this situation point towards it. For instance: And when it is said: “Surely the promise of Allah is true and as for the Hour, there is no doubt about it,” you said: “We do not know what the Hour is; we do not think (that it will come to pass) save a passing thought, and we are not at all sure.” And the evil (consequences) of what they did shall become manifest to them and that which they mocked shall encompass them (). And had those who are unjust all that is in the earth and the like of it with it, they would certainly offer it as ransom (to be saved) from the evil of the punishment on the Day of Resurrection; and what they never thought of shall become plain to them from Allah. And the evil (consequences) of what they wrought shall become plain to them, and the very thing they mocked at shall beset them ().
The exegetes have explained the verse: “Nay, what they concealed before…” in various ways; and the author of al-Manār has described nine such explanations. He says:
“There are many views about it:
“First: It is their evil deeds and ugly abominations which appeared to them in their scrolls of deeds, and their limbs and organs testified for it.
“Second: It is their deeds which they used to forge and thought that they contain their felicity; however, God will make them null and void.
“Third: It is their disbelief and their rejection which they had hidden in the next world before they were made to stand by the fire; as God has quoted them as saying: Then their excuse would be nothing but that they would say: “By Allah, our Lord, we were not polytheists.”
“Fourth: It is the truth or the belief which they were hiding and concealing by showing the disbelief and denial in enmity of the Messenger and because of arrogance. This is applicable to the most extreme of those who disbelieved from amongst the arrogant enemies about some of whom God has said: And they denied them unjustly and proudly while their souls had been convinced of them ().
“Fifth: It is the truth which the leaders were hiding from their followers—the truth brought by the Messengers finally was manifest to the followers who imitated them; and of this was what some people of the Book concealed of our Holy Prophet’s messengership, and his attributes and his good news given by their prophets.
“Sixth: It is what the hypocrites were hiding in this world—they concealed disbelief and showed faith and Islam.
“Seventh: It means the resurrection and the recompense, and included in it is the punishment of the fire; and their concealing it means rejecting it; and this is the basic meaning of the root, k, f, r.
“Eighth: The speech contains an omitted construct state, i.e. appeared to them the evil consequence of what they used to hide of disbelief and sins, and descended to them its punishment. So, they showed their discomfort and vexation, and wished to get free from it by returning to the world in order that they would leave what lack of faith and denial of divine communications have led them to; just as a man whom an incurable disease has put in agony wishes for death so that it would free him from agony, not that it is desirable in itself.”
“We do not prefer any of these opinions; rather the opinion prefer- able in our views is the last one and that is: Ninth. On that day, all those disbelievers and their ilk will find manifest what they used to hide in the world—that which was repugnant in his eyes or in the eyes of those from whom he was hiding it.”
Then (the author of al-Manār) has expanded the talk in details to include the leaders of disbelievers and their followers as well as the hypocrites and profligates, from among those who indulge in abomination and hide it from the people, or neglect the obligatory duties and put forward false excuses and hide the reality.
By looking at the precepts we have put forward and meditating on them, you will clearly see the defects of all these opinions, so we shall not discuss them needlessly.
The Divine Word: “and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden”, is a reminder that they would do what was settled in their souls of the contemptible traits in this life. What would incite them to desire to return to this world, and to believe in the communications of God and to enter into the fold of the believers? It would be the appearance of the truth which they had neglected including all that it entails of the chastisement on the Day of Resurrection; and it is what is demanded by the next world which entails the clear appearance of the unseen reality. And if they were to return to this world, they would be governed by the rules of this life, and the curtains of unseen would be let down on them. They would return to their free will, accompanied by the desire of the soul, whispering of the Satan, natural disposition of the humans, and the arrogance and the oppression; thus they would return to their original polytheism and enmity of truth. It will be so because what had urged them to the opposition of truth and the denial of the divine communications when they were in the world, is now as it was then, if we suppose that they are returned to this world after being raised up; so the same rule will apply without any difference.
And His Word: “and most surely they are liars,” that is, in their wish that: “Would that we were sent back, and we would not reject the communications of our Lord and we would be of the believers.” Although expression of a wish is not an information which could be classified as true or false, but when they said, “would that we were sent back and we would not reject…”, it was as though they said, ‘God return us to the world and if He returned us we would not reject’ mark that they did not say, we return and we will not reject—their talk contained a request and a promise: request to be returned and promise of belief and good deeds, as He has clearly mentioned it in His Word: 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 ().” and they shall cry therein for succor: “O our Lord! Take us out; we will do good deeds other than those which we used to do ().”
In short, their word: “Would that we were sent back, and we would not reject…,” is tantamount to saying: ‘O our Lord! Return us to the world, we will not reject Your communications, and we will be of the believers.’ From this angle, it is subject to truth and falsehood, and so it is okay to count them as liars.
Also, probably they have been called liars in relation to their wish, that is, their hope and wish proved false, as it did not take place in reality, as they say; your hope proved false, for a man who wishes what is not attained.
Some people have said that it means their falsity in all that they speak about themselves that they would find the reality and believe in truth—but it is as you see (not worthy of consideration).
وَقَالُوا إِنْ هِيَ إِلَّا حَيَاتُنَا الدُّنْيَا وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَبْعُوثِينَ ٢٩ وَلَوْ تَرَىٰ إِذْ وُقِفُوا عَلَىٰ رَبِّهِمْ ۚ قَالَ أَلَيْسَ هَٰذَا بِالْحَقِّ ۚ قَالُوا بَلَىٰ وَرَبِّنَا ۚ قَالَ فَذُوقُوا الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَكْفُرُونَ ٣٠
(6:29–30) And they say: “There is nothing but our life of this world, and we shall not be raised,.” And could you see when they are made to stand before their Lord. He will say: “Is not this the truth?” They will say: “Yea, by our Lord!” He will say: “Taste then the chastisement because you disbelieved.”
These verses describe their open denial of resurrection and what it entails of offering the testimony on Day of Resurrection and their acknowledgement of what they were rejecting. The idolaters used to deny resurrection, as God has quoted them several times in His speech; and their belief in intercession of the partners was related to the worldly affairs only—that they brought benefits to them and averted harmful and perilous things from them.
So, His Word: “And they say: ‘There is nothing but our life of this world…’,” quote their denial, that there is no life except our life of this world, there is no life after that, and we will not be raised after death. And the words: “And could you see when they are made to stand before their Lord,” is like its reply. It explains to the Holy Prophet, the result of their words: “There is nothing but our life of this world, and we shall not be raised,” in the style of wish (as is clear from: “And could you see…”). They will certainly verify what they were denying, and acknowledge what they were rejecting by saying: “and we shall not be raised.” This is to happen when they shall be made to stand before their Lord, and they shall clearly see the meeting, about which they were told in the world, that is, they were to be raised after death. So, they acknowledge it after they had denied it in the world.
It appears from above that God has explained the ‘raising up’ in the verse: “and could you see when they are made to stand before their Lord,” with ‘meeting of God’; and it is supported by the expression in the next verse: They are losers indeed who reject the meeting of Allah, until when the Hour comes upon them all of a sudden…, where He has changed the gathering, raising up and resurrection mentioned earlier with meeting and then mentioned the Hour, that is, the Hour of meeting.
Also, His Word: “Is not this the truth?” that is, ‘Is not the raising up, (which you rejected in the world, and it is meeting of God) the truth?’ “They will say: ‘Yea, by our Lord!’ He will say: ‘Taste then the chastisement because you disbelieved’,” and hid it.
قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِلِقَاءِ اللَّهِ ۖ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا جَاءَتْهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً قَالُوا يَا حَسْرَتَنَا عَلَىٰ مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِيهَا وَهُمْ يَحْمِلُونَ أَوْزَارَهُمْ عَلَىٰ ظُهُورِهِمْ ۚ أَلَا سَاءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ ٣١
(6:31) They are losers indeed who reject the meeting of Allah; until when the Hour comes upon them all of a sudden they shall say: “Alas for us, that we neglected it!” And they shall bear their burdens on their backs; now surely evil is that which they bear.
The author of al-Majmaʾ says: “Everything which comes suddenly is baghtah; it is said: The affair came suddenly, comes suddenly, coming suddenly.” al-Rāghib said in al-Mufradāt:
“al-Ḥasr means removing the cloth from what it covers; it is said: ‘I removed (cloth) from arm,’; al-ḥāsir means the one who does not wear coat of mail, nor helmet; al-miḥsarah (means a broom; …al-ḥāsir means fatigued (because his powers are exposed) …al-ḥasrah (means grief on what is lost, remorse on it; it is as though the ignorance was removed from him which had led him to commit that mistake; or weakened his powers by excessive grief; or he was too fatigued to make up his deficiency.”
And he (al-Rāghib ) said:
“al-Wazar means place of refuge in a mountain; God says: By no means! There shall be no place of refuge! With your Lord alone shall on that day be the place of rest (). And al-wizr means heavy load, likening it to the load of mountain; and it is used to denote sin just as it is also described as al-thiql means heavy load; God has said: That they may bear their burdens entirely… (); and also He has said: And most certainly they shall carry their own burdens, and other burdens with their own burdens ().”
The verse shows another consequence of their denial of being raised up, and it is that the Hour will take them all of a sudden. So, they shall cry out with grief on their negligence of it, and their loads will appear before them and sins which they will carry on their backs; and it will be the most difficult and most perilous condition of man. Well, how evil is what they shall be bearing and carrying—a heavy load or a sin, or the consequences of the sin.
The verse: “They are losers indeed who reject the meeting of God” is as the result emanating from the Divine Word: And they say: “There is nothing but our life of the world, and we shall not be raised.” And could you see when they are made to stand before their Lord. He will say: “Is not this the truth?” They will say: “Yea, by our Lord!” He will say: “Taste then the chastisement because you disbelieved.” It is because they exchanged comfort of the next world and happiness of the meeting of God with denial of resurrection and the resulting painful chastisement, and clearly it was a losing deal.
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ ۖ وَلَلدَّارُ الْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِلَّذِينَ يَتَّقُونَ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ ٣٢
(6:32) And this world’s life is naught but a play and an idle sport; and certainly the abode of the Hereafter is better for those who are pious; do you not then understand?
This is the conclusion of the discussion. God describes in it the condition of the two lives of this world and the next, and compares between them. This world’s life is a play and idle sport and nothing else, because it revolves around a chain of reflective beliefs and imaginative aims, as a play revolves around them—so it is a play. Hence it deflects man’s attention from the important life of the next world which is the real and enduring life—so it is an idle sport. Since the next world’s life is real and enduring, it is good, and none shall get it except the pious ones—so it is better for them.
Examining Narrations
- Hishām b. Sālim narrates from Abū ʿAbdillāh (al-Ṣādiq) that he said: “Surely God will go on forgiving on the Day of Resurrection to such an extent which will not come into any one’s mind, until the polytheists will say: ‘By God, our Lord! We were not polytheists.’” (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
- (The author of) Majmaʾ al-bayān writes about the verse: Then their ‘fitnah’ would be nothing…, that it means: their ‘excuse’. He writes that this has been narrated from Abū ʿAbdillāh.
(On Faith (īmān) of Abū Ṭālib)
- al-Qummī writes about the Divine Word: And they prohibit (others) from it and go far away from it, that ‘they prohibit’ refers to the Hāshimites who helped the Messenger of God and prevented the Quraysh (from harming him), and who went far away from him and did not believe in him. (al-Tafsīr)
Author’s comment: This tradition is near to what has been narrated from ʿAṭāʾ and Muqātil that it refers to Abū Ṭālib, the uncle of the Holy Prophet as he used to hold back the Quraysh from the Holy Prophet, and to keep himself away from the Holy Prophet while he did not believe in him.
But the context does not agree with it since apparently the pronoun (from it) in the verse refers to the Qur’an, not to the Holy Prophet. Moreover, the traditions quoted through the Ahl al-Bayt about Abū Ṭālib’s faith (īmān) are too numerous.
- It is quoted in al-Majmaʾ: “The consensus (ijmā’) of Ahl al-Bayt for īmān (faith) of Abū Ṭālib is a fact, and their consensus is sufficient proof (ḥujjah) because they are one of the two weighty things the Holy Prophet ordered to hold fast to them in his words: ‘So long as you shall hold fast to them you will never go astray.’” (al-Ṭabrisī)
- This is also proven from what (ʿAbdullāh) Ibn ʿUmar has narrated that Abū Bakr brought his father, on the day of the conquest (of Mecca), to the Messenger of God, so he (the Holy Prophet) said: “Why didn’t you leave the old man so that I should have come to him?”—and he was blind. Abū Bakr said: “I wished that God, the Sublime, should give him reward. I swear by Him who has sent you with truth that certainly I was happier with Abū Ṭālib’s Islam than with my father’s Islam, as I sought with it delight of your eyes (that is, your pleasure).” The Holy Prophet said: “You are right.”
- Also, al-Ṭabarī narrates through his chain that when the chiefs of the Quraysh saw how Abū Ṭālib defended the Holy Prophet, they came to him in a group and said: “We have brought to you the hero of Quraysh in beauty, magnanimity and gallantry, ʿAmmārah b. al-Walīd; we will give him to you and you give us your nephew who has divided our community and made a fool of our understanding so that we may kill him.” Abū Ṭālib said: “You have not been just to me. You are giving me your son so that I should feed him, and I give you my son so that you should kill him; rather every one of you should bring his son so that I should kill him.” And he said:
“We defended the Messenger, the Messenger of the King (God), with bright (swords) which radiate like lightening.
I defend and protect the Messenger of the King, protection of a guardian who is affectionate to him.”
And his sayings and poems declaring his Islam are numerous and well-known beyond enumeration. Among that is his saying:
Didn’t you know that we have found Muḥammad, a prophet like Moses, it is written in earlier books? Is not our father Hāshim who was courageous, and enjoined his sons to fight and wage war?
And his saying in a qaṣīdah:
And they said to Aḥmad, you are a man, of contrary language (and) weak cause.
Well, certainly Aḥmad has brought to them, truth, and has not brought to them a lie.
And his statement regarding the matter of the ‘document’ and it is among the miracles of the Holy Prophet:
Certainly there was a lesson in the affair of the document, when a man who was not there will be told he will be astonished. God erased from it their disbelief and refractoriness and what enmity they had shown against the speaking truth. And the son of ʿAbdullāh became confirmed among us, at the wrath of our people, he is blameless.
And his saying in a qaṣīdah to his brother, Ḥamzah, exhorting him to follow the Holy Prophet and to be patient in his obedience:
Be steadfast, O Abū Yaʾlā, in the faith of Aḥmad; show forth your faith; may you be strengthened in your resolve! It made me glad when you said that you are a man of faith! Be then a true supporter of the Messenger of Allah in Allah’s cause.
And his saying in a qaṣīdah:
I shall be steadfast in the help of the Prophet, Muḥammad, I shall fight in his defence with spear and the troops.
Also, his saying urging Negus to support the Prophet:
Know, O King of Abyssinia, that Muḥammad is a prophet like Moses and Messiah son of Maryam. He brought guidance similar to what they brought, and all (of them) by order of Allah guide and protect. Concerning him, you recite it in your own scriptures, a true account it is, not a fantastic tale.
So do not set up equals with God and accept Islam, for the way of truth is not obscured in darkness.
“And his saying in his will, when death had reached him:
I enjoin to help the Prophet whose presence is good. My son ʿAli, and elder of the group ʿAbbās; and Ḥamzah the lion who defends his reality; and Jaʿfar, that they should repulse the people from him. May my mother, and what she gave birth to, be made your ransom in helping Aḥmad as shields against the people.
Author’s comment: And similar to these poems are what is found in his well-known qaṣīdahs, and enjoinments and lectures quoting which will make the book too lengthy.
And the main proofs of those who say that Abū Ṭālib had not accepted Islam are some traditions narrated through the Sunnī chains. On the opposite side are the consensus (ijmāʾ) of Ahl al-Bayt and some traditions narrated through the Sunnī chains and his poems narrated from him. And every person may choose what he likes.
- Khālid has narrated from Abū ʿAbdillāh that he said: and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, surely they are cursed in origin. (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
- ʿUthmān b. ʿĪsā narrates from some of his companions from the (same) Imām that he said: “Surely God said to water: ‘Be sweet and delicious, I shall create from you My garden and people of My obedience;’ and He said to (another) water: ‘Be salty and bitter, I shall create from you My fire and people of My disobedience.’ Then He made both waters flow on the earth, then He took a handful in His hand and it was the right hand, then He created them a creation like tiny particles, then He made them witnesses on their own selves: ‘Am I not your Lord, and is not My obedience incumbent upon you?’ They said: ‘Certainly.’ Then He said to the fire: ‘Be fire’, and lo! It became flaming fire; and He said to them: ‘Fall down in it’; so some rushed to it, some delayed in rushing to it and some did not leave their place, but then when they felt its heat, they returned, and none of them entered it. Then He (again) took a handful (the earth) in His hand, and created them a creation like tiny particles like those, then made them witnesses on their own selves as He had done with those others; then He said to them: Fall down into this fire; some of them delayed, some others ran fast and some passed on like twinkling of an eye; so they all fell in it. Then He said: Come out of it safe, so they came out and nothing had afflicted them.
“Then the others said: ‘O our Lord! Forgive us; we shall do as they have done.’ He said: ‘I forgive you.’ So some of them ran fast and others did not leave their places, as they had done the first time. So this is the Word of God: and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, and most surely they are liars.” (al-Tafsīr, al-ʿAyyāshī)
Author’s comment: This and the preceding narration are among the traditions of the tiny particles. Its full discussion will come in Sūrah al-Aʾrāf (The Elevated Places), under the verse: And when your Lord brought forth from the children of Adam, from their backs, their descendants, and made them bear witness against their own souls: “Am I not your Lord?” They said: “Yes! We bear witness.” ()
The gist of it is that as the system of reward and punishment in the next world has full connection with the life before it, that is, with the life of this world from the perspective of obedience and disobedience, in the same way the obedience and disobedience of this world has full connection with another earlier life, relatively speaking, and that is the world of tiny particles.
So, the Imām’s word in the tradition, “So this is the word of God: And if they were sent back, they would certainly go back…” means that if they were sent back from the courtyard of the gathering place to the world, they would certainly go back to what they had been forbidden, and most surely they are liars right from the world of tiny particles because they spoke lie before God in that world. This is exactly what the Imām’s word in the first tradition means: and if they were sent back, they would certainly go back to that which they are forbidden, surely they are cursed in origin, that is, in the world of tiny particles, because they spoke lie in it.
Accordingly, these two traditions contain a fourth way of the verse’s explanation, other than the three explanations given earlier.
- Aʾmash narrates from Abū Ṣāliḥ, from the Holy Prophet that he said about the Divine Word: O our grief for our neglecting it… The people of the Fire will see their places in the garden, then they will say: “O our grief for our neglecting it.” (Majmaʾ al-bayān)
See al-Mīzān (Eng. transl.), vol.1. (Trans.) ↩︎
See al-Manār, vol.7, p.353. (Ed.) ↩︎
As the final strategy, the Quraysh put imposed a socio-economic boycott against the clans of Hāshim and Muṭṭalib. The document of boycott was written and hung in the Kaʾbah. Abū Ṭālib took the two clans to the mountain trail known as Shiʾb Abū Ṭālib and spent three years. This happened in the 7th year of the Prophetic mission. Only twice a year, in months of Rajab and Dhu al-ḥijjah (when violence was a taboo), did they dare to come out from the Shiʾb. Then one day, the Prophet of Islam said to Abū Ṭālib, “I have been informed by God that the agreement of the Quryash has been eaten up by insects, and no writing has been left except the name of God.” Abū Ṭālib believed in his nephew and came to the Quraysh and challenged them to check the document. When they looked into it, they found the words of the Holy Prophet to be true. This is how the socio-economic boycott came to its end. (Ed.) ↩︎
ʿĀlam al-dharr, translated here as ‘the tiny particles’, refers to the primordial form of existence which was purely spiritual. (Ed.) ↩︎