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Ayah
Word by Word
ذَٰلِكَ
That
بِأَنَّهُمۡ
(is) because they
قَالُواْ
say
لَن
Never
تَمَسَّنَا
will touch us
ٱلنَّارُ
the Fire
إِلَّآ
except
أَيَّامٗا
(for) days
مَّعۡدُودَٰتٖۖ
numbered
وَغَرَّهُمۡ
And deceived them
فِي
in
دِينِهِم
their religion
مَّا
what
كَانُواْ
they were
يَفۡتَرُونَ
inventing
ذَٰلِكَ
That
بِأَنَّهُمۡ
(is) because they
قَالُواْ
say
لَن
Never
تَمَسَّنَا
will touch us
ٱلنَّارُ
the Fire
إِلَّآ
except
أَيَّامٗا
(for) days
مَّعۡدُودَٰتٖۖ
numbered
وَغَرَّهُمۡ
And deceived them
فِي
in
دِينِهِم
their religion
مَّا
what
كَانُواْ
they were
يَفۡتَرُونَ
inventing
Translation
That is because they say, "Never will the Fire touch us except for [a few] numbered days," and [because] they were deluded in their religion by what they were inventing.
Tafsir
That, turning away and rejection was, because they said, 'the Hellfire shall not touch us, except for a number of days', that is, for forty days [only], the length of time their forefathers worshipped the calf, after which it would end; and the lies they used to invent, in their saying this, have deluded them in their religion (wagharrahum fee deenihim, 'it has deluded them in their religion', is semantically connected to maa kaanoo yaftaroona, 'the lies which they used to invent').
"Chastising the People of the Book for Not Referring to the Book of Allah for Judgment
Allah says;
أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ أُوْتُواْ نَصِيبًا مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ يُدْعَوْنَ إِلَى كِتَابِ اللّهِ لِيَحْكُمَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَتَوَلَّى فَرِيقٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَهُم مُّعْرِضُونَ
Have you not seen those who have been given a portion of the Scripture! They are being invited to the Book of Allah to settle their dispute, then a party of them turned away, and they are averse.
Allah criticizes the Jews and Christians who claim to follow their Books, the Tawrah and the Injil, because when they are called to refer to these Books where Allah commanded them to follow Muhammad, they turn away with aversion.
This censure and criticism from Allah was all because of their defiance and rejection.
Allah said next
ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ قَالُواْ لَن تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلاَّ أَيَّامًا مَّعْدُودَاتٍ
This is because they say:""The Fire shall not touch us but for a number of days.""
meaning, what made them dare to challenge and defy the truth is their false claim that Allah will only punish them for seven days in the Fire, a day for every one thousand years in this life.
We mentioned this subject in the Tafsir of Surah Al-Baqarah.
Allah then said,
وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِم مَّا كَانُواْ يَفْتَرُونَ
And that which they used to invent regarding their religion has deceived them.
meaning, what caused them to remain on their false creed is that they deceived themselves, believing that the Fire will only touch them for a few days for their errors. However, it is they who have invented this notion, and Allah did not grant them authority to support this claim.
Allah said, while threatening and warning them
فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْنَاهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لاَّ رَيْبَ فِيهِ
How (will it be) when We gather them together on the Day about which there is no doubt (i. e. the Day of Resurrection).
meaning, what will their condition be like after they have uttered this lie about Allah, rejected His Messengers and killed His Prophets and their scholars who enjoined righteousness and forbade evil Allah will ask them about all this and punish them for what they have done.
This is why Allah said,
فَكَيْفَ إِذَا جَمَعْنَاهُمْ لِيَوْمٍ لاَّ رَيْبَ فِيهِ
(How (will it be) when We gather them together on the Day about which there is no doubt.) meaning, there is no doubt that this Day will come,
وَوُفِّيَتْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ
And each person will be paid in full what he has earned And they will not be dealt with unjustly."
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