Ayah
Word by Word
وَلَوۡ
And if
شِئۡنَا
We (had) willed
لَأٓتَيۡنَا
surely We (would) have given
كُلَّ
every
نَفۡسٍ
soul
هُدَىٰهَا
its guidance
وَلَٰكِنۡ
but
حَقَّ
(is) true
ٱلۡقَوۡلُ
the Word
مِنِّي
from Me
لَأَمۡلَأَنَّ
that I will surely fill
جَهَنَّمَ
Hell
مِنَ
with
ٱلۡجِنَّةِ
the jinn
وَٱلنَّاسِ
and the men
أَجۡمَعِينَ
together
وَلَوۡ
And if
شِئۡنَا
We (had) willed
لَأٓتَيۡنَا
surely We (would) have given
كُلَّ
every
نَفۡسٍ
soul
هُدَىٰهَا
its guidance
وَلَٰكِنۡ
but
حَقَّ
(is) true
ٱلۡقَوۡلُ
the Word
مِنِّي
from Me
لَأَمۡلَأَنَّ
that I will surely fill
جَهَنَّمَ
Hell
مِنَ
with
ٱلۡجِنَّةِ
the jinn
وَٱلنَّاسِ
and the men
أَجۡمَعِينَ
together
Translation
If We had so willed, We could certainly have brought every soul its true guidance: but the Word from Me will come true, "I will fill Hell with Jinns and men all together."
Tafsir
God, exalted be He, says: 'And had We [so] willed, We could have given every soul its [means to] guidance, so that it may be guided through faith and obedience, through its own choice, but My Word became due, and it is that: "Verily I shall fill Hell with jinn and mankind together".
Refutation of Those Who think the Resurrection is unlikely to happen
Allah tells;
وَقَالُوا
And they say:
Allah tells us how the idolators thought it unlikely that the resurrection would ever come to pass, and how they said:
أَيِذَا ضَلَلۡنَا فِي الاَۡرۡضِ
When we are lost in the earth,
meaning, `when our bodies have been scattered and have disintegrated and dispersed in the earth,'
أَيِنَّا لَفِي خَلۡقٍ جَدِيدٍ
shall we indeed be created anew,
means, `after that, will we come back again'
They thought it unlikely that this would happen, and in terms of their own feeble abilities it is indeed unlikely, but this is not the case with regard to the power of the One Who created them from nothing, Who when He wills a thing merely says to it, Be! and it is.
Allah says:
بَلۡ هُم بِلِقَاء رَبِّهِمۡ كَافِرُونَ
Nay, but they deny the meeting with their Lord!)
Then Allah says
قُلۡ يَتَوَفَّاكُم مَّلَكُ الۡمَوۡتِ الَّذِي وُكِّلَ بِكُمۡ
Say:The angel of death, who is set over you, will take your souls...
The apparent meaning of this Ayah is that the angel of death is a specific personality among the angels, as is also apparent from the Hadith of Al-Bara' which we quoted in (our Tafsir of) Surah Ibrahim.
In some reports he (the angel of death) is called `Izra'il, which is well known. This is the view of Qatadah and others.
The angel of death has helpers. It was reported in the Hadith that his helpers draw out the soul from the rest of the body until it reaches the throat, then the angel of death takes it.
Mujahid said,
The earth is brought together for him and it is like a platter from which he takes whenever he wants.
ثُمَّ إِلَى رَبِّكُمۡ تُرۡجَعُونَ
Then you shall be brought to your Lord.
means, on the Day when you are resurrected and brought forth from your graves to receive your reward or punishment
The Bad State in which the Idolators will be on the Day of Resurrection
Allah says;
وَلَوۡ تَرَى إِذِ الۡمُجۡرِمُونَ نَاكِسُو رُوُوسِهِمۡ عِندَ رَبِّهِمۡ
And if you only could see when the criminals shall hang their heads before their Lord, (saying):
Allah tells us the state of the idolators on the Day of Resurrection and what they will say when they see the Resurrection and are standing before Allah -- may He be glorified -- humiliated and brought low, with their heads bowed, i.e., in shame.
They will say:
رَبَّنَا أَبۡصَرۡنَا وَسَمِعۡنَا
Our Lord! We have now seen and heard,
meaning, `now we hear what You say and we will obey You.'
This is like the Ayah,
أَسۡمِعۡ بِهِمۡ وَأَبۡصِرۡ يَوۡمَ يَأۡتُونَنَا
How clearly will they see and hear, the Day when they will appear before Us! (19:38)
And they will blame themselves when they enter the Fire, and will say:
لَوۡ كُنَّا نَسۡمَعُ أَوۡ نَعۡقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِى أَصۡحَـبِ السَّعِيرِ
Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire! (67:10)
Similarly, here they are described as saying:
رَبَّنَا أَبۡصَرۡنَا وَسَمِعۡنَا فَارۡجِعۡنَا
Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back, (to the world),
نَعۡمَلۡ صَالِحًا إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ
that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with certainty.
means, `now we are sure and we believe that Your promise is true and that the meeting with You is true.'
But the Lord, may He be exalted, knows that if He were to send them back to this world, they would behave as they did previously, and they would reject and disbelieve in the signs of Allah and would go against His Messengers, as He says:
وَلَوۡ تَرَى إِذۡ وُقِفُواۡ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواۡ يلَيۡتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا
If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will say:Would that we were but sent back! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our Lord, (6:27)
And Allah says here
وَلَوۡ شِيۡنَا لَاتَيۡنَا كُلَّ نَفۡسٍ هُدَاهَا
And if We had willed, surely We would have given every person his guidance,
This is like the Ayah,
وَلَوۡ شَأءَ رَبُّكَ لامَنَ مَن فِى الاٌّرۡضِ كُلُّهُمۡ جَمِيعًا
And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. (10:99)
وَلَكِنۡ حَقَّ الۡقَوۡلُ مِنِّي لَاَمۡلََنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الۡجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ أَجۡمَعِينَ
but the Word from Me took effect, that I will fill Hell with Jinn and mankind together.
i.e., from both classes, so their abode will be Hell and they will have no escape from it and no way out.
We seek refuge with Allah and in His perfect Words from that
فَذُوقُوا بِمَا نَسِيتُمۡ لِقَاء يَوۡمِكُمۡ هَذَا
Then taste because of your forgetting the meeting of this Day of yours.
means, it will be said to the people of Hell by way of rebuke:`taste this punishment because you denied it and believed that it would never happen; you tried to forget about it and acted as if you had forgotten it.'
إِنَّا نَسِينَاكُمۡ
Surely, We too will forget you,
means, `We will deal with you as if We have forgotten you,' but nothing escapes Allah's attention, and He makes the punishment fit the crime, as He says:
الۡيَوۡمَ نَنسَاكُمۡ كَمَا نَسِيتُمۡ لِقَأءَ يَوۡمِكُمۡ هَـذَا
This Day We will forget you as you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours. (45:34)
وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الۡخُلۡدِ بِمَا كُنتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُونَ
so taste you the abiding torment for what you used to do.
i.e., because of your disbelief and rejection, as Allah says in other Ayat:
لااَّ يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا بَرۡداً وَلَا شَرَاباً
إِلاَّ حَمِيماً وَغَسَّاقاً
Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink. Except Hamim, and Ghassaq) until:
فَلَن نَّزِيدَكُمۡ إِلاَّ عَذَاباً
No increase shall We give you, except in torment. (78:24-30)
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