The Light of the Holy Qur'an Interpretation of Sura Maryam (mary)

Commentary : Verse 68.69.70

68- فَوَرَبّـِكَ لَنَحْشُرَنَّهُمْ وَالشَّيَاطِينَ ثُمَّ لَنُحْضِرَنَّهُمْ حَوْلَ جَهَنَّمَ جِثِيّاً

69- ثُمَّ لَنَنزِعَنَّ مِن كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ أَيُّهُمْ أَشَدُّ عَلَى الرَّحْمَنِ عِتِيّاً

70- ثُمَّ لَنَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِالَّذِينَ هُمْ أَوْلَى بِهَا صِلِيّاً

  1. " So by your Lord, We shall surely muster them, and the Satans (with them), then We shall cause them to be present round Hell on their knees."

  2. " Then shall We pick out from every group whichever of them was more intensely rebellious against the Beneficent (Allah)."

  3. " Again We do know best those who deserve most to be burnt therein."

Commentary:

In the first holy verse, the Qur'an, with a very sharp tone, threatens the deniers of Resurrection and faithless sinners, when it says:

" So by your Lord, We shall surely muster them, and the Satans (with them), …"

In many occurrences of the Qur'an, Allah has sworn to His creatures, but, for the Resurrection, He has sworn to His Holy Essence.

Then, in this very verse the Qur'an continues saying:

"… then We shall cause them to be present round Hell on their knees."

This verse denotes that the court of faithless persons and that of the sinners are nigh to Hell.

The Arabic term /ji?iyya/ (regarding the fact that /ji?iyy/ is the plural form of /ja?i/ which means a person who has sat on his knees) may refer to their weakness, disability, disgrace, and despicableness. As if they have not ability to stand on their feet. This term, of course, has some other meanings, too. Among them is that some commentators have rendered the term /ji?iyy/ into people 'in crowds', and some others have meant it into 'masses', and to be 'heaped up', like some soil and stones. But the first meaning is more fitting and more famous.

Since in that court of justice priorities are regarded, by the next verse the Qur'an implies that the most rebellious ones will be picked out first. The verse says:

" Then shall We pick out from every group whichever of them was more intensely rebellious against the Beneficent (Allah)."

The same impudent ones, that even forgot the merits of the Beneficent Allah, began rebelling and acting rudely before their Benefactor. Yes, such people are the most deserved ones to the Fire of Hell.

This meaning has been emphasize on again in the next holy verse, where it says:

" Again We do know best those who deserve most to be burnt therein."

The Qur'an indicates that Allah (s.w.t.) will pick out them properly and no mistake may happen in this picking out.

The Qur'anic word /siliyy/ means both 'to lighten a fire', and 'the thing which is burnt by means of fire'.

Commentary : Verse 71.72

71- وَإِن مّـِنكُمْ إِلاَّ وَارِدُهَا كَانَ عَلَى رَبّـِكَ حَتْماً مَقْضِيّاً

72- ثُمَّ نُنَجّـِى الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا وَنَذَرُ الظَّالِمِينَ فِيهَا جِثِيّاً

  1. " And (there is) not one of you but shall come to it (Hell). This is, with your Lord, a fixed decree."

  2. " Then We shall rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the unjust therein on their knees."

Commentary:

The couple of verses mentioned in the above, also continue the discussion about the specialties of Resurrection and the people's rewards and retributions.

At first, it has pointed to a matter about which most people may surprise to hear. It says:

" And (there is) not one of you but shall come to it (Hell). …"

This is a certain matter and a decisive command with your Lord Who has decreed it. The verse says:

"…This is, with your Lord, a fixed decree."

" Then We shall rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the unjust therein on their knees."

Commenting on these two verses, it must be remarked that all human beings, with no exception, will enter Hell, whether they are good doers or evildoers, but Hell will be cold and safe for the good-doers, in the same manner that the fire of Numrud was for Abraham. The reason of it is that Fire of Hell does not have any general resemblance to them. It seems the Fire gets away from them and runs away, and wherever they are, it dies out. But, the people of Hell, who correlate to Hell-fire, like an inflammable material when reaches a fire, will immediately inflame.

In fact, seeing Hell and its chastisements will be a preparation for believers that they enjoy the utmost pleasure from the bounties of Heaven, and on the contrary, the people of Hell, by seeing the safety of the people of Heaven, feel their punishment more painful.

Some Islamic Traditions:

  1. It has been narrated that some one asked Jabir-ibn-'Abdillah 'Ansari about the meaning of this verse. He pointed with his two fingers to his two ears and said: "I heard a matter from the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) by these ears of mine both of which may become deaf if I tell a lie. He (p.b.u.h.) said: '/wariduha/ (come to it (Hell)) means 'enter into it'. There will be no good doer and no evildoer but he will enter into it (Hell). Then it (Fire) will be cold and safe for the believers, the same as it was for Abraham; so that 'Fire' or 'Hell' (Jabir was doubtful) will cry because of its coldness. Then Allah will rescue those who kept from evil, and leave the unjust therein on their knees'."(1)

But, the compiler of the commentary of Atyab-ul-Bayan, upon the commentary of this verse, says:

It seems, and there are many Islamic tradition on it, and is among the self-evident knowledge of the religion that the question of 'Sirat?' (path, way) is the 'bridge' of Hell, through which the people of Heaven must pass. Coming to this path is the same as entering into Hell and passing from it is a rescue.

1- Nur-uth-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 353

Thus, the meaning of "And (there is) not one of you but shall come to it (Hell)" is 'entering on the Path'.

There is an expressive saying upon the bridge of the Path (S?irat) in Islamic traditions which denotes there is a bridge over Hell leading to Paradise which is thinner than a hair, sharper than the blade of a sword. This meaning is another evidence for this commentary, and it has been verified and supported by a lot of the commentators of two great sects of Islam.

  1. Another tradition narrated from the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) indicates that he said: "On the Day of Judgment, Hell-Fire will tell the believer 'Pass quickly, O' believer! Verily your light has extinguished my flame'."

  2. It has been cited in Tafsir-i-Tabari: "One day, when 'Abdullah-ibn-Rawah?ah was sick, he was crying and his wife, seeing him, began weeping. 'Abdullah asked her why she was weeping. She answered it was because of his weeping. 'Abdullah said that he was crying for this word of Allah Who said: 'And (there is) not one of you but shall come to it (Hell)'. Our arrival is certain, but 'Abdullah does not know whether he will rescue or not."

  3. The Messenger of Allah (p.b.u.h.) said: "On the Day of Hereafter, all human being (good and evil) will enter Hell, but Fire will not harm the believers, like Abraham for whom the fire became cold."

1- At-Tafsir-ul-MuNur, p. 145; Zad-ul-Masir, Commentary, vol. 5, p. 256; Rauh-ul-Ma'ani by 'Alusi, vol. 16, p. 133; Tafsir-i-Safi, p. 290, Tafsir-i-Jami'-ul-Bayan, p. 110, Tafsir-i-Mazhari, vol. 6, p. 112; Tafsir-i-Jawami'-ul-Jami', narrated by Ibn-Mas'ud, Hassan Basri, and Ibn-Abbas, Tafsir-i-Th?'alibi, vol. 3, p. 17;

2- Nur-uth-Thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 353 and vol. 5, p.572

3- Recorded in the most commentary books of the Sunnite

Therefore, the verse under discussion, which announces that the arrival of all into Hell is certain, does not contrast the verses which indicate believers are far from Hell, because, on one side they enter Hell, and, on another side, by the grace of Allah, no harm reaches them.

Moreover, Allamah Tabatabaie cites in Al-Mizan: there will be none of the righteous and the unjust but soon will be on the edge and precipice of Fire, then Allah will rescue the pious ones and will let the unjust remain in it.

O' Allah! By Your Grace and Mercy, and by the grandeur of the rank of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) and Ahl-ul-Bayt (a.s.) with You, count us not among the people of Hell, and assign no Fire upon us, but by Your beneficence and Your forgiveness count us among the people of Paradise!

Commentary : Verse 73.74

73- وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَاتُنَا بَيّـِنَاتٍ قَالَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا أَيُّ الْفَرِيقَيْنِ خَيْرٌ مَقَاماً وَأَحْسَنُ نَدِيّاً

74- وَكَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا قَبْلَهُم مِن قَرْنٍ هُمْ أَحْسَنُ أَثَاثاً وَرِءْياً

  1. " And when Our clear revelations are recited unto them, those who disbelieve say to those who believe: 'Which of the two parties is better in station and fairer in assembly'?"

  2. " And how many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were better in equipment and outward appearance!”

Commentary:

The Arabic term /nadiyy/ is applied for any assembly, or for the assembly of consultation, derived from which is /dar-un-nudwah/ with the meaning of 'a deliberative assembly'.

Following the discussion about the faithless unjust people, mentioned in the former verses, here the verse refers to a part of their logic and their fate.

It is known that the first group who believed in the Prophet of Islam (p.b.u.h.) were the pure-hearted oppressed people who were poor.

Since the criterion of value in the ignorant society of that time, like any other ignorant society, was wealth and force, money and rank, and the outside appearance, the cruel rich persons prided themselves to the poor believers. They told them that the sign of their own personality was with them, and the sign of the believers, which was their poverty and deprivation, was with them, too. That itself, they said, was the evidence to their rightfulness and the lack of rightfulness of the poor ones. The Qur'an in this regard says:

" And when Our clear revelations are recited unto them, those who disbelieve say to those who believe: 'Which of the two parties is better in station and fairer in assembly'?"

But the Qur'an, with a complete reasonable statement, and in the meantime, with a decisive and mighty tone, answers them as follows that as if they have forgotten the past history of human. It says:

" And how many a generation have We destroyed before them, who were better in equipment and outward appearance!"

Could their money, their plenty of wealth, their glorious assemblies, their costly clothing, and their fine appearances hinder the divine punishment?

Explanations:

  1. The Arabic word /'a?a?/ means 'furniture' and the possibilities and comforts of life. The word /ri'ya/ is used for 'that which pleases the eye'. The Qur'anic term /qarn/ is applied for 'a group of people who live for a long time with together'.

  2. The historical changes have been based on the ordinances that Allah has assigned.

  3. The material possibilities are neither the sign of happiness nor hinder the wrath of Allah.

  4. Wealth and possibilities are often the factor of pride, negligence, inordinacy, and, finally, perdition.