Al-Baqarah 2:96
The Cow · Juz 1 · Page 15
وَلَتَجِدَنَّهُمۡ أَحۡرَصَ ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ حَيَوٰةٖ وَمِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشۡرَكُواْۚ يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمۡ لَوۡ يُعَمَّرُ أَلۡفَ سَنَةٖ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحۡزِحِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلۡعَذَابِ أَن يُعَمَّرَۗ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرُۢ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٦
And you will surely find them the most greedy of people for life - [even] more than those who associate others with Allāh. One of them wishes that he could be granted life a thousand years, but it would not remove him in the least from the [coming] punishment that he should be granted life. And Allāh is Seeing of what they do.
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Ma'arif al-Qur'an
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Commentary on 2:96
This verse shows the basic weakness of the Jews which did not allow them to accept the challenge proposed in Verse 94, and thus exposes the hollowness of their claim to the blessings of the other world being reserved for them. The Holy Qur'an puts a special emphasis on the fact that the Jews loved physical life much more than did the Arab polytheists. Such an inclination should not have been surprising on the part of the latter, for, after all, they did not believe in the other world, and physical life was the be-all and end-all for them. But the Jews acknowledged the existence of the other world, and even had the illusion that they alone deserved its joys, and yet it was they who, above all others, wished to live in this world as long as possible. This very desire shows how baseless their pretention was, and how they themselves knew that they would have to face the fires of Hell in the other world, and that physical life was, as long as it lasted, a kind of protection against their final fate.
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2:94
قُلۡ إِن كَانَتۡ لَكُمُ ٱلدَّارُ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةُ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ خَالِصَةٗ مِّن دُونِ ٱلنَّاسِ فَتَمَنَّوُاْ ٱلۡمَوۡتَ إِن كُنتُمۡ صَٰدِقِينَ ٩٤
Say, [O Muḥammad], "If the home of the Hereafter with Allāh is for you alone and not the [other] people, then wish for death, if you should be truthful."
2:95
وَلَن يَتَمَنَّوۡهُ أَبَدَۢا بِمَا قَدَّمَتۡ أَيۡدِيهِمۡۚ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمُۢ بِٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ ٩٥
But never will they wish for it, ever, because of what their hands have put forth. And Allāh is Knowing of the wrongdoers.
2:96
وَلَتَجِدَنَّهُمۡ أَحۡرَصَ ٱلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ حَيَوٰةٖ وَمِنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَشۡرَكُواْۚ يَوَدُّ أَحَدُهُمۡ لَوۡ يُعَمَّرُ أَلۡفَ سَنَةٖ وَمَا هُوَ بِمُزَحۡزِحِهِۦ مِنَ ٱلۡعَذَابِ أَن يُعَمَّرَۗ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرُۢ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُونَ ٩٦
And you will surely find them the most greedy of people for life - [even] more than those who associate others with Allāh. One of them wishes that he could be granted life a thousand years, but it would not remove him in the least from the [coming] punishment that he should be granted life. And Allāh is Seeing of what they do.
2:97
قُلۡ مَن كَانَ عَدُوّٗا لِّـجِبۡرِيلَ فَإِنَّهُۥ نَزَّلَهُۥ عَلَىٰ قَلۡبِكَ بِإِذۡنِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٗا لِّمَا بَيۡنَ يَدَيۡهِ وَهُدٗى وَبُشۡرَىٰ لِلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ ٩٧
Say, "Whoever is an enemy to Gabriel - it is [none but] he who has brought it [i.e., the Qur’ān] down upon your heart, [O Muḥammad], by permission of Allāh, confirming that which was before it and as guidance and good tidings for the believers."
2:98
مَن كَانَ عَدُوّٗا لِّلَّهِ وَمَلَٰٓئِكَتِهِۦ وَرُسُلِهِۦ وَجِبۡرِيلَ وَمِيكَىٰلَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ عَدُوّٞ لِّلۡكَٰفِرِينَ ٩٨
Whoever is an enemy to Allāh and His angels and His messengers and Gabriel and Michael - then indeed, Allāh is an enemy to the disbelievers.
2:99
وَلَقَدۡ أَنزَلۡنَآ إِلَيۡكَ ءَايَٰتِۭ بَيِّنَٰتٖۖ وَمَا يَكۡفُرُ بِهَآ إِلَّا ٱلۡفَٰسِقُونَ ٩٩
And We have certainly revealed to you verses [which are] clear proofs, and no one would deny them except the defiantly disobedient.
2:100
أَوَكُلَّمَا عَٰهَدُواْ عَهۡدٗا نَّبَذَهُۥ فَرِيقٞ مِّنۡهُمۚ بَلۡ أَكۡثَرُهُمۡ لَا يُؤۡمِنُونَ ١٠٠
Is it not [true] that every time they took a covenant a party of them threw it away? But, [in fact], most of them do not believe.
2:101
وَلَمَّا جَآءَهُمۡ رَسُولٞ مِّنۡ عِندِ ٱللَّهِ مُصَدِّقٞ لِّمَا مَعَهُمۡ نَبَذَ فَرِيقٞ مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ ٱلۡكِتَٰبَ كِتَٰبَ ٱللَّهِ وَرَآءَ ظُهُورِهِمۡ كَأَنَّهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُونَ ١٠١
And when a messenger from Allāh came to them confirming that which was with them, a party of those who had been given the Scripture threw the Scripture of Allāh [i.e., the Torah] behind their backs as if they did not know [what it contained].