Al-Ahzab 33:66
The Combined Forces · Juz 22 · Page 427
يَوۡمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمۡ فِي ٱلنَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يَٰلَيۡتَنَآ أَطَعۡنَا ٱللَّهَ وَأَطَعۡنَا ٱلرَّسُولَا۠ ٦٦
The Day their faces will be turned about in the Fire, they will say, "How we wish we had obeyed Allāh and obeyed the Messenger."
Tafsir · in English
Ibn Kathir (abridged)
Medium · The classic, abridged: ayahs explained by ayahs and hadith.
Change
Commentary on 33:63–68
No One knows when the Day of Resurrection will come except Allah
Here Allah tells His Messenger that he cannot know when the Hour will come, and if people ask him about that, He instructs him to refer the matter to Allah, may He be exalted, as Allah says in Surat Al-A`raf, even though that was revealed in Makkah and this Surah was revealed in Al-Madinah. Allah continues to tell him to refer this matter to the One Who knows about it, but He tells him that it is at hand, as He says:
وَمَا يُدْرِيكَ لَعَلَّ السَّاعَةَ تَكُونُ قَرِيباً
(What do you know It may be that the Hour is near!) This is like the Ayat:
اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ
(The Hour has drawn near, and the moon has been cleft asunder.) 54:1
اقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَبُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِى غَفْلَةٍ مُّعْرِضُونَ
(Draws near for mankind their reckoning, while they turn away in heedlessness.) 21:1
أَتَى أَمْرُ اللَّهِ فَلاَ تَسْتَعْجِلُوهُ
(The Event (the Hour) ordained by Allah will come to pass, so seek not to hasten it) 16:1.
The Curse on the Disbelievers and its Eternity and their Regret
Then Allah says:
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَنَ الْكَفِرِينَ
(Verily, Allah has cursed the disbelievers,) means, He has distanced them from His mercy.
وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ سَعِيراً
(and has prepared for them a flaming Fire (Hell).) means, in the Hereafter. e
خَلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَداً
(Wherein they will abide forever,) means, they will stay there forever and ever, never leaving or finding relief from it.
لاَّ يَجِدُونَ وَلِيّاً وَلاَ نَصِيراً
(and they will find neither a a protector nor a helper.) means, they will have no saviour to help them or rescue them from their predicament. Then Allah says:
يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِى النَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يلَيْتَنَآ أَطَعْنَا اللَّهَ وَأَطَعْنَا الرَّسُولاَ
(On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire, they will say: "Oh, would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger.") means, they will be dragged into the Fire on their faces and their faces will be contorted in Hell, and in that state they will wish that they had been among those who had obeyed Allah and His Messenger in this world. Allah describes how they will be in the Hereafter:
وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ الظَّلِمُ عَلَى يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يلَيْتَنِى اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلاً - يوَيْلَتَا لَيْتَنِى لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلاَناً خَلِيلاً
لَّقَدْ أَضَلَّنِى عَنِ الذِّكْرِ بَعْدَ إِذْ جَآءَنِى وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَنُ لِلإِنْسَنِ خَذُولاً
(And the Day when the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as an intimate friend! He indeed led me astray from the Reminder after it had come to me. And Shaytan is to man ever a deserter in the hour of need.") (25:27-29)
رُّبَمَا يَوَدُّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوْ كَانُواْ مُسْلِمِينَ
(How much would those who disbelieved wish that they had been Muslims.) (15:2) And here too, Allah tells us that when they are in this state, they will wish that they had obeyed Allah and His Messenger in this world:
وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّآ أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَآءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلاْ
(And they will say: "Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way.") Tawus said: " `Our chiefs' means their nobles and `our great ones' means their scholars."
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ
(Our Lord! Give them double torment) means, `for their disbelief and because they mislead us.' Abu Al-Qasim At-Tabarani recorded from Abu Rafi` that among the names of those who fought with `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, was Al-Hajjaj bin `Amr bin Ghaziyah, and he was the one who, when they met, said; "O people of the Ansar! Do you want to say when we meet our Lord:
وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّآ أَطَعْنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَآءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا السَّبِيلاْ - رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِهِمْ ضِعْفَيْنِ مِنَ الْعَذَابِ وَالْعَنْهُمْ لَعْناً كَبِيراً
(Our Lord! Verily, we obeyed our chiefs and our great ones, and they misled us from the way. Our Lord! Give them double torment and curse them with a mighty curse!)"
Page 427
33:63
يَسۡـَٔلُكَ ٱلنَّاسُ عَنِ ٱلسَّاعَةِۖ قُلۡ إِنَّمَا عِلۡمُهَا عِندَ ٱللَّهِۚ وَمَا يُدۡرِيكَ لَعَلَّ ٱلسَّاعَةَ تَكُونُ قَرِيبًا ٦٣
People ask you concerning the Hour. Say, "Knowledge of it is only with Allāh. And what may make you perceive? Perhaps the Hour is near."
33:64
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَعَنَ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمۡ سَعِيرًا ٦٤
Indeed, Allāh has cursed the disbelievers and prepared for them a Blaze.
33:65
خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَدٗاۖ لَّا يَجِدُونَ وَلِيّٗا وَلَا نَصِيرٗا ٦٥
Abiding therein forever, they will not find a protector or a helper.
33:66
يَوۡمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمۡ فِي ٱلنَّارِ يَقُولُونَ يَٰلَيۡتَنَآ أَطَعۡنَا ٱللَّهَ وَأَطَعۡنَا ٱلرَّسُولَا۠ ٦٦
The Day their faces will be turned about in the Fire, they will say, "How we wish we had obeyed Allāh and obeyed the Messenger."
33:67
وَقَالُواْ رَبَّنَآ إِنَّآ أَطَعۡنَا سَادَتَنَا وَكُبَرَآءَنَا فَأَضَلُّونَا ٱلسَّبِيلَا۠ ٦٧
And they will say, "Our Lord, indeed we obeyed our masters and our dignitaries,1 and they led us astray from the [right] way.
1 translator’s note
- Also interpreted to mean "our noble ones and our elders [i.e., distinguished scholars]." ↩
33:68
رَبَّنَآ ءَاتِهِمۡ ضِعۡفَيۡنِ مِنَ ٱلۡعَذَابِ وَٱلۡعَنۡهُمۡ لَعۡنٗا كَبِيرٗا ٦٨
Our Lord, give them double the punishment and curse them with a great curse."
33:69
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَكُونُواْ كَٱلَّذِينَ ءَاذَوۡاْ مُوسَىٰ فَبَرَّأَهُ ٱللَّهُ مِمَّا قَالُواْۚ وَكَانَ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ وَجِيهٗا ٦٩
O you who have believed, be not like those who abused Moses; then Allāh cleared him of what they said. And he, in the sight of Allāh, was distinguished.
33:70
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ وَقُولُواْ قَوۡلٗا سَدِيدٗا ٧٠
O you who have believed, fear Allāh and speak words of appropriate justice.
33:71
يُصۡلِحۡ لَكُمۡ أَعۡمَٰلَكُمۡ وَيَغۡفِرۡ لَكُمۡ ذُنُوبَكُمۡۗ وَمَن يُطِعِ ٱللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُۥ فَقَدۡ فَازَ فَوۡزًا عَظِيمًا ٧١
He will [then] amend for you your deeds and forgive you your sins. And whoever obeys Allāh and His Messenger has certainly attained a great attainment.
33:72
إِنَّا عَرَضۡنَا ٱلۡأَمَانَةَ عَلَى ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَٱلۡجِبَالِ فَأَبَيۡنَ أَن يَحۡمِلۡنَهَا وَأَشۡفَقۡنَ مِنۡهَا وَحَمَلَهَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُۖ إِنَّهُۥ كَانَ ظَلُومٗا جَهُولٗا ٧٢
Indeed, We offered the Trust1 to the heavens and the earth and the mountains, and they declined to bear it and feared it; but man [undertook to] bear it. Indeed, he was unjust and ignorant.2
33:73
لِّيُعَذِّبَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡمُنَٰفِقِينَ وَٱلۡمُنَٰفِقَٰتِ وَٱلۡمُشۡرِكِينَ وَٱلۡمُشۡرِكَٰتِ وَيَتُوبَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَى ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِينَ وَٱلۡمُؤۡمِنَٰتِۗ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ غَفُورٗا رَّحِيمَۢا ٧٣
[It1 was] so that Allāh may punish the hypocrite men and hypocrite women and the men and women who associate others with Him and that Allāh may accept repentance from the believing men and believing women. And ever is Allāh Forgiving and Merciful.
1 translator’s note
- The reason for which mankind was permitted to carry the Trust. ↩
Translation: Saheeh International · Text and layout: Quran Foundation · Mushaf fonts: King Fahd Complex, provided by Quran Foundation · Privacy