Tazkirul Quran · Tafsir · in English
Az-Zumar 39:62–75
39:62–66Page 465
ٱللَّهُ خَٰلِقُ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖۖ وَهُوَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ وَكِيلٞ ٦٢
Allāh is the Creator of all things, and He is, over all things, Disposer of affairs.
لَّهُۥ مَقَالِيدُ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِـَٔايَٰتِ ٱللَّهِ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلۡخَٰسِرُونَ ٦٣
To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. And they who disbelieve in the verses of Allāh - it is those who are the losers.
قُلۡ أَفَغَيۡرَ ٱللَّهِ تَأۡمُرُوٓنِّيٓ أَعۡبُدُ أَيُّهَا ٱلۡجَٰهِلُونَ ٦٤
Say, [O Muḥammad], "Is it other than Allāh that you order me to worship, O ignorant ones?"
وَلَقَدۡ أُوحِيَ إِلَيۡكَ وَإِلَى ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبۡلِكَ لَئِنۡ أَشۡرَكۡتَ لَيَحۡبَطَنَّ عَمَلُكَ وَلَتَكُونَنَّ مِنَ ٱلۡخَٰسِرِينَ ٦٥
And it was already revealed to you and to those before you that if you should associate [anything] with Allāh, your work would surely become worthless, and you would surely be among the losers.
بَلِ ٱللَّهَ فَٱعۡبُدۡ وَكُن مِّنَ ٱلشَّٰكِرِينَ ٦٦
Rather, worship [only] Allāh and be among the grateful.
The existence of the Universe is proof of the existence of its Creator. Similarly, the conduct of the affairs of the universe in a meaningful and systematic manner proves that, at all times, a Supreme Caretaker is watching over it. If one gives serious consideration to these things, one will find in the universe the sign of its Creator and also the sign of its Organizer and Designer. Under these circumstances, those who worship beings other than God are indulging in an action which has absolutely no value in the present universe, because as the Creator and Organizer is one and the same, worshipping Him alone will be of avail to man. Worshipping anybody other than that Being amounts to calling upon a totally non-existent entity.
39:67–70Page 465
وَمَا قَدَرُواْ ٱللَّهَ حَقَّ قَدۡرِهِۦ وَٱلۡأَرۡضُ جَمِيعٗا قَبۡضَتُهُۥ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ وَٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتُ مَطۡوِيَّٰتُۢ بِيَمِينِهِۦۚ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُونَ ٦٧
They have not appraised Allāh with true appraisal,1 while the earth entirely will be [within] His grip2 on the Day of Resurrection, and the heavens will be folded in His right hand.3 Exalted is He and high above what they associate with Him.
وَنُفِخَ فِي ٱلصُّورِ فَصَعِقَ مَن فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَمَن فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ إِلَّا مَن شَآءَ ٱللَّهُۖ ثُمَّ نُفِخَ فِيهِ أُخۡرَىٰ فَإِذَا هُمۡ قِيَامٞ يَنظُرُونَ ٦٨
And the Horn will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens and whoever is on the earth will fall dead except whom Allāh wills. Then it will be blown again, and at once they will be standing, looking on.
وَأَشۡرَقَتِ ٱلۡأَرۡضُ بِنُورِ رَبِّهَا وَوُضِعَ ٱلۡكِتَٰبُ وَجِاْيٓءَ بِٱلنَّبِيِّـۧنَ وَٱلشُّهَدَآءِ وَقُضِيَ بَيۡنَهُم بِٱلۡحَقِّ وَهُمۡ لَا يُظۡلَمُونَ ٦٩
And the earth will shine with the light of its Lord, and the record [of deeds] will be placed, and the prophets and the witnesses will be brought, and it will be judged between them in truth, and they will not be wronged.
وَوُفِّيَتۡ كُلُّ نَفۡسٖ مَّا عَمِلَتۡ وَهُوَ أَعۡلَمُ بِمَا يَفۡعَلُونَ ٧٠
And every soul will be fully compensated [for] what it did; and He is most knowing1 of what they do.
The root of many deviations is, in fact, the underestimation of God. Man is lost in admiration of other kinds of greatness, because he is unaware of God’s unlimited Greatness. He considers attachment to great men the means of his salvation. When Doomsday removes the veils over people’s eyes, they will come to know that God was and still is so great that the world could be enclosed in His fist like a small coin and the sky could be wrapped around His hand like an ordinary piece of paper. Just as a bell rings as soon as an examination is over, similarly as soon as the time of the world is over, a trumpet will be blown. After that, the whole system will change. Thereafter, a new world will come into existence. This present world of ours is illuminated by the light of the sun, which is able to show us only tangible things. The world of the Hereafter will be directly illuminated by God’s light (nur). So even the intangible realities of the world will become visible to man’s eyes. At that time, people will be brought in to the Court of God. In the present world, people ignored the prophets and the preachers operating under their guidance. But, in the Hereafter, people will be wonderstruck to find that their future is decided on the basis of the support or rejection of these prophets and preachers.
39:71–72Page 466
وَسِيقَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوٓاْ إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ زُمَرًاۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءُوهَا فُتِحَتۡ أَبۡوَٰبُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ خَزَنَتُهَآ أَلَمۡ يَأۡتِكُمۡ رُسُلٞ مِّنكُمۡ يَتۡلُونَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ ءَايَٰتِ رَبِّكُمۡ وَيُنذِرُونَكُمۡ لِقَآءَ يَوۡمِكُمۡ هَٰذَاۚ قَالُواْ بَلَىٰ وَلَٰكِنۡ حَقَّتۡ كَلِمَةُ ٱلۡعَذَابِ عَلَى ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ ٧١
And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups until, when they reach it, its gates are opened and its keepers will say, "Did there not come to you messengers from yourselves, reciting to you the verses of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say, "Yes, but the word [i.e., decree] of punishment has come into effect upon the disbelievers."
قِيلَ ٱدۡخُلُوٓاْ أَبۡوَٰبَ جَهَنَّمَ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَاۖ فَبِئۡسَ مَثۡوَى ٱلۡمُتَكَبِّرِينَ ٧٢
[To them] it will be said, "Enter the gates of Hell to abide eternally therein, and wretched is the residence of the arrogant."
There are varying degrees in rejecting and ignoring the Truth. In accordance with that would be the degrees or grades of Hell. In the Hereafter, people will be divided into different groups according to their degree and then every group will be put in that part of hell which it deserves. At the time of people’s entry into hell, the conversation that will ensue among the angels watching over Hell has been described in the above verses. The real reason for non-acceptance of the truth by the deniers of truth is always their false pride. However, the pride of the deniers is not really directed against the Truth but against the presenter of the Truth. To a man, the presenter of Truth appears to be a smaller person than himself. Therefore, that man also considers the Truth a smaller thing and contemptuously ignores it.
39:73–75Page 466
وَسِيقَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوۡاْ رَبَّهُمۡ إِلَى ٱلۡجَنَّةِ زُمَرًاۖ حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءُوهَا وَفُتِحَتۡ أَبۡوَٰبُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمۡ خَزَنَتُهَا سَلَٰمٌ عَلَيۡكُمۡ طِبۡتُمۡ فَٱدۡخُلُوهَا خَٰلِدِينَ ٧٣
But those who feared their Lord will be driven to Paradise in groups until, when they reach it while its gates have been opened and its keepers say, "Peace be upon you; you have become pure; so enter it to abide eternally therein," [they will enter].1
وَقَالُواْ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِي صَدَقَنَا وَعۡدَهُۥ وَأَوۡرَثَنَا ٱلۡأَرۡضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ ٱلۡجَنَّةِ حَيۡثُ نَشَآءُۖ فَنِعۡمَ أَجۡرُ ٱلۡعَٰمِلِينَ ٧٤
And they will say, "Praise to Allāh, who has fulfilled for us His promise and made us inherit the earth [so] we may settle in Paradise wherever we will. And excellent is the reward of [righteous] workers."
وَتَرَى ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةَ حَآفِّينَ مِنۡ حَوۡلِ ٱلۡعَرۡشِ يُسَبِّحُونَ بِحَمۡدِ رَبِّهِمۡۚ وَقُضِيَ بَيۡنَهُم بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ وَقِيلَ ٱلۡحَمۡدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلۡعَٰلَمِينَ ٧٥
And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne, exalting [Allāh] with praise of their Lord. And it will be judged between them in truth, and it will be said, "[All] praise to Allāh, Lord of the worlds."
Those who enter Paradise will be such as are God-fearing. If a man discovers the Majesty of God in such a way that he loses the sense of his own greatness, then the natural result of this will be that he will start fearing God. The realisation of his own humbleness vis à vis God’s Powers makes him cautious and fearful. He will become extremely wary in matters concerning God. He will always worry as to how God will treat him in the Hereafter. Those who in this way were ever cautious and fearful in this world will be the ones who will be entitled to the fear-free life of the Hereafter. The people of Paradise will be given the same treatment in the Hereafter as royal guests receive in this world. They will be escorted to their dwellings with utmost honour. When they see Paradise with their own eyes, they will spontaneously utter words of praise and gratitude for God. In Paradise they will not only have grand dwellings but there will also be no restriction on how they divert themselves or socialize. They will be able to move about and make contact with others as they please. The Being who deserves all praises is the Being of God. But in the present world of trial the ‘hymns’ of God are not expressed in the real sense. The Hereafter will be the occasion for a full revelation of the praises of God. At this time the praises of God will be upon every tongue and the atmosphere will resound with hymns praising the Creator. All false greatness will come to an end. There will be only that Being there whose name will be worth taking. There will be only One Greatness in which one may become immersed and whose praises will be recited.
Text: through the Quran Foundation. The ayahs: Quran Foundation. Sources and licences