Surah Ibrahim 14:22-27 - Quran Translation Commentary

22. And when the judgment will be given Satan will say: “Verily Allah promised you a promise of truth; and I promised you but I betrayed you.²⁹ And I had no authority over you except that I called to you and you obeyed me.³⁰ So do not reproach me, reproach yourselves. I cannot respond to your cry for help, nor can you respond to my cry for help. Verily I deny your earlier (attempt at) associating me with Allah.³¹ Surely for wrongdoers is painful punishment.

23. And those who believed and performed good deeds will be made to enter Gardens underneath which rivers flow-to dwell therein for ever with the permission of their Lord. Their greeting therein will be ‘Peace.’³²

24. Have you not contemplated how Allah has given the example of the holy Kalimah word? like a good tree, its root set firm, its branches reaching to the sky.

25. It brings forth its fruit at all times³³ by command of its Lord. Allah provides the examples for mankind so that they may understand.

26. And the example of an evil kalimah (word) is like that of an evil tree, it is uprooted from the surface of the earth, it has no stability .³⁴

27. Allah keeps firm those who believe with the firm word in the life of this world and (also) in the Hereafter,³⁵ and Allah will cause to the wrong-doers go astray. And Allah does what He wills.³⁶

Commentary

29. When the Divine Court will deliver its final judgment as to who deserves to be rewarded and who to be punished, Satan will admit before all his followers that the promise which Allah had made about the occurrence of the Hereafter is quite true and whatever has happened that day was according to that, but the assurances which he had given them were all false and untrue. This confession of Satan will be a great blow for his followers, and it would add to their disgrace and disappointment.

It may be noted that the promises of Satan are those ideas which Satan plants in the hearts (minds) of people, e.g. if you invoke such and such person or idol, they would come to your help, and these personalities would be intercessors on your behalf before God, that the journey of life ends in this world and there is no life hereafter, therefore, enjoy as much as you can in the world. Such and other kinds of ideas are put in human minds by Satan, and when a man accepts these it becomes his line of thinking. In the modern times Satan has adopted new style to influence the human mind, he says: “God was created by man, otherwise He does not exist”, “Religion is a neurotic disease,” “To accept what we do not know is wrong, “Matter exists by itself and life is a dialectic reality, “ etc. etc.

30. Allah has not granted power to Satan to enable him to compel men to accept his misguidance and to act on his evil suggestions. What he can do at the most is to invite men towards evil and may entice and prompt them to do evil acts. Therefore, man cannot escape by putting the blame on Satan. Man himself is responsible for his own acts.

31. The meaning of Satan’s saying that earlier you had associated me with Allah is that in the world you had been obeying me in a manner in which Allah is obeyed. On my saying you denied monotheism, declared other than Allah as god, belied the Divine messengers, rejected Hereafter, denied the Shariah and gave the reins of your life in my hands so that I might run your life as I might wish. Thus you gave me the position of your god.

32. That is: In the Paradise the people of faith will be greeted with the salutation of ‘Peace’, and from every side this greeting of peace will be raised. Whenever they would meet, they would greet each other with salutation of peace. It can be imagined what a dignified life would be led by the people of faith in the Paradise, and how peaceful would be the atmosphere there. As against this the people in the Hell would be reproaching each other and they would receive curses from every side.

33. Kalimah tayyibah (holy Kalimah) means good and chaste words, which is the kalimah of monotheism, the foundation of the Islamic belief and the basis of faith. It has been likened to a good tree, whose roots are firmly fixed in the ground, and its branches are spread in the heaven. In other words, on the foundation of the Kalimah tawheed (monotheism) a huge tree of acts comes into existence, and the acts being righteous, the branches grow and achieve great heights, then as this ideal tree gives fruits every time in the same way the benefits of the kalimah of monotheism are available all the time, and in the Hereafter the manifestation of its fruits and blessings will be in the form of everlasting bounties.

34. Kalimah khabitha (evil kalimah) means evil words, false saying, whether it be polytheistic, atheistic, or talk of disbelief. It is likened to an evil tree, a vegetation which has no roots fixed in the ground. Similarly the roots of the evil tree are not fixed in the human nature, therefore, it can be easily rooted out. It is a useless kalimah, which deprives man of righteous acts, it provides nothing but distress and disappointment in the Hereafter.

35. By a firm word is meant the kalimah of tawheed (monotheism). The ayah means that those who adopt the word of monotheism, i.e. who believe in one God, they are provided with a strong foundation. On this foundation their beliefs get strength, their ideas and character become steadfast and firm. In this way in this battlefield of life Allah gives them strength and steadfastness, and when they reach their graves, i.e. the world of Barzakh, there also they get firmness. In a hadith the Prophet has said:

“When a Muslim is questioned in his grave, he gives witness that there is no god but Allah and Muhammad is Allah’s messenger. This is the point about which it is stated: ‘ Allah keeps firm those who believe with the firm word in the life of this world and also in the Hereafter’

“(Bukhari, Kitabut Tafseer).

Similarly, they will have firmness in their stance on the Day of Judgment, on account of which they will enjoy everlasting success.

36. What Allah wills is in keeping with His wisdom, and all His decisions are wise.