Surah Ghafir 40:10-20 - Quran Translation Commentary

(40:10) Surely, those who committed disbelief will be called, ‘Indeed, Allah’s hatred was greater than your hatred for yourselves (now), when you were called unto belief but you were refusing.¹⁵

(40:11) They will say, ‘Our Lord, You dealt us death twice and quickened us twice.¹⁶ Now we have confessed our sins, is there now a way out?’¹⁷

(40:12) ‘That is because when Allah alone was invoked you disbelieved, but when He was associated with, you would believe.¹⁸ The judgment then rests with Allah, the Exalted, the Great.‘

(40:13) It is He who shows you His signs¹⁹ and sends down to you out of heaven provision.²⁰ Yet, none but the penitent draw admonition.

(40:14) Therefore, call unto Allah making religion pure for Him, even though the unbelievers be averse.²¹

(40:15) High of Status,²² Master of the `Arsh.²³ He sends down the Spirit²⁴ by His will upon whomsoever He will of His servants, that he might²⁵ warn of the Day of Encounter.²⁶

(40:16) The Day whereon they come forth,²⁷ nothing concerning them is hidden from Allah.²⁸ Whose is the Kingdom today? For Allah, the One, the Compeller.²⁹

(40:17) Today, every soul shall be recompensed for what it earned. No injustice today. Verily, Allah is swift at the reckoning.

(40:18) Warn them against the Approaching Day when the hearts are at the throats,³⁰ choked.³¹ None there is for the transgressors of an intimate friend or an intercessor to be heeded.³²

(40:19) He knows the treachery of the eyes³³ and what the breasts conceal.

(40:20) Allah judges with Truth, while those they invoke besides Him, judge not by aught.³⁴ Indeed, Allah is the All-hearing, the All-observing.

Commentary

15. That is, Allah’s hatred of them was greater that day when they were offered His message but they turned a blind eye to it, than their own hatred of themselves now, in the Hereafter, when they have seen the consequences of their denial (Mujahid, Qatadah, Suddi: Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

The caller could be angels, or even the Keepers of Hell seeing the unbelievers seething with anger engulfed by the flames of Hell (several commentators).

16. The Salaf have pointed out that this verse holds the same meaning as that of Al-Baqarah which said (2: 28),“How can you disbelieve in Allah seeing you were (once) lifeless, then He gave you life; then, He shall cause you to die and quicken you (again), and then unto Him you will be returned” (Ibn Jarir, Ibn Kathir).

The meaning given there holds good here. That is, ‘You were dust before you were created: that was the first death. Then He quickened you and gave you life: that was the first life. Then you will die and will be returned to dust: this will be the second death. Finally, you have been resurrected on this day of Judgment: this is the second life. Thus, in total, two deaths and two lives.

But Imam Razi is of the opinion that the allusion is to the life and death of this world, and life and death of the grave.

17. That is, seeing that You gave us multiple lives and deaths in the past, could you give us another death now, and a new life on the earth so that we could lead a life of obedience and devotion? (Au.).

This statement of the unbelievers on the Day of Judgment will not be out of repentance, regret and the resolve to reform themselves, but rather, out of shock and an effort to escape the consequences. Hence the negative reply (Zamakhshari).

18. Allah (swt) gives the reason why their return will not profit them. Already, when Allah alone was invoked, they hated to hear it: “That is because when Allah alone was invoked you disbelieved, but when He was associated with, you would believe.” As He said elsewhere (6: 28),“If they are returned, they will return to what they were prohibited. They are indeed liars ” (Ibn Kathir).

19. The heaven and the earth, the sun and the moon, the winds and the stars, the clouds and vapors, the rivers and springs, the trees and mountains, the days and the nights, the rains and drought, and, the ruins of the nations destroyed, are all signs of Allah that He has spread around for people to draw lessons of His existence and Oneness.

20. “It is He who shows you His signs and sends down to you out of heaven provision”: The manifestation of the signs gives life to the soul, just as sending down of the provision gives life to the body (Razi).

21. The Qur’anic words remind Ibn Kathir of the words the Prophet used to say after the termination of every Prayer. He would say,“There is no deity save One Allah. He has no partners. His is the Kingdom and for Him the Praise; and He has power over all things. There is no power nor strength save with Allah. There is no deity save Allah. We do not worship but Allah. His is the blessing, and His the bounty. And for Him the good praise. There is no deity save Allah: being sincere in religion even though the unbelievers be averse.”

The report is in Muslim (Au.).

22. A meaning attributed to “darajat” is “sifat”, i.e., He who is of High Attributes (Qurtubi, Shawkani, Shafi` and others).

The word “Rafi`” also carries the connotation of “He who raises the status” – of the Prophets, martyrs, the righteous and others (Razi, Qurtubi, Shawkani).

23. `Arsh is a huge body that covers everything below it (Ibn Jarir).

Dhu al-`Arsh: That is, the Creator, Owner and Master of it; that is, of power and kingdom. It is said, “So and so lost His `Arsh” meaning, he lost the power and control of his kingdom (Razi and Qurtubi).

24. The allusion at this point by the textual term “ruh” is to the Qur’an, as Allah said elsewhere (42: 52), “That is how We have revealed to you a Spirit by our command” (Ibn Jarir). And the Revelation has been called “the Spirit” because it gives life to the soul (Qurtubi), just as the spirit (soul) gives life to the body (Razi).

25. The pronoun in “li-yundhira” can be understood in three ways: “so that he may warn” (i.e., the Prophet), or, “that He may warn” (i.e., Allah), or “that it (the Qur’an) may warn” (Zamakhshari, Qurtubi).

26. "The day of Encounter:" The day when people will meet their Lord, the day when they will meet each other, when the oppressor will meet the oppressed, the day when the inhabitants of the earth will meet the inhabitants of the heavens, the day when people will meet with their deeds (Qurtubi).

27. The textual word is “barizuna” meaning, the people will be in clear view of each other. One would say, “baraza fulanun” to mean, 'he came into view,' such as when he appears at the horizon (Au.).

28. Nothing is ever hidden from Allah. But this fact was not apparent to them in the world. In the words of the Qur’an itself (41: 22), “But you guessed that Allah does not know much of what you do."

On that day the realization will strike them hard “that nothing concerning them is hidden from Allah” (Razi).

29. Ibn Mas`ud has said that people will be resurrected on a plain, newly created earth, resembling a molded sliver (plate), over which no sin would have been committed. As they will be gathered together, someone will call out, “Whose is the Kingdom today?” Mankind – both believers as well as unbelievers - will reply, “For Allah, the One, the Compeller.” The believers will say this with pleasure, while the unbelievers in painful realization (Qurtubi, Alusi, Shawkani).

Mawdudi quotes an anecdote in connection with this verse. When the Samanid ruler Nasr b. Ahmad (301-331 A.H.) entered Nisapur he held court and after accepting the throne desired that the proceedings be initiated with Qur’anic recitation. An elderly person came forward and recited this very passage. When he reached this verse, “Whose is the Kingdom today?” Nasr was struck with awe. He came down the throne, took off the crown and fell into prostration saying, “My Lord, Kingdom is yours not mine.”

(Nowadays one hardly comes across a faqir who is moved with awe by thoughts of Allah’s Power: Au.).

30. The situation could both be figurative, expressing extreme fear, as well as real, in the sense that the hearts torn from their places and choking the unbelievers in their throats (Razi). Perhaps it would be a situation of perpetual heart-attack (Au.).

31. Choked with fear, suppressing mounting anger and frustration, ready to burst out, but without the ability to express any of it in words or action (Au.).

32. How can a faithless people faced up with a new situation on this Day look upon the faithful for intercession? Aren’t these the very people who were the object of their scorn in the previous life? There is another factor too, the most important, which they completely neglected: their Lord. Even if they could find someone to intercede for them, the intercessors will not be heeded, for the affair involves the unbelievers and their Lord and none else. Other creations might as well keep their distance (Au.).

33. The furtive glance of a man, for instance, at a woman when others around him are unaware (several commentators).

It is reported that `Abdullah b. Sa`d b. Abi Sarh was one of those who were ordered killed at the fall of Makkah. After the victory, he concealed himself in `Uthman’s house. The latter brought him to the Prophet saying that the man had surrendered and was ready for allegiance. The Prophet looked at him but said nothing. `Uthman repeated the request. The Prophet raised his eyes, looked at him but said nothing. At the third time he accepted his allegiance. Later he told his Companions, “Was there not a rightly guided man among you to see that I was refusing to accept his allegiance, and so kill him?” Someone answered, “Why did you not, Messenger of Allah, signal with your eye?” He answered,“It is not becoming of a Prophet that he should have treacherous eyes” (Qurtubi, Shawkani).

The report is in Abu Da’ud and is Sahih (S.Ibrahim).

34. Majid points to the misconceptions of the Christians in this regard. He writes: “This repudiates the Christian doctrine of Jesus being the Judge and Arbiter. Cf. the NT:- ‘For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.’ (Matt. 16: 27). [And], ‘When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats at the left. Then the King will say to those at his right hand, `Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.’ (Matt. 25: 31-34).”

The “sheep” of the above context are of course the Christians, who by far, have proved themselves the most ferocious of all nations when it comes to murder and mayhem: whether between themselves or against nations other than theirs. The atrocities let loose by the Church during the Inquisition in the Middle-ages led to the killing of 55 million Christians. But this is only the tip of the ice-berg that historical works have recorded of the so-called sheep (Au.).