Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 26 Ash-Shu'ara, Ayat 90-102

وَاُزۡلِفَتِ الۡجَـنَّةُ لِلۡمُتَّقِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:90﴾ وَبُرِّزَتِ الۡجَحِيۡمُ لِلۡغٰوِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:91﴾ وَقِيۡلَ لَهُمۡ اَيۡنَمَا كُنۡتُمۡ تَعۡبُدُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:92﴾ مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِؕ هَلۡ يَنۡصُرُوۡنَكُمۡ اَوۡ يَنۡتَصِرُوۡنَؕ‏ ﴿26:93﴾ فَكُبۡكِبُوۡا فِيۡهَا هُمۡ وَالۡغَاوٗنَۙ‏ ﴿26:94﴾ وَجُنُوۡدُ اِبۡلِيۡسَ اَجۡمَعُوۡنَؕ‏ ﴿26:95﴾ قَالُوۡا وَهُمۡ فِيۡهَا يَخۡتَصِمُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:96﴾ تَاللّٰهِ اِنۡ كُنَّا لَفِىۡ ضَلٰلٍ مُّبِيۡنٍۙ‏ ﴿26:97﴾ اِذۡ نُسَوِّيۡكُمۡ بِرَبِّ الۡعٰلَمِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:98﴾ وَمَاۤ اَضَلَّنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡمُجۡرِمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿26:99﴾ فَمَا لَـنَا مِنۡ شٰفِعِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿26:100﴾ وَلَا صَدِيۡقٍ حَمِيۡمٍ‏ ﴿26:101﴾ فَلَوۡ اَنَّ لَـنَا كَرَّةً فَنَكُوۡنَ مِنَ الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿26:102﴾

(26:90) (On that Day)66the Garden will be brought near to the God-fearing, (26:91) and the Fire will be uncovered for those who strayed,67 (26:92) and they will be asked: "Where are the gods that you worshipped (26:93) beside Allah? Can they be of any help to you, or even be of any help to themselves?" (26:94) Then the idols and those who strayed will be hurled into the Fire headlong, one upon another,68 (26:95) and so too the hosts of Iblis, all of them. (26:96) There they will quarrel with one another and the erring ones will say (to their deities): (26:97) "By Allah, we were surely in clear error (26:98) when we assigned to you a position equal to that of the Lord of the Universe. (26:99) It is none but those steeped in guilt who led us into this error,69 (26:100) and now we have none to intercede on our behalf,70 (26:101) nor do we have a truly sincere friend.71 (26:102) If only we could return we would be among the believers."72

Notes

66. (Verses 90-102) do not seem to be a part of Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) speech, but they are Allah’s words.

67. That is, on the one hand, the righteous people will be shown the countless blessings which they will enjoy in Paradise by Allah’s grace, and on the other hand, Hell will be set open with all its dreads and horrors before the straying people, when they will still be in the Plain of Resurrection.

68. Kubkibu in the text has two meanings: (1) They will be hurled into Hell one upon the other; and (2) they will go on rolling down into the depths of Hell.

69. This is how the followers will treat their religious leaders and guides, whom they served and revered like deities in the world, whose words and patterns of behavior they took as authoritative and before whom they presented all sorts of offerings in the world. In the Hereafter when the people will find that their guides had misled them and caused their ruin as well as their own, they will hold them responsible for it and will curse them. The Quran has presented this horrible scene of the Hereafter at several places so as to admonish the blind followers to see and judge carefully whether their guides in this world were leading them on the right path or not. For instance: As each generation will be entering Hell, it will curse its preceding generation till all generations shall be gathered together there; then each succeeding generation will say regarding the preceding one: O Lord, these were the people who led us astray; therefore give them a double chastisement of the Fire. Allah will reply: There is a double chastisement for everyone but you know it not. (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 38). And the disbelievers will say: Our Lord, bring those jinns and men before us, who led us astray so that we may trample them under our feet and put them to extreme disgrace. (Surah Ha Mim Sajdah, Ayat 29). And they will say: Our Lord, we obeyed our chiefs and our great men and they misled us from the right path; our Lord, give them a double chastisement and curse them with a severe curse. (Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayat 67-68).

70. That is, those whom we regarded as our intercessors in the world and who, we believed, would take us safely into Paradise, are utterly helpless today and of no avail to us.

71. That is, we have no sympathizer either who could feel for us and console us. The Quran says that in the Hereafter only the believers will continue to be friends; as for the disbelievers, they will turn enemies of one another even though they had been sworn friends in the world. Each will hold the other as responsible for the doom and try to get him maximum punishment. Friends on that Day will become enemies of one another except the righteous (who will continue to be friends). (Surah Az-Zukhruf, Ayat 67).

72. That Quran has given an answer to this kind of longing and desire as well: Even if they be sent back to the earthly life, they would do all that they had been forbidden to do. (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 28). As for the reasons why they will not be allowed to return to the world, please see (E.Ns 90-92 of Surah Al-Mominoon) above.