وَ لَقَدْ And certainly اَرْسَلْنَا We sent مُوْسٰی Musa بِاٰیٰتِنَا with Our Signs وَ سُلْطٰنٍ and an authority مُّبِیْنٍۙ clear اِلٰی To فِرْعَوْنَ Firaun وَ مَلَاۡىِٕهٖ and his chiefs فَاتَّبَعُوْۤا but they followed اَمْرَ (the) command فِرْعَوْنَ ۚ Firaun وَ مَاۤ and not اَمْرُ (the) command فِرْعَوْنَ Firaun بِرَشِیْدٍ was right 11. Hud Page 233 یَقْدُمُ He will precede قَوْمَهٗ his people یَوْمَ (on the) Day الْقِیٰمَةِ (of) the Resurrection فَاَوْرَدَهُمُ and lead them النَّارَ ؕ (into) the Fire وَ بِئْسَ And wretched الْوِرْدُ (is) the place الْمَوْرُوْدُ to which (they are) led وَ اُتْبِعُوْا And they were followed فِیْ in هٰذِهٖ this لَعْنَةً (by) a curse وَّ یَوْمَ and (on the) Day الْقِیٰمَةِ ؕ (of) the Resurrection بِئْسَ Wretched الرِّفْدُ (is) the gift الْمَرْفُوْدُ which (will) be given ذٰلِكَ That مِنْ (is) from اَنْۢبَآءِ (the) news الْقُرٰی (of) the cities نَقُصُّهٗ (which) We relate عَلَیْكَ to you مِنْهَا of them قَآىِٕمٌ some are standing وَّ حَصِیْدٌ and (some) mown وَ مَا And not ظَلَمْنٰهُمْ We wronged them وَ لٰكِنْ but ظَلَمُوْۤا they wronged اَنْفُسَهُمْ themselves فَمَاۤ So not اَغْنَتْ availed عَنْهُمْ them اٰلِهَتُهُمُ their gods الَّتِیْ which یَدْعُوْنَ they invoked مِنْ other than Allah دُوْنِ other than Allah اللّٰهِ other than Allah مِنْ any شَیْءٍ thing لَّمَّا when جَآءَ came اَمْرُ (the) command (of) رَبِّكَ ؕ your Lord وَ مَا And not زَادُوْهُمْ they increased them غَیْرَ other than تَتْبِیْبٍ ruin وَ كَذٰلِكَ And thus اَخْذُ (is) the seizure (of) رَبِّكَ your Lord اِذَاۤ when اَخَذَ He seizes الْقُرٰی the cities وَ هِیَ while they ظَالِمَةٌ ؕ (are) doing wrong اِنَّ Indeed اَخْذَهٗۤ His seizure اَلِیْمٌ (is) painful شَدِیْدٌ (and) severe اِنَّ Indeed فِیْ in ذٰلِكَ that لَاٰیَةً (is) surely a Sign لِّمَنْ for (those) who خَافَ fear عَذَابَ (the) punishment الْاٰخِرَةِ ؕ (of) the Hereafter ذٰلِكَ That یَوْمٌ (is) a Day مَّجْمُوْعٌ ۙ (will) be gathered لَّهُ on it النَّاسُ the mankind وَ ذٰلِكَ and that یَوْمٌ (is) a Day مَّشْهُوْدٌ witnessed وَ مَا And not نُؤَخِّرُهٗۤ We delay it اِلَّا except لِاَجَلٍ for a term مَّعْدُوْدٍؕ limited یَوْمَ (The) Day یَاْتِ (it) comes لَا not تَكَلَّمُ will speak نَفْسٌ a soul اِلَّا except بِاِذْنِهٖ ۚ by His leave فَمِنْهُمْ Then among them شَقِیٌّ (will be the) wretched وَّ سَعِیْدٌ and (the) glad فَاَمَّا As for الَّذِیْنَ those who شَقُوْا were wretched فَفِی then (they will be) in النَّارِ the Fire لَهُمْ For them فِیْهَا therein زَفِیْرٌ (is) sighing وَّ شَهِیْقٌۙ and wailing خٰلِدِیْنَ (Will be) abiding فِیْهَا therein مَا as long as remain دَامَتِ as long as remain السَّمٰوٰتُ the heavens وَ الْاَرْضُ and the earth اِلَّا except مَا what your Lord wills شَآءَ what your Lord wills رَبُّكَ ؕ what your Lord wills اِنَّ Indeed رَبَّكَ your Lord فَعَّالٌ (is) All-Accomplisher لِّمَا of what یُرِیْدُ He intends وَ اَمَّا And as for الَّذِیْنَ those who سُعِدُوْا were glad فَفِی then (they will be) in الْجَنَّةِ Paradise خٰلِدِیْنَ (will be) abiding فِیْهَا therein مَا as long as remains دَامَتِ as long as remains السَّمٰوٰتُ the heavens وَ الْاَرْضُ and the earth اِلَّا except مَا what your Lord wills شَآءَ what your Lord wills رَبُّكَ ؕ what your Lord wills عَطَآءً a bestowal غَیْرَ not مَجْذُوْذٍ interrupted 11. Hud Page 234 فَلَا So (do) not تَكُ be فِیْ in مِرْیَةٍ doubt مِّمَّا as to what یَعْبُدُ worship هٰۤؤُلَآءِ ؕ these (polytheists) مَا Not یَعْبُدُوْنَ they worship اِلَّا except كَمَا as what یَعْبُدُ worshipped اٰبَآؤُهُمْ their forefathers مِّنْ before قَبْلُ ؕ before وَ اِنَّا And indeed, We لَمُوَفُّوْهُمْ will surely pay them in full نَصِیْبَهُمْ their share غَیْرَ without مَنْقُوْصٍ۠ being diminished
(11:96) And indeed We sent Moses with Our signs and with a clear authority
(11:97) to Pharaoh and his nobles. But they obeyed the command of Pharaoh even though Pharaoh's command was not rightly-directed.
(11:98) He shall stand at the head of his people on the Day of Resurrection, and will bring them down to the Fire.104 What a wretched destination to be led to!
(11:99) They were pursued by a curse in this world and so will they be on the Day of Resurrection. What an evil reward will they receive!
(11:100) That is an account of some towns which We recount to you. Of them some are still standing and some have been mown down.
(11:101) We did not wrong them; it is rather they who wronged themselves. And when the command of your Lord came to pass, the gods besides Allah whom they had called upon, did not avail them in the least. They added nothing to them except ruin.
(11:102) Such is the seizing of your Lord that when He does seize the towns immersed in wrong-doing, His seizing is painful, terrible.
(11:103) Surely in that is a sign for him who fears the chastisement of the Hereafter.105 That will be a Day when all men shall be mustered together; that will be a Day when whatever happens shall be witnessed by all.
(11:104) Nor shall We withhold it except till an appointed term.
(11:105) And when the appointed Day comes, no one shall even dare to speak except by the leave of Allah.106 Then some will be declared wretched, others blessed.
(11:106) As for the wretched, they shall be in the Fire, and in it they shall sigh and groan.
(11:107) They shall abide in it as long as the heavens and the earth endure,107 unless your Lord may will otherwise. Surely your Lord does whatsoever He wills.108
(11:108) And as for those who are blessed, they shall abide in the Garden as long as the heavens and the earth endure, unless your Lord may will otherwise.109 They shall enjoy an unceasing gift.
(11:109) [O Prophet!] Have no doubt about what they worship. For they worship what their fathers worshipped before.110 And (yet) We shall grant them their due portion in full, diminishing of it nothing.
104. It clearly emerges from this verse as well as from other verses of the Qur’an that those who lead a nation or a group of people in the present world will also be their leaders on the Day of Resurrection. If the leaders had directed their people to truth, virtue and righteousness their followers will gather under their banner on the Day of Resurrection and will march to Paradise under their leadership. On the other hand, if these leaders called their people to erroneous beliefs, to immorality, or to false ways of conduct, they will continue to follow them even on the Day of Resurrection and until they end up in Hell. This seems evident from the remark made by the Prophet (peace be on him) about Imr al-Qays: ‘Imr al-Qays will bear the standard of the poets of Jahiliyah to the Fire.’ (Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, p. 228 — Ed.)
Now everyone can visualize what kind of procession both these would be, - each pressing on to their destined goal. There would be the procession of those who had been misled by their so-called leaders. On that Day they would be fully conscious of the dangerous end to which they would be in due course dragged. They would, therefore, quite naturally look upon those leaders as the ones responsible for all their suffering and misfortune. In the front line of the procession would be the so-called leaders and behind them would be throngs of their followers hurling abuses and curses at them: In sharp contrast, will be the other procession, the one led by those whose leadership made their followers merit entry into Paradise. With this blissful end in view, the followers will joyously press ahead, lavishing prayers and grateful tributes on their leaders.
105. In such incidents of history there are instructive signs for all people.
Only a little reflection will make them realize that the punishment of the unrighteous is inevitable and that the information provided by the Prophets (peace be on them) in this respect is absolutely true. These signs can also help men have some idea of how horrible the Day of Judgement will be. This realization is likely to create in man’s heart a fear which will direct him to righteous behavior.
One may well ask, what are the signs in human history which indicate that there is an After-life, one in which people are liable to suffer punishment? These signs can easily be appreciated by those who do not consider history to consist merely of a series of unrelated events and who are inclined to reflect over the underlying logic of those events and so derive some conclusion from them. What is most conspicuous in the long record of history is the constantly recurring phenomenon of the rise and fall of nations. Moreover, this rise and fall seems to be tied up with certain moral factors. The way in which certain nations have encountered significant falls and have suffered destruction clearly indicates that man, in this universe, is under a dispensation in which blind physical laws do not predominate. Instead, under that dispensation a moral law is also in operation. The result is that the nations which maintain a given minimum level of adherence to moral principles are rewarded. Those who slide below that minimum level of adherence to moral principles, are granted a temporary respite. However, once a nation falls perceptibly below that minimum level, it meets its tragic end and is made a lesson of for future generations. The occurrence and repetition of these events at regular intervals leaves no doubt whatsoever that retribution is a permanent feature, a fully-fledged law that operates in human history.
Moreover, were one to carefully reflect upon the different forms of punishment which visited these different nations of the world, one would also realize that those punishments only partially accord with the requirements of justice and retribution. Were total justice to be meted out, it would be necessary to do a great deal more. For the punishments which struck the nations of the world in the past, struck only those generations which lived at the time when the punishment visited them. But there are generations of men who sowed the wind of wickedness but disappeared when that wind developed into a whirlwind. The consequences of their evil deeds were faced by the generations that followed after them. It is obvious in this case that the real culprits escaped retribution.
Now, if we are able to grasp the inner workings of this universe by our study of history, this should lead us to the conclusion that the unfulfilled requirements of justice call for a new order of existence to be brought into being. It is only then that those transgressors and wrong-doers who escaped divine punishment in the worldly life can be duly punished and their punishment will be much more severe than that suffered by the evil-doers in the world. (See Towards Understanding the Qur’ an, vol. IH, al-A‘raf7, n. 30, pp. 23-6 and vol. IV, Yunus 10, n. 10, p. 9.)
106. Some people entertain the misconception that their saintly patrons will intercede on their behalf and obtain salvation for them on the Day of Resurrection. They believe that some of the saints will simply stage a sit-in protest before God, and will thus virtually extract from Him a pardon for their devotees. All this, of course, is sheer nonsense. For in God’s majestic court, everyone — howsoever great they may otherwise be, including angels — will be in a state of spellbinding awe. At that awe-inspiring moment — the Day of Judgement — none will even dare speak until God Himself permits him to do so.
There are of course many in this world who make offerings at the altars of many beside God in the belief that they will simply have an overwhelming influence with God. Many people continue to commit misdeeds in the hope that the intercession of such beings will bring about their rescue. Such people will face utter disappointment on that Day.
107. There are two possible interpretations for the words, ‘as long as the heavens and the earth endure’. One possibility is that they refer to the heavens and the earth of the Next World. The other possibility is that they have been used figuratively to convey the idea of perpetuity. One thing, however, is quite certain: these words do not refer to the present heavens and earth, because the Qur’an makes it quite clear that these would be totally transformed on the Last Day. (See Ibrahim 14: 48 Ed.) As for the events being referred to in the present verse, they quite obviously belong to the Next Life.
108. There is no power other than God’s that can prevent the sinners from suffering eternal punishment. However, God may Himself will that someone may be spared His unending punishment. He may also decide to pardon such a person after he has been made to suffer a period of punishment in the After-life.
In such cases, God certainly has both the authority and the power to do that. For if there is any law, it is God Who has made it, and hence that law can set no limit upon His power and authority.
109. A person’s permanent stay in Paradise is equally not contingent upon some higher law that would compel God to facilitate this. On the contrary, people will be able to stay there permanently only by dint of God’s grace and mercy. If God were to act otherwise, He obviously has both the power and the authority to do so.
110. This does not mean that the Prophet (peace be on him) entertained any ‘doubts’ concerning the deities whom the unbelievers associated with God in His divinity. Though this verse is ostensibly addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him), it is really aimed at conveying a message to the people of Makka. The thrust of the verse is that no sensible person should entertain the notion that those who worship false gods and pray to them have any plausible grounds for doing so and for expecting some benefit from such worship.
The fact of the matter is that the worship of false deities and the offerings, sacrifices and invocations addressed to them were supported neither by knowledge, careful observation, nor any scientific experimentation. The only basis for such worship was blind imitation of their ancestors. The same shrines found amongst today’s polytheists were also found among several past nations of the world. The same miraculous feats which are popular today were equally popular in the past among other nations. However, when God’s punishment seized those nations which worshipped false deities, they were utterly destroyed. Their shrines proved altogether unavailing.