Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 39 Az-Zumar, Ayat 42-52

اَللّٰهُ يَتَوَفَّى الۡاَنۡفُسَ حِيۡنَ مَوۡتِهَا وَالَّتِىۡ لَمۡ تَمُتۡ فِىۡ مَنَامِهَا​ ۚ فَيُمۡسِكُ الَّتِىۡ قَضٰى عَلَيۡهَا الۡمَوۡتَ وَ يُرۡسِلُ الۡاُخۡرٰٓى اِلٰٓى اَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى​ ؕ اِنَّ فِىۡ ذٰ لِكَ لَاٰیٰتٍ لِّقَوۡمٍ يَّتَفَكَّرُوۡنَ‏  ﴿39:42﴾ اَمِ اتَّخَذُوۡا مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِ شُفَعَآءَ​ ؕ قُلۡ اَوَلَوۡ كَانُوۡا لَا يَمۡلِكُوۡنَ شَيۡـئًـا وَّلَا يَعۡقِلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:43﴾ قُلْ لِّـلَّـهِ الشَّفَاعَةُ جَمِيۡعًا​ ؕ لَهٗ مُلۡكُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ​ ؕ ثُمَّ اِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:44﴾ وَاِذَا ذُكِرَ اللّٰهُ وَحۡدَهُ اشۡمَاَزَّتۡ قُلُوۡبُ الَّذِيۡنَ لَا يُؤۡمِنُوۡنَ بِالۡاٰخِرَةِ​ ۚ وَاِذَا ذُكِرَ الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡ دُوۡنِهٖۤ اِذَا هُمۡ يَسۡتَبۡشِرُوۡنَ‏  ﴿39:45﴾ قُلِ اللّٰهُمَّ فَاطِرَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ عٰلِمَ الۡغَيۡبِ وَالشَّهَادَةِ اَنۡتَ تَحۡكُمُ بَيۡنَ عِبَادِكَ فِىۡ مَا كَانُوۡا فِيۡهِ يَخۡتَلِفُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:46﴾ وَلَوۡ اَنَّ لِلَّذِيۡنَ ظَلَمُوۡا مَا فِى الۡاَرۡضِ جَمِيۡعًا وَّمِثۡلَهٗ مَعَهٗ لَافۡتَدَوۡا بِهٖ مِنۡ سُوۡٓءِ الۡعَذَابِ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ​ؕ وَبَدَا لَهُمۡ مِّنَ اللّٰهِ مَا لَمۡ يَكُوۡنُوۡا يَحۡتَسِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:47﴾ وَبَدَا لَهُمۡ سَيِّاٰتُ مَا كَسَبُوۡا وَحَاقَ بِهِمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا بِهٖ يَسۡتَهۡزِءُوۡنَ‏  ﴿39:48﴾ فَاِذَا مَسَّ الۡاِنۡسَانَ ضُرٌّ دَعَانَا ثُمَّ اِذَا خَوَّلۡنٰهُ نِعۡمَةً مِّنَّا ۙ قَالَ اِنَّمَاۤ اُوۡتِيۡتُهٗ عَلٰى عِلۡمٍ​ؕ بَلۡ هِىَ فِتۡنَةٌ وَّلٰـكِنَّ اَكۡثَرَهُمۡ لَا يَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:49﴾ قَدۡ قَالَهَا الَّذِيۡنَ مِنۡ قَبۡلِهِمۡ فَمَاۤ اَغۡنٰى عَنۡهُمۡ مَّا كَانُوۡا يَكۡسِبُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:50﴾ فَاَصَابَهُمۡ سَيِّاٰتُ مَا كَسَبُوۡا​ ؕ وَالَّذِيۡنَ ظَلَمُوۡا مِنۡ هٰٓؤُلَاۤءِ سَيُصِيۡبُهُمۡ سَيِّاٰتُ مَا كَسَبُوۡا ۙ وَمَا هُمۡ بِمُعۡجِزِيۡنَ‏ ﴿39:51﴾ اَوَلَمۡ يَعۡلَمُوۡۤا اَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَبۡسُطُ الرِّزۡقَ لِمَنۡ يَّشَآءُ وَيَقۡدِرُ​ؕ اِنَّ فِىۡ ذٰلِكَ لَاٰيٰتٍ لِّقَوۡمٍ يُّؤۡمِنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:52﴾

(39:42) It is Allah Who takes away the souls of people at the hour of their death, and takes away at the time of sleep the souls of those that have not died.60 Then He retains the souls of those against whom He had decreed death and returns the souls of others till an appointed time. Surely there are Signs in this for a people who reflect.61 (39:43) Or have they taken others instead of Allah as intercessors?62 Say: “Will they intercede though they may have no power and though they may not even understand?” (39:44) Say: “All intercession lies with Allah.63 His is the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And to Him will all of you be sent back.” (39:45) When Allah alone is mentioned, the hearts of those who do not believe in the Hereafter contract with bitterness, but when deities apart from Allah are mentioned, they are filled with joy.64 (39:46) Say: “O Allah, the Originator of the heavens and the earth, the Knower of the unseen and the seen, You it is Who will judge among Your servants concerning what they differed. (39:47) If the wrong-doers possessed the treasures of the earth in their entirety and as much besides, they would gladly offer it on the Day of Resurrection to redeem themselves from the harrowing chastisement. This because there will appear to them from Allah something (exceedingly dismal which) they had never even imagined. (39:48) The evil consequences of their deeds will become fully apparent to them, and what they had scoffed at will encompass them. (39:49) When an affliction befalls man,65 he cries out to Us; but when We grant him a favour from Us, he says: “I have been granted this on account of my knowledge.”66 Nay; this (favour) is a test; but most of them do not know.67 (39:50) Their predecessors also said the same, but their earnings proved of no avail to them,68 (39:51) and the evil consequences of their deeds overtook them. The wrongdoers among these will also be overtaken by the evil consequences of their deeds. They will be utterly unable to frustrate (Us). (39:52) Do they not know that Allah enlarges and straitens the provision of whomsoever He pleases?69 Therein are Signs for those that believe.


Notes

60. Taking the souls during sleep, implies the suspension of the powers of feeling and consciousness, understanding and will.

61. By this Allah wants every man to realize how life and death are entirely in His own hand. No one has the guarantee that he will certainly get up alive in the morning when he goes to sleep at night. No one knows what disaster could befall him within a moment, and whether the next moment would be a moment of life for him or of death. At any time, while asleep or awake, in the house or outside it, some unforeseen calamity, from inside his body or from outside, can suddenly cause his death. Thus, man who is so helpless in the hands of God, would be foolish if he turned away from the same God or became heedless of Him.

62. That is, in the first place, these people have foolishly presumed that there are some beings who wield great influence with Allah, and whose intercession is never turned down, whereas there is no proof of their being intercessors at all, nor has Allah ever said that they hold such a position with Him, nor did these beings themselves ever claim that they would use their influence with Allah and help them out in every case. Another folly of these people is that they have ignored the real Master and have believed the imaginary beings to be all powerful who deserve to receive all their devotion and dedication.

63. That is, not to speak of getting his intercession granted, no one has the power to stand before Allah as an intercessor. The right to grant or not to grant anyone the permission to intercede with Him exclusively rests with Allah. Then He may allow intercession for whomever He may please and forbid for whomever He may please. (For understanding the difference between the Islamic concept of intercession and the polytheistic concept, see (Surah Al- Baqarah, Ayat 255); (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 51); (Surah Younus, Ayats 3, 18); (Surah Hud, Ayat 105); (Surah Ar- Raad, Ayat 11); (Surah An-Naml, Ayats 73, 84); (Surah TaHa, Ayats 109-110); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 23); (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayat 76), and the E.Ns thereof and (E.N. 40 of Saba).

64. This evil is common to almost all polytheistic people of the world, and even some unfortunate Muslims also suffer from it, They profess with the tongue that they believe in Allah, but when One Allah alone is mentioned before them, their faces arc distorted, and they say: This man certainly does not believe in the saints and holy men, that is why he talks of Allah and Allah alone. And if others besides Allah are mentioned, they are delighted, and their faces brighten up with joy. Their this attitude shows as to who is the actual object of their love and esteem. Allama Alusi, in his commentary Ruh al-Maani, has related his own experience here. He says: One day I saw that a man was invoking the help of a dead saint in his affliction. I said: O bondsman of Allah, invoke Allah, for He Himself says: If My servants ask you, O Prophet, concerning Me, tell them I am quite near to them. I hear and answer the prayer of the supplicant when he calls to Me, (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayat 186), Hearing this, the man became angry. The people told me afterwards that he said: This man is a denier of the saints. And some others heard him also say: The saints answer the prayers more promptly than does Allah.

65. “The man”: the one who has aversion to Allah and whose face is distorted on hearing Allah alone being mentioned.

66. This sentence can have two meanings:

(1) That Allah knows that I am worthy of this blessing. That is why He has given me All this, otherwise He would not have blessed me if I had been an evil and wicked person in His sight.

(2) That I have attained to this by virtue of my ability.

67. People ignorantly think that whoever is being blessed by Allah in some way is being so blessed necessarily on account of his worth and ability and that the same is a sign or proof of his being a favorite in His sight. Whereas the fact is that whoever is being given something here, is being given it for the sake of a trial by Allah. This is a means of the test, and not any reward for ability, otherwise many able and worthy people would not be living in poverty and many unworthy people would not be rolling in prosperity. Likewise, these worldly blessings are not a sign of one’s being a favorite with Allah either. Everyone can see that many good people whose goodness is unquestionable are living in hardships in the world, and many wicked people whose evil-doing is well known are enjoying the pleasures of life. Now, can a sensible man take the affliction of the one and the life of ease and comfort of the other as an argument to say that Allah hates the good man and prefers the bad man.

68. That is, when they were seized for evil-doing, the ability of which they were so proud, did not avail them anything, and this also became known that they were not Allah’s favorites. Evidently, if their earning had been due to their capability and their being favorites with Allah, they would not have been seized for evil-doing at all.

69. That is, the abundance or restriction of the provisions is based on another law of Allah, which has some other wisdom. The distribution of the provisions does not at all depend on man’s worthiness and ability, or on his being a favorite of Allah, or for being under His wrath. (For details, see (Surah At-Taubah, Ayats 55, 69, 85); (Surah Younus, Ayat 17); (Surah Hud, Ayats 3, 27); (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 26); (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayats 34-36); (Surah TaHa, Ayats 131-132); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 105); Surah Al-Mumin: Introduction and (Ayats 55-56); (Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat 111); (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayats 78, 89) and the E N. thereof. and (E.Ns 54 to 60 of Surah Saba).