Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 39 Az-Zumar, Ayat 53-63

قُلۡ يٰعِبَادِىَ الَّذِيۡنَ اَسۡرَفُوۡا عَلٰٓى اَنۡفُسِهِمۡ لَا تَقۡنَطُوۡا مِنۡ رَّحۡمَةِ اللّٰهِ​ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ يَغۡفِرُ الذُّنُوۡبَ جَمِيۡعًا​ ؕ اِنَّهٗ هُوَ الۡغَفُوۡرُ الرَّحِيۡمُ‏ ﴿39:53﴾ وَاَنِيۡبُوۡۤا اِلٰى رَبِّكُمۡ وَاَسۡلِمُوۡا لَهٗ مِنۡ قَبۡلِ اَنۡ يَّاۡتِيَكُمُ الۡعَذَابُ ثُمَّ لَا تُنۡصَرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:54﴾ وَاتَّبِعُوۡۤا اَحۡسَنَ مَاۤ اُنۡزِلَ اِلَيۡكُمۡ مِّنۡ رَّبِّكُمۡ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِ اَنۡ يَّاۡتِيَكُمُ الۡعَذَابُ بَغۡتَةً وَّاَنۡتُمۡ لَا تَشۡعُرُوۡنَۙ‏ ﴿39:55﴾ اَنۡ تَقُوۡلَ نَفۡسٌ يّٰحَسۡرَتٰى عَلٰى مَا فَرَّطْتُّ فِىۡ جَنۡۢبِ اللّٰهِ وَاِنۡ كُنۡتُ لَمِنَ السّٰخِرِيۡنَۙ‏ ﴿39:56﴾ اَوۡ تَقُوۡلَ لَوۡ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ هَدٰٮنِىۡ لَكُنۡتُ مِنَ الۡمُتَّقِيۡنَۙ‏  ﴿39:57﴾ اَوۡ تَقُوۡلَ حِيۡنَ تَرَى الۡعَذَابَ لَوۡ اَنَّ لِىۡ كَرَّةً فَاَكُوۡنَ مِنَ الۡمُحۡسِنِيۡنَ‏ ﴿39:58﴾ بَلٰى قَدۡ جَآءَتۡكَ اٰيٰتِىۡ فَكَذَّبۡتَ بِهَا وَاسۡتَكۡبَرۡتَ وَكُنۡتَ مِنَ الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿39:59﴾ وَيَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ تَرَى الَّذِيۡنَ كَذَبُوۡا عَلَى اللّٰهِ وُجُوۡهُهُمۡ مُّسۡوَدَّةٌ ؕ اَلَيۡسَ فِىۡ جَهَنَّمَ مَثۡوًى لِّلۡمُتَكَبِّرِيۡنَ‏ ﴿39:60﴾ وَيُنَجِّىۡ اللّٰهُ الَّذِيۡنَ اتَّقَوۡا بِمَفَازَتِهِمۡ لَا يَمَسُّهُمُ السُّوۡٓءُ وَلَا هُمۡ يَحۡزَنُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:61﴾ اَللّٰهُ خَالِقُ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ​ وَّ هُوَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ وَّكِيۡلٌ‏ ﴿39:62﴾ لَّهٗ مَقَالِيۡدُ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ​ؕ وَ الَّذِيۡنَ كَفَرُوۡا بِاٰيٰتِ اللّٰهِ اُولٰٓـئِكَ هُمُ الۡخٰسِرُوۡنَ‏ ﴿39:63﴾

(39:53) Tell them, (O Prophet): “My servants70 who have committed excesses against themselves, do not despair of Allah's Mercy. Surely Allah forgives all sins. He is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.71 (39:54) Turn to your Lord and surrender yourselves to Him before the chastisement over-takes you; for then you will receive no help. (39:55) Follow the best72 of what has been revealed to you from your Lord before the chastisement suddenly comes upon you without you even being aware of it.” (39:56) Lest a person should say: “Alas for me for neglecting my duty towards Allah and for being among those that scoffed”; (39:57) and lest a person should say: “If only Allah had guided me, I should have been one of the God-fearing”; (39:58) or lest he should say, when he sees the chastisement: “O that I might return again, and be among those who do good.” (39:59) Yes indeed! But My Signs came to you and you rejected them as lies, and waxed arrogant and were among those who disbelieved. (39:60) On the Day of Resurrection you shall see that the faces of those who had lied against Allah have turned dark. Is Hell not vast enough to provide a room to the vainglorious? (39:61) But as for the God-fearing, Allah will deliver them on account of their achievements: no harm shall visit them nor shall they grieve. (39:62) Allah is the Creator of everything; He is the Guardian over everything.73 (39:63) To Him belong the keys of the heavens and the earth. It is those who disbelieve in Allah's Signs who will be the losers.


Notes

70. Some commentators have given a strange interpretation to these words. They say that Allah Himself has commanded the Prophet (peace be upon him) to address the people as “My servants” therefore, all men are the servants of the Prophet (peace be upon him). This interpretation is no interpretation at all but a worst distortion of the meaning of the Quran and indeed tampering with the Word of Allah. If this interpretation were correct, it would falsify and negate the whole Quran. For the Quran, from the beginning to the end, establishes the concept that men are the servants of Allah alone, and its whole message revolves around the point that they should serve none but One Allah alone. The Prophet (peace be upon him) himself was Allah’s servant. Allah had sent him not as rabb (sustainer, providence) but as a Messenger so that he should himself serve Him and teach the other people also to serve Him alone. After all, how can a sensible person believe that the Prophet (peace be upon him) might have one day stood up before the disbelieving Quraish of Makkah and made the sudden proclamation: You are in fact the slaves of Muhammad and not of al-Uzzah and ash- Shams. (We seek Allah’s refuge from this).

71. The address here is to all mankind. There is no weighty argument to regard only the believers as the addressees. As has been observed by Allama Ibn Kathir, to address such a thing to the common men does not mean that Allah forgives all sins without repentance, but Allah Himself has explained in the following verses that sins are forgiven only when the sinner turns to Allah’s worship and service and adopts obedience to the message sent down by Him. As a matter of fact, this verse brought a message of hope for those people who had committed mortal sins like murder, adultery, theft, robbery, etc. in the days of ignorance, and had despaired whether they would ever be forgiven. To them it has been said: Do not despair of Allah’s mercy; whatever you might have done in the past, if you sincerely turn to your Lord’s obedience, you will be forgiven every sin. The same interpretation of this verse has been given by Ibn Abbas, Qatadah, Mujahid and Ibn Zaid. (Ibn Jarir, Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi). For further explanation, see (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayats 70-71) and the E.Ns thereof.

72. “To follow the best aspect of the Book of Allah” means that one should carry out the commands Allah has given and refrain from what He has forbidden, and learn lessons from what He has brought out in the parables and narratives. As against this, the one who turns away from Allah’s commands, indulges in the forbidden things, and does not heed His admonitions, follows the worst aspect of the Book of Allah, i.e. that aspect which the divine Book has declared as the most evil.

73. That is, He did not just create the world and then left it alone, but He is constantly guarding and watching over everything. Just as everything in the world came into being by His act of creation so everything is living and surviving by His leave, and flourishing and functioning only under His protection and care.