20:109 [Ta’ha, Mecca 45]


On that Day, intercession shall be of no avail [to any] save him in whose case the Most Gracious will have granted leave therefor, and whose word [of faith) He will have accepted:' 2



Yawma-ithin la tanfaAAu alshshafaAAatu illa man athina lahu alrrahmanu waradiya lahu qawlan

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Generally Accepted Translations of the Meaning

Muhammad Asad

 

On that Day, intercession shall be of no avail [to any] save him in whose case the Most Gracious will have granted leave therefor, and whose word [of faith) He will have accepted:

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M. M. Pickthall

 

On that day no intercession availeth save (that of) him unto whom the Beneficent hath given leave and whose word He accepteth.

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Shakir

 

On that day shall no intercession avail except of him whom the Beneficent Allah allows and whose word He is pleased with.

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Yusuf Ali

 

On that Day shall no intercession avail except for those for whom permission has been granted by (Allah) Most Gracious and whose word is acceptable to Him.

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[Al-Muntakhab]

 

This is the Day when no intercession shall be accepted from anyone on behalf of another except from him who is granted permission from Allah AL-Rahman on the basis of his virtuous attributes and his pleading is acceptable to Him.

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[Progressive Muslims]

 

On that Day, no intercession will be of help, except for he whom the Almighty allows and accepts what he has to say.




[[ Asad’s note - 92 Regarding the Qur'anic concept of "intercession" on the Day of Judgment, see note 7 on 10:3.

The "word [of faith]" referred to towards the end of the above verse is - according to Ibn 'Abbas


10:3 [Yunus, Mecca]


VERILY, your Sustainer is God, who has created the heavens and the earth in six aeons, and is established on the throne of His almightiness, 6 governing all that exists. There is none that could intercede with Him unless He grants leave

therefor. 7


7 Lit., "there is no intercessor whatever, save after His leave [has been granted]". Cf 2:255 - "Who is there that could intercede with Him, unless it be by His leave?" Thus, the Qur'an rejects the popular belief in unqualified "intercession" by living or dead saints or prophets. As is shown elsewhere in the Qur'an (e.g., in 20:109, 21:28 or 34:23), God will grant to His prophets on Judgment Day the permission to intercede", symbolically, for such of the sinners as will have already achieved His redemptive acceptance (rida 1 ) by virtue of their repentance or basic goodness (see 19:87 and the corresponding note 74): in other words, the right of "intercession" thus granted to the prophets will be but an expression of God's approval of the latter. Furthermore, the above denial of the possibility of unqualified intercession stresses, indirectly, not only God's omniscience - which requires no "mediator" - but also the immutability of His will: and thus it connects with the preceding mention of His almightiness. (See also note 27 below.) ]]




(20:110) [for] He knows all that lies open before men and all that is hidden from them,' 3 whereas they cannot encompass Him with their knowledge.