Sura 7, al-Araf (The Heights), Mecca 39
The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:
فَمَنْ
أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ
افْتَرَى عَلَى
اللّهِ كَذِبًا
أَوْ كَذَّبَ
بِآيَاتِهِ...
7: 37. Who is more unjust than one who invents a lie against God or rejects his signs?
...أُوْلَـئِكَ يَنَالُهُمْ نَصِيبُهُم مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ...
For such, their portion appointed must reach them from the Book (of decrees);
...حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا يَتَوَفَّوْنَهُمْ قَالُواْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ...
until, when Our messengers (of death) arrive and take their souls, they say:
"Where are the things that ye used to invoke besides God?"
...قَالُواْ ضَلُّواْ عَنَّا وَشَهِدُواْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ كَافِرِينَ ﴿٣٧﴾
They will reply, "They have left us in the lurch,"
and they will bear witness against themselves, that they had rejected God.
Transliteration Faman azlamu mimmaniftara_'alalla_hi kaziban au kazzaba bi a_ya_tih(i), ula_'ika yana_luhum nasibuhum minal kita_b(i), hatta_ iza_ ja_'athum rusuluna_ yatawaffaunahum, qa_lu_ aina ma_ kuntum tad'u_na min du_nilla_h(i), qa_lu_ dallu_'anna_ wa syahidu_ 'ala_ anfusihim annahum ka_nu_ ka_firin(a).
قَالَ
ادْخُلُواْ
فِي أُمَمٍ قَدْ
خَلَتْ مِن
قَبْلِكُم مِّن
الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ
فِي النَّارِ...
7: 38. He will say:
"Enter ye in the company of the peoples who passed away before you, men and Jinns, into the fire.
...كُلَّمَا دَخَلَتْ أُمَّةٌ لَّعَنَتْ أُخْتَهَا...
Every time a new people enters, it curses its sister-people (that went before),
...حَتَّى إِذَا ادَّارَكُواْ فِيهَا جَمِيعًا قَالَتْ أُخْرَاهُمْ لأُولاَهُمْ...
until they follow each other, all into the fire.
Saith the last about the first:
...رَبَّنَا هَـؤُلاء أَضَلُّونَا فَآتِهِمْ عَذَابًا ضِعْفًا مِّنَ النَّارِ...
"Our Lord! it is these that misled us: so give them a double penalty in the fire."
...قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَعْلَمُونَ ﴿٣٨﴾
He will say: "Doubled for all":
but this Ye do not understand.
Transliteration Qa_ladkhulu_ fi umamin qad khalat min qablikum minal jinni wal insi fin na_r(i), kullama_ dakhalat ummatul la'anat ukhtaha_, hatta_ izadda_raku_ fiha_ jami'_(n), qa_lat ukhra_hum li u_la_hum rabbana_ ha_'ula_'i adallu_na_ fa a_tihim 'aza_ban di'fam minan na_r(i), qa_la likullin di'fuw wa la_kil la_ ta'lamu_n(a).
وَقَالَتْ
أُولاَهُمْ
لأُخْرَاهُمْ
فَمَا كَانَ
لَكُمْ عَلَيْنَا
مِن فَضْلٍ...
7: 39. Then the first will say to the last:
"See then! no advantage have ye over us;
...فَذُوقُواْ الْعَذَابَ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَكْسِبُونَ ﴿٣٩﴾
so taste ye of the penalty for all that ye did!"
Transliteration Wa qa_lat u_la_hum li ukhra_hum fama_ ka_na lakum 'alaina_ min fadlin fazu_qul 'aza_ba bima_ kuntum taksibu_n(a).
Other Translations:
Asad
And who could be more wicked than they who attribute their own lying inventions to God or give the lie to His messages? Whatever has been decreed to be their lot [in life] will be theirs" - till there shall come unto them Our messengers to cause them to die, [and] shall say, "Where, now, are those beings whom you were wont to invoke beside God?" And [those sinners] will reply, "They have forsaken us!" - and [thus] they will bear witness against themselves that they had been denying the truth.
3:38
[And God] will say: "Join those hosts of invisible beings and humans who have gone before you into the fire ! "
[And] every time a host enters [the fire], it will curse its fellow -host - so much so that, when they all shall have passed into it, one after another, the last of them will speak [thus] of the first of them: 28 "O our Sustainer! It is they who have led us astray:, give, them, therefore, double suffering through fire!"
He, will reply: "Every one of you deserves double suffering 29 - but you know it not."
7:39
And the first of them will say unto the last of them: "So you were in no wise superior to us! 30 Taste, then, this suffering for all [the evil] that you were wont to do! "
VERILY, unto those who give the lie to Our messages and scorn them in their pride, the gates of heaven shall not be opened; 31 and they shall not enter paradise any more than a twisted rope can pass through a needle's eye: 32 for thus do We requite such as are lost in sin.
Pickthall
7: 37
Who doeth greater wrong than he who inventeth a lie concerning Allah
or denieth Our tokens. (For such) their appointed portion of the Book
(of destiny) reacheth them till, when Our messengers come to gather
them, they say: Where (now) is that to which ye cried beside Allah?
They say: They have departed from us. And they testify against
themselves that they were disbelievers.
7: 38
He saith: Enter into the Fire among nations of the jinn and humankind who passed away before you. Every time a nation entereth, it curseth its sister (nation) till, when they have all been made to follow one another thither, the last of them saith unto the first of them: Our Lord! These led us astray, so give them double torment of the Fire. He saith: For each one there is double (torment), but ye know not.
7: 39
And the first of them saith unto the last of them : Ye were no whit better
than us, so taste the doom for what ye used to earn.
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Amatulla’s comments:
This verse simply and clearly establish that those who lead towards
evil and those who follow are equally responsible for their own
respective wrong-doings. Then it implies that one cannot make
another responsible for not following his/her own conscience or the
capability to discern right from wrong [“fitra”] that God has endowed
each human with. If one was true to his/her conscience he/she would
not follow a wrong-doing leader. One does right due to one’s own
choices and God provides or withdraws guidance on the basis of that. If
one fails to receive God’s guidance one follows the wrong-doing
leaders and/or predecessors. Therefore it is one’s own will and action
that dictate one’s ultimate consequences.
Asad’s comments:
28 The terms "first" and "last" refer here either to a sequence in time ("those who came earlier" and "those who came later") or in status ("leaders" and "followers"); and in both cases they relate, as the next sentence indicates, to the evil influence which the former exerted on the latter during their lifetime - either directly, as leaders of thought and persons of distinction, or indirectly, as forerunners in time, whose example was followed by later generations.
29 Lit., "to everyone a double [suffering]": i.e., for having gone astray and for having, by his example, led others astray. Cf 16:25 - "on Resurrection Day they shall bear the full weight of their own burdens, as well as some of the burdens of those ignorant ones whom they have led astray".
30 I.e., "You went the wrong way, as we did, out of your own free will, and you bear the same responsibility as we do." Another possible interpretation is: "You are not superior to us because you have learnt nothing from our mistakes."
3 1 According to Ibn Abbas (as quoted by Razi), this metaphor signifies that God will not accept any of the good deeds of such sinners, nor their subsequent supplications.
32 Lit., "until (hatta) a twisted rope passes through a needle's eye"; since this phrase is meant to express an impossibility, the rendering of hatta as "any more than" seems to be appropriate here. As for the word jamal occurring in this sentence, there is hardly any doubt that its translation, in this context, as "camel" is erroneous. As pointed out by Zamakhshari(and confirmed by other classical commentators, including Razi), Ibn Abbas used to read the word in the spelling jummal, which signifies "a thick rope" or "a twisted cable"; and the same reading is attributed to Ali ibn Abi Talib (Taj al-'Arus). It is to be noted that there are also several other dialectical spellings of this word, namely, jumal, juml, jumul and, finally, jamal (as in the generally-accepted version of the Qur'an) - all of them signifying "a thick, twisted rope" (Jawhari), and all of them used in this sense by some of the Prophet's Companions
or their immediate successors (tabi'un). Ibn Abbas is also quoted by Zamakhshari as having said that God could not have coined so inappropriate a metaphor as "a camel passing through a needle's eye" - meaning that there is no relationship whatsoever between a camel and a needle's eye whereas, on the other hand, there is a definite relationship between the latter and a rope (which, after all, is but an extremely thick thread). On all accounts, therefore, the rendering of jamal as "a twisted rope" is, in this context, infinitely preferable to that of "a camel". The fact that the latter rendering occurs in a somewhat similar phrase in the Greek version of the Synoptic
Gospels (Matthew xix, 24, Mark x, 25 and Luke xviii, 25) does not affect this contention. One should remember that the Gospels were originally composed in Aramaic, the language of Palestine at the time of Jesus, and that those Aramaic texts are now lost. It is more than probable that, owing to the customary absence of vowel signs in Aramaic writing, the Greek translator misunderstood the consonant spelling g-m-1 (corresponding to the Arabic j-m-1), and took it to mean "a camel": a mistake repeated since, with regard to the above Qur'an-verse, by many Muslims and all, non-Muslim orientalists as well.
28 – The term ‘first’ refer here either to a sequence in time …or in status (“leaders” and “followers”);………..
Note 29 - ………on Resurrection Day they shall bear the full weight of their own burdens, as well as some of the burdens of those ignorant ones whom they have led astray”.
Ali’s Comments
1018. It must not be supposed that the rebels against Allah would at once be cut off in this life for their sins. They will get the portion allotted to them, including the good things of life and the chance of repentance and reformation, during their probationary period on this earth.
During that period they will have a full run. After that period expires, they will be called to account. They will themselves see that the false things, in which they put their trust, were false, and they will confess their sin, but it will be too late.
1019 The earlier generations committed a double crime: (1) their own sins, (2) the bad example they set for those that followed. We are responsible not only for our own misdeeds, but for those which our example and our teaching to our juniors may induce them to commit. But it does not lie in the mouth of the juniors to ask for a double punishment for seniors: the motive is not justice, but pure spite, which is itself a sin. Further, the later generations have to answer for two things: (1) their own sins, and (2) their failure to learn from the past, from the experiences of those who preceded them. -They should have an advantage in this respect, being "in the foremost files of Time," but they did not learn. Thus there was nothing to choose between the earlier and later generations in the matter of guilt. But how few people understand this! In vi. 160, we were told that good was rewarded tenfold, but evil was punished according to its guilt, in perfect justice. This verse is in no way inconsistent with it. Two crimes must have a double penalty. (7.38)
1020 Wrong-doers have really no sense of honour towards each other. "Honour among thieves" is an exceptional, not an ordinary, experience. In real life, guilt and crime are apt to indulge in mean spite and bitter recriminations against accomplices. (7.39)