The Heights (Al-A‘raf)
Verses 34-37 GROUP_255 7.34-37
34
وَلِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ أَجَلٌ فَإِذَا جَاء أَجَلُهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَأْخِرُونَ سَاعَةً وَلاَ يَسْتَقْدِمُونَ
For all people a term has been set: and when [the end of] their term approaches, they can neither delay it by a single moment, nor can they advance it.
35
يَا بَنِي آدَمَ إِمَّا يَأْتِيَنَّكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ يَقُصُّونَ عَلَيْكُمْ آيَاتِي فَمَنِ اتَّقَى وَأَصْلَحَ فَلاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلاَ هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
Children of Adam! If messengers come to you from among yourselves, reciting My revelations to you, then those that take warning and mend their ways, on such shall come no fear nor shall they grieve.
36
وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِآيَاتِنَا وَاسْتَكْبَرُواْ عَنْهَا أُوْلَـَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ
But those who deny and scorn Our revelations shall be the inmates of Hell, where they shall remain forever.
37
فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِآيَاتِهِ أُوْلَـئِكَ يَنَالُهُمْ نَصِيبُهُم مِّنَ الْكِتَابِ حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا يَتَوَفَّوْنَهُمْ قَالُواْ أَيْنَ مَا كُنتُمْ تَدْعُونَ مِن دُونِ اللّهِ قَالُواْ ضَلُّواْ عَنَّا وَشَهِدُواْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ كَافِرِينَ
Who does a greater wrong than he who invents lies against God or rejects His revelations? Such people will have what has been decreed for them. And when Our messengers come to them to take away their souls, they shall ask them, ‘Where are those you used to call upon besides God?’ They will answer, ‘They have deserted us;’ and they will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers?
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Commentary
(a) According to the creation plan one has the opportunity to perform well or badly in the present world till the period of one’s trial is over. But as far as a community or a nation is concerned, there is no such limit for the enforcement of God’s decision. This decision is taken on the basis of that community’s response after the truth has been introduced to it. The community whose period is over, is sometimes destroyed by the inflicting of an extraordinary retributive punishment and sometimes it is punished by being displaced from its position of honour and supremacy. The decision about Heaven or Hell as the final destination for a man is taken on the basis of his response after the truth has appeared before him, supported by arguments whose rationality is testified to by his intellect. This means conveying the message in the full sense. Even after that, if a man refuses to accept the Truth, he does so out of egotism. His desire to maintain his superiority prevents him from lowering himself in comparison to the Truth. For such a man, before God, there is no fate except Hell. (a) Whenever a man rejects the truth, he does so imagining that he has something to back him up. He may rely on wealth and power, or on respect and popularity. He may feel confident that all his personal matters are in such good order that rejection of the Truth will not harm him in any way. He may take pride in having the intelligence to find eloquent expressions with which to present his own ideas, as if they came directly from God. But these are all great misapprehensions. He has erroneously regarded as supports—on which he could depend for salvation— the things actually meant for his trial. But on Doomsday, when all these false props desert him, it will not be difficult for him to understand that he was actually rejecting the Truth merely due to ignorance, though he kept quoting ‘principles’ to justify his rejection.