Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:28
And keep yourself patient [by being] with those who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His countenance. And let not your eyes pass beyond them, desiring adornments of the worldly life, and do not obey one whose heart We have made heedless of Our remembrance and who follows his desire and whose affair is ever [in] neglect.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of Allah the Exalted: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَلا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا (18:28)
Allah the Exalted says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: وَاصْبِرْ — persevere, O Muḥammad — نَفْسَكَ مَعَ your companions — الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ — through their remembrance of Him by tasbīḥ, taḥmīd, tahlīl, supplication, and good deeds such as the obligatory prayers and others — يُرِيدُونَ by doing that — وَجْهَهُ — they desire no share of worldly things.
We have already mentioned the disagreement of the scholars concerning His word يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ in the sūra of al-Anʿām, along with the most correct position concerning it in our view — so that repeating it here is not necessary. The reciters read it as بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ ; it is related that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿĀmir and Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Sulamī read it as "bi-l-ghadwa wa-l-ʿashiyy" — a reading regarded as objectionable by the scholars of the Arabic language, because "ghadwa" is already definite without the alif-lām; for one makes definite by the alif-lām that which is not yet definite. Established proper nouns are not made definite again by the alif-lām. Moreover, "ghadwa" does not admit iḍāfa (annexation), and its impossibility for iḍāfa is clear proof that the alif-lām does not suit it either — for words that take the alif-lām also admit iḍāfa. The Arabs say: "ataytuka ghadāt al-jumuʿa" (I came to you on the morning of Friday), but not "ataytuka ghadwat al-jumuʿa." The reading in our view is that which the reciters of the regions maintain; we do not permit a departure from it because of their agreement, and because of the reason we have set forth from the Arabic.
وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says to His Prophet ﷺ: do not turn your gaze away from these believers whom you were commanded to stand firm together with, toward the unbelievers besides them, and do not pass them by. The origin is the expression: "ʿadawtu dhālika fa-anā aʿdūhu" — I passed that by.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke.
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj. He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ : "Do not pass them by toward others."
ʿAlī related to me; he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to me; he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ : "Do not go beyond them toward others."
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ — the āya — : "The people said to the Prophet ﷺ: 'We are ashamed to sit together with so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so. Keep them at a distance, O Muḥammad, and sit with the notables of the Arabs.' Then the Qurʾān was sent down: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ — do not belittle them; he said: 'I was commanded to that.' He said: وَلا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا .'"
Al-Rabīʿ ibn Sulaymān related to us; he said: Ibn Wahb related to us; he said: Usāma ibn Zayd informed me, on the authority of Abī Ḥāzim, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sahl ibn Ḥunayf: "When this āya was sent down upon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — he was in one of his houses — وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ — he went out seeking them and found a group remembering Allah: some with matted hair, others with dry skin, and a man with only a single garment. When he saw them, he sat down among them and said: 'All praise is Allah who has set within my community for me people with whom I was commanded to be steadfast.'" And "the two eyes" are grammatically raised by the verb, which is "lā taʿdu."
His word تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا — Allah, exalted be His mention, says to His Prophet ﷺ: do not turn your gaze away from these believers who call upon their Lord, toward the prominent ones of the polytheists — desiring rank and renown by sitting together with them. For the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was — according to what is related — visited by leaders from among the idolaters; others said: by chiefs of Arab tribes without Islamic insight; they found him sitting with Khabbāb, Ṣuhayb, and Bilāl, and asked him to send them away whenever they were present. Thus — so it is said — the Messenger of Allah ﷺ was about to do; whereupon Allah sent down upon him: وَلا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ يُرِيدُونَ وَجْهَهُ . After that he used to rise when he wished to leave and leave them sitting; whereupon Allah sent down upon him: وَاصْبِرْ نَفْسَكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ — the āya — وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا : "being desirous of the splendor of the worldly life" — that is to say: the company of those prominent nobles. The narration concerning this I have already mentioned in the sūra of al-Anʿām.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to me; he said: my father related to us; he said: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abī Saʿīd al-Azdī — he was the Qurʾān reciter of al-Azd — on the authority of Abī al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb — in a report he mentioned about the Prophet ﷺ, with the following woven into it: وَلا تَعْدُ عَيْنَاكَ عَنْهُمْ تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا . He said: "The company of the nobles."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj. He said: "I was informed that ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn, before his conversion, said to the Prophet ﷺ: 'The smell of Salmān al-Fārisī troubles me; appoint for us a separate sitting place with you, without him, and appoint for them a sitting place without us'; whereupon the āya was sent down."
Bishr related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda. He said: "It has been related to us that when this āya was sent down, the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: 'All praise is Allah who has set within my community for me people with whom I am commanded to be steadfast.'"
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning تُرِيدُ زِينَةَ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا : "the notables of the world."
Ṣāliḥ ibn Mismār related to us; he said: al-Walīd ibn ʿAbd al-Malik related to us; he said: Sulaymān ibn ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Maslama ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Juhanī, on the authority of his uncle Abī Mashajaʿa ibn Ribʿī, on the authority of Salmān al-Fārisī. He said: "The muʾallafa qulūbuhum came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn, al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis, and their associates, and said: 'O Prophet of Allah, if you were to sit in the front part of the mosque and send away from us these people and the smells of their woolen garments — they meant Salmān, Abū Dharr, and the poor Muslims who wore woolen cloaks and nothing else — we would come and sit with you and speak with you and learn from you.' Whereupon Allah sent down: وَاتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ كِتَابِ رَبِّكَ لا مُبَدِّلَ لِكَلِمَاتِهِ وَلَنْ تَجِدَ مِنْ دُونِهِ مُلْتَحَدًا — up to: إِنَّا أَعْتَدْنَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ نَارًا — threatening them with the Fire. Whereupon the Prophet of Allah ﷺ rose and sought them, until he found them at the back of the mosque, remembering Allah. He said: 'All praise is Allah who did not cause me to die until He commanded me to be steadfast with men of my community — with you is life and with you is death.'"
His word وَلا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ — Allah, exalted be His mention, says to His Prophet ﷺ: do not obey, O Muḥammad, the one whose heart We have diverted from Our remembrance through unbelief and prevailing affliction — the unbelievers who asked you to remove from yourself the group who call upon their Lord in the morning and the evening —; and who followed his own desire and abandoned obedience to Allah's command and prohibition, and gave preference to his own cravings over obedience to his Lord. They are — according to what is related — ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn, al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis, and their associates.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me; he said: my father related to us; he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abī Saʿīd al-Azdī, on the authority of Abī al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb, concerning وَلا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا : "ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ."
As for His word وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا : the exegetes differed concerning its interpretation. Some said: the meaning is "and his affair was lost."
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us. And al-Ḥārith related to me; he said: al-Ḥasan related to us; he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both from Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا . Ibn ʿAmr said in his narration: "lost"; al-Ḥārith said in his narration: "destruction."
Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid. He said: "Destruction."
Others said: the meaning is "and his affair was regret."
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Badal ibn al-Muḥabbar related to us; he said: ʿAbbād ibn Rāshid related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, concerning فُرُطًا . He said: "Regret (nadāma)."
Others said: the meaning is "ruin."
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: my father related to us; he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abī Saʿīd al-Azdī, on the authority of Abī al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb, concerning وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا . He said: "Ruin (halāk)."
Others said: the meaning is "deviation from the truth."
Those who said this are mentioned below:
Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا : "Deviating from the truth — that is al-furuṭ."
The most correct opinion concerning this, in my view, is the position of those who said: the meaning is "lost" and "ruin" — derived from the expression: "afraṭa fulān fī hādhā al-amr ifrāṭan": when someone goes to excess in it and exceeds the proper bound. So too وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا : the meaning is: the affair of the one whose heart We divert from Our remembrance — through his ostentation, arrogance, and belittling of the believers — had gone excessively beyond its bound; thereby he forfeited the truth and came to ruin.
Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us; he was asked: "How did ʿĀṣim read it?" He said: وَكَانَ أَمْرُهُ فُرُطًا . Abū Kurayb said: Abū Bakr said: "ʿUyayna ibn Ḥiṣn used to boast with 'I' and 'I.'"
