Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:167
Those who followed will say, "If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us." Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the Fire.
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 saying of Allah, the Exalted: وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ اتَّبَعُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّءُوا مِنَّا ("And those who followed will say: 'If only we had a return, then we would disavow them as they have disavowed us.'")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by His saying — exalted is His mention —: "And those who followed will say," that is: the followers of those men — those whom they had taken as partners alongside Allah, whom they obeyed in disobedience to Allah, and in obeying whom they were disobedient to their Lord — when they behold the punishment of Allah in the Hereafter, will say: "If only we had a return (karra)."
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He means by "al-karra" the return to the worldly life, derived from a person's saying: "karartu ʿalā al-qawmi akurru karran" (I charged upon the people, I charge, with a charge). And "al-karra" is the single instance, and that is when one charges upon them by turning toward them again after having turned away from them, as al-Akhṭal said:
"And indeed, they turned upon Fazāra with a turning, the turning of the minīḥ (the arrow without a share), and they circled there in a wide round."
And as:
2432 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: "And those who followed will say: 'If only we had a return, then we would disavow them as they have disavowed us'," that is: if only we had a return to the worldly life.
2433 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "And those who followed will say: 'If only we had a return'," he said: the followers will say: if only we had a return to the worldly life, then we would disavow them as they have disavowed us.
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His saying "then we would disavow them (fa-natabarraʾa minhum)" is in the accusative (manṣūb), because it is the answer to the wish, by means of the "fāʾ." For the people wish for a return to the worldly life in order to disavow those whom they obeyed in disobedience to Allah, such as their leaders who were in the worldly life — those who were followed therein in disbelief in Allah — disavowed them, when they beheld with their own eyes the mighty punishment of Allah descending upon them. So they said: "Oh, if only we had a return to the worldly life, then we would disavow them," and يَا لَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلَا نُكَذِّبَ بِآيَاتِ رَبِّنَا وَنَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ [Surah Al-Anʿām: 27] ("Oh, would that we were sent back, then we would not deny the signs of our Lord and would be among the believers.")
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The explanation of the saying of Allah, the Exalted: كَذَلِكَ يُرِيهِمُ اللَّهُ أَعْمَالَهُمْ حَسَرَاتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ ("Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets for them.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of His saying "Thus will Allah show them their deeds" is: just as He showed them the punishment that He mentioned in His saying وَرَأَوُا الْعَذَابَ ("and they see the punishment"), which they denied in the worldly life, so too does He show them their corrupt deeds by which they deserved the punishment of Allah, "as regrets for them," that is: as remorseful feelings of regret.
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"Al-ḥasarāt" is the plural of "ḥasra" (regret). And likewise every noun whose singular has the form "faʿla" — with a fatḥa on the first letter and a sukūn on the second — is formed in the plural as "faʿalāt," such as "shahwa" (desire) and "tamra" (date), which are formed as "shahawāt" and "tamarāt," with a strengthening (vocalization) on the second of their letters. But when it is an adjective (naʿt), then you leave the second letter with a sukūn, such as "ḍakhma" (large), which you form as "ḍakhmāt," and "ʿabla" (well-formed), which you form as "ʿablāt." And sometimes the second letter is also left with a sukūn in nouns, as the poet said:
"Perhaps the vicissitudes of time, or its turnings, will turn for us the misfortune with one of its misfortunes, so that the soul may find rest from its heavy sighs."
Thus he left the second letter of "al-zafarāt" (the sighs) with a sukūn, although it is a noun. And it is said: "al-ḥasra" is the most intense form of regret.
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If someone were to say to us: How can they see their deeds as regrets for themselves, when one who regrets only regrets the omission of good deeds and the missing thereof? And you know that the disbelievers had no good deeds over which they would regret that they had not done more of them, such that Allah would show them the little thereof! Rather, their deeds were all disobedience to Allah, and over that there is no regret for them; regret concerns only that which they did not perform of obedience to Allah?
The answer is: The scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differ concerning the explanation of that. We shall mention concerning it what they have said, and then we shall report what is most fitting as its explanation, if Allah wills.
Some of them said: The meaning of it is: thus will Allah show them the deeds that He prescribed for them in the worldly life, but which they neglected and did not perform, until another — through his obedience to his Lord — deserved that which Allah had prepared for them of dwellings and favors, had they performed those deeds during their lifetime. Thus the reward that escaped them — which Allah had prepared for them with Himself had they obeyed Him in the worldly life, when they beheld it upon entering the Fire or before that — became for them grief, remorse, and regret.
* Mention of who said that:
2434 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets for them," he claimed that Paradise is raised up for them, so that they look at it and at their houses therein, [which they would have had] had they obeyed Allah. And it is said to them: "Those would have been your dwellings, had you obeyed Allah." Then they are distributed among the believers, who inherit them from them. And that is the moment at which they feel regret.
2435 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Kuhayl, saying: Abū al-Zaʿrāʾ related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh — in a narration that he mentioned — and he said: there is no soul but that it looks at a house in Paradise and a house in the Fire, and that is the Day of Regret (yawm al-ḥasra). He said: The people of the Fire then see those who are in Paradise, and it is said to them: "Had you only performed good deeds!" Then regret seizes them. He said: And the people of Paradise see the house that is in the Fire, and it is said: "Were it not that Allah had favored you!"
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If someone were to say: And how, according to this explanation, can a deed be attributed to them that they did not perform?
The answer is: just as a work is presented to a man and, before he performs it, it is said [to him]: "This is your work," that is: this is what you are obliged to perform — just as it is said to a man whose breakfast is set ready before him, before he eats it: "This is your breakfast of today," by which is meant: this is what you will eat today as breakfast. Likewise is His saying: "Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets for them," that is: thus will Allah show them the deeds that they were obliged to perform in the worldly life, as regrets for them.
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Others said: Thus will Allah show them their evil deeds as regrets for them: why did they do them? And why did they not do other deeds that please Allah, exalted is His mention?
* Mention of who said that:
2436 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets for them," thus their corrupt deeds became a regret for them on the Day of Resurrection.
2437 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying "their deeds as regrets for them": Are these not their corrupt deeds by which Allah made them enter the Fire? [And He made them] as regrets for them. He said: And He made the deeds of the people of Paradise [belong] to them, and he recited the saying of Allah: بِمَا أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِي الْأَيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ [Surah Al-Ḥāqqa: 24] ("for what you sent ahead in the days gone by").
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Abū Jaʿfar said: The most fitting of the two explanations for the āyah is the explanation of the one who said: the meaning of His saying "Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets for them" is: thus will Allah show the disbelievers their corrupt deeds as regrets for them: why did they do them? And why did they not do others? Thus they feel regret over the evil deeds they committed, when they see the requital thereof from Allah and the punishment for it — for Allah has reported that He will show them their deeds as remorse for them.
That which is most fitting as the explanation of the āyah is therefore that to which the apparent meaning (al-ẓāhir) points, and not that which the inner meaning (al-bāṭin) might allow, for which there exists no indication that it is intended by it. And as for what al-Suddī said concerning it: even though that is an opinion that the āyah might allow, it is nonetheless a far-fetched explanation. There exists no transmitted report — confirming that it is as he mentioned — upon which rests a proof that would be accepted, and there is in the apparent meaning of the āyah no indication that that is intended by it. Since the matter is so, the apparent meaning of the revelation may not be turned away toward an inner interpretation.
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The explanation of the saying of Allah, the Exalted: وَمَا هُمْ بِخَارِجِينَ مِنَ النَّارِ (167) ("And they will not depart from the Fire.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His mention — means thereby: and these disbelievers whom I have described — even though they feel remorse after they have beheld with their own eyes the punishment of Allah, so that their regret over the corrupt deeds they had committed became intense, and they wished for a return to the worldly life in order to repent therein and to disavow those who misled them and their leaders whom they obeyed therein in disobedience to Allah — they will not depart from the Fire, in which Allah made them burn on account of their disbelief in Him in the worldly life. And their regret therein will not save them at that moment from the punishment of Allah, but therein they will abide forever.
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In this āyah lies the proof that Allah gives the lie to those who claim that the punishment by Allah of the people of the Fire, of the people of disbelief, is finite, and that it has an end, and that thereafter it ceases to exist. For Allah — exalted is His mention — has reported concerning these, whose characteristics He has described in this āyah, and has concluded the report concerning them with the statement that they will not depart from the Fire, without making therein any exception for one moment rather than another. That is therefore without limit and without end.
