Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:17
Their example is that of one who kindled a fire, but when it illuminated what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darkness [so] they could not see.
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 His word: مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ لا يُبْصِرُونَ (17)
(Their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see. (17))
Abū Jaʿfar said: If someone were to say to us: "How can it be said (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) — their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire — while you know that the 'hāʾ and mīm' in His word 'mathaluhum' (their likeness) are a reference to a plural — of men, or of men and women — whereas 'alladhī' (the one who) refers to a single male individual? How then can one make the report about a single individual into a likeness for a plural? Why was it not said: 'their likeness is as the likeness of those who kindled a fire'? And if, according to you, it is permissible to compare a plural with a single individual, do you then also permit that someone who has seen a group of men and admired their statures, the perfection of their build and their bodies, should say: 'It is as though these — or as though the bodies of these — are a date-palm'?"
To that it is answered: As for the place where our Lord — exalted be His praise — compared a group of the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) with the single individual whom He made into a likeness for their deeds: that is permissible and correct, just as in comparable cases. Thus He — exalted be His praise — says in a similar case: تَدُورُ أَعْيُنُهُمْ كَالَّذِي يُغْشَى عَلَيْهِ مِنَ الْمَوْتِ [Surah Al-Aḥzāb: 19] (their eyes rolling like one over whom the swoon of death comes), that is to say: like the rolling of the eye of him over whom the swoon of death comes. And like His word: مَا خَلْقُكُمْ وَلا بَعْثُكُمْ إِلا كَنَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ [Surah Luqmān: 28] (your creation and your resurrection are nothing but as that of a single soul), in the meaning: except as the resurrection of a single soul.
But as for comparing the bodies of a group of men, in length and perfection of build, with a single date-palm: that is not permissible, neither in comparable cases, on account of the difference between the two.
The comparing of a group of hypocrites with the single fire-kindler is only permissible because what is intended by the report about the likeness of the hypocrites is the report about the likeness of their obtaining of light through that which they manifested with their tongues — namely the profession (iqrār) — while they inwardly concealed something else: their corrupt convictions, and their mixing of their hidden hypocrisy (nifāq) with the outward profession of faith. And the obtaining of light — even though the persons to whom it belongs differ — is a single meaning, not different meanings. The likeness for it is therefore in the sense of a likeness for a single person, [drawn] from matters whose persons are different.
The explanation of that is: the likeness of the obtaining of light by the hypocrites through what they manifested of profession of Allah and of Muḥammad ﷺ and of what he brought — in word, while they denied it in conviction — is as the likeness of the obtaining of light by the one who kindles a fire. Then the mention of the obtaining of light was omitted and the likeness was attached to them, as Nābigha of the Banū Jaʿda said:
"And how would you maintain friendship with one whose friendship has become like that of Abū Marḥab?"
He means: like the friendship of Abū Marḥab; he omitted 'friendship', since in what he manifested of his words there was for his hearers an indication of what he had omitted. So too is it with His word: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا). Since it was known to his hearers, through what was manifested of the words, that the likeness was drawn only for the people's obtaining of light through the profession, and not for the individual statures of their bodies — therefore it was correct to omit the mention of the obtaining of light and to attach the likeness to its bearers. And what is intended by the likeness is what we have mentioned. On the basis of what we have described, His word is therefore permissible and correct: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا), and the likeness of the plural in wording resembles that of the single individual, since what is intended by the likeness is a single thing in meaning.
But if one intends to compare a group of the individuals among the children of men — or individuals who have statures and bodies — with something, then what is correct in the expression is the comparing of a plural with a plural and of a single individual with a single individual, because the individual of each of them is not the individuals of the others.
For that reason of meaning the ruling differs concerning the comparing of deeds and of names. It is permissible to compare the deeds of a group of people and others — if they have a single meaning — with the deed of the single individual, and then to omit the names of the deeds and attach the likeness and comparison to those whose deed it is. Thus one says: "Your deeds are nothing but as the deed of the dog"; then one omits and says: "Your deeds are nothing but as the dog" or "as the dogs" — while you mean: except as the deed of the dog, and except as the deed of the dogs. But it is not permissible for you to say: "They are nothing but a date-palm", while you wish to compare their bodies with the date-palm in length and perfection of build.
As for His word: (اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) (he kindled a fire), that has the meaning of 'awqada' (he lit), as the poet said:
"And a caller who called: 'O, who responds to noble generosity?' But at that moment no answerer answered him."
He means: but no one answered him. The meaning of the words is therefore: the likeness of the obtaining of light by these hypocrites — in their manifesting toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and toward the believers with their tongues, through their utterance: "We believe in Allah and in the Last Day, and we acknowledge Muḥammad and what he brought as true", while they inwardly concealed unbelief (kufr) — as regards that which Allah will do with them, is as the likeness of the obtaining of light by one who kindles a fire with his fire, until the fire lit up for him what was around him, that is to say: what was around the fire-kindler.
Some linguists among the people of Basra have claimed that 'alladhī' in His word (كمثل الذي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) has the meaning of 'alladhīna' (those who), as He — exalted be His praise — says: وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ وَصَدَّقَ بِهِ أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ [Surah Az-Zumar: 33] (and the one who came with the truth and affirmed it — they are the God-fearing), and as the poet said:
"For those whose blood found its appointed time at Falj, they are the people, the true people, O mother of Khālid!"
Abū Jaʿfar said: The first position is the correct one, on account of the reason which we have described. The one who claimed that [other view] overlooked the difference between 'alladhī' in the two verses and in the verse [of the poet]. For 'alladhī' in His word: وَالَّذِي جَاءَ بِالصِّدْقِ — therein an indication has come that its meaning is plural, namely His word: أُولَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتَّقُونَ. And so too 'alladhī' in the verse, namely his word 'dimāʾuhum' (their blood). But this indication is not present in His word: (كمثل الذي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا). That is therefore the difference between 'alladhī' in His word (كمثل الذي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) and all the remaining proof-texts which he adduced in proof that the meaning of 'alladhī' in His word (كمثل الذي استوْقَدَ نَارًا) is plural. And it is permissible for no one to transfer the word — which in the usage of the Arabs predominantly [denotes] one particular meaning — to another [meaning], except on the basis of a proof to which one must submit.
Then the people of interpretation (taʾwīl) differed concerning the explanation of that. From Ibn ʿAbbās several statements have been transmitted concerning it:
The first of them is that which:
386 – Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿIkrima — or on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: Allah drew a likeness for the hypocrites and said: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ لا يُبْصِرُونَ) — that is to say: they see the truth and speak it, until — when they have thereby come out of the darkness of unbelief — they extinguish it therein by their unbelief and their hypocrisy, whereupon He leaves them in the darknesses of unbelief, so that they see no guidance and do not remain steadfast upon the truth.
And the second is that which:
387 – Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) to the end of the verse: This is a likeness which Allah drew for the hypocrites; they obtained standing through Islam, so that the Muslims married them, inherited from them, and shared the spoils (fayʾ) with them. But when they died, Allah took that standing away from them, just as He took his light from the possessor of the fire. (وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ) — he says: in punishment (ʿadhāb).
And the third is that which:
388 – Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, in a report which he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Mālik, and on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — and on the authority of Murra, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, and on the authority of a number of people among the companions of the Prophet ﷺ: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ لا يُبْصِرُونَ): he claimed that some people entered into Islam upon the arrival of the Prophet ﷺ in Medina, and that they then became hypocrites. Their likeness was as the likeness of a man who was in the darkness and kindled a fire, which lit up for him what was around him of dust or obstacles, so that he saw it and knew what he had to guard against. And while he was in that state, his fire suddenly went out, and he was left without knowing what he had to guard against of obstacles. So too is it with the hypocrite: he was in the darkness of the ascribing of partners (shirk), and he embraced Islam, so that he distinguished the permitted from the forbidden, and the good from the evil. And while he was in that state, he suddenly denied, so that he no longer distinguished the permitted from the forbidden, nor the good from the evil. As for the light: that is the faith in what Muḥammad ﷺ brought. And the darkness was their hypocrisy.
And the following is that which:
389 – Muḥammad ibn Saʿīd related to me, saying: My father, Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad, related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا) up to فَهُمْ لا يَرْجِعُونَ — Allah drew it as a likeness for the hypocrite. And His word: (ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ), he said: As for the light, that is their faith with which they speak. And as for the darkness, that is their error and their unbelief with which they speak; they are a people who were upon guidance and from whom it was then taken away, whereupon they thereafter fell into rebellion.
And others said that which:
390 – Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to me, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (مَثَلُهُمْ كَمَثَلِ الَّذِي اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهُ ذَهَبَ اللَّهُ بِنُورِهِمْ وَتَرَكَهُمْ فِي ظُلُمَاتٍ لا يُبْصِرُونَ): The hypocrite uttered 'there is no god but Allah', and that lit up for him in this worldly life, so that thereby he married among the Muslims, thereby went forth to fight alongside the Muslims, thereby inherited among the Muslims, and thereby protected his blood and his property. But when the moment of death came, it was taken away from the hypocrite, because it had no root in his heart and no reality in his knowledge.
391 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him" — that is 'there is no god but Allah'; it lit up for them, so that thereby they ate and drank, were safe in this worldly life, married women, and thereby protected their blood, until — when they died — Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see.
392 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Tumayla related to me, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim, concerning His word: "as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him", he said: As for the light, that is their faith with which they speak; and as for the darknesses, they are their error and their unbelief.
And others said that which:
393 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr al-Bāhilī related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Maymūn related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: "their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him", he said: As for the lighting of the fire, that is their turning toward the believers and the guidance; and the disappearing of their light is their turning toward the unbelievers and the error.
394 – Al-Muthannā ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, on the authority of Shibl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him" — as for the lighting of the fire, that is their turning toward the believers and the guidance; and the disappearing of their light is their turning toward the unbelievers and the error.
395 – Al-Qāsim related to me, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of that.
396 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: He drew a likeness for the people of hypocrisy and said: "their likeness is as the likeness of one who kindled a fire"; he said: The light and the radiance of the fire exist only as long as one keeps it burning; and when it goes out, its light disappears. So too is it with the hypocrite: whenever he utters the word of sincere devotion (ikhlāṣ), it lights up for him; and when he doubts, he falls into the darkness.
397 – Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd related to me, concerning His word: "as the likeness of one who kindled a fire" up to the end of the verse, he said: This is the description of the hypocrites. They had believed, until the faith lit up in their hearts, as the fire lit up for those who kindled it. Then they denied, whereupon Allah took away their light and snatched it away, just as He took away the radiance of this fire, and He left them in darknesses, so that they could not see.
The most fitting of the interpretations for the verse is what Qatāda and al-Ḍaḥḥāk said, and what ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa transmitted on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. And that is: that Allah — exalted be His praise — drew this likeness only for the hypocrites — whose characteristic He described and whose story He told, from the moment that He began their mention with His word: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَقُولُ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ وَمَا هُمْ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ (and among the people are those who say: "We believe in Allah and in the Last Day", while they are not believers) — and not for those who openly proclaim unbelief and loudly profess shirk. If the likeness were intended for one who had a valid faith and then openly and validly proclaimed unbelief — in accordance with what was supposed by the one who interpreted the word of Allah, exalted be His praise: (as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him, Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see), namely that the radiance of the fire is a likeness for their faith which was validly present in them, and that the disappearing of their light is a likeness for their apostasy and their valid open proclamation of unbelief — then there would be among that people no question of deception, nor of mockery on their part, nor of hypocrisy. For how would there be deception and hypocrisy from one who has shown you no word or deed except that which gives you knowledge of his state as he assumes it toward you, and of the intention of his soul to which he holds fast? Without doubt this is far from hypocrisy and free of deception. And since that people had only two states — a state of outward faith and a state of outward unbelief — the designation of hypocrisy for that people lapses. For in the state of their valid faith they were believers, and in the state of their valid unbelief they were unbelievers. And there is there no third state by which they would be hypocrites.
And in the description which Allah — exalted be His praise — gives of them with the characteristic of hypocrisy, there is something that announces that the statement is other than the statement which he claimed who claimed that the people were believers and then apostatized to unbelief and held fast to it — unless the one who says that meant that they passed over from their faith upon which they were, to the unbelief which is hypocrisy. And that is a statement of which, if someone makes it, the validity is not to be established except by a widely circulated report (khabar mustafīḍ), or by some of the meanings which necessitate its validity. As for the outward [purport] of the Book, therein is no indication of its validity, since it admits of an interpretation which is more deserving of it.
Since the matter is as we have described concerning it, the most fitting of the interpretations of the verse for the verse is: the likeness of the obtaining of light by the hypocrites — through what they manifested with their tongues toward the Messenger of Allah ﷺ of profession of him, and their utterance to him and to the believers: "We believe in Allah, His books, His messengers and the Last Day", until, on account of this, in this immediate worldly life the ruling of the Muslims was accorded to them: as regards the protection of blood and property, the safety of offspring from captivity (sabī), and as regards marriage and inheritance — is as the likeness of the obtaining of light by the one who kindles the fire with the fire, until — when he profits from its radiance and, lit up by its light, sees what is around him of darkness — the fire goes out and is extinguished, whereupon its light disappears and the one who was lit up by it returns into darkness and bewilderment.
And that is because the hypocrite was continually lit up by the radiance of the word with which he warded off from himself, during his life, the death penalty and captivity — while he inwardly concealed that by which he would have deserved the death penalty and the dispossession of property, had he manifested it with his tongue. Thereby his soul imagined that he mocked Allah, His messenger and the believers and deceived them, until his soul made him believe — when he would arrive before his Lord in the Hereafter — that he would be saved from Him by the same thing by which he was saved in this worldly life of lying and hypocrisy. Do you not hear how Allah — exalted be His praise — says, when He described them and then conveyed the report about them at their arrival before Him: يَوْمَ يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللَّهُ جَمِيعًا فَيَحْلِفُونَ لَهُ كَمَا يَحْلِفُونَ لَكُمْ وَيَحْسَبُونَ أَنَّهُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ أَلا إِنَّهُمْ هُمُ الْكَاذِبُونَ [Surah Al-Mujādala: 18] (on the day that Allah will resurrect them all, they will swear to Him as they swear to you, and they suppose that they have something in hand; verily, they are the liars) — out of the supposition of that people that their salvation from the punishment of Allah in the Hereafter would be through the same thing by which their salvation from the death penalty, captivity and dispossession of property in this worldly life took place: through lying and falsehood, and that their deception would benefit them there as it benefited them in this worldly life — until they beheld of the affair of Allah that by which they knew with certainty that they had been in their suppositions in delusion and error, and in mockery of themselves and deception, when Allah extinguished their light on the Day of Resurrection. Then they asked the believers for respite to borrow from their light, but it was said to them: "Return behind you and seek light", and they were cast into a blazing fire. That is the moment at which Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see, just as the fire of the fire-kindler went out after it had lit up for him, and he remained in his darkness, bewildered and having lost the way. Allah — exalted be His praise — says: يَوْمَ يَقُولُ الْمُنَافِقُونَ وَالْمُنَافِقَاتُ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا انْظُرُونَا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِكُمْ قِيلَ ارْجِعُوا وَرَاءَكُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُورًا فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُ * يُنَادُونَهُمْ أَلَمْ نَكُنْ مَعَكُمْ قَالُوا بَلَى وَلَكِنَّكُمْ فَتَنْتُمْ أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَتَرَبَّصْتُمْ وَارْتَبْتُمْ وَغَرَّتْكُمُ الأَمَانِيُّ حَتَّى جَاءَ أَمْرُ اللَّهِ وَغَرَّكُمْ بِاللَّهِ الْغَرُورُ * فَالْيَوْمَ لا يُؤْخَذُ مِنْكُمْ فِدْيَةٌ وَلا مِنَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ هِيَ مَوْلاكُمْ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ [Surah Al-Ḥadīd: 13-15].
(On the day that the hypocrite men and the hypocrite women will say to those who believed: "Wait for us, that we may borrow from your light", it will be said: "Return behind you and seek light." Then a wall will be raised between them with a gate: on the inner side of it is the mercy, and on the outer side of it, on the other side, is the punishment. They call out to them: "Were we not with you?" They say: "Yes indeed, but you put yourselves into temptation, you waited, you doubted, and the desires deluded you, until the command of Allah came; and the deluder deluded you concerning Allah. On this day no ransom will be accepted from you, nor from those who were unbelievers. Your abode is the Fire; that is your master, and what an evil destination!")
If someone were to say to us: "You have mentioned that the meaning of the word of Allah — exalted be His mention — 'as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him' is: it went out and was extinguished, while that is not present in the Qurʾān. What then is your proof that that is its meaning?"
Then it is answered: We have already said that it belongs to the custom of the Arabs to be concise and terse, when in what they uttered there was a conclusive indication of what they omitted and left out, as Abū Dhuʾayb al-Hudhalī said:
"I followed her against the heart; verily, I am obedient to her command — but I do not know whether the striving after her is right guidance!"
He means by it: but I do not know whether the striving after her is right guidance, or else error; and he omitted the mention 'or else error', since in what he uttered there was an indication thereof. And as Dhū al-Rumma said in his description of wild asses:
"And when they donned the night, or when [the night fell], she raised her drooping ears, while it [the night] inclined."
He means: or when the night fell — in numerous comparable cases, the mention of which we have disapproved of lengthening the book with. So too is it with His word: "as the likeness of one who kindled a fire; and when it lit up what was around him". Since therein, and in what comes after it of His word: "Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see", there was an indication of the omitted [part] which suffices for its mention — He shortened the words, striving for terseness.
And so too the omission of what is omitted and the shortening of what is shortened from the report about the likeness of the hypocrites thereafter, is comparable to what is shortened from the report about the likeness of the fire-kindler. For the meaning of the words is: so too the hypocrites — Allah took away their light and left them in darknesses, so that they could not see — after the radiance in which they were in this worldly life through what they manifested with their tongues of profession of Islam, while they inwardly concealed something else — just as the radiance of the fire of this fire-kindler disappeared through the going out and extinguishing of his fire, whereupon he remained in darkness, without seeing.
And the 'hāʾ and mīm' in His word "Allah took away their light" refer back to the 'hāʾ and mīm' in His word "their likeness".
