Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:80
And they say, "Never will the Fire touch us, except for a few days." Say, "Have you taken a covenant with Allah? For Allah will never break His covenant. Or do you say about Allah that which you do not know?"
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 commentary on the saying of the Exalted: وَقَالُوا لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلا أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَةً (And they said: "The Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His words "and they said" the Jews are meant. He says: and the Jews said: "the Fire shall not touch us," that is to say: the Fire shall not touch our bodies and we shall not enter it, "except for a number of days (ayyāman maʿdūda)." It is said "counted/a fixed number (maʿdūda)," even though their number is not mentioned in the revelation, because Allah — praised be His laud — gave this report about them while they knew the number of days that they had fixed for their stay in the Fire. Therefore the mention of the number of those days has been omitted, and He called them "counted (maʿdūda)," for the reason which we have described.
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Then the scholars of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the total of the number of days which the Jews determined — those who said what Allah has reported about them.
* Some of them said the following:
1399 — Abū Kurayb related this to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Bishr ibn ʿUmāra, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," he said: that is what the enemies of Allah, the Jews, said. They said: Allah will only make us enter the Fire to fulfil the oath — the days on which we committed the sin of the calf: forty days. When those days have passed for us, the punishment and the oath cease for us.
1400 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His saying: "the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," they said: a number of days for what we committed with the calf.
1401 — Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," he said: the Jews said: Allah will make us enter the Fire and we shall remain therein forty nights, until, when the Fire has consumed our sins and purified us, a caller calls out: "Bring out every circumcised one of the children of the Israelites." That is why we have been commanded to be circumcised. They said: and they will not leave any of us in the Fire without bringing him out of it.
1402 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, he said: the Jews said: our Lord has reproached us for our affair and has sworn to punish us forty nights and then to bring us out. But Allah declared them liars.
1403 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: the Jews said: we will only enter the Fire to fulfil the oath, the number of days on which we worshipped the calf.
1404 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: "the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days" — the verse. Ibn ʿAbbās said: it is reported that the Jews found written in the Torah that the distance between the two ends of Hell (jahannam) is a journey of forty years, until they reach the Zaqqūm tree which is rooted in the bottom of the blazing fire (al-jaḥīm) — and Ibn ʿAbbās used always to say: the blazing fire is Saqar, and in it stands the Zaqqūm tree. The enemies of Allah claimed that, when the number which they found in their book — a number of days — had passed — and by it they meant only the journey ending at the bottom of the blazing fire — they said: when the number has passed, the term is at an end. Then there is no more punishment, and Hell (jahannam) passes away and perishes. That, then, is His saying: "the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," by which they mean that term. Ibn ʿAbbās said: when they stormed in through the gate of Hell, they journeyed onward through the punishment until they reached the Zaqqūm tree on the last day of the number of days. The keepers of Saqar said to them: you claimed that the Fire would only touch you for a number of days! The number has now passed, and you are in eternity! Then they were carried off into the Ṣaʿūd (the ascent) in Hell, while they were overwhelmed by exhaustion.
1405 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," except for forty nights.
1406 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: the Jews disputed with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and said: we will only enter the Fire for forty nights, and after that another people will succeed us therein — by which they meant Muḥammad and his companions. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, gesturing with his hand over their heads: "No, you will abide therein forever, no one will succeed you therein." Then Allah — praised be His laud — revealed: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days."
1407 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: the Jews gathered one day to dispute with the Prophet ﷺ. They said: "the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days" — and they mentioned forty days — and after that people will succeed us therein, or follow us therein. And they pointed to the Prophet ﷺ and his companions. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "You lie, no, you will abide therein forever and ever; we will not follow you therein nor succeed you, if Allah wills, for eternity."
1408 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn Maʿbad informed us, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk concerning His saying: "the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," he said: the Jews said: on the Day of Resurrection we will only be punished in the Fire for forty days, as long as we worshipped the calf.
1409 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: my father related to me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said to them: "I adjure you by Allah and by the Torah which Allah sent down to Mūsā on the day of Mount Sinai: who are the inhabitants of the Fire whom Allah has described in the Torah?" And they said: our Lord was once angry with us in anger, so we will remain in the Fire forty nights and then come out, after which you will succeed us therein. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "You lie, by Allah, we will never succeed you therein." Then the Qurʾān was sent down confirming the words of the Prophet ﷺ and refuting them: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days. Say: have you taken a covenant with Allah?" up to His words: "they will abide therein forever."
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Others said the following concerning this:
1410 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yūnus ibn Bukayr related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad, the freedman of Zayd ibn Thābit, related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the Jews used always to say: the duration of this world is only seven thousand years, and on the Day of Resurrection Allah will punish people, for every thousand years of the days of this world, only one day of the days of the hereafter, and that is seven days. Then Allah revealed concerning this, concerning their words: "And they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days" — the verse.
1411 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq, he said: Muḥammad ibn Abī Muḥammad related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr or ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived in Medina, while the Jews were saying: the duration of this world is only seven thousand years, and people are only punished in the Fire, for every thousand years of the days of this world, with one day in the Fire of the days of the hereafter; that is only seven days, and after that the punishment ceases. Then Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — revealed concerning this, concerning their words: "the Fire shall not touch us" — the verse.
1412 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the saying of Allah: "they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days," he said: they used always to say: this world is only seven thousand years, and we are only punished, for every thousand years, one day.
1413 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same — except that he said: the Jews used always to say: this world is only… and the rest of the report is the same.
1414 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: Mujāhid said: and they said: the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days of time. And they mentioned a number of seven thousand years, for every thousand years one day. The Jews say that.
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The commentary on the saying of the Exalted: قُلْ أَتَّخَذْتُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ عَهْدًا فَلَنْ يُخْلِفَ اللَّهُ عَهْدَهُ أَمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ مَا لا تَعْلَمُونَ (Say: "Have you taken a covenant with Allah? Then Allah will not break His covenant. Or do you say about Allah what you do not know?") (80)
Abū Jaʿfar said: when the Jews said what they said with their saying لَنْ تَمَسَّنَا النَّارُ إِلا أَيَّامًا مَعْدُودَةً (the Fire shall not touch us except for a number of days) — in accordance with the interpretation which we have set forth concerning it — Allah said to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: say, O Muḥammad, to the community of the Jews: "have you taken a covenant with Allah?": have you received from Allah a firm promise for what you say concerning this — for Allah does not break His firm promise and does not change His pledge and covenant — or do you say about Allah falsehood, out of ignorance and presumption against Him? As in:
1415 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Say: have you taken a covenant with Allah?," that is to say: a guarantee from Allah for that, that it is as you say.
1416 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
1417 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: the Jews said: we will only enter the Fire to fulfil the oath, the number of days on which we worshipped the calf. Then Allah said: "have you taken a covenant with Allah?" concerning this which you say? Have you for this a proof and an argument? For Allah will not break His covenant — bring then your proof and your argument, or do you say about Allah what you do not know?
1418 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Bishr ibn ʿUmāra, on the authority of Abū Rawq, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: when the Jews said what they said, Allah — praised be His laud — said to Muḥammad, say: "have you taken a covenant with Allah?" He says: have you laid up with Allah a covenant? He says: have you said "there is no god but Allah," without ascribing partners to Him and without denying Him? If you have said it, then hope for that; and if you have not said it, why then do you say about Allah what you do not know? He says: if you had said "there is no god but Allah" and had not ascribed any partner to Him in anything, and then had died upon that, then that would have been a treasure laid up for you with Me, and I would not have broken My promise to you: that I would reward you for it.
1419 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: when the Jews said what they said, Allah — Mighty and Exalted is He — said: "Say: have you taken a covenant with Allah? Then Allah will not break His covenant." And He said in another place: وَغَرَّهُمْ فِي دِينِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَفْتَرُونَ (And what they used to fabricate has deluded them in their religion.) [Āl ʿImrān: 24]. Then He gave the report and said: بَلَى مَنْ كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً (Yes indeed, whoever earns an evil deed…).
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and these sayings which we have related from Ibn ʿAbbās, Mujāhid, and Qatāda are in accordance with what we have said in the interpretation of His saying: "Say: have you taken a covenant with Allah?" For among that which Allah has granted His servants of His firm promise is: that whoever believes in Him and obeys His command, He will deliver him on the Day of Resurrection from His Fire. And among belief in Him is the acknowledgement that there is no god but Allah. Likewise, among His firm promise with which He bound them is: that whoever comes to Allah on the Day of Resurrection with an argument that provides him deliverance from the Fire, He will deliver him from it. And all of that, even though the wordings of those who say it differ, is concordant in meaning, in accordance with what we have said concerning it. And Allah, the Exalted, knows best.
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Footnotes:
(33) "Naqaytu al-thawb" (with doubling of the qāf) and "anqaytuhu naqāʾan," so it is "naqī": clean, pure. And "istanqaytuhu" is not in the dictionaries, but is correct in form and meaning.
(34) "Khalā yakhlū": it passed, vanished, and ended.
(35) Al-Ṣaʿūd: the severity of the punishment, but here he meant what they said: a mountain in Hell (jahannam) of a single glowing coal, which the unbeliever (kāfir) is compelled to climb, while he is struck with iron hooks; every time he sets his foot upon it, it melts away to a lower level and then returns intact to its place — and Allah knows best.
(36) "Qāla bi-yadihi": he gestured with his hand. Something similar has already occurred several times.
(37) The two reports 1406 and 1407 are one report with two isnāds. Al-Suyūṭī also attributed it, in 1:84, to ʿAbd ibn Ḥumayd, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim. It is a mursal report, with which no proof can be adduced.
(38) Report 1409 is likewise a mursal report.
