Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:91
Indeed, those who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers - never would the [whole] capacity of the earth in gold be accepted from one of them if he would [seek to] ransom himself with it. For those there will be a painful punishment, and they will have no helpers.
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: إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَمَاتُوا وَهُمْ كُفَّارٌ فَلَنْ يُقْبَلَ مِنْ أَحَدِهِمْ مِلْءُ الأَرْضِ ذَهَبًا وَلَوِ افْتَدَى بِهِ أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ وَمَا لَهُمْ مِنْ نَاصِرِينَ (91) ("Indeed, those who disbelieve (kafara) and die while they are disbelievers (kuffār) — from none of them will an earth-full of gold be accepted, even if he were to ransom himself with it. They are the ones for whom there is a painful punishment, and they have no helpers.") (3:91)
Abū Jaʿfar said: Allah, exalted be His praise, means by this: "Inna alladhīna kafarū" ("Indeed, those who disbelieve"), that is: those who denied the prophethood of Muḥammad ﷺ and did not hold him to be truthful, nor what he brought from Allah — from every religious community, its Jews, its Christians, its Magians and others — "wa-mātū wa-hum kuffār" ("and die while they are disbelievers"), which means: and they died in that state of denying his prophethood and denying what he brought — "falan yuqbala min aḥadihim milʾu al-arḍi dhahaban wa-law iftadā bih" ("then from none of them will an earth-full of gold be accepted, even if he were to ransom himself with it"), He says: then from whoever is in this condition in the Hereafter, no recompense (jazāʾ) will be accepted, nor any bribe to forgo his punishment for his disbelief, nor any payment (juʿl) for pardoning him — even if he were to possess of gold such a quantity that the earth would be filled with it from its east to its west, and he were to give that as a bribe and as a ransom to forgo his punishment and to pardon him for his disbelief, as a substitute for the punishment with which Allah will smite him. For a bribe is accepted only by one who has need of that with which he is bribed. And as for Him to whom the world and the Hereafter belong, how then would He accept the ransom (fidya), while He is the Creator of every ransom by which one who ransoms himself ransoms himself or another?
We have already explained that the meaning of "al-fidya" (the ransom) is the substitute, and the recompense of the one on whose behalf the ransom is paid — in a manner that makes it superfluous to repeat it here.
Then He informed, mighty and exalted is He, about what awaits them with Him, and He said: "ulāʾika" ("they are the ones"), by which are meant these who disbelieve and die while they are disbelievers — "lahum ʿadhābun alīm" ("for them there is a painful punishment"), He says: for them there is with Allah in the Hereafter a painful punishment (ʿadhāb) — "wa-mā lahum min nāṣirīn" ("and they have no helpers"), which means: and they have no relative, no kinsman, and no friend who helps him and saves him from Allah and from His punishment, as they used to help him in the world against whoever sought to cause him harm and evil. And already:
7384 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, saying: Anas ibn Mālik related to us: that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: The disbeliever will be brought on the Day of Resurrection, and it will be said to him: Suppose you had an earth-full of gold, would you ransom yourself with it? Then he says: Yes! He said: Then it is said: You were asked for something easier than that! And that is His word: "Inna alladhīna kafarū wa-mātū wa-hum kuffārun falan yuqbala min aḥadihim milʾu al-arḍi dhahaban wa-law iftadā bih".
7385 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Ḥanafī related to us, saying: ʿAbbād related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, His word: "Inna alladhīna kafarū wa-mātū wa-hum kuffārun falan yuqbala min aḥadihim milʾu al-arḍi dhahaban", he said: it is every disbeliever.
The accusative (naṣb) in His word "dhahaban" (gold) is on account of its proceeding out from the measure that precedes it and the clarification (tafsīr) of it, namely His word "milʾu al-arḍ" (an earth-full), like one's saying: "I have with me the measure of a leather skin of butter (samnan) and the measure of a raṭl of honey (ʿasalan)" — where "the honey" clarifies that which is mentioned in terms of measure, and it is an indefinite (nakira) noun in the accusative as a clarification (tafsīr) of the measure and as a proceeding out from it.
As for the grammarians of Baṣra, they claimed that "gold" is in the accusative because "the filling" (al-milʾ) is occupied by "the earth" (al-arḍ), and "the gold" comes after it, so that its accusative became like the accusative of the circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl). That is because the circumstantial qualifier comes after a verb that is already occupied by its subject, and is therefore put in the accusative just as the direct object is put in the accusative which comes after the verb that is already occupied by its subject. They said: and the equivalent of His word "milʾu al-arḍi dhahaban" with respect to the accusative of "the gold," in speech, is: "lī mithluka rajulan" ("I have one like you, as a man") with the meaning: I have one like you among men. And they claimed that the accusative of "the man" (rajul) is on account of the construct (iḍāfa) being occupied by the noun, so that it is put in the accusative just as the direct object is put in the accusative, on account of the verb being occupied by the subject.
And the wāw was inserted in His word "wa-law iftadā bih" ("even if he were to ransom himself with it") on account of something omitted from the speech afterward, to which the insertion of the wāw points, like the wāw in His word: وَلِيَكُونَ مِنَ الْمُوقِنِينَ ("and that he might be of those who are certain") [Surah Al-Anʿām: 75], the explanation of whose speech is: and that he might be of those who are certain, We showed him the dominion of the heavens and the earth. So too is it in His word: "wa-law iftadā bih". And had there been no wāw in the speech, the speech would have been correct, and there would have been no omission, and it would be: "then from none of them will an earth-full of gold be accepted, if he were to ransom himself with it."
