Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:16
Say, [O Muhammad], "Never will fleeing benefit you if you should flee from death or killing; and then [if you did], you would not be given enjoyment [of life] except for a little."
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 statement concerning the explanation of His words, the Exalted: qul lan yanfaʿakumu al-firāru in farartum mina al-mawti awi al-qatli wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("Say: 'Flight will not benefit you, if you flee from death or from being killed, and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while'") (33:16).
The Exalted, Whose praise is exalted, says to His Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ: qul ("Say") — O Muḥammad — to these who ask your permission to turn away from you and who say: "Our houses are unprotected": lan yanfaʿakumu al-firāru in farartum mina al-mawti awi al-qatl ("Flight will not benefit you, if you flee from death or from being killed") — He says: for that, or whatever of the two Allah has decreed, will reach you in any case, whether you detest it or love it. wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while") — He says: and when you flee from death or from being killed, that flight of yours will add nothing to your lifespans and terms; rather, you will have enjoyment in this worldly life only until the appointed time prescribed for you, and then there comes to you what has been prescribed for you and against you.
And in terms similar to what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have expressed themselves.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: qul lan yanfaʿakumu al-firāru in farartum mina al-mawti awi al-qatli wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("Say: 'Flight will not benefit you, if you flee from death or from being killed, and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while'") — and the world in its entirety is but little.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym: wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while") — he said: until their terms.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym: wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while") — he said: what lies between them and the term.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym, the same, except that he said: what lies between them and their terms.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Razīn, that he said concerning this āyah: fal-yaḍḥakū qalīlan wal-yabkū kathīrā ("Then let them laugh little and weep much") — he said: let them laugh little in the worldly life and weep much in the Fire. And concerning this āyah he said: wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while") — he said: until their terms. One of these two reports he traced back in an ascending chain to Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Razīn, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Khuthaym: wa-idhan lā tumattaʿūna illā qalīlā ("and then you will have enjoyment for only a little while") — he said: the term. And he read tumattaʿūn ("you will have enjoyment") in the nominative and not in the accusative after "idhan," because of the wāw that accompanies it. This is because, when there is a wāw before "idhan," the meaning of "idhan" becomes a postposition after the verb, as though it were said: "and even were they to flee, they would have enjoyment for only a little while, then." Sometimes, however, the accusative is made with it, even though a wāw accompanies it, because the verb is elided, so that it is as though "idhan" stands at the beginning of the sentence.
