Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:43
Assuredly, that to which you invite me has no [response to a] supplication in this world or in the Hereafter; and indeed, our return is to Allah, and indeed, the transgressors will be companions of 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 the Exalted: لا جَرَمَ أَنَّمَا تَدْعُونَنِي إِلَيْهِ لَيْسَ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلا فِي الآخِرَةِ وَأَنَّ مَرَدَّنَا إِلَى اللَّهِ وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ (40:43) (There is no doubt that that to which you call me has no claim to be invoked in this world nor in the Hereafter, and that our return is to Allah, and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire) (40:43).
He says: Truly, that to which you call me, of the idols, has no claim to be invoked in this world nor in the Hereafter, for it is a lifeless object that does not speak and understands nothing.
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the interpreters of the Qurʾān have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: ( لَيْسَ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا ) (it has no claim to be invoked in this world). He said: The idol is nothing.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: ( لَيْسَ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلا فِي الآخِرَةِ ) (it has no claim to be invoked in this world nor in the Hereafter): that is, it neither benefits nor harms.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his saying: ( لَيْسَ لَهُ دَعْوَةٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَلا فِي الآخِرَةِ ) (it has no claim to be invoked in this world nor in the Hereafter) (1).
And His saying: ( وَأَنَّ مَرَدَّنَا إِلَى اللَّهِ ) (and that our return is to Allah). He says: and that our return and our destination after our death is to Allah. ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ) (and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire). He says: and that those who ascribe partners to Allah (shirk), who overstep His limits, the killers of souls whose killing Allah has forbidden, are the inhabitants of the fire of Hell (jahannam) upon our return to Allah.
And in the spirit of what we have said about this, the interpreters of the Qurʾān have spoken, with mutual disagreement about the meaning of "the transgressors" in this place. Some of them said: they are those who shed blood without right to do so.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ) (and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire). He said: they are those who shed blood without right to do so.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the saying of Allah: ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ) (and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire). He said: they are those who shed blood without right to do so.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ ) (and that the transgressors). He said: those who shed blood without right to do so, they are the inhabitants of the Fire.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said, concerning his saying: ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ) (and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire). He said: Allah named them transgressors, Pharaoh and those who were with him.
And others said: they are the polytheists (mushrikīn).
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: ( وَأَنَّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ هُمْ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ ) (and that the transgressors are the inhabitants of the Fire): that is, the polytheists. And we have already set out the meaning of "transgression" (isrāf) sufficiently in an earlier place, so that repeating it in this place is superfluous.
And in interpreting it in this place we have chosen what we have chosen, because the speaker of this saying, addressing it to Pharaoh and his people, intended thereby Pharaoh on account of his unbelief and on account of what he intended, namely the killing of Mūsā; and Pharaoh was arrogant and obstinate in his unbelief, a shedder of blood whose shedding was forbidden to him, and all of that belongs to transgression. Therefore we have chosen what we have chosen in interpreting it.
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Footnotes:
(1) The explanation has dropped out through the copyist's error; what is found of it in Ibn Kathīr [as transmitted] from him is: "He does not answer the one who invokes him, neither in this world nor in the Hereafter." End.
