Tafseer of The Forgiver · Ghafir · 40:48
Those who had been arrogant will say, "Indeed, all [of us] are in it. Indeed, Allah has judged between the servants."
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 correct view on this, in my opinion, is that the [word atbāʿ] is the plural of its singular tābiʿ (follower). It may, however, also be that it is [the singular] tabaʿ, whose plural would then be atbāʿ. Thus the followed ones answered them with that of which Allah has informed about them. The arrogant ones — and these are the leaders who were followed upon the path of error in the life of this world — said: indeed we, O people, and you, all of us are in this Fire forever; there is for us no escape from it. ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَكَمَ بَيْنَ الْعِبَادِ ) (Indeed, Allah has already judged between the servants) with His decisive judgement: He caused the people of Paradise (janna) to dwell in Paradise and the people of the Fire in the Fire. So we are not exiting from the tribulation in which we are, nor are they passing out of the bliss in which they are.
He raised His word ( كُلٌّ ) (all) by His word ( فِيهَا ) (therein), and did not place it in the accusative as an appositive.
There is disagreement over the permissibility of the accusative in this in linguistic usage. Some grammarians of Basra said: if "kull" is not placed in a genitive construction (iḍāfa), the apposition (itbāʿ) is not permissible. Some grammarians of Kufa said: that is permissible both with elision [of the second member of the iḍāfa] and without elision, for when their nouns are elided, one suffices with [kull] in their place. We have already set forth earlier the correct view on this, in a manner that makes repetition unnecessary.
