Tafseer of The Mount · At-Tur · 52:47
And indeed, for those who have wronged is a punishment before that, but most of them 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.
His statement: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that." The exegetes differed concerning the punishment with which Allah threatened these wrongdoers, before the Day of the Thunderclap. Some of them said: It is the punishment of the grave.
* The mention of who said that:
Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī related to us, saying: Sharīk informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Barāʾ: عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "a punishment besides that" — he said: the punishment of the grave.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that" — he says: the punishment of the grave, before the punishment of the Day of Resurrection.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, that Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: Indeed, you find the punishment of the grave in the Book of Allah: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, that Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: Indeed, the punishment of the grave is in the Qurʾān. Then he recited: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that."
Others said: By this hunger was meant.
* The 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 — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His statement: عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "a punishment besides that" — he said: hunger.
Others said: By this were meant the calamities that befall them in this worldly life, such as the loss of wealth and children.
* The mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that" — he said: besides the Hereafter, in this worldly life, with which He punishes them through the loss of wealth and children. He said: And for the believers that is a reward and recompense with Allah — as regards their calamities — while He has already brought forward the calamities of these ones in this worldly life. And he recited: فَلا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلا أَوْلادُهُمْ "So let not their wealth and their children amaze you" ... to the end of the verse.
And the correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is that one says: Allah, the Exalted, has informed that for those who have wronged themselves by their disbelief in Him there is a punishment besides their Day on which they are struck by the thunderclap — and that is the Day of Resurrection. The punishment of the grave is besides the Day of Resurrection, for it is in the barzakh; and the hunger that struck the disbelievers of Quraysh, and the calamities that befall them in themselves, their wealth, and their children, are besides the Day of Resurrection. Allah did not single out any particular kind of that exclusively for them as being besides the Day of Resurrection to the exclusion of another kind, but rather He kept it general and said: وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَلِكَ "And indeed, for those who have done wrong there is a punishment besides that." So all of this is for them a punishment, and that is for them besides the Day of Resurrection. The meaning of the words is then: And indeed, for those who disbelieve in Allah there is a punishment from Allah besides the Day of Resurrection, وَلَكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لا يَعْلَمُونَ "but most of them do not know" — namely, that they will taste that punishment.
