Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:37
And who is more unjust than one who invents about Allah a lie or denies His verses? Those will attain their portion of the decree until when Our messengers come to them to take them in death, they will say, "Where are those you used to invoke besides Allah?" They will say, "They have departed from us," and will bear witness against themselves that they were disbelievers.
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: فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ افْتَرَى عَلَى اللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ كَذَّبَ بِآيَاتِهِ أُولَئِكَ يَنَالُهُمْ نَصِيبُهُمْ مِنَ الْكِتَابِ ("Who then is more unjust than he who fabricates a lie against Allah or denies His signs? Those — their share from the Book will reach them").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His remembrance, says: Who is more wrong in deed, more ignorant in word, and further strayed from the truth and the right — (than he who fabricates a lie against Allah), He says: than he who fabricates falsehood in word against Allah, so that, when he commits an abomination, he says: Allah commanded it of us — (or denies His signs), He says: or he denies His proofs and His signs that indicate His oneness and the prophethood of His prophets, and thus rejects their truthfulness and turns away their correctness — (those), He says: whoever does that, fabricating the lie against Allah and denying His signs — (those — their share from the Book will reach them), He says: their share will come to them of what Allah has written down for them in the well-preserved Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ).
* * *
Then the exegetes differed concerning the nature of that "share" which they have in "the Book," and what it is.
Some of them said: It is the punishment of Allah which He has prepared for the people who are unbelievers in Him.
* Mention of who said that:
14555 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Marwān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), that is to say: of the punishment (ʿadhāb).
14556 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, the same.
14557 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), He says: what is written down for them of punishment.
14558 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of Kathīr ibn Ziyād, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: of the punishment.
14559 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of Abū Sahl, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: of the punishment.
14560 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: of the punishment.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of that is: those — their share will reach them of what is foreordained for them of misery and felicity.
* Mention of who said that:
14561 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Saʿīd: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: of the misery and the felicity.
14562 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), like a miserable one and a felicitous one.
14563 - Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr al-Fuqaymī, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, he said: I heard Mujāhid say: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: it is what is foreordained.
14564 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), what is written down for them of misery and felicity.
14565 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Shibl, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (their share from the Book will reach them), what is written down concerning them of misery and felicity, like a miserable one and a felicitous one.
14566 - ... he said: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), of the misery and the felicity.
14567 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Numayr and Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what was already written beforehand in the Book.
14568 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl ibn Marzūq, on the authority of ʿAṭiyya: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what is written beforehand for them in the Book.
14569 - ... he said: Suwayd ibn ʿAmr and Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd: (Those — their share will reach them), he said: of the misery and the felicity.
14570 - ... he said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: what is decreed or determined concerning them.
14571 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: (their share from the Book will reach them), there reaches them what is written down concerning them of deeds.
14572 - ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Sumayʿ, on the authority of Bakr al-Ṭawīl, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: a people who perform deeds that they must inevitably perform.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of that is: those — their share will reach them from their record that is written down for them or against them, through the deeds they performed in the worldly life of good and evil.
* Mention of who said that:
14573 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), He says: their share of the deeds; whoever does good is rewarded for it, and whoever does evil is requited for it.
14574 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: of the ordinances of the Book, according to the measure of their deeds.
14575 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: their share will reach them in the hereafter of their deeds that they performed and sent ahead.
14576 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), that is to say: their deeds, the evil deeds that they performed and sent ahead.
14577 - Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām related to me, saying: Al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: My father said: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), Qatāda claimed: of their deeds that they performed.
14578 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), He says: their share of the work will reach them. He says: if he has performed a share of good therein, he is rewarded with good, and if he has performed evil, he is requited with the like of it.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of that is: their share will reach them of what was promised to them in the Book of good or evil.
* Mention of who said that:
14579 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: Zayd ibn Abī al-Zarqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning this verse: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: of the good and the evil.
14580 - ... he said: Zayd related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: what is promised to them.
14581 - 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 Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what is promised to them.
14582 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what is promised to them therein of good or evil.
14583 - ... he said: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: the like of what is promised to them.
14584 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, he said: what is promised to them therein of good or evil.
14585 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what is promised to them therein.
14586 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: what is promised to them of good or evil.
14587 - ʿAmr ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd related to us, saying: Marwān ibn Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the word of Allah: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: there reaches them what is written beforehand for them in the Book.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of that is: those — their share will reach them from the Book that Allah has prescribed against whoever fabricates against Him.
* Mention of who said that:
14588 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), He says: there reaches them what is written against them. He says: there is already written, for whoever fabricates against Allah, that his face is blackened.
* * *
And others said: The meaning of that is: those — their share will reach them of what is written down for them of sustenance, lifespan, and deed.
* Mention of who said that:
14589 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), of what is written down for them of sustenance.
14590 - ... he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ḥarb related to us, on the authority of Ibn Lahīʿa, on the authority of Abū Ṣakhr, on the authority of al-Quraẓī: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: his deed, his sustenance, and his lifespan.
14591 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), he said: of the deeds, the provisions, and the lifespans; and when this comes to an end, Our messengers come to them to take them away, while they are finished with all these things.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of these views in my opinion is the view of him who said: the meaning of that is: those — their share from the Book will reach them, of what is written down for them of good and evil in the worldly life, and of sustenance, deed, and lifespan. That is because Allah, exalted is His praise, made follow upon it His word: حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا يَتَوَفَّوْنَهُمْ قَالُوا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ ("Until, when Our messengers come to them to take them away, they say: Where are those whom you used to call upon besides Allah?"). By making this follow upon His word (Those — their share from the Book will reach them), He made clear that what reaches them of that is only what was decreed concerning them in the worldly life that it would reach them. For He informed that this reaches them up to the time when His messengers come to them to take away their souls. And if that were their share from the Book, or of what is prepared for them in the hereafter, it would not be bounded by its reaching them up to the coming of the messengers of Allah to take them away, for the messengers of Allah do not come to them for the taking away in the hereafter, and their punishment in the hereafter has no end and no cessation, for Allah has decreed concerning them everlasting abiding therein. Thus it is made clear thereby that the meaning of it is what we have chosen as the view concerning it.
* * *
The explanation of His word: حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُنَا يَتَوَفَّوْنَهُمْ قَالُوا أَيْنَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ قَالُوا ضَلُّوا عَنَّا وَشَهِدُوا عَلَى أَنْفُسِهِمْ أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا كَافِرِينَ ("Until, when Our messengers come to them to take them away, they say: Where are those whom you used to call upon besides Allah? They say: They have strayed away from us. And they bear witness against themselves that they were unbelievers") (7:37).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His praise, means by His word: (Until Our messengers come to them): up to the moment when Our messengers come to them. He, exalted is His praise, says: and these who fabricated the lie against Allah, or denied the signs of their Lord — their shares which Allah has written down for them, and which are fixed for them in His knowledge of sustenance, deed, lifespan, good and evil in the worldly life, reach them, until Our messengers come to them to take away their souls. And when Our messengers come to them — namely the angel of death and his host — (to take them away), He says: they complete their number out of the worldly life into the hereafter — (they say: Where are those whom you used to call upon besides Allah?), He says: the messengers said: Where are those whom you used to call upon and worship as protectors besides Allah? They do not avert from you what has already come to you of the command of Allah, who is your Creator and their Creator, and what has descended upon your courtyard of mighty affliction. Why do they not save you from the distress in which you are, so that they deliver you from it? Then the wretched ones answered them and said: There have strayed away from us our protectors whom we used to call upon besides Allah. By His word (they strayed away/went astray) is meant: they turned aside and took a path other than ours, and forsook us when we were in need of them, and availed us nothing. Allah, exalted is His praise, says: and at that moment the people bore witness against themselves that they had been unbelievers in Allah, denying His oneness.
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Footnotes:
(43) See the explanation of "al-ẓulm" (injustice) in what has previously passed in the linguistic registers.
(44) See the explanation of "iftarā" (fabricated) in what has previously passed, p.: 189, note: 2, and the references there.
(45) See the explanation of "nāla" (reached) in what has previously passed 3: 20 / 6: 587 — and the explanation of "naṣīb" (share) in what has previously passed, p.: 131, note: 2, and the references there.
(46) That is to say, like His word in [Surah Hūd: 105]: "Among them is the wretched and the felicitous".
(47) The narration: 14572 — "Ismāʿīl ibn Sumayʿ al-Ḥanafī" has already passed under nr.: 4791, 4793. And "Bakr al-Ṭawīl" is apparently "Bakr ibn Yazīd al-Ṭawīl al-Ḥimṣī," who related from Abū Hurayra al-Ḥimṣī, and from whom Abū Saʿīd al-Shajj related; he is included in Ibn Abī Ḥātim 1/1/394.
(48) See the explanation of "al-tawaffī" (the taking away) in what has previously passed: 11: 409, note: 3, and the references there.
(49) See the explanation of "al-ḍalāl" (the straying) in what has previously passed in the linguistic registers (ḍ-l-l).
