Tafseer of The Heights · Al-A'raaf · 7:51
Who took their religion as distraction and amusement and whom the worldly life deluded." So today We will forget them just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs and for having rejected Our verses.
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: الَّذِينَ اتَّخَذُوا دِينَهُمْ لَهْوًا وَلَعِبًا وَغَرَّتْهُمُ الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا فَالْيَوْمَ نَنْسَاهُمْ كَمَا نَسُوا لِقَاءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَذَا وَمَا كَانُوا بِآيَاتِنَا يَجْحَدُونَ (51) ("Those who took their religion as amusement and play and whom the worldly life deluded. So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs, and just as they used to reject Our signs.") (51)
Abū Jaʿfar said: This is an announcement from Allah about what the inhabitants of Paradise say to the unbelievers.
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: The inhabitants of Paradise answered the inhabitants of the Fire: "Allah has forbidden both of these (Paradise and its food/water) to the unbelievers" — those who disbelieved in Allah and His messengers, who took their religion that Allah had commanded them as amusement and play — He says: as mockery and play.
And it is related from Ibn ʿAbbās concerning this, as related in:
14754 — al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "Those who took their religion as amusement and play," the verse, he said: that was because, when they were called to the faith, they mocked the one who called them to it and ridiculed him, out of conceited self-assurance against Allah.
= "and whom the worldly life deluded," He says: and the transitory state in which they found themselves — of livelihood, ease, and contentment — beguiled them and held them back from taking their share in the Hereafter, until death overtook them = Allah, whose praise is exalted, says: "So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs," that is to say: on this Day, which is the Day of Resurrection = "We forget them," He says: We leave them in the clear punishment, hungry and thirsty, without food and without drink, just as they neglected to work for the meeting of this Day of theirs, and just as they refrained from preparing for it by wearying their bodies in obedience to Allah.
And we have already previously expounded the meaning of His word "We forget them" with its proof-texts, in a manner that makes it unnecessary to repeat.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* The mention of who said that:
14755 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jābir, on the authority of Mujāhid: "So this Day We forget them," he said: they are forgotten in the punishment.
14756 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "So this Day We forget them," he said: We leave them just as they left the meeting of this Day of theirs.
14757 — 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: "We forget them," he said: We leave them in the Fire.
14758 — 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: "So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs," he said: We leave them deprived of mercy, just as they neglected to work for the meeting of this Day of theirs.
14759 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to us, 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, His word: "So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs," the verse, he says: Allah has forgotten them with respect to good, but He has not forgotten them with respect to evil.
14760 — al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz related to us, saying: Abū Saʿd related to us, saying: I heard Mujāhid concerning His word: "So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs," he said: We defer them in the Fire.
As for His word: "and just as they used to reject Our signs," its meaning is: "So this Day We forget them, just as they forgot the meeting of this Day of theirs," and just as they used to reject Our signs.
The "mā" (just as/what) in His word: "and just as they used to" is connected to the "mā" in His word: "just as they forgot."
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the explanation of the statement is: On this Day We leave them in the punishment, just as in the worldly life they neglected to work for the meeting with Allah on the Day of Resurrection, and just as they used to reject the signs of Allah = and those are His proofs by which He argued against them, in the form of the prophets, the messengers, the Books, and otherwise.
= "reject," they declare it a lie and believe nothing of it.
