Tafseer of Man · Al-Insaan · 76:31
He admits whom He wills into His mercy; but the wrongdoers - He has prepared for them a painful punishment.
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.
He admits whom He wills into His mercy.
And His word: yudkhilu man yashāʾu fī raḥmatih ("He admits whom He wills into His mercy") means: your Lord admits whom He wills of you into His mercy, and turns toward him in forgiveness until he dies as one repentant of his error, whereupon He forgives him his sins and admits him into His garden (janna).
And the wrongdoers — He has prepared for them a painful punishment.
He says: those who wronged themselves and died in their ascribing of partners (shirk), for them He has prepared in the Hereafter a painful, agonizing punishment — and that is the punishment of Hell (jahannam). And His word wa-l-ẓālimīna ("and the wrongdoers") is in the accusative, because the wāw is a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl) attached to "He has prepared" (aʿadda); the meaning is: and for the wrongdoers He has prepared a painful punishment. It is mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it reads: "wa-li-l-ẓālimīna aʿadda lahum" ("and for the wrongdoers He has prepared for them"), with repetition of the lām. The Arabs do that sometimes, and to some of them is attributed:
"I say to her when she asks for divorce (ṭalāq): 'Why do you hasten so toward my abandonment?'"
And to another:
"Then they came upon the morning, not asking [the reason] for what he climbed up into in the error of passion, or [rather] descended into?"
— with repetition of the bāʾ, while the [normal] word order is: "not asking [the reason] for what is with it" (lā yasʾalnahu ʿammā bihi). Here ends the explanation of Surah Al-Insān.
