Tafseer of Defrauding · Al-Mutaffifin · 83:14
No! Rather, the stain has covered their hearts of that which they were earning.
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 saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ ("Nay, rather, a covering has settled upon their hearts") (83:14). The Exalted — may His mention be exalted — says, while giving them the lie regarding what they said: كَلا — that is not so. But rather: رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ . He says: it has come to dominate their hearts and has overwhelmed them, and the sins have encircled and covered them. From this one says: the wine settled (rānat) upon his mind, it settles upon it (tarīn) with a covering (raynan), and that is when he becomes drunk, so that it dominates his mind. From this is the saying of Abū Zubayd al-Ṭāʾī:
"When he saw him, the wine had settled upon him, and that he would not see him, out of caution."
He means: he sees him out of fear; he says: he is drunk and not aware. From this also is the saying of the rajaz-poet:
"We were not sated until the midday heat came, and it settled upon me, and it settled upon the cupbearer who passed the evening with me."
In the sense of what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken, and the report has come from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Khālid related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn Ḥakīm, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When the servant commits a sin, a black spot is pricked into his heart; if he repents, it is polished away from it, but if he returns, it returns, until it grows large in his heart. That is the covering (al-rān) of which Allah has spoken: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ('Nay, rather, upon their hearts has settled that which they used to earn')."
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ṣafwān ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAjlān related to us, on the authority of al-Qaʿqāʿ, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When the believer commits a sin, a black spot arises in his heart; if he repents, desists, and asks for forgiveness, his heart is polished, but if he increases, it increases, until it overtakes his heart. That is the covering of which Allah has spoken: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ."
ʿAlī ibn Suhayl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of al-Qaʿqāʿ ibn Ḥakīm, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "When the servant commits a sin, a black spot arises in his heart; if he repents of it, his heart is polished, but if he increases, it increases. That is the saying of Allah: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ."
Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Ḍarārī Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl related to me, saying: Ṭāriq ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz informed me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of al-Qaʿqāʿ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When the servant commits a misdeed, a spot arises in his heart; if he repents, asks for forgiveness, and desists, his heart is polished. That is the covering of which Allah has spoken: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ ." Abū Ṣāliḥ said: thus he said ṣuqilat (polished), but another said saqalat.
ʿAlī ibn Suhayl al-Ramlī related to me, saying: al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of Khulayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said and recited: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: one sin upon another, until his heart dies.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Abū Rajāʾ, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: one sin upon another, until the heart becomes blind and dies.
Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: the servant performs the sins, and they encircle the heart, then they rise up, until they cover the heart over.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, who said: Mujāhid showed it to us with his hand and said: they were of the view that the heart is like this — he meant the palm of the hand —; when the servant commits a sin, it contracts because of it, and he made this gesture with his finger, the little finger; and when he commits a sin, he folds another finger; and when he commits a sin, he folds yet another finger, until he has folded all his fingers; then a seal is set upon it. Mujāhid said: and they were of the view that that is the rayn (covering).
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: the heart is like the palm of the hand; when he commits a sin, he folds a finger, until he has folded all his fingers. And our companions were of the view that that is the rān.
Abū Kurayb related to us again, with his isnād, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: the heart is like the palm of the hand; when he commits a sin, it contracts and he folds his finger; when he commits a sin, it contracts, until it contracts entirely; then a seal is set upon it. And they were of the view that that is the rān: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ .
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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 saying of Allah: بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — he said: the transgressions, until they overwhelmed him.
Al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — the transgressions spread over his heart until they overwhelmed him.
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 saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — he says: it becomes sealed.
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 saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: a seal was set upon their hearts because of what they had earned.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ṭalḥa, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: it covered their hearts over and crashed down upon them, so that they neither take fright nor recoil.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: it is the sin, until the heart dies.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — he said: the rān is the seal; the heart is sealed like the palm of the hand; he commits the sin and it becomes thus, and Sufyān folded his little finger; then he commits the sin and it becomes thus, and Sufyān clenched his palm; and then a seal is set upon it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — the evil deeds; yes, by Allah, one sin upon another, and one sin upon another, until his heart died and turned black.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — he said: that is one sin upon another, until it settles upon the heart and it turns black.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ — he said: their sins came to dominate their hearts, so that no good could any longer penetrate to them alongside those sins.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: كَلا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ — he said: the man commits the sin, and the sin encircles his heart, until the sins cover him over. Mujāhid said: and it is equivalent to the verse in Surah Al-Baqarah: بَلَى مَنْ كَسَبَ سَيِّئَةً وَأَحَاطَتْ بِهِ خَطِيئَتُهُ فَأُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ النَّارِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ("Yes indeed, whoever earns an evil deed and is encompassed by his transgression — those are the companions of the Fire; therein they will abide eternally").
Explanation of the saying of the Exalted: كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ ("Nay, indeed, on that Day they will be screened off from their Lord") (83:15).
The Exalted — may His mention be exalted — says: the matter is not as these say who give the lie to the Day of Judgment, namely that they have a nearby place with Allah; indeed, on that Day they will be screened off from their Lord, so that they do not see Him and nothing of His honoring reaches them.
The scholars of exegesis differed concerning the meaning of His saying: إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ . Some said: the meaning of it is: they are screened off from His honoring.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Khulayd, on the authority of Qatāda: كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ — it is that He does not look upon them and does not purify them, and for them is a painful chastisement.
Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to me, saying: Baqiyya ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, saying: Numrān Abū al-Ḥasan al-Dhimārī related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Mulayka, that he used to say concerning this verse: إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ — he said: the reproachful benefactor, the arrogant one, and the one who by his oath takes away the people's possessions through falsehood.
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: they are screened off from the beholding of their Lord.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmmār al-Rāzī related to me, saying: Abū Maʿmar al-Minqarī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wārith ibn Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn ʿUbayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: كَلا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ لَمَحْجُوبُونَ — he said: the screen is lifted, so that the believers behold Him, every day morning and evening — or words to that effect.
The most correct of the statements concerning this is that one says: Allah, the Exalted — may His mention be exalted — has reported concerning these people that they will be screened off from beholding Him. And it is possible that what is meant by it is the screening from His honoring, and it is possible that what is meant by it is the screening from all of that. There is in the verse no indication pointing to its meaning being the screening from one meaning and not the other, and there is no report from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ whose proof is established. The correct thing, then, is to say: they are screened off from beholding Him and from His honoring, since the report is general and there is no indication for its specific meaning.
