Surah 72:13
Show Full Scripture Context (72:11-17) — 7 Verses
وَأَنَّا مِنَّا ٱلصَّـٰلِحُونَ وَمِنَّا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَۖ كُنَّا طَرَآئِقَ قِدَدٗا
And that some of us are righteous, and some of us are other than that – we are on different roads.
وَأَنَّا ظَنَنَّآ أَن لَّن نُّعۡجِزَ ٱللَّهَ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ وَلَن نُّعۡجِزَهُۥ هَرَبٗا
And that we (now) think that we shall not be able to escape God on the earth, and shall not escape Him by flight.
وَأَنَّا لَمَّا سَمِعۡنَا ٱلۡهُدَىٰٓ ءَامَنَّا بِهِۦۖ فَمَن يُؤۡمِنۢ بِرَبِّهِۦ فَلَا يَخَافُ بَخۡسٗا وَلَا رَهَقٗا
And that when we heard the guidance, we believed in it, and whoever believes in his Lord will not fear any deprivation or depravity.
وَأَنَّا مِنَّا ٱلۡمُسۡلِمُونَ وَمِنَّا ٱلۡقَٰسِطُونَۖ فَمَنۡ أَسۡلَمَ فَأُوْلَـٰٓئِكَ تَحَرَّوۡاْ رَشَدٗا
And that some of us have submitted, and some of us are the ones who have deviated. Whoever submits, those have sought out right (guidance),
وَأَمَّا ٱلۡقَٰسِطُونَ فَكَانُواْ لِجَهَنَّمَ حَطَبٗا
but as for the ones who have deviated, they have become firewood for Gehenna!”’
وَأَلَّوِ ٱسۡتَقَٰمُواْ عَلَى ٱلطَّرِيقَةِ لَأَسۡقَيۡنَٰهُم مَّآءً غَدَقٗا
And (We say) that if they had gone straight on the road, We would indeed have given them water to drink in abundance,
لِّنَفۡتِنَهُمۡ فِيهِۚ وَمَن يُعۡرِضۡ عَن ذِكۡرِ رَبِّهِۦ يَسۡلُكۡهُ عَذَابٗا صَعَدٗا
so that We might test them concerning it. Whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord – He will place him in hard punishment.
Allah says that the Jinns said about themselves, (There are among us some that are righteous, and some the contrary;) meaning, other than that. (We are groups having different ways.) meaning, on numerous differing paths and having different thoughts and opinions. Ibn 'Abbas, Mujahid and others have said, (We are groups having different ways.) "This means among us are believers and among us are disbelievers." Ahmad bin Sulayman An-Najjad reported in his (book of) Amali that he heard Al-A'mash saying, "A Jinn came to us, so I said to him, 'What is the most beloved food to your kind?' He replied, 'Rice.' So we brought them some rice and I saw the morsels being lifted but I did not see a hand lifting it. So I asked him, 'Do you have these desires (religious innovations) among your kind as we have among ours?' He replied, 'Yes.' Then I said, 'Who are the Rafidah among you?' He said, 'They are the worst of us.'" I presented this chain of narration to our Shaykh, Al-Hafiz Abi Al-Hajjaj Al-Mizzi and he said its chain is authentic to Al-A'mash.
The Jinns confess to Allah's Perfect Power
Concerning Allah's statement, (And we think that we cannot escape Allah in the earth, nor can we escape Him by flight.) meaning, "we know that the power of Allah is decisive over us and that we cannot escape Him in the earth. Even if we try to flee, we know that He has complete control over us and that none of us can escape Him.' (And indeed when we heard the Guidance, we believed therein,) They were proud of this, and it is something for them to be proud of, as well as a great honor for them and a good characteristic. Concerning their statement, (and whosoever believes in his Lord shall have no fear, either of a decrease in the reward of his good deeds or an increase in the punishment for his sins.) Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah and others said, "This means, he should not fear that the reward for his good deeds will be decreased or that he will be burdened with anything other than his sins." This is as Allah says, (Then he will have no fear of injustice, nor of any curtailment.) (20:112) (And of us some are Muslims, and of us some are Al-Qasitun.) meaning, 'among us there is the Muslim and the Qasit.' The Qasit is he who behaves unjustly with the truth and deviates from it. This is the opposite of the Muqsit, the one who is just. (And whosoever has embraced Islam, then such have sought the right path.) meaning, they sought salvation for themselves. (And as for the Qasitun, they shall be firewood for Hell.) meaning, fuel, for they will be used to kindle it (the Fire). Concerning Allah's statement, (If they had believed in Allah, and went on the way, We would surely have bestowed on them water in abundance. That We might try them thereby.) The commentators have differed over the explanation of this. There are two views concerning it.
The First View
That if the deviant ones would stand firmly upon the path of Islam, being just upon it and remaining upon it, (We would surely have bestowed on them water in abundance.) meaning, a lot. The intent behind this is to say that they would be given an abundance of sustenance. With this, the meaning of Allah's statement, (That We might try them thereby.) is that, 'We will test them.' As Malik reported from Zayd bin Aslam, he said, "That We might try them - means, so that We may test them to see who will remain upon the guidance from those who will turn back to sin."
Mentioning Those Who held this View
Al-'Awfi reported similar to this from Ibn 'Abbas, and likewise said Mujahid, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Sa'id bin Al-Musayyib, 'Ata, As-Suddi, Muhammad bin Ka'b Al-Qurazi, Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak. Muqatil said, "This Ayah was revealed about the disbelievers of the Quraysh when they were deprived of rain for seven years."
The Second View
(If they had believed in Allah, and went on the way,) meaning, of misguidance. (We would surely have bestowed on them water in abundance.) meaning, 'Then We would have increased their sustenance to allow a gradual respite.' As Allah says, [(So, when they forgot that with which they had been reminded, We opened for them the gates of everything, until in the midst...)]