Surah 74

Surah 74:51

"fleeing from a lion?"
What will take place in the Discussion between the People of Paradise and the People of the Hellfire Verses 74:38-56
Show Full Scripture Context (74:38-56) — 19 Verses
Verse 38

كُلُّ نَفۡسِۭ بِمَا كَسَبَتۡ رَهِينَةٌ

Each person (is held) in pledge for what he has earned,

Verse 39

إِلَّآ أَصۡحَٰبَ ٱلۡيَمِينِ

except for the companions on the right.

Verse 40

فِي جَنَّـٰتٖ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

In Gardens they will ask each other questions

Verse 41

عَنِ ٱلۡمُجۡرِمِينَ

about the sinners:

Verse 42

مَا سَلَكَكُمۡ فِي سَقَرَ

‘What put you into Saqar?’

Verse 43

قَالُواْ لَمۡ نَكُ مِنَ ٱلۡمُصَلِّينَ

They will say, ‘We were not among the ones who prayed,

Verse 44

وَلَمۡ نَكُ نُطۡعِمُ ٱلۡمِسۡكِينَ

and we did not feed the poor,

Verse 45

وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ ٱلۡخَآئِضِينَ

and we bantered with the banterers,

Verse 46

وَكُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوۡمِ ٱلدِّينِ

and we called the Day of Judgment a lie,

Verse 47

حَتَّىٰٓ أَتَىٰنَا ٱلۡيَقِينُ

until the certainty came to us.’

Verse 48

فَمَا تَنفَعُهُمۡ شَفَٰعَةُ ٱلشَّـٰفِعِينَ

The intercession of the intercessors will not benefit them.

Verse 49

فَمَا لَهُمۡ عَنِ ٱلتَّذۡكِرَةِ مُعۡرِضِينَ

What is (the matter) with them, turning away from the Reminder,

Verse 50

كَأَنَّهُمۡ حُمُرٞ مُّسۡتَنفِرَةٞ

as if they were frightened donkeys

Verse 51

فَرَّتۡ مِن قَسۡوَرَةِۭ

fleeing from a lion?

Verse 52

بَلۡ يُرِيدُ كُلُّ ٱمۡرِيٕٖ مِّنۡهُمۡ أَن يُؤۡتَىٰ صُحُفٗا مُّنَشَّرَةٗ

No! Each one of them wants to be given scrolls unrolled.

Verse 53

كَلَّاۖ بَل لَّا يَخَافُونَ ٱلۡأٓخِرَةَ

By no means! No! They do not fear the Hereafter.

Verse 54

كَلَّآ إِنَّهُۥ تَذۡكِرَةٞ

By no means! Surely it is a reminder,

Verse 55

فَمَن شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُۥ

and whoever pleases takes heed of it.

Verse 56

وَمَا يَذۡكُرُونَ إِلَّآ أَن يَشَآءَ ٱللَّهُۚ هُوَ أَهۡلُ ٱلتَّقۡوَىٰ وَأَهۡلُ ٱلۡمَغۡفِرَةِ

But they will not take heed unless God pleases. He is worthy of guarding (oneself) against, and worthy of (dispensing) forgiveness.

Allah informs that,
{Every person is a pledge for what he has earned,}

meaning, bound to his deed on the Day of Judgement. Ibn ‘Abbas and others have said this.
{Except those on the Right.} For verily, they will be
{In Gardens they will ask one another, about criminals (and they will say to them)}

meaning, while they are in lofty rooms they will ask the criminals, who will be in the lowest levels (of Hell), saying to them,
{“What has caused you to enter Hell?” They will say: “We were not of those who used to offer the Salah, nor did we feed the poor.”}

meaning, “we did not worship Allah, nor did we do good to His creatures of our own species (i.e., other people).”
{And we used to speak falsehood with vain speakers.}

meaning, “we used to speak about what we had no knowledge of.” Qatadah said, “It means that every time someone went astray we would go astray with them.”
{And we used to deny the Day of Recompense, until the certainty (Al-Yaqin) came to us.}

meaning, death. This is as Allah says,
{And worship your Lord until there comes unto you the certainty.}
The Messenger of Allah said,
“Concerning him verily, Al-Yaqin (death) came to him from his Lord.”
Allah then says,
{So no intercession of intercessors will be of any use to them.}

meaning, whoever has these characteristics, then the intercession of whoever tries to intercede for him will be of no benefit on the Day of Judgement. This is because intercession is only useful if the conditions for it are met. However, whoever comes before Allah as a disbeliever on the Day of Judgement, then he will get the Hellfire and there is no way of avoiding it. He will abide in it (Hell) forever.
The Disapproval of the Disbelievers’ Rejection and Their Position
Then Allah says,
{Then what is wrong with them that they turn away from admonition?}

meaning, “what is wrong with these disbelievers who are turning away from what you are calling them to and reminding them of?”
{As if they were wild donkeys. Fleeing from a Qaswarah}

meaning, as if they were fleeing from the truth and turning away from it, like a wild donkey when it flees from something that is trying to catch it, like a lion. This was said by Abu Hurayrah. Hammad bin Salamah reported from ‘Ali bin Zayd who reported from Yusuf bin Mihran who narrated that Ibn ‘Abbas said, “It (Qaswarah) is the lion in the Arabic language. It is called Qaswarah in the Abyssinian language, Sher in the Persian language and Awba in the Nabtiyyah (Nabatean) language.”
Concerning Allah’s statement,
{Nay, everyone of them desires that he should be given pages spread out.}

meaning, each one of these idolators wants to have a book revealed to him as Allah revealed to the Prophet. Mujahid and others have said this. This is similar to Allah’s statement,
{And when there comes to them a sign they say: “We shall not believe until we receive the like of that which the Messengers of Allah had received.” Allah knows best with whom to place His Message.}
It is reported in a narration from Qatadah that he said, “They want to be declared innocent (on the Day of Judgement) without having to do any deeds.” Then Allah says.
{Nay! But they fear not the Hereafter.}

meaning, they were only corrupted by their lack of faith in it and their rejection of its occurrence.
The Qur’an is a Reminder
Then Allah says,
{Nay, verily, this is an admonition.} meaning, truly the Qur’an is a reminder.
{So, whosoever wills receives admonition (from it)! And they will not receive admonition unless Allah wills;}

This is similar to Allah’s statement,
{And you cannot will unless Allah wills.}
Concerning Allah’s statement,
{He is the One, deserving the Taqwa and He is the One Who forgives.}

This means that He deserves to be feared and He is eligible to forgive the sin of whoever turns to Him and repents. This was said by Qatadah.

About this Source & Scholarly Authority (Tafsir Ibn Kathir)

Universal Sunni Consensus: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim by Hafiz Ibn Kathir (701–774 AH / 1301–1373 AD) is universally regarded across all major schools of Sunni Islam (traditional, Salafi, Ash'ari) as the most authoritative classical exegesis. It is prized because it relies on Tafsir bil-Ma'thur—interpreting the Quran using the Quran itself, authentic Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad, and recorded statements of the early Companions (Sahabah).

Standard English Edition: This text is from the standard 10-volume English abridgment published by Dar-us-Salam Publications (supervised by Shaykh Safiur-Rahman Al-Mubarakpuri), which is the official, most widely distributed English Quranic commentary in mosques and Islamic libraries worldwide today.