23:114 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

فقال لهم: { إِنْ لَبِثْتُمْ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا } سواء عينتم عدده، أم لا { لَوْ أَنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ }

" قال إن لبثتم إلا قليلا " أي مدة يسيرة على كل تقدير " لو أنكم كنتم تعلمون " أي لما آثرتم الفاني على الباقي ولما تصرفتم لأنفسكم هذا التصرف السيء ولا استحققتم من الله سخطه في تلك المدة اليسيرة فلو أنكم صبرتم على طاعة الله وعبادته كما فعل المؤمنون لفزتم كما فازوا قال ابن أبي حاتم حدثنا أبي حدثنا محمد بن يونس حدثنا الوليد حدثنا صفوان عن أيفع بن عبد الكلاعي أنه سمعه يخطب الناس فقال: قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم " إن الله إذا أدخل أهل الجنة الجنة وأهل النار النار قال يا أهل الجنة كم لبثتم في الأرض عدد سنين؟ قالوا لبثنا يوما أو بعض يوم قال لنعم ما اتجرتم في يوم أو بعض يوم رحمتي ورضواني وجنتي امكثوا فيها خالدين مخلدين ثم قال يا أهل النار كم لبثتم في الأرض عدد سنين؟ قالوا لبثنا يوما أو بعض يوم فيقول بئس ما اتجرتم في يوم أو بعض يوم ناري وسخطي امكثوا فيها خالدين مخلدين ".

Allah tells them how much they wasted in their short lives in this world by failing to obey Allah and worship Him Alone.

If they had been patient during their short stay in this world, they would have attained victory just like His pious close friends.

قَـلَ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ عَدَدَ سِنِينَ

(He will say: "What number of years did you stay on earth") means, how long did you stay in this world

قَالُواْ لَبِثْنَا يَوْماً أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ فَاسْأَلِ الْعَآدِّينَ

(They will say: "We stayed a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep account.") meaning, those who keep the records.

قَالَ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً

(He will say: "You stayed not but a little...") meaning, it was only a short time, no matter how you look at it.

لَّوْ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

(if you had only known!) means, you would not have preferred the transient to the eternal, and treated yourself in this bad way, and earned the wrath of Allah in this short period. If you had patiently obeyed Allah and worshipped Him as the believers did, you would have attained victory just as they did.

Allah did not create His Servants in vain

أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَـكُمْ عَبَثاً

(Did you think that We had created you in play,) means, `did you think that you were created in vain, with no purpose, with nothing required of you and no wisdom on Our part' Or it was said that "in play" meant to play and amuse yourselves, like the animals were created, who have no reward or punishment. But you were created to worship Allah and carry out His commands.

وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لاَ تُرْجَعُونَ

(and that you would not be brought back to Us) means, that you would not be brought back to the Hereafter. This is like the Ayah:

أَيَحْسَبُ الإِنسَـنُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى

(Does man think that he will be left neglected) 75:36

فَتَعَـلَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ

(So Exalted be Allah, the True King.) means, sanctified be He above the idea that he should create anything in vain, for He is the True King Who is far above doing such a thing.

لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ

(None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Lord of Al-`Arsh Al-Karim!) The Throne is mentioned because it is the highest point of all creation, and it is described as Karim, meaning beautiful in appearance and splendid in form, as Allah says elsewhere:

أَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ

(every good kind We cause to grow therein) 26:7.

He exalted will say to them also by the tongue of Keeper of Hell a variant reading for qāla ‘He will say’ has qul ‘say’ ‘You tarried but a little if only you knew the length of time you tarried you would have realised that it is trivial relative to how long you will tarry in the Fire.

وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ (Do not speak to Me - 23:108). According to Hasan al-Basri (رح) these will be the last words of the people who are cast in hell and in reply Allah will say, "Do not speak to Me." After this they will not be able to speak like human beings, but will make animal sounds to each other. Baihaqi and others have quoted Muhammad Ibn Ka` b as saying that the Qur'an mentions five requests made by the people condemned to hell. Out of the five, replies were furnished to four, but in reply to the fifth Allah commanded them not to speak to Him. Thus these are the last words to be uttered by them after which they will not be able to speak. (Mazhari)