31:24 Luqman (Luqman)

{ نُمَتِّعُهُمْ قَلِيلًا } في الدنيا، ليزداد إثمهم، ويتوفر عذابهم، { ثُمَّ نَضْطَرُّهُمْ } أي: [نلجئهم] { إِلَى عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ } أي: انتهى في عظمه وكبره، وفظاعته، وألمه، وشدته.

ثم قال تعالى "نمتعهم قليلا" أي في الدنيا ثم "نضطرهم "أي نلجئهم "إلى عذاب غليظ" أي فظيع صعب مشق على النفوس كما قال تعالى "إن الذين يفترون على الله الكذب لا يفلحون متاع في الدنيا ثم إلينا مرجعهم ثم نذيقهم العذاب الشديد بما كانوا يكفرون".

وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ

(while he is a Muhsin) i.e., doing what his Lord has commanded and abstaining from what He has forbidden,

فَقَدِ اسْتَمْسَكَ بِالْعُرْوَةِ الْوُثْقَى

(then he has grasped the most trustworthy handhold.) means, he has received a firm promise from Allah that He will not punish him.

وَإِلَى اللَّهِ عَـقِبَةُ الاٌّمُورِوَمَن كَفَرَ فَلاَ يَحْزُنكَ كُفْرُهُ

(And to Allah return all matters for decision. And whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief grieve you.) means, `do not grieve over them, O Muhammad, because they disbelieve in Allah and in the Message you have brought, for their return will be to Allah and He will tell them what they used to do,' i.e., He will punish them for it.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُورِ

(Verily, Allah is the All-Knower of what is in the breasts.) and nothing whatsoever is hidden from Him. Then Allah says:

نُمَتِّعُهُمْ قَلِيلاً

(We let them enjoy for a little while,) means, in this world,

ثُمَّ نَضْطَرُّهُمْ

(then in the end We shall oblige them) means, `We shall cause them,'

إِلَى عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ

(to (enter) a great torment.) means, a torment that is terrifying and difficult to bear. This is like the Ayah,

قُلْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَفْتَرُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ الْكَذِبَ لاَ يُفْلِحُونَ - مَتَـعٌ فِى الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ إِلَيْنَا مَرْجِعُهُمْ ثُمَّ نُذِيقُهُمُ الْعَذَابَ الشَّدِيدَ بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكْفُرُونَ

("Verily, those who invent a lie against Allah, will never be successful." Enjoyment in this world! and then unto Us will be their return, then We shall make them taste the severest torment because they used to disbelieve.) (10:69-70)

We will give them comfort in this world for a little while for the duration of the days of their lives then We will drive them in the Hereafter to a harsh chastisement namely the chastisement of the Fire from which they will find no escape.

Commentary

At the beginning of the Surah, the Kafirs and the Mushriks were admonished for still persisting with their Kufr and Shirk despite that they had seen the manifestations of the all-encompassing knowledge and the most perfect power of Allah Ta’ ala. And in contrast to their condition, obedient believers were praised and mention was made of their good end. In between, the description of the bequests (wasaya of Luqman, peace on him, was in a way a complement of the same subject. In the verses cited above, the text reverts to the subjects of Allah Ta’ ala's all-encompassing knowledge and power, His bounties and favors showered on the creations with an exhortation to believe in the principle of His Oneness.

The expression: سَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم (sakhkhara lakum: translated as 'subjugated for you' ) in verse 20: سَخَّرَ‌ لَكُم مَّا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (Allah has subjugated for you what is in the heavens and what is on the earth) is well known and means to make something subservient to someone. This raises a question at this place. Is it not that, first of all, not even everything on the earth is subservient to human will and command? In fact, there are many things that act counter to human choice. As for things of the heavens particularly, there exists just about no probability of their being subservient to human beings. The answer is that 'subjugation' really means to force something into doing a particular job in a state of virtual compulsion. So, subjugating the entire creation of the heavens and the earth for human beings means that the whole range of such creations was yoked in their service to bring all sorts of benefits to them. Out of these things, many were put in their service by subjecting them to their command as well, in that they could use them as and when they wished. But, there are other things that have been, of course, commissioned to serve them - which they are doing all right - but, such was the dictate of Divine wisdom, that they were not made subject to the command of human beings, for example, the heavenly creations, planets, stars, lighting, rains and similar others. Had they been subjugated to follow human orders, these elements of creation would have been affected by human temperaments, tastes and varying conditions. One human being would have wanted the sun to rise early while the need of the other would have it rise later. Someone would have asked for rains while the other, being in travel through an open field, would have opted for no rains. So, these divergent demands would have triggered operational malfunction in the workings of the universal heavenly system. Therefore, Allah Ta` a1a did put all these things into the service of human beings but did not make them subject to their will and command. This too is, in a way, subjugation. Allah knows best.

The word: اسباغ (isbagh) in the next sentence of verse 20: وَأَسْبَغَ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعَمَهُ ظَاهِرَ‌ةً وَبَاطِنَةً (and has perfected His blessings on you, both outward and inward) means to perfect, make complete, provide in great abundance to the last fill. The Arabic word: نِعَم (ni'am) means 'blessings' which human beings recognize through their senses, for instance, the beauty of shape and the symmetry of human limbs made into such proportion as would allow maximum functional movement causing no disfigurement of one's shape and looks. Similarly, provisions, property; wealth, avenues of economic opportunity, health and well being arh also outward and perceived blessings. In the same way, making the religion of Islam easy to follow, being enabled to obey Allah and His Rasul ﷺ ، the ascendancy of Islam over other faiths and the support given to Muslims encountering enemies also come under the same outward blessings. As for inward blessings, they relate to the human heart, such as, 'Iman (faith), knowing Allah (ma'rifah), intellect, reason, good morals, the good fortune of having one's sins left unexposed and of one's crimes not punished instantly and many others.

The manifestations of Allah's knowledge, power and blessings are endless. These cannot by encompassed by anyone through speech, nor can any pen write them comprehensively.