40:50 Ghafir (The Forgiver)

فـ { قَالُوا } لهم موبخين ومبينين أن شفاعتهم لا تنفعهم، ودعاءهم لا يفيدهم شيئًا: { أَوَ لَمْ تَكُ تَأْتِيكُمْ رُسُلُكُمْ بِالْبَيِّنَاتِ } التي تبينتم بها الحق والصراط المستقيم، وما يقرب من الله وما يبعد منه؟{ قَالُوا بَلَى } قد جاءونا بالبينات، وقامت علينا حجة الله البالغة فظلمنا وعاندنا الحق بعد ما تبين. { قَالُوا } أي: الخزنة لأهل النار، متبرئين من الدعاء لهم والشفاعة: { فَادْعُوا } أنتم ولكن هذا الدعاء هل يغني شيئا أم لا؟قال تعالى: { وَمَا دُعَاءُ الْكَافِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ } أي: باطل لاغ، لأن الكفر محبط لجميع الأعمال صادّ لإجابة الدعاء.

قالت لهم الخزنة رادين عليهم "أو لم تك تأتيكم رسلكم بالبينات" أي أو ما قامت عليكم الحجج في الدنيا على ألسنة الرسل "قالوا بلى قالوا فادعوا" أي أنتم لأنفسكم فنحن لا ندعو لكم ولا نسمع منكم ولا نود خلاصكم ونحن منكم براء ثم نخبركم أنه سواء دعوتم أو لم تدعوا لا يستجاب لكم ولا يخفف عنكم ولهذا قالوا "وما دعاء الكافرين إلا في ضلال" أي إلا في ذهاب لا يقبل ولا يستجاب.

The Dispute of the People of Hell

Allah tells us how the people of Hell will dispute and argue with one another, and Fir`awn and his people will be among them. The weak, who were the followers, will say to those who were arrogant, who were the leaders and masters:

إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا

(Verily, we followed you,) meaning, `we obeyed you and heeded your call to disbelief and misguidance in the world, '

فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا نَصِيباً مِّنَ النَّارِ

(can you then take from us some portion of the Fire) means, `can you carry a part of our burden for us'

قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ إِنَّا كُلٌّ فِيهَآ

(Those who were arrogant will say: "We are all (together) in this (Fire)!...") meaning, `we will not bear any part of your burden for you; our own punishment is enough for us to bear.'

إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَكَمَ بَيْنَ الْعِبَادِ

(Verily, Allah has judged (His) servants!) means, `He has shared out the punishment among us according to what each of us deserves'. This is like the Ayah:

قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَعْلَمُونَ

(He will say: "For each one there is double (torment), but you know not.") (7:38)

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ فِى النَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ادْعُواْ رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْماً مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ

(And those in the Fire will say to the keepers (angels) of Hell: "Call upon your Lord to lighten for us the torment for a day!") They know that Allah will not answer them and will not listen to their prayer, because He said,

اخْسَئُواْ فِيهَا وَلاَ تُكَلِّمُونِ

(Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me!) (23:108), so they will ask the keepers of Hell, who are like jailers watching over the people of Hell, to pray to Allah to lessen the Fire for them if only for one day. But the keepers of Hell will refuse, saying to them,

أَوَلَمْ تَكُ تَأْتِيكُمْ رُسُلُكُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ

(Did there not come to you, your Messengers with (clear) evidences) meaning, was not proof established in the world on the lips of the Messengers

قَالُواْ بَلَى قَالُواْ فَادْعُواْ

(They will say: "Yes." They will reply: "Then call (as you like)!...") means, you are on your own. We will not pray for you or listen to you; we do not want you to be saved and we have nothing to do with you. Moreover, we tell you that it is all the same whether you offer supplication or not, because Allah will not respond and He will not lighten the torment for you.' They will say:

وَمَا دُعَآءُ الْكَـفِرِينَ إِلاَّ فِى ضَلَـلٍ

(And the invocation of the disbelievers is nothing but in vain!) meaning, it will not be accepted or responded to.

They that is the keepers will say mockingly ‘Did not your messengers bring you clear signs?’ manifest miracles? They will say ‘Yes indeed’ — in other words they disbelieved them. They will say ‘Then supplicate God!’ yourselves for we do not intercede for disbelievers. God exalted be He says but the supplications of the disbelievers can only be misguided void.

In the last verse cited here, it was said: النَّارُ‌ يُعْرَ‌ضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّا وَعَشِيًّا ۖ وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ أَدْخِلُوا آلَ فِرْ‌عَوْنَ أَشَدَّ الْعَذَابِ. (It is the Fire before which they are presented morning and evening. And on the day when the Hour (of final judgment) will take place, (the order will be released): "Admit the family of the Pharaoh into the most severe punishment."- 46). Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ explained this verse by saying, "Spirits of people from the House of Pharaoh are presented before the Jahannam in the form of black birds, twice every day, morning and evening, and by pointing out to the Jahannam, it is said to them: This is your abode." (Reported by Abd-ur-Razzaq and Ibn Abi Haim - Mazhari)

And according to a narration of Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Umar ؓ appearing in the two Sahihs of al-Bukhari and Muslim, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, (the meaning of which is): "When one of you dies (and is in the universe of barzakh, the post-death - pre-resurrection state) he is shown, morning and evening, the place he is to reach after the reckoning of the Day of Judgment. And this place is shown to him every day, and he is told that he has to reach there finally. If this person is from among the people of Jannah, then, Jannah will be shown to him as his place. And if he is from among the people of Jahannam, then, Jahannam will be shown to him as his place."

Punishment in graves

This verse is a proof of punishment in graves. Uninterrupted reports of ahadith and the consensus (ijma) of the Muslim Ummah confirm it. This humble writer has put together all such material, along with relevant verses from the Qur'an, in a regular treatise entitled: السبر بعذاب القبر As-sabr bi'adhabi-l-qabr. This treatise has been published in Arabic as part of Ahkam-ul-Qur'an.