7:147 Al-A'raaf (The Heights)

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا العظيمة الدالة على صحة ما أرسلنا به رسلنا. وَلِقَاءِ الآخِرَةِ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَالُهُمْ لأنها على غير أساس، وقد فقد شرطها وهو الإيمان بآيات اللّه، والتصديق بجزائه هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ في بطلان أعمالهم وحصول ضد مقصودهم إِلا مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ فإن أعمال من لا يؤمن باليوم الآخر، لا يرجو فيها ثوابا، وليس لها غاية تنتهي إليه، فلذلك اضمحلت وبطلت.

قوله "والذين كذبوا بآياتنا ولقاء الآخرة حبطت أعمالهم" أي من فعل منهم ذلك واستمر عليه إلى الممات حبط عمله وقوله "هل يجزون إلا ما كانوا يعملون" أي إنما نجازيهم بحسب أعمالهم التي أسلفوها إن خيرا فخير وإن شرا فشر وكما تدين تدان.

Arrogant People will be deprived of Allah's Ayat

Allah said,

سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ ءَايَـتِي الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ

(I shall turn away from My Ayat those who behave arrogantly on the earth, without a right). Allah says, "I shall deprive the hearts of those who are too proud to obey Me, and arrogant with people without right, from understanding the signs and proofs that testify to My Might, Law and Commandments." And just as they acted arrogantly without justification, Allah has disgraced them with ignorance. Allah said in another Ayah,

وَنُقَلِّبُ أَفْئِدَتَهُمْ وَأَبْصَـرَهُمْ كَمَا لَمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهِ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ

(And We shall turn their hearts and their eyes away (from guidance), as they refused to believe therein for the first time) 6:110, and,

فَلَمَّا زَاغُواْ أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ

(So when they turned away (from the path of Allah), Allah turned their hearts away (from the right path).) 61:5 Sufyan bin `Uyaynah commented on this Ayah,

سَأَصْرِفُ عَنْ ءَايَـتِي الَّذِينَ يَتَكَبَّرُونَ فِي الأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ

(I shall turn away from My Ayat those who behave arrogantly on the earth, without a right), "(Allah says) I shall snatch away comprehension of the Qur'an from them and turn them away from My Ayat. " Ibn Jarir commented on Sufyan's statement that, "This indicates that this part of the Ayah is addressed to this Ummah." This is not necessarily true, for Ibn `Uyaynah actually meant that this occurs in every Ummah and that there is no difference between one Ummah and another Ummah in this regard. Allah knows best. Allah said next,

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ كُلَّ ءَايَةٍ لاَّ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَا

(and (even) if they see all the Ayat, they will not believe in them). Allah said in a similar Ayah,

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ حَقَّتْ عَلَيْهِمْ كَلِمَةُ رَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ - وَلَوْ جَآءَتْهُمْ كُلُّ ءايَةٍ حَتَّى يَرَوُاْ الْعَذَابَ الاٌّلِيمَ

(Truly, those, against whom the Word (wrath) of your Lord has been justified, will not believe. Even if every sign should come to them, until they see the painful torment.) 10:96-97 Allah's statement,

وَإِن يَرَوْاْ سَبِيلَ الرُّشْدِ لاَ يَتَّخِذُوهُ سَبِيلاً

(And if they see the way of righteousness, they will not adopt it as the way,) means, even if the way of guidance and safety appears before them, they will not take it, but if the way that leads to destruction and misguidance appears to them, they adopt that way. Allah explains why they do this,

ذلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا

(that is because they have rejected Our Ayat), in their hearts,

وَكَانُواْ عَنْهَا غَـفِلِينَ

(and were heedless of them.), gaining no lessons from the Ayat. Allah's statement,

وَالَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَلِقَآءِ الاٌّخِرَةِ حَبِطَتْ أَعْمَـلُهُمْ

(Those who deny Our Ayat and the meeting in the Hereafter, vain are their deeds.) indicates that whoever among them does this, remaining on this path until death, then all his deeds will be in vain. Allah said next,

هَلْ يُجْزَوْنَ إِلاَّ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(Are they requited with anything except what they used to do) meaning, `We only recompense them according to the deeds that they performed, good for good and evil for evil. Surely, as you bring forth, you reap the harvest thereof.'

Those who deny Our signs and the encounter in the Hereafter the Resurrection and so on. their works the good deeds they performed in the world such as the maintenance of kinship ties or voluntary almsgivings have failed are invalid and will not be rewarded since they are not binding in this case. Shall they they shall not be requited anything but the requital for what they used to do?’ in the way of denial and acts of disobedience?

Commentary

The verse 146 spoke of the arrogant people as showing arrogance unjustly. The word without truth or unjustly indicates that assuming arrogance in response to the arrogant people is a justified act, since it is the act of arrogance in appearance, and not in reality. It is a known dictum: اَلتَّکَبُّرُ مَعَ المُتَّکبِّرِینَ تواضُعُ "Showing arrogance to the arrogant is an act of humbleness". (Masail as-Suluk).

The effects of Arrogance

By saying, "I shall keep away from My verses those who show arrogance," the verse implies that the people who have an offensive sense of superiority over others are deprived of knowledge and understanding. They are rendered incapable of benefitting themselves from the signs of Allah. The term 'Signs of Allah', may have a reference to the revealed verses of the Torah, Evangel and the Qur'an, as well as to the signs inherent in all the things of the heavens and the earth. The false sense of superiority is, therefore, the worst habit which keeps man away from deliberations in the signs of Allah and getting awareness of the truth.

We find it stated in Ruh-al-Bayan that arrogance is such a wicked habitude as raises a wall between man and the knowledge from Allah. Since divine knowledge comes only through the mercy of Allah, and the mercy of Allah visits those who are humble. The spiritual leader Sheikh Rumi has said:

ھر کجا آب پستی آب آنجا رود ھر کجا مشکل جواب آنجا رود

"Water flows down towards the slope, and solution goes where difficulty appears."