77:36 Al-Mursalaat (The Emissaries)

{ وَلَا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ } أي: لا تقبل معذرتهم، ولو اعتذروا: { فَيَوْمَئِذٍ لَا يَنْفَعُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا مَعْذِرَتُهُمْ وَلَا هُمْ يُسْتَعْتَبُونَ }

أي لا يقدرون على الكلام ولا يؤذن لهم فيه ليعتذروا بل قد قامت عليهم الحجة ووقع القول عليهم بما ظلموا فهم لا ينطقون وعرصات القيامة حالات والرب تعالى يخبر عن هذه الحالة تارة وعن هذه الحالة تارة ليدل على شدة الأهوال والزلازل يومئذ.

The driving of the Criminals to their Final Abode in Hell and how it will be done

Allah informs about the disbelievers who deny the final abode, the recompense, Paradise, and the Hellfire. On the Day of Judgement it will be said to them:

انطَلِقُواْ إِلَى مَا كُنتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ - انطَلِقُواْ إِلَى ظِلٍّ ذِى ثَلَـثِ شُعَبٍ

(Depart you to that which you used to deny! Depart you to a shadow in three columns,) meaning, a flame of fire when it rises and ascends with smoke. So due to its severity and strength, it will have three columns.

لاَّ ظَلِيلٍ وَلاَ يُغْنِى مِنَ اللَّهَبِ

(Neither shady nor of any use against the fierce flame of the Fire.) meaning, shade of the smoke that comes from the flame -- which itself will not have a shade, nor will it benefit against the flame. This means it will not protect them from the heat of the flame. Allah said,

إِنَّهَا تَرْمِى بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ

(Verily, it throws sparks as Al-Qasr,) meaning, its sparks will shoot out from its flame like huge castles. Ibn Mas`ud said, "Like forts." Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and Malik who reported from Zayd bin Aslam and others said, "This means the trunk of trees."

كَأَنَّهُ جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(As if they were Sufr camels.) means, black camels. This is the view of Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Ad-Dahhak, and Ibn Jarir favored this view. Ibn `Abbas Mujahid, and Sa`id bin Jubayr said about,

جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(Sufr camels.) "Meaning ropes of ships."

إِنَّهَا تَرْمِى بِشَرَرٍ كَالْقَصْرِ

(Verily, it (Hell) throws sparks as Al-Qasr.) Imam Al-Bukhari recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said: "We were directed to the timber a length of three cubits or more in order to use it for construction of buildings. We used to call it Al-Qasr.

كَأَنَّهُ جِمَـلَةٌ صُفْرٌ

(As if they were Sufr camels.) These (Jimalat) are ropes of ships that are bundled until they resemble the intestines of men."

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!)

The Inability of the Criminals to speak, make Excuses, or step forward on the Day of Judgement

Then Allah says,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ لاَ يَنطِقُونَ

(That will be a Day when they shall not speak,) meaning, they will not speak.

وَلاَ يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُونَ

(And they will not be permitted to put forth any excuse.) meaning, they will not be able to speak, nor will they be granted permission to speak so that they can make excuses. Rather, the proof will be established against them, and they will be called upon to speak about the wrong that they did, but they will not be able to say anything. The courts of the Day of Judgement will occur in stages. Sometimes the Lord informs of this stage and sometimes He informs of that stage. This is to show the terrors and calamities of that Day. Thus, after all the details of this discussion, He says:

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِّلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

(Woe that Day to the deniers!) Then Allah says,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ جَمَعْنَـكُمْ وَالاٌّوَّلِينَ - فَإِن كَانَ لَكمُ كَيْدٌ فَكِيدُونِ

(That will be a Day of Decision! We have brought you and the men of old together! So if you have a plot, use it against Me!) This is an address from the Creator to His servants. He says to them,

هَـذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ جَمَعْنَـكُمْ وَالاٌّوَّلِينَ

(That will be a Day of Decision! We have brought you and the men of old together!) meaning, He will gather all of them by His power on one common plane, He will make them hear the caller and He will cause them to see. Then He says,

فَإِن كَانَ لَكمُ كَيْدٌ فَكِيدُونِ

(So, if you have a plot, use it against Me!) This is a serious threat and a harsh warning. It means, `if you are able to save yourselves from being seized by Me, and rescue yourselves from My ruling, then do so. But you are certainly not able to do so.' This is as Allah says,

يمَعْشَرَ الْجِنِّ وَالإِنسِ إِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَن تَنفُذُواْ مِنْ أَقْطَـرِ السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ فَانفُذُواْ لاَ تَنفُذُونَ إِلاَّ بِسُلْطَـنٍ

(O assembly of Jinn and men! If you have power to pass beyond the zones of the heavens and the earth, then pass beyond (them)! But you will never be able to pass them, except with authority (from Allah)!) (55:33) Allah also says,

وَلاَ تَضُرُّونَهُ شَيْئًا

(And you will not harm Him in the least.) (11:57) It is narrated in a Hadith (that Allah said),

«يَا عِبَادِي، إِنَّكُمْ لَنْ تَبْلُغُوا نَفْعِي فَتَنْفَعُونِي، وَلَنْ تَبْلُغُوا ضَرِّي فَتَضُرُّونِي»

("O My servants! You all can never attain My benefit and thereby benefit Me, and you all can never attain My harm and thereby harm Me.")

nor will they be given permission to offer excuses and so offer excuses fa-ya‘tadhirūna is a supplement to yu’dhanu ‘given permission’ but without being a direct result of it since it belongs within the confines of the general denial of permission in other words ‘there will be no permission hence no excuses’.

هَـٰذَا يَوْمُ لَا يَنطِقُونَ وَلَا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُمْ فَيَعْتَذِرُ‌ونَ (This is a day when they will not speak, nor will they be allowed to offer excuses....77:35, 36) In other words, this is the Day in which they will not be able to talk, nor will they be permitted to offer pleas for their misdeeds. However, other verses of the Qur'an inform us that they will speak and will be permitted to offer excuses. There is no discrepancy between the two verses, because there will be various stages on the Plain of Gathering (Mahshar) through which people will have to pass. Sometimes they will pass through a stage where it would be forbidden for them to speak or offer excuses; and at another stage they will be permitted. [ Ruh ].