37:74 As-Saaffaat (Those drawn up in Ranks)

إلا عباد الله الذين أخلصهم الله، وخصَّهم برحمته لإخلاصهم له.

ولما كان المنذرون ليسوا كلهم ضالين، بل منهم من آمن وأخلص الدين للّه، استثناه اللّه من الهلاك فقال: { إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ } أي: الذين أخلصهم اللّه، وخصهم برحمته لإخلاصهم، فإن عواقبهم صارت حميدة.ثم ذكر أنموذجا من عواقب الأمم المكذبين فقال:

وذكر تعالى أنه أرسل فيهم منذرين ينذرون بأس الله ويحذرونهم سطوته ونقمته ممن كفر به وعبد غيره وأنهم تمادوا على مخالفة رسلهم وتكذيبهم فأهلك المكذبين ودمرهم ونجى المؤمنين ونصرهم وظفرهم ولهذا قال تعالى "فانظر كيف كان عاقبة المنذرين إلا عباد الله المخلصين".

all except God’s sincere servants namely the believers who are saved from chastisement because they were sincere in their worship mukhlisīna; or if one reads mukhlasīna because God has made them sincerely devoted to such worship.

By saying: طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُ‌ءُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ (Its fruits are like the heads of the shaitans.- 65), the fruits of zaqqum have been likened to the heads of the satans. Some commentators have translated the word: الشَّيَاطِينِ (ash-shayatin) in this verse as 'serpents' since the fruit of zaqqum resembles the hood of the serpent. Therefore, in Urdu and Hindi too, it is called 'nagphan' (hood of the serpent) for this very reason. But most

commentators have said that the word: الشَّيَاطِينِ (ash-shayatin) here should be taken in its well-recognized sense. Thus, it would mean that, in its ugliness, the fruit of zaqqum is like the head of the satans. Now, let there be no doubt here that nobody has seen the Shaitan, why then, would something be likened to him? The reason is that it is an imaginative simile. Speaking metaphorically, things ugly and grotesque are commonly likened to Shaitans, Jinns and ghosts. The purpose is only to express an extreme degree of ugliness. The simile used here is also of this very nature. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani and others).

The sense of the rest of the verses is clear from their translation.