Translation
Say: “Who forbids what God provides—beautifications and protections for life and wholesome provisions for sustenance—given to those who believe (to share with others) in this life, exclusively for them on the Day of Resurrection?” This is how We (God) make clear the messages for those who wish to know. Say: “My Cherisher God only forbids shameful actions and conduct, be they done openly or in secret; vices and any rebellious act without justification; any association with God without authority directed by Him and saying anything concerning God that you have no knowledge of.” For every society, there is a period of performance set; when that term expires, no one can delay it by an hour or advance it.
O Children of Adam (and Eve): Whenever a Messenger from among you comes to convey My (God’s) messages and guidance, whoever then becomes conscious (of their responsibilities) and acts in goodness, they will have no reason to fear nor any reason to regret, whereas those who deny Our messages and guidance out of arrogance, it is they who will face Hellfire and remain therein.
Who is more corrupt than the one who invents lies against God or denies His messages? They will face whatever their books (they follow) prescribe (for such corruption) until the Angel of Death (a messenger from God) comes to them to cause their death and asks: “Where are those that you used to call in devotion besides God?” They will reply: “These (entities) have departed us.” This is how they will refute themselves and bear witness that they were not believers.
He (God) will say: “Enter and join those nations from men and Jinn in the Hellfire.” Every time a new group comes in, it will blame its sister group until all of them have followed one another, and the last group will say, regarding the first group: “O our Sustainer, these are the ones who led us away (from Your guidance); so double the torment of fire for them.” God will reply: “It is doubled for everyone, but you do not realize that.” The first group will then call out to the last group: “You have no preference over us. Suffer then the consequence of what you have earned (just like us).”
Those who deny God’s message and behave arrogantly regarding such messages, the door of the sky will not open for them, nor will they enter Paradise until a camel can pass through the eye of a needle. This is how the guilty will be rewarded for what they earned. The Hellfire will be a bed and a covering for them; this is how the corrupt will be rewarded for what they have earned. 364
Interpretation
364 The choices that one should make are made very clear in these verses. Each generation of mankind must become acquainted with the guidance that came from God and use their God-given intuition, knowledge, and inner spirit to comprehend the natural order of things and the purposefulness of this life—a preponderance of goodness and humility; the absence of malice, sin, corruption, and pride; the acknowledgment of God as Creator and Sustainer; and the rejection of any false attribution to Him. Lacking such belief and conduct leads to the demise of each nation and each group at the end of their term set by God, a term sufficient to prove otherwise. Our lack of desire and will to correct ourselves and conform to the truth and the guidance in our own individual lifetime as well as the lifetime of each nation will lead to eventual consequences that are sure to come. Such eventualities have been brought to life in these verses through conversations that will take place among people, nations, Angels of death, and God Himself regarding the denial of truth and failure to accept the essential guidance from God.
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REFLECTION
Belief in matters unseen such as life after death, the Day of Judgment, and Heaven and Hell, and deeper reflection on the central notion of accountability regarding our actions as individuals, groups, communities, and nations are to be taken seriously by every one of us. Those who cause injustice and those who accept such injustice are to be blamed equally and, in that sense, we are accountable not only for what we do but what we do not do. Blaming others for our failures, using unjust means to correct an injustice, expropriating wealth to a few in the name of profit, and exploiting natural resources to create imbalances in nature are becoming the mainstay of our societies—both developed and underdeveloped.
ACTION
For us not to pay attention to the Books of Revelations from God that are among us, not to listen to our inner consciousness that is already endowed with goodness and justice, not to consume natural resources in an equitable fashion among the people of the world, and so on are matters of serious concern in regard to our moral standards, ethical norms, principles of social justice, and the purposefulness of our existence as God’s special creation.
Key Arabic terms
113. fawahisha (shameful, indecent), bag’ye (rebellion, unjustified chaos), tushriku (any
divine association with God)
114. azalun (appointment, period of performance or test)