Tafsir of Surah Al-Mu'minun - Verse 114

Allah tells them how much they wasted in their short lives in this world by failing to obey Allah and worship Him Alone.

If they had been patient during their short stay in this world, they would have attained victory just like His pious close friends.

قَـلَ كَمْ لَبِثْتُمْ فِى الاٌّرْضِ عَدَدَ سِنِينَ

(He will say: "What number of years did you stay on earth") means, how long did you stay in this world

قَالُواْ لَبِثْنَا يَوْماً أَوْ بَعْضَ يَوْمٍ فَاسْأَلِ الْعَآدِّينَ

(They will say: "We stayed a day or part of a day. Ask of those who keep account.") meaning, those who keep the records.

قَالَ إِن لَّبِثْتُمْ إِلاَّ قَلِيلاً

(He will say: "You stayed not but a little...") meaning, it was only a short time, no matter how you look at it.

لَّوْ أَنَّكُمْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

(if you had only known!) means, you would not have preferred the transient to the eternal, and treated yourself in this bad way, and earned the wrath of Allah in this short period. If you had patiently obeyed Allah and worshipped Him as the believers did, you would have attained victory just as they did.

Allah did not create His Servants in vain

أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَـكُمْ عَبَثاً

(Did you think that We had created you in play,) means, `did you think that you were created in vain, with no purpose, with nothing required of you and no wisdom on Our part' Or it was said that "in play" meant to play and amuse yourselves, like the animals were created, who have no reward or punishment. But you were created to worship Allah and carry out His commands.

وَأَنَّكُمْ إِلَيْنَا لاَ تُرْجَعُونَ

(and that you would not be brought back to Us) means, that you would not be brought back to the Hereafter. This is like the Ayah:

أَيَحْسَبُ الإِنسَـنُ أَن يُتْرَكَ سُدًى

(Does man think that he will be left neglected) 75:36

فَتَعَـلَى اللَّهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ

(So Exalted be Allah, the True King.) means, sanctified be He above the idea that he should create anything in vain, for He is the True King Who is far above doing such a thing.

لاَ إِلَـهَ إِلاَّ هُوَ رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ

(None has the right to be worshipped but He, the Lord of Al-`Arsh Al-Karim!) The Throne is mentioned because it is the highest point of all creation, and it is described as Karim, meaning beautiful in appearance and splendid in form, as Allah says elsewhere:

أَنبَتْنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ زَوْجٍ كَرِيمٍ

(every good kind We cause to grow therein) 26:7.

وَلَا تُكَلِّمُونِ (Do not speak to Me - 23:108). According to Hasan al-Basri (رح) these will be the last words of the people who are cast in hell and in reply Allah will say, "Do not speak to Me." After this they will not be able to speak like human beings, but will make animal sounds to each other. Baihaqi and others have quoted Muhammad Ibn Ka` b as saying that the Qur'an mentions five requests made by the people condemned to hell. Out of the five, replies were furnished to four, but in reply to the fifth Allah commanded them not to speak to Him. Thus these are the last words to be uttered by them after which they will not be able to speak. (Mazhari)

That joy which is everlasting is the real joy. Fleeting moments of joy have no meaning. In the life of this world, man is forgetful of this fact. But in the Hereafter, it will become abundantly clear to him. Truth manifests itself to a man in this world, but he does not want to disturb his status quo, so he does not accept it. He is not prepared to forego the already available present gain for the sake of any promised future gain. The comforts and the considerations of this world appear valuable to him and he is unable to understand why he should ignore them all and attach himself to a ‘non-thing,’ or abstract promise.