Tafsir of Surah An-Nur - Verse 39

Two Examples of two kinds of Disbelievers

These are two examples which Allah sets forth of two kinds of disbelievers. Similarly He sets forth two parables of the hypocrites at the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah: one involving fire and the other involving water. Similarly, in Surat Ar-Ra`d He gives two parables of the guidance and knowledge that are instilled in the heart, again involving fire and water; we have discussed each of them in the appropriate place and there is no need to repeat it here, praise be to Allah. The first of these two examples is that of the disbelievers who call others to their disbelief, thinking that they have good actions and beliefs, when this is not in fact the case. Their likeness is that of a mirage which is seen in a desert plain, looking from a distance as if it is a deep sea. The word Qi`ah refers to a vast, flat, level area of land in which the mirage may appear. There are different kinds of mirage, one which appears after midday, and another which appears in the morning and looks like water between heaven and earth. If a person who is in need of water sees the mirage, he thinks that it is water so he heads towards it in order to drink from it, but when he reaches it,

لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئاً

(he finds it to be nothing.); Similarly the disbeliever thinks that he is doing something good and that he has achieved something, but when Allah judges him on the Day of Resurrection, and brings him to account and examines his deeds, he will find that nothing has been accepted at all, either because of a lack of sincere belief or because he did not follow the proper ways of the Shari`ah. As Allah says:

وَقَدِمْنَآ إِلَى مَا عَمِلُواْ مِنْ عَمَلٍ فَجَعَلْنَاهُ هَبَآءً مَّنثُوراً

(And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust.) 25:23. And He says here:

وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ فَوَفَّـهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ

(but he finds Allah with him, who will pay him his due. And Allah is swift in taking account.) A similar view was also narrated from Ubayy bin Ka`b, Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah and others. In the Two Sahihs, it is reported that on the Day of Resurrection it will be said to the Jews, "What did you used to worship" They will say, "We used to worship `Uzayr the son of Allah." It will be said to them, "You have lied. Allah has not begotten a son. What do you want" They will say, "O Lord, we are thirsty, give us something to drink." It will be said to them, "Do you not see" Then Hell will be shown to them as if it is a mirage, parts of it consuming other parts, and they will go and fall into it. This is the parable of one whose ignorance is deep and advanced. As for those whose ignorance is simple, those who are uneducated and foolish and blindly follow the leaders of disbelief, knowing and understanding nothing, their parable is as Allah says: d

أَوْ كَظُلُمَـتٍ فِى بَحْرٍ لُّجِّىٍّ يَغْشَـهُ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ مَوْجٌ مِّن فَوْقِهِ سَحَابٌ ظُلُمَـتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ إِذَآ أَخْرَجَ يَدَهُ لَمْ يَكَدْ يَرَاهَا

(Or like the darkness in a vast deep sea, overwhelmed with waves topped by waves, topped by dark clouds, darkness upon darkness: if a man stretches out his hand, he can hardly see it!) meaning, he can hardly see it because it is so intensely dark. This is the parable of the heart of the disbeliever whose ignorance is simple, who merely follows and does not know the true nature of the one whom he follows or where he is going. He is like the ignorant man in the parable who was asked, "Where are you going" He said, "With them." He was asked, "Where are they going" He said, "I do not know."

ظُلُمَـتٌ بَعْضُهَا فَوْقَ بَعْضٍ

(darkness upon darkness) Ubayy bin Ka`b said: "He is enveloped in five types of darkness: his speech is darkness, his deeds are darkness, his coming in is darkness, his going out is darkness and his destiny on the Day of Resurrection will be darkness in the fire of Hell." As-Suddi and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas also said something similar.

وَمَن لَّمْ يَجْعَلِ اللَّهُ لَهُ نُوراً فَمَا لَهُ مِن نُورٍ

(And he for whom Allah has not appointed light, for him there is no light.) One whom Allah does not guide is ignorant and doomed, an utter loser and disbeliever. This is like the Ayah:

مَن يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلاَ هَادِيَ لَهُ

(Whomsoever Allah sends astray, none can guide him) 7:186 This is in contrast to what Allah says about the believers:

يَهْدِى اللَّهُ لِنُورِهِ مَن يَشَآءُ

(Allah guides to His Light whom He wills. ) 24:35 We ask Allah the Almighty to put light in our hearts and give us light on our right and on our left, and to increase us in light.

Toward the end of the verse their reward is described that they shall be graced with the best reward for their actions by Allah Ta’ ala, and then the verse says: وَيَزِيدَهُم مِّن فَضْلِهِ (and will give them more out of His grace - 38). It means that their reward will not end with the recompense against the good actions, but some extra reward will also be given on His own وَاللَّـهُ يَرْ‌زُقُ مَن يَشَاءُ بِغَيْرِ‌ حِسَابٍ (and Allah gives whom He wills without counting - 38), that is neither Allah is bound by any rule nor does His treasure gets depleted. He grants unlimited sustenance to whomever He likes.

So far the righteous believers were described whose chests are the niches for the Nur of guidance and who readily accept the Nur of guidance. In verses 39 and 40 those disbelievers are being described who were given in their nature the Nur of guidance by Allah Ta’ ala, but when Allah's revelation reached them to lit them up, they turned away to reject it and lost the Nur to stay in the darkness. Since the disbelievers and atheists are of two types, therefore, two examples are related here. One category is that of those disbelievers who believe in the Dooms Day and Hereafter, and have faith that some of their good acts, according to their own reckoning, will be rewarded in the Hereafter. The second category is that of atheists, who do not believe in the Hereafter and the Dooms Day.

The example of the deeds of the first category is that of a mirage, which is nothing but illusion of sight. In a level plain the shining sand creates the illusion of water from a distance, and as a thirsty person approaches near it, the illusion (mirage) disappears, leaving the thirsty completely exhausted, who ultimately dies of thirst. Similarly, a disbeliever's deeds are like a mirage which he considers of value and benefit, but in actual fact they are no better than an illusion, like mirage, and as a thirsty person discovers the illusion when it is too late, in the same way the disbelievers will find out their blunder in the Hereafter, when it will be of no avail.

The second category of deeds is that of atheists or infidels, for which the example of a deep ocean is given, which is completely dark. In the first place it is dark because of its depth, then it is covered by a big wave which is also enshrouded by another wave, and over that there is a mass of dark cloud. In short there is darkness over darkness, so much so that if someone takes out his hand, he cannot have even a glimpse of it. The inference to be drawn from this example is that those infidels who deny the coming of the Dooms Day, the Reckoning and the Hereafter are devoid of even the illusive Nur, which the first category of disbelievers had. Although they too did not possess the useful Nur of guidance, but at least they were under the illusion that they had done some good deeds which will help them in the Hereafter, but the latter category did not deem it necessary to work for the Hereafter, since they had no belief in it. Hence, they will have nothing but darkness and complete darkness with them on the Dooms Day.

In stark contrast to the person who revives his inner natural urge and consequently is blessed with the wealth of faith, there exists the other type whose ‘oil’ does not become ignited by the fire of Truth. Of the second type, are those who follow a concocted religion. They build a palace of false hopes and are happy in it. Thus they live with their misconceptions till they are overtaken by death, which suddenly dispels the magical spell of their misconceptions. They then realise that what they thought of as their goal until now, was nothing but a pit of destruction. Another category consists of open rebels and rejecters of Truth. Disregarding God’s guidance, they become utter failures and grope in the dark forever.