Tafsir of Surah Al-A'raf - Verse 50

The Favors of paradise are Prohibited for the People of the Fire

Allah emphasizes the disgrace of the people of the Fire. They will ask the people of Paradise for some of their drink and food, but they will not be given any of that. As-Suddi said,

وَنَادَى أَصْحَـبُ النَّارِ أَصْحَـبَ الْجَنَّةِ أَنْ أَفِيضُواْ عَلَيْنَا مِنَ الْمَآءِ أَوْ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ اللَّهُ

(And the dwellers of the Fire will call to the dwellers of Paradise: "Pour on us some water or anything that Allah has provided you with.") "That is food". Ath-Thawri said that `Uthman Ath-Thaqafi said that Sa`id bin Jubayr commented on this Ayah, "One of them will call his father or brother, `I have been burned, so pour some water on me.' The believers will be asked to reply, and they will reply,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَهُمَا عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ

("Both Allah has forbidden to the disbelievers.")" `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam said that,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ حَرَّمَهُمَا عَلَى الْكَـفِرِينَ

("Both Allah has forbidden to the disbelievers.") "Refers to the food and drink of Paradise." Allah describes the disbelievers by what they used to do in this life, taking the religion as amusement and play, and being deceived by this life and its adornment, rather than working for the Hereafter as Allah commanded,

فَالْيَوْمَ نَنسَـهُمْ كَمَا نَسُواْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَـذَا

(So this Day We shall forget them as they forgot their meeting of this Day) meaning, Allah will treat them as if He has forgotten them. Certainly, nothing escapes Allah's perfect watch and He never forgets anything. Allah said in another Ayah,

فِى كِتَـبٍ لاَّ يَضِلُّ رَبِّى وَلاَ يَنسَى

(In a Record. My Lord neither errs nor forgets) 20:52 Allah said -- that He will forget them on that Day -- as just recompense for them, because,

نَسُواْ اللَّهَ فَنَسِيَهُمْ

(They have forgotten Allah, so He has forgotten them) 9:67

كَذَلِكَ أَتَتْكَ آيَـتُنَا فَنَسِيتَهَا وَكَذلِكَ الْيَوْمَ تُنْسَى

(Like this: Our Ayat came unto you, but you disregarded them, and so this Day, you will be neglected) 20:126 and,

وَقِيلَ الْيَوْمَ نَنسَاكُمْ كَمَا نَسِيتُمْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَـذَا

(And it will be said: "This Day We will forget you as you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours.") 45:34 Al-`Awfi reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on,

فَالْيَوْمَ نَنسَـهُمْ كَمَا نَسُواْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَـذَا

(So this Day We shall forget them as they forgot their meeting of this Day) "Allah will forget the good about them, but not their evil." And `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "We shall forsake them as they have forsaken the meeting of this Day of theirs." Mujahid said, "We shall leave them in the Fire." As-Suddi said, "We shall leave them from any mercy, just as they left any action on behalf of the meeting on this Day of theirs." It is recorded in the Sahih that Allah will say to the servant on the Day of Resurrection:

«أَلَمْ أُزَوِّجْكَ؟ أَلَمْ أُكْرِمْكَ؟ أَلَمْ أُسَخِّرْ لَكَ الْخَيْلَ وَالْإِبِلَ وَأَذَرْكَ تَرْأَسُ وَتَرْبَعُ؟ فَيَقُولُ: بَلَى، فَيَقُولُ: أَظَنَنْتَ أَنَّكَ مُلَاقِيَّ؟ فَيَقُولُ: لَا، فَيَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالَى: فَالْيَوْمَ أَنْسَاكَ كَمَا نَسِيتَنِي»

("Have I not gotten you married Have I not honored you Have I not made horses and camels subservient for you and allowed you to become a leader and a master" He will say, "Yes." Allah will say, "Did you think that you will meet Me" He will say, "No." Allah the Exalted will say, `Then this Day, I will forget you as you have forgotten Me.")

Said in the sixth verse (49) is: أَهَـٰؤُلَاءِ الَّذِينَ أَقْسَمْتُمْ لَا يَنَالُهُمُ اللَّـهُ بِرَ‌حْمَةٍ ۚ ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمْ وَلَا أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ ﴿49﴾ (Is it these for whom you swore that Allah would not reach them with mercy?" - "Enter the Paradise; there is no fear on you, nor shall you grieve).

Explaining this, Sayyidna ` Abdullah ibn ` Abbas ؓ says: When the questions and answers between the people of A` raf and the people of Paradise and Hell both will be over, that will be the time when the Lord of all the worlds will address the people of Hell and tell them about the people of A` raf that they swore that the people of A` raf will not be forgiven their sins and mercy will not be shown to them. Then, there comes an immediate declaration of His mercy when the people of A` raf will be told: Go and enter the Paradise. You should have no fear of what had happened in the past nor should you have any anxiety about the future. (Ibn Kathir)

The world offers a spread of two types of food—one worldly and the other other-worldly. There is one kind of man whose soul derives nourishment from seeing his ‘self’ receive prominence. He feels very happy when he is surrounded by worldly glories. He considers himself successful on procuring and becoming the owner of worldly material goods. This man is completely forgetful of God and the life of the Hereafter. If anything relating to God is brought to his attention, he will consider it insignificant and ignore it. He will deal with it superficially, as if it were not a serious matter but a trivial charade. For such a person there will be no share in the bounties of Hereafter. He has fostered such a soul in himself as could derive nourishment only from worldly materials. Then, how can his soul be nourished by the things of the Hereafter? For one who has not lived for the Hereafter in his life today cannot be held deserving for God’s blessings in the Hereafter. The other kind of person is one who has been lost in unseen realities; whose soul could relish the remembrance of the Hereafter; whose bread and butter will be living in God and breathing in the atmosphere of God. This will be the man for whom the Hereafter will be a place where he will find all the good things he desires. But just as he had found God in the world of the unseen, so will he find God in the seen world of the Hereafter. Why does it happen that, in this world of God, man forgets God? The reason is that God makes His appearance felt in the world through signs which come within human grasp only on reflection. Man leans towards outward things and ignores the signs pointing to God. But any such action amounts to forsaking the Hereafter for the sake of the world. And one who takes no account of the Hereafter in the life before death will be deprived of the Hereafter even in the life after death. When people show blatant disregard for something which has been presented to them by God as the Truth, they in effect are treating God Himself as being so unimportant as to be undeserving of any serious consideration. They may possibly be deceived by the divine forces underlying Truth remaining invisible, but they nevertheless risk being ignored by God on the Day of Reckoning, just as they — imagining that no harm could come to them thereby—ignored God in this life.