وَيَومَ يَقولُ نادوا شُرَكائِيَ الَّذينَ زَعَمتُم فَدَعَوهُم فَلَم يَستَجيبوا لَهُم وَجَعَلنا بَينَهُم مَوبِقًا
The day He will say: ‘Call those whom you maintained to be My partners,’ they will call them, but they will not respond to them, for We shall place an abyss between them.
EXEGESIS
Zaʿamtum (you maintained) is derived from zaʿm which means to believe in something which is unlikely to be true. It is generally used in the Quran to indicate false beliefs, such as in the verse, The faithless claim (zaʿama) that they will not be resurrected (64:7), or the earlier verse, Rather, you maintained (zaʿamtum) that We shall not appoint a tryst for you (verse 48).
Mawbiq (abyss) comes from the verb wabaqa and can be anything that places a distance between two things. This may be a literal or a figurative abyss or distance. Hence it would be similar to the verse, On the day when We gather them all together, We shall say to those who ascribe partners [to Allah]: ‘Stay where you are – you and your partners!’ Then We shall set them apart from one another, and their partners will say: ‘It was not us that you worshipped’ (10:28), which also tells us of a distance placed between the worshippers and the partners that they ascribed to God. We shall set them apart from one another can also mean either a physical distance or a spiritual distance, or both.
In the literal sense it may have the meaning of a canyon or abyss. Here it is said to be a canyon in hell that separates the worshippers from those they falsely worshipped.
It can also mean enmity. Apparently this is linked to the idea of a divide existing between two people.
Related to the opinion of enmity is another meaning of mawbiq: destruction (halāk). The Arabs would say awbaqtuhu to mean ‘I have destroyed him’, like in the verse, Or He wrecks (yūbiqu) them because of what they have earned (42:34). It is linked to enmity, since enemies wish to destroy each other. According to al-Farrāʾ, bayn (between) in this case has the meaning of waṣl (to make something reach something else). In other words: We will visit destruction upon them. It could also mean a place of destruction, that is a place where both are destroyed, which is hell of course. Some have suggested it means the one whose sins have destroyed him (awbaqathu dhunūbuhu).
Likely the verse includes all three meanings, as will be discussed.
EXPOSITION
In this verse God gives again a ‘true account’ of things and turns His attention to the final outcome of those who took Iblis and his offspring for guardians in My stead (verse 50).
The day He will say: The day is referring to the Day of Judgement. While the previous verses spoke of the beginning of creation (of man, of the heavens, and earth), we are now taken to the end, which itself is another beginning for man’s life in the hereafter. Although The day is not mentioned as being the Day of Judgement, it is obvious from the context. Considering the main theme of the surah, this is an eloquent way in which God is subtly pointing out how He is a witness to all aspects of reality at once. He witnesses the day of creation as He witnesses the Day of Judgement. His vision and wisdom are boundless.
Call those whom you maintained to be My partners: the address here is to those who maintained partners with God. This order is meant to chastise and castigate those people, not that there is actually any hope that they will be answered.
There is some disagreement regarding who or what is meant by these partners. Some have said it is the idols, or jinn, or righteous servants of God like Prophet Jesus (a), or angels, or anything else. Considering the context of the two previous verses the most apparent of these possibilities is that it means Iblis and his progeny. Having said that, the meaning is general and can include anyone who considers someone else a partner of God.
The use of the expression Call (nādū) also hints at distance, suggestive of the remoteness that exists between them. This is important to keep in mind considering what will be explained further on.
They will call them: apparently, they will call out to the partners that they had falsely ascribed to God for help. The question is: why do they ask them for help? On the Day of Judgement no one will have any doubt about the absolute sovereignty of God: The day when they will emerge [from their graves], nothing about them will be hidden from Allah. ‘To whom does the sovereignty belong today?’ ‘To Allah, the one, the all-paramount!’ (40:16); On that day Allah will pay them in full their due recompense, and they shall know that Allah is the manifest reality (24:25).
On that day the advice of the man quoted earlier in the surah is made clear: There is no power except by Allah (verse 39). In such a situation, why would they then call out to other than Him? Do they still cling to some hope? Or are they simply compelled to obey God’s command?
Perhaps they had spent countless hours in service to these supposed partners of God. Perhaps this is testimony to how deep-seated those false beliefs had become in the hearts of these people, that they unwittingly and reflexively call out to those whom they thought were their masters, but they will not come to their aid. This is because the Day of Judgement is the manifestation of one’s actions. What we do in this life engrains itself in our souls and that is what will be shown on the Day of Judgement, manifesting itself as pride or humility, submission or sin, monotheism or polytheism.
Consider this in light of the subtheme of ẓulm which has been dealt with for the past two verses. Imagine spending a lifetime in worship and service to something, and then when one needs help it does not even respond. How evil a recompense! This is the fate of those who take partners other than God. As we read a few verses ago, How evil a substitute for the wrongdoers! (verse 50). The one who does service to God will be rewarded far beyond the equivalent thereof (24:38), however the one who expends his efforts combatting God will never see any reward or fruit (47:1).
But they will not respond to them: not only do they not help or aid, they will not even answer their call. The fact that they do not respond is final proof for these confused idolaters that they are not the partners of God, for if they were they would have answered.
For We shall place an abyss between them: there are two possibilities suggested as to who is being referred to. Some have said it means between the believers and the disbelievers; others say that it is between those worshipped and those doing the worshipping. In fact, both are equally valid.
This verse is perhaps best understood in the light of the earlier verse: Thereat all authority (wilāyah) belongs to Allah, the real. He is better for reward, and best in final end (verse 44). One of the meanings of wilāyah is love and friendship. The love that the servant has for the master (mawlā). Love and love for worship are innate desires in man, however when channelled incorrectly they result in ignorance and harm.
The only real love that is beneficial and lasting and does not cut off is the love for God or for the sake of God. It is only through attachment to the wilāyah of God that love becomes true and lasting. This is repeatedly emphasised in the Quran. Consider the love a mother might have for their child; even she will disown and flee from their child if they are a wrongdoer. The Quran informs us that on the Day of Judgement, when the reality of God manifests itself, all such connections will vanish, unless they are under the umbrella of the wilāyah of God.
God will then command those who took masters other than Him to call upon those whom they loved and worshipped. They will then call out to al-Lāt, or al-ʿUzzā, or a false notion of Jesus (a), or some other, yet there will be no reply because that connection which they thought existed was only falsehood (bāṭil). It is cut off and they will find a vast distance between them rather than closeness, and enmity rather than love and friendship, separating them like an abyss. This is probably why God commands them to call out to those false partners. Through this God will prove to them how misplaced and mistaken their love was.
Naturally, the meaning of the verse is general and can include all other things which people may place as partners for God thinking that they are causes independent of Him and can affect and hold power, be it idols, people, money, or anything else, like in the verses, My wealth did not avail me. My authority has departed from me (69:28-29). This conclusion is supported by the usage of the term guilty in the next verse.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Other meanings have also been suggested for mawbiq:
- From Mujāhid ibn Jabr, it is a canyon in hell. Anas ibn Mālik added that it is filled with blood and pus.
- From Qatādah, it is a deep valley that separates between the people of guidance and the people of misguidance, or the idols and their worshippers according to others. In this sense some have said it is the distance that separates paradise and hell.
- From ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Zayd, it means al-mahlik: a fierce fight in which some destroy others, quoting the verse, and We appointed a tryst for their destruction (mahlik) (verse 59).
- From al-Farrāʾ, that the connection that was between them will become a cause for their destruction. In this case mawbiq would mean destruction. That is, the faithlessness that connected them to each other in this world and caused them to support each other will turn into a cause for their destruction. This is based on his opinion that bayn (between) in this case has the meaning of waṣl (to make something reach something else).
[1] Raghib, p. 380.
[2] Tabrisi, 6/734.
[3] Tibyan, 7/58; Tabrisi, 6/735; Tabari, 15/172; Qurtubi, 11/2-3.
[4] Tibyan, 7/58; Tabari, 15/172. This opinion is attributed to Hasan al-Baṣrī.
[5] Tibyan, 7/58; Tabari, 15/172; Lisan, 10/370.
[6] Tabari, 15/172.
[7] Muhit, 7/192.
[8] Mizan, 13/330-331.
[9] Tantawi, 8/537.
[10] Tibyan, 7/58.
[11] Tabrisi, 6/735.
[12] Tibyan, 7/58.
[13] Qurtubi, 11/2.
[14] Zamakhshari, 2/728; Razi, 21/474; Alusi, 8/282.
[15] Zamakhshari, 2/728.
[16] See Muhit, 7/191.
[17] Mizan, 13/331.
[18] See the commentary on verse 50.
[19] Nemuneh, 12/464; Tantawi, 8/537.
[20] See Mizan, 13/330.
[21] Tabrisi, 6/735.
[22] Tabrisi, 6/735.
[23] See the commentary on that verse for more.
[24] Tibyan, 7/58; Tabrisi, 6/735; Tabari, 15/172; Qurtubi, 11/2-3.
[25] Tabrisi, 6/735; Tabari, 15/172; Thalabi, 6/178. Ṭabarī traces the origin of this opinion back to ʿAmr al-Bakālī. Ṭabrisī also attributes it to Mujāhid ibn Jabr. Thaʿlabī attributes it to Ibn ʿUmar.
[26] Thalabi, 6/177.
[27] Zamakhshari, 2/728; Razi, 21/474.
[28] Tabari, 15/172.
[29] Tabrisi, 6/735. This opinion has also been attributed to Ibn Abbas and Qatādah.