وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا أَعْمَالُهُمْ كَسَرَابٍ بِقِيعَةٍ يَحْسَبُهُ الظَّمْآنُ مَاء حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءهُ لَمْ يَجِدْهُ شَيْئًا وَوَجَدَ اللَّهَ عِندَهُ فَوَفَّاهُ حِسَابَهُ وَاللَّهُ سَرِيعُ الْحِسَابِ

As for the faithless, their works are like a mirage in a plain, which the thirsty man supposes to be water. When he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing; but there he finds Allah, who will pay him his full account, and Allah is swift at reckoning.

EXEGESIS

Sarāb (mirage) is from the root of saraba, which means to travel and set forth. A mirage is called a sarāb because it flows away like water.[1]

Qīʿah (plain) means a wide open expanse of land.[2] It is said that qīʿah is the plural of qāʿ,[3] used in 20:106: Then He will leave it a level plain (qāʿ). Others have said that qīʿah and qāʿ are the same thing and the plural is qīʿān.[4] Others yet have entertained both options, saying that qīʿah can be used both as plural or singular.[5] The context of this verse is suggestive that qīʿah should be singular as mirage is also singular and a single mirage should be seen on one plain, not on multiple plains.[6] This is not conclusive though, and the verse maybe understood as a general statement ‘as a mirage that is seen on plains’. If anything, the plural is perhaps more beautiful, as the disbelievers are not all wandering the same plains, and each has different wastes of ignorance that they are adrift in.

EXPOSITION

The verses now shift from the faithful to the faithless. The comparison in this and the next verse is meant to emphasise the contrast between the two. The believers were described as having a light of understanding and faith which guided them and revealed to them the path and the true reality of things. The faithless on the other hand are described as being stuck in darkness and not seeing anything, or – as in this verse – seeing things contrary to their reality. This is presented in the easily understood allegory of a mirage, an illusion quite familiar to the Arabs of the desert.

As for the faithless: those who belligerently deny the truth about God and His prophets.[7]

Their works: their deeds which they presume to be good.[8]

Are like a mirage in a plain: a mirage is a phenomenon that is seen when rays of light are deflected by the heated air above a hot surface (such as desert sands), and often results in creating the illusion of water. However, upon drawing closer the illusion is shattered.[9] Conceptually, a mirage is also linked to the subtheme of light present in verses 35-40, as it is the distortion of light which causes one to observe this phenomenon.[10] The same light which guides people can cause those who lack understanding and perception to turn away from salvation and pursue worthless things.

Which the thirsty man supposes to be water: thirst represents the hope for salvation and prosperity. Thirst is what drives man towards a goal, prodding him to move. A thirsty man seeks water, because without it he will die. By his nature man is always after happiness and felicity. However, many a time, he places his hope in wrong means of felicity. What he assumes to be happiness is just a mirage which fades away as soon as he sees its reality. He seeks answers in material pleasures, or fanciful tales, or futile causes. Such people ramble to and fro, one day in this direction, another day pulled somewhere else, going after mirages that move further with every step, until finally they realise what they have been chasing was nothing at all.

This verse specifies that the thirsty man supposes the mirage to be water, even though everyone can see a mirage as a mirage. However, the thirsty one is specified because he is the one who in his desperation moves out toward the water. Such people think their happiness or salvation can be found in empty and meaningless things. In a way it is then pointing out their short-sightedness and lack of awareness by comparing them to a person who chases after mirages.[11]

When he comes to it: when he comes to where he had perceived the mirage,[12] or draws closer to that location, or comes to that which he thought was water.[13] This is of course an allegory for death,[14] or the Day of Judgement,[15] both of which represent a moment of realisation. In other words, it is then that he will discover the reality of his actions; he has no good actions and is taken to account for the evil he wrought.

He finds it to be nothing: he discovers his efforts to be worthless. Often those who belligerently deny the message of God take great pride in their works and think that they are most valuable.[16] However, they are in reality the biggest losers in regard to works, because while they suppose they are doing good (18:103-104) in fact their deeds do not have value and the result of their efforts come to naught. That value is only an illusion and those deeds which they thought were good will be weightless on the scales of the Day of Judgement, because only actions done in submission to God and in accordance with truth will have value, The weighing [of deeds] on that day is truth (7:8).

But there he finds Allah: the beauty of this expression is sublime. It is one of those statements in the Quran that truly makes the reader pause and reflect. Those who sought truth and meaning in other places will all eventually realise the truth, that God is the ultimate reality. This realisation will inevitably come upon everyone, either through sincere faith in this life or through the lifting of the veils in the hereafter. As the earlier verse in this surah proclaimed, On that day, Allah will pay them in full their due recompense, and they shall know that Allah is the manifest reality (verse 25). To seek truth elsewhere is to try and drink from a mirage and results only in bitter disappointment.

Who will pay him his full account: even though the actions of the faithless did not have the value and worth which they themselves ascribed to them, it does not mean those actions were without effect. Any punishment or difficulty they may face in this world because of their actions is only a partial and temporary one. The full and complete accounting and consequence of their actions will be rendered unto them when they meet their Lord; O man! You are labouring toward your Lord laboriously, and you will encounter Him (84:6).

And Allah is swift at reckoning: He is swift at reckoning because as soon as an act is performed by a person its consequences attach to the person. These consequences may be either physical or spiritual; and they may either be immediate or delayed; delayed in the sense that the consequences may take time to manifest themselves in the dimension of time, although it is reckoned immediately.

Another possibility is that God will judge all of mankind on the Day of Judgement all at once, as indicated in some reports. See the Review of Tafsīr Literature section for more.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Ṭūsī relates that Jubbāʾī has claimed that Allah is swift at reckoning means God will judge all people at once,[17] and people will not need to form some sort of queue on the Day of Judgement to be judged one by one. God is more than capable of judging more than one person simultaneously.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless. What they trust in is fragile; what they rely on is a spider’s web. They lean on the web, but it gives way; they cling to it, but it does not hold. They are like a well-watered plant in the sunshine, spreading its shoots over the garden; it entwines its roots around a pile of rocks and looks for a place among the stones. But when it is torn from its spot, that place disowns it and says, ‘I never saw you.’[18]
2. It shall even be as when an hungry man dreameth, and, behold, he eateth; but he awaketh, and his soul is empty: or as when a thirsty man dreameth, and, behold, he drinketh; but he awaketh, and, behold, he is faint, and his soul hath appetite.[19]

[1] Lisan, 1/462-465, s-r-b; Thalabi, 7/110; Qurtubi, 12/282. According to some of the various opinions reported by Ibn Manẓūr, the time of day would determine whether or not a mirage is called sarāb or āl.
[2] Tibyan, 7/442-443; Tabari, 18/114. Qurtubi, 12/282, specifies that it should be devoid of vegetation.
[3] Tibyan, 7/442-443; Tabari, 18/114; Tabrisi, 7/229; Thalabi, 7/110; Baghawi, 3/421; Tantawi, 10/132; Taj, 11/413, q-w-ʿ. Ṭūsī says that aqwāʿ and qīʿān can be plurals for qāʿ.
[4] Qurtubi, 12/282; Jawhari, 3/1274, q-w-ʿ.
[5] Zamakhshari, 3/243. Ibn Manẓūr also mentions both options (Lisan, 8/304, q-w-ʿ).
[6] Nemuneh, 14/491.
[7] Tibyan, 7/442.
[8] Sharawi, p. 10285.
[9] See also Tibyan, 7/442-443.
[10] Mirages typically occur on hot, sunny days when there is a significant temperature gradient or variation in the layers of air near the earth’s surface. Light travels in straight lines through a uniform medium. However, when it encounters regions with different temperatures and therefore varying air densities, its path can be bent or refracted. This bending of light is governed by Ibn Sahl’s or Snell’s law of refraction (see the commentary on verse 35). Normally, temperature decreases with altitude in the earth’s atmosphere. However, in a mirage there is a temperature inversion, which means that the temperature increases with altitude over a relatively short distance. As sunlight heats the ground, the layer of air near the surface becomes significantly hotter than the air above it. This temperature difference causes the light to bend as it passes from the hotter, less dense air near the ground to the cooler, denser air above. This bending of light creates a curved path for the rays of light. The human brain then interprets this light as moving in a straight line and thus perceives something as being on the ground or above it, which is not actually there.
[11] See Mizan, 15/131; and also Tantawi, 10/133.
[12] Tabari, 18/115.
[13] Thalabi, 7/110.
[14] Thalabi, 7/110; Baghawi, 3/421.
[15] Tabari, 18/115.
[16] Tabari, 18/114-115.
[17] Tibyan, 7/443.
[18] Job 8:13-18.
[19] Isaiah 29:8