يَومَ يَقولُ المُنافِقونَ وَالمُنافِقاتُ لِلَّذينَ آمَنُوا انظُرونا نَقتَبِس مِن نورِكُم قيلَ ارجِعوا وَراءَكُم فَالتَمِسوا نورًا فَضُرِبَ بَينَهُم بِسورٍ لَهُ بابٌ باطِنُهُ فيهِ الرَّحمَةُ وَظاهِرُهُ مِن قِبَلِهِ العَذابُ
The day the hypocrites, men and women, will say to the faithful: ‘Please let up on us, that we may glean something from your light!’ They will be told: ‘Go back and grope for light!’ Then there will be set up between them a wall with a gate, with mercy on its interior and punishment toward its exterior.
EXEGESIS
The day is still referring to the Day of Judgement, as in the previous verse, and, in contrasting the two groups, just as the faithful, men and women were mentioned separately, here too, the hypocrites, men and women are also identified separately, to emphasise that in their capacity to act hypocritically and to be held accountable, men and women are equal as well.
Unẓurūnā (let up on us) is the plural imperative of the verb naẓara, which means to grant someone a delay or respite.[1] It is also used in this sense in other verses, such as: nor will they be granted any respite (wa lā hum yunẓarūn) (2:162), and: let there be respite (fanaẓiratun) until the time of ease (2:280). It therefore carries a similar meaning to intiẓār (awaiting) or muhlah (respite). And when followed by the particle ilā, the same word can mean to gaze or look at,[2] as in the verse, looking upon you (yanẓurūna ilayka) with the look of someone fainting at death (47:20).
We may glean is given as naqtabis. It is derived from qabas, which is a firebrand.[3] When Prophet Moses (a) set out with his family and saw a fire atop the mountain, he said to his family, Wait! Indeed I see a fire! Maybe I will bring you a brand (qabsin) from it (20:10; also 27:7).
They will be told: ‘Go back and grope for light!’ meaning either go back to the gathering place (maḥshar) where we were first resurrected and where we received our light and seek out your own light, or go back to the world and earn your own light! They are told to grope for light because they will be in a state of darkness. In fact, without following true guidance, the hypocrites were already in darkness even in this world, in manifold [layers of] darkness, one on top of another: when he brings out his hand, he can hardly see it, and one whom Allah has not granted any light has no light (24:40).
The word grope is given as iltamisū. It is from iltimās, which is from lams, to sense through the outer skin of the physical body. The verb lamasa is to touch and to feel with the hand (6:7). It also carries the meaning of touching something in order to seek some kind of knowledge about it and hence also means to seek, look, or search.[4] So iltamisū here suggests to grope about and fumble, like someone trying to look for something in the dark by feeling around with his hand here and there.
And the hypocrites will attempt to go back but, not finding anything there, they will return, coming after the faithful, but now there will be set up between them a wall with a gate, with mercy on its interior and punishment toward its exterior. This wall and gate will finally separate the good from the evil forever.
The Arabic word used for wall in this verse (sūr) is a term used for the outermost walls of a city to mark its boundary and to protect and separate it from any intruders on the outside. Hence it is an apt term in this verse, also suggesting it is not necessarily an endlessly straight wall but one that encompasses and surrounds the faithful with mercy on its interior while the hypocrites are left out, exposed to punishment toward its exterior.
The various exegetes’ opinions on this wall and gate are given under Review of Tafsīr Literature.
EXPOSITION
The saying of the hypocrites, Please let up on us, that we may glean something from your light! reveals their ignorance of how things function in the hereafter. They do not seem to realise that the light of the faithful is the result of true faith and righteous actions in the world, and they seem to believe they can simply borrow and partake from it. This ignorance of the faithless and the hypocrites is shown repeatedly on the Day of Judgement when they make other futile attempts to save themselves. For example, when they are gathered all together before God, those who were weak [in the world] will say to those who were arrogant: ‘Indeed we were your followers. So will you avail us against Allah’s punishment in any wise?’ (14:21); or, [they will say:] ‘Our Lord! Bring us out of this! Then if we revert, we will indeed be wrongdoers’ (23:107); or, Those in the fire will say to the keepers of hell: ‘Supplicate your Lord to lighten for us [at least] a day’s punishment’ (40:49); or, The inmates of the fire will call out to the inhabitants of paradise: ‘Pour on us some water, or something of what Allah has provided you.’ They will say: ‘Allah has indeed forbidden these two to the faithless!’ (7:50).
In the case of this last quoted verse (7:50), Allah has indeed forbidden these does not refer to a legislative (sharʿī) forbidding to mean the faithful could have poured water down to the inmates in hell but God has forbidden them from doing so. Rather it is an ontological (takwīnī) prohibition, meaning such a thing cannot occur in the laws that govern that realm but the inmates of hell cannot comprehend it and remain ignorant and delusional.
There is also irony in the hypocrites using the word unẓurūnā (Please let up on us) when asking the faithful to grant them some respite because Satan used the same word when asking God for respite: He [Satan] said: ‘Respite me (anẓirnī) till the day they will be resurrected’ (7:13-14).
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
According to several exegetes, let up on us or ‘wait for us’ could also be read as ‘look upon us’, because if the faithful were to look upon the hypocrites, the hypocrites could glean something from their light, since the faithful will have a radiant light shining before them and to their right that the hypocrites could use as illumination, even if they lack their own light.[5] However, even with the meaning of ‘wait for us’ it would imply they wish to get closer so that they can use the light of the faithful to find the right path to paradise since they have no light of their own. So the intent and effect would be the same.
And Go back may not be said merely to mock them, according to Tabatabai. It may be genuine but they will be trapped and unable to go back to the world, just as when they are summoned to prostrate themselves [before God], they will not be able [to do it] (68:42).[6] Thus they will be paid for their attempts to deceive God in this world, concludes Tabatabai.[7] The hypocrites indeed seek to deceive Allah, but it He who outwits them (4:142).
Zamakhsharī also believes the reason why the words will say are used for the hypocrites and not ‘you will see them saying’ – like for the faithful in the previous verse – is because the faithful will be mounted[8] and moving towards paradise in blazing speed, like flashes of lightning, hence they will only be seen, while the hypocrites will be on foot, groping about in the darkness, calling out to them.[9] And this is why, those who will say to the hypocrites, Go back and grope for light! will not be the faithful themselves but either angels, or, according to Tabatabai, the perfect from the faithful such as the People of the Elevations (aṣḥāb al-aʿrāf), either of whom will utter such words on God’s command.[10]
On the wall with a gate, with mercy on its interior and punishment toward its exterior: most exegetes have suggested the wall may also allude to the veil near the Elevations (aʿrāf) as given in the verse, there will be a veil between them. And on the Elevations (aʿrāf) will be certain men … (7:46).[11] But it is noteworthy that this wall would be the veil (ḥijāb) near the elevations (7:46) and not the elevations themselves because this wall is set up (ḍuriba) and with a gate, whereas the Elevations are described seemingly as pre-existing, perhaps mountainous-like, elevated places (cf. 7:46).
Zamakhsharī has said the words with mercy on its interior and punishment toward its exterior may refer to the two opposite sides of the wall or even the two sides of the gate within the wall.[12]
Tustarī believes this wall marks the end of the bridge or traverse (ṣirāṭ).[13] The interior or inner side of the wall or gate leads to the gates and entry points into paradise where the righteous shall abide forever. And its exterior, the outside wall or gate, that the hypocrites fail to penetrate even if they have managed to cross the traverse, is the end of the bridge (ṣirāṭ) from where they slip and fall into hellfire, abiding there forever.
Tabatabai also suggests this wall with a gate is nothing but a physical realisation and manifestation of the condition of the hypocrites with the faithful in this world, that exists even now. The hypocrites are with the faithful yet they are veiled from them. The faithful, for example, find their belief in God and His apostles to be a blessing and mercy, that they derive peace and pleasure from; yet the very same beliefs torture the hypocrites (being on the outside); they feign their beliefs and are constantly in pain and punishment because of that.[14]
The purpose of the gate is of course to serve as the entry point for the people of paradise[15] and it also serves as a portal through which the hypocrites helplessly see the faithful and their light fading away forever, while they are left out, exposed to the punishment, with increased agony, sorrow, and remorse.[16] But Nasr notes that the existence of a gate in the wall can be also seen as an allusion to the continuing possibility of divine intercession for those who have been denied paradise.[17] Sufficient evidence exists in hadith that even for those consigned to hellfire there will be those who, despite their sinful actions, possess some faith and will undergo a purification after which they would be pulled out and admitted to eternal life in paradise.
[1] Hans Wehr, n-ẓ-r.
[2] Qaraati, 9/465.
[3] Hans Wehr, q-b-s.
[4] Hans Wehr, l-m-s.
[5] Razi, 29/467; Tabari, 27/129; Zamakhshari, 4/475.
[6] Mizan, 19/155.
[7] Mizan, 19/155.
[8] Cf. 19:85 where one meaning of wafd is ‘on mounts’.
[9] Zamakhshari, 4/475.
[10] Mizan, 19/156.
[11] Zamakhshari, 4/476; Thaalabi, 5/383; Mizan, 19/157; Jalalayn, p. 542; Razi, 29/458; Tabari, 27/129, most of whom quote this view from Mujāhid, one of the earliest Quran commentators.
[12] Zamakhshari, 4/476.
[13] Tustari, p. 162.
[14] Mizan, 19/157.
[15] Zamakhshari, 4/476.
[16] Mizan, 19/157.
[17] Nasr, p. 1334.