وَلِلَّذينَ كَفَروا بِرَبِّهِم عَذابُ جَهَنَّمَ ۖ وَبِئسَ المَصيرُ
For those who defy their Lord is the punishment of hell, and it is an evil destination.
EXEGESIS
Maṣīr means the place of transforming, becoming, and travelling. It is the end and final destination of something. Some have taken maṣīr as the infinitive, meaning the act of transformation and becoming. Thus, an evil maṣīr would mean that the disbelievers will transform and turn into hell, which is an evil transformation (ṣayrūrah). However, based on the many other usages of this term and root in the Quran – especially when it is used with ilā – it seems that the first meaning is more appropriate: the end and destination of the disbelievers’ journey is hell, which is an evil destination.
EXPOSITION
The previous verses established the infinite power and dominance of God, which makes the deterrence involved in these next verses credible. As the last verse established the punishment of the devils, this verse turns to the case of the disbelievers, who are in fact the brethren of the devils, or even the selfsame devils but only from among the humans. That is, there is a close tie and connection between the infidels and the devils. This connection can have different degrees – as mentioned in the Quran – and can even reach the level of union: Indeed the wasteful are brothers of satans, and Satan is ungrateful to his Lord (17:27); When they meet the faithful, they say: ‘We believe,’ but when they are alone with their devils, they say: ‘We are with you; we were only deriding [them]’ (2:14); We have indeed made the devils friends of those who have no faith (7:27); That is how for every prophet We appointed as enemy the devils from among humans and jinn, who inspire each other with flashy words, deceptively (6:112); Indeed the satans inspire their friends to dispute with you; and if you obey them, you will indeed be polytheists (6:121).
The devils draw the polytheists into error and misguidance, and do not spare them any harm (7:202). The result of the friendship, leadership, and guardianship of the devils is mentioned in these verses: both groups end up in the fire of hell and blaze. Satan vowed that he would misguide all humankind: He said: ‘By Your might, I will surely pervert them, except Your exclusive servants among them’ (38:82-83), and promised to make mankind ungrateful (kāfir) to their Lord: I will come at them from their front and from their rear, and from their right and their left, and You will not find most of them to be grateful (7:17). This came out true: Certainly Iblis had his conjecture come true about them. So they followed him – all except a part of the faithful (34:20). In return, God decreed that Satan and his followers will be the inmates of hell: Said He: ‘The truth is that – and I speak the truth – I will surely fill hell with you and all those who follow you’ (38:84-85); Among the people are those who dispute about Allah without any knowledge, and follow every froward devil, about whom it has been decreed that should anyone take him for a friend, he will lead him astray, and conduct him toward the punishment of the blaze (22:3-4). This decree and threat shall also come out true, as these verses bear witness to it.
The disbelievers shall enter hell following their leaders and masters: The day We shall summon every group of people with their leader (17:71). Choosing the right leader to follow in this life is indeed a very crucial decision to make, for one will follow the same leader in the hereafter. It is a matter of eternal salvation or damnation, and thus there is much at stake: And ‘Get apart today, you guilty ones!’ Did I not exhort you, O children of Adam, saying, ‘Do not worship Satan. He is indeed your manifest enemy. Worship Me [alone]; that is a straight path’? Certainly he has led astray many of your generations. Did you not use to apply reason? This is the hell you had been promised! Enter it today, because of what you used to defy (36:59-64).
This verse might also be a general rule mentioned after the case of a particular group. That is, those who defy their Lord includes not only the disbelievers among humans, but also the disbelievers among the jinn (the devils). Thus, it may serve as a justification for why We have prepared for them the punishment of the blaze: because they defied their Lord. Likewise, anyone else who defies his Lord will have the same destination – the aforementioned punishment is not something exclusively for the devils. This generalisation is verified by verse 11, which refers to all inhabitants of hell – whether human or devil – with the same title: the inmates of the blaze. This concise way of referring to all inmates of hell as one group might be due to their baseness and unworthiness: they do not deserve to lengthen the speech in order to classify them into groups and elaborate on their details.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- In a long tradition on the first day of Muharram, Imam al-Riḍā (a) said: ‘O Ibn Shabīb, if it makes you happy to be with us in the exalted levels of the gardens of paradise, then sorrow for our sorrow and rejoice for our joy, and adhere to our guardianship, for truly if one takes a rock as his guardian, God will indeed resurrect him with it on the Day of Judgement.’
- Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘By Allah, if a rock loves us, God will resurrect it with us.’
- Prophet Muhammad (s) said: ‘You are with one whom you love, and for you is what you earn.’
Note: The reason why the disbelievers will have the same destiny as the devils is that they voluntarily chose to follow the path of the devils in their lives. They showed love and commitment to their masters and thus they are resurrected with them.
[1] Lisan; Tahqiq, under ṣ-y-r.
[2] Jawādī Āmulī, Tasnīm, 6/583 and 12/684.
[3] Razi, 30/586.
[4] Alusi, 15/11, 14.
[5] Alusi, 15/14.
[6] Amali.S, p. 130, h. 5.
[7] Ayyashi, 1/167.
[8] Amali.M, p. 7, h. 3; Kafi, 8/80, h. 35.