وَقَد أَضَلّوا كَثيرًا ۖ وَلا تَزِدِ الظّالِمينَ إِلّا ضَلالًا
And already they have led many astray. Do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but error.’
EXEGESIS
Aḍallū (they have led astray) is from the verb ḍalla, and its noun ḍalāl (error) is the opposite of guidance (hidāyah), as given in the verse: Whoever is guided (ihtadā) is guided (yahtadī) only for [the good of] his own soul, and whoever goes astray (ḍalla), goes astray (yaḍillu) only to its detriment (17:15).
The noun ḍalāl, therefore, means error, misguidance, being astray, and to veer off the straight path. Ḍalāl can be a straying from a path intentionally or even in forgetfulness, and it can suggest a little straying or much. Hence verses that mention the ḍalāl of the unrighteous also qualify their misguidance with being manifest (mubīn) or extreme (baʿīd). For example: rather the wrongdoers are in manifest error (ḍalālin mubīn)! (31:11) and, Indeed those who are in doubt about the hour are surely in extreme error (ḍalālin baʿīd)! (42:18). These adjectives also highlight how incapable of seeing their error these unjust are, despite how far they have gone astray or how clear and manifest their misjudgement may be.
God never leads anyone astray after having guided them (9:115), and He gives guidance to all creatures (20:50). So when He ‘leads astray’ the transgressors (2:26), the faithless (40:74), or the unjust (14:27), it is either by leaving them to their own devices, because unlike the faithful who constantly beseech God for guidance (1:6) these reject it, or it means He guides them, but the guidance has a reverse effect on their polluted hearts, so that, instead of being illuminated by it, they become even more averse to the guidance, and thereby further misguided (2:26). Also see 2:10 and 2:15 for an explanation of what God plotting or devising or leading astray means, in the context of the Quran.
Tazid (increase) from the verb zāda (perfect tense) and yazīdu (imperfect tense) is to add to what already exists, either as an increment that is beneficial or as a superfluous and unnecessary increase. This means it can have a positive or negative connotation. In this verse, it is the third out of four times that this term occurs in this surah. And in all four instances, it signifies an increase with a negative connotation. In verse 6, Prophet Noah (a) laments that his summons only increases (yazid-hum) the evasion of the faithless. In verse 21, he complains of one whose wealth and children only increases (yazid-hu) him in loss. In this verse, Prophet Noah (a) prays for God to increase (tazid) the wrongdoers in their misguidance, and, in the very last verse of the surah, Prophet Noah (a) once again prays to God to only increase (tazid) the wrongdoers in ruin (verse 28).
Noteworthy is that Prophet Noah (a) is not praying for their misguidance or ruin, but an increase to what they already possess. And this is because they have exhausted all excuses for redemption and are deserving of this curse. In this verse, for example, Prophet Noah (a) tells God that they have already led many astray, and three verses later he reveals the reason for his curse: If You leave them, they will lead astray Your servants, and will beget none except vicious ingrates (verse 27). As explained under 72:6, a close study of verses using this verb reveals that zāda and its derivatives are often used to denote a growth that is generated from within itself, and this growth can be physical or spiritual. In the case of guidance and misguidance, the verb zāda also suggests their intensification.
But the verb does not always have a negative connotation. When the increase is from God, in order to gain greater success, spiritual reward, and God-consciousness, it is positive: Allah enhances (yazīdu) in guidance those who are guided (19:76), He said: ‘Indeed Allah has chosen him over you, and enhanced (zādahu) him vastly in knowledge and physique, and Allah gives His kingdom whomever He wishes’ (2:247), and, Those who are virtuous shall receive the best reward and an enhancement (ziyādah) (10:26).
Ẓālimīn (wrongdoers) is the plural of ẓālim, derived from ẓulm. And ẓulm has four meanings. First is the common meaning of injustice and oppression (translated here as wrongdoing). Second is the common lexical definition which is to place something where it does not belong, and this can be a shortfall (nuqṣān) or an excess (ziyādah), i.e., giving something too much or too little of what it deserves; and it can be related to an action in time or place. So, for example, ẓalamtu al-siqāʾ is said when one means ‘I consumed it at the wrong time’, but ẓalamtu al-arḍ means ‘I dug the wrong place on the earth’ and such a place, that was wrongly dug up, is called maẓlūmah, and the dirt that was dug out from it is called ẓalīm. This second meaning, of placing something or somewhere where it or (s)he does not belong, is equated to the first meaning of injustice, because whenever one gives someone or something less or more than it deserves or is proper for it, is a movement away from justice, and hence a wrongdoing.
The third and fourth meanings of ẓulm are to make haste and to cause harm, respectively. And these meanings are commonly understood in verses where ẓulm is attributed to the righteous, such as the prophets of God. The context of those verses makes it clear that the intended meaning is not wrongdoing or injustice. See, for example, the case of Prophet Adam (a) in the Expositions of 2:35 and 7:23, and the case of Prophet Jonah (a) in the Exposition of 21:87-88.
Rāghib contends that ẓulm is of three kinds: in relation to God, such as faithlessness, hypocrisy, and polytheism (31:13, 39:32, 6:93), in relation to others (17:33, 42:40, 42:42), and in relation to one’s self (35:32, 27:44, 4:64, 2:35, 2:231, etc.). Thereafter, Rāghib adds: ‘And all these three [kinds of ẓulm], in reality, are an injustice (ẓulm) to the self.’ As soon as one even conceives the idea of committing an injustice, he has already begun wronging himself. This is implied in numerous verses, including: And they did not wrong Us (ẓalamūnā), but they used to [only] wrong (yaẓlimūn) themselves (2:57), and many others (6:82, 16:33, 40:31, 50:29).
God, therefore, does not commit ẓulm and wrong anyone, even the extent of a single date-thread (4:49, 4:77, 17:71), but ẓulm harms man, and whatever he commits of it without repenting does not go away. It sticks to him and stays with him unless he recompenses for it. The meaning of ẓulm as that which stints growth can be seen in the words: Both gardens yielded their produce without stinting (taẓlim) anything of it (18:33), and as a sin it stints man’s spiritual growth. On Judgement Day, a ẓālim will ransom anything to escape the punishment that awaits him: Even if the wrongdoers possessed all that is on the earth, and as much of it besides, they would surely offer it to redeem themselves with it from a terrible punishment on the Day of Resurrection (39:47).
The people of Prophet Noah (a) are also described as being the most unjust (aẓlamu) and most rebellious (aṭghā) (53:52).
EXPOSITION
Do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but error is part of Prophet Noah’s (a) curse. It may seem strange at first that Prophet Noah (a) would ask God to increase people in error and their misguidance. But Prophet Noah (a) is explicit that his curse is only for the wrongdoers. He is not asking God to misguide the innocent: the guilty are [already] in error (54:47) and, indeed Allah does not guide those who mislead [others] (16:37), or the faithless lot (16:107), which is why Prophet Noah (a) only asks God to increase them in their error. It is like the verse, there is a sickness in their hearts; then Allah increased their sickness (2:10), or the verse, so when they swerved, Allah made their hearts swerve, and Allah does not guide the transgressing lot (61:5). In other words, man chooses misguidance and transgression and persistently refuses any offer of guidance before God leaves him to his own devices, which only increases his misguidance. Man stands in need of being held by God, at all times, in order to walk the right path, and hence the constant daily prayer, Guide us on the right path (1:6).
In the parlance of the scholars, Prophet Noah’s (a) prayer is not for an initial or fresh misguidance (ḍalāl ibtidāʾī), but a calling for retributive misguidance (ḍalāl mujāzāt) because of their existing faithlessness and mischief. And he calls them ẓālimīn (wrongdoers) because of their polytheism (shirk), which is indeed a great ẓulm (injustice) (31:13).
In the last verse of this surah, he also curses them with ruin. All this may have been after God had assured Prophet Noah (a), None of your people will believe except those who already have faith (11:36).
It is a constant desire of the faithful that evil may perish and that the unrepentant unjust may be weakened in their evil, like the words of the righteous son of Prophet Adam (a) who said to his wicked brother who was adamant on killing him, Even if you extend your hand toward me to kill me, I will not extend my hand toward you to kill you … I desire that you earn [the burden of] my sin [of murdering me] and your sin, to become one of the inmates of the fire, and such is the requital of the wrongdoers (ẓālimīn) (5:28-29).
Prophet Moses (a) also cursed Pharaoh and his people when their injustices reached an extreme and there was no hope of guiding them: Moses said: ‘Our Lord! You have given Pharaoh and his elite glamour and wealth in the life of this world, our Lord, that they may lead [people] astray from Your way! Our Lord! Blot out their wealth and harden their hearts so that they do not believe until they sight the painful punishment.’ Said He: ‘Your supplication has been granted. So be steadfast, and do not follow the way of those who do not know’ (10:88-89).
A sign of being punished for one’s persistent disobedience to God, therefore, is being denied the opportunity to plead forgiveness and do good. One’s heart becomes averse to this, and such a person constantly procrastinates repentance and becomes disdainful in arrogance (verse 7) (cf. 63:5-6). See Insights from Hadith for verse 10.
Another, perhaps equally compelling interpretation of this verse, is that in asking God, Do not increase the wrongdoers in anything but error, Prophet Noah (a) meant: misguide them in their conspiracy, and cause their plots to turn against themselves, so that they inflict harm on themselves. And this would agree with verses such as But the stratagems of the faithless only go awry (40:25), and Pharaoh’s stratagems only led him into ruin (40:37), and, So observe how was the outcome of their plotting, as We destroyed them and all their people (27:51). The exegete Muhammad Riḍā has also suggested this, arguing the verse means: misguide them in their plots and their worldly affairs that empower them to rebel, but not in the matters of their salvation or religion.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
If we assume they have led many astray connects to the end of the previous verse, then the pronoun they would refer to the idols. And this would agree with Prophet Abraham’s (a) words, My Lord … and save me and my children from worshipping idols. My Lord! Indeed they have misled many people (14:35-36). This, Ālūsī says, is the opinion of Hasan al-Baṣrī because the pronoun they is closest to the mention of the idols.
But if we believe the opening words in this verse connects to the start of the previous verse, then the words they have led many astray in this verse would refer to the elite of the community. And this is what Ālūsī, Tabatabai, and many have favoured, though Nawawī and others have said it could be either.
It is unlikely, however, that it refers to the idols because in 14:36 Prophet Abraham’s (a) words, they have misled, are given in the feminine plural verb form, as aḍlalna, whereas in this verse, they have led many astray is in the masculine (as aḍallū), and therefore, quite likely this verse refers to the community elite. Granted, this last argument is not without a flaw, because the gods that Prophet Abraham (a) was referring to in 14:36 may have been female deities whereas these may have been masculine, but it seems more likely that Prophet Noah (a) was referring to the community leaders rather than the idols, firstly because he holds them responsible for devising an outrageous plot (verse 22), and secondly because in the rest of this verse, the word wrongdoers refers to the elders and not the idols. And lastly, even in the previous verse, the idols are mentioned as predicates. The subject being discussed was still the elders, so it is they who are intended here, as if in continuation.
Furthermore, Nasr translates the verb tazid as a third-person pronoun to mean ‘it does not increase’ instead of the more commonly understood meaning of a second-person pronoun that addresses God as: Do not increase. And for this reason, Nasr argues, the ‘it’ in his translation ‘it does not increase the wrongdoers in anything but error’ can either refer to their disobedience to Prophet Noah (a) (as per Zamakhsharī), or their leading others astray.
[1] Raghib, ḍ-l-l.
[2] Raghib, z-w-d.
[3] Munjid, p. 481 (ẓ-l-m).
[4] Raghib, ẓ-l-m.
[5] Munjid, p. 481 (ẓ-l-m).
[6] Daqaiq, 13/460.
[7] Alusi, 15/87.
[8] Mizan, 20/34; Alusi, 15/87.
[9] Nawawi, 2/568.
[10] The argument that if Prophet Abraham (a) was referring to the idols as a collective common noun then he would have used the feminine singular instead of the feminine plural (aḍlalna) – because non-human plurals are treated as feminine singular in Arabic – is not a strong one here because the Quran has personified idols in other verses, such as 7:195. Therefore, grammatically, one could argue the possibility of the idols being referred to in the sentient plural.
[11] Nasr, p. 1425.