إِنّا أَعتَدنا لِلكافِرينَ سَلاسِلَ وَأَغلالًا وَسَعيرًا
Indeed We have prepared for the faithless chains, iron collars, and a blaze.
EXEGESIS
Aghlāl (iron collars) is the plural of ghull, which is what is used to shackle a person by locking his or her limbs within it. It is also often used to tie a person’s hand to their neck (13:5, 34:33, 36:8, 40:71). A person who has their ‘hand tied to their neck’ is an expression that means that they are stingy or niggardly (17:29).
EXPOSITION
Extraordinary potential ends with confinement and chastisement through chains, iron collars, and infernal fire (95:4-5). It is the destination point of the ungrateful, who turned away from divine grace with faithlessness and chained themselves with the shackles and iron collars of sin and evil-doing. Soon they will know when, [with] iron collars around their necks and chains, they are dragged into scalding waters and then set aflame in the fire. Then they will be told: ‘Where are those you used to take as partners besides Allah?’ They will say: ‘They have forsaken us. Rather, we did not invoke anything before.’ That is how Allah leads astray the faithless. ‘That is because you used to exult unduly on the earth and because you used to walk exultantly. Enter the gates of hell, to remain in it [forever].’ Evil is the [final] abode of the arrogant (40:70-76).
Indeed, that which drew them to faithlessness, oppression, and sin, will drag them to their doom; and that which kept them from giving back in the way of God and helping others will paralyse them and render them helpless, as if strangling them. Now, what can the self that has earned the wrath of the All-Merciful do except turn ablaze in eternal regret and agony?!
This verse speaks of the ungrateful mentioned in the preceding verse and describes them as faithless. Further, it concisely describes their outcome. Due to this concise description, it was placed before the following verses that will emphasise the fate of the righteous.
In the context of the entire surah, this verse becomes a stopping point in describing the outcome of the faithless. In contrast, the upcoming verses until verse 22, describe at length the fate of the faithful. Even then, the description approaches its closing remarks by inviting the reader’s imagination to go beyond any limit, saying: As far as you look, you will see there bliss and a great kingdom (verse 20).
The brevity and choice of words allotted to the faithless contrasted with the expansive depiction of the faithful’s path to the heavenly realms gives a deep meaning that is particularly relevant to our times. In a time when debates about human evolution and origin have had a marked impact on the way human beings perceive themselves, Sūrat al-Insān provides a transformative contribution. As for the origins of the human being, it invites us to ponder about the extraordinary transition between the starting point, something not anything worthy of mention, and the end point, a human being endowed with hearing and sight. As for the evolution of the human being, it shows two possible paths. The first stops at the true chains and iron collars of sin and faithlessness. The second never stops. It continues to journey further in spiritual evolution and ascension to the unending realms of human potential. The choice is in the hands of each person. This self-perception, gifted to humankind by the Quran, is an empowering force.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- An ungodly witness scorneth judgment: and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity. Judgments are prepared for scorners, and stripes for the back of fools.
[1] Raghib, p. 610.
[2] Tabari, 19/128.
[3] Mizan, 20/124.
[4] Matthew 23:12.