فَلَا اقتَحَمَ العَقَبَةَ

وَما أَدراكَ مَا العَقَبَةُ

Yet he has not embarked upon the uphill task.

And what will show you what is the uphill task?

EXEGESIS

ʿAqabah (uphill task) literally means a path through a mountain.^{‎[1]Safi, 5/331.} Similarly, others define it as a difficult path that has rough terrain which includes climbing up a mountain.^{‎[2]Mizan, 20/293.}

Iqtiḥām (embarking) means to enter quickly and with pressure and force.^{‎[3]Mizan, 20/292.} This indicates that carrying out the actions that will be mentioned is not an easy task and requires man to exert effort. Furthermore, it is also an emphasis on what was mentioned in the beginning of the chapter, that man has been created in travail and thus even to carry out these good deeds he must toil.^{‎[4]Amthal, 20/221.} In this vein, Imam Ali (a) is reported to have said: ‘Paradise is surrounded by forms of hardship, while hell is surrounded by desires.’^{‎[5]Amthal, 20/221.}

The repetition of the verse is a literary technique used to emphasise the greatness of this matter being discussed.^{‎[6]Mizan, 20/292.}

EXPOSITION

The word ʿaqabah can be considered figuratively, as if to compare fighting against one’s inner desires and the temptations of Satan with traversing a rough mountain.^{‎[7]Tabrisi, 10/750; Kashif, 7/567-568.} However, based on the context, it seems most likely that it is a metaphor to describe a collection of good actions and beliefs that will be mentioned in the coming verses, that can be considered an arduous task that one ought to undertake.^{‎[8]Amthal, 20/220.}

In terms of how this verse is connected to the previous verse, several ideas have been put forward. Since the previous verse indicated that God had provided man with the blessing of being able to distinguish between good and evil, He now wants to encourage man to traverse the path of good.^{‎[9]Tibyan, 10/353.}

Alternatively, the following verses are alerting man towards his responsibilities once he realises that the blessings mentioned in the previous verse are from God.^{‎[10]Mudarrisi, 18/121.}

Subḥānī understands these verses as a response to the individual who claimed he had squandered his wealth in carrying out good actions. The response to him is that his spending has no value for it was not done for the sake of God, while only those actions done for the sake of God are accepted.^{‎[11]Munyah, 30/368.}

Part of the Quran’s beautiful use of Arabic literary techniques can be seen in these verses whereby the sensible has been used as a metaphor to bring the mind close to the intellectual matters being discussed. Three metaphorical usages have successively followed each other: najdayn, iqtaḥama, and ʿaqabah.^{‎[12]Ibn Ashur, 30/315.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It has been reported that Imam al-Bāqir (a) was asked about, Yet he has not embarked upon the uphill task, that he hit his hand on his chest and said: ‘We are the uphill task which whoever embarks upon will be saved.’^{‎[13]Furat, 1/557-558.}

Note: This should be understood as an application of the verse and not its interpretation.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

For some, this verse was seen as a complaint from God that some people did not act thankfully for the blessings mentioned previously by traversing the uphill task.^{‎[14]Safi, 5/331; Daqaiq, 14/287; Zamakhshari, 4/755.}

Another opinion is that the verse is not a declarative sentence but an imperative, implying a curse, stating ‘may this man never be able to traverse this path’.^{‎[15]Tabrisi, 10/749.}

A third opinion attributed to Ibn Zayd, Jubbāʾī, and Abū Muslim is that the verse has an omitted hamzah, and thus it is actually in the interrogative, meaning: Has he not yet traversed the uphill path?^{‎[16]Tibyan, 10/353.} The evidence they bring for this view is the exception that is brought in verse 17, that if the intended meaning was a negation, the two statements would not have been connected to each other.^{‎[17]Tabrisi, 10/749.}

Sharīf al-Murtaḍā responded to this objection by saying that it seems farfetched to think there would be an omitted hamzah here in such a context with nothing to indicate it. As for the connection with verse 17, both verses are negatory, and thus the meaning of the two verses is that person did not traverse the uphill task and neither did he believe.^{‎[18]Tabrisi, 10/750.}

Ibn Āshūr also leans towards this view and explains it in the following manner. This verse is a direct response to what was said by that individual in verse 6 and thus verses 7-10 are considered as an interjection. In verse 6, the individual was complaining that he had wasted all his wealth, and this verse acts as a rhetorical question with an omitted hamzah and thus the meaning would be: He claimed to have squandered his wealth but why did he not spend it in the uphill tasks of freeing a slave or feeding the poor?^{‎[19]Ibn Ashur, 30/314.}

Some have opined that ʿaqabah can be taken in its literal meaning and is indicating towards a real mountainous path which exists inside the fire of hell. One must cross over this path through obedience. This is in line with a narration attributed to the Prophet, assuming the narration is also understood in a literal manner, where he said: ‘There is an arduous, uphill road in front of you, those whose load is heavy cannot pass it. I want to lighten your load to enable you to pass that uphill road.’^{‎[20]Tabrisi, 10/750.} Similarly, it has been attributed to Ibn Abbas that he said that ʿaqabah refers to an uphill road in hell.^{‎[21]Tabrisi, 10/750.}

A third opinion attributed to Mujāhid, al-Ḍaḥḥāk, and Kalbī is that ʿaqabah refers to the bridge (ṣirāṭ) over the fire of hell which has been described in narrations as being very sharp, thin, and having a length equivalent to the travel of 3000 years.^{‎[22]Tabrisi, 10/750.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.^{‎[23]Matthew 7:14.}
2. Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able.^{‎[24]Luke 13:24.}

[1] Safi, 5/331.
[2] Mizan, 20/293.
[3] Mizan, 20/292.
[4] Amthal, 20/221.
[5] Amthal, 20/221.
[6] Mizan, 20/292.
[7] Tabrisi, 10/750; Kashif, 7/567-568.
[8] Amthal, 20/220.
[9] Tibyan, 10/353.
[10] Mudarrisi, 18/121.
[11] Munyah, 30/368.
[12] Ibn Ashur, 30/315.
[13] Furat, 1/557-558.
[14] Safi, 5/331; Daqaiq, 14/287; Zamakhshari, 4/755.
[15] Tabrisi, 10/749.
[16] Tibyan, 10/353.
[17] Tabrisi, 10/749.
[18] Tabrisi, 10/750.
[19] Ibn Ashur, 30/314.
[20] Tabrisi, 10/750.
[21] Tabrisi, 10/750.
[22] Tabrisi, 10/750.
[23] Matthew 7:14.
[24] Luke 13:24.