أَفَمَن يَمشي مُكِبًّا عَلىٰ وَجهِهِ أَهدىٰ أَمَّن يَمشي سَوِيًّا عَلىٰ صِراطٍ مُستَقيمٍ

Is he who walks prone on his face better guided, or he who walks upright on a straight path?

EXEGESIS

Mukibban is from the root kabba, meaning to fall or drop, especially on the face, as used in 27:90.^{‎[1]Raghib; Tahqiq, under k-b-b.} To walk mukibban means to either crawl while having fallen on the face, or to try to move while being inverted and upside down.

Sawiyyan: balanced, upright, straight.^{‎[2]Raghib; Tahqiq, under s-w-y.}

The tone changes here from that of address to that of absence. This indicates that the persistent defiance and aversion of the disbelievers have disqualified them from being addressed by God, even if that is an address of censure.^{‎[3]Mizan, 19/360.}

EXPOSITION

This verse completes the proofs provided in the previous verses by providing a parable that makes the case of the two groups of believers and disbelievers very clear. The question posed in this verse is of course a rhetorical one, the answer to which involves the practical implication of choosing and accepting the truth. One who is prone on his face certainly cannot walk at all. Even if he could walk, it would be very slow, difficult, and without a good view of where to go. The parable of the two parties is that of one who is blind and deaf and one who sees and hears. Are they equal in comparison? Will you not then take admonition? (11:24). The servants of the All-Beneficent are described as those who, when reminded of the signs of their Lord, fall not down thereat deaf and blind (25:73).

The manifest error and misguidance of the disbelievers depicted in this verse implies that the signs of the truth and the straight path are so clear and obvious that only an inverted person would miss it. The path of religion is a straight and level path, and walking on it involves no deviation from one’s nature.

The parable presented here is not just a figure of speech. Rather, it is the fact of the matter and the reality of their story. This reality would manifest on the Day of Judgement, when the believers will cross the bridge in an upright and steadfast manner, while the disbelievers will be resurrected prone on their face: Those who will be mustered on their faces toward hell, they are the worse situated and further astray from the [right] way (25:34); Whomever Allah guides is rightly guided, and whomever He leads astray you will never find them any guardians besides Him. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall muster them [scrambling] on their faces, blind, dumb, and deaf (17:97; also see 17:72).^{‎[4]Mizan, 19/360; Tibyan, 10/68.} They are resurrected as such because they used to throw themselves and dive into God’s sins in this world, as narrated by Qatādah.^{‎[5]Zamakhshari, 4/582; Tabari, 29/7.} Likewise, the believers worship God and act on His orders in this world; and God’s worship and orders shall manifest in the hereafter as the bridge and straight path to paradise. Then the believers will walk on that path as they did in this world.^{‎[6]Zamakhshari, 4/582; Tabari, 29/7.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘Indeed the hearts are of four types: 1. There is a heart in which there is hypocrisy and faith. 2. There is a heart which is inverted. 3. There is a heart which has been sealed. 4. There is a heart which is luminous and purged … As with the sealed heart, it is the heart of a hypocrite. The luminous heart is the heart of a believer: if He [God] gives him, he shows gratitude; and if He puts him in a trial, he shows patience. The inverted heart is the heart of a polytheist.’ Then the Imam continued by reading this verse: Is he who walks prone on his face better guided, or he who walks upright on a straight path?^{‎[7]Maani, p. 395, h. 50; Kafi, 2/422-423, h. 2.}
2. The Prophet was asked: ‘How can they [the disbelievers] walk [or be resurrected] prone on their faces?’ He replied: ‘Indeed, He who made them walk on their feet can make them walk [or can resurrect them] on their faces.’^{‎[8]Tabari, 29/7.}
3. In a long narration, Imam al-Kāẓim (a) said: ‘Indeed God has likened one who deviates from Ali’s guardianship to one who walks prone on his face – he does not reach his destination. He has then described one who follows him [Ali (a)] as one who walks upright on a straight path. The straight path is the Commander of the Faithful.’^{‎[9]Kafi, 1/433.}
4. Imam al-Bāqir (a) recited or he who walks upright on a straight path and said: ‘By God, it means Ali and the Imams, peace be upon them.’^{‎[10]Kafi, 8/288, h. 434.}

Note: The last two narrations present a clear application and example of this verse with regard to the guidance of the Imams, and they comply with some of the narrations concerning verse 1:6. There are other narrations that mention other examples for the two groups mentioned in this verse.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known.^{‎[11]Proverbs 10:9.}
2. Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.^{‎[12]Proverbs 15:21.}
3. The highway of the upright is to depart from evil: he that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.^{‎[13]Proverbs 16:17.}

[1] Raghib; Tahqiq, under k-b-b.
[2] Raghib; Tahqiq, under s-w-y.
[3] Mizan, 19/360.
[4] Mizan, 19/360; Tibyan, 10/68.
[5] Zamakhshari, 4/582; Tabari, 29/7.
[6] Zamakhshari, 4/582; Tabari, 29/7.
[7] Maani, p. 395, h. 50; Kafi, 2/422-423, h. 2.
[8] Tabari, 29/7.
[9] Kafi, 1/433.
[10] Kafi, 8/288, h. 434.
[11] Proverbs 10:9.
[12] Proverbs 15:21.
[13] Proverbs 16:17.