وَرَبَطنا عَلىٰ قُلوبِهِم إِذ قاموا فَقالوا رَبُّنا رَبُّ السَّماواتِ وَالأَرضِ لَن نَدعُوَ مِن دونِهِ إِلٰهًا ۖ لَقَد قُلنا إِذًا شَطَطًا
And fortified their hearts, when they stood up and said: ‘Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth. We will never invoke any god besides Him, for then we shall certainly have said an atrocious lie.
EXEGESIS
Rabaṭnā (we fortified); rabaṭa is a past tense verb from rabṭ which means to fasten and tie together firmly. Here it means to make the heart firm by giving courage and bravery when faced with frightening things, like the courage granted to the mother of Prophet Moses (a): The heart of Moses’ mother became desolate, and indeed she was about to divulge it had We not fortified (rabaṭnā) her heart (28:10); or the bravery given to the warriors in the way of God before a battle: and to fortify (yarbiṭa) your hearts, and to make [your] feet steady with it (8:11).
Nadʿuwa (we invoke) comes from duʿāʾ meaning to call. Here it means to call upon gods other than God.
Shaṭaṭ (atrocious lie) comes from shaṭṭa, literally meaning to go far, like in the verse, and do not exceed (tushṭiṭ) (38:22). It is then used for those who falsify lies that are excessively removed from the truth, like in the verse, Indeed the foolish ones among us used to utter atrocious lies (shaṭaṭ) concerning Allah (72:4). Here it means to abandon moderation and the bounds of truth and fall into falsehood and lies, adopting incorrigibility and excessiveness.
EXPOSITION
And fortified their hearts: a continuation of the increased guidance from God was to strengthen the faith of the youths and their determination, and to give them the courage and bravery required to stand up to the tyrant(s) of their time, even if it meant torture and a gruesome death.
It can also be understood as making it easier for them to leave behind the worldly comforts and safety they had enjoyed.
As we explained, the youths were the sons of nobility in either Ephesus or Philadelphia of Roman times and they lived in an era when being a follower of Prophet Jesus (a) was not tolerated and Christians were persecuted. It is generally agreed that they had hidden their faith. Up to that fateful day they had kept it a secret, known only to the few amongst them who shared the faith. However, they then stood up and said, declaring their faith in the one true God openly, knowing what that would result for them. Stood up and said indicates that they announced their faith in front of people. We know that the youths knew each other from before and had shared their hidden faith with each other. Up to that time the youths had been performing taqiyyah (dissimulation), hiding their faith from others. They decided to break that taqiyyah in order to publicly oppose the unjust policy of the emperor and to speak the truth. We may imagine that when they heard that the emperor was visiting their city for the religious festival, they decided that now was their chance to speak up in front of him, a declaration that they hoped would reverberate through the whole nation. The act was one that was sure to bring about the wrath of the emperor and most likely meant their death, yet they chose to speak the truth and so God fortified their hearts, giving them the necessary bravery and determination to carry out their plan.
We may imagine that being the sons of noble houses they accompanied their families separately to the festival in the court of the emperor. There they stood up, perhaps one by one, to deliver their declaration in front of the all assembled, speaking forceful words to all present, explaining their faith and why they were rejecting idol worship. Just as people were reeling from the shock of one young man’s declaration, another stood up. We can imagine the clamour this must have created amongst the people.
The verse is also a reminder on the importance of speaking the truth, especially to those in power. This can thus be considered their true account, when they spoke truth to power. In keeping with the surah’s theme, they had no idea what the consequences of their actions would be, whether there would be any effect to their words or if they were simply screaming into the void. Viewed from this angle, we can see how their sleep of three centuries was a blessing from God, who in this way showed them the final outcome of their struggle and the struggle of others like them to spread the word of God. They did not know what its final manifestation would be, and could only rely on His promise.
Our Lord is the Lord of the heavens and the earth: this statement is one of the most forceful arguments in refuting idol worship. God is not something that man creates with his hands and stores in a house, but is the Creator of the heavens and the earth. It has also been proposed that they are making reference with this to the order and harmony of the solar system and the universe, which is itself a sign of a creator. The idolaters divided the world into spheres and domains, and each of those had its own lord: one for the sea, one for the clouds, one for the sun, one for the moon, one for trade, one for war, and so on. These young men, however, announced the truth by stating that God is the only true power, the only creator, the only lord, the only deity. This concept is soon revisited in the next story of the surah, albeit from a different perspective, when God relates that there is no power except by Allah (verse 39).
We will never invoke any god besides Him: this statement supports what we said earlier, that they were being pressured into invoking false gods. The article lan (never), which is used for everlasting negation (nafy al-abad) is also an indication of their determination, that neither now nor never in the future will they worship false gods. They knew very well what would happen to Christians, and the tortures and gruesome fate that awaited them, but regardless they spoke with determination.
It also can be thought of as supporting our earlier conclusions that while they were followers of Prophet Jesus (a) and were Christians in that sense, they did not believe in the divinity of Prophet Jesus (a) or the Trinity.
For then we shall certainly have said an atrocious lie: as they knew the truth, they felt it their duty to speak it; or to express this thought in line with the theme we have identified for the surah, they had to give the ‘true account’ of affairs. The false religion and the invented mythology of the Romans had no basis in reality; if they acquiesced to it, they would be signing off on a lie; and not just any lie, but an atrocious one, far removed from the reality of God. Obviously, even those who believe in one God may have false perceptions about Him. It is obvious that the perceptions of God amongst, for example, the Mutazilites and Asharites differ greatly from each other to the extent that at least one of them must be incorrect and their belief a lie. However, it is not an atrocious lie in the same way as calling partners for God is.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Some reports have mentioned that the youths left their city for the festival of the idolaters and coincidentally gathered in one place where they hesitantly admitted to each other that they were all monotheists and only then came to realise that the others were so too, after which they decided to go together to the cave. This is contrary to the famous reports and also does not fit this verse very well and is even contradictory to verse 19 which explicitly states that they only sent one of their number to the city incognito for fear of being recognised. Such course of action only makes sense if they openly declared their faith in front of the city’s authorities.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- The land shall not be permanently sold, for the land is Mine. For you are foreigners and sojourners with Me.
- Indeed, heaven and the highest heavens belong to the Lord your God, also the earth with all that is in it.
[1] Qurtubi, 10/365.
[2] Raghib, p. 313.
[3] Razi, 21/442, 26/383.
[4] Tibyan, 7/15; Tabari, 15/138.
[5] Tabrisi, 6/700; Tabari, 15/137.
[6] Tibyan, 7/15; Mizan, 13/253.
[7] Nemuneh, 12/361.
[8] Fadlallah, 14/285-286.
[9] Nemuneh, 12/362.
[10] Mizan, 13/252.
[11] Tantawi, 8/481.
[12] See the commentary on verse 9.
[13] See for example Razi, 21/442; Ibn Kathir, 5/127-128; Suyuti, 4/215; Nur, 3/244.
[14] Leviticus 25:23.
[15] Deuteronomy 10:14.