إِنَّكَ إِن تَذَرهُم يُضِلّوا عِبادَكَ وَلا يَلِدوا إِلّا فاجِرًا كَفّارًا
If You leave them, they will lead astray Your servants, and will beget none except vicious ingrates.
EXEGESIS
If You leave them (in tadharhum) is from the verb wadhara that also occurs in the previous verse and in verse 23, where it is explained in detail.
Yuḍillū (they will lead astray) has been explained earlier in verse 24 when discussing aḍallū (they have led astray) and ḍalāl (error or going astray).
ʿIbād is the plural of ʿabd, which carries the meaning of slave, servant, or bondsman, and can even be used as a general reference to mean human being or man. The root verb ʿabada means to serve, worship, adore, and venerate. ʿĀbid (pl. ʿubbād) is therefore a worshipper, and God is al-maʿbūd (the worshipped or the adored). When used with the meaning of slave or servant, the plural of ʿabd is typically ʿabīd, but when used with the meaning of humanity in general, or servants of God specifically, the plural is (as in this verse) given as ʿibād, to mean ʿibād allāh. In this context, ʿibādaka (Your servants) refers to the faithful and not ‘Your creatures’ in general because Prophet Noah (a) clearly expresses concern about their being led astray.
Yalidu (beget) is to give physical birth to, to procreate. And hence the terms wālid (father), wālidah (mother), walad (son or child), and awlād (children) are used when implying biological relationships. In Sūrat al-Ikhlāṣ (112), God is described as He neither begat (lam yalid) nor was He begotten (wa lam yūlad) (112:3). In other words, Prophet Noah (s) is not simply implying they will raise and influence their children or the children of others to be vicious ingrates, but that even the children they give birth to from their loins and wombs will only be faithless, ungrateful, and wicked. Prophet Noah (a) may have said this because of what God had already informed him beforehand (11:36) – see the hadith from Imam al-Bāqir (a) under the Insights from Hadith section.
Prophet Noah’s (a) saying If You leave them, they will lead astray Your servants also reveals his reasoning for cursing them. It was not out of anger, hate, or being fed up – certainly not after having preached to them for centuries. It was to stop their mischief from spreading and misguiding those who come after. As mentioned under the previous verse, this prayer of Prophet Noah (a) was quite likely on board the ark. The faithful with Prophet Noah (a) were unlikely to be led astray after their first-hand experience of this miraculous rescue, but Prophet Noah (a) is expressing concern of what happens if any of the faithless survive the deluge; they would continue to beget none except vicious ingrates and from the children that the faithful beget, they will lead astray Your servants. Ibn Abbas also mentions that because the women of the faithless had stopped conceiving forty years before the deluge, there were no children, and even Prophet Noah’s (a) words, they will beget none except vicious ingrates, can only mean when they reach the age of reason (as children cannot be categorised as vicious ingrates).
Fājir is a profligate – one who is immoral and who sins openly and shamelessly. Its root f-j-r means to break or cleave something, such as breaking a dam and causing its water to burst forth and flow unrestrained. The time of dawn is called fajr because its light breaks through the night, and one of the signs of the world’s end is when the seas are merged (fujjirat) (82:3), meaning the boundaries that separate them are destroyed and they swell over and become one. Fujūr (immorality, wickedness, sinfulness) is therefore understood as breaking through God’s boundaries and limits and, just like the dam’s water that wreaks havoc, or the river’s water that deviates from where it was meant to flow, one who is a fājir transgresses God’s limits, departing from His obedience and going astray, often harming others as well.
Kaffāra is an exaggeration of kāfir (faithless). Just as God is exceedingly forgiving (ghaffāra) (verse 10), one who is kaffār is extreme in his disbelief and at the complete opposite of ever accepting God’s offer of forgiveness.
The root meaning of kufr (faithlessness) is to conceal something. The night is sometimes called kāfir because it hides people. Many exegetes believe that kuffār (sing. kāfir) in 57:20 refers to farmers because they conceal seeds in the ground. What this implies is that God cannot be denied. Belief in Him and attesting to Him being the only reality can only be hidden by one who refuses to acknowledge what his soul already attests to, and hence he is called kāfir.
The Quran uses the term kāfir with five different meanings, explained by Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), and this is given under the Insights from Hadith. One of its meanings, as used in this verse as kaffār, implies one who shows ingratitude to God’s blessings (called kufrān al-niʿmah) because it is an attempt to conceal one’s benefactor. Such a person is also called kafūr. Satan, for example, is called ungrateful (kafūr) to his Lord (17:27). Man is also described as being a manifest ingrate (kafūrun mubīn) (43:15). Rāghib contends that though kaffār is synonymous with kafūr, the former is an intensification of the word to emphasise the quality of being truly ungrateful. It is usually given along with another, equally damning adjective, such as: every sinful ingrate (kaffārin athīm) (2:276) and, every obstinate ingrate (kaffārin ʿanīd) (50:24). At times, kaffār is used as the adjective, qualifying another noun, such as one who is an ingrate liar (kādhibun kaffār) (39:3), and in the verse under discussion: except a vicious ingrate (fājiran kaffāra).
Vicious ingrates (fājiran kaffāra) is also mentioned in 80:42. Since kaffār, as a form of kufr (faithlessness), relates to belief whereas fājir, from fujūr (immorality), relates to actions, Prophet Noah’s (a) saying that they will beget none except vicious ingrates (fājiran kaffāra) stresses that their children will be bereft of both faith and righteous deeds. They will be ungrateful (in faith) and wicked (in deeds).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- From Ṣāliḥ ibn Maytham who said: ‘I asked Imam al-Bāqir (a): “How did Noah (a) know [the future] when he cursed his people and said they will beget none except vicious ingrates?” He replied: “Have you not heard the words of Allah to Noah (a): None of your people will believe except those who already have faith [11:36]?”’
- An atheist (zindīq) asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Tell me about Allah. Why did He not create a creation in which everyone was obedient and a monotheist when He can do so?’ So he, peace be on him, replied: ‘If He had created them [compelled] to be obedient, they would deserve no reward, because obedience, if it is not based on free action, does not justify paradise or hell. So He created a creation and commanded them to obedience and forbade them against sin. Then He fulfilled all arguments against them by sending apostles and removed all their excuses by His books so that they are concerned with obedience and not disobedience, and they deserve reward because of their obedience and punishment because of their disobedience.’
- From Abū ʿAmr al-Zubayrī who asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Tell me about the types of kufr (faithlessness) in the book of Allah,’ and the Imam (a) replied: ‘Kufr in the book of Allah are of five types: there is kufr of denial (juḥūd), and it is of two kinds; and [the third type is] kufr by forsaking what Allah has commanded, and [the fourth type is] kufr by disavowal (barāʾah), and [the fifth] kufr [is a denial] of [Allah’s] blessings (niʿam). As for the kufr of denial (juḥūd), its [first type] is to deny Allah’s lordship (rubūbiyyah) and that is the one who says “there is no lord, no paradise, and no hellfire” and this is the speech of two groups from the atheists (zanādiqah) who are called materialists (dahriyyah), and they are those who say: and nothing but time (dahr) destroys us [45:24], and this is a religion they have invented for themselves without any proof or verification of what they claim. Allah, the mighty and glorious, says: and they only make conjectures [45:24] and He says: As for the faithless, it is the same to them whether you warn them or do not warn them, they will not have faith [2:6], meaning in the unicity [tawḥīd] of Allah, the exalted. So this is one of the types of kufr. As for the other type of kufr in denial (juḥūd) it is that which is after realisation (maʿrifah), meaning the denier denies whilst he knows that it is the truth and he has attested to it. Allah, the mighty and glorious, says [concerning these]: They denied (jaḥadū) them – though they were convinced in their hearts – wrongfully and defiantly [27:14], and Allah, the mighty and glorious, says: and earlier they would pray for victory over the pagans – so when there came to them what they recognised, they defied (kafarū) it. So may the curse of Allah be on the faithless (al-kāfirīn)! [2:89]. So this is the explanation (tafsīr) of the [two] types of denials, [juḥūd and kufr]. And the third type of kufr is the kufr of blessings (niʿam) [i.e. ingratitude to Allah], and that is the words of the Exalted, quoting Solomon (a): This is by the grace of my Lord, to test me if I will give thanks or be ungrateful (akfur). And whoever gives thanks, gives thanks only for his own sake. And whoever is ungrateful (kafara) [should know that] my Lord is indeed all-sufficient, all-generous’ [27:40] and His words: If you are grateful I will surely enhance you [in blessing], but if you are ungrateful (kafartum), My punishment is indeed severe [14:7], and His words: Remember Me, and I will remember you, and thank Me, and do not be ungrateful to Me (wa lā takfurūn) [2:152]. The fourth type of kufr is to forsake what Allah has commanded, and that is the words of Allah, the mighty and glorious: And when We took a pledge from you: ‘You shall not shed your [own people’s] blood, and you shall not expel your folks from your homes,’ … What! Do you believe in part of the book and defy (takfurūn) another part? [2:84-85], so He called them kāfir due to their forsaking what Allah had commanded, and though He attributed to them faith, He did not accept it from them, and it did not benefit them before Him. So He said: So what is the requital of those of you who do that except disgrace in the life of this world? And on the Day of Resurrection, they shall be consigned to the severest punishment. And Allah is not oblivious of what you do [2:85]. And the fifth type of kufr is the kufr of disavowal (barāʾah), and that is the words of Allah quoting Abraham (a) [to the faithless amongst his people]: We disavow (kafarnā) you, and between you and us there has appeared enmity and hate for ever, unless you come to have faith in Allah alone [60:4] meaning we disassociate (tabarraʾnā) from you. And He says, describing Iblīs and his disowning from his friends from amongst mankind on the Day of Resurrection: Indeed I disavow (kafartu) your taking me for [Allah’s] partner aforetime [14:22], and He said [quoting Abraham (a)]: You have taken idols [for worship] besides Allah for the sake of [mutual] affection among yourselves in the life of the world. Then on the Day of Resurrection you will disown (yakfuru) one another and curse one another [29:25], [the kufr] meaning some of you will disassociate (yatabarraʾu) from others.’
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Thou therefore, O LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel, awake to visit all the heathen: be not merciful to any wicked transgressors. Selah.
[1] Also called Sūrat al-Tawḥīd, for its theme on God’s unicity and transcendence.
[2] Ibn Abbas, p. 618.
[3] Hans Wehr, f-j-r.
[4] Lane, f-j-r.
[5] Qaraati, 10/239; Nemuneh, 25/89.
[6] Qummi, 2/388; Ilal, p. 31, h. 1.
[7] Ihtijaj, 2/340-1.
[8] Kafi, 2/389-391, h. 1.
[9] Psalm 59:5.