Page 19
wa-ttaqū yawman lā tajzī nafsun ʿan nafsin shayʾan wa-lā yuqbalu minhā ʿadlun wa-lā tanfaʿuhā shafāʿatun wa-lā hum yunṣarūna
Beware of the Day when no soul will compensate for another, neither will any ransom be accepted from it, nor will any intercession benefit it, nor will they be helped.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Al-Baqarah, Verses 122-123
O’ Children of Israel! call to mind My favour which I bestowed on you and that I made you excel all the nations (of that time) (2:122)
And guard yourselves against a day when no one in the least shall avail another, neither shall any ransom be accepted from any one, nor shall intercession profit any one, nor shall they be helped (from outside) (2:123)
Once again, in these verses, Allah addresses the Children of Israel and reminds them of His favours bestowed on them; particularly that He preferred them to all other nations of their time.
O’ Children of Israel! call to mind My favour which I bestowed on you and that I made you excel all the nations (of that time) (2:122)
But, since every blessing is followed by a corresponding responsibility and, therefore, Allah gives man a duty or a responsibility to undertake for each bounty which is given him, in the next verse He threatens him by saying:
And guard yourselves against a day when no one in the least shall avail another, neither shall any ransom be accepted from anyone, nor shall intercession profit any one… (2:123)
And, if you think that anyone can help others that day, save Allah, you are mistaken, because He says:
...nor shall they be helped (from outside) (2:123)
Therefore, none of the means of rescue that they would grope for in this world to save themselves will be available there. There will be only one way open to them which is the path of Faith, good action, repentance of sins, and self-improvement. These two verses are quite similar to verses 47 and 48 of the current Surah, where we explained the idea of intercession in detail. Here, it is referred to, again, reminding that the warning, i.e. that ‘intercession shall not be of any avail’, does not at all mean that the intercession by the Holy Prophet (S) or any other of his divine allies will also be ineffective on the Day of Judgment.
It is a warning against the disbelievers who, as a figment of their own fanciful imaginations, think that their guardian deities, gods or goddesses will come to their aid, or to those of the Jews and Christians who stubbornly claim the intercession of Moses (‘a), or that Christ’s (‘a) blood has been paid as a ransom for the sins of his followers. This verse clearly denies any such ransom for sins or intercession for the sinners who do not believe in the divinely promised Last Apostle of Allah, Muhammad al-Mustafa (S), and reject faith in the truth which he preached. But, as it was mentioned before, the intercession of the Holy Prophet (S) or the other holy ones (‘a) will be accepted by the leave of Allah (SwT).