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ʾinna lladhīna lā yuʾminūna bi-l-ʾākhirati zayyannā lahum ʾaʿmālahum fa-hum yaʿmahūna
As for those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have made their deeds seem decorous to them, and so they are bewildered.
— Ali Quli Qarai
27An-NamlالنملVerse 4 of 93
The Ant27. An-Namlالنمل
Al Naml
The Ants
MeccanVerse 4 of 93
Surah An-Naml - Verses 4-5
4. “Verily those who do not believe in the Hereafter, We have made their (ugly) deeds fair-seeming unto them, so they wander bewildered.”
5. “These are those for whom shall be a grievous chastisement, and in the Hereafter they shall be the greatest losers.”
These holy verses refer to the states of those who are not believers. One of their most dangerous states is mentioned as follows:
In the view of such people, pollution is purity, indecency is beautiful, meanness is honour, and wretchedness and misery are considered happiness and victory by them. Yes, such is the condition of those who go astray and persist on it. It is evident that when a person commits an ugly and wrong action, gradually its ugliness decreases in his view and he will fall into the habit of it. When he is accustomed to it, he brings forth some justifications for it.
Later that evil thing may appear as a beautiful thing, or even as a duty, in his view. There are many felonious and polluted persons who are really proud of their deeds and consider them as a positive fact. This change in values, and the confusion of the criterions in one’s view, the result of which is being bewildered and misguided in life, is the worst state that a person may receive. It is interesting that this ornamentation of deeds has been attributed to Allah, and this is because He is the cause of all causes in the world of existence, and the effect of any thing relates to Allah.
Yes, Allah has put this peculiarity in the repetition of action, that one gradually falls into habit of it and his sense of discrimination varies, while his responsibility does not disappear, nor can it be counted as a rejection and deficiency for the Lord. (Be careful) Then the Qur’an refers to the consequence of those evil deeds that are made fair-seening to them, and states the fate of such persons as follows:
In this world, they will be hopeless and bewildered, and in the Hereafter they will encounter a terrible chastisement. The verse continues saying:
The reason of that they are ‘the greatest losers’ is the same thing that is mentioned in Surah Al-Kahf, No. 18, verses 103 and 104 which announce:
What a loss is greater than this that one considers his ugly deeds beautiful and does his best to commit them thinking that he is doing a positive task, but at the end he sees he has provided naught for him but misery and wretchedness. By the way, the losers are of different groups: 1- ‘Khasir’. The one whose whole life and capitals are ruined:
2- ‘In Loss’. The one who is not a true believer and does not do righteous deeds:
3- ‘Clear Loss’. The one who worships Allah not earnestly:
4- ‘The Utmost Losers’. Those who are deviated and think that they are on the right path:
Some Islamic traditions indicate that the losers are those who: do not pay alms (Zakat), persist on committing sins, and have the power of saying the right but they do not say it. These are the most unjust ones, because they want to improve their worldly life by spoiling the religion.
Some Traditions Upon Losers
1. The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“The loser is one whose yearning is for other than Allah.” 7
2. The Messenger of Allah (S) said:
“A loser is he who neglects improving the affairs of (his) Resurrection.” 8
3. Imam Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) said:
“He who has reckoned his own self has gained, and he who has neglected it has lost.” 9
4. The same Imam (as) said:
“How much a loser is he who has no (good) share in Hereafter!” 10
5. Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) said:
“The utmost loser among people is he who has ability of saying the Truth, but he does not say.” 11
6. Amir-ul-Mu’minin Ali (as) wrote a letter to Masqalat-ibn-Hubarat-ish-Shaybani, who was the Governor of Ardeshir Khurrah (Iran) from his side (as), as follows:
“I have come to know concerning you a matter which if you have done it you have displeased your Allah and disobeyed your Imam.
You are distributing among the Arabs (Bedouins) of your kin who tend towards you the property of the Muslims which they collected by dint of their spears and horses and on which their blood was shed. … and do not reform your world by ruining your religion, since then you will be among losers by the way of (your) deeds…” 12
Footnotes