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yā-ʾayyuhā n-nāsu ttaqū rabbakum wa-khshaw yawman lā yajzī wālidun ʿan waladihī wa-lā mawlūdun huwa jāzin ʿan wālidihī shayʾan ʾinna waʿda llāhi ḥaqqun fa-lā taghurrannakumu l-ḥayātu d-dunyā wa-lā yaghurrannakum bi-llāhi l-gharūru
O mankind! Be wary of your Lord and fear the day when a father will not atone for his child, nor the child will atone for its father in any wise. Indeed Allah’s promise is true. So do not let the life of the world deceive you, nor let the Deceiver deceive you concerning Allah.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Luqman – Verse 33
33. “O people! Be in awe of your Lord and dread the Day when no father shall avail aught for his son, nor a son shall avail aught for his father. Verily the promise of Allah is true; so let not the life of the world beguile you, nor let the Deluder delude you concerning Allah.”
Everybody must be in awe of Allah and avoid all kinds of creedal, ethical and practical deviations in order to be pious, because the best provision, for the day when even a father and son will not help each other, is piety. So, in this verse as a conclusion of the last admonishments and the evidences of Monotheism and Resurrection, at first the Qur’an attracts the attention of all human beings to Allah and the Day of Hereafter. Then it warns them against the pride originated from the world and Satan; and after that it refers to the vast knowledge of Allah (s.w.t.) and that it encompasses everything.
It says:
In fact, the first command refers to the Origin, and the second command refers to Resurrection. The first command awakens the power of attention in man, and the second divine command awakens in him the feeling of recompense and retribution. No doubt he who knows an aware and well-informed One Who sees all his deeds, knows them, and records them, and, on the other side, there will be held a just court to investigate all things in detail, such a person hardly commits any sin or corruption.
The Arabic phrase /layajzi/ is derived from /jaza’/ which has been used with two senses. One of them is ‘to give reward or retribution instead of something’; and the other is: ‘to suffice, to succeed and to bear’, as the verse under discussion implies that no father shall accept the responsibility of his son’s deeds and he does not succeed him nor does avail him. It is possible that both of them return to one root, for both reward and retribution succeed the deed, too, and each will be given to its doer appropriate to the deed.
However, on that Day every one is so busy with him and is afflicted with the circumstances of his own deeds that he can not do any favour to another one, even neither the father nor the son, who have the closest relation with each other, will think of the other one. This verse is similar to what has occurred at the beginning of Surah Al-Hajj which, concerning Hereafter and the earthquake of the Resurrection Day, says:
It is noteworthy that concerning father the Qur’an applies the Arabic clause /layajzi/ (which is in future tense) but concerning son it applies the Arabic word /jaz/ which in Arabic is a ‘noun-agent’. This difference may be for variety in speech; or it points to the duty and responsibility of a child before his father, because an Arabic noun-agent indicates some more permanence and repetition.
In other words, it is expected from the father’s affection that at least in some instances he tolerates the punishment of his child in the same way that in the word he eagerly accepted his afflictions, but concerning a child it is expected that he tolerates some more afflictions of his father for many rights he has upon him; while none of them solve the least problem from the other on that Day, for everybody is busy with his own deeds. At the end of the verse, the Qur’an warns man against two things: the life of the world and Satan.
It says:
In fact, instead of two enjoinments that were mentioned at the beginning of the current Surah, there are two prohibitions mentioned here, since if the fear from Divine reckoning and retribution be awaken in a person, there will not need for him to be afraid of existing deviation and pollution in him, except from two ways: the first is that the dazzling glare of the world changes the facts wrongly in his view and takes the ability of discrimination from him since the love of the world is the cause of all sins.
The second is that the temptations of Satan may beguile him, make him proud, and cause him to become far from Origin and Resurrection. If these two ways of penetration of sin can be closed, no other danger will threaten him, and by these abovementioned four instructions, a complete collection of program is provided for the felicity of man. In conclusion, Allah’s justice makes the existence of Hereafter necessary for man, because we see many good and evil ones that apparently do not reach to their proper reward and retribution in the world. Therefore, Allah, the just, must appoint another place for giving them their due reward and retribution.
Of course, now and then there are seen some rewards and retributions for them in the world, but their main place for a great deal of deeds is only Hereafter, because in some instances there is no possibility for them in this world. For example, the one who has become martyr in the way of Allah is not present in the world to receive his reward, or the one who has killed a lot of people can not endure more than one retribution in this world; he must get his real chastisement in Hereafter.