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qālū balā qad jāʾanā nadhīrun fa-kadhdhabnā wa-qulnā mā nazzala llāhu min shayʾin ʾin ʾantum ʾillā fī ḍalālin kabīrin
They will say, ‘Yes, a warner did come to us, but we impugned [him] and said, ‘Allah did not send down anything; you are only in great error.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Mulk – Verses 9-11
9. They will say: "Yes, indeed a warner came unto us, but we belied him and said: 'Allah never sent down anything, you are only in great error."
10. And they will say: "Had we but listened or used our intellect, we would not have been amongst the dwellers of the blazing Fire!"
11. Then they will confess to their sins. So, damned are the dwellers of the Fire!
These blessed Verses make references to three confessions made by disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection:
1. They confess that the Prophets came unto them, though they belied them;
2. They confess that they failed to use their intellect and listen to the word of truth;
3. They confess to having committed sins.
True intellection lies in listening to the truth and acknowledging and following it such that one may deliver oneself from Divine Wrath. Nonetheless, as reflected in the blessed Verse 9, the disbelievers replied unto the keepers of the Hell that warners had come unto them, but they had belied them saying that God Almighty had never sent Revelation onto anyone so that they had been able to pursue their concupiscent desires. They had even said unto them that they had been in dire error. They had not acknowledged their words nor had they listen to their life giving messages; rather, they stood against them and termed such spiritual physics as those who had been misled and belied them.
The blessed Verse 10 reflects the origin of their misfortune and error, saying that had they listened to the Messengers and made use of their intellect, they would have never been amongst the people of the Hell. It is in the blessed Verse 11 that they confess to having committed sins saying that the people of the Hell are deprived of Divine Mercy. These Qur’anic Verses treat of the dire fate of the people of the Hell as well as the main cause of their misfortune saying that God Almighty had provided them with hearing, intelligence, and intellect on the one hand and His Messengers with clear proofs on the other thus they had the opportunity to tread on the path to happiness.
However, when man who has the hearing, vision, and intellect, but fails to perceive and think, may not be affected by all the Messengers and Divine Scriptures. The Arabic word suhq literally denotes ‘pounding, pulverizing,’ and it is also applied to worn out clothes, but it ad hoc connotes being remote from Divine Mercy. Thus, the Arabic clause fa-suhqan li-ashab al-sa‘ir reflects that the people of the Hell are deprived from Divine Mercy and since the curse is accompanied by its realization, the clause means that this group is totally remote from Divine Mercy.
It is worthy of note, however, that it is not the only instance where the Holy Qur’an makes a reference to the extraordinary value of intellect and the main cause of the misfortune of the people of the Hell as their neglect of such Divine faculty, but whoever acquainted with the Holy Qur’an knows that the significance of the issue is reflected on different occasions against the forgeries of those who regard religion as the opium of the mind and neglect of intellection.
The Holy Qur’an at all times addresses thinkers and scholars and those possessing reason. Numerous traditions have been transmitted in this respect. It is noteworthy that the well-known work titled Kafi opens with a book titled ‘The Book of Intellect and Ignorance’ reflecting upon the same will be indicative of the profundity of Islamic perspective in this respect. For the sake of brevity, only three traditions will be mentioned in this regard:
1. It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) as saying:
Thus, Paradise is the abode of the wise.5
2. According to a Prophetic tradition, man’s character depends on his intellect and whoever lacks intellect, lacks faith.6
3. It is narrated from the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as):
"Intellect is man’s guide and ignorance entails error."
Footnotes