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ʾinnā ʾandharnākum ʿadhāban qarīban yawma yanẓuru l-marʾu mā qaddamat yadāhu wa-yaqūlu l-kāfiru yā-laytanī kuntu turāban
Indeed We have warned you of a punishment near at hand—the day when a person will observe what his hands have sent ahead and the faithless one will say, ‘I wish I were dust!’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Nabaa, Verses 38-40
38. “The Day on which the Spirit and the angels shall stand arrayed, they shall speak not except whom the All‑merciful gives leave, and (who) speak what is right”.
39. “That Day is certain; whoever then desires may take refuge with his Lord”.
40. “Surely We have warned you of a Punishment near, the Day when man shall see what his two hands have sent forth and the Unbeliever shall say: O! would that I were dust”.
The Unbeliever shall say:
A noticeable part of the chastisement for the transgressors and the reward for the Righteous, on Dooms Day, were mentioned in the previous verses. Verses 38 to 40 introduce ‘That Great Day’, and expound on some of its events, by saying:
Undoubtedly, the act of the Spirit and the angels on that Day; ‘to stand arrayed and speak not except those whom the All‑merciful gives Leave’, is only because of their obedience to Him. In this world, too, they fulfill His Will and serve His commands. Of course, their fulfillment, in that world, will be more apparent, more clear and more extensive. What does
mean, here? Commentators have yielded several interpretations for it, some of which extend to eight probabilities. The following meanings are the most important ones:42 1.
is a creature other than the angels and greater than all of them. 2.
is the angel Gabriel who is the greatest angel because he is charged, especially, with bringing Messages from Allah to the human Apostles. 3.
may be the souls of men, collectively, that rise with the angels. 4.
is an angel of the highest standard, higher than all angels, and greater than Gabriel. It is the very angel who was with all prophets and the sinless Imams (as) and remains so. It is noteworthy that, in the Qur’an, ‘the Spirit’ is sometimes simply mentioned alone and without any definition. In this case, it is often equivalent to the angels, as in this verse:
Or;
In these two verses,
is mentioned after
and in the current verse it is mentioned before “the angels’, therefore, it may indicate the greatness of a distinguished one. But in many verses of the Qur’an ‘the Spirit’ is mentioned with something else or with a specification. For example,
in Surah Nahl, No. 16, verse 102 says:
or
in Surah Shuaraa, No. 26, verse 193 says:
In some verses Allah designates the word
for Himself as in the following:
And in another verse it says:
It seems that the term
which is stated differently in these verses, may have different meanings whose explanations are stated, appropriate, under each of them in the commentary. But, among these various commentaries, what seems the most fitting, to the current verse, is that the Spirit here, refers to one of the great angels of Allah that, according to some narration’s, is even higher than Gabriel, as a tradition from Imam Sadiq (as) says:
“He is an angel greater than Gabriel and Michael”. 47
And, it is cited in Ali‑ibn‑Ibrahim’s commentary that:
is an angel, greater than Gabriel and Michael, and he was with the Prophet (S) as wells as with the Imams”. 48
Although in some narration’s quoting Ahlul Bayt, it is cited that the Prophet (S) has said: · The Spirit is an army from Allah’s armies, who are not angels and have a head, hands and feet
“and, then, he (S) recited:
and said:
‘These are an army and those are of another army.’” 49
In any case, as it was pointed out earlier, the great creature of Allah’s, whether it be among the angels or is another kind of creature, will be with the angels in the Hereafter; all of them ready to obey Allah’s command. In the Hereafter, everyone is so terrified that no one is able to say a word or offer intercession except by Allah’s leave. They praise Him, or intercede, as He permits, only for those who are deserving. It is cited, in a narration, that once Imam Sadiq (as) was asked about this verse and he said:
“By Allah, on the Day of Judgment, we will be given leave for them and we will speak”.
The narrator asked him (as) what he would say on that Day, and he answered:
“We praise our Lord, and send blessings on our Prophet, and intercede for our followers and our Lord does not refuse us”. 50
It is understood from this narration that on the Day of Judgment the Prophets and the sinless Imams will be in the row of angels and
who will be given leave to speak will praise Allah and intercede. The term
an evidence that angels, the Spirit, prophets, and Saints will intercede for those who are deserving and their intercession will not be undue. Then, it points to that Great Day which is the Day of resurrection for both men and angels, as well as The Day of Judgment for the transgressors, where they will be given their recompense, and the Righteous will be rewarded, and it says:
The term /ĥaqq/ means: ‘a thing that surely happens’ and ‘that which is right and proper, just and true’. This meaning is completely right for the Dooms Day, where the rights of everyone will be given to him; the oppressed’s rights will be taken from the oppressors, the ‘rights’ and ‘the hidden secrets’ will be manifested, and hence, it will be ‘right’ in all respects. Since recognition of this fact can he the most effective motive for men to move towards the path of Allah and obeying him, then immediately after the previous sentence, in this verse, it says:
That is, all the means of this divine motion are prepared: right and wrong have been introduced; prophets have said enough about the Truth and Divine Reality; wisdom, which is an inner apostle, has clearly defined the end of the transgressors and the Righteous, and the court, the Judge, and the Judgment have been known. The only remaining thing is man’s firm decision that should be made with free‑will; which Allah has bestowed on him, to go forth on the right path.
The term /ma’ ab/ means ‘a place of return’ and it is also cited with the sense of ‘road’ and ‘way’. Then, as an emphasis on the sinners’ punishment, and as a warning to those who think that the Great Day is very far from them or it is on credit, stating that it is very near it says:
The life of this world, however long it may be, is as a mere moment in comparison with the life of the Next World. According to an Arab proverb: ‘Everything that is certain to come, is near’. Then, for the same reason, Allah, in Surah Maarij, No. 70, verses 5‑7 tells His prophet:
Amir‑al‑Momineen Ali (as), also in this regard, says:
“Whatever is certain to come, is near”. 51
It is near because the main source of men’s divine chastisement is their own deeds, which are always with them as we see from Surah Ankabut, No. 29, verse 54:
Since on that Day a great number of people, being full of grief and sorrow, will be regretful of their actions, which, then, of course, will, be quite useless. Following that warning, it says:
Some commentators have considered the term /yanżur/, in the same sense of /yantażir/, that is: ‘on that Day, men will wait for the recompense of their deeds’. And some others have considered it to mean: ‘looking at the Record and observing the goad and evil actions’. And it has also been construed as meaning: ‘to see the reward and the penalty of the deeds’ These commentaries originate from the idea that they have paid little attention to the existence of the embodiment of man’s deed, on that Day, otherwise, the meaning of the verse is clear and no interpretation would be needed.
From the different verses of the Qur’an and Islamic narration’s, it , understood that on that Day the deeds of man will be personified in some appropriate forms and will appear in front of him. In fact. he will truly see his own deeds, himself, and when he observes his evil actions he will be both sorry and regretful, and when he observes his good actions he will be happy and delighted. As a matter of fact, one of the best rewards for the Righteous, and one of the worst punishments for the evildoers is the very personification and incarnation of their deeds, which will follow them everywhere.
Surah Kahf, No. 18, verse 49 says:
And Surah Zilzal, No. 99, verses 7‑8 say:
So, these are some of the wonders of the Hereafter that the deeds of man will be personified and the powers will be changed into a tangible substance and become a living thing. The sentence
is so stated because, man usually does most of his actions with his hands, but, surely they are not limited only to those actions which are performed by the hands. The actions which are done by the tongue, eyes, and ears are included, too. Verse 40, of this Surah, has warned us about the matter before we reach that Day and it says:
When the unbelievers see the deeds of their lifetime in front of them, they will be so sorry that they will say:
and from it would never have been created as a human being. Of course, they know that dust is better than themselves, because dust is not only harmless but also useful for all: it takes a single grain and makes a return of sometimes more than one hundred plants, instead. But humans have been the source of corruption in different forms. In some verses of the Qur’an it is said that when the Unbelievers and the sinners see the Hereafter and the throne of Divine Judgment, therein, and the recompense of their deeds, they will react differently, all of which relates to the intensive grief they have.
Sometimes, they say:
And sometimes they say:
And further still they say:
which was discussed in the current Surah.
The Clear Solution For Fatalism and Free‑will
This controversy is one of the oldest cases which has been discussed among the scholars, some of whom believed in man’s free‑will and some in another philosophy; each have stated some reasons to prove their ideas. It is interesting to note that the fatalists and those adherents to the idea of free‑will’ have both approved the principle of free‑will, in practice, and have accepted it. In other words, their scientific conflicts arc bound only to the circle of their discussions and not in practice. This clearly shows that the principle of free‑will exists in the nature of all men, and by refusing the various temptations, everyone agrees with the principle of free‑will.
One of the most clear evidences to free‑will is the common conscience or the general nature of men that appears in man’s life in different forms. Since, if man thought that deeds were obligations and did not believe in free‑will, then why:
1. Do they sometimes repent of their behavior, for what they have done, or the actions they have not done, and decide to take benefit from their former experiences in their future conduct?
2. Condemn the evildoers. If they are obliged why are they scorned?
3. Are the good doers praised?
4 Do people try to train their children, so that they can gain felicity and be happy. If all are obliged, what is the use of training?
5. Do all the scientists, without exception, try to increase the standard of morals in societies? Why?
6. Does man repent of his errors? If the principle of fatalism is accepted, what does ‘penitence’ mean?
7. Does man become sorry about his negligence in carrying out his duties? Why?
8. Are criminals and evildoers, all over the world, strictly interrogated and tried in courts? The action beyond the limit of man’s Will does not need interrogation and trial.
9. Throughout the world and among all sects, whether they are polytheist or materialist, do they believe in punishment for criminals? Then, is it a penalty for the deed that they were obliged to do?
10. Do even the fatalists, when their interests and honor is violated by someone, protest and call him as an offender in the court?
In short, truly, if man is not free in Will, then why should he have feelings of regret? What is blame and scorn? Can a person whose hand is trembling. unwillingly, be blamed? Why arc the good doers praised? Do they have a free will of their own to continue doing good? In fact, when the effect of training and education is accepted, fatalism will be meaningless. Besides, morals, without assuming free‑will, have no sense at all. If we are obliged to do things, what is the meaning of repentance? What is regretting for? Then, the trial of an obliged person is the most cruel thing, and punishing him is worse than that.
All these point to the fact that the principle of ‘free‑will’ is in human nature and it fits in with the general conscience of mankind. Not only the common people, but also all special classes and all philosophers are like that in their deeds, and then, even fatalists are actually free in Will. It is an interesting fact that the Qur’an has frequently emphasized on this situation. It says:
Not only in these verses, but also in many other verses of the Qur’an, stress has been put on man’s Will, however, to discuss this, here, will deviate us from our topic of discussion, so, suffice it to mention only three of them, thus:
Discussing fatalism and free‑will is very time consuming and many books and articles have been written about these subjects. What we have mentioned, here, was only a small sample on the subject, from the point of view of the Qur’an and the conscience, which we will end on this important point: The adherence to fatalism, from the view of some men, is not only for the philosophical discussions and the reasoning out of problems, but it is for some other important psychological and social matters, as well, which are undoubtedly factors in its appearance and continued popularity.
Many persons have assumed that the belief in fatalism’ or fatal destiny’ or ‘fate’ in the sense of fatalism, have a common source: to escape from personal responsibility, or to use it as a cover‑up for the defeats and failures resulting from their negligence and carelessness, and/or due to their low desires. Sometimes, colonizers, to break the perseverance of people and to extinguish the nation’s fire of wrath, imposed this idea on them saying that their fate has been the same from the beginning, so, they can do nothing, but accept it.
Assuming that this belief is correct, the whole behavior of all criminals is permissible and the vice of all sinners becomes excused, then, there will be no difference between an obedient person and a criminal.
Supplication
O Lord! Protect us from these misled ideas and their consequences.
O Lord! On the Day that Hell lies in ambush for the transgressors and Heaven is a victory for the Righteous, we all have hope in your Grace.
O Lord! On the Day when all see their deeds in front of them, do not put us to shame.
Footnotes