ﲜ ﲝ ﲞ ﲟ ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ
Those who followed will say, "If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us." Thus will Allah show them their deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the Fire.
Tafsir
Verse range: 2:167
That is to say, just as they made them—by their disassociation—enraged and bewildered regarding their following of them, we shall also make them, by our disassociation, enraged and bewildered over what has befallen us due to abandoning their following. For this reason, they did not disassociate from them before wishing for a return, because disassociating while in the world does not enrage the leaders, regardless of whether they [the leaders] have disassociated from the followers or not. From this appears the aspect of the reading (of the verb) in the active voice, for the disassociation of the followers from the leaders in the Hereafter is by separating from them after it has become clear to them that they are of no benefit; this does not enrage the leaders, as each of them is occupied with what they are suffering. Therefore, they wished to return to the world to disassociate from them in a way that would enrage them.
As for His saying, Exalted is He: (Just as they disassociated), it only necessitates that the disassociation from the leaders occurs—which is explicitly stated in another verse—and does not necessitate that it was mentioned previously. It has been said: The followers, after they disassociate from the leaders on the Day of Resurrection, wish for a return to the world along with their leaders, so that they may disassociate from them therein and abandon them, so that the humiliation of both the world and the Hereafter may be gathered for them. This interpretation requires considering the application of the rule of dominance (taghlib) in "for us," meaning: for us and for them, since disassociation in the world is only conceivable if both parties return.
{...as such} is in the position of a cognate accusative (maf'ul mutlaq) for what follows. The reference is to the "showing" understood from {when they see}; that is, such a showing of the punishment, which is manifested by the appearance that (the power belongs to Allah), the disassociation, the severing of ties, and the wishing for a return. {Allah will show them their deeds as regrets for them}. It is permissible that what is referred to is the verbal noun understood from what follows, and the ka (in kadhalika) is an expletive to emphasize the sense of gravity conveyed by the demonstrative pronoun; its grammatical position is also that of the cognate accusative—meaning: that horrific showing, He will show them. This is similar to what is said regarding His saying, Exalted is He: (And thus We made you a middle nation). The sentence is an appended remark to confirm the threat and to explain the state of the polytheists in the Hereafter and the eternity of their punishment. It is also permissible to consider it a new beginning; as if, having exaggerated their threat and the horror of their punishment, there was a place for the listener to hesitate and ask: "Is there for them any other punishment besides this, or is it complete?" And so, he was answered with what you see.
{Regrets} means feelings of remorse. It is a third object for "show" if the vision is perceived by the heart, and a state (hal) of "their deeds" if the vision is optical. The meaning of these polytheists seeing their evil {deeds} on the Day of Resurrection as {regrets} is that their seeing them—recorded in a book (that leaves nothing small or great without enumerating it)—and their certainty of the recompense for them, causes them at that moment to regret what they neglected regarding Allah Almighty. {For them} is an adjective for "regrets," and it is permissible for it to be connected to them by eliding the genitive—that is: their neglect—because hasara (to regret) takes the preposition 'ala (over/for).
The verse has been used as evidence by those who hold that the disbelievers are addressed by the branches of the Law (furu') and that they shall not depart from the Fire. The obvious meaning in such contexts is the restriction of the negation to the subject, such as (And I am not one to drive away those who believe) and (And you are not over them a tyrant). Thus, there is an indication in it that the disobedient believers—who are included in His saying, Exalted is He: (But those who believe are stronger in love for Allah)—are not eternally in the Fire. If by (those who have wronged) it is intended the disbelievers absolutely, rather than the polytheists only, then the restriction is literal, and the intention behind it is to exaggerate the threat, implying that no one else shares in their eternity, for partnership lightens punishments. It is said: The intention is the negation of the act itself, because that is what is fitting for the context of a threat, not a restriction of the negation, for the context is not one of hesitation or dispute as to whether they or others are the ones departing, whether jointly or individually. Even if it is correct in view of the disobedient, it is not directed toward what you see; rather, it is to exaggerate the eternity and to despair of salvation and returning to the world, with the addition of the ba and the exclusion of their own selves from the count of those who depart, to emphasize the negation. You know that if the state of the addressee is not considered in the restriction, there remains nothing to be said except that the literal meanings of some verses necessitate not intending a restriction. Among these is His saying: (They wish to get out of the Fire, but they are not to get out of it). Therefore, the statement that there is no restriction is not a standard text of the Mu'tazilah, as is imagined.
{Indeed, those who conceal} what We have poured upon them of the lights of gnosis and the guidance of states {from after We have made it clear to the people in} the book of their intellects, which are illuminated by the light of following, {those}, Allah Almighty distances them and veils them from Himself, {and the cursers curse them} from the High Assembly, for they do not support them, and from the prepared ones, for they do not accompany them. {Except those} who returned to Allah Almighty and knew that what they are in is a trial from Him, the Almighty, the Majestic, and they rectified their states through discipline and manifested what was veiled from them through the sincerity of their interaction, {then those}, I accept their repentance, {and I am the Accepting of repentance, the Merciful}.
{Indeed, those who disbelieve} and are veiled from the Truth and remain in their veiling until their preparedness fades and the light of their innate nature is extinguished, {those} have deserved being driven away and distanced from the Truth and the realm of the Kingdom (Malakut). {Eternally} therein, {the punishment will not be lightened for them} due to the rooting of the causes necessitating it within them, {nor will they be granted respite} due to the necessity of those dark states upon them.
{And your god is one God} in essence; there is nothing in existence besides Him, so how can anything else be worshipped when He is pure non-existence? {Indeed, in the creation of} the heavens of spirits and the earth of souls, and the difference of light and darkness between them, and the sphere of the body that runs in the sea of preparedness with what benefits people in acquiring their perfections and completing their constitution; and what Allah has sent down from the heaven of spirits of the water of knowledge, so He revived by it the earth of souls after their death through ignorance; and spread in it the animal powers and distributed in its spheres the planets of the realm of the Kingdom; and the movement of the winds of divine breezes that move the branches of the trees of longing in the gardens of hearts; and the clouds of manifestations that are subjected between the heaven of the spirit and the earth of the soul to rain the drops of address upon the fires of the intellects, so that they may be stilled for an hour from burning through the inflammation of the fire of ecstasy—are signs and evidences {for a people who reason} with an intellect illuminated by holy lights, stripped of the impurities of illusion.
{And among the people are those who take other than Allah as equals}—things that prevented them from serving their Master and turning toward Him. {They love them} and incline toward them {as they [should] love Allah}, and they equate between them and Him, the Glorified, because they have not tasted the sweetness of His love and have not seen the light of witnessing Him and the realities of His union and closeness. {But those who believe} with complete faith {are stronger in love for Allah} because they are drowned in witnessing Him, wandering in the deliciousness of His address since the covenant of ("Am I not your Lord?"), never turning to other than Him for the blink of an eye. So, how could their love fade or their intellect incline toward others? They loved Him with His love, and their hearts became the throne of His manifestations and His closeness.
{And if those who wrong}—and associate partners—{could see}, while they are in truth nothing, nor living, nor anything at the time of their seeing the punishment of being veiled from the Lord of Lords, and that the power belongs to Allah entirely, and that their gods which distracted them from Him have nothing of it, they would have regretted and felt sorrow, for they did not intend the Countenance of Allah Almighty and did not seek Him. At that moment, the followers disassociate from the leaders {and they see} the punishment of deprivation {and the ties are severed between them}—the union that was between them in the world—and they wish for what is in no way possible, and they remain in regret and punishment. Such is the state of the pure spiritual powers toward the psychological powers that follow them in the attainment of their pleasures. And glad tidings to those who love each other for the sake of Allah Almighty, the Majestic is His state.
