Tafsir of An-Nur 24:39-40

Surah An-Nur (The Light): Verses 39–40

[39] And those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert plain...

Allāh (Exalted is He) has just described the state of the believer—how he is in light in this world, adhering to righteous deeds because of that light, and how he will attain eternal bliss and great reward in the Hereafter.

Following this, He explains that the disbeliever will be in the utmost loss in the Hereafter and in the deepest darkness in this world. He strikes a parable for each of them.

The parable indicating the disbeliever's failure in the Hereafter is His saying: {And those who disbelieve, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert plain} (كـسـراب بقيعة).

• The Mirage (سراب): Al-Azhari said that the sarāb (mirage) is what appears to the eye during the hottest part of the morning in the deserts, resembling running water, though it is not water. Whoever looks at it from afar thinks it is running water.
• The Desert Plain (قيعة): Al-Farrā’ said it is the plural of qā‘, which is a flat, level expanse of land. The author of Al-Kashshāf agrees that qī‘ah means qā‘.
• The Thirsty Person (ظمآن): Al-Zajjāj mentioned that the dhama’ān (thirsty person) may have the hamza (of dhama’ān) lightened. He is the one intensely thirsty.

The Meaning of the Simile: The likeness is established because whatever good deeds the disbeliever performs:

1. If they are acts of righteousness, he deserves no reward for them, yet he believes he deserves a reward.
2. If they are acts of sin, he deserves punishment, yet he believes he deserves a reward.

In any case, he believes he has a reward with Allāh. When he arrives at the plains of the Resurrection and finds no reward but great punishment, his regret intensifies, and his grief reaches its peak. This resembles the state of the thirsty person whose need for water is intense. When he sees the mirage, his heart clings to it, hoping for salvation, and his desire strengthens. When he reaches it and despairs of what he hoped for, the disappointment becomes immense for him. This parable is exquisitely beautiful.

Mujāhid interpreted the mirage as the disbeliever's deeds, and his coming to it as his death and departure from the world.

Addressing a Potential Contradiction: If one asks: His saying {until, when he reaches it} (حتى إذا جاءه) implies it is a thing, but His saying {he finds it nothing} (لم يجده شيئا) contradicts this?

The answer is threefold:

1. The meaning is that he finds it to be nothing beneficial, just as one says, "So-and-so did nothing," even if he exerted himself greatly.
2. {Until, when he reaches it} means when he reaches the place of the mirage, he finds the mirage itself to be nothing (i.e., it vanishes). Mentioning the mirage suffices for mentioning its location.
3. It is a metaphor for the mirage, because the mirage appears from afar due to its density, like mist or dust, but when one approaches it, it thins out, disperses, and becomes like air.

[40] ... and finds Allāh with him, and He will pay him his due account.

• {and finds Allāh with him}: Meaning, he finds the punishment of Allāh, which was threatened to the disbeliever, present with him at that moment. Thus, what was perceived as great benefit changes into the certainty of great harm.
• Alternatively, he finds the angels of punishment (زبانية الله) with him, seizing him and taking him to Hellfire to be given boiling water and putrid discharge. These are the ones referred to in: {Laboring, weary} (Al-Ghāshiyah: 3), and {while they assume that they are doing good work} (Al-Kahf: 104), and {And We shall proceed to what they have done of deeds} (Al-Furqān: 23).
• It is also narrated that this verse was revealed concerning 'Utbah ibn Rabi'ah ibn Umayyah, who had practiced asceticism, worn coarse garments, and sought religion during the Jāhiliyyah, but then disbelieved in Islām.

{And Allāh is swift in reckoning} (والله سريع الحساب). This is because Allāh knows all things, so reckoning is not difficult for Him. Some theologians stated that it means His reckoning of one person does not distract Him from reckoning another, unlike us. If He spoke using instruments, as the anthropomorphists claim, this statement would not be sound.

The Second Parable: {Or like darkness in a deep sea} (أو كظلمات فى بحر لجى).

There are several interpretations regarding the particle (أو) (Or) here:

1. Allāh explained that if the disbelievers' deeds are good, they are like a mirage; if they are evil, they are like darkness.
2. The intended meaning is: Their deeds are either like a mirage in a desert plain (which pertains to the Hereafter) or like darkness in a sea (which pertains to this world).
3. The first verse concerns their deeds, from which they attain nothing. The second verse concerns their beliefs, which resemble darkness, as in {He brings them out from darkness into light} (Al-Baqarah: 257), meaning from disbelief to faith. This is supported by His saying: {And whoever has not been given light by Allāh, he has no light} (An-Nūr: 40).

• The Deep Sea (البحر اللجي): This is a sea with a deep core, the bulk of the water, far from the bottom. There are two accepted pronunciations for lajjī (with a fatḥa or ḍammah on the lām).

Elaborating on the Simile: The deep sea is extremely dark at its bottom due to the depth of the water. If waves pile up upon each other, the darkness increases. If clouds cover the waves above, the darkness reaches its utmost limit. Whoever is submerged in the bottom of this deep sea is in the ultimate intensity of darkness.

Since the hand is usually the closest thing one can see, and the farthest thing one expects to see, Allāh said: {he could scarcely see it} (لم يكد يراها). By this, He indicates that the darkness has reached its absolute limit.

He likened the disbeliever's belief to this darkness, which is the opposite of the believer's state mentioned in {Light upon light} (An-Nūr: 35) and {Their light will proceed before them and to their right hands} (Al-Hadīd: 12).

For this reason, Ubayy ibn Ka'b said: "The disbeliever is tossed about in five kinds of darkness: his speech, his action, his entry, his exit, and his destination in the Fire."

Other Ways to Interpret this Simile:

1. Allāh mentioned three types of darkness: the darkness of the sea, the darkness of the waves, and the darkness of the clouds. Similarly, the disbeliever has three darknesses: the darkness of belief, the darkness of speech, and the darkness of action (according to Al-Hasan).
2. Their heart, sight, and hearing are likened to these three darknesses (according to Ibn 'Abbās).
3. The disbeliever neither knows nor knows that he does not know, yet he believes he knows. These three stages resemble those darknesses.
4. These darknesses are layered (متراكمة). Likewise, due to the intensity of their persistence in disbelief, delusions have accumulated upon the disbelievers to such an extent that even the clearest proofs, when mentioned to them, they do not comprehend.
5. A dark heart within a dark chest.

{darkness, one above another} (ظلمات بعضها فوق بعض). It is narrated that Ibn Kathīr recited (سحاب) and (ظلمات) in the genitive case (بالجر) as an apposition (badal) to {or darkness}. He also narrated reciting (سحاب ظلمات) as an iḍāfah (possessive construction), like saying sḥāb raḥmah (cloud of mercy). The rest of the reciters read (سحاب ظلمات) both in the nominative case (بالرفع) and with tanwīn. The sentence is complete at {clouds} (سحاب), and then {darkness} (ظلمات) begins, meaning what was previously mentioned is darkness, one above another.

{he could scarcely see it} (لم يكد يراها). There are two opinions on this:

1. The negation of kāda (كاد) implies affirmation, and its affirmation implies negation. For example, {and they had scarcely done it} (وما كادوا يفعلون) is a negation in wording but an affirmation in meaning because they did it. Similarly, the Prophet's saying, "Poverty almost became disbelief," is an affirmation in wording but a negation in meaning because he did not become a disbeliever. Thus, here, {he could scarcely see it} means he did see it.
2. Kāda means proximity. Therefore, {he could scarcely see it} means he did not come close to seeing it. It is known that what did not approach an event did not occur either. This second opinion is preferred, and the first is weak for two reasons:
   • What is less dark than these layers of darkness is such that nothing is seen in it; how then with these darknesses?
   • The purpose of this simile is to exaggerate the ignorance of the disbelievers, which is only achieved if sight is completely absent despite these darknesses.

{And whoever has not been given light by Allāh, he has no light} (ومن لم يجعل الله له نورا فما له من نور). Our scholars state that since Allāh described the guidance of the believer as being at the peak of clarity and manifestation, He followed it by saying: {Allāh guides to His light whom He wills}. Conversely, since He described the misguidance of the disbeliever as being at the peak of darkness, He followed it by saying: {And whoever has not been given light by Allāh, he has no light}.

The purpose is for a person to know that the clarity of proofs is not sufficient for faith, nor does the darkness of the path prevent it; everything is tied to the creation, guidance, and decree of Allāh.

Al-Qāḍī interpreted: {And whoever has not been given light by Allāh} means in this world through gentle guidance (الألطاف), then {he has no light} means he will not be guided and will remain bewildered. Another interpretation: {And whoever has not been given light by Allāh} means a sincere [reward] in the Hereafter and attainment of reward, then {he has no light}—and the refutation and affirmation regarding this are well-known.

[41] Have you not seen that to Allāh glorifies whatever is in the heavens and the earth, and the birds spreading their wings? Each one knows its prayer and its glorification. And Allāh is Knowing of whatever they do.

[42] And to Allāh belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and to Allāh is the final destination.