Tafsir of Ar-Rum 30:12-13

Surah Ar-Rum (The Romans): Verses 12-13

Verse 12-13: And the Day the Hour is established...

On that Day, their bankruptcy will become evident, and their despair (Iblās) will be realized.

Iblās means a despair mixed with bewilderment. This is because when hope is cut off by despair, if what was hoped for was something non-essential, the hopeful person finds relief from waiting. But if it was essential, his heart breaks with the severest breaking. Such despair is Iblās.

To illustrate the state of the criminal and his Iblās, consider this analogy:

Imagine someone in a garden, surrounded by amusements and pastimes, possessing things he boasts about. A truthful person informs him that an unstoppable enemy is coming, one who cannot be repelled or deterred, who, upon arrival, will leave him no chance to escape.

The person must then focus on finding a way to salvation. A child or a madman tells him: "The tree you are under has a special property: it repels enemies from anyone beneath it." The heedless person accepts this, focusing on enjoying his pleasures, relying on the tree based on the child's statement. Then the enemy arrives and surrounds him. The first horror he witnesses is the uprooting of that very tree. At that moment, he becomes bewildered, utterly despairing, and destitute.

Similarly, the criminal in the worldly life focused on fulfilling his desires. The truthful Prophet informed him that God would recompense him and that a humiliating punishment would come to him. The Devil and the commanding soul told him: "These wooden pieces (the idols) will ward off all harm from you and intercede for you when the senses cease." So, he persisted in his error until the Great Calamity (the Hour) arrived. The first thing he sees is the idols being cast into the Fire. He finds no path to salvation, and the torment of burning becomes incumbent upon him. At that point, he despairs utterly and experiences the severest Iblās.

This is alluded to in the Almighty's saying:

{The criminals will despair, and there will be no intercessors for them from among their partners, and they will be disbelievers in their partners that Day.} (Ar-Rum: 13)

This means they will renounce their partners (idols) that Day.

Verse 12: {And the Day the Hour is established, that Day they will be separated.}