Tafsir of As-Sajdah 32:14

Surah As-Sajdah (The Prostration): Verse 14

فَذُوقُوا بِمَا نَسِيتُمْ لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَٰذَا إِنَّا نَسِينَاكُمْ وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْخُلْدِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ (So taste [the punishment] because you forgot the meeting of this Day of Yours. Indeed, We have forgotten you. And taste the punishment of eternity for what you used to do.)

This phrase has two possible grammatical interpretations:

1. "لِقَاءَ" (meeting) is the object of "ذُوقُوا" (taste):
   • Meaning: Taste the meeting of your Day, because you forgot it.
   • In this case, what was forgotten might be:
     • The covenant (Mithaq) taken from them, as stated in: {Am I not your Lord? They said, "Yes, we testify"} (Al-A'raf: 172).
     • The innate monotheism (Tawhid) ingrained in their nature (Fitra), which they forgot by turning toward and becoming preoccupied with worldly matters.

2. "لِقَاءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَٰذَا" is related to "نَسِيتُمْ":
   • Meaning: Taste [the punishment] because you forgot the meeting of this Day.
   • If one argues that forgetting only occurs regarding something previously known but later unknown, we respond: Since the proofs (of the Hereafter) became manifest, it is as if they were known. When they abandoned these proofs after their manifestation, the term "forgetting" was used as an allusion to their denial of an evident matter, similar to how one denies something they once knew.

The pronoun "هَٰذَا" (this) can refer to three things:

1. It refers to the Day itself: So taste [the punishment] because you forgot the meeting of this Day.
2. It refers to the meeting of the Day: So taste [the punishment] because you forgot this meeting.
3. It refers to the punishment: So taste this punishment because you forgot the meeting of your Day.

Then follows: "إِنَّا نَسِينَاكُمْ" (Indeed, We have forgotten you). This means: We have completely abandoned you, paying no attention to you, just as one who forgets completely cuts off hope.

What results from God abandoning them (like a forgetful person abandons someone) is the permanence of the punishment, because whoever God does not save has no escape. Therefore, it concludes with: "وَذُوقُوا عَذَابَ الْخُلْدِ بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ" (And taste the punishment of eternity for what you used to do).

إِنَّمَا يُؤْمِنُ بِآيَاتِنَا الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُوا بِهَا خَرُّوا سُجَّدًا وَسَبَّحُوا بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَهُمْ لَا يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ (Only those believe in Our signs who, when reminded of them, fall down in prostration and exalt [Allah] with praise of their Lord, and they are not arrogant.)