Al-Hadid (The Iron): (13) The Day the Hypocrites Will Say...

Verse (57:13): The Day the hypocrite men and hypocrite women will say to those who believed, "Wait for us that we may gain some of your light." It will be said, "Go back behind you and seek [there] light."

There are several issues concerning this verse:

The word يوم (The Day) is either:

1. A substitute (بدل) for the preceding يوم in verse 12 (يوم ترى المؤمنين والمؤمنات).
2. Or, it is in the accusative case (منصوب) by an implied verb, such as اذكر (Mention).

Hamzah alone recited it with a kasra on the ظاء (أنظرونا), while the rest recited it with a ضمة (أنظروا).

Abu Ali al-Farisi explained that the word Nazar (to look/regard) is used in several ways:

1. To mean direct sight: Like when one says, "I looked at the thing." The preposition is often omitted and the verb is connected directly, as in the poetry:

   They display beauty and grace, looking like gazelles looking at the arak trees. (Meaning: they look at the arak trees.)

2. To mean contemplation and reflection: Like saying, "Go and look into Zayd—does he believe?" This implies deep consideration. Examples in the Quran include: $\text{{انظر كيف ضربوا لك الامثال}} (See how they strike parables for you), \text{{انظر كيف يفترون على الله الكذب}} (See how they invent lies about Allah), and \text{{انظر كيف فضلنا بعضهم على بعض}} (See how We have preferred some of them over others). This usage is sometimes followed by the preposition إلى (to), as in \text{{أفلا ينظرون إلى الإبل كيف خلقت}} (Do they not look at the camels, how they are created?), which explicitly denotes contemplation and the wisdom behind it. It can also be followed by في (in), as in \text{{أولم ينظروا في ملكوت السماوات والأرض}} (Have they not looked into the dominion of the heavens and the earth?).

3. To mean seeing (literal sight): As in poetry:

   When Huran and the mirage appeared before it, I looked, but my eye saw no discernible sight in the mirage. (Meaning: I looked, but I did not see a recognizable sight in the mirage.) Al-Farisi notes this is metaphorical, as nazar (looking) is often the precursor to ru'yah (seeing). Since seeing follows looking, the word for the cause (nazar) is used to mean the effect (ru'yah). Alternatively, it could mean "I looked, but I did not look effectively," similar to saying "I spoke, but I did not speak [meaningfully]."

4. To mean waiting/expecting: As in \text{{إلى طعام غير ناظرين إناه}} (until food is ready, not expecting its arrival). In this sense, nazar means waiting. The usage of the simple form (فعلت) and the reflexive form (افتعلت) with the same meaning is common, like شويت and اشتويت (I roasted/I was roasted).

Based on this, the phrase \text{{انظرونا}} has two possibilities:

• Wait for us (انتظرونا): Because the believers will move swiftly toward Paradise like lightning, while the hypocrites are walking.
• Look at us (أنظروا إلينا): Because if they look at the believers, the hypocrites will face them, and the light will be in front of the believers, allowing the hypocrites to be illuminated by it.

As for the reading with a kasra (أنظرونا), it derives from the root meaning of granting respite (النظرة والإمهال), as in \text{{أنظرني إلى يوم يبعثون}} (Reprieve me until the Day they are resurrected). This implies that the believers' slow pace is a form of respite granted to the hypocrites to catch up.

Note: Abu Ubaydah and Al-Akhfash used to criticize the validity of this latter reading (with kasra), but its meaning has now become clear.

There are three main interpretations regarding the situation described:

1. All are in darkness, then Allah grants the believers light, and the hypocrites ask the believers for it.
2. All are in light, but the believers move quickly toward Paradise, leaving the hypocrites behind, who ask them to wait.
3. Believers are in light, and hypocrites are in darkness, and the hypocrites ask the believers for light.

Each of these views has proponents. If this situation occurs at the Standing Place (الموقف), then \text{{انظرونا}} means "Look at us," because facing the believers whose light is ahead will allow the hypocrites to be illuminated. If this occurs during the movement toward Paradise, then \text{{انظرونا}} could mean either "Wait for us" or "Look at us."

القبس (Qabas) means a flame or a spark from a lamp. The hypocrites hoped to take a spark of the believers' light, just as one borrows fire in this world. This shows their ignorance, because those lights are the results of righteous deeds in the world. Since those deeds were absent in the world, obtaining the lights in the Hereafter is impossible.

Al-Hasan said: On the Day of Judgment, everyone is given light according to their deeds. Then, heat and hooks from Hell are cast upon the path. A group of believers passes with faces shining like the full moon, followed by another group shining like stars. Then darkness covers them, extinguishing the light of the hypocrites. At that moment, the hypocrites say to the believers: \text{{انظرونا نقتبس من نوركم}} (Wait for us so we can take a spark from your light), like borrowing a flame of fire.

Scholars have offered several interpretations for this command:

1. Return to the worldly abode (دار الدنيا): Seek these lights there. These lights are generated only by acquiring divine knowledge, virtuous morals, and abstaining from ignorance and blameworthy traits. The command to "go back" signifies the impossibility of returning to the world.
2. A Deception: Abu Umamah reported that people will be in intense darkness. When the believers are given light and move quickly, the hypocrite says, \text{{انظرونا نقتبس من نوركم}}. They are told, \text{{ارجعوا وراءكم فالتمسوا نورا}}. This is a trick played by the hypocrites, similar to \text{{يخادعون الله وهو خادعهم}} (They try to deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them). They return to the place where the light was distributed but find nothing. They then turn back to the believers, only to find a barrier erected between them and the believers.
3. A Rebuff: Abu Muslim interpreted \text{{ارجعوا}} as a way of preventing the hypocrites from seeking illumination, similar to telling someone who approaches: "Move back, there is more room for you [behind you]." Under this view, the intent of \text{{ارجعوا}} is to make them certain that they have absolutely no way to obtain what they seek, rather than being a literal command to return.

Verse (57:14): So a partition will be set up between them, having a gate. Within it will be mercy, and on the outside of it, punishment.

There are two issues concerning this part:

Scholars differed on what this partition means:

• Some said it means a barrier or obstruction preventing the hypocrites from reaching the believers.
• Others said it is a wall between Paradise and Hell, which is the view of Qatadah.
• Mujahid said it is the barrier of Al-A'raf (The Heights).

The باء (Baa) in \text{{بسور}} is for emphasis (صلة), meaning: A partition was set up between them.

Then, \text{{له باب}} (it has a gate).

• \text{{باطنه فيه الرحمة}}: Within the interior of that partition is Mercy. The Mercy referred to is Paradise, where the believers are.
• \text{{وظاهره من قبله العذاب}}$: And its exterior, from its side, is Punishment. This means what faces the believers contains Mercy, and what faces the disbelievers brings Punishment upon them.

The summary is that there is a wall between Paradise and Hell, which is this partition. This partition has a gate: the believers enter Paradise through it, while the disbelievers remain in punishment and Hellfire.

Verse (57:15): They will call out to them, "Were we not with you?" They will say, "Yes, but you afflicted yourselves with trial, and you awaited [our doom], and you doubted, and the wishes deceived you until the command of Allah came, and the Deceiver deceived you concerning Allah."

(The translation continues to the next verse, which is implied by the structure of the source text.)