Al-An'am (The Cattle): (128) And the Day He will gather them all...

It is known that after the Almighty explained the state of those who adhere to the straight path, He subsequently explained the state of those who are the opposite, so that the account of the people of Paradise is followed by the account of the people of the Fire, and the warning is mentioned after the promise. In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: The grammatical parsing of {And the Day He will gather them}

The phrase {ويوم يحشرهم} (wa yawma yahshuruhum) is in the accusative case (mansub) due to an omitted word, such as: "And mention the Day We will gather them," or "The Day We will gather them, We will say, O assembly of Jinn," or "The Day We will gather them, and We will say, O assembly of Jinn," indicating an event whose horror cannot be described by words.

Issue 2: The antecedent of the pronoun in {And the Day He will gather them}

There are two opinions regarding the pronoun in {ويوم يحشرهم} (wa yawma yahshuruhum):

1. The first opinion: It refers to what is known (but not explicitly mentioned), which are the two weighty things (Thaqalayn—mankind and Jinn) and all accountable beings whom God knows He will resurrect.
2. The second opinion: It refers to the devils (Shayatin) whose mention preceded in the verse: "And thus have We appointed for every Prophet an adversary—devils from mankind and jinn, inspiring one another with embellished speech to deceive" (Al-An'am: 112).

Issue 3: The implied speech and the meaning of "seeking abundance"

There is an implied phrase in the verse. The meaning is: "The Day We will gather them all, and We will say, O assembly of Jinn." The speaker here is God Almighty, as He is the Gatherer of all. This statement from God after the gathering serves only as a rebuke and clarification that even though they were rebellious in the world, their state in the Hereafter will be one of submission, compliance, and confession of guilt.

Al-Zajjaj said the implied phrase is: "And it will be said to them, O assembly of Jinn," because it is unlikely that God Himself would speak directly to the disbelievers, based on His description of the disbelievers: "And Allah will not speak to them on the Day of Resurrection" (Al-Baqarah: 174).

As for His statement: {قد استكثرتم من الإنس} (qad istakthartum min al-ins - "You sought abundance from mankind"), this requires interpretation. The Jinn cannot physically "seek abundance" of mankind, as only God is capable of creating bodies, giving life, and acting upon physical beings. Therefore, the meaning must be: "You sought abundance in inviting them to misguidance, meeting with acceptance."

As for His statement: {وقال أولياؤهم من الإنس} (wa qala awliya'uhum min al-ins - "And their allies from mankind will say"), it is most likely that there is an omission here. Just as He rebuked the Jinn, He rebukes the humans. The Jinn issued the invitation, and the humans accepted it; thus, participation is shared between the two groups. When God rebuked both groups, He then recounted the response of the humans here, which is their saying: "Our Lord, some of us enjoyed the benefit of others." They described themselves as having fully engaged in worldly benefits and enjoying its pleasures until they reached this point where they became certain of their evil end.

Here, there are two opinions regarding the meaning of {استمتع بعضنا ببعض} (istamta'a ba'duna bi-ba'd - "some of us enjoyed the benefit of others"):

The First Opinion: That the enjoyment means the Jinn enjoyed the humans, and the humans enjoyed the Jinn. Under this opinion, there are two sub-opinions regarding the nature of this enjoyment:

1. Sub-opinion 1: The enjoyment of the humans was that if a man traveled and stopped in a desolate land fearing for himself, he would say: "I seek refuge with the master of this valley from the fools of his people," and thus he would spend the night safe. This is the enjoyment of the humans by the Jinn. The enjoyment of the Jinn by the humans is that when a human sought refuge with a Jinn, it was an act of glorification of the Jinn, and that Jinn would say: "The Jinn and mankind are now subservient to me," because the human acknowledged his power to ward off harm. This is the view of Al-Hasan, 'Ikrimah, Al-Kalbī, and Ibn Jurayj. They supported this with the verse: "And that there were men from mankind who sought refuge with men from the jinn" (Al-Jinn: 6).
2. Sub-opinion 2: The humans obeyed the Jinn and submitted to their rule, so the Jinn became like leaders, and the humans became like obedient followers and servants who did not disobey their master in anything. Undoubtedly, this leader benefited from this servant; this is the enjoyment of the Jinn by the humans. As for the enjoyment of the humans by the Jinn, it is that the Jinn would guide them to various desires, pleasures, and good things, and make those matters easy for them. This view is preferred by Al-Zajjaj, who said it is better than the previous view, supported by the verse: "You sought abundance from mankind." He noted that those who said, "I seek refuge with the master of this valley," were few.

The Second Opinion: That the statement {ربنا استمتع بعضنا ببعض} is exclusively the speech of the humans. This is because the enjoyment of the Jinn by the humans and vice versa was rare and seldom apparent. However, the enjoyment of some humans by others is obvious. Therefore, the statement must be interpreted in this context. Furthermore, since God recounted the speech of the humans who were the allies of the Jinn ("And their allies from mankind will say..."), the intended meaning of their mutual enjoyment must be the enjoyment among themselves (i.e., among the humans).

Then God recounts their subsequent statement: {وبلغنا أجلنا الذى أجلت لنا} (wa balaghna ajalanā alladhī ajjalta lanā - "and we have reached the term that You appointed for us"). This means that this enjoyment lasted until a specific term and limited time, after which disappointment, regret, and remorse arrived when they were no longer useful. There is a difference of opinion on what this term refers to:

• Some said it is the time of death.
• Others said it is the time of being left alone (in the world) and being given power.
• A group said it refers to the time of reckoning on the Day of Resurrection. Those who held the first view argued that this implies that everyone who dies, whether killed or otherwise, dies at their appointed term, because they admitted they reached the term appointed for them, encompassing both the killed and the non-killed.

Then God states: {قال النار مثواكم} (qala an-nāru mathwākum - "He will say, 'The Fire is your dwelling place'"). Mathwa means abode, residence, and destination. It is not impossible for a person to have an abode and residence, then die and be freed from that abode by death. God clarifies that this residence and abode is eternal and everlasting, which is His statement: {خالدين فيها} (khālidīna fīhā - "abiding therein").

Then God states: {إلا ما شاء الله} (illā mā shā'a Allāh - "except what Allah wills"). There are several interpretations for this exception:

1. The first: It refers to the times of reckoning, as they are not eternally abiding in the Fire during those moments.
2. The second: It refers to the times they are moved from the torment of the Fire to the torment of intense cold (Zamharir). It is narrated that they will enter a valley of severe cold, causing them to seek return from that cold to the heat of Hellfire.
3. The third: Ibn Abbas said that God excepted those whom He knew in advance would believe and affirm the Prophet (PBUH). In this case, the word mā (what) must mean man (who). Al-Zajjaj preferred the first view, as the meaning of the exception relates to the Day of Resurrection, since His statement {ويوم يحشرهم جميعا} refers to the Day of Resurrection.
4. The fourth (Abu Muslim's view): This exception does not relate to the eternity of dwelling, but rather to the appointed term mentioned earlier. It is as if they said: "And we have reached the term You appointed for us, except for those whom You willed to cut short before that appointed term," such as those whom God destroyed before their term, like previous generations (Al-An'am: 6), or the people of Noah, 'Ad, and Thamud, whom God destroyed before the term they would have reached had they believed. In summary, their statement is: "Some of us enjoyed the benefit of others, and we reached the term You appointed, except for those whom You willed to terminate early due to their disbelief and misguidance."

However, although this last view is plausible, it departs from the apparent order of the words in the verse. Since the verse can be understood according to its apparent meaning, there is no need for such forced interpretation.

Then He says: {إن ربك حكيم عليم} (Inna Rabbaka Hakīmun Alīm - "Indeed, your Lord is Wise and Knowing"). This means He is Wise and Knowing in what He does regarding reward, punishment, and all forms of recompense. It is as if God is saying: I have decreed eternal punishment for these disbelievers only because of My knowledge that they deserve it. And God knows best.

Issue 4: The nature of the word Mathwa (Abode)

Abu Ali al-Fārisī said that the word {مثواكم} (mathwākum) is a noun derived from the verbal noun (ism masdar) rather than a place noun (ism makan). This is because the phrase {خالدين فيها} ("abiding therein") functions as a circumstantial adverb (ḥāl), and a place noun does not operate like a verb. Therefore, {النار مثواكم} means: "The Fire is worthy of you abiding therein eternally."

{And thus We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others because of what they used to earn.}