Al-An'am (The Cattle): Verse 94

Translation and Exegesis

{And certainly have you come to Us individually...} (6:94)

This statement, {And certainly have you come to Us individually}, admits of two interpretations:

1. The Angels are the Speakers: This phrase might be connected (conjoined) to the preceding statement by the angels: {“Get yourselves out today! You will be repaid with the humiliating punishment for what you used to say.”} In this case, the Almighty is recounting what the angels say to them as a form of reprimand. Thus, the entire passage would be a narration of what the disbelievers are told. Under this view, the speaker could be:
   • The angels appointed to take their souls.
   • The angels appointed to punish them.

2. Allah is the Speaker: The second view is that Allah Almighty Himself is the speaker. This difference of opinion arises from a scholarly debate: Does Allah speak directly to the disbelievers or not?
   • The verse stating, {And He will not speak to them} (referring to the disbelievers), suggests He will not speak to them.
   • However, verses like {By your Lord, We will surely question them all} (Al-Hijr: 92) and {Then We will surely question those to whom messengers were sent, and We will surely question the messengers} (Al-A'raf: 6) imply that Allah does speak to them.

Conclusion: The first opinion (that the angels speak) is stronger because this verse is conjoined to the preceding one, and conjunction implies shared context.

The word {Farādā} is a plural form. There are two main opinions regarding its singular form:

• Ibn Qutaybah said: Farādā is the plural of fardān, similar to sukārā (drunks) being the plural of sakrān (drunkard).
• Others said: Farādā is the plural of farīd (singular), similar to radāfā being the plural of radīf.
• Al-Farra’ said: Farādā is the plural of fard, fardah, farīd, or fardān.

Once this is established, the meaning of {And certainly have you come to Us individually} is reproach and severe admonishment.

This is because in the worldly life, they exerted all their effort toward two things:

1. Acquiring wealth and status.
2. Worshipping idols, believing these idols would be intercessors for them with Allah.

When they arrive at the assembly of the Resurrection, they possess none of that wealth, nor do they find any intercession from those idols. They are left individually separated from everything they accumulated and relied upon in the world.

In contrast, the people of faith devoted their lives to acquiring true knowledge and righteous deeds. This knowledge and these deeds remain with them in their graves and attend them on the Day of Resurrection. Therefore, in reality, they do not arrive individually; rather, they arrive with provisions for the Day of Reckoning.

Then the Almighty says: {Indeed, what you thought has been cut off between you} (6:94b).

There are two main readings for the word baynakum:

• Nāfi', Ḥafṣ ‘an ‘Āṣim, and Al-Kisā’ī read it with the accusative case (mansūb): {baynakum}.
• The rest read it with the nominative case (marfū‘): {baynakum}.

Analysis of the Nominative Reading (Marfū‘): Al-Zajjāj said the nominative reading is superior. Its meaning is: "Your connection has been severed."

Abū ‘Alī stated that the noun bayn (between) is used in two ways:

1. As an inflected noun, like iftirāq (separation).
2. As an adverbial phrase (ẓarf), which is considered more eloquent.

In the nominative reading, the word that was originally an adverbial phrase is used as a noun. The evidence for this usage as a noun is found in verses like: {And between us and you is a barrier} (Fussilat: 5) and {This is the parting between me and you} (Al-Kahf: 78). Since it is used as a noun in these contexts, it is permissible for the verb taqaṭṭa‘a (has been cut off) to be attributed to it in the nominative reading.

Abū ‘Alī further argued that this nominative word must be the one used adverbially, because if it were a source noun (maṣdar), the meaning would be: "Indeed, your separation has been cut off," which contradicts the intended meaning—that their connection has been severed, along with what they relied upon previously.

Addressing the Objection: Objection: How can the word bayn (which primarily means separation/distance) be used to mean connection (waṣl)? Response: This word is used for two things that share some form of association or connection, such as saying, "There is a partnership between me and him," or "There is kinship between me and him." For this reason, it is appropriate to use this word to mean connection. Thus, {Indeed, what you thought has been cut off between you} means: Your connection has been severed.

Analysis of the Accusative Reading (Manṣūb): For those who read {taqaṭṭa‘a baynakum} (accusative), the interpretation is that the subject (the fā‘il) is implied. The meaning is: "Indeed, your connection has been severed among you."

• Sībawayh explained this by analogy to phrases like: Idhā kāna ghadan fa’tani (If tomorrow comes, come to me), where the expected event (hope or affliction) is implied by the context. Similarly, the implied subject here is understood from the situation.
• Ibn al-Anbārī suggested the implied subject is: "Indeed, what was between you has been cut off," with the phrase mā baynaka being omitted due to clarity.

This verse contains noble principles concerning the states of the Resurrection:

First Principle (The Wasted Opportunity): The human soul is attached to the body as a tool for acquiring true knowledge and virtuous character traits. If the soul separates from the body without achieving these two goals, its regret and affliction intensify. This is because it possessed a noble instrument capable of attaining eternal happiness but wasted and nullified it. This is the meaning of {And certainly have you come to Us individually, just as We created you the first time}.

Second Principle (The Misplaced Focus): Not only did the soul fail to gain spiritual perfection through the physical body, but it also engaged in an even worse activity: spending its entire life desiring wealth and status, strengthening its attachment and love for them. Humans are fundamentally oriented from the physical realm toward the spiritual realm. This unfortunate soul reversed this order, turning from the spiritual objective toward the physical world, forgetting its true purpose and being deceived by bodily pleasures.

When the soul dies, whether it wills it or not, its orientation reverses from the physical world back toward the spiritual. The wealth it acquired, for which it spent its life, is left behind its back. Something left behind the back cannot be benefited from; it might even remain a source of frustration, causing the soul to crane its neck back toward it while being unable to utilize it. This results in the utmost disappointment, grief, and regret. This is the meaning of {And you have left behind what We provided you beyond your backs}.

This indicates that any wealth acquired by a person and not spent in channels of good deeds is characterized this way. However, if the wealth is spent in ways that glorify Allah's command and show compassion to His creation, the person has not left that wealth behind; rather, they have presented it before their face, as Allah says: {And whatever good you put forward for yourselves - you will find it with Allah} (Al-Baqarah: 110).

Third Principle (The Failure of False Beliefs): Those miserable people exhausted themselves supporting false religions and corrupt doctrines, believing these would benefit them on the Day of Resurrection. When they arrive and witness the severe torment and perpetual punishment associated with those doctrines, they suffer multiple forms of agony:

1. Agony of Regret: How they spent their wealth enduring severe hardship and great affliction to acquire something that only brought them torment and pain.
2. Agony of Shame: It becomes clear to them that everything they believed in the worldly life was sheer ignorance and manifest misguidance.
3. Agony of Despair mixed with Great Hope: The combination of these states undoubtedly causes intense spiritual suffering and great pain. This is the meaning of {And We do not see with you your intercessors whom you claimed were partners among you}.

Fourth Principle (The Finality of Loss): When it becomes apparent to them that they have missed the opportunity to acquire good things, and they have incurred what necessitates harm, they might still cling to some hope of rectification. This hope lessens the pain and softens the grief. However, when certainty and conviction settle in that rectification is impossible and compensating for the deficiency is unattainable, the grief intensifies, and the affliction becomes overwhelming. This is alluded to by {Indeed, what you thought has been cut off between you}, meaning the connection established between the soul and the body has been severed, and there is no path to reacquiring it.

Upon grasping the reality of these stages, it becomes clear that no explanation surpasses this one in describing the condition of these misguided people.

{Indeed, Allah is the splitter of the grain and the date stone. He brings the living out of the dead, and He brings the dead out of the living. That is Allah; so how are you deluded?} (6:94c)