Tafsir of Ta-Ha 20:124

"And whoever turns away..."

Al-Ḍank (The Straitened): An infinitive noun used equally for both masculine and feminine descriptions. It is also read as ḍankā (on the pattern of fa‘lā).

The meaning is: Religion brings with it submission, contentment, and reliance upon God and His apportionment. Therefore, the one who possesses it spends what he has been provided with generosity and ease, living a life of elevation, as the Almighty said: "We will surely cause him to live a good life" (An-Naḥl: 97).

Conversely, the one who turns away from religion is overcome by greed, which constantly drives him to seek more of this world, and he is afflicted with stinginess, which restrains his hand from spending. Thus, his life is straitened and his state is dark. As some Sufis have said: "No one turns away from the remembrance of his Lord except that his time becomes dark for him and his provision becomes confused."

Among the disbelievers are those upon whom God has struck humiliation and poverty due to their disbelief. God Almighty said: "And humiliation and poverty were struck upon them..." (Al-Baqarah: 61). He also said: "And if only they had upheld the Torah and the Gospel..." (Al-Mā’idah: 66); "And if only the people of the cities had believed and feared God, We would have opened upon them blessings from the heaven and the earth" (Al-A‘rāf: 96); "Ask forgiveness of your Lord... He will send [rain from] the sky upon you in showers" (Nūḥ: 10-11); and "If they had remained straight on the way, We would have given them abundant water to drink" (Al-Jinn: 16).

Al-Ḥasan said: It is the ḍarī‘ (bitter plant) and zaqqūm (tree in Hell) in the Fire. From Abū Sa‘īd al-Khudrī: "It is the punishment of the grave."

"And We will gather him..."

It is read as wa-naḥshuruhu (with a jazm), as a conjunction to the position of fa-inna lahu ma‘īshatan ḍankā (for he has a straitened life), because it is the response to the conditional clause. It is also read with the hā’ (in naḥshuruh) silenced, as if in a state of pause.

This is like His saying: "And We will gather them on the Day of Resurrection on their faces—blind, dumb, and deaf" (Al-Isrā’: 97).

Just as al-zurq (the blue-eyed) is interpreted as blindness, so too is kadhālik (thus): meaning, "You acted in such a way." It is then explained that Our signs came to you, clear and illuminating, but you did not look at them with the eye of one who takes heed, nor did you gain insight. You abandoned them and were blinded to them; therefore, today We abandon you to your blindness and will not remove the veil from your eyes.

"And thus do We recompense he who transgressed and did not believe in the signs of his Lord; and the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and more enduring."