Tafsir of Ghafir 40:10

"They are called out on the Day of Resurrection, and it is said to them: {The hatred of Allah is greater}."

The implied meaning is: "Allah’s hatred for your own selves is greater than your hatred for your own selves." The mention of the self is omitted in the second instance because it was already mentioned in the first.

"{When you were called}": This is in the accusative case, governed by the first "hatred." The meaning is: It is said to them on the Day of Resurrection—as if Allah hates your souls that command evil and disbelief—that when the Prophets called you to faith and you refused, choosing disbelief instead, His hatred for you was greater than the hatred you feel for yourselves today while you are in the Fire, having been cast into it by following those very souls.

Al-Hasan said: "When they saw their wicked deeds, they hated themselves, so they were called out: 'The hatred of Allah [is greater].'"

Others said: The meaning is that Allah’s hatred for you now is greater than the hatred you feel for one another, as in His saying: {You disbelieve in one another and curse one another} (Al-Ankabut: 25).

"{When you were called}": This provides the reason. "Hatred" (Maqt) is the most intense form of loathing; it is placed here to signify the most extreme form of rejection.

"{Two deaths and two lives}": Or two deaths and two lives. By the "two deaths," He means:

1. Creating them as dead (non-existent) at first.
2. Causing them to die when their appointed times expire. By the "two lives," He means:
3. The first life (in this world).
4. The life of the Resurrection. A sufficient explanation for this is His saying: {And you were dead, and He brought you to life; then He will cause you to die, then He will bring you to life} (Al-Baqarah: 28). This is also the view of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both).

If you ask: How is it valid to call the initial creation of them as "dead" an "act of causing death"? I say: It is just as valid as saying, "Glory to Him who made the body of the mosquito small and the body of the elephant large," or saying to a digger, "Narrow the mouth of the well and widen its bottom." There is no actual transition from large to small or small to large, nor from narrow to wide or wide to narrow. You merely intend the creation of the object with those specific attributes. The reason this is valid is that smallness and largeness are both equally possible for a single creation, with neither taking precedence. When the Creator chooses one of the two possibilities—being equally capable of both—He has diverted the creation from the other possibility, and this diversion is treated as a "transfer" from one state to another.

Whoever interprets the "two deaths" as the one after the life of this world and the one after the life of the grave is forced to posit three lives, which contradicts the Quran—unless they resort to forced interpretations, such as claiming one life is not counted, or claiming that Allah brings them to life in the graves and that life continues without them dying thereafter, counting them among those exempted from the "blast" in His saying: {Except whom Allah wills} (Az-Zumar: 68).

If you ask: How does this lead to His saying: {We have confessed our sins}? I say: They denied the Resurrection and thus disbelieved, and from this followed countless sins; for whoever does not fear the consequence becomes reckless in disobedience. When they saw that death and life had been repeated for them, they knew that Allah is as capable of restoring them as He is of creating them initially. Thus, they confessed their sins—those they committed by denying the Resurrection and the disobedience that followed.

"{Is there any way out}": Meaning, is there any type of exit, whether fast or slow? Or is despair absolute, such that there is no exit and no way to it? This is the speech of one overcome by despair and hopelessness. They say this out of excuse-seeking and confusion. Therefore, the answer comes accordingly:

"{That is because}": That is, the state you are in, and the fact that there is no way out for you, is because of your disbelief in the Oneness of Allah and your belief in associating partners with Him.

"{The judgment belongs to Allah}": Since He has decreed for you eternal punishment.

"{The Most High, the Grand}": This indicates His pride and greatness, and that the punishment of One such as Him can only be of this nature—befitting His pride and corresponding to His omnipotence. It is said that the Haruriyyah (Kharijites) derived their slogan, "There is no judgment but Allah's," from this verse.