Those Who Set The Ranks, Drawn up in Ranks, The Rangers — Verse 71
37:71 · as-Saffat
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وَلَقَدۡ ضَلَّ قَبۡلَهُمۡ أَكۡثَرُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِینَ ٧١
walaqad ḍalla qablahum aktharu l-awalīn
Those Who Set The Ranks, Drawn up in Ranks, The Rangers / as-Saffat (37:71)
Connections 1 single-source 1 commentator
Multi-source connections
No verses on this ayah are cited by 2 or more commentators using numeric S:A notation. All extracted references come from a single source's commentary.
Single-source mention (1) cited by only one commentator
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Q 56:52 (al-Waqi`ah)
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By commentator who cites how many verses on this ayah
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Tazkirul Quran 1 verse
Note: these connections are extracted from numeric S:A references inside the commentary text and are therefore biased toward mufassirun who use that notation. Prose-style references (e.g. "Surat al-Baqarah verse 30") will be added later, which should surface additional multi-source consensus.
most men in the past went astray
walaqad ḍalla qablahum aktharu l-awalīn
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Tafsir Commentary
فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَـقِبَةُ الْمُنذَرِينَ إِلاَّ عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
(Then see what was the end of those who were warned. Except the chosen servants of Allah).
And verily most of the ancients of past communities went astray before them
ولقد ضلَّ عن الحق قبل قومك -أيها الرسول- أكثر الأمم السابقة.
يخبر تعالى عن الأمم الماضية أن أكثرهم كانوا ضالين يجعلون مع الله آلهة أخرى.
ثم بين - سبحانه - أحوال السابقين عليهم فقال : ( وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الأولين ) .أى : ولقد ضل قبل هؤلاء الظالمين من قومك - أيها الرسول الكريم - أكثر الأقوام السابقين الذين أرسلنا إليهم رسلنا لهدايتهم .وفى التعبير بقوله : ( أكثر ) إنصاف ومدح للقلة المؤمنة التى اتبعت الحق .
القول في تأويل قوله تعالى : وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الأَوَّلِينَ (71)يقول تعالى ذكره: ولقد ضل يا محمد عن قصد السبيل ومَحجة الحق قبل مشركي قومك من قريش أكثر الأمم الخالية من قبلهم .
(ولقد ضل قبلهم أكثر الأولين ) من الأمم الخالية .
وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ (71) عُقّب وصفُ حال المشركين في الآخرة وما علّل به من أنهم ألْفَوْا آباءهم ضالّين فاتبعوا آباءهم بتنظيرهم بمن سلفوا من الضالّين وتذكيراً للرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم بذلك مسلاة له على ما يلاقيه من تكذيبهم ، واستقصاء لهم في العبرة والموعظة بما حلّ بالأمم قبلهم ، فهَذه الجملة معطوفة على مضمون الجملة التي قبلها إكمالاً للتعليل ، أي اتبعوا آثار آبائهم واقتدوا بالأمم أشياعهم .ووصف الذين ضلّوا قبلهم بأنهم { أكْثَرُ الأوَّلِينَ } لئلا يَغترّ ضعفاء العقول بكثرة المشركين ولا يعْتزّوا بها ، ليعلموا أن كثرة العدد لا تبرّر ضلال الضالّين ولا خطأ المخطئين ، وأن الهدى والضلال ليسا من آثار العدد كثرة وقلة ولكنهما حقيقتان ثابتتان مستقلتان فإذا عرضت لإِحداهما كثرة أو قلة فلا تكونان فتنة لقصار الأنظار وضعفاء التفكير . قال تعالى : { قل لا يستوي الخبيث والطيب ولو أعجبك كثرة الخبيث } [ المائدة : 100 ] .
قوله تعالى : ولقد ضل قبلهم أكثر الأولين أي من الأمم الماضية .
It is stated in the Quran that there will be a Zaqqum tree in hell and that its fruits will be eaten by the inmates of hell when they are overwhelmed by hunger. (See 56: 52). When this revelation was made in the Quran, the people of ancient Arabia started mocking it. One of the chiefs said, ‘How can a tree grow amidst the fire of hell?’ Another chief said, ‘Muhammad is terrifying us by talking of Zaqqum, when the fact is that dates and butter are called Zaqqum, in the Berber language.’ Abu Jahl took some people home and asked his maidservant to bring some dates and butter and when they were brought, he said to his companions, ‘Eat this. This is the Zaqqum with which you are being threatened by Muhammad.’ (Tafsir al-Mazhari). Such Quranic statements were misused by unbelievers to demonstrate the untrustworthiness of the Quran. God might well have refrained from using such a word as would give unbelievers the opportunity to raise unnecessary issues, but He did not do so. The reason is that this creates the very situation in which a man is meant to be tried. In order to achieve salvation, he has to prove that by avoiding unnecessary issues he has given his full attention to the truth; that, by carefully avoiding misunderstandings, he has managed to discover the real purpose of the argument; that he has concentrated entirely on facts, although there were many opportunities for his mind to be diverted from them. God’s selected few are those who rise above traditional religion and discover the real Truth; who rise above outward appearances and realise the real meaning of occurrences; who recognise God’s representative and become his supporters.
By saying: طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُءُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ (Its fruits are like the heads of the shaitans.- 65), the fruits of zaqqum have been likened to the heads of the satans. Some commentators have translated the word: الشَّيَاطِينِ (ash-shayatin) in this verse as 'serpents' since the fruit of zaqqum resembles the hood of the serpent. Therefore, in Urdu and Hindi too, it is called 'nagphan' (hood of the serpent) for this very reason. But most
commentators have said that the word: الشَّيَاطِينِ (ash-shayatin) here should be taken in its well-recognized sense. Thus, it would mean that, in its ugliness, the fruit of zaqqum is like the head of the satans. Now, let there be no doubt here that nobody has seen the Shaitan, why then, would something be likened to him? The reason is that it is an imaginative simile. Speaking metaphorically, things ugly and grotesque are commonly likened to Shaitans, Jinns and ghosts. The purpose is only to express an extreme degree of ugliness. The simile used here is also of this very nature. (Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani and others).
The sense of the rest of the verses is clear from their translation.
(And verily most of the men of old) of past generations, (went astray before them) before your folk, O Muhammad.