Women — Verse 168

إِنَّآ أَوْحَيْنَآ إِلَيْكَ (Verily, We have inspired you...) emphasized the Prophet's prophethood and refuted the idolators and People of the Scripture who denied him. Allah said, لَّـكِنِ اللَّهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَآ أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكَ (But Allah bears witness to that which He has sent down unto you,) meaning, even if they deny, defy and disbelieve in you, O Muhammad, Allah testifies that you are His Messenger to whom He sent down His Book, the Glorious Qur'an that, لاَّ يَأْتِيهِ الْبَـطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلاَ مِنْ خَلْفِهِ تَنزِيلٌ مِّنْ حَكِيمٍ حَمِيدٍ (Falsehood cannot come to it from before it or behind it, (it is) sent down by the All-Wise, Worthy of all praise.) Allah then said, أَنزَلَهُ بِعِلْمِهِ (He has sent it down with His knowledge,) The knowledge of His that He willed His servants to have access to. Knowledge about the clear signs of guidance and truth, what Allah likes and is pleased with, what He dislikes and is displeased with, and knowledge of the Unseen, such as the past and the future. This also includes knowledge about His honorable attributes that no sent Messenger or illustrious angel can even know without Allah's leave. Similarly, Allah said, وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِشَيْءٍ مِّنْ عِلْمِهِ إِلاَّ بِمَا شَآءَ (And they will never compass anything of His knowledge except that which He wills.) and, وَلاَ يُحِيطُونَ بِهِ عِلْماً (but they will never compass anything of His knowledge.) Allah's statement, وَالْمَلَـئِكَةُ يَشْهَدُونَ (and the angels bear witness.) to the truth of what you came with and what was revealed and sent down to you, along with Allah's testimony to the same, وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ شَهِيداً (And Allah is All-Sufficient as a Witness.) Allah said, إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ وَصَدُّواْ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ قَدْ ضَلُّواْ ضَلَـلاَ بَعِيداً (Verily, those who disbelieve and prevent (others) from the path of Allah, they have certainly strayed far away.) For they are disbelievers themselves and do not follow the truth. They strive hard to prevent people from following and embracing Allah's path. Therefore, they have defied the truth, deviated, and strayed far away from it. Allah also mentions His judgment against those who disbelieve in His Ayat, Book and Messenger, those who wrong themselves by their disbelief and hindering others from His path, committing sins and violating His prohibitions. Allah states that He will not forgive them; وَلاَ لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقاً (nor will He guide them to a way (that is, of good).) إِلاَّ طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ أَبَداً (Except the way of Hell, to dwell therein forever...) and this is the exception. Allah then said, يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ قَدْ جَآءَكُمُ الرَّسُولُ بِالْحَقِّ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ فَـَامِنُواْ خَيْراً لَّكُمْ (O mankind! Verily, there has come to you the Messenger with the truth from your Lord, so believe in him, it is better for you.) This Ayah means, Muhammad ﷺ has come to you with guidance, the religion of truth and clear proof from Allah. Therefore, believe in what he has brought you and follow him, for this is better for you. Allah then said, وَإِن تَكْفُرُواْ فَإِنَّ للَّهِ مَا فِى السَّمَـوَتِ وَالاٌّرْضِ (But if you disbelieve, then certainly to Allah belongs all that is in the heavens and the earth.) Allah is far too rich than to need you or your faith, and no harm could ever affect Him because of your disbelief. Allah said in another Ayah, وَقَالَ مُوسَى إِن تَكْفُرُواْ أَنتُمْ وَمَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ جَمِيعًا فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَغَنِىٌّ حَمِيدٌ (And Musa said: "If you disbelieve, you and all on earth together, then verily, Allah is Rich (Free of all needs), Owner of all praise.") Allah said here, وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلِيماً (And Allah is Ever All-Knowing,) He knows those who deserve to be guided, and He will guide them. He also knows those who deserve deviation, and He leads them to it, حَكِيماً (All-Wise) in His statements, actions, legislation and all that He decrees.

Surely those who disbelieve in God and who have done wrong to the Prophet by concealing his descriptions it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path whatever

Surely those who disbelieve, [those] who have been veiled from religion, and who have done wrong, who have prevented their preparednesses from [realising] what is their right in terms of [realising their] perfection, by committing vices and unleashing the attributes of the soul upon their hearts, it is not for God to forgive them, because the configurations of these vices are firmly rooted in them and their preparedness has been invalidated, nor to guide them to any path, because of their composite ignorance, their corrupt belief, and their lack of knowledge of any of the paths of perfection,

Surely those who disbelieve, [those] who have been veiled from religion, and who have done wrong, who have prevented their preparednesses from [realising] what is their right in terms of [realising their] perfection, by committing vices and unleashing the attributes of the soul upon their hearts, it is not for God to forgive them, because the configurations of these vices are firmly rooted in them and their preparedness has been invalidated, nor to guide them to any path, because of their composite ignorance, their corrupt belief, and their lack of knowledge of any of the paths of perfection,

Surely those who disbelieve and bar [people] from the way of God they have indeed gone far astray. Surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path except for the path of hell abiding therein forever; and for God that is an easy matter. He made their barring believers from following the truth the equivalent of their disbelief in God. [In equating these two] God most high treats the rights of His friends as seriously as He treats His own right. Then He said surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong. He made their wrongdoing ẓulm the same as their disbelief kufr and attached to both of these the justly deserved abiding punishment. Even if wrongdoing is not like disbelief in deserving the threat of endless duration the misfortune of it is that God may abandon those who do it until they succumb to disbelief.

Surely those who disbelieve and bar [people] from the way of God they have indeed gone far astray. Surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong it is not for God to forgive them neither to guide them to any path except for the path of hell abiding therein forever; and for God that is an easy matter. He made their barring believers from following the truth the equivalent of their disbelief in God. [In equating these two] God most high treats the rights of His friends as seriously as He treats His own right. Then He said surely those who disbelieve and who have done wrong. He made their wrongdoing ẓulm the same as their disbelief kufr and attached to both of these the justly deserved abiding punishment. Even if wrongdoing is not like disbelief in deserving the threat of endless duration the misfortune of it is that God may abandon those who do it until they succumb to disbelief.

إن الذين كفروا بالله وبرسوله، وظلموا باستمرارهم على الكفر، لم يكن الله ليغفر ذنوبهم، ولا ليدلهم على طريق ينجيهم.

"ولا يهديهم طريقا" أي سبيلا إلى الخير.

ثم أكد - سبحانه - هذا المعنى بقوله : ( إِنَّ الذين كَفَرُواْ ) بما يجب الإِيمان به ( وَظَلَمُواْ ) أنفسهم بإيرادها موارد التهلكة ، وظلموا غيرهم بأن حببوا إليه الفسوق والعصيان وكرهوا إليه الطاعة والإِيمان .

القول في تأويل قوله : إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَظَلَمُوا لَمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقًا (168) إِلا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرًا (169)قال أبو جعفر: يعني بذلك جل ثناؤه: إن الذين جحدوا رسالة محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم، فكفروا بالله بجحود ذلك، وظلموا بمُقامهم على الكفر على علم منهم، بظلمهم عبادَ الله، وحسدًا للعرب، وبغيًا على رسوله محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم=" لم يكن الله ليغفر لهم "، يعني: لم يكن الله ليعفو عن ذنوبهم بتركه عقوبتهم عليها، ولكنه يفضحهم بها بعقوبته إياهم عليها (23) =" ولا ليهديهم طريقًا "، يقول: ولم يكن الله تعالى ذكره ليهدي هؤلاء الذين كفروا وظلموا، الذين وصفنا صفتهم، فيوفقهم لطريق من الطرق التي ينالون بها ثوابَ الله، ويصلون بلزومهم إياه إلى الجنة، ولكنه يخذلهم عن ذلك، حتى يسلكوا طريق جهنم. وإنما كنى بذكر " الطريق " عن الدين. وإنما معنى الكلام: لم يكن الله ليوفقهم للإسلام، ولكنه يخذلهم عنه إلى " طريق جهنم "، وهو الكفر، يعني: حتى يكفروا بالله ورسله، فيدخلوا جهنم=" خالدين فيها أبدًا "، يقول: مقيمين فيها أبدًا=" وكان ذلك على الله يسيرًا "، يقول: وكان تخليدُ هؤلاء الذين وصفت لكم صفتهم في جهنم، على الله يسيرًا، لأنه لا يقدر من أراد ذلك به على الامتناع منه، ولا له أحد يمنعه منه، ولا يستصعب عليه ما أراد فعله به من ذلك، وكان ذلك على الله يسيرًا، لأن الخلق خلقُه، والأمرَ أمرُه.___________________الهوامش :(23) في المطبوعة: "إياهم عليهم" ، والصواب من المخطوطة.

( إن الذين كفروا وظلموا ) قيل : إنما قال " وظلموا " - مع أن ظلمهم بكفرهم - تأكيدا ، وقيل : معناه كفروا بالله وظلموا محمدا صلى الله عليه وسلم بكتمان نعته ، ( لم يكن الله ليغفر لهم ولا ليهديهم طريقا ) يعني : دين الإسلام .

الجملة بيان لجملة { قد ضلّوا ضلالاً بعيداً } [ النساء : 167 ] ، لأنّ السامع يترقّب معرفة جزاء هذا الضلال قبيّنته هذه الجملة .وإعادة الموصول وصلته دون أن يذكر ضميرهم لتُبنَى عليه صلة { وظلموا } ، ولأنّ في تكرير الصّلة تنديداً عليهم . ويجيء على الوجهين في المراد من الذين كفروا في الآية الّتي قبلها أن يكون عطْفُ الظلممِ على الكفر في قوله : { إن الذين كفروا وظلموا } إمَّا أن يراد به ظلم النّفس ، وظلم النبي والمسلمين ، وذلك اللائق بأهل الكتاب؛ وإمَّا أن يراد به الشرك ، كما هو شائع في استْعمال القرآن كقوله : { إنّ الشرك لظلم عظيم } [ لقمان : 13 ] ، فيكون من عطف الأخصّ على الأعمّ في الأنواع؛ وإمّا أن يراد به التعدّي على النّاس ، كظلمهم النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم بإخراجه من أرضه ، وتأليب النّاس عليه ، وغير ذلك ، وظلمهم المؤمنين بتعذيبهم في الله ، وإخراجهم ، ومصادرتهم في أموالهم ، ومعاملتهم بالنفاق والسخريّة والخداع؛ وإمّا أن يراد به ارتكاب المفاسد والجرائم ممّا استقرّ عند أهل العقول أنَّه ظلم وعدوان .وقوله : { لم يكن الله ليغفر لهم } صيغة جحود ، وقد تقدّم بيانها عند قوله تعالى : { ما كان لبشر أن يؤتيه الله الكتاب } في سورة آل عمران ( 79 ) ، فهي تقتضي تحقيق النفي ، وقد نفي عن الله أن يغفر لهم تحذيراً من البقاء على الكفر والظلم ، لأنّ هذا الحكم نِيط بالوصف ولم يُنط بأشخاص معروفين ، فإن هم أقلعوا عن الكفر والظلم لم يكونوا من الَّذين كفروا وظلموا . ومعنى نفي أن يهديهم طريقاً : إن كان طريقاً يومَ القيامة فهو واضح : أي لا يهديهم طريقاً بوصلهم إلى مكان إلاّ طريقاً يوصل إلى جهنّم . ويجوز أن يراد من الطريق الآيات في الدنيا ، كقوله : { اهدنا الصراط المستقيم } [ الفاتحة : 6 ] . فنفي هديهم إليه إنذار بأنّ الكفر والظلم من شأنهما أن يخيّما على القلب بغشاوة تمنعه من وصول الهدي إليه ، ليحذر المتلبّس بالكفر والظلم من التوغّل فيهما ، فلعلَّه أن يصبح ولا مخلّص له منهما . ونفي هدى الله أيّاهم على هذا الوجه مجاز عقلي في نفي تيسير أسباب الهدى بحسب قانون حصول الأسباب وحصول آثارها بعدها . وعلى أي الاحتمالين فتوبة الكافر الظالم بالإيمان مقبولة ، وكثيراً ما آمن الكافرون الظالمون وحسن إيمانهم ، وآيات قبول التّوبة ، وكذلك مشاهدة الواقع ، ممّا يهدي إلى تأويل هذه الآية ، وتقدّم نظير هذه الآية قريباً ، أي { الذين آمنوا ثُمّ كفروا } [ النساء : 137 ] الآية .

{ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَظَلَمُوا } وهذا الظلم هو زيادة على كفرهم، وإلا فالكفر عند إطلاق الظلم يدخل فيه. والمراد بالظلم هنا أعمال الكفر والاستغراق فيه، فهؤلاء بعيدون من المغفرة والهداية للصراط المستقيم. ولهذا قال: { لَمْ يَكُنِ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلَا لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ طَرِيقًا * إِلَّا طَرِيقَ جَهَنَّمَ } وإنما تعذرت المغفرة لهم والهداية لأنهم استمروا في طغيانهم، وازدادوا في كفرانهم فطبع على قلوبهم وانسدت عليهم طرق الهداية بما كسبوا، { وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّامٍ لِلْعَبِيدِ } { وَكَانَ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرًا } أي: لا يبالي الله بهم ولا يعبأ، لأنهم لا يصلحون للخير، ولا يليق بهم إلا الحالة التي اختاروها لأنفسهم.

قوله تعالى : إن الذين كفروا وظلموا لم يكن الله ليغفر لهم ولا ليهديهم طريقاقوله تعالى : إن الذين كفروا وظلموا يعني اليهود ؛ أي ظلموا محمدا بكتمان نعته ، وأنفسهم إذ كفروا ، والناس إذ كتموهم . لم يكن الله ليغفر لهم هذا فيمن يموت على كفره ولم يتب .

Those who respond negatively to the call of God by ignoring and rejecting it show quite clearly that they have strayed far from true submission to God. They say such things as are refuted by the entire universe, and take up a position against a plan which is supported by the Lord of the universe. Obviously, there is no greater foolishness than this. Such perverse behaviour leads them into denying and rejecting God rather than acknowledging Him and submitting to Him. Day by day they are removed further away from the truth, until they ultimately fall into the pit of eternal damnation. The denial of the call of God is the denial of oneself. The call of God is made in such clear terms that no one should find any difficulty in understanding it. Moreover, those who deny the call of God are, as it were, showing their audacity in the face of God Himself. Impudence and presumptuousness are the greatest crimes in the eyes of God. If man were to keep the windows of his heart open, the divine call would appear to him an exact answer to his own quest. He would feel that the truth which had been veiled in human interpretations had been brought to him in its pure and original form by the arrangement of God Himself, and that it was an expression of God’s own wisdom and knowledge rather than its being a matter of the personal ambition of a human being.

Then comes verse رُّ‌سُلًا مُّبَشِّرِ‌ينَ وَمُنذِرِ‌ينَ (-- Messengers giving good tidings and warning...) which succinctly tells that Almighty Allah consistently sent messengers to convey good tidings to all believers and to warn all disbelievers so that there remains no room for the excuse that they did not know the will of God and His Messengers --had they known about it, they would have certainly followed it! Now, that Almighty Allah has sent messengers with miracles and His messengers have shown the straight path of truth, the option of not accepting the true faith cannot be accepted from anyone, under any pretext or excuse. Such is the nature of Divine Revelation. Wahy is an absolute argument, final, conclusive and disarming. No argument stands operative against it. In fact, all arguments lie surrendered under its weight. And this is the wisdom of Allah and His modus operandi. It has been narrated by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ عنہما that a group of Jews came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . He said to them: Surely, you do know that I am a true messenger of Ajllah? They refused to accept that whereupon came the following verse (166): لَّـٰكِنِ اللَّـهُ يَشْهَدُ بِمَا أَنزَلَ إِلَيْكَ. 'But Allah bears witness (to your prophethood) through what He has revealed to you ...' The verse addressed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ declares that Allah is a witness to his prophet-hood through the miraculous Qur'an, a perfect message from out of His Knowledge. The Book has been revealed to him with full realization that he is deserving of it, and the angels too join in the testimony. After the very witnessing of the All-Knowing, All-Aware Allah, there is nothing left to argue about. The text, after having confirmed the veracity of the glorious Qur'an and the noble Prophet ﷺ ، turns to those who still deny them, conceal his character traits and circumstantial indicators of his appearance present in the Torah .and, sordidly enough, try to keep others away from the true faith by bringing out before them things which are not there or things .which have .been jumbled together to distort the truth. For such people, there shall be no forgiveness and no guidance either. Thus, it becomes very clear that guidance or the ability to find the straight path depends on following the Holy Prophet ﷺ and straying away, whatever be its nature, is nothing but hostility towards him. This, then, comprehensively refutes all erroneous ideas of the Jews.

(Lo! those who disbelieve) in Muhammad and the Qur'an (and deal in wrong) these are those who ascribe partners to Allah, (Allah will never forgive them) as long as they are thus, (neither will He guide them unto a road) a road of guidance.