Surah Ibrahim (14) — Ayah 22

(Ayah22) ➊ The meaning of {بِمُصْرِخِكُمْ: ’’ صُرَاخٌ ‘‘} is to cry out or shout, which is a plea for help to be saved from distress. In {’’اَصْرَخَ يُصْرِخُ‘‘}, the hamzah in the form of "af‘ala" is for the removal of the root cause, meaning to remove the distress that causes the crying out, just as in {’’شَكَانِيْ فَأَشْكَيْتُهُ ‘‘} that he complained to me, so I removed his complaint. That is why generally {’’صُرَاخٌ‘‘} means plea and {’’اِصْرَاخٌ‘‘} means to respond to a plea. {’’ بِمُصْرِخِيَّ ‘‘} was originally {’’بِمُصْرِخِيْنَ‘‘} in the sound masculine plural, but when it was annexed to the first person singular ya, the noon of inflection dropped and with the assimilation of ya into ya, it became {’’ بِمُصْرِخِيَّ ‘‘}.

➋ After the judgment, when the people of Paradise will enter Paradise and the people of Hell will enter Hell, and from all sides there will be a shower of blame upon Satan, then in response Satan will say that the promise Allah made to you was true, because He was the owner of all those things He promised, such as resurrecting after death, Paradise, Hell, acceptance of supplication, etc., so He fulfilled that promise. And the promise I made to you was false, that if you do this, this will happen; if you call upon the benefactor, this will happen; if you call upon the helper, this will happen—because none of them owned anything, and the desires I aroused in your hearts, such as by giving an offering in the name of so-and-so, the beloved will fall at your feet, or by sacrificing a goat in the name of so-and-so, the enemy will be destroyed—none of these had any reality. Allah said: «{ يَعِدُهُمْ وَ يُمَنِّيْهِمْ وَ مَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطٰنُ اِلَّا غُرُوْرًا }» [ النساء : ۱۲۰ ] "He promises them and arouses desires in them, and Satan does not promise them except delusion." Therefore, Allah teaches us that whenever you make a promise, make it only for something you can do, and still say "insha’Allah" (if Allah wills), because your authority is subject to Allah. He said: « وَ لَا تَقُوْلَنَّ لِشَايْءٍ اِنِّيْ فَاعِلٌ ذٰلِكَ غَدًا (23) اِلَّاۤ اَنْ يَّشَآءَ اللّٰهُ » [ الکہف : ۲۳، ۲۴ ] "And never say of anything, 'Indeed, I will do that tomorrow,' except [when adding], 'If Allah wills.'"

➌ The meaning of {وَ مَا كَانَ لِيَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّنْ سُلْطٰنٍ … : ’’ سُلْطَةٌ ‘‘} and {’’ سُلْطٰنٍ ‘‘} is to forcibly gain dominance over someone, to impose oneself. This dominance is of two types: one is through government, and it is clear that Satan had no government over them, that he could have brought an army against them; and the other is the dominance and authority of a sound argument, because an argument takes control of the heart and a person is compelled to act accordingly, and it is clear that Satan had neither a stick nor any reasonable argument. Thus, he will say, I only invited you to some actions, which matched your weaknesses, such as greed, lust, anger, cowardice, etc., and in them your desires were aroused, and you immediately accepted it (keep in mind the difference between {أَجَبْتُمْ } and {اِسْتَجَبْتُمْ}). Therefore, do not blame me, but blame yourselves, because you sinned by your own will; I did not force you. Now neither can you help me nor can I help you. See the explanation of Satan's authority in Surah An-Nahl, Ayah (100).

➍ { اِنِّيْ كَفَرْتُ بِمَاۤ اَشْرَكْتُمُوْنِ مِنْ قَبْلُ :} Before this, you made me a partner with Allah, I deny this, because worship was only Allah's right, likewise obeying commands was only Allah's right, and that too was included in His worship. Instead, you obeyed me, worshipped me, made me His partner; now I openly disassociate myself from this. You did not follow me but followed your own desires, and instead of Allah, you did not call upon me but upon your imagined helpers and benefactors, as Allah said: «{ اِنْ يَّتَّبِعُوْنَ اِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَ مَا تَهْوَى الْاَنْفُسُ }» [ النجم : ۲۳ ] "These people (the polytheists) follow nothing but assumption and what their souls desire."

➎ { اِنَّ الظّٰلِمِيْنَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ اَلِيْمٌ:} This could be the last part of Satan's statement as an admission, before which he has already disavowed them by stating the following: (1) My promise was false. (2) I had no dominance over you. (3) You accepted an invitation devoid of argument. (4) Instead of blaming me, blame yourselves. (5) I cannot help you. (6) I reject the partnership you ascribed to me. (7) This is the last thing: for the wrongdoers (polytheists) there is a painful punishment. (Summary from Shawkani) And this sentence could also be the statement of Allah, which is an expression of reality.

22. 1 That is, when the believers will enter Paradise and the disbelievers and polytheists will enter Hell, then Satan will say to the people of Hell:
22. 2 The promises that Allah made through His messengers—that salvation lies in believing in My messengers—those were true. In comparison, my promises were nothing but deception and fraud. As Allah has said: "Satan makes promises to them and arouses desires in them, but Satan's promises are nothing but deception." (4:120)
22. 3 Secondly, there was no proof or argument in my words, nor did I have any authority over you.
22. 4 Yes, I had an invitation and a call; you accepted my baseless call and rejected the words of the messengers, which were full of proof and argument.
22. 5 Therefore, the entire fault is your own; you did not use your intellect and understanding at all, you ignored the clear proofs, and followed a mere claim that had no proof behind it.
22. 6 That is, neither can I get you out of the punishment in which you are trapped, nor can you save me from the wrath and anger that is upon me from Allah.
22. 7 I also deny that I am a partner of Allah; if you considered me or anyone else as a partner of Allah, then it was your own mistake and ignorance. The Allah who created the entire universe and continued to manage it—how could He possibly have any partner?
22. 8 Some say that this sentence is also from Satan and is the conclusion of his aforementioned address. Others say that Satan's speech ends at مِنْ قَبْلُ, and this is the speech of Allah.

22. And when the matter has been decided [25], Satan will say, "Indeed, Allah promised you a true promise, and I too made you a promise, but I broke my promise to you. And I had no authority over you except that I called you, and you responded to me. So do not blame me, but blame yourselves [26]. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. Indeed, I deny your associating me [27] with Allah before. Surely, for the wrongdoers is a painful punishment."

[25] That is, after the reckoning of people's deeds, when the people of Paradise will be sent to Paradise and the people of Hell will be sent to Hell.

[26]
Satan's Address to the People of Hell:

Since Satan himself will also go to Hell, he will address the people of Hell who will be blaming him. He will say: Look! One promise was made to you by Allah through His messengers, which was that the Day of Resurrection will surely come, on that day every person will be presented before Allah. Everyone will be questioned about his deeds related to the world, then according to the deeds, everyone will be rewarded or punished. This promise was absolutely true, which you have now witnessed yourselves. And one promise I made to you through my agents, which was that the concept of the Day of Hereafter is merely a deception. After death, a person mixes with the dust and becomes dust. How can he be brought back to life after thousands of years? Therefore, whatever exists is only this world. So, what wisdom is there in unnecessarily imposing restrictions on yourself and binding yourself here? Whatever life there is in this world should be spent in comfort and luxury, or I made this promise that hold on to such-and-such pir or such-and-such saint, pledge allegiance to him, and keep presenting offerings to him. If the Day of Hereafter does come, that saint will intercede for you and save you from Allah.

Satan's Admission That His Promise Was False:

Today I admit that my promise was false. But there is one thing for sure, and that is that I only incited you towards these things. I only drew your attention to them, which you accepted, but I had neither any rational argument by which I could convince you, nor did I have any power over you that I could force you to follow my words. Therefore, do not blame me now, rather lament your own intellects. Today I am just as helpless as you are. Neither can I support or help you, nor can you help me, because both are equally guilty.

[27] That is, you disobeyed Allah by following my words against His commands, and by obeying me or my agents, whom you had given the status of divinity, I also deny that, and openly admit that Allah alone is without partner, and He alone is worthy of worship and devotion, and all those deities, granters of needs, and removers of difficulties that you had made at my instigation were all nothing but falsehood. And the second meaning of this sentence could also be that when I had already become a disbeliever before you made me a partner, then why did you make me a partner at all?