Surah Al-Qasas (28) — Ayah 63

(Ayah 63) ➊ {قَالَ الَّذِيْنَ حَقَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقَوْلُ:} By “the word has been proved true” is meant “the word of punishment has been proved true,” as He said: «{ وَ لٰكِنْ حَقَّ الْقَوْلُ مِنِّيْ لَاَمْلَـَٔنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَ النَّاسِ اَجْمَعِيْنَ }» [ السجدۃ : ۱۳ ] “But My word has been decreed: Surely I will fill Hell with jinn and men all together.” And by “those upon whom the word of punishment has been proved true” is meant the devils or those great leaders, chiefs, and spiritual guides whom people had taken as {’’ اَرْبَابًا مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ‘‘} in the world, and in opposition to whose word they used to reject the word of Allah and His messengers. If they declared something lawful, people considered it lawful; if they declared it unlawful, people considered it unlawful. This was making them lords and partners with Allah besides Him. Those leaders who made people worship them and upon whom the decision of punishment had been made will say, “O our Lord! …”

➋ {رَبَّنَا هٰۤؤُلَآءِ الَّذِيْنَ اَغْوَيْنَا …:} That is, those who were made partners with Allah will say, “O our Lord! These are the people whom we led astray. We led them astray just as we ourselves went astray,” meaning, just as we ourselves went astray by our own choice in response to the invitation of those who called to misguidance, in the same way we presented misguidance to them, so they too went astray by their own choice. Neither was anyone forced upon us, nor did we force them.

➌ { تَبَرَّاْنَاۤ اِلَيْكَ:} We are free from responsibility for their misguidance. Whoever was worshipped besides Allah, whether righteous or wicked, will disown their worshippers on the Day of Resurrection, rather, they will be their enemies. See Surah Maryam (81, 82), Ahqaf (5, 6), Ankabut (25), and Surah Baqarah (166, 167).

➍ { مَا كَانُوْۤا اِيَّانَا يَعْبُدُوْنَ :} Because those who follow or call upon any partner besides Allah are in reality not calling upon any existing thing, nor are they following it, because no partner of Allah actually exists; they are merely following their own imagination and conjecture, as He said: «{ اَلَاۤ اِنَّ لِلّٰهِ مَنْ فِي السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ مَنْ فِي الْاَرْضِ وَ مَا يَتَّبِعُ الَّذِيْنَ يَدْعُوْنَ مِنْ دُوْنِ اللّٰهِ شُرَكَآءَ اِنْ يَّتَّبِعُوْنَ اِلَّا الظَّنَّ وَ اِنْ هُمْ اِلَّا يَخْرُصُوْنَ } » [ یونس : ۶۶ ] “Behold! Surely to Allah belongs whoever is in the heavens and whoever is in the earth. And those who call upon others besides Allah are not actually following any partners. They follow nothing but conjecture, and they do nothing but guess.” Therefore, those who were made partners will clearly say that these people did not worship us, but rather worshipped their own conjecture, and they were not our servants but servants of their own selves.

➎ In this verse, it is noteworthy that the question will be addressed to those who made partners, but those who were made partners will be the ones to speak. The reason for this is that when the general polytheists are questioned, the leaders and chiefs will realize that now their own reckoning is coming, and these disciples and followers of theirs will surely hold them responsible for their misguidance, so they will begin to present their defense in advance.

63-1. That is, those who will have become deserving of Allah's punishment, such as rebellious devils and the leaders of disbelief and polytheism, etc., they will say.

63-2. This is a reference to the ignorant masses who were led astray by the leaders of disbelief and by the devils.

63-3. That is, we were already astray, but we also kept them astray along with us. The meaning is that we did not force them in any way; just at our slightest indication, they too adopted misguidance just like us.

63-4. That is, we are disassociated and separate from them, we have no connection with them. The meaning is that there, these followers and leaders, disciples and gurus, will be enemies of each other.

63-5. Rather, in reality, they used to follow their own desires. That is, those deities whom people used to worship in the world will outright deny that people used to worship them. This subject has been mentioned in several places in the Noble Quran.

63. Those against whom the word (of punishment) will have come due (the alleged partners of Allah) will say, "Our Lord! These are the ones whom we led astray; we led them astray as we ourselves were astray. We declare our innocence before You; they did not worship us [87]."

[86] By this are meant those devils from among jinn and mankind who have been worshipped in some form or another in the world. Here, worship does not merely mean ritual devotion, but servitude and bondage. That is, those people who desired that their commands be obeyed in opposition to Allah’s commands—whether they were worldly rulers or people of the type of spiritual leaders and elders.

[87] Both the worshippers and the worshipped were followers of their own desires, and the response of the worshipped: That is, Allah will question the polytheists, “Where are those partners you set up against Me?” But before these polytheists can give any answer, these worshipped ones themselves will speak up and say, “O Lord! Indeed, we certainly became a cause of these people’s misguidance. But we did not force them into this. Rather, these people went astray just as we ourselves went astray. We too were led astray by following the desires of our souls, and they also saw their own interests in supporting us in this matter. If they had chosen the path of guidance, we would have had no power over them. Therefore, these people were by no means worshipping us, but were worshipping their own desires. We did the same, and so did they. So, what fault is ours in this?”