Surah Al-A'raaf (7) — Ayah 169

(Ayah 169) ➊ { فَخَلَفَ مِنْۢ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ …: } Qurtubi (may Allah have mercy on him) said: {’’ اَلْخَلْفُ ‘‘} with a sukoon on the laam, means offspring; the singular and plural are the same, and {’’ اَلْخَلَفُ‘‘} with a fathah on the laam means one who comes in place of the predecessors, whether offspring or a stranger. Ibn al-A’rabi said: with a fathah on the laam means a righteous successor, and with a sukoon on the laam means an unworthy successor, and both words are also used interchangeably. (Tantawi) {’’ عَرَضٌ ‘‘} means the goods of this world, because they are temporary. {’’ هٰذَا الْاَدْنٰى ‘‘} in {’’ هٰذَا ‘‘} (this) the word is used to express contempt, and {’’ الْاَدْنٰى ‘‘} also indicates the baseness and insignificance of the world. (Kashshaf) Then their successors were such unworthy ones who became heirs to the Book of Allah, meaning they read it, acquired its knowledge, and became fully aware of the halal and haram and the commands and prohibitions mentioned in it, but instead of accepting its effect, they opposed its rulings and made its haram into halal, and due to intense greed, became engaged in seeking the wealth of this insignificant world, whether obtained by halal means or haram, whether usury, bribery, or the rights of others. Despite this, they kept saying that we will surely be forgiven. {’’ سَيُغْفَرُ لَنَا ‘‘} in which the "seen" is for emphasis. (Alusi) Because we are Allah’s sons, His beloved, and from the lineage of His prophets. He said: «{ وَ قَالَتِ الْيَهُوْدُ وَ النَّصٰرٰى نَحْنُ اَبْنٰٓؤُا اللّٰهِ وَ اَحِبَّآؤُهٗ }» [ المائدۃ : ۱۸] “And the Jews and Christians said, ‘We are Allah’s sons and His beloved.’”
➋ { وَ اِنْ يَّاْتِهِمْ عَرَضٌ مِّثْلُهٗ يَاْخُذُوْهُ:} That is, after committing sins and consuming the haram, they neither feel ashamed nor do they develop the urge to repent; rather, their boldness in sinning and consuming the haram keeps increasing, whereas repentance is necessary for forgiveness, whose essential components are regret for the past and a sincere, firm resolve not to do it again in the future. But their condition is such that after consuming haram once, if the same haram becomes available again, they do not refrain from it. Thus, after taking a bribe once, as soon as they get another opportunity for a bribe, they accept it without hesitation. This is the state of their scholars: even after giving people wrong rulings and consuming the haram, they claim that they will be forgiven, even though they are not ready to give up the wrong action, which is the first condition for forgiveness.
➌ {اَلَمْ يُؤْخَذْ عَلَيْهِمْ مِّيْثَاقُ الْكِتٰبِ … :} This covenant is mentioned in detail in the Torah as well as in Surah Al-Imran, Ayah (187).
➍ { وَ دَرَسُوْا مَا فِيْهِ:} And they have read all that is in it, meaning they know very well that Allah Almighty has not written anywhere in the Torah that you may commit whatever sins you wish and I will forgive you, but their boldness and fearlessness is such that they commit sins, earn from the world by selling Allah’s verses, and attribute to Allah the Exalted things He never said.
➎ { وَ الدَّارُ الْاٰخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِّلَّذِيْنَ يَتَّقُوْنَ:} That is, the blessings prepared in the Hereafter for those who fear Allah and refrain from consuming the haram are far better than the temporary goods of this insignificant world. O you who knowingly consume the haram! Do you not understand?

1. Khalaf (with fathah on the laam) refers to righteous offspring, and khalaf (with sukoon on the laam) refers to unworthy offspring. In Urdu as well, the phrase "na-khalaf" is used in the sense of unworthy children. 169. 1 Adna is derived from danu (near), meaning they acquire wealth that is near, by which the world is meant, or it is derived from dana’ah, meaning lowly, insignificant wealth. The meaning in both cases clarifies the greed for the worldly possessions of this world. 169. 2 That is, despite being seekers of the world, they hope for forgiveness, just as is the condition of Muslims nowadays. 169. 3 Despite this, they do not refrain from attributing false statements to Allah, for example, the same statement about forgiveness that was mentioned above. 169. 4 Another meaning of this could be to erase, as in "darasatir-reehu al-athar" (the wind erased the traces), meaning they erased the words of the Book, obliterated them, i.e., abandoned acting upon them.

169. Then, after them, there succeeded a generation who inherited the Book [171], taking the fleeting gains of this worldly life and saying, "We will be forgiven." But if similar worldly gains came before them again, they would seize them (again). Was not the covenant of the Book taken from them that they would not attribute anything to Allah except the truth? And they have studied what is in it. And the home of the Hereafter is better for those who are mindful of Allah [172]. Do you not understand?

[171] That is, among the ancestors of these Jews there were also some good people and some were sinners, although the majority were of those sinners. But their descendants turned out to be completely unworthy and incompetent; they began to sell Allah’s Book and became dogs of the world. What is worse, they also thought that no matter what deeds they do, Allah will not punish them and will forgive them because they are the children of the Prophets ؑ and beloved to Allah. Instead of feeling remorseful and ashamed after committing sins and repenting before Allah, they would be ready again, so that if someone came to ask for a fatwa or a religious ruling, they would take a bribe from him or extract wealth and riches. Even though they had been firmly pledged that they would not attribute any false or unjust thing to Allah, and they read and taught this in the Book as well, despite this, they attributed this statement to Allah that no matter what deeds they do, Allah will not punish them because they are the children of the Prophets and beloved to Allah. Can they show this statement from the Torah?

[172] This sentence can have two meanings, and both are correct. One is that the home of the Hereafter is better for those who fear Allah (as has been translated), and for those who do not fear Allah, it is certainly not better; they will have to endure punishment and suffering there. The second meaning is that those who fear Allah always consider the home of the Hereafter to be better and prefer the home of the Hereafter over this world, and they are convinced that their life in the Hereafter will be far better than this world. If only you people could understand this.