Surah Az-Zukhruf (43) — Ayah 33

(Ayah 33 to 35) ➊ {وَ لَوْ لَاۤ اَنْ يَّكُوْنَ النَّاسُ اُمَّةً وَّاحِدَةً …: ’’ سُقُفًا ‘‘ ’’سَقْفٌ‘‘} is the plural of, ceilings. {’’ مَعَارِجَ ‘‘} (stairs) is the plural of {’’مِعْرَجٌ‘‘} or {’’مِعْرَاجٌ‘‘}, just as {’’مَفَاتِحُ‘‘} and {’’مَفَاتِيْحُ‘‘ ’’مِفْتَاحٌ‘‘} are plurals of {’’مِفْتَاحٌ‘‘}. {’’ سُرُرًا ‘‘ ’’سَرِيْرٌ‘‘} is the plural of, beds, thrones. The meaning of {’’ زُخْرُفًا ‘‘} is gold, as the disbelievers said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): « اَوْ يَكُوْنَ لَكَ بَيْتٌ مِّنْ زُخْرُفٍ» [ بني إسرائیل : ۹۳ ] "Or you have a house of gold." Its meaning is also adornment and decoration, as He said: «حَتّٰۤى اِذَاۤ اَخَذَتِ الْاَرْضُ زُخْرُفَهَا وَ ازَّيَّنَتْ » [ یونس : ۲۴ ] "Until when the earth has taken on its adornment and is beautified." {’’ زُخْرُفًا ‘‘} can be accusative for two reasons: one is that it is originally {’’سُقُفًا مِنْ فِضَّةٍ وَ مِنْ زُخْرُفٍ‘‘}, and due to the omission of the preposition, it became accusative, meaning "We would have made the ceilings of their houses of silver and of gold." The second reason is that it is conjoined to the object {’’ سُقُفًا ‘‘} of {’’ لَجَعَلْنَا ‘‘}, meaning {’’لَجَعَلْنَا لِبُيُوْتِهِمْ سُقُفًا مِنْ فِضَّةٍ وَ لَجَعَلْنَا لَهُمْ زُخْرُفًا‘‘} "We would have made the ceilings of their houses of silver and We would have provided them with gold." In {’’ وَ اِنْ كُلُّ ذٰلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَاعُ الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا ‘‘}, {’’ اِنْ ‘‘} is a negation and {’’ لَمَّا ‘‘} means {’’إِلَّا‘‘}, as He said: « اِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ» [ الطارق : ۴ ] "There is no soul but that over it is a protector."

➋ The meaning of the verses is that when Allah Almighty, in {’’ وَ رَحْمَتُ رَبِّكَ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُوْنَ ‘‘} (And the mercy of your Lord is better than what they accumulate), mentioned the greatness and glory of the Hereafter and the insignificance of the world, He also stated that the world is utterly insignificant and worthless in His sight; the only thing of value to Him is the Hereafter. Therefore, He has reserved the blessings of the Hereafter exclusively for the Muslims; the disbelievers have no share in them. In the blessings of this world, He has included both believers and disbelievers, and He explained the wisdom behind including both in these blessings: if it were not for Our dislike that all people would become a single community, that is, all would become disbelievers, We would have given all the adornments and beauties of the world to the disbelievers. But since We know that there is a strong desire and love for worldly adornment in people's hearts, if We gave all of this to the disbelievers, then as a result of the desire for the world, everyone would become a disbeliever (while this is not approved by Our mercy). Therefore, We have kept both the rich and the poor among both disbelievers and believers, and included both in the provisions of worldly life. In the last sentences of the verse: «وَ اِنْ كُلُّ ذٰلِكَ لَمَّا مَتَاعُ الْحَيٰوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَ الْاٰخِرَةُ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ لِلْمُتَّقِيْنَ » (And all this is nothing but the enjoyment of the life of this world, and the Hereafter with your Lord is for the righteous), He stated that the Hereafter is only for the believers. The same subject is mentioned in Surah Al-A'raf (32). Sahl bin Sa'd (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ لَوْ كَانَتِ الدُّنْيَا تَعْدِلُ عِنْدَ اللّٰهِ جَنَاحَ بَعُوْضَةٍ مَا سَقٰی كَافِرًا مِنْهَا شَرْبَةَ مَاءٍ] [ ترمذي، الزھد، باب ما جاء في ھوان الدنیا علی اللّٰہ عز و جل : ۲۳۲۰ ] "If the world were worth the wing of a mosquito to Allah, He would not have given a disbeliever a single sip of water from it."