سُوْرَةُ الْقِيَامَةِ
Surah Al-Qiyaama (75) — Ayah 31
فَلَا صَدَّقَ وَلَا صَلَّىٰ ﴿31﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
So he (the disbeliever) neither believed (in this Qur’ân and in the Message of Muhammad صلى الله عليه وسلم) nor prayed!
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
فَلَا
falā
And not
صَدَّقَ
ṣaddaqa
he accepted (the) truth
وَلَا
walā
and not
صَلَّىٰ
ṣallā
he prayed
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
➊ {فَلَا صَدَّقَ وَ لَا صَلّٰى… : ’’ يَتَمَطّٰى ‘‘} is the imperfect tense of {’’تَمَطّٰي‘‘} from "م ط و". The meaning of {’’مَطَا‘‘} is "back," that is, stiffening. {’’ اَوْلٰى ‘‘} is the superlative from "و ل ی," meaning more deserving, more entitled, closer.
➋ In {’’ فَلَا صَدَّقَ ‘‘} (So he did not affirm as true), the pronoun is referring to {’’ الْاِنْسَانُ ‘‘}, which is mentioned above in {’’ اَيَحْسَبُ الْاِنْسَانُ اَلَّنْ نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهٗ ‘‘}. That is, after seeing what happens to a person at the time of death and how helplessly he is sent off to his Lord, the right thing was that he should have affirmed the Hereafter as true and performed prayer for salvation on that Day and adopted humility and servitude on Allah’s earth. But he neither corrected his belief nor his actions nor his conduct with people. Rather, he denied the Hereafter and the Creator, and instead of accepting, he turned away and left, and instead of adopting humility and servitude, when he went home, he went arrogantly.
➌ { اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى:} The best explanation of this verse is the one given by Hafiz Ibn Kathir, that this disbeliever who disbelieved in his Creator and walked arrogantly, is being addressed by Allah as sarcasm and threat: since you have denied and dared to disbelieve in your Creator, then it is your right to walk this way, and this walk befits you. We are watching your walk and you will receive its outcome, as He said: «كُلُوْا وَ تَمَتَّعُوْا قَلِيْلًا اِنَّكُمْ مُّجْرِمُوْنَ » [ المرسلات : ۴۶ ] "Eat and enjoy yourselves a little; indeed, you are criminals." And He said: « فَاعْبُدُوْا مَا شِئْتُمْ مِّنْ دُوْنِهٖ » [ الزمر : ۱۵ ] "Worship whatever you wish besides Allah." And He said: « اِعْمَلُوْا مَا شِئْتُمْ » [ المؤمن: ۴۰] "Do whatever you wish." The repetition in {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى (34) ثُمَّ اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى ‘‘} is for further warning. This meaning is also better because the meaning of {’’ اَوْلٰى ‘‘} as "more deserving, more entitled" is well known.
➍ Many commentators have interpreted {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} as "woe to you, regret to you, destruction to you," because in the Arabic language {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} also comes in the meaning of {’’وَيْلٌ لَّكَ‘‘}. But this is not the literal meaning of {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘}; the literal meaning is "more deserving, more entitled," because the root letters of {’’ اَوْلٰى ‘‘} are "و ل ی," not "و ی ل." Rather, this is the intended meaning, and its explanation is that according to the context, the subject of {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} is considered omitted as {’’اَلْهِلَاكُ‘‘} or {’’اَلنَّارُ‘‘}, meaning destruction is more deserving for you, or the Fire is more deserving for you.
➋ In {’’ فَلَا صَدَّقَ ‘‘} (So he did not affirm as true), the pronoun is referring to {’’ الْاِنْسَانُ ‘‘}, which is mentioned above in {’’ اَيَحْسَبُ الْاِنْسَانُ اَلَّنْ نَّجْمَعَ عِظَامَهٗ ‘‘}. That is, after seeing what happens to a person at the time of death and how helplessly he is sent off to his Lord, the right thing was that he should have affirmed the Hereafter as true and performed prayer for salvation on that Day and adopted humility and servitude on Allah’s earth. But he neither corrected his belief nor his actions nor his conduct with people. Rather, he denied the Hereafter and the Creator, and instead of accepting, he turned away and left, and instead of adopting humility and servitude, when he went home, he went arrogantly.
➌ { اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى:} The best explanation of this verse is the one given by Hafiz Ibn Kathir, that this disbeliever who disbelieved in his Creator and walked arrogantly, is being addressed by Allah as sarcasm and threat: since you have denied and dared to disbelieve in your Creator, then it is your right to walk this way, and this walk befits you. We are watching your walk and you will receive its outcome, as He said: «كُلُوْا وَ تَمَتَّعُوْا قَلِيْلًا اِنَّكُمْ مُّجْرِمُوْنَ » [ المرسلات : ۴۶ ] "Eat and enjoy yourselves a little; indeed, you are criminals." And He said: « فَاعْبُدُوْا مَا شِئْتُمْ مِّنْ دُوْنِهٖ » [ الزمر : ۱۵ ] "Worship whatever you wish besides Allah." And He said: « اِعْمَلُوْا مَا شِئْتُمْ » [ المؤمن: ۴۰] "Do whatever you wish." The repetition in {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى (34) ثُمَّ اَوْلٰى لَكَ فَاَوْلٰى ‘‘} is for further warning. This meaning is also better because the meaning of {’’ اَوْلٰى ‘‘} as "more deserving, more entitled" is well known.
➍ Many commentators have interpreted {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} as "woe to you, regret to you, destruction to you," because in the Arabic language {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} also comes in the meaning of {’’وَيْلٌ لَّكَ‘‘}. But this is not the literal meaning of {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘}; the literal meaning is "more deserving, more entitled," because the root letters of {’’ اَوْلٰى ‘‘} are "و ل ی," not "و ی ل." Rather, this is the intended meaning, and its explanation is that according to the context, the subject of {’’ اَوْلٰى لَكَ ‘‘} is considered omitted as {’’اَلْهِلَاكُ‘‘} or {’’اَلنَّارُ‘‘}, meaning destruction is more deserving for you, or the Fire is more deserving for you.
