Al-Tafsīr al-Qayyim - Ibn al-Qayyim - (376)

Al-Tafsīr al-QayyimIbn al-Qayyim

and the angels stretching out their hands, saying, ‘Give up your souls! Today you will be repaid with humiliating punishment for speaking untruths about Allah and arrogantly rejecting His signs.’”

The angels’ words, “Today you will be repaid with humiliating punishment,” refer to the punishment of the intermediate realm, which begins on the day the soul is taken at death.

A parallel occurs in His words, Most High:

8:51 “If only you could see when the angels take the souls of those who disbelieve, striking their faces and their backs: ‘Taste the punishment of the blazing Fire!’”

This tasting of punishment takes place in the intermediate realm, beginning at death. The command is conjoined to His words, “striking their faces and their backs.” This is an instance in which spoken words are omitted because the context indicates them, as in similar passages. Both occur at the time of death.

It is reported in the Sahīh from al-Barā ibn Āzib—may Allah be pleased with him—«1» that, concerning His words, Most High:

14:27 “Allah keeps those who believe firm with the firm word, in this worldly life and in the Hereafter,”

he said, “This was revealed concerning the punishment of the grave.” The hadiths concerning the punishment of the grave almost reach the level of mass transmission.

The point is that Allah, Glorified is He, has declared that whoever turns away from His Reminder—the guidance whose followers neither go astray nor suffer misery—will have a life of hardship. He has guaranteed whoever keeps His covenant a good life and their reward in the Hereafter. He, Most High, says:

16:97 “Whoever does righteous deeds, whether male or female, while being a believer, We will surely grant them a good life, and We will surely reward them according to the best of what they used to do.”

Thus Allah, Glorified is He, declares that whoever holds fast to His covenant in knowledge and practice will prosper: with a good life in this world and the finest reward in the Hereafter. This is the opposite of the condition of one who has a life of hardship in this world and the intermediate realm, and who is left forgotten in punishment in the Hereafter.

(1) He was Abū ‘Umāra al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib al-Ansārī al-Hārithī, who settled in Kufa. A contemporary of Ibn ‘Umar, he was deemed too young to participate in the Battle of Badr. He died in 72 AH. See Shadharāt al-Dhahab.

وَالْمَلائِكَةُ باسِطُوا أَيْدِيهِمْ أَخْرِجُوا أَنْفُسَكُمُ، الْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذابَ الْهُونِ بِما كُنْتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى اللَّهِ غَيْرَ الْحَقِّ وَكُنْتُمْ عَنْ آياتِهِ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ فقول الملائكة «اليوم تجزون عذاب الهون» المراد به: عذاب البرزخ الذي أوله يوم القبض والموت. ونظيره قوله تعالى: ٨: ٥١ وَلَوْ تَرى إِذْ يَتَوَفَّى الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا الْمَلائِكَةُ يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبارَهُمْ وَذُوقُوا عَذابَ الْحَرِيقِ فهذه الإذاقة هي في البرزخ. وأولها حين الوفاة فإنه معطوف على قوله: يَضْرِبُونَ وُجُوهَهُمْ وَأَدْبارَهُمْ وهو من القول المحذوف مقوله لدلالة الكلام عليه. كنظائره. وكلاهما واقع وقت الوفاة وفي الصحيح عن البراء بن عازب ﵁ «١» في قوله تعالى: ١٤: ٢٧ يُثَبِّتُ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِالْقَوْلِ الثَّابِتِ فِي الْحَياةِ الدُّنْيا وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ قال «نزلت في عذاب القبر» والأحاديث في عذاب القبر تكاد تبلغ حد التواتر. والمقصود: أن الله سبحانه أخبر أن من أعرض عن ذكره- وهو الهدى الذي من اتبعه لا يضل ولا يشقى- فإن له معيشة ضنكا. وتكفل لمن حفظ عهده أن يحييه حياة طيبة، ويجزيه أجره في الآخرة. فقال تعالى: ١٦: ٩٧ مَنْ عَمِلَ صالِحاً مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثى وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ، فَلَنُحْيِيَنَّهُ حَياةً طَيِّبَةً. وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّهُمْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ ما كانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ. فأخبر سبحانه عن فلاح من تمسك بعهده علما وعملا في العاجلة بالحياة الطيبة وفي الآخرة بأحسن الجزاء. وهذا بعكس من له المعيشة الضنك في الدنيا والبرزخ ونسيانه في العذاب بالآخرة.

(١) هو أبو عمارة البراء بن عازب الأنصاري الحارثي نزيل الكوفة كان من أقران ابن عمر استصغر يوم بدر، توفي سنة إثنين وسبعين (انظر شذرات الذهب) .