(21–22) “Indeed, those who disbelieve in Allah’s signs, kill the prophets unjustly, and kill those among humankind who command justice—give them tidings of a painful punishment. They are the ones whose deeds have come to nothing in this world and the Hereafter, and they will have no helpers.”

Those whom Allah describes in this verse are the worst of people in crime. What crime could be greater than disbelieving in Allah’s signs, which conclusively establish the truth? Whoever rejects them has reached the utmost degree of disbelief and obstinacy. They kill Allah’s prophets, whose rights are the most binding upon His servants after the right of Allah, and whom Allah has commanded them to obey, believe in, revere, honor, and support. Yet they treated them in precisely the opposite manner. They also kill those who command people to uphold justice—that is, those who enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong, the very essence of which is showing kindness to those being instructed and offering them sincere counsel. Yet they treated them in the worst possible manner. For these abominable crimes, they deserved the severest punishment: an agonizing torment of indescribable and immeasurable severity, afflicting their bodies, hearts, and souls.

Their deeds were rendered worthless by what their own hands had earned. They will have no one to protect them from Allah’s punishment or ward off even an atom’s weight of His vengeance. Rather, they have despaired of every good, and every evil and harm has befallen them. This condition characterizes the Jews and those like them. May Allah disgrace them! How brazen they are toward Allah, His prophets, and His righteous servants.