looking at their Lord.”

“And faces on that Day will be gloomy,
expecting a crushing calamity to befall them.”

And His words:

“Faces on that Day will be bright,
laughing and rejoicing.
And faces on that Day will be dust-stained,
covered in darkness.
Those are the disbelievers, the wicked.”

All of this describes the condition of their faces in the Hereafter, not in this world.

The fourth reason is that the Quran does not describe faces in terms of deeds; rather, it mentions the signs visible upon them, as in His words:

“Their mark is on their faces.”

And His words:

“If We willed, We could show them to you, and you would recognize them by their marks.”

And His words:

“You recognize disapproval in the faces of those who disbelieve. They almost assault those who recite Our verses to them.”

This is because toil and weariness do not pertain to faces alone, unlike visible marks and signs.

The fifth reason is that if His words, “humbled, toiling and weary,” were taken to describe them in this world, this wording would convey no censure. Indeed, it is closer to praise. At most, it describes a quality shared by worshippers among the believers and worshippers among the disbelievers, and censure cannot rest on a shared quality. Had a quality exclusive to the disbelievers been intended, it would have said, for example: “humbled before idols, toiling for other than Allah, wearying themselves in obedience to Satan.” Nothing in the wording indicates that this description applies exclusively to disbelievers or that it is blameworthy. Nor does the Quran condemn this description as such or threaten punishment for it. Thus, interpreting it in this sense departs from the Quran’s established manner of address.