Verses 48–54
18. Al-Kahf · The Cave
Makkan110 verses
وَعُرِضُوا۟ عَلَىٰ رَبِّكَ صَفًّۭا لَّقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا كَمَا خَلَقْنَٰكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍۭ ۚ بَلْ زَعَمْتُمْ أَلَّن نَّجْعَلَ لَكُم مَّوْعِدًۭا
18:48They will be presented before your Lord in ranks: ‘Certainly you have come to Us just as We created you the first time. But you maintained that We shall not appoint a tryst for you.’1
وَوُضِعَ ٱلْكِتَٰبُ فَتَرَى ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ مُشْفِقِينَ مِمَّا فِيهِ وَيَقُولُونَ يَٰوَيْلَتَنَا مَالِ هَٰذَا ٱلْكِتَٰبِ لَا يُغَادِرُ صَغِيرَةًۭ وَلَا كَبِيرَةً إِلَّآ أَحْصَىٰهَا ۚ وَوَجَدُوا۟ مَا عَمِلُوا۟ حَاضِرًۭا ۗ وَلَا يَظْلِمُ رَبُّكَ أَحَدًۭا
18:49The Book will be set up. Then you will see the guilty apprehensive of what is in it. They will say, ‘Woe to us! What a book is this! It omits nothing, big or small, without enumerating it.’ They will find present whatever they had done, and your Lord does not wrong anyone.
وَإِذْ قُلْنَا لِلْمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ ٱسْجُدُوا۟ لِءَادَمَ فَسَجَدُوٓا۟ إِلَّآ إِبْلِيسَ كَانَ مِنَ ٱلْجِنِّ فَفَسَقَ عَنْ أَمْرِ رَبِّهِۦٓ ۗ أَفَتَتَّخِذُونَهُۥ وَذُرِّيَّتَهُۥٓ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِى وَهُمْ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّۢ ۚ بِئْسَ لِلظَّٰلِمِينَ بَدَلًۭا
18:50When We said to the angels, ‘Prostrate before Adam,’ they prostrated, but not Iblis. He was one of the jinn, so he transgressed against his Lord’s command. Will you then take him and his offspring for guardians in My stead, though they are your enemies? How evil a substitute for the wrongdoers!
۞ مَّآ أَشْهَدتُّهُمْ خَلْقَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ وَلَا خَلْقَ أَنفُسِهِمْ وَمَا كُنتُ مُتَّخِذَ ٱلْمُضِلِّينَ عَضُدًۭا
18:51I did not make them witness to the creation of the heavens and the earth, nor to their own creation, nor do I take those who mislead others as assistants.2
وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ نَادُوا۟ شُرَكَآءِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ فَدَعَوْهُمْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لَهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّوْبِقًۭا
18:52The day He will say [to the polytheists], ‘Call those whom you maintained to be My partners,’ they will call them, but they will not respond to them, for We shall set an abyss between them.
وَرَءَا ٱلْمُجْرِمُونَ ٱلنَّارَ فَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُم مُّوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُوا۟ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًۭا
18:53The guilty will sight the Fire and know that they are about to fall in it, for they will find no way to escape it.*
وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَا فِى هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ لِلنَّاسِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍۢ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ أَكْثَرَ شَىْءٍۢ جَدَلًۭا
18:54We have certainly interspersed this Quran with every kind of parable for the people. But man is the most disputatious of creatures.
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
According to some commentators, this is a sign that angels never disobey Allah’s commands and the reason of Iblees’ deviation was that he kept relation with a particular community. Furthermore, Allah’s command was attached to Iblees because he took admission in the rows of Angels and made himself a verifier of Allah’s commands. And if it does not deem thus, then he should not talk proudly with Allah. It is a great offence to talk in this style whether Allah’s commands are included or not.
Verse 50
1.The offspring of Shaitan means his disciples or his adherents. The Holy Quran has mentioned this in many chapters in different places. Anyhow some people have investigated an interesting logic and stated that there is a penis in one thigh of the Shaitan while the other thigh has a vagina and he brings forth his offspring from his thighs.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
Benefit
Human life requires physical and material strength. That is why people considered male children more important. However, the Holy Quran has clarified that all these are only embellishments of this world. They are not beneficial in the hereafter. For the hereafter are needed good deeds and the best among them is the love of Ahle Bait (a.s.) even though Its scope is vast.
- 1
Some people think man will queue up in the fields of Mahshar while others think that they shall be present in groups. There is also a possibility that they shall be presented in a perfect orderly manner.
- 2
Mawaaqe - That is happenings. Masraf is an escape route.
Benefit
The 51st ayat is the proof that the servants of Allah do not take help from the misguided people. That is why Ali (a.s.) rejected the help of Abu Sufyan and Imam Hasan (a.s.) refused the assistance of Ubaidullah bin Hurr. This also helps us to understand the character and beliefs of Abu Talib (a.s.).