وَيْلٌ لِلْمُطَفِّفِينَ
﴿83:1﴾
(83:1) Woe to the stinters;
*1
*1 In the original the word mutaffifin has been
used, which is derived from tatfif, a word used
for an inferior and base thing in Arabic.
Terminologically, tatfif is used for giving
short weight and short measure fraudulently, for
the person who acts thus while measuring or
weighing, does not defraud another by any
substantial amount, but skimps small amounts
from what is due to every customer cleverly, and
the poor customer dces not know of what and of
how much he is being deprived by the seller.
الَّذِينَ إِذَا اكْتَالُوا عَلَى النَّاسِ
يَسْتَوْفُونَ
﴿83:2﴾
(83:2) those who, when they take from others by
measure, take their full share;
*2
وَإِذَا كَالُوهُمْ أَوْ وَزَنُوهُمْ يُخْسِرُونَ
﴿83:3﴾
(83:3) but who, when they measure or weigh for
others, give less than their due.
*2 At several places in the Qur'an giving of
short measure and weight has been condemned and
measuring fully and weighing rightly has been
stressed. In Surah AI-An'am, it has been
enjoined: "You should use a full measure and a
just balance. We charge one only with that much
responsibility that one can bear." (v. 152). In
Surah Bani Isra'il it has been said: "Give full
measure when you measure and weigh with even
scales." (v. 35). In Surah Ar-Rehman it has been
stressed: Do not upset the balance: weigh with
equity and do not give short weight." (vv. 8-9).
The people of the Prophet Shu`aib were punished
for the reason that the evil of giving short
measure and weight had become widespread among
them and in spite of his counsel and advice they
did not refrain from it.
أَلَا يَظُنُّ أُولَئِكَ أَنَّهُمْ مَبْعُوثُونَ
﴿83:4﴾
(83:4) Do they not realise that they will be
raised to life
لِيَوْمٍ عَظِيمٍ
﴿83:5﴾
(83:5) on a Great Day,
*3
*3 "A Great Day": the Day of Resurrection when
all men and jinn will be called to account
together in the Divine Court and decisions of
vital importance will be made pertaining to
rewards and punishments.
يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
﴿83:6﴾
(83:6) a Day when mankind will stand before the
Lord of the Universe?
كَلَّا إِنَّ كِتَابَ الْفُجَّارِ لَفِي سِجِّينٍ
﴿83:7﴾
(83:7) No indeed! *4
Verily the deeds of the wicked are in the Record
locked up in the prison-house! *5
*4 That is, "These people are wrong in thinking
that they will be let off without being called
to account when they have committed such and
such crimes in the world. "
*5 The word sijjin in the original is derived
from sijn (a prison) and the explanation of it
that follows shows that it implies the general
Register in which the actions and deeds of the
people worthy of punishment are being recorded.
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا سِجِّينٌ
﴿83:8﴾
(83:8) And how would you know what the Record of
the prison-house is?
كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ
﴿83:9﴾
(83:9) It is a Book inscribed.
وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ
﴿83:10﴾
(83:10) Woe, then, to those that give the lie,
الَّذِينَ يُكَذِّبُونَ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ
﴿83:11﴾
(83:11) those that give the lie to the Day of
Recompense.
وَمَا يُكَذِّبُ بِهِ إِلَّا كُلُّ مُعْتَدٍ
أَثِيمٍ
﴿83:12﴾
(83:12) Yet none gives the lie to it except the
transgressor immersed in sin;
إِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آَيَاتُنَا قَالَ
أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
﴿83:13﴾
(83:13) who, when Our verses are recited to him, *6
says: “Mere tales of olden times!”
*6 "Our Revelations": those verses in which news
of the Day of Recompense has been given.
كَلَّا بَلْ رَانَ عَلَى قُلُوبِهِمْ مَا كَانُوا
يَكْسِبُونَ
﴿83:14﴾
(83:14) No indeed! The truth is that their
hearts have become rusted on account of their
evil deeds. *7
*7 That is, they have no good reason for
regarding the meting out of rewards and
punishments as unreal. What has made them say
this, is that their hearts have become rusty
because of their sins; therefore, a thing which
is thoroughly reasonable appears unreal and
unreasonable to them. The explanation of this
rust as given by the Holy Prophet (upon whom be
peace) is as follows: "When a servant commits a
sin, it marks a black stain on his heart. If he
offers repentance, the stain is washed off, but
if he persists in wrongdoing. it spreads over
the whole heart." (Musnad Ahmad, Tirmidhi,
Nasa'i, Ibn Majah, Ibn Jarir, Hakim, Ibn Abi
Hatim, Ibn Hibban and others).
كَلَّا إِنَّهُمْ عَنْ رَبِّهِمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ
لَمَحْجُوبُونَ
﴿83:15﴾
(83:15) No indeed! On that Day they will be
screened off from seeing their Lord, *8
*8 That is, these people will remain deprived of
the vision of Allah with which the righteous
will be blessed. (For further explanation, see
E.N. 17 of Al - Qiyamah).
ثُمَّ إِنَّهُمْ لَصَالُواْ الْجَحِيمِ
﴿83:16﴾
(83:16) and then they shall enter Hell,
ثُمَّ يُقَالُ هَذَا الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ
تُكَذِّبُونَ
﴿83:17﴾
(83:17) whereafter they will be told: “This is
what you used to give the lie to.”
كَلَّا إِنَّ كِتَابَ الْأَبْرَارِ لَفِي
عِلِّيِّينَ
﴿83:18﴾
(83:18) No indeed! *9
Verily, the deeds of the virtuous shall be in
the record of the exalted ones.
*9 That is, they are wrong in thinking that
there is going to be no meting out of rewards
and punishments.
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا عِلِّيُّونَ
﴿83:19﴾
(83:19) And what do you know what the Record of
the exalted ones is?
كِتَابٌ مَرْقُومٌ
﴿83:20﴾
(83:20) It is a Book inscribed,
يَشْهَدُهُ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
﴿83:21﴾
(83:21) which the angels placed near Allah to
safeguard.
إِنَّ الْأَبْرَارَ لَفِي نَعِيمٍ
﴿83:22﴾
(83:22) Verily the virtuous shall be in Bliss;
عَلَى الْأَرَائِكِ يَنْظُرُونَ
﴿83:23﴾
(83:23) resting on couches, looking around.
تَعْرِفُ فِي وُجُوهِهِمْ نَضْرَةَ النَّعِيمِ
﴿83:24﴾
(83:24) You shall see upon their faces the glow
of bliss.
يُسْقَوْنَ مِنْ رَحِيقٍ مَخْتُومٍ
﴿83:25﴾
(83:25) They will be served a drink of the
finest sealed wine, *10
*10 One meaning of the words khltamu-hu misk is
that the vessels containing the wine will carry
the seal of musk instead of clay or wax.
Accordingly the verse means: This will be the
choicest kind of wine, which will be superior to
the wine flowing in the canals, and it will be
served by the attendants of Paradise in vessels
sealed with musk to the dwellers of Paradise.
Another meaning also can be: When that wine will
pass down the throat, its final effect will be
of the flavour of musk. This state is contrary
to the wines of the world which give out an
offensive smell as soon as the bottle opens and
one feels its horrid smell even while drinking
and also when it passes down the throat.
خِتَامُهُ مِسْكٌ وَفِي ذَلِكَ فَلْيَتَنَافَسِ
الْمُتَنَافِسُونَ
﴿83:26﴾
(83:26) whose seal is musk – so let all
aspirants aspire after that –
وَمِزَاجُهُ مِنْ تَسْنِيمٍ
﴿83:27﴾
(83:27) a wine whose mixture is Tasnim, *11
*11 "Tasnim ".: height. Thus, Tasnim will be a
fountain flowing down from a height.
عَيْنًا يَشْرَبُ بِهَا الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
﴿83:28﴾
(83:28) a fountain at which the chosen ones
shall drink.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أَجْرَمُوا كَانُوا مِنَ
الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا يَضْحَكُونَ
﴿83:29﴾
(83:29) Behold, the wicked were wont to laugh at
the believers:
وَإِذَا مَرُّوا بِهِمْ يَتَغَامَزُونَ
﴿83:30﴾
(83:30) when they passed by them they winked,
وَإِذَا انْقَلَبُوا إِلَى أَهْلِهِمُ انْقَلَبُوا
فَكِهِينَ
﴿83:31﴾
(83:31) and when they went back to their
families, they went back jesting, *12
*12 That is, they returned home rejoicing,
thinking that they had made fun of such and such
a Muslim, had passed evil remarks against him
and subjected him to ridicule among the people.
وَإِذَا رَأَوْهُمْ قَالُوا إِنَّ هَؤُلَاءِ
لَضَالُّونَ
﴿83:32﴾
(83:32) and when they saw the believers, they
said: “Lo! These are the erring ones”; *13
*13 That is, they have lost their reason: they
have deprived themselves of the gains and
enjoyments of the world and have experienced
dangers and undergone hardships only for the
reason that Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace
and blessings) has deluded them with the
Hereafter, Heaven and Hell. They are giving up
whatever is present and here on the false hope
that the promise of some Paradise has been held
out to them after death, and they are enduring
the hardships in the present life only for the
reason that they have been threatened with some
Hell in the next world.
وَمَا أُرْسِلُوا عَلَيْهِمْ حَافِظِينَ
﴿83:33﴾
(83:33) (they said so although) they had not
been appointed watchers over them. *14
*14 In this brief sentence the mockers and
jesters have been given an instructive warning
to the effect: "Even if what the Muslims have
believed in, is false, they are not harming you
at all They regard something as we and are
accordingly adopting a certain moral attitude
for themselves, for their own good. AIIah has
not appointed you to be keepers over them so
that you may be free to criticise and persecute
those who are not harming you in any way."
فَالْيَوْمَ الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا مِنَ الْكُفَّارِ
يَضْحَكُونَ
﴿83:34﴾
(83:34) But today the believers are laughing at
the unbelievers;
عَلَى الْأَرَائِكِ يَنْظُرُونَ
﴿83:35﴾
(83:35) seated upon their couches, they are
looking around.
هَلْ ثُوِّبَ الْكُفَّارُ مَا كَانُوا يَفْعَلُونَ
﴿83:36﴾
(83:36) Have the unbelievers been duly rewarded
for their deeds? *15
*15 There is a subtle satire in this sentence.
In the world, the disbelievers used to persecute
the believers, thinking it was an act of virtue.
In the Hereafter, the believers will be enjoying
life in Paradise, and watching the disbelievers
being punished in Hell, will say to themselves
what a reward they have earned for their acts of
virtue!
