Overview (Verses 93 - 94)

The last two verses in this long passage portray a very vivid image of those wrongdoers, i.e. the unbelievers, who fabricate falsehood against God. Some of them go as far as to make blatantly false claims that they receive revelations from on high or that they can produce something similar to the Qur’ān. They are painted here when they are actually in the throes of death, with the angels coming to them, hands outstretched, to inflict their punishment, requiring them to yield up their souls. They face such a strong reproach when they leave everything behind them. Who could be more wicked than one who invents a falsehood about God, or says: “This has been revealed to me”, when nothing has been revealed to him? Or one who says, `I can reveal the like of what God has revealed”? If you could but see the wrongdoers when they are in the throes of death and the angels stretch out their hands [and say]: “Give up your souls!” Today you shall be rewarded with a humiliating punishment for having attributed to God something that is untrue and, in your arrogance, scorned His revelations. And now, indeed, you have come to Us individually, just as We created you in the first instance; and you have left behind all that We conferred on you. Nor do We see with you those intercessors of yours whom you had claimed to be partners in your affairs. Broken are the ties which bound you, and that which you have been asserting has failed you. (Verses 93-94)
 
A number of scholars like Qatādah and Ibn `Abbās say that the first verse refers to Musaylamah, the Liar, his wife Sajāĥ bint al-Ĥārith and al-Aswad al-`Ansī. All three made claims during the Prophet’s lifetime that they themselves were also prophets and that they received revelations from God. Another report attributed to Ibn `Abbās suggests that the one who boasted that he would reveal something similar to God’s revelations, or said that he received revelations himself, was Abdullāh ibn Sa`d ibn Abī Sarĥ. He had embraced Islam and the Prophet used to ask him to write down Qur’ānic revelations as he received them. He was once called in by the Prophet to write down some verses which are included in Sūrah 23, The Believers. `Indeed, We create man out of the essence of clay, then We place him, a living germ, in a safe enclosure. Then We create out of this living germ a clot of congealed blood, and out of the clot We create an embryonic lump. Then We create within the embryonic lump bones, then We clothe the bones with flesh. We then bring this into being as another creation. Exalted be God, the best of creators.” (23: 12-14) When the Prophet dictated these verses, up to the phrase, “We then bring this into being as another creation”, `Abdullāh marvelled at the details given in the Qur’ān about the creation of men. He said, “Exalted be God, the best of creators.” The Prophet said to him: “This is exactly what has been revealed to me.” This stirred up doubts in `Abdullāh’s mind. He thought: “If Muĥammad was truthful, I have received the same revelations, but if he was a liar, I have said the same as he did.” He turned away from Islam and rejoined the unbelievers. According to this report, it is to him that reference is made by the sentence, “Or one who says, I can reveal the like of what God has revealed.’“ (Verse 93)
 
The scene painted here of the punishment administered to those wrongdoers, i.e. the idolaters, fills us with awe and fear. The wrongdoers are shown when they are in the throes of death, totally overwhelmed, and angels stretching their hands out to punish them. They demand that they yield up their souls and reproach them for their misdeeds: “If you could but see the wrongdoers when they are in the throes of death and the angels stretch out their hands [and say]: ‘Give up your souls!’ Today you shall be rewarded with a humiliating punishment for having attributed to God something that is untrue and, in your arrogance, scorned His revelations.” (Verse 93) The humiliating punishment is a fitting reward for arrogance, and the public reproach answers their falsehood, which they invent against God. All this imparts to the scene shades of total misery and depression.
 
This is followed by a strong rebuke by God Himself about whom they asserted their fabrications. They stand in front of Him in a position of total misery: “And now, indeed, you have come to Us individually, just as We created you in the first instance.” (Verse 94)
 
You have nothing except your own selves, and you come as individuals, each one for himself. That is how you face your Lord, just as He created you: each is born alone, naked, helpless. You have left behind everything you have had; everybody else has deserted you; you have no power or authority over anything God had given to you: “You have left behind all that We conferred on you.” (Verse 94) All your wealth, children, prestige, position and power you have left behind because you could not bring them with you, even if you had so wished.
 
“Nor do We see with you those intercessors of yours whom you had claimed to be partners in your affairs.” (Verse 94) You used to claim that those beings would intercede on your behalf anytime you go through a hardship. You used to assign to them a portion of your lives and a share of your wealth, claiming that they would intercede for you with God. This is similar to their claim in defence of their idolatrous practices, when they said: “We only worship these (idols) so that they may bring us closer to God.” These assumed intercessors may take different shapes and forms. They may be human, such as priests and people of power and authority, or they may be statues of stone, idols, jinn, angels, planets or indeed any being, which symbolized their gods. Yet they even went further than this, assigning to these beings a share of their lives, wealth and offspring, as will be explained later in this sūrah. (Verses 136-139)
 
Now that they have come to their Lord individually, each on his or her own, they are asked where have those partners and intercessors gone? The answer is given in the Qur’ānic verse in these terms: “Broken are the ties which bound you.” (Verse 94) Every link, and every tie has been broken. There is no longer anything to group them together in any way or form. “And that which you have been asserting has failed you.” (Verse 94) They used to make all sorts of assertions, including what they maintained about those beings whom they claimed to be partners with God or whom they alleged to be able to intercede with God. All these claims are now proven false. All trust they had put in anyone or anything has failed them. They are totally powerless.
 
This scene violently shakes the human heart as it holds out a vivid and awesome image, imparting its overtones to us so that we are able to contemplate its powerful message. This is just one example of the inimitable style of the Qur’ān.