Taa-Haa 20:124

The Descent of Adam to the Earth and the Promise of Good for the Guided and Evil for the Transgressors

Allah says to Adam, Hawwa' and Iblis, "Get down from here, all of you." This means each of you should get out of Paradise. We expounded upon this in Surah Al-Baqarah.

(Some of you as enemies to others.) 2:36 He (Allah) was saying this to Adam and his progeny and Iblis and his progeny. Concerning Allah's statement,

(Then if there comes to you guidance from Me,) Abu Al-`Aliyyah said, "This (guidance) means the Prophets, the Messengers and the evidence."

(Then whoever follows My guidance he shall neither go astray nor shall be distressed.) Ibn `Abbas said, "He will not be misguided in this life and he will not be distressed in the Hereafter."

(But whosoever turns away from My Reminder,) This means, "Whoever opposes my command and what I have revealed to My Messenger, then he has turned away from it, neglected it and taken his guidance from other than it."

(verily, for him is a life of hardship,) meaning, his life will be hard in this world. He will have no tranquillity and no expanding of his breast (ease). Rather, his chest will be constrained and in difficulty due to his misguidance. Even if he appears to be in comfort outwardly and he wears whatever he likes, eats whatever he likes and lives wherever he wants, he will not be happy. For verily, his heart will not have pure certainty and guidance. He will be in agitation, bewilderment and doubt. He will always be in confusion and a state of uncertainty. This is from the hardship of life. Concerning His statement,

(and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of Resurrection.) Mujahid, Abu Salih and As-Suddi said, "This means he will have no proof." `Ikrimah said, "He will be made blind to everything except Hell." This is as Allah says,

(And We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their abode will be Hell.) 17:97 This is why Allah says,

(O my Lord! Why have you raised me up blind, while I had sight (before).) This means in the life of this world.

((Allah) will say: "Like this Our Ayat came unto you, but you disregarded them, and so this Day, you will be neglected.) Meaning, "When you turned away from the signs of Allah and dealt with them in the manner of one who does not remember them after they were conveyed to you. You neglected them, turned away from them and were heedless of them. Therefore, today We will treat you in the manner of one who has forgotten you."

(So this Day We shall forget them as they forgot their meeting of this Day.) 7:51 For verily, the punishment will be a retribution that is based upon the type of deed that was done. However, forgetting the words of the Qur'an, while understanding its meaning and acting upon its legislation, is not included in the meaning of this specific threat. Yet, forgetting the words of the Qur'an has been warned against from a different aspect. It has been reported in the Sunnah that it is absolutely forbidden and there is a serious threat against one who forgets Qur'an (that he previously memorized).

وَمَنْ أَعْرَ‌ضَ عَن ذِكْرِ‌ي (And whoever turns away from My message - 20:124.) Here the word can refer both to the Qur'an and the Holy Prophet ﷺ as has been mentioned in other verses ذِكْرً‌ا ﴿10﴾ رَّ‌سُولًا (65:10). In both cases the meaning would be that if anyone fails in his duty to recite the Qur’ an or to comply with its commands, or if he fails to submit to the authority of the Holy Prophet then as punishment he would be condemned to a harsh and rigorous life in this world and would be raised blind on the Day of Resurrection.

The truth about the life of infidels and evil-doers being harsh in this world

Here one may ask that a life of penury and destitution in this world is not for the infidels and wicked people only but it afflicts good and pious people also. Indeed the prophets of Allah have to endure the greatest misfortunes and calamities in their worldly life. Sahih .al-Bukhari and all other books of Hadith contain a tradition in which, on the authority of Sa'd and others, the Holy Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said that the severest trials and tribulations are suffered by the prophets and in the case of the pious people those who enjoy a higher rank in the hierarchy are the ones who will get a greater share of misfortunes. On the other hand the infidels and the evildoers enjoy a life of comfort and affluence. Therefore the words of the Qur'an that such people would be condemned to a harsh and rigorous life can refer to the life in the Hereafter (آخرَت) only, because experience shows that they have, in this world, all the comforts of life.

The answer to the question posed above is that the punishment which the evil-doers will suffer in this world refers to the chastisement which awaits them in the grave where their existence will be made miserable and beyond endurance. Their graves will be their abodes and will squeeze them so tight that their graves will crack. There is a tradition in Musnad al-Bazzar on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself stated that the words مَعِيشَةً ضَنكًا (straitened life) occurring in this verse (124) refer to the existence in the grave. (Mazhari)

Another interpretation given to these words by Sayyidna Said ibn Jubair ؓ is that these people will be deprived of the gift of contentment which will result in an overpowering greed for worldly goods (Mazhari) but no amount of wealth will ever give them peace and content. The constant desire to augment their worldly possessions and the fear of any decrease in their size will always keep them anxious and uneasy. It is generally observed that the wealthy people who have all the means of comfort at their disposal actually are unable to enjoy comfort themselves, because comfort cannot be achieved without content and peace of mind.