Meccan · Surah 35 of 114

Faatir 35:39

The Originator · ayah 39 of 45

هُوَ ٱلَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَٰٓئِفَ فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ فَمَن كَفَرَ فَعَلَيْهِ كُفْرُهُۥ ۖ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِلَّا مَقْتًۭا ۖ وَلَا يَزِيدُ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ إِلَّا خَسَارًۭا

Huwa allathee jaAAalakum khala-ifafee al-ardi faman kafara faAAalayhi kufruhu walayazeedu alkafireena kufruhum AAinda rabbihim illamaqtan wala yazeedu alkafireena kufruhum illakhasara

"It is He who has made you successors upon the earth. And whoever disbelieves - upon him will be [the consequence of] his disbelief. And the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them in the sight of their Lord except in hatred; and the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them except in loss."

Saheeh International translation

Recitation by Mishary Alafasy

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Other English translations

Abdel Haleem (Oxford)+

"it is He who made you [people] successors to the land. Those who deny the truth will bear the consequences: their denial will only make them more odious to their Lord, and add only to their loss."

Pickthall (classic)+

"He it is Who hath made you regents in the earth; so he who disbelieveth, his disbelief be on his own head. Their disbelief increaseth for the disbelievers, in their Lord's sight, naught save abhorrence. Their disbelief increaseth for the disbelievers naught save loss."

Yusuf Ali (classic)+

"He it is That has made you inheritors in the earth: if, then, any do reject (Allah), their rejection (works) against themselves: their rejection but adds to the odium for the Unbelievers in the sight of their Lord: their rejection but adds to (their own) undoing."

Tafsīr · classical commentary

Ibn Kathir

Abridged English, public domain

هُوَ الَّذِى جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَـئِفَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ

(He it is Who has made you successors generations after generations in the earth,) meaning, all people succeed one another, generation after generation. This is like the Ayah:

وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ حُلَفَآءَ الاٌّرْضِ

(and makes you inheritors of the earth, generations after generations) (27:62).

فَمَن كَفَرَ فَعَلَيْهِ كُفْرُهُ

(so whosoever disbelieves, on him will be his disbelief.) means, he and no one else will have to bear the consequences of that.

وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الْكَـفِرِينَ كُفْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ إِلاَّ مَقْتاً

(And the disbelief of the disbelievers adds nothing but hatred of their Lord.) means, the longer they persist in their disbelief, the more Allah hates them, and the longer they persist in it, the more they and their families will lose on the Day of Resurrection. This is in contrast to the believers, for the longer they live and do good deeds, the higher their status in Paradise will be, the greater their reward, and the more beloved they will be to their Creator.

Tafsir Saʿdi

English translation, public domain

Всевышний напомнил людям о Своей совершенной мудрости и божественном милосердии. Еще до сотворения Вселенной Аллах захотел, чтобы живущие на земле люди наследовали богатство и достояния своих предков. Затем Он сотворил людей и отправил к каждому народу увещевателя, дабы увидеть, как же будут поступать Его рабы. Всякий, кто отдаст предпочтение неверию, поступит во вред себе самому, потому что взвалит на свои плечи бремя греха и обречет себя на вечные страдания. Никто не разделит с ним его наказания. Неверие не принесет ему ничего, кроме гнева и ненависти Всевышнего Господа. А какое наказание может быть хуже, чем ненависть Великодушного Аллаха?! Поэтому Он сказал, что неверующие нанесут себе непоправимый урон, навсегда расстанутся со своими семьями, сделают тщетными все свои деяния и лишатся прекрасной Райской обители. Каждый день делает неверного все более и более несчастным, обреченным и посрамленным перед Аллахом и перед Его творениями.

Maʿārif al-Qur'ān

Mufti Shafi Usmani, English

Commentary

The word: خَلَائِفَ (khala'if) in verse 39: هُوَ الَّذِي جَعَلَكُمْ خَلَائِفَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (He is the One who has made you successors (of the past generations) in the earth.) is the plural of: خَلِیفَہ (khalifah) which means deputy or vice-regent. The general sense is that Allah Ta’ ala has let human beings have lands and houses that keep passing on from one to the other. In this phenomena, there is a great lesson - turn to Allah. Then, the statement could also be taken to have been addressed to the ummah of the Holy Prophet t saying, 'After past communities, We made you take their place with authority to make life better around you, so it is your duty that you learn your lesson from what happened to people earlier than you, and hence you, on your part, do not while away precious moments of your life in negligence.

Tafsīr sourced from quran.com's open API. These are classical commentaries; for personal rulings consult a qualified scholar.

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