Quran 40:47 — Surah Ghafir Ayah 47 | Arabic, Translation & Tafsir

ٱلنَّارُ يُعْرَضُونَ عَلَيْهَا غُدُوًّۭا وَعَشِيًّ...

40:47

Ghafir

قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كُلٌّۭ فِيه...

وَإِذْ يَتَحَآجُّونَ فِى ٱلنَّارِ فَيَقُولُ ٱلضُّعَفَٰٓؤُا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًۭا فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا نَصِيبًۭا مِّنَ ٱلنَّارِ

Wa iz yatahaaajjoona fin Naari fa-yaqoolud du'afaaa'u lillazeenas takbarooo innaa kunnaa lakum taba'an fahal antum mughnoona annaa naseebam minan Naar

And [mention] when they will argue within the Fire, and the weak will say to those who had been arrogant, "Indeed, we were [only] your followers, so will you relieve us of a share of the Fire?"

Related Tafsir

Ibn Kathir

The Dispute of the People of Hell

Allah tells us how the people of Hell will dispute and argue with one another, and Fir`awn and his people will be among them. The weak, who were the followers, will say to those who were arrogant, who were the leaders and masters:

إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا

(Verily, we followed you,) meaning, `we obeyed you and heeded your call to disbelief and misguidance in the world, '

فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا نَصِيباً مِّنَ النَّارِ

(can you then take from us some portion of the Fire) means, `can you carry a part of our burden for us'

قَالَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَكْبَرُواْ إِنَّا كُلٌّ فِيهَآ

(Those who were arrogant will say: "We are all (together) in this (Fire)!...") meaning, `we will not bear any part of your burden for you; our own punishment is enough for us to bear.'

إِنَّ اللَّهَ قَدْ حَكَمَ بَيْنَ الْعِبَادِ

(Verily, Allah has judged (His) servants!) means, `He has shared out the punishment among us according to what each of us deserves'. This is like the Ayah:

قَالَ لِكُلٍّ ضِعْفٌ وَلَـكِن لاَّ تَعْلَمُونَ

(He will say: "For each one there is double (torment), but you know not.") (7:38)

وَقَالَ الَّذِينَ فِى النَّارِ لِخَزَنَةِ جَهَنَّمَ ادْعُواْ رَبَّكُمْ يُخَفِّفْ عَنَّا يَوْماً مِّنَ الْعَذَابِ

(And those in the Fire will say to the keepers (angels) of Hell: "Call upon your Lord to lighten for us the torment for a day!") They know that Allah will not answer them and will not listen to their prayer, because He said,

اخْسَئُواْ فِيهَا وَلاَ تُكَلِّمُونِ

(Remain you in it with ignominy! And speak you not to Me!) (23:108), so they will ask the keepers of Hell, who are like jailers watching over the people of Hell, to pray to Allah to lessen the Fire for them if only for one day. But the keepers of Hell will refuse, saying to them,

أَوَلَمْ تَكُ تَأْتِيكُمْ رُسُلُكُم بِالْبَيِّنَـتِ

(Did there not come to you, your Messengers with (clear) evidences) meaning, was not proof established in the world on the lips of the Messengers

قَالُواْ بَلَى قَالُواْ فَادْعُواْ

(They will say: "Yes." They will reply: "Then call (as you like)!...") means, you are on your own. We will not pray for you or listen to you; we do not want you to be saved and we have nothing to do with you. Moreover, we tell you that it is all the same whether you offer supplication or not, because Allah will not respond and He will not lighten the torment for you.' They will say:

وَمَا دُعَآءُ الْكَـفِرِينَ إِلاَّ فِى ضَلَـلٍ

(And the invocation of the disbelievers is nothing but in vain!) meaning, it will not be accepted or responded to.

View Full Tafsir: The Dispute of the People of HellAyahs 47–50

"Paradise and the Fire debated. Paradise said: 'The weak and the poor shall enter me,' and the Fire said: 'The tyrants and the proud shall enter me.' So He said to the Fire: 'You are My Punishment, I take vengeance through you from whom I will,' and He said to Paradise: 'You are My Mercy I show mercy through you to whom I will.'"

Sunan Ibn Majah #4139It was narrated that Abu Sa'eed Khudri said:

"The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'When Allah has saved the believers from Hell and they are safe, none of you will dispute with his companion more vehemently for some right of his in this world than the believers will dispute with their Lord on behalf of their brothers in faith who have entered Hell. They will say: " Our Lord! They are our brothers, they used to pray with us, fast with us and perform Hajj with us, and you have admitted them to Hell." He will say: "Go and bring forth those whom you recognize among them." So they will come to them , and they will recognize them by their faces. The Fire will not consume their faces, although there will be some whom the Fire will seize halfway up their shins, and others whom it will seize up to their ankles. They will bring them forth, and will say. "Our Lord, we have brought forth those whom You commanded us to bring forth." Then He will say: "Bring forth those who have a Dinar's weight of faith in their hearts, then those who have half a Dinar's weight in their hearts, then those who have a mustard-seed's weight." Abu Sa'eed said. :"He who does not believe this, let him recite, 'Surely, Allah wrongs not even of the weight of an atom (or a small ant), but is there is any good (done), He doubles it, and gives from Him a great reward.'"

Jami` at-Tirmidhi #3243Narrated As-Suddi:

"I asked Murrah Al-Hamdani about the saying of Allah, Mighty and Sublime is He: There is not one of you but will pass over it (19:71). So he narrated to me that 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud narrated to him saying: 'The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: "The people will pass over the Fire, then they avert it based upon their deeds. The first of them (would pass over it) like a flash of lightening, then like the wind, then like a fleeing horse, then like a rider fleeing on a mount, then like a man fleeing, then like one walking."

Sahih al-Bukhari #6319Narrated Hammad from `Amr from Jabir:

The Prophet (ﷺ) said, "Some people will come out of the Fire through intercession looking like The Thaarir." I asked `Amr, "What is the Thaarir?" He said, Ad Dagh`Abis, and at that time he was toothless. Hammad added: I said to `Amr bin Dinar, "O Abu Muhammad! Did you hear Jabir bin `Abdullah saying, 'I heard the Prophet (ﷺ) saying: 'Some people will come out of the Fire through intercession?" He said, "Yes. "

Sunan an-Nasa'i #1142It was narrated that 'Ata bin Yazid said:

"I was sitting with Abu Hurairah and Abu Sa'eed. One of them narrated the hadith about intercession and the other was listening. He said: 'Then the angels will come and intercede, and the messengers will intercede.' And he mentioned the Sirat, and said: "The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) said: 'I will be the first one to cross it, and when Allah has finished passing judgment among His creation, and has brought forth from the Fire those whom He wants to bring forth, Allah will command the angels and the messengers to intercede, and they will be recognized by their signs, for the Fire will consume all of the son of Adam apart from the place of prostration. Then the water of life will be poured on them, and they will grow like seeds on the banks of a rainwater stream."