Al-Muṭaffifīn
Makkan Period
In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate
[1] Woe to the stinters; [2] those who, when they take from others by measure, take their full share; [3] but who, when they measure or weigh for others, give less than their due. [4] Do they not realise that they will be raised to life [5] on a Great Day,1 [6] a Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the Universe?
[7] No indeed!2 Verily the deeds of the wicked are in the Record locked up in the prison-house! [8] And how would you know what the Record of the prison-house is? [9] It is a Book inscribed. [10] Woe, then, to those that give the lie, [11] those that give the lie to the Day of Recompense. [12] Yet none gives the lie to it except the transgressor immersed in sin; [13] who, when Our verses are recited to him,3 says: “Mere tales of olden times!” [14] No indeed! The truth is that their hearts have become rusted on account of their evil deeds.4 [15] No indeed! On that Day they will be screened off from seeing their Lord, [16] and then they shall enter Hell, [17] whereafter they will be told: “This is what you used to give the lie to.”
[18] No indeed!5 Verily, the deeds of the virtuous shall be in the record of the exalted ones. [19] And what do you know what the Record of the exalted ones is? [20] It is a Book inscribed, [21] which the angels placed near Allah to safeguard. [22] Verily the virtuous shall be in Bliss; [23] resting on couches, looking around. [24] You shall see upon their faces the glow of bliss. [25] They will be served a drink of the finest sealed wine, [26] whose seal is musk – so let all aspirants aspire after that – [27] a wine whose mixture is Tasnīm,6 [28] a fountain at which the chosen ones shall drink.
[29] Behold, the wicked were wont to laugh at the believers: [30] when they passed by them they winked, [31] and when they went back to their families, they went back jesting, [32] and when they saw the believers, they said: “Lo! These are the erring ones”; [33] (they said so although) they had not been appointed watchers over them. [34] But today the believers are laughing at the unbelievers; [35] seated upon their couches, they are looking around. [36] Have the unbelievers been duly rewarded for their deeds?7
1. The Day of Resurrection has been called a “Great Day” because on that Day all humans and jinn will be called to account and God Himself will judge them all. Furthermore, on that Day hugely important decisions will be made about whom to reward and whom to punish.
2. Those who believe that they will not be held to account after they engaged in evil during their worldly life are certainly mistaken.
3. “our verses” here refers to the verses that contain information about the Day of Recompense.
4. There was no good reason for anyone to say that the notions regarding reward and punishment in the Next Life were simply “tales of olden times” (v. 13). What makes people say so, however, is that their hearts have become rusted on account of the sins they have committed. Hence, an idea that is wholly reasonable appears to them as merely fanciful “tales of olden times”.
5. This is said to contradict those who believe that no one will be rewarded or punished in the Life-to-Come.
6. The word tasnīm contains the nuance of “height”. To call a spring tasnīm carries the connotation of a spring that flows down from a great height.
7. These words have a subtle, ironic note about them. The unbelievers looked upon their persecution of the believers as an act of virtue. In this context it is stated that in the Life-to-Come the believers will be enjoying the delights of Paradise and will observe the woeful state of the unbelievers, wallowing in Hell. This will certainly make them say to themselves: “Have the unbelievers been duly rewarded for their deeds?”