Allah tells us the state of the idolators on the Day of Resurrection and what
they will say when they see the Resurrection and are standing before Allah --
may He be glorified -- humiliated and brought low, with their heads bowed, i.e.,
in shame. They will say:
[رَبَّنَآ
أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا]
(Our Lord! We have now seen and heard,) meaning, `now we hear what You say
and we will obey You.' This is like the Ayah,
[أَسْمِعْ بِهِمْ
وَأَبْصِرْ يَوْمَ يَأْتُونَنَا]
(How clearly will they see and hear, the Day when they will appear before
Us!) (19:38). And they will blame themselves when they enter the Fire, and will
say:
[لَوْ كُنَّا
نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِى أَصْحَـبِ السَّعِيرِ]
("Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among
the dwellers of the blazing Fire!'') [67:10] Similarly, here they are described
as saying:
[رَبَّنَآ
أَبْصَرْنَا وَسَمِعْنَا فَارْجِعْنَا]
(Our Lord! We have now seen and heard, so send us back) to the world,
[نَعْمَلْ صَـلِحاً
إِنَّا مُوقِنُونَ]
(that we will do righteous good deeds. Verily, we now believe with
certainty.) means, `now we are sure and we believe that Your promise is true and
that the meeting with You is true.' But the Lord, may He be exalted, knows that
if He were to send them back to this world, they would behave as they did
previously, and they would reject and disbelieve in the signs of Allah and would
go against His Messengers, as He says:
[وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ
وُقِفُواْ عَلَى النَّارِ فَقَالُواْ يلَيْتَنَا نُرَدُّ وَلاَ نُكَذِّبَ
بِـَايَـتِ رَبِّنَا]
(If you could but see when they will be held over the (Hell) Fire! They will
say: "Would that we were but sent back! Then we would not deny the Ayat of our
Lord,'') (6: 27) And Allah says here:
[وَلَوْ شِئْنَا
لاّتَيْنَا كُلَّ نَفْسٍ هُدَاهَا]
(And if We had willed, surely We would have given every person his guidance,)
This is like the Ayah,
[وَلَوْ شَآءَ
رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا]
(And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them
together) (10:99).
[وَلَـكِنْ حَقَّ
الْقَوْلُ مِنْى لاّمْلأَنَّ جَهَنَّمَ مِنَ الْجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ
أَجْمَعِينَ]
(but the Word from Me took effect, that I will fill Hell with Jinn and
mankind together.) i.e., from both classes, so their abode will be Hell and they
will have no escape from it and no way out. We seek refuge with Allah and in His
perfect Words from that.
[فَذُوقُواْ بِمَا
نَسِيتُمْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَـذَآ]
(Then taste because of your forgetting the meeting of this Day of yours.)
means, it will be said to the people of Hell by way of rebuke: `taste this
punishment because you denied it and believed that it would never happen; you
tried to forget about it and acted as if you had forgotten it.'
[إِنَّا
نَسِينَـكُمْ]
(Surely, We too will forget you,) means, `We will deal with you as if We have
forgotten you,' but nothing escapes Allah's attention, and He makes the
punishment fit the crime, as He says:
[الْيَوْمَ
نَنسَاكُمْ كَمَا نَسِيتُمْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِكُمْ هَـذَا]
(This Day We will forget you as you forgot the meeting of this Day of yours)
(45:34).
[وَذُوقُـواْ عَذَابَ
الْخُلْدِ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ]
(so taste you the abiding torment for what you used to do.) i.e., because of
your disbelief and rejection, as Allah says in another Ayah:
[لاَّ يَذُوقُونَ
فِيهَا بَرْداً وَلاَ شَرَاباً - إِلاَّ حَمِيماً وَغَسَّاقاً ]
(Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink. Except Hamim, and
Ghassaq) until:
[فَلَن نَّزِيدَكُمْ
إِلاَّ عَذَاباً]
(No increase shall We give you, except in torment) (78:24-30).
[إِنَّمَا يُؤْمِنُ
بِـَايَـتِنَا الَّذِينَ إِذَا ذُكِّرُواْ بِهَا خَرُّواْ سُجَّداً وَسَبَّحُواْ
بِحَمْدِ رَبِّهِمْ وَهُمْ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ - تَتَجَافَى جُنُوبُهُمْ عَنِ
الْمَضَاجِعِ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ خَوْفاً وَطَمَعاً وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَـهُمْ
يُنفِقُونَ - فَلاَ تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّآ أُخْفِىَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ
جَزَآءً بِمَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ ]
(15. Only those believe in Our Ayat, who, when they are reminded of them,
fall down prostrate, and glorify the praises of their Lord, and they are not
proud.) (16. Their sides forsake their beds, to invoke their Lord in fear and
hope, and they spend out of what We have bestowed on them.) (17. No person knows
what is kept hidden for them of delights of eyes as a reward for what they used
to do.)