Surah 18. Al-Kahf

Ayah 52 - 53

Ibn Kathir

Maududi

52 وَيَوْمَ يَقُولُ نَادُوا۟ شُرَكَآءِىَ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ فَدَعَوْهُمْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لَهُمْ وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّوْبِقًا

53 وَرَءَا ٱلْمُجْرِمُونَ ٱلنَّارَ فَظَنُّوٓا۟ أَنَّهُم مُّوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُوا۟ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا

52. And (remember) the Day He will say: "Call those (so-called) partners of Mine whom you claimed.'' Then they will cry unto them, but they will not answer them, and We shall put Mawbiq between them. 53. And the criminals shall see the Fire and apprehend that they are to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from it.

Their Partners are not able to respond and the Criminals are brought to the Fire

Allah tells us how He will address the idolators on the Day of Resurrection before all of creation, rebuking and scolding them,

﴿نَادُواْ شُرَكَآئِىَ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ﴾

(Call those (so-called) partners of Mine whom you claimed.) meaning, in the world. Call them today to save you from the situation you are in! Allah says:

﴿وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَادَى كَمَا خَلَقْنَـكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَتَرَكْتُمْ مَّا خَوَّلْنَـكُمْ وَرَاءَ ظُهُورِكُمْ وَمَا نَرَى مَعَكُمْ شُفَعَآءَكُمُ الَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّهُمْ فِيكُمْ شُرَكَآءُ لَقَد تَّقَطَّعَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَضَلَّ عَنكُم مَّا كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ ﴾

(And truly, you have come unto Us alone as We created you the first time. You have left what you were given behind your backs and We do see not with you your intercessors whom you claimed were your partners. Now all relations between you and them have been cut off, and all that you used to claim has vanished from you.) ﴿6:94﴾

﴿فَدَعَوْهُمْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُواْ لَهُمْ﴾

(Then they will cry unto them, but they will not answer them.) As Allah says:

﴿وَقِيلَ ادْعُواْ شُرَكَآءَكُمْ فَدَعَوْهُمْ فَلَمْ يَسْتَجِيبُواْ لَهُمْ﴾

(And it will be said (to them): "Call upon those partners of yours,'' then they will call upon them, but they will not answer them.) ﴿28: 64﴾ And the Ayah:

﴿وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لاَّ يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ﴾

(And who is more astray than one who calls others besides Allah, such as will not answer him) ﴿46:5﴾ Until the end of the two Ayat;

﴿وَاتَّخَذُواْ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ ءالِهَةً لِّيَكُونُواْ لَهُمْ عِزّاً ﴾

﴿كَلاَّ سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَـدَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدّاً ﴾

(And they have taken gods besides Allah, that they may grant them honor. Nay, but they will deny their worship of them, and become opponents to them.) ﴿19:81-82﴾

﴿وَجَعَلْنَا بَيْنَهُم مَّوْبِقاً﴾

(and We shall put Mawbiq between them.) Ibn `Abbas, Qatadah and others said: "Destruction.'' The meaning is that Allah is stating that these idolators will have no way of reaching the gods they claimed in this world. He will separate them in the Hereafter and neither party will have any means of reaching the other. There will be devastation, great horrors and other terrible things in between them. `Abdullah bin `Amr understood the pronoun in the phrase "between them" to refer to the believers and the disbelievers, meaning that the people of guidance and the people of misguidance will be separated. This then is like the Ayat:

﴿وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَفَرَّقُونَ ﴾

(And on the Day when the Hour will be established -- that Day shall (all men) be separated. ) ﴿30:14﴾

﴿يَوْمَئِذٍ يَصَّدَّعُونَ﴾

(On that Day men shall be divided.) ﴿30:43﴾,

﴿وَامْتَازُواْ الْيَوْمَ أَيُّهَا الْمُجْرِمُونَ ﴾

((It will be said), "And O you the criminals! Get you apart this Day (from the believers).) ﴿36:59﴾

﴿وَيَوْمَ نَحْشُرُهُمْ جَمِيعًا ثُمَّ نَقُولُ لِلَّذِينَ أَشْرَكُواْ مَكَانَكُمْ أَنتُمْ وَشُرَكَآؤُكُمْ فَزَيَّلْنَا بَيْنَهُمْ﴾

(And on the Day when We shall gather them all together, then We shall say to those who joined partners, "Stop in your place! You and your partners.'' Then We shall separate between them...) until,

﴿وَضَلَّ عَنْهُمْ مَّا كَانُواْ يَفْتَرُونَ﴾

(And what they invented will vanish from them.) ﴿10:28-30﴾

﴿وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ فَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُمْ مُّوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُواْ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا ﴾

(And the criminals shall see the Fire and apprehend that they are to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from it.) meaning when they see Hell with their own eyes, since it is being dragged forth by seventy thousand reins, each pulled by seventy thousand angels. When,

﴿وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ﴾

(the criminals shall see the Fire), they will realize that they cannot escape being thrown into it, and that will only intesify their anxiety and distress, because the anticipation and fear of punishment is in itself a real punishment.

﴿وَلَمْ يَجِدُواْ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا﴾

(And they will find no way of escape from it.) means, they will have no way of fleeing, it will be inevitable.

Surah 18. Al-Kahf

Ayah 52 - 53

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