English Translation and Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf Ayah 27-31
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. None can change His words, and never will you find a refuge other than Him.
Stay patiently with those who worship their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His pleasure. Do not turn your eyes away from them, seeking the pleasure of the worldly life. Do not obey he whom We have made his heart heedless of Our remembrance, who follows his desire, and whose endeavor is fruitless.
Say, ‘The truth has come from your Lord. Whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.’ Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. If they call for relief, they will be given water like murky boiling oil that will burn their faces. What a terrible drink! What a miserable place.
Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds - indeed, We shall not cause the good doers’ reward to be lost.
Those - theirs will be Gardens of Eden. Rivers will be flowing beneath their dwellings. They will be adorned with gold bracelets, and will wear green garments of thin and thick silk, reclining on couches therein. How excellent a reward! How excellent a dwelling!
Tafsir
Guidance and Advice
The following ayat have instructions to Messenger Muhammad. He should follow certain guidance and advice that will bring him happiness in this world and the Hereafter.Ayah [27 to 60] of surah al-Kahf discusses one topic. The disbelievers of Quraysh said to Messenger Muhammad, ‘If you want us to believe in Islam, you should drive away the poor believers.’ Allah commanded His Messenger to decline their request. The ayat clearly declare that their request is unacceptable. Allah commanded Messenger to keep on reciting the Quran, follow its guidance, and not pay attention to the suggestions of the stubborn people.
Recite what has been revealed to you of the Book of your Lord. None can change His words, and never will you find a refuge other than Him. [27]
The previous part mentions that only Allah knows the unseen in the heavens and the earth, and no one can have knowledge thereof except through divine revelation.The Quran contains all news of the unseen. Therefore, Allah has commanded to recite and reflect on its ayat. Recitation of the Quran should be accompanied by believing in its news, complying with its commands, avoiding its prohibitions, implementing its teachings, and learning and understanding the meanings of its ayat. Indeed, the Quran is a glorious book. Its words can never be changed, as they contain the truth from Allah, the Creator. Imperfect and false words can be changed, but the words of the Quran can never be changed as Allah revealed them, containing all aspects of perfection, sublimity, and justice. This denotes the great status of the Quran and implies an invitation to devote one’s attention thereto.
(…and never will you find a refuge other than Him.)
Man can never find a refuge to protect him from all dangers except seeking protection from Allah, the Omnipotence. Thus, Allah alone must be worshipped and asked for guidance, help, and protection.Then the ayat introduce sublime guidance, demonstrating that the most deserving people of taking care of and companionship are the truthful believers. It commanded Messenger Muhammad to patiently keep on companionship with them.
Stay patiently with those who worship their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His pleasure. Do not turn your eyes away from them, seeking the pleasure of the worldly life. Do not obey he whom We have made his heart heedless of Our remembrance, who follows his desire, and whose endeavor is fruitless. [28]
The scholars of Tafsir mention that the cause of the revelation of this ayah was that the upper-class people of Quraysh asked Messenger Muhammad to sit with them alone, and not allow his poor companions to sit with them. They asked him to assign them a different assembly. Allah prohibited Messenger Muhammad from fulfilling their request. He commanded him to patiently sit with the poor believers.O Messenger! You should patiently oblige yourself to sit with your poor companions. These companions worship Allah alone and do their best to please Him by performing different kinds of righteous deeds in the morning and evening.
(Patiently stay with those who worship their Lord in the morning and the evening, seeking His pleasure.)
The ayah mentions ‘morning and evening’ to indicate that the Messenger’s companions worship Allah all time. It is also said that ‘morning and evening’ refer to the afternoon prayer and Morning Prayer.The only goal of the poor companions of Messenger was to attain Allah’s pleasure by worshipping Him All at all times. They do not seek to show off; they do not desire to attain worldly gain or please other people by acting righteously.
(Do not obey he whom We have made his heart heedless of Our remembrance, who follows his desire, and whose endeavor is fruitless.)
O Messenger! Do not turn your eyes away from the poor believers to be with the upper-class disbelievers (Messenger Muhammad was eager that they would embrace Islam so that their followers would believe as well. He never sought worldly enjoyment). In other words, seeking the pleasure of the worldly life refers to eagerness to gain the upper-class disbelievers' belief.(Do not obey he whom We have made his heart heedless of Our remembrance, who follows his desire, and whose endeavor is fruitless.)
O Messenger! Do not obey the heedless who were deceived by Satan, disobey Allah, do not worship Him, and follow their whims. Accordingly, they persist in injustice as they prefer misguidance to follow the right guidance.(…and whose endeavor is fruitless.)
The scholars mention more than one meaning to ‘fruitless’. However, Imam Muhammad ibn Jarir said that the most correct opinion is that it means that the endeavor of the one whose heart is heedless of Allah’s remembrance due to haughtiness and contempt for the poor believers will be fruitless, which eventually will lead him to eternal loss.Ayah (28) clarifies to people the true values that they should take care of when dealing with each other, i.e. belief in Allah, and good ethics, rather than wealth and class.
Then, Allah commanded Messenger Muhammad to openly declare the truth he brought, confronting the haughty people.
Say, ‘The truth has come from your Lord. Whoever wills, let him believe, and whoever wills, let him disbelieve.’ Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them. If they call for relief, they will be given water like murky boiling oil that will burn their faces. What a terrible drink! What a miserable place. [29]
O Messenger! Say to the heedless whose hearts are inattentive to the truth, i.e. Islam, who follow their whims, and their endeavors are bound to loss, ‘The message of Islam that Allah revealed to me is the truth that must be followed. Thus, whoever wants to believe, let him believe and his final destination will be Paradise and attainment of a good reward. Whoever wants to disbelieve, let him disbelieve, and his final destination will be Hell and suffering severe punishment.’However, this does not mean that one can choose between belief and disbelief in Allah. Rather, the intended meaning is threatening and intimidation, the evidence of which is the following statement:
(Indeed, We have prepared for the wrongdoers a fire whose walls will surround them.)
Allah has prepared a great fire for the disbelievers. The fire’s walls will surround the wrongdoers so they will never be able to escape from it. They will remain therein forever, suffering from its torment.(If they call for relief, they will be given water like murky boiling oil that will burn their faces. What a terrible drink! What a miserable place.)
The ayah depicts the horrible torment that will befall the disbelievers and wrongdoers in Hell.If the disbelievers ask for help, relief from the torment they will experiencing, or water to drink to quench their thirst, they will be given murky boiling water that will severely burn their faces. Indeed, it will be a terrible drink. Indeed, Hell is a miserable dwelling.
After presenting the final destination of the disbelievers, the ayat describe the final destination of the believers, who believe in Allah and His Messengers.
Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds - indeed, We shall not cause the good doers’ reward to be lost. [30]
Those who believe in Allah and His messengers, obey Allah, avoid His prohibitions – Allah will never deprive them of their rewards. He will never cause the good doers’ reward to be lost.We notice that the ayah connects belief in Allah and His Messenger with performing righteous deeds. That is because true faith is the basis from which behavior originates. Thus, true faith without performing righteous deeds is fruitless, and doing righteous deeds practically serves as an indication of true faith.
The ayah states that Allah will never cause the good doers’ reward to lost. The good doer may be a believer in Allah and His Messenger, or non-believer. Nonetheless, Allah will never deprive even the non-believer, who does good deeds of his reward. He will reward him/her for his/her good deeds in the worldly life, and in the Hereafter, he/she will get nothing for not believing in Allah and Messenger Muhammad in the worldly life.
Then, the ayat mention the reward Allah has prepared for the believers.
Those - theirs will be Gardens of Eden. Rivers will be flowing beneath their dwellings. They will be adorned with gold bracelets, and will wear green garments of thin and thick silk, reclining on couches therein. How excellent a reward! How excellent a dwelling! [31]
Those who believe in Allah and Messenger Muhammad, and do righteous deeds will enter Paradise wherein they will remain forever. Rivers will be flowing under their dwellings therein. They will be adorned with gold bracelets, and they will wear green garments made of thin and thick silk. In their dwellings, they will be reclining on couches.The ayat depicts the comfort the believers will be experiencing in Paradise. Giving this pleasant news generates enthusiasm in the souls so they will readily do righteous deeds to attain this great rank and reward in the Hereafter.
Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 27-31
• The importance of following, applying, and reciting the Quran, which contains the good of the worldly life and the Hereafter.
• Allah’s ordainment will happen and no one can change it. This creates peace of mind as it becomes certain that what Allah wants will happen and that what He does not want will never happen.
• If the heart is attached to the worldly life and its enjoyment, it will aspire for a company of the upper-class and rich people to attain worldly advantages. Thus, the propagator of Islam should do their best to protect their hearts from such attachment and seek the company of the righteous even if they are poor.
• Avoiding the heedless and those who follow their whims is a vital step guiding the heart to the path that pleases Allah, Exalted is He.
• Freedom of belief is guaranteed in Islam. However, one will take responsibility of the result of his/her choice.
• Great reward is awaiting those who believe in Allah and Messenger Muhammad and do righteous deeds in the Hereafter.
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