The disbelievers said to their messengers, ‘Indeed, we shall expel you from our land, or you shall surely revert to our creed.’ Then, their Lord revealed to them, ‘Indeed, We shall destroy the wrongdoers.’ [Q 14: 13]
And We shall surely make you dwell in the land after them. This is for him who fears standing before Me and fears my warning. [Q 14: 14]
They sought victory. Every arrogant, stubborn person will be doomed. [Q 14: 15]
Before him is Hell, and he will be made to drink purulent water.
[Q 14: 16]
He will unwillingly sip it, and can hardly swallow it. And death will approach him from everywhere, but he will never die, and before him will be ceaseless severe torment. [Q 14: 17]
The likeness of the deeds of those who disbelieve in their Lord is as ashes that the wind forcefully blows on a stormy day. They will be unable to avail of anything that they gained. That is the extreme deviation. [Q 14: 18]
Relationship with the Previous Part
The previous part narrated that Allah’s Messenger put their trust on Allah to ward off their enemies’ danger. Then the ayat narrate how the disbelievers were extremely foolish. They shamelessly threatened to expel Allah’s Messengers from their town unless they revert to their creed.
Tafsir
The disbelievers said to their messengers, ‘Indeed, we shall expel you from our land, or you shall revert to our creed.’ Then, their Lord revealed to them, ‘Indeed, We shall destroy the wrongdoers.’ [Q 14: 13]
This was the normal development of the dialogue and conflict between Allah’s Messengers and the disbelieving nations. After their fruitless discussion with their messengers, and being defeated before the conclusive proofs of the messengers, the disbelievers could find no way to deal with the situation except threatening the messengers with expulsion from their town or reverting to their creed.
The reason behind the threatening of the disbelievers is their extreme deceive by their power and number and weakness and insignificance number of the believers.
[…you shall revert to our creed.] In this statement, it seems that Allah’s Messengers were disbelievers then became believers, which is an impossible interpretation. That is because Allah’s Messengers, even before receiving Allah’s revelation, were infallible in respect of committing major sins let alone worshipping other gods besides Allah, Exalted be He.
The intended meaning could be as follows: Though the statement of the disbelievers directed to the messengers, but they originally meant to address the followers of the messengers, who were disbelievers and then believed in the messengers. Another possible interpretation is that the disbelievers, out of their ignorance and foolishness, thought that Allah’s Messengers were disbelievers before openly inviting people to believe in the Oneness of Allah, as they used to be silent before being entrusted to convey the message of Allah. And Allah knows best.
[Then, their Lord revealed to them, ‘Indeed, We shall destroy the wrongdoers.’]
This is great news to Allah’s Messengers that they would be victorious over their enemies. After Allah’s Messengers received the harsh reaction of the disbelievers, Allah, Exalted be He, revealed to them that He would destroy the wrongdoers, who worshipped other gods besides Him, Exalted be He.
Indeed, We shall make you dwell in the land after them. This is for him who fears standing before Me and fears my warning. [Q 14: 14]
Moreover, Allah, Exalted be He, will make the believers dwell in the land of the disbelievers after their destruction as a punishment for the disbelievers who threatened the believers with expulsion.
Indeed, there is no comparison between the warning and threatening of Allah, the Able, and that of the weak disbelievers.
[This is for him who fears standing before Me and fears my warning.]
The promise to destroy the wrongdoers and make the oppressed people dwell in their land is for whoever fears standing before Allah for reckoning on the Day of Judgment and fears His torment, anger, and warning.
The following ayah depicts a scene that shows the arrogant disbelievers with their weak forces standing on one side, and the humble messengers of Allah and their followers, supported by Allah, the All-Mighty, standing in the other side. Each party sought victory.
They sought victory. Every arrogant, stubborn person will be doomed. [Q 14: 15]
Allah’s Messengers sought and asked for victory from Allah, the All-Mighty, against their enemies. They earnestly prayed to Allah to support and help them and decide the matter between them and their enemies.
The messengers won this confrontation and their enemies ignominiously lost it. Verily, every arrogant, stubborn person will be doomed since he refuses to obey Allah, the Creator, and deviates from the path that pleases Him.
Abdul-Allah bin Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, ‘[They sought victory. Every arrogant, stubborn person will be doomed.] [Q 14: 15] Allah’s Messengers and their followers used to be oppressed by the tyrants. The disbelievers used to ask the believers to revert to their false creed of worshipping other gods besides Allah. Allah, Exalted be He, rejected that the believers should revert to disbelief. He commanded them to rely on Him and seek victory from Him over their tyrant enemies. Allah promised to grant them victory and make them dwell in their enemies’ land after defeating them. Thus, Allah, the Able, fulfilled His promise.’ [Tafsir al-Tabari]
Before him is Hell, and he will be made to drink purulent water.
[Q 14: 16]
Hellfire will be waiting for the arrogant stubborn disbelievers on the Day of Judgment. It is their final destination. What a horrible destination! Verily, the disbelievers will never be able to escape it.
[He will be made to drink purulent water.] The only drink the arrogant, stubborn disbelievers will drink in Hellfire is purulent water. It is a fluid that contains pus and blood discharged from the bodies of the inhabitants of Hellfire.
He will unwillingly sip it, and can hardly swallow it. And death will approach him from everywhere, but he will never die, and before him will be ceaseless severe torment. [Q 14: 17]
[He will unwillingly sip it, and can hardly swallow it.] This depicts how the condition of the arrogant, stubborn disbeliever will be when drinking the purulent water composed of the pus and blood of the inhabitants of Hellfire. He will unwillingly sip the watery pus despite its horrible taste and foul smelling. He can hardly swallow it because it is terribly disgusting.
[And death will approach him from everywhere, but he will never die.]
This depicts another condition of the disbeliever in Hellfire. Causes leading to death and destruction will approach the disbeliever from everywhere and every part of his body, but he will never die so he will be relieved of his suffering.
[…and before him will be ceaseless severe torment.] In addition to the aforementioned torment, there will be ceaseless severe torment for the disbelievers.
The likeness of the deeds of those who disbelieve in their Lord is as ashes that the wind forcefully blows on a stormy day. They will be unable to avail of anything that they gained. That is the extreme deviation. [Q 14: 18]
Allah presents an example of the righteous deeds that the disbelievers do in the worldly life. He informs that they will not avail of these righteous deeds in the least in the Hereafter because they disbelieve in the Oneness of Allah in the worldly life.
The righteous deeds that the disbelievers do in the worldly life, the reward of which they hope to attain from Allah on the Day of Judgment, are like ashes that the wind forcefully blows on a stormy day. They will be unable to avail of the reward of their righteous deeds at all, just as they will be unable to gather ashes on a windy day. Their endeavors to perform righteous deeds that are based on unsound foundation, i.e. belief in Allah’s Oneness, is the extreme deviation. The disbelievers will lose the reward of their righteous deeds in the Hereafter because their deeds lack the essential condition for accepting them, namely belief in Allah’s Oneness.
Learned Lessons From Surah Ibrahim Ayah: 13-18
• The disbelievers’ threat to the believers that they will expel them from their land, and force them to revert to disbelief in Allah has no value in comparison with Allah’s threat. Allah, Exalted be He, will destroy the disbelievers. The disbelievers’ threat will vanish, but Allah’s threat will come true.
• Allah, Exalted be He, will reward the patient believers by making them dwell in the land of the disbelieving wrongdoers.
• To deserve Allah’s help and triumph over their enemies, the believers must fear standing before Allah for reckoning on the Day of Judgment and fear His torment and warning.
• When a confrontation between the believers and their enemies takes place, no matter who will seek victory over the other, triumph will be the share of the believers, and loss and destruction will be the share of the arrogant, stubborn disbelievers.
• Severe torment in Hellfire is awaiting for the disbelievers in the Hereafter.
• On the Day of Judgment, the drink of the disbelievers will be a fluid composed of pus and blood discharged from the bodies of the inhabitants of Hellfire.
• Causes of death will surround the disbelievers in Hellfire, but they will never die. They will suffer severe torment therein.
• In the Hereafter, the disbelievers will be unable to avail of the reward of their righteous deeds that they did in the worldly life because they lack the foundation for accepting them, namely, belief in the Oneness of Allah, Exalted be He.
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