Overview (Verses 7 - 17)

The Inevitable Reckoning
 
They are called stinters in the first part of the surah; but in the second they are described as transgressors. The surah proceeds to describe the standing of this group with God, their situation in this life, and what awaits them on the great day. “No indeed! The record of the transgressors is in Sijjin. Would that you knew what Sijjin is! It is a record inscribed. Woe on that day to the unbelievers who deny the Day of Judgement. None denies it but the guilty aggressors, the evildoers, who, when Our revelations are recited to them, cry: ‘Fables of the ancients!’ No indeed! Their own deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts. No indeed! On that day they shall be shut out from their Lord. They shall enter the blazing fire, and will be told: ‘This is (the reality) which you denied!” (Verses 7-17) They think they will not be raised to life after death, so the Qur’an rebukes them and affirms that a record of their actions is kept.
 
The location of that record is specified as an additional confirmation of the fact, albeit a location unknown to man. They are threatened with woe and ruin on that day when their record shall be reviewed: “No indeed! The record of the transgressors is in Sijjin. Would that you knew what Sijjin is! It is a record inscribed. Woe on that day to the unbelievers.” (Verses 7-10)
 
The transgressors, as the Arabic term, fujjar, here connotes, are those who indulge excessively in sin. Their book is the record of their deeds. We do not know the nature of this book and nor are we required to know. The whole matter belongs to that realm of which we know nothing except what we are told by God. The statement that there is a record in Sijjin of the transgressors’ deeds, is followed by the familiar Qur’anic form of expression associated with connotations of greatness: “Would that you knew what Sijjin is!” (Verse 8) Thus, the addressee is made to feel that the whole matter is too great to be fully understood.
 
The surah then gives a further account of the transgressors’ book: “It is a record inscribed.” (Verse 9) There is no possibility of addition or omission until it is thrown open on that great day. When this takes place, “woe on that day to the unbelievers.” (Verse 10) Then we are given information about the subject of unbelief, and the true character of the unbelievers who deny the Day of Judgement. “None denies it but the guilty aggressors, the evildoers, who, when Our revelations are recited to them, cry: Fables of the ancients!” (Verses 12-13) So, aggression and bad deeds lead the perpetrators to deny the Day of Judgement and to take a rude and ill-mannered attitude towards the Qur’an, describing it as “Fables of the ancients!” This description by the unbelievers is, of course, based on the fact that the Qur’an contains some historical accounts of former nations. These accounts are related as a lesson for later generations as they demonstrate with much clarity the working of the divine rules to which all nations and generations are subject.
 
They are strongly rebuked and reprobated for their rudeness and rejection of the truth. These connotations, carried by the Arabic term kalla, translated here as ‘No indeed’, are coupled with an assertion that their allegations are unfounded. We are then given an insight into the motives of their insolent disbelief and the reasons for their inability to see the obvious truth or respond to it: “Their own deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts.” (Verse 14) Indeed the hearts of those who indulge in sin become dull, as if they are veiled by a thick curtain which keeps them in total darkness, unable to see the light. Thus they gradually lose their sensitivity and become lifeless.
 
The Prophet says: “When a man commits a sin, it throws a black spot over his heart. If he repents, his heart is polished; but if he persists in his practice, the stains increase.” [Related by Ibn Jarir, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah.] Al-Tirmidhi describes this hadith as authentic. Al-Nasa’i’s version differs in wording but not in import. His version may be translated as follows: “When a man commits a sin, a black spot is formed on his heart. If he desists, prays for forgiveness and repents, his heart will be polished; but if he persists, the spot grows bigger until it has covered his whole heart. This is what God refers to when He says: ‘No indeed! Their own deeds have cast a layer of rust over their hearts.’’’ (Verse 14) Explaining this verse, Imam al-Hasan al-Basri said: “It is a case of one sin on top of another until the heart is blinded and dies.”
 
Thus we have learnt the situation of transgressing unbelievers, as well as their motives for transgression and rejection of the truth. Then we are told what will happen to them on that great day, a destiny which befits their evil deeds and denial of the truth: “On that day they shall be shut out from their Lord. They shall enter the blazing fire, and will be told: ‘This is [the reality] which you denied!” (Verses 15-17) Because their sins have cast a thick veil over their hearts, they are unable in this life to feel God’s presence, and it is only appropriate that they not be allowed to see His glorious face. They will be deprived of this great happiness, which is bestowed only on those whose hearts and souls are so clean and transparent that they deserve to be with their Lord, without any form of separation or isolation. Such people are described in Surah 75, The Resurrection: “On that day there shall be joyous faces, looking towards their Lord.” (75: 22-23)
 
This separation from their Lord is the greatest and most agonizing punishment and deprivation. It is a miserable end of a man whose very humanity is derived from only one source, namely his contact with God, his benevolent Lord. When man is torn away from this source of nobleness he loses all his humanity and sinks to a level which ensures hell is his just reward: “They shall enter the blazing fire.” (Verse 16) On top of this, there is something much worse and much more agonizing, namely, rebuke. “And will be told: ‘This is [the reality] which you denied!” (Verse 17)