Surah Anam ayat 158 Tafsir Quran 6:158

﴿هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَن تَأْتِيَهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ رَبُّكَ أَوْ يَأْتِيَ بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ ۗ يَوْمَ يَأْتِي بَعْضُ آيَاتِ رَبِّكَ لَا يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا ۗ قُلِ انتَظِرُوا إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ﴾
[ الأنعام: 158]

6:158 Do they [then] wait for anything except that the angels should come to them or your Lord should come or that there come some of the signs of your Lord? The Day that some of the signs of your Lord will come no soul will benefit from its faith as long as it had not believed before or had earned through its faith some good. Say, "Wait. Indeed, we [also] are waiting."

Are they waiting — the deniers are indeed waiting — for nothing less than that the angels should come to them read ta’tīyahum or ya’tīyahum to seize their souls or that your Lord that is His command meaning His chastisement should come or that one of your Lord’s signs should come? that is those portents of His that indicate the arrival of the Hour? On the day that one of your Lord’s signs comes — and this is the rising of the sun from the west as reported in the hadīth of the two Sahīhs of Bukhārī and Muslim — it shall not benefit a soul to believe if it had not believed theretofore lam takun āmanat min qabl is an adjectival qualification of nafs ‘a soul’ or a soul which had not until then earned in its belief some good some act of obedience that is to say its repentance shall be of no benefit to it as stated in the hadīth corpus. Say ‘Wait for one of these things We too are waiting’ for it.

Do they purpose to wait until some fitting event presents itself and they distinctly perceive the angels or perceive Allah, your Creator, Himself by sight or. Some of His signs evincing both His Omnipotence and the truth of your mission! But when such overwhelming signs present themselves, no soul which did not surrender itself earlier to Allahs Authority nor accomplished a useful purpose in virtue of its faith, shall profit of its submission now. Say to them: Await the justice prepared above in heavens realm and we will await it also

The Disbelievers Await the Commencement of the Hereafter, or Some of its Portents Allah sternly threatens the disbelievers, those who defy His Messengers, deny His Ayat and hinder from His path, هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَ أَن تَأْتِيهُمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِىَ رَبُّكَ ( Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord (Allah ) should come...) on the Day of Resurrection, أَوْ يَأْتِىَ بَعْضُ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِى بَعْضُ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكَ لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا ( or that some of the signs of your Lord should come! The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come no good will it do to a person to believe then. ) Before the commencement of the Day of Resurrection, there will come signs and portents of the Last Hour that will be witnessed by the people living at that time.
In a section explaining this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا فَإِذَا رَآهَا النَّاسُ آمَنَ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَذَلِكَ حِين»
(The Last Hour will not commence until the sun rises from the west.
When the people witness that, they will all believe.
This is when. لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before. )) Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,
«ثَلَاثٌ إِذَا خَرَجْنَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْل أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا، طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَالدَّجَّالُ وَدَابَّةُ الْأَرْض»
( Three, if they appear, then a soul will not benefit from its faith, if it had not believed before or earned good in its faith: when the sun rises from the west, Ad-Dajjal and the Beast of the earth. ) Ahmad also recorded this Hadith, and in his narration, the Prophet mentioned the Smoke.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Amr bin Jarir said, "Three Muslim men sat with Marwan in Al-Madinah and they heard him talking about the signs ( of the Last Hour ).
He said that the first sign will be the appearance of Ad-Dajjal.
So these men went to `Abdullah bin `Amr and told him what they heard from Marwan about the signs.
Ibn `Amr said, Marwan said nothing.
I remember that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying,
«إِنَّ أَوَّلَ الْآياتِ خُرُوجًا طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَخُرُوجُ الدَّابَّةِ ضُحًى فَأَيَّتُهُمَا كَانَتْ قَبْلَ صَاحِبَتِهَا فَالْأُخْرَى عَلَى أَثَرِهَا»
( The first of the signs to appear are the sun rising from the west and the Beast that appears in the early morning.
Whichever comes before the other, then the second sign will appear soon after it." ) Then `Abdullah said - and he used to read the Scriptures - "And I think the first of them is the sun rising from the west.
That is because when it sets it comes under the Throne, prostrates and seeks permission to return.
So it is permitted to return until Allah wants it to rise from the west.
So it does as it normally would, it comes beneath the Throne, it prostrates and seeks permission to return.
But it will get no response.
Then it will seek permission to return again, but it will get no response, until what Allah wills of the night to pass goes by, and it realizes that if it is permitted to return it would not be able to reach the east.
It says; `My Lord! The east is so far, what good would I be to the people' Until the horizons appear as a lightless ring, it seeks permission to return and is told; `Rise from your place,' so it rises upon the people from where it set." Then he recited, لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, ) This was also recorded by Muslim in his Sahih, and Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah in their Sunans.
Allah's statement, لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, ) means, when the disbeliever believes then, it will not be accepted from him.
As for those who were believers before, if they earned righteous deeds, they will have earned a great deal of good.
If they had not done good nor repented before then, it will not be accepted from them, according to the Hadiths that we mentioned.
This is also the meaning of Allah's statement, أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِى إِيمَـنِهَا خَيْرًا ( ...nor earned good through his faith.
) meaning, one's good deeds will not be accepted from him unless he performed good deeds before.
Allah said next, قُلِ انتَظِرُواْ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ ( Say: "Wait you! We (too ) are waiting.") This is a stern threat to the disbelievers and a sure promise for those who delay embracing the faith and repenting until a time when faith or repentance shall not avail.
This will occur when the sun rises from the west because the Last Hour will then be imminent and its major signs will have begun to appear.
Allah said in other Ayat, فَهَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ السَّاعَةَ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَقَدْ جَآءَ أَشْرَاطُهَا فَأَنَّى لَهُمْ إِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرَاهُمْ ( Do they then await (anything ) other than the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly But some of its portents have already come; and when it is upon them, how can they benefit then by their reminder) 47:18, and, فَلَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا قَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَكَـفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْ إِيمَـنُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا ( So when they saw Our punishment, they said: "We believe in Allah alone and reject (all ) that we used to associate with Him as partners." Then their faith could not avail them when they saw Our punishment.) 40:84-85

(6:158) What! Do they wait either for the angels to appear before them or for your Lord to come unto them or for some clear signs of your Lord1 *139 to appear before them? When some clear signs of your Lord will appear, believing will be of no avail to anyone who did not believe before, or who earned no good deeds through his faith. *140 Say: 'Wait on; we too are waiting.'

Do they [then] wait for anything except meaning

*139).
That is, either tokens of the approach of the Day of Reckoning or God's scourge or any other sign that will uncover the Truth, after which there will be no reason left for testing man.

*140).
Those tokens will be so clear that after their appearance it will neither avail the unbeliever to repent of his unbelief nor the disobedient to forsake his disobedience.
For faith and obedience have meaning and value only as long as the Truth remains hidden, as long as the tenure of life granted to people does not seem to have approached its end and the world with all its vanities continues to delude man that, as there may neither be God nor After-life, one should eat, drink and enjoy oneself as best one can.

 

The Disbelievers Await the Commencement of the Hereafter, or Some of its Portents Allah sternly threatens the disbelievers, those who defy His Messengers, deny His Ayat and hinder from His path, هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَ أَن تَأْتِيهُمُ الْمَلَـئِكَةُ أَوْ يَأْتِىَ رَبُّكَ ( Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord (Allah ) should come...) on the Day of Resurrection, أَوْ يَأْتِىَ بَعْضُ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِى بَعْضُ ءَايَـتِ رَبِّكَ لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا ( or that some of the signs of your Lord should come! The day that some of the signs of your Lord do come no good will it do to a person to believe then. ) Before the commencement of the Day of Resurrection, there will come signs and portents of the Last Hour that will be witnessed by the people living at that time.
In a section explaining this Ayah, Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «لَا تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ حَتَّى تَطْلُعَ الشَّمْسُ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا فَإِذَا رَآهَا النَّاسُ آمَنَ مَنْ عَلَيْهَا فَذَلِكَ حِين» (The Last Hour will not commence until the sun rises from the west.
When the people witness that, they will all believe.
This is when. لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before. )) Ibn Jarir recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said, «ثَلَاثٌ إِذَا خَرَجْنَ لَا يَنْفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ آمَنَتْ مِنْ قَبْل أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِي إِيمَانِهَا خَيْرًا، طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَالدَّجَّالُ وَدَابَّةُ الْأَرْض» ( Three, if they appear, then a soul will not benefit from its faith, if it had not believed before or earned good in its faith: when the sun rises from the west, Ad-Dajjal and the Beast of the earth. ) Ahmad also recorded this Hadith, and in his narration, the Prophet mentioned the Smoke.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Amr bin Jarir said, "Three Muslim men sat with Marwan in Al-Madinah and they heard him talking about the signs ( of the Last Hour ).
He said that the first sign will be the appearance of Ad-Dajjal.
So these men went to `Abdullah bin `Amr and told him what they heard from Marwan about the signs.
Ibn `Amr said, Marwan said nothing.
I remember that I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ saying, «إِنَّ أَوَّلَ الْآياتِ خُرُوجًا طُلُوعُ الشَّمْسِ مِنْ مَغْرِبِهَا وَخُرُوجُ الدَّابَّةِ ضُحًى فَأَيَّتُهُمَا كَانَتْ قَبْلَ صَاحِبَتِهَا فَالْأُخْرَى عَلَى أَثَرِهَا» ( The first of the signs to appear are the sun rising from the west and the Beast that appears in the early morning.
Whichever comes before the other, then the second sign will appear soon after it." ) Then `Abdullah said - and he used to read the Scriptures - "And I think the first of them is the sun rising from the west.
That is because when it sets it comes under the Throne, prostrates and seeks permission to return.
So it is permitted to return until Allah wants it to rise from the west.
So it does as it normally would, it comes beneath the Throne, it prostrates and seeks permission to return.
But it will get no response.
Then it will seek permission to return again, but it will get no response, until what Allah wills of the night to pass goes by, and it realizes that if it is permitted to return it would not be able to reach the east.
It says; `My Lord! The east is so far, what good would I be to the people' Until the horizons appear as a lightless ring, it seeks permission to return and is told; `Rise from your place,' so it rises upon the people from where it set." Then he recited, لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, ) This was also recorded by Muslim in his Sahih, and Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah in their Sunans.
Allah's statement, لاَ يَنفَعُ نَفْسًا إِيمَانُهَا لَمْ تَكُنْ ءَامَنَتْ مِن قَبْلُ ( no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, ) means, when the disbeliever believes then, it will not be accepted from him.
As for those who were believers before, if they earned righteous deeds, they will have earned a great deal of good.
If they had not done good nor repented before then, it will not be accepted from them, according to the Hadiths that we mentioned.
This is also the meaning of Allah's statement, أَوْ كَسَبَتْ فِى إِيمَـنِهَا خَيْرًا ( ...nor earned good through his faith.
) meaning, one's good deeds will not be accepted from him unless he performed good deeds before.
Allah said next, قُلِ انتَظِرُواْ إِنَّا مُنتَظِرُونَ ( Say: "Wait you! We (too ) are waiting.") This is a stern threat to the disbelievers and a sure promise for those who delay embracing the faith and repenting until a time when faith or repentance shall not avail.
This will occur when the sun rises from the west because the Last Hour will then be imminent and its major signs will have begun to appear.
Allah said in other Ayat, فَهَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلاَّ السَّاعَةَ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ بَغْتَةً فَقَدْ جَآءَ أَشْرَاطُهَا فَأَنَّى لَهُمْ إِذَا جَآءَتْهُمْ ذِكْرَاهُمْ ( Do they then await (anything ) other than the Hour, that it should come upon them suddenly But some of its portents have already come; and when it is upon them, how can they benefit then by their reminder) 47:18, and, فَلَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا قَالُواْ ءَامَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَحْدَهُ وَكَـفَرْنَا بِمَا كُنَّا بِهِ مُشْرِكِينَ فَلَمْ يَكُ يَنفَعُهُمْ إِيمَـنُهُمْ لَمَّا رَأَوْاْ بَأْسَنَا ( So when they saw Our punishment, they said: "We believe in Allah alone and reject (all ) that we used to associate with Him as partners." Then their faith could not avail them when they saw Our punishment.) 40:84-85

( Wait they ) i.e. the people of Mecca, ( indeed, for nothing less than that the angels should come unto them ) to take their souls away at the moment of death, ( or thy Lord should come ) on the Day of Judgement, and His coming is without modality, ( or there should come one of the portents from thy Lord ) i.e. the rising of the sun from the West? ( In the day when one of the portents from they Lord cometh ) before the rising of the sun from the West, ( its belief availeth naught a soul which theretofore ) before the rising of the sun from the West ( believed not, nor in its belief earned good ) nor was it sincere in its belief, nor doing any good works before the rising of the sun from the West. This is because no faith, works or repentance are accepted from an unbeliever who embraces Islam upon seeing the sun rise from the West, unless that person is young at that time or is born after. In such a case, if he leaves Islam after the sun rises from the West and then returns to Islam, his repentance is accepted. Likewise, the repentance of a sinning believer who repents of his sins after the sun rises from the West is accepted. ( Say ) O Muhammad to the people of Mecca: ( Wait you ) the Day of Judgement! ( Lo! We (too ) are waiting) for your punishment on the Day of Judgement or before the Day of Judgement; it is also said that this means: Say, O Muhammad, wait for my destruction, I am also waiting for yours.

Do they then wait for anything other than that the angels should come to them, or that your Lord should come, or that some of the Signs of your Lord should come (i.e. portents of the Hour e.g., arising of the sun from the west)! The day that some of the Signs of your Lord do come, no good will it do to a person to believe then, if he believed not before, nor earned good (by performing deeds of righteousness) through his Faith. Say: "Wait you! we (too) are waiting."

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