As-Sajdah 32:20 - Linguistic Miracle

“While those who did fisq, then their refuge is only the fire. Every time they wanted to exit it, they were returned in it with these words said to them, “Taste the punishment of the fire which you used to deny.”

Fisq is the verbal noun of the word fāsiq. Because the muʾmin restricted himself in this world to stay within the limits ordained by Allah, they were recompensed with absolute freedom by being granted not one, but multiple gardens. Whereas the fāsiq broke out of the limits set by Allah and roamed freely and acted with utmost freedom in this world and did whatever they wanted. Hence, they were recompensed by having their freedoms taken away by being contained inside the fire where they have no freedom to even move out of it; let alone do anything they want. Hence, every time

they wanted to exit it, they were returned in it.

Notice how it says here “their refuge is the fire” while in the last verse it said “They will

have Gardens, the perfect refuge.”

When Allah said “they will have gardens” He used the lām al milkiyyah which is used for ownership. For example, If I say to someone “ stay in this house” this does not imply ownership, but if I say, “this house is for you”, it does. Allah is the owner of the Gardens

which the believers enter but He uses the lām al milkiyyah to show that the believers

will be the owners and masters of these gardens which implies security. These gardens will not be taken away from them. They will be their property. With regards to the disbelievers, fire is neither a refuge nor a source of protection from anything. It itself is something from which protection is sought. The use of the genitive construction as in the previous verse would be inappropriate because it would denote the meanings of completion and perfection. Since the fire is mockingly called a refuge for them, it is not suitable to use the same language with it. Now the question arises, why even mockingly call the fire a refuge? Look at the next

words. Every time they wanted to exit it, they were returned in it. A maʾwā is a place where you take refuge from a danger you are fearful of but the fire by itself is a danger you want to seek protection from. The disbelievers will do exactly that. They will seek to get out of the fire and try to seek protection from it. They will try to find a maʾwā from it. But they will be returned inside it again. They sought a maʾwā and where did they

land? Inside the fire itself. This is how the fire is their maʾwā. Whenever they try to seek protection from the fire, they are made to cling to it even more.

Whenever they wanted to exit it -Notice the word “wanted” which ties in perfectly with their description of being fāsiq. In this life, they broke out of Allah’s limits and did whatever they wanted. In the hereafter, they get recompensed by not having anything they want fulfilled.

They were returned in it -It does not say that they will be returned to it, but rather in

( )في it. This is because they never get out of it. They decide to go towards the exit, and the moment they move towards the exit, they are forced back into its center.

With these words said to them, “Taste the punishment of the fire which you used to deny.” This

paints a scene that we can picture in our mind. When they try to get out, they experience an overwhelming force that pushes them back into the very center. They look around dumbfounded asking, “What just happened?” Then they hear a voice say, “Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny.” This is why the sentence “they were returned in it” is in passive voice instead of specifying who or what returned them into the fire. They themselves will not know who or what did it. One moment they were approaching its exit, and the next moment - all of a sudden - they are in its midst again.

To make it even worse, “with these words said to them” is in passive voice as well instead of specifying the speaker. They won’t even know who the speaker is, who is speaking to them. The only thing they hear is “ taste the punishment of the fire which you used to

deny” and from a speaker they can’t even see. Helplessly alone and deserted. No one to take pity on them nor anyone to help them. This goes back to verse 4 - “ You have,

besides him, no Wali nor a Shafīʿ.” You have no Wali or Shafi’ to protect you from the decree and punishment of Allah. This also goes back to the words “ We forgot you” in verse 14. We disregarded you completely, such that we are not even near you, you cannot even see us, nor talk to us. The only words you hear from us are “ taste the

punishment of the greatest Fire which you used to deny.”

Which you used to deny- You used to deny that actions have consequences. You used

to deny that you will meet Allah who will repay you for your actions. This fire is the very consequence of your actions. The notion that you had that the worldly life is all there is, with no consequences for their actions, led you to become fāsiq. This fire is

fisq you committed, which you would not have done, had you believed your actions - your fisq -will have consequences.

the very consequences of your actions that you committed; of the

This is why the preposition ب is used with the word tukadhdhibūn (you used to deny) in

the present tense; because this entails repetition. You used to deny it again and again, not just once. Recall that in verse 15, Allah mentioned how the believers, whenever they were effectively reminded of the Qurʾān would submit and humble themselves before Allah. It implied being repeatedly reminded, not just a single, stand alone reminder. This was the same with these people. They were reminded constantly of these verses, but they denied them.

Secondly, whenever a person commits a crime, or fisq; he feels guilt inside of him. Where does that guilt come from? In surah al- Qiyamah, Allah tells us that guilt is our soul berating and admonishing us for committing that crime because it knows it will have to pay the price for it on judgment day. That guilt is our soul pleading with us to stop because it does not want to face the consequences of that crime. But these disbelievers used to deny it again and again, crime after crime, fisq after fisq, even when their own souls testified to its truth. Guilt is not a feeling one can bury. It is a testament to our wrongdoing. Yet, they used to commit fisq after fisq, denying what their own souls were repeatedly testifying to them.