Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 40:10–12
The Forgiver (Ghafir)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(10) Those who deny the truth will be told, ‘God’s abhorrence of you is greater than your hatred of yourselves. You were called to the faith but you denied it.’ (11) They will say, ‘Our Lord! Twice You have made us die, and twice You have given us life! Now we have confessed our sins: is there any way out [of this]?’ (12) [They will be told], ‘This is because when God alone was invoked you denied the truth, yet when others were associated with Him you believed in them.’ Judgement rests with God, the Most High, the Most Great.
Commentary
(a) God has showered His mercy in the form of guidance. But, people in general have not accepted it. As a result in the Hereafter, the rejecters of guidance will be completely deprived of God’s grace. In the world, they ignored God’s grace. In the Hereafter, God’s grace will pass them by.
At that time, those who deny the truth will say, ‘O God! You created us from the earth, that is, we were lifeless and you infused life into us. Afterwards, when our lifespan was over, we became lifeless for the second time. Now we have been raised again in the world of the Hereafter. In this way, you have twice given us life and twice given us death. Now, if you give us a third opportunity and send us back into the world, we will admit the Truth and live a life full of righteous deeds.’
But, this request of theirs will not be heard, because they proved that they could not recognise the Truth when it was hidden from their eyes. They were capable of recognising only so-called gods. They did not have the ability to recognise the real invisible God, and such people who are enamoured by outward appearances have no value in the eyes of God.