Surah Jathiya Ayat 21 in Arabic Text
English Translation
Here you can read various translations of verse 21
Or do those who commit evils think We will make them like those who have believed and done righteous deeds – [make them] equal in their life and their death? Evil is that which they judge.
What! Do those who seek after evil ways think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous deeds,- that equal will be their life and their death? Ill is the judgment that they make.
Do the evil-doers imagine that We shall make them equal to those who believe and do good, making their lives and deaths alike? How vile is their judgement!
Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death? Worst is the judgement that they make.
Or do those who commit ill-deeds suppose that We shall make them as those who believe and do good works, the same in life and death? Bad is their judgment!
Or even do the ones who keep indulging in odious deeds reckon that We will make them as the ones who have believed and done deeds of righteousness, (and) equal (will be) their living and their dying? How odious is (the way) they judge!
Do those who commit evil deeds really think that We will deal with them in the same way as those who believe and do righteous deeds, that they will be alike in their living and their dying? How badly they judge!
کیا ان لوگوں کا جو برے کام کرتے ہیں یہ گمان ہے کہ ہم انہیں ان لوگوں جیسا کردیں گے جو ایمان ﻻئے اور نیک کام کیے کہ ان کا مرنا جینا یکساں ہوجائے، برا ہے وه فیصلہ جو وه کررہے ہیں
Quran 45 Verse 21 Explanation
For those looking for commentary to help with the understanding of Surah Jathiya ayat 21, we’ve provided two Tafseer works below. The first is the tafseer of Abul Ala Maududi, the second is of Ibn Kathir.
Ala-Maududi
(45:21) Do[26] the evil-doers imagine that We shall make them equal to those who believe and do good, making their lives and deaths alike? How vile is their judgement![27]
26. After the invitation to Tauhid, the discourse now turns to the theme of the Hereafter.
27. This is the moral reasoning for the truth of the Hereafter. The difference of good and evil in morals and of goodness and wickedness in deeds necessarily demands that the good and the evil people should not meet with one and the same end, but the good should be rewarded for their good and the wicked punished for their evil deeds. Otherwise, if the good and the evil end up similarly, the distinction of virtue and vice in morals becomes meaningless and God becomes unjust. The people who follow evil ways in the world do want that there should be no accountability and no rewards and punishments, for this concept goes against their enjoyment of life, but it is against the justice and wisdom of the Lord of the worlds that He should treat the good and the evil alike, and should not care to see how the righteous believer has lived his life in the world and how the sinful unbeliever has been enjoying it. One of them kept himself subjected to moral restrictions all his life, rendered the rights of those to whom they were due, restrained himself from the unlawful benefits and pleasures, and continued to incur losses for the sake of the truth. The other fulfilled his desires in every possible wary, neither recognized the rights of God nor hesitated from violating the rights of the people, but went on collecting benefits and good things of life in every possible way. Can it be expected of God that He would overlook the difference between the lives of the two kinds of men? If the end of both be the same, no greater injustice could be conceived. For further explanation, see (Surah Younus, Ayat 4); (Surah Houd, Ayat 106); (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 38-39); (Surah Al-Hajj, ayat 7) note 9, (Surah An-Naml, ayat 69) note 86, (Surah Ar-Rum, Ayat 7-8); (Surah Suad, Ayat 28) note 30, on it.
Ibn-Kathir
21. Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death Worst is the judgement that they make. 22. And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with truth, in order that each person may be recompensed what he has earned, and they will not be wronged. 23. Have you seen him who takes his own lust as his god And Allah, left him astray with knowledge, and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight. Who then will guide him after Allah Will you not then remember
Allah the Exalted states here that the believers and the disbelievers are never equal. Allah said in another Ayah,
(Not equal are the dwellers of the Fire and the dwellers of the Paradise. It is the dwellers of Paradise that will be successful.) (59:20) Allah said here,
(Or do those who earn evil deeds think) those who commit and practice evil,
(that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their life and their death) treat them equally in the present life of the world and in the Hereafter
(Worst is the judgement that they make.) `worst is the thought that they have about Us and about Our justice, thinking that We will ever make the pious and the wicked equal in the Hereafter or this life.’ At–Tabarani recorded that Shu`bah said that `Amr bin Murrah narrated that Abu Ad-Duha said that Masruq said that Tamim Ad-Dari once stood in voluntary prayer through the night until the morning only reciting this Ayah,
(Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds) Allah said in reply:
(Worst is the judgement that they make.) Allah said,
(And Allah has created the heavens and the earth with truth,) meaning, in justice,
(in order that each person may be recompensed what he has earned, and they will not be wronged.) Allah the Exalted said,
(Have you seen him who takes his own lust as his god), who abides by his lust, and whatever his lust portrays as good he implements it, and whatever his lust portrays as evil, he abandons it! Allah’s statement,
(And Allah left him astray with knowledge, ) has two meanings. One of them is that Allah knew that this person deserves to be misguided, so He left him astray. The second meaning is that Allah led this person astray after knowledge reached him and the proof was established before him. The second meaning includes the first meaning, but not the opposite. Allah said,
(and sealed his hearing and his heart, and put a cover on his sight.) so he does not hear what benefits him, understands not what would lead him to the guidance and sees not the evidence with which he can be enlightened. This is why Allah said,
(Who then will guide him after Allah Will you not then remember) Allah said in a similar Ayah,
(Whomsoever Allah sends astray, none can guide him; and He lets them wander blindly in their transgressions.) (7:186).
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