Surah Luqman Ayat 33 (31:33 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(31:33) O people, fear (the wrath) of your Lord, and dread the Day when no father will stand for his child, nor any child stand for his father.^[59] Surely Allah’s promise is true.^[60] So let the life of this world not beguile you,^[61] nor let the Deluder delude you about Allah.^[62]

59. “Allah’s promise”: the promise of Resurrection, when the court of Allah will be established and everyone will be called to render an account of his deeds.

60. The life of the world involves the people, who only see the superficial, in different kinds of misunderstandings. Someone thinks that life and death only belong to this world, and there is no life after this; therefore, whatever one has to do, one should do it here and now. Another one who is lost in his wealth and power and prosperity, forgets his death and gets involved in the foolish idea that his grandees and his power are everlasting. Another one overlooking the moral and spiritual objectives regards the material gains and pleasures in themselves as the only objectives and does not give anything any importance but the standard of living, no matter whether his standard of humanity goes on falling lower and lower as a result thereof. Someone thinks that worldly prosperity is the real criterion of truth and falsehood: every way of life that ensures this is the truth and everything contradictory to it is falsehood. Someone regards this very prosperity as a sign of being Allah’s favorite and assumes the law that whoever is leading a prosperous life here is Allah’s beloved no matter by what means he might have achieved this prosperity, and whoever is leading a miserable life in the world, even if it be so due to his love of the truth and his uprightness, will live a miserable life in the Hereafter, too. These and other such misunderstandings have been called deceptions of the worldly life by Allah.

61. Al-gharur (the deceiver) may be Satan or a man or a group of them, or even man’s own self, or something else. The reason for using this comprehensive and meaningful word in its absolute form without identifying a particular person or thing is that for different people there are different means that cause them deception. Any particular means or cause that deceived a person to be misled and misguided from the right way to the wrong way, will be algharur in his particular case.

62.”To deceive about Allah” are also comprehensive words, which include countless kinds of deceptions. The deceiver deceives one man with the idea that there is no God at all, and another man with the idea that God after making the world has handed over its control and administration to the men and is no more concerned with it; he misleads another one, saying, “There are some favorite ones of God: if you attain nearness to them, you will surely win your forgiveness whatever you may do, or may have done, in the world;” he deceives another one, saying, “God is All- Forgiving and All-Merciful: you may go on committing sins freely, and He will go on forgiving each sin of yours.” He gives another person the idea of determinism and misguides him, saying, “Everything that you do is pre-ordained: if you commit evil, it is God Who makes you commit it: if you avoid goodness, it is God Who makes you avoid it.” Thus, there are countless types of such deceptions with which man is being deceived concerning God. When analyzed, it comes to light that the basic cause of all errors and sins and crimes is that man has been deceived concerning God in one way or the other, and that is how he has been misled to some ideological deviation or moral error.

Ibn-Kathir

33. O mankind! Have Taqwa of your Lord, and fear a Day when no father can avail aught for his son, nor a son avail aught for his father. Verily, the promise of Allah is true, let not then this present life deceive you, nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about Allah.

Here Allah warns people about the Day of Resurrection, and commands them to fear Him and remember the Day of Resurrection when

(no father can avail aught for his son,) which means, even if he wanted to offer himself as a sacrifice for his son, it would not be accepted from him. The same will apply in the case of a son who wants to sacrifice himself for his father — it will not be accepted from him. Then Allah reminds them once again with the words:

(let not then this present life deceive you,) meaning, do not let your feelings of contentment with this life make you forget about the Hereafter.

(nor let the chief deceiver deceive you about Allah.) refers to the Shaytan. This was the view of Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak and Qatadah. The Shaytan makes promises to them and arouses in them false desires, but there is no substance to them, as Allah says:

(He makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires; and Shaytan’s promises are nothing but deceptions.) (4:120). Wahb bin Munabbih said: `Uzayr, peace be upon him, said: “When I saw the misfortune of my people, I felt very sad and distressed, and I could not sleep, so I prayed to my Lord and fasted, and I called upon Him weeping. There came to me an angel and I said to him: `Tell me, will the souls of the righteous intercede for the wrongdoers, or the fathers for their sons’ He said: `On the Day of Resurrection all matters will be settled, and Allah’s dominion will be made manifest and no exceptions will be made. No one will speak on that Day except with the permission of the Most Merciful. No father will answer for his son, or any son for his father, or any man for his brother, or any servant for his master. No one will care about anybody except himself, or feel grief or compassion for anyone except himself. Everyone will be worried only about himself. No one will be asked about anybody else. Each person will be concerned only about himself, weeping for himself and carrying his own burden. No one will carry the burden of another.”’ This was recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim.