وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم مَّاذَآ أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُوٓا۟ أَسَٰطِيرُ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ · لِيَحْمِلُوٓا۟ أَوْزَارَهُمْ كَامِلَةً يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ وَمِنْ أَوْزَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُم بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ أَلَا سَآءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ
Wa idhā qīla lahum mādhā anzala rabbukum qālū asāṭīru'l-awwalīn · Li-yaḥmilū awzārahum kāmilatan yawma'l-qiyāmati wa min awzāri'lladhīna yuḍillūnahum bi-ghayri ʿilm, alā sāʾa mā yazirūn
"And when it is said to them, "What has your Lord sent down?", they say: "Tales of the ancients." · So that on the Day of Resurrection they may carry their own burdens in full, and a part of the burdens of those they lead astray without knowledge. Beware — evil is what they take upon themselves!"
The answer, however, does not answer the question. Asāṭīru'l-awwalīn — "tales of the ancients." What is given is not an account of what was sent down but a verdict on where it came from.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the sentence does not even say "nothing was sent down". It accepts the question and changes its object. And in the thirtieth verse the same question will be put once more, this time to another group — and the answer will be wholly different. The sūra gives the same question to two different mouths. This is a repetition verifiable within the sūra.
أَسَٰطِير — the plural of usṭūra, root س-ط-ر: a line, writing, to set out in rows. Misṭar — the instrument used for ruling lines. The word means "a thing written, set out in lines"; from this comes the sense "old story, tale".
There is an irony in the root of the word, and I record this as an observation about the language: the objection names what has been sent down "a thing written". Yet the subject of the objection is a text that has been sent down. Both sides use the same family of words; where they part is over the source of the text.
There is a matter here that must be handled with care, because at first sight the verse appears to contradict a principle recorded many times over in this commentary.
The principle is this, and it was treated at many places: wa lā taziru wāziratun wizra ukhrā — "no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another." It was treated in detail at Fāṭir, 35/18, and at al-Isrāʾ, 17/15.
This verse, however, says that those who lead others astray will carry a part of the burdens of those they lead astray. How is the contradiction resolved?
| Word | What it does |
|---|---|
| Awzārahum + كَامِلَةً | Their own burdens — in full. Their own share is not diminished at all |
| Wa min awzāri'lladhīna yuḍillūnahum | Min — "a part of". Not the whole |
And the burden of those led astray is not lightened: the verse does not say that their burden is taken away. What it says is that the one who leads astray is loaded in addition, as a consequence of his own act.
I record this as my own reading, and my ground is these two words (kāmilatan and min): what is carried is not another's burden — it is the return for the act of leading astray itself. The principle is thus not broken; leading astray is counted as an act in its own right.
And the qualification bi-ghayri ʿilm is worth recording: the leading astray is described as done without knowledge. The same construction occurred at Luqmān, 31/6 (li-yuḍilla ʿan sabīli'llāhi bi-ghayri ʿilm); I rely on that treatment.