وَٱتَّخَذُوا۟ مِن دُونِ ٱللَّهِ ءَالِهَةً لِّيَكُونُوا۟ لَهُمْ عِزًّا · كَلَّا سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدًّا … يَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ ٱلْمُتَّقِينَ إِلَى ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ وَفْدًا · وَنَسُوقُ ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ إِلَىٰ جَهَنَّمَ وِرْدًا
"They have taken gods besides God, that these might be a might for them. No! Those gods will deny their service and will stand against them… On that day We shall gather those who guard themselves to al-Raḥmān as a delegation; and We shall drive the guilty to Hell, thirsty."
The verse states the reason for the act of taking: li-yakūnū lahum ʿizzā — "that they might be a might for them."
The same method was treated in al-ʿAnkabūt 29/25: there the ground was mawaddata baynikum (the bond of affection among you). The two sūras name two different grounds for the same act:
| Place | The ground |
|---|---|
| al-ʿAnkabūt 29/25 | Mawaddata baynikum — a social bond |
| Maryam 19/81 | Li-yakūnū lahum ʿizzā — might and standing |
And a ground was transmitted in al-Zumar 39/3 as well (li-yuqarribūnā ila'llāhi zulfā — that they might bring us near). Three sūras record three different grounds — and all three are given from the other side's own mouth or intention. This is a weave that can be verified.
كَلَّا سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدًّا — and the opposite of the expected outcome is announced: what was taken so as to be a might goes over to the other side.
Ḍidd — the opposite, the adversary. The word occurs only here in the Qurʾān. The same reversal was treated in al-Aḥqāf 46/6 and al-Zukhruf 43/67; I rely on that treatment.
The root أ-ز-ز — occurring here for the first time in the series. The sense the lexicographers give: to bring to the boil, to incite into motion, to prod. It is recorded that the word is used for the sound of a boiling cauldron.
And something similar was treated in Fuṣṣilat 41/36 (wa immā yanzaghannaka mina'sh-shayṭāni nazgh) — there the word was nazgh (a prodding). Both words convey a sudden incitement that comes from within.
فَلَا تَعْجَلْ عَلَيْهِمْ إِنَّمَا نَعُدُّ لَهُمْ عَدًّا (84) — "do not be in haste against them; We are only counting for them a counting."
I record this as an observation: the sentence is not a consolation but a statement about time. Naʿuddu lahum ʿaddā — the counting is under way. And the same postponement was treated in Fāṭir 35/45 (yuʾakhkhiruhum ilā ajalin musammā); I rely on that treatment.
| Group | Word | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| al-Muttaqīn | وَفْد | A delegation — a body that comes invited and mounted |
| al-Mujrimīn | وِرْد | A herd driven to water — driven while thirsty |
Wafd is used in Arabic for a delegation received into the presence of a ruler — that is, the side that is hosted. Wird, on the other hand, is used for a herd of animals driven to drink.
I record this as my own reading, and its ground is the lexical field of the two words: one comes, the other is driven. One is a guest, the other a herd. And the verbs confirm this: naḥshuru (we gather) / nasūqu (we drive).
And the second word is from the same root as wārid in the seventy-first verse (و-ر-د). The sūra uses the same root in two different scenes fifteen verses apart.
لَّا يَمْلِكُونَ ٱلشَّفَٰعَةَ إِلَّا مَنِ ٱتَّخَذَ عِندَ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ عَهْدًا (87) — and intercession is made conditional: ʿahd.
The construction had occurred in the seventy-eighth verse as well (ami'ttakhadha ʿinda'r-Raḥmāni ʿahdā) — there it was asked as the ground of a claim. Here it is set down as a condition. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
The tying of intercession to permission was treated in al-Baqara 2/255 and al-Zumar 39/43-44; I rely on that treatment.