The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 612
CH. 17 BANI ISRĀ'ĪL PT. 15 ذلِكَ جَزَاؤُهُمُ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَفَرُوا بِايْتِنَا That is their recompense. 99 because they rejected Our Signs and said, 'What! " when we are reduced to bones and broken particles, shall we really be raised up as creation?'2027 a new وَقَالُوا إِذَا كُنَّا عِظَامًا وَّ رُفَانَّاءَ إِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ خَلْقًا جَدِيدًا 18:107; 34:18. 17:50; 23:83; 36:79; 37:17; 56:48. along on their faces (Bukhārī, Kitābur-Riqāq). Another ḥadīth says that on the Day of Resurrection men will be raised in three different forms. Some will be raised as riding, others on foot, and yet others on their faces. Another ḥadīth speaks of the people of the last category as being dragged on their faces (Ma'ānī, vol. 15). It appears that people of the first category will be the Prophets, those of the second the Faithful, while those belonging to the third category will be the disbelievers. In fact, an action done in this world will assume a corresponding form in the next. As the aim and object of disbelievers in this world is the attainment of paltry material gains and they, as it were, instead of looking up to God, look down to earth, so in this verse they are represented as moving along with their faces turned downward in the next life. sense of the word, the expression "on their faces," would mean that God would raise them according to their intentions and motives and the objects they pursued in this life. As in the present life, they turned their backs to God, so in the life to come they would be kept far removed from Him. And as they did not employ their natural powers to find out the truth in this life, so they would be deprived of these powers in the next and would be raised deaf, dumb and blind. The words "it abates" do not mean that the fire of Hell will become extinguished or its intensity would lessen. They only mean that when on account of burning in the Fire for a sufficiently long time, the disbelievers' sense of feeling became dull, God would again sharpen it and they would once more begin to feel the burning of Hellfire as keenly as before. See also 4:57. 2027. Commentary: مر القوم على وجوههم The Arabic expression على وجوههم Taken in this sense the words means, the people went on hurrying. mean, when disbelievers are raised on the Day of Resurrection, they will be hurrying along which would indicate the perturbed state of their minds (14:44). The word also means, an object, intention or motive. In this All disbelief is born of lack of belief in the life after death. Disbelievers rejected the word of God and thus rendered themselves deserving of punishment but this rejection of Divine revelation was due to a lack of belief in the life after 1820