َ قَالُوا بَلَى قَدْ جَاءَنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ إِنْ أَنْتُمْ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَالٍ كَبِيرٍ ﴿۹﴾ وَقَالُوا لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ ﴿۱۰﴾ فَاعْتَرَفُوا بِذَنْبِهِمْ فَسُحْقًا لِأَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ ﴿۱۱﴾ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَيْبِ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ ﴿۱۲﴾

﴾9﴿ Qaaloo balaa qad jaaa'anaa nazeerun fakazzabnaa wa qulnaa maa nazzalal laahu min shai in in antum illaa fee dalaalin kabeer
﴾10﴿ Wa qaaloo law kunnaa nasma'u awna'qilu maa kunnaa feee as haabis sa'eer
﴾11﴿ Fa'tarafoo bizambihim fasuhqal li as haabis sa'eer
﴾12﴿ Innal lazeena yakhshawna rabbahum bilghaibi lahum maghfiratunw wa ajrun kabeer

﴾9﴿ They say, Yes, indeed, a warner did come to us, but we denied and said, 'Allah has not sent down anything. You are only in great error
﴾10﴿ If we had listened or used our reason, we would not have been among the people of the Fire
﴾11﴿ So they admitted their sins, but destruction is for the people of the Fire
﴾12﴿ Indeed, those who fear their Lord unseen—for them is forgiveness and a great reward

[9] (وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ)—“And we said: Allah has not revealed anything”—this is an extreme form of denial, similar to what is mentioned in Surah al-Anʿām (6:91) and Surah Yā Sīn (36:15). Such statements are made out of stubbornness and hostility, not ignorance.
(إِنْ أَنْتُمْ)—“You are nothing but…”—this phrase could either be the continuation of the disbelievers' statement to increase their denial, or it could be the speech of the angels to the people of Hell, rebuking them for their arrogance and denial.
[10] (لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ)—“If only we had listened or used our intellect…”—this highlights the two valid paths to attaining true knowledge:
1. Listening to revelation—i.e., the Qur’an and Sunnah.
2. Using intellect through sound reasoning and correct reflection (ijtihād).
The disbelievers had neglected both these means.
Question: Some scholars claim that this verse supports taqlīd (following others) and ijtihād (independent reasoning), interpreting nasmʿa as taqlīd—is this correct?
Answer: This interpretation is incorrect. Nasmʿa here clearly refers to listening to the revealed texts—the Qur’an and the words of the Prophet—because in the previous verses, the nadhīr (warner) and what was revealed were already mentioned.
Listening to divine texts and obeying them is called ittibāʿ (following based on knowledge and evidence), not taqlīd (blind following). Applying the term taqlīd here is a misunderstanding of its meaning.
This is why:
Al-Sharbinī said: نَسْمَعُ كَلَامَ الرُّسُل—“We had listened to the speech of the messengers.” Al-Qurṭubī said: نَسْمَعُ مِنَ النُّذُرِ—i.e., from the messengers. Ibn Kathīr said: نَسْمَعُ مَا أَنْزَلَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الْحَقِّ—“We had listened to what Allah revealed of the truth.”
Any interpretation that goes against the understanding of the salaf al-ṣāliḥīn (righteous predecessors) is not tafsīr, but rather taḥrīf (distortion).
[11] This summarizes the previous message and clearly states that at such a time—meaning after entering Hell—confession and regret are of no benefit.
(بِذَنْبِهِمْ)—“for their sin”—the singular here is used in a collective sense, referring to many sins (a generic singular).
(فَسُحْقًا)—suḥqan originally means to grind or burn something down completely. It is used to mean: being cast far from the mercy of Allah, a curse, or utter destruction.
[12] This verse is a glad tiding following the earlier warning.
(يَخْشَوْنَ)—khashyah means fear that is accompanied by reverence and awe toward the one feared (al-makhshā).
(بِالْغَيْبِ)—“in the unseen”—this has several possible meanings, all of which may be intended: 1. They have not seen their Lord, yet they fear Him. 2. The punishment of their Lord is unseen to them, yet they are cautious of it. 3. They fear Allah while being away from people—in private and solitude.