Exaggeration (and boasting) amused you. (2) As far as you went to visit the tombs. (3) It is not like that (as you think) you will soon understand
(4) Again, it is not like that (as you think), you will know in the future. (5) It is not so (as you think), if you had certain knowledge (of the Hereafter). (6) You would definitely see hell. (7) Then you used to see it with your own eyes. (8) Then on that day you will be asked about blessings
Notes
Takasur means Exaggeration (and boasting ) it means self-glorification, the desire for abundance and boasting to others through the abundance of property and children
The manifestations Takasur is polytheism. Prophet Yusuf said to his co-prisoners who were polytheists: Is Multiple masters better or the one and only God
Takasur or self-glorification in food. Children of Israel used to say: We have no patience for one type of food. We want other edibles such as onions, garlic, lentils and cucumbers
Takasur or self-glorification in life. As some people like to live a thousand years
Takasur or self-glorification in wealth. The Quran says: Some people seek to accumulate wealth and count it
Takasur or self-glorification in housing. The Quran says in reprimanding some: You build tall buildings on the slopes of every mountain. self-glorification in lust. Islam has prescribed marriage as the way to sexual matters and has considered the enjoyment of one’s wife without reproach and satisfying lust outside of marriage as rape
The word “al-ha kum” comes from “lahv” and means being busy with minor and insignificant matters that prevent a person from achieving high goals
Zortum is from ziarat and “maqaber” is the plural of maqbarah. There was a discussion between the two tribes about the number of people, they decided to take a census after the living, then they went to the cemetery to count the dead
In Sermon 221 of Nahjul-Balagha, Imam Ali (a.s.) has some points after reciting this Surah, which Ibn Abi Al-Hadid said in his commentary: Over the course of fifty years, I have recited this sermon more than a thousand times, and the greatness of this sermon is so great that it is worthy that the best Arab orators should gather and this sermon should be recited to them, and everyone should prostrate, just as everyone prostrates when reciting some verses of the Quran. We will narrate two sentences from that sermon here: Do they take pride in the tombs of their fathers? Do they seek to increase the number of those who have disappeared? They were corpses that disintegrated, and they were mobile that became still
Those bodies are more worthy of being a lesson than a source of pride
A hadith has been narrated from Imam Ali (a.s) who said: The first is about the torment of the grave and the second is about the torment of the hereafter
Certainty is a belief in the heart that is deeper than knowing. For example, all people know that the dead have no business with anyone, but they are not willing to sleep next to the dead, but mortuary washer sleeps comfortably next to the dead, because people only know, but mortuary washer has believed and has reached certainty. The way to achieve certainty is to act on the commands of God, just as mortuary washer has reached this belief through repeated actions
According to narrations, the sign of certainty is trusting in God and submitting to Him, being satisfied with His decrees and entrusting matters to Him
Certainty has degrees, two of which are mentioned in this Surah, and the other in verse 95 of Surah Al-Waqiah. The stages of certainty are: knowledge of certainty, truth of certainty, and the essence of certainty. Sometimes a person follows the fire by seeing smoke, which is knowledge of certainty; sometimes he sees the fire itself, which is the essence of certainty; and sometimes he puts his hand on the fire and feels its burning, which is truth of certainty. The meaning of seeing the fire is either seeing it on the Day of Judgment or seeing it with the eyes of the Barzakh and revelation in this world, which is more consistent with certainty. According to the hadiths, the blessing that will be questioned on the Day of Judgment is not water and bread, which is abominable for God to ask about these things. Rather, what is meant is the blessing of guardianship and infallible leadership. Imam Reza (peace be upon him) said: Asking about water and bread and... is abominable from people, let alone from God. Therefore, what is meant by asking about the blessing is the same blessing of infallible leadership. Takasur is not only in the number and number of people in a group, but sometimes it is in wealth and children. Therefore, the Quran recommends that you should not let your wealth and children distract you. The Holy Prophet, may God bless him and grant him peace, said after reciting this Surah: “Multiplication is collecting wealth in ways other than its rights, withholding it from its rights, and blocking it in safes. Accumulating wealth through unlawful means, not paying its due rights, and keeping it in safes is Takasur
Messages
- Extravagance and boasting lead a person to useless and futile deeds
- Extravagance is the cause of neglecting the reckoning of the Day of Judgment
لَتُسْئَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ اَلَنَِّعيمِ
- The scope of extravagance extends to counting the dead
- Ignorance of the conditions of the Day of Judgment leads a person to deviation
كَلاّ لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ
- The warning must be repeated against deviant thoughts and behavior
- Through faith and certainty, a person can see the future. “If you knew the knowledge of certainty, you would see Hell
- In the pre-Islamic culture, quantity and crowding were valued to the extent that even the dead were counted
- There is a severe punishment for multiplication and boasting
. You will never know
- One must strive to attain certainty and knowledge of the truth in order to be safe from the dangers of the Day of Judgment
If you knew the knowledge of certainty, you would see Hell
- Those who are busy with the world will never reach the level of certainty
“If you knew the knowledge of certainty” (The word “if” is used in impossible cases.)
- Faith and certainty have degrees. The knowledge of certainty ... the eye of certainty
- The reckoning of the Day of Judgment is based on the possibilities that God has given to everyone, and therefore everyone is different from another. “You will be asked that Day about the blessings
