سورة طه

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): It is narrated from al-Zuhri: ... Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) then recited this verse: وَ مِنْ وَرائِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلی یَوْمِ یُبْعَثُونَ [And behind them is a barzakh until the day they are raised]. He said: "This barzakh is the grave itself, wherein one shall have a [hard and] straitened life. By Allah, the grave is either a garden from the gardens of Paradise or a pit from the pits of the Fire."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Indeed, that straitened and hard life with which Allah has warned His enemy is the punishment of the grave. Allah sets upon the disbeliever ninety-nine dragons that bite at the flesh of his body and break his bones, and are continually coming and going upon him (trampling him) until the day he is raised from the grave. If one of those dragons were to breathe upon the earth, the earth would never again grow any crop.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): مَعِیشَةً ضَنْکاً [a straitened life] is the punishment of the grave.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنْکاً [indeed, for him is a straitened life]; that is, his livelihood becomes straitened upon him.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Jabir said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah, the Mighty and Majestic: "And whoever turns away from the remembrance of his Lord, He will make him enter a mounting punishment." (Jinn/17). Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Whoever turns away from Ali (peace be upon him), Allah will inflict him with the mounting punishment, and it is the most severe punishment."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked about the verse: وَ مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِکْرِی فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنکًا [And whoever turns away from My remembrance, indeed his shall be a straitened life]. He said: "What is meant by it is the wilaya (guardianship) of Ali (peace be upon him)." I said: "What does the verse وَ نَحْشُرُهُ یَوْمَ الْقِیَامَةِ أَعْمَی [and We shall raise him on the Day of Resurrection, blind] mean?" He said: "That is, in this world his heart was blind to seeing the wilaya of Amir al-Mu'minin (peace be upon him), and on the Day of Resurrection his eyes will be blind to seeing him, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be bewildered and say: قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِی أَعْمَی وَقَدْ کُنتُ بَصِیرًا [He will say: My Lord, why have You raised me blind, while I was seeing?]."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): وَ مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِکْرِی فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنْکاً وَ نَحْشُرُهُ یَوْمَ الْقِیامَةِ أَعْمی ... وَ کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی مَنْ أَسْرَفَ [And whoever turns away from My remembrance, indeed his shall be a straitened life, and We shall raise him on the Day of Resurrection, blind ... And thus do We recompense him who is extravagant]; whoever is extravagant in enmity toward the family of Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family), and does not believe in the signs of his Lord! And the punishment of the Hereafter is more severe and more lasting!

Imam Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance): Among what has come from Sahib al-Zaman (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) in refutation of the ghulat (extremists) is a tawqi' (signed rescript) issued in response to a letter written by Muhammad ibn Ali ibn Hilal al-Karkhi, with this content: "O Muhammad ibn Ali, Allah is greater than what they describe. He is exalted. I praise Him. We are by no means partners in His knowledge and power; rather, no one knows the unseen except Him, as He has said in the Noble Qur'an: Say: 'Those who are in the heavens and the earth do not know the unseen except Allah.' (al-Naml/65). And I and all my forefathers — Adam, Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa and the other prophets, and the later leaders Muhammad and Ali ibn Abi Talib, and Hasan and Husayn, and the other Imams up to my own time and age — all of us are servants of Allah. Allah says: مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَنْ ذِکْرِی فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنْکاً وَ نَحْشُرُهُ یَوْمَ الْقِیامَةِ أَعْمی. قالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِی أَعْمی وَ قَدْ کُنْتُ بَصِیراً. قالَ: کَذلِکَ أَتَتْکَ آیاتُنا فَنَسِیتَها وَ کَذلِکَ الْیَوْمَ تُنْسی [Whoever turns away from My remembrance, indeed for him is a straitened life, and We will raise him blind on the Day of Resurrection. He will say: My Lord, why have You raised me blind while I used to see? He will say: Thus did Our signs come to you, but you forgot them, and thus this Day you are forgotten]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mu'awiya ibn Ammar said: I said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What is meant by the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنکًا [indeed for him is a straitened life]?" He said: "By Allah! This verse is specifically about the Nasibis (those who bear enmity toward the Ahl al-Bayt)." I said: "But they enjoy greater affluence throughout their lives, and this is so until the time of their death." He replied: "By Allah! At the time of the raj'a (return), they will eat filth."

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): Whoever abandons the wilaya of Ali (peace be upon him), Allah makes him blind and deaf.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "Whoever dies while being healthy and wealthy and has not performed the Hajj is among those about whom Allah says: وَ نَحْشُرُهُ یَوْمَ الْقِیَامَةِ أَعْمَی [and We will raise him on the Day of Resurrection blind]." I said: "Glory be to Allah, will He raise him blind?!" He said: "Yes, indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic turns him away from the path of truth."

Imam Askari (peace be upon him): In his letter to Ishaq ibn Isma'il Nishaburi it is stated: ... So O Ishaq, know with certainty, whoever leaves this world blind is blind in the next world as well, and even more astray. O Ishaq, what is meant is not the blindness of the eyes but the blindness of the hearts that are in the breasts. And this is the very statement of Allah in His firm Book, expressing the state of the oppressor when he says: رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِی أَعْمی وَ قَدْ کُنْتُ بَصِیراً. قالَ کَذلِکَ أَتَتْکَ آیاتُنا فَنَسِیتَها وَ کَذلِکَ الْیَوْمَ تُنْسی [My Lord, why have You raised me blind while I used to see? He will say: Thus did Our signs come to you, but you forgot them, and thus this Day you are forgotten]. And what sign is greater than the proof (hujja) of Allah over His creation, His trustee in His lands, and His witness over His servants, after his forefathers of old who preceded, the prophets, and his later fathers, the successors — upon all of them be peace and the mercy and blessings of Allah?!

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the verse: وَ مَنْ أَعْرَضَ عَن ذِکْرِی فَإِنَّ لَهُ مَعِیشَةً ضَنکًا [And whoever turns away from My reminder, his shall be a straitened life]. He said: "What is meant by it is the wilayah of Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him)." I said: "What is the meaning of the verse: وَ نَحْشُرُهُ یَوْمَ الْقِیَامَةِ أَعْمَی [And We will raise him on the day of resurrection, blind]?" He said: "It means that in this world his heart was blind to seeing the wilayah of Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him), and on the Day of Resurrection his eyes will be blind to seeing him, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be bewildered and will say: قَالَ رَبِّ لِمَ حَشَرْتَنِی أَعْمَی وَ قَدْ کُنتُ بَصِیرًا * قَالَ کَذَلِکَ أَتَتْکَ آیَاتُنَا [He shall say: My Lord! why hast Thou raised me blind, and I was a seeing one? He will say: Even so, Our signs came to you]; what is meant by these signs is the Imams (peace be upon them). فَنَسِیتَهَا وَکَذَلِکَ الْیَوْمَ تُنسَی [but you forgot them; and thus shall you be forgotten this day]; that is, in the world you abandoned the Imams (peace be upon them), and today you are abandoned in the Fire, just as you had left them alone in the world and did not obey their command and did not listen to their word." I said: "What is meant by: وَ کَذَلِکَ نَجْزِی مَنْ أَسْرَفَ وَ لَمْ یُؤْمِن بِآیَاتِ رَبِّهِ وَ لَعَذَابُ الْآخِرَةِ أَشَدُّ وَ أَبْقَی [And thus do We recompense him who is extravagant and does not believe in the signs of his Lord, and certainly the chastisement of the hereafter is severer and more lasting]?" He said: "It means one who associates another with Amir al-Muminin (peace be upon him) in his wilayah."