Arabic verses, Urdu and English translations with tafseer in English footnotes and links of Urdu tafseer.
Belief in the Hereafter is not blind faith. It rests on clear reasoning, drawn from the existence of creation, the demands of justice and the evident wisdom of the Creator. It is open to anyone who reflects honestly and wants the truth.
اِلَیۡہِ مَرۡجِعُکُمۡ جَمِیۡعًا ؕ وَعۡدَ اللّٰہِ حَقًّا ؕ اِنَّہٗ یَبۡدَؤُا الۡخَلۡقَ ثُمَّ یُعِیۡدُہٗ لِیَجۡزِیَ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا وَ عَمِلُوا الصّٰلِحٰتِ بِالۡقِسۡطِ ؕ وَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡا لَہُمۡ شَرَابٌ مِّنۡ حَمِیۡمٍ وَّ عَذَابٌ اَلِیۡمٌۢ بِمَا کَانُوۡا یَکۡفُرُوۡنَ ﴿۴﴾ ہُوَ الَّذِیۡ جَعَلَ الشَّمۡسَ ضِیَآءً وَّ الۡقَمَرَ نُوۡرًا وَّ قَدَّرَہٗ مَنَازِلَ لِتَعۡلَمُوۡا عَدَدَ السِّنِیۡنَ وَ الۡحِسَابَ ؕ مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰہُ ذٰلِکَ اِلَّا بِالۡحَقِّ ۚ یُفَصِّلُ الۡاٰیٰتِ لِقَوۡمٍ یَّعۡلَمُوۡنَ ﴿۵﴾ اِنَّ فِی اخۡتِلَافِ الَّیۡلِ وَ النَّہَارِ وَ مَا خَلَقَ اللّٰہُ فِی السَّمٰوٰتِ وَ الۡاَرۡضِ لَاٰیٰتٍ لِّقَوۡمٍ یَّتَّقُوۡنَ ﴿۶﴾
اسی کی طرف تم سب کو پلٹ کا جانا ہے8، یہ اللہ کا پکا وعدہ ہے۔ بے شک پیدائش کی ابتداء وہی کرتا ہے، پھر وہی دوبارہ پیدا کرے گا،9 تاکہ جو لوگ ایمان لائے اور جنہوں نے نیک اعمال کیے ان کو پورے انصاف کے ساتھ جزا دے، اور جنہوں نے کُفر کا طریقہ اختیار کیا وہ کھولتا ہوا پانی پئیں اور دردناک سزا بُھگتیں اُس انکارِحق کی پاداش میں جو وہ کرتے رہے۔10
وہی ہے جس نے سُورج کو اُجیالا بنایا اور چاند کو چمک دی کہ گھَٹنے بھڑھنے کی منزلیں ٹھیک ٹھیک مقرر کر دیں تا کہ تم اُس سے برسوں اور تاریخوں کے حساب معلوم کر و۔ اللہ نے یہ سب کچھ﴿ کھیل کے طور پر نہیں بلکہ﴾ با مقصد ہی بنایا ہے۔ وہ اپنی نشانیوں کو کھول کھول کر پیش کر رہا ہے اُن لوگوں کے لیے جو علم رکھتے ہیں۔ یقیناً رات اور دن کے اُلٹ پھیر میں اور ہر اُس چیز میں جو اللہ نے زمین اور آسمانوں میں پیدا کی ہے، نشانیاں ہیں اُن لوگوں کے لیے جو ﴿غلط بینی و غلط روی سے﴾ بچنا چاہتے ہیں۔11
4] To Him you shall all return:8 this is the true and sure promise of Allah. Indeed He originates creation and He will bring it back to life9 so that He may recompense with perfect justice those who believed and did righteous deeds. As for those who disbelieved, they shall drink boiling water and undergo a painful chastisement for their rejection of the Truth.10
[5-6] It is He Who gave the sun his brightness and the moon her light, and ordained her phases precisely so that you may calculate years and dates from this. Allah has not created all this (for mere fun) but for a serious end. He makes His Signs manifest for those people who possess knowledge. In the alternation of the night and day and in all that Allah has created in the heavens and the earth, surely there are Signs for those who intend avoiding (deviation from the Truth)11
8This is the second basic principle of the teachings of every prophet; “You shall have to return to your Lord and render an account of all you did in this world.” The first principle has been stated in the preceding verse: “Allah alone is your Lord: therefore worship Him only.
9This sentence contains both a statement and its proof. The statement is, “Allah will again bring to life all human beings,” and the proof is, “This is as easy for Allah as it was to create them first. ” The one who acknowledges that Allah has originated all creation (and who can deny this except those atheists who accepted the absurd theory of “Creation without a Creator” merely to get a plea for discarding the religion of the Christian clergy?) cannot consider this as impossible or irrational.
10The reason why Allah will again bring the whole mankind to life is to reward the believers and to punish the disbelievers. After showing that this is possible to raise the dead, it is stated that it is absolutely necessary to fulfill the demands of common-sense and justice, for full justice cannot be done without this. Common-sense and justice demand that those who believe and do righteous deeds should be given their full rewards, and those who disbelieve and reject the Truth and do evil deeds, should be duly punished. As every sensible and just person knows that this demand of justice is not fulfilled in its entirety, and cannot be fulfilled in this world, it is absolutely essential that the whole of mankind should again be brought to life for this purpose. (Please see also E.N. 30, Al-A ‘araf and E.N. 105, Hud.)
11This is the third argument in proof of the doctrine of the life in the Hereafter. It is based on Allah’s manifestations in the heavens and on the earth. The greatest and most manifest of these are the sun, the moon and the alternation of the night and day, for these are ever present before each and every human being. All these clearly show that the Creator of this great and vast universe is not a child who has made all this for mere fun and will break it up when he is satiated with it. These manifestations of His are a clear proof of the fact that the Creator is All-Wise, for there is a system, a wisdom, a design and a serious object in each and every particle of His creation. These seem, as it were, to say. “When you yourselves learn from the signs and manifestations of His wisdom that He is All Wise, how can you, then, expect that He will not call man to account after granting him common-sense, moral feelings, independent responsibility and authority to exploit His endless resources, and that He will not reward those who make the right use of these and punish those who abuse them?”
Thus, it has become obvious that in vv. 4-6, three arguments have been given in their logical order to present the doctrine of the Hereafter:
(1) The fact of the origination of life in this world is a proof that life in the Next World is also possible.
(2) There must be life in the Hereafter, because it is essential for the recompense of the deeds that one does, and of the use or abuse one makes of the moral responsibilities that have been entrusted to man. Therefore, it is the demand of common-sense and justice that there must be another world in which one should bear the consequences of one’s deeds, for this is not possible in this world.
(3) When common-sense and justice demand that there must be life in the Hereafter, this need will surely be satisfied, for the Creator of man and the universe is All-Wise, and it cannot be conceived that the All-Wise will not satisfy the demands of common-sense and justice.
A deep thinking will show that these are the only possible arguments for the proof of the life in the Hereafter and these suffice, too. After this the only thing that might be demanded in this connection is that it should be actually demonstrated before man to convince him that this thing is possible, necessary and demanded by the Wisdom of Allah. But it is obvious that this will not be done in this world for this is for the trial of man and not for recompense, and Allah wills to test whether man believes in the Hereafter without seeing it, merely by his reasoning on the right lines.
Besides this, the words, “He makes His Signs manifest for those people, who possess knowledge” and “…in all that Allah has created… there are Signs for those, who intend avoiding (deviation from the Truth)” are worthy of serious consideration. These words imply this: “Allah has in His wisdom spread such signs in each and every manifestation of His as clearly point to the realities that are hidden behind them; but only those people can reach to those realities, who (a) free themselves from the prejudices of ignorance and acquire knowledge from the sources with which Allah has provided man for this purpose, and (b) have the intention of avoiding wrong ways and following the Right
Summary of above discussion
Introductory summary: Surah Yunus, Verses 4–6
In brief: These verses set out the second pillar of the Prophet’s message, which is that every human being will return to Allah and be held to account. They back it with three arguments in logical order: resurrection is possible, justice makes it necessary, and Allah’s wisdom guarantees that it will happen.
The previous verse established the first principle of every prophet’s teaching: Allah alone is your Lord, so worship Him alone. Verses 4–6 give the second principle: “To Him you shall all return,” and everyone must answer to Him for their life in this world. The passage does more than state this belief. It builds a reasoned case for it, step by step.
1. Resurrection is possible (v. 4). The One who began creation can bring it back again. Anyone who accepts that Allah originated life cannot reasonably call a second creation impossible. Maududi notes that only those who adopt the absurd idea of “creation without a Creator” can deny this.
2. Resurrection is necessary (v. 4). Allah will raise people again “so that He may recompense with perfect justice.” Those who believe and do good deserve their full reward, and those who reject the truth and do evil deserve its consequences. Anyone honest can see that this justice is not fully done in this world, so reason and justice require another life.
3. Resurrection is certain (vv. 5–6). The sun, the moon, their exact phases, and the cycle of night and day all show order, precision and purpose. The Creator of such a universe is not a child playing with a toy he will one day smash. He is All-Wise. Someone so wise would not give human beings reason, moral responsibility and freedom and then leave their choices without consequence. What justice requires, His wisdom will surely bring about.
Maududi observes that these three are the only possible rational proofs of the Hereafter, and that they are enough. The only thing left would be to show it to people with their own eyes. That will not happen in this life, because this life is a test of whether a person will accept unseen realities through sound reasoning.
Who benefits from the signs: The verses end by saying that the signs are made clear “for those who possess knowledge” and “for those who intend to avoid deviation.” Allah’s signs are spread throughout creation, but only two kinds of people reach the realities behind them. The first are those who set aside ignorant prejudice and use the means of knowledge Allah has given them. The second are those who sincerely want to avoid error and follow the right path.
The core point: Belief in the Hereafter is not blind faith. It rests on clear reasoning, drawn from the existence of creation, the demands of justice and the evident wisdom of the Creator. It is open to anyone who reflects honestly and wants the truth.
