ذُقْ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ ٱلْعَزِيزُ ٱلْكَرِيمُ 49
Translations
[It will be said], "Taste! Indeed, you are the honored, the noble!
Transliteration
Dhooq innaka anta al-azeezu al-kareem
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah presents a devastating irony spoken to the disbelievers in Hell, where they are mocked with words that were once used to describe their worldly pride and honor. The phrase 'Taste [the punishment], indeed you are the mighty, the generous' sarcastically inverts their former arrogance, as Ibn Kathir explains—what they considered strength and nobility in this life has become the very source of their torment. Al-Qurtubi notes this serves as a powerful reminder that perceived grandeur and power in the dunya (worldly life) mean nothing before divine justice.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Ad-Dukhan's depiction of the Day of Judgment and the fate of those who rejected the Qur'an. The surah uses vivid imagery of Hell to warn the Meccans who arrogantly dismissed the message of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), making this ayah part of the broader Meccan theme of warning against heedlessness and pride.
Related Hadiths
The hadith in Sahih Bukhari (3334) where the Prophet (peace be upon him) warned: 'The most hated person to Allah is the most arrogant' relates thematically to this ayah's condemnation of pride. Additionally, the hadith in Tirmidhi about the Day of Judgment describes how those who were mighty on earth will be humiliated.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that worldly power, wealth, and status are fleeting and meaningless without righteousness and submission to Allah; believers should guard against arrogance and remember that true honor lies in piety, not in material possessions or social standing.
Related Ayahs
حَتَّىٰٓ إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَهُمُ ٱلْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ٱرْجِعُونِ
[For such is the state of the disbelievers] until, when death comes to one of them, he says, "My Lord, send me back
إِنْ أَحْسَنتُمْ أَحْسَنتُمْ لِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ أَسَأْتُمْ فَلَهَا ۚ فَإِذَا جَآءَ وَعْدُ ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ لِيَسُـۥٓـُٔوا۟ وُجُوهَكُمْ وَلِيَدْخُلُوا۟ ٱلْمَسْجِدَ كَمَا دَخَلُوهُ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَلِيُتَبِّرُوا۟ مَا عَلَوْا۟ تَتْبِيرًا
[And said], "If you do good, you do good for yourselves; and if you do evil, [you do it] to them [i.e., yourselves]." Then when the final [i.e., second] promise came, [We sent your enemies] to sadden your faces and to enter the masjid [i.e., the temple in Jerusalem], as they entered it the first time, and to destroy what they had taken over with [total] destruction.
وَبُرِّزَتِ ٱلْجَحِيمُ لِلْغَاوِينَ
And Hellfire will be brought forth for the deviators,
وَسْـَٔلِ ٱلْقَرْيَةَ ٱلَّتِى كُنَّا فِيهَا وَٱلْعِيرَ ٱلَّتِىٓ أَقْبَلْنَا فِيهَا ۖ وَإِنَّا لَصَـٰدِقُونَ
And ask the city in which we were and the caravan in which we came - and indeed, we are truthful.'"