وَلَقَدْ جِئْتُمُونَا فُرَٰدَىٰ كَمَا خَلَقْنَـٰكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَتَرَكْتُم مَّا خَوَّلْنَـٰكُمْ وَرَآءَ ظُهُورِكُمْ ۖ وَمَا نَرَىٰ مَعَكُمْ شُفَعَآءَكُمُ ٱلَّذِينَ زَعَمْتُمْ أَنَّهُمْ فِيكُمْ شُرَكَـٰٓؤُا۟ ۚ لَقَد تَّقَطَّعَ بَيْنَكُمْ وَضَلَّ عَنكُم مَّا كُنتُمْ تَزْعُمُونَ 94
Translations
[It will be said to them], "And you have certainly come to Us alone [i.e., individually] as We created you the first time, and you have left whatever We bestowed upon you behind you. And We do not see with you your 'intercessors' which you claimed that they were among you associates [of Allāh]. It has [all] been severed between you, and lost from you is what you used to claim."
Transliteration
Wa-laqad ji'tumu-na furādā kamā khalaqnākum awwal marrah wa-taraktum mā khawwalnākum warā' zuhūrikum wa-mā narā ma'akum shufā'ā'akum alladhīna za'amtum annahum fīkum shurakaā'. Laqad taqatta'a baynakum wa-dallā 'ankum mā kuntum taz'umūn.
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah describes the state of people on the Day of Judgment, arriving before Allah alone and stripped of all worldly possessions and companions, just as they were created initially. The intercessors they claimed would help them in this life are nowhere to be found, and all their false beliefs in partners to Allah and intermediaries have been severed and lost. Classical scholars like Ibn Kathir emphasize this as a profound reminder of the reality of the afterlife where wealth, status, and false deities hold no value.
Revelation Context
This ayah is part of Surah Al-An'am, a Meccan surah that addresses polytheism and the futility of shirk (associating partners with Allah). The broader context discusses the Day of Judgment and the consequences of rejecting Allah's signs. This particular verse refutes the Meccan disbelievers' reliance on their idols and supposed intercessors, emphasizing the isolation and helplessness of the soul before Allah.
Related Hadiths
The Prophet (ﷺ) said: 'The most beloved to me among my ummah are those who will see me and believe in me without seeing me.' (Sahih Muslim 220) This contrasts with those who rely on false intermediaries. Additionally, the hadith: 'On the Day of Judgment, each soul will come alone' relates to the concept of individual accountability mentioned in this ayah.
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah teaches that no amount of worldly wealth, status, or false spiritual intermediaries will benefit us before Allah on the Day of Judgment—we arrive as we came, alone and stripped of everything. It should inspire believers to focus on genuine devotion to Allah alone, reject all forms of shirk, and recognize that true success lies in our relationship with Allah, not in material possessions or false hopes in created beings.
Related Ayahs
وَٱلَّذِينَ كَذَّبُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِنَا صُمٌّ وَبُكْمٌ فِى ٱلظُّلُمَـٰتِ ۗ مَن يَشَإِ ٱللَّهُ يُضْلِلْهُ وَمَن يَشَأْ يَجْعَلْهُ عَلَىٰ صِرَٰطٍ مُّسْتَقِيمٍ
But those who deny Our verses are deaf and dumb within darknesses. Whomever Allāh wills - He sends astray; and whomever He wills - He puts him on a straight path.
وَلِكُلٍّ دَرَجَـٰتٌ مِّمَّا عَمِلُوا۟ ۚ وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِغَـٰفِلٍ عَمَّا يَعْمَلُونَ
And for all are degrees [i.e., positions resulting] from what they have done. And your Lord is not unaware of what they do.
فَالِقُ ٱلْإِصْبَاحِ وَجَعَلَ ٱلَّيْلَ سَكَنًا وَٱلشَّمْسَ وَٱلْقَمَرَ حُسْبَانًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ تَقْدِيرُ ٱلْعَزِيزِ ٱلْعَلِيمِ
[He is] the cleaver of daybreak and has made the night for rest and the sun and moon for calculation. That is the determination of the Exalted in Might, the Knowing.
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّنِ ٱفْتَرَىٰ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ كَذِبًا أَوْ قَالَ أُوحِىَ إِلَىَّ وَلَمْ يُوحَ إِلَيْهِ شَىْءٌ وَمَن قَالَ سَأُنزِلُ مِثْلَ مَآ أَنزَلَ ٱللَّهُ ۗ وَلَوْ تَرَىٰٓ إِذِ ٱلظَّـٰلِمُونَ فِى غَمَرَٰتِ ٱلْمَوْتِ وَٱلْمَلَـٰٓئِكَةُ بَاسِطُوٓا۟ أَيْدِيهِمْ أَخْرِجُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمُ ۖ ٱلْيَوْمَ تُجْزَوْنَ عَذَابَ ٱلْهُونِ بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَقُولُونَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ غَيْرَ ٱلْحَقِّ وَكُنتُمْ عَنْ ءَايَـٰتِهِۦ تَسْتَكْبِرُونَ
And who is more unjust than one who invents a lie about Allāh or says, "It has been inspired to me," while nothing has been inspired to him, and one who says, "I will reveal [something] like what Allāh revealed." And if you could but see when the wrongdoers are in the overwhelming pangs of death while the angels extend their hands, [saying], "Discharge your souls! Today you will be awarded the punishment of [extreme] humiliation for what you used to say against Allāh other than the truth and [that] you were, toward His verses, being arrogant."