Tafsir for verse: 90:11
فَلَا ٱقۡتَحَمَ ٱلۡعَقَبَةَ ١١ ﴿11
11Yet he did not make his way through the steep course,- -
AI-Assisted Translation: This translation was produced by AI agents carefully trained over several months and thoroughly reviewed. It does NOT replace the scholarship of traditional scholars and is intended as a step in the right direction to make classical tafsir more accessible. There may still be inaccuracies—please report them promptly so we can improve the translation quality.

Commentary

And when the meaning of what has passed is that this human being is incapable, even if his strength reaches its peak and his ability reaches its utmost, due to the precedence of His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "And mankind was created weak" [An-Nisa: 28]. And it is known that all of his affairs are exposed in his secret as they are exposed in his public, as indicated by the hadith of Junadub, may Allah be pleased with him, reported by Al-Tabarani: "No servant has concealed a secret except that Allah will clothe him with its garment."

And the hadith of Abu Sa'id, may Allah be pleased with him, is reported by Ahmad and Abu Ya'la: "If one of you were to work in a solid rock that has no door or window through which he could bring out his work to the people, it would be connected to him and destined for him. And he should be grateful for what Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has made for him of the powers that He has made for the evil of his earnings, which are tools for disbelief. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, caused his saying to detail the things that lead to comfort in the Hereafter, negating the action of it from him in terms of reality, indicating his incapacity: ﴿So he did not overcome﴾ meaning he jumped and threw himself with speed, pressure, and intensity until he was overwhelmed by the intensity of love for what he saw in the good he entered into. It was as if it came to him without thought or deliberation, but rather suddenly. ﴿The steep path﴾ is the path of salvation, and it is established in the language that it is the ascending path in the mountain, borrowed as a name for the deeds of righteousness. (p-60) The established in the souls is comforting, not tiring, while being the greatest in pride and the highest in virtue, because we have blocked it from him with our hands and our great strength and our amazing ability. This is because good, when it is beloved to the hearts, desired by the souls, is not abandoned by anyone. We made it initially disliked and difficult for the souls until it became, due to opposing desires, as if it were a steep obstacle, that one cannot attain what is in it from the hardship of climbing, except with strong determination, a resolute intention, and training, discipline, and refinement, along with intense striving and great endurance against the self, desires, and the devil, such that the one engaging in it acts as if he is throwing himself into it without deliberation, like the lover who is reckless towards it. This was a reason that this ignorant one, who exceeds his limits, did not choose for himself the good with what he has been given of sight, which allows him to see the creations of Allah, and the insight by which he knows what harms him and what benefits him, as gratitude to his Lord, glorified and exalted is He, and that would be for His kindness towards him. And is the reward for kindness anything but kindness? And is the reward for a blessing anything but gratitude? Rather, he chose evil and committed harm, even though we prepared for him both options, and our ability became evident. Our greatness became clear in our attributes, and weakness was confirmed for him, and deficiency and incapacity appeared from him. Therefore, it is obligatory upon him, for our honor, to submit, and to shed tears in a protected manner, and to show poverty, humiliation, and smallness, so that we may lead him to the path of Paradise and save him from the path of Hell. Whoever overcomes this steep path, which is for righteous deeds, has overcome the steep path of the Sirat. Its ease for him will be in proportion to his endurance of this, and he will be relieved from those hardships, sorrows, and worries, and he will enter into a good life, as Allah, glorified and exalted is He, said: ﴿Whoever does a righteous deed, whether male or female, while he is a believer, We will surely give him a good life﴾ [An-Nahl: 97], the verse. And overcoming it means that he migrates from his lowly world to the high, complete world in which there is nothing but pleasure. And that is the acknowledgment of the right of servitude, and that is true freedom, for the free is the one who has escaped from the bondage of desires to the service of the Lord. Thus, he has made his affairs easy in his secret and openly, with no share for desire in it nor access to any gain for it. And this will be through two things: one is attraction and the other is acquisition. The attracted one is carried.

And the one who strives in the effort of struggles with the sword of high ambition is victorious.

Explore Other Scholars on This Verse

Compare different scholarly perspectives on Surah Al-Balad verse 11

Al-Biqa'iBurhān ad-Dīn Ibrāhīm al-Biqāʿī
Learn more about Al-Biqa'i
5979 / 6181