Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 167 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:167

وَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ ٱتَّبَعُوا۟ لَوْ أَنَّ لَنَا كَرَّةً فَنَتَبَرَّأَ مِنْهُمْ كَمَا تَبَرَّءُوا۟ مِنَّا ۗ كَذَٰلِكَ يُرِيهِمُ ٱللَّهُ أَعْمَـٰلَهُمْ حَسَرَٰتٍ عَلَيْهِمْ ۖ وَمَا هُم بِخَـٰرِجِينَ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ

“Those who followed will say, "If only we had another turn [at worldly life] so we could disassociate ourselves from them as they have disassociated themselves from us." Thus will Allāh show them their deeds as regrets upon them. And they are never to emerge from the Fire.”

Saheeh International

Essence

The followers beg for one more turn to disown their leaders, but the chance has passed, and their own deeds stand before them as regrets.

A reflection

The house you could have lived in

A man in his sixties takes a detour past a house he nearly bought twenty years ago. He pulled out at the last minute to buy a bigger car. The house is beautiful now. Another family's bicycles lean against the porch.

'Thus Allah will show them their deeds as regrets.' Which deeds? The commentators give two answers. One early authority says the wrong deeds they did, which earned them the Fire. But a leading Companion, and others with him, say something sharper. They are shown the good deeds they never did.

One early commentator describes it. Paradise is raised before them, and they see the homes that would have been theirs had they obeyed Allah. Then those homes are shared out among the believers. That, he says, is when the regret bites.

The word ḥasra carries its own picture. One lexicon says its root is uncovering: a sleeve drawn back from the arm, a fighter caught without armour. Regret is the moment the cover comes off what was always there. Another lexicon suggests it is the ignorance that drove a person being stripped away.

So the most painful sight is not only what we did. It is what we could have been. The prayers not prayed, the kindness not shown, the word of truth not spoken. Each one was a room in a house.

That makes today strangely hopeful. The house is not yet given to anyone else. Every good deed postponed is still available. The man at the porch cannot go back twenty years. You can still go back to the prayer you missed this morning.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.