14-22 And the devil will say, when the matter is decided: Surely Allah promised you a promise of truth, and I promised you, then failed you. And I had no authority over you, except that I called you and you obeyed me; so blame me not but blame yourselves. I cannot come to your help, nor can you come to my help. I deny your associating me with Allah before. Surely for the unjust is a painful chastisement.a
وَقَالَ ٱلشَّيْطَـٰنُ لَمَّا قُضِىَ ٱلْأَمْرُ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ وَعَدَكُمْ وَعْدَ ٱلْحَقِّ وَوَعَدتُّكُمْ فَأَخْلَفْتُكُمْ ۖ وَمَا كَانَ لِىَ عَلَيْكُم مِّن سُلْطَـٰنٍ إِلَّآ أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَٱسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِى ۖ فَلَا تَلُومُونِى وَلُومُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُم ۖ مَّآ أَنَا۠ بِمُصْرِخِكُمْ وَمَآ أَنتُم بِمُصْرِخِىَّ ۖ إِنِّى كَفَرْتُ بِمَآ أَشْرَكْتُمُونِ مِن قَبْلُ ۗ إِنَّ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌۭ (۲۲)
14-22a: مصرخ – صَرۡخَة – It is a scream to call for help. صَارِخ is the one crying for help and مُصۡرِخ is the one who comes to help in response to the cry of distress. The word صَرِیۡخ is used for both: the one crying in distress and the one who comes to save, as in فَلَا صَرِيخَ لَهُم:then there is no succor for them (36:43).
Satan rejects partnership with Allah: One meaning of إِنِّى كَفَرْتُ بِمَآ أَشْرَكْتُمُونِ is as adopted in the translation, namely: I deny your associating me with Allah before. In this case, the meaning is that Satan declares that he always denied being a partner with Allah, or that he never claimed to be a partner with Allah, or that he never demanded that people should accept him as a partner in Allah’s powers. These meanings fit the context because in this verse Satan says that Allah’s promises were true, while his promises were false. From this observation people should have understood that if he had any godly powers, he would have fulfilled his promises. So, how can he help those who are asking for his assistance, because he is not a partner with God.
The misplaced devotion of followers leads leaders astray: Another meaning can be Satan saying to his followers that your polytheism is responsible for my denial of God. If you had not made me a partner with God, then I would not have denied God. In this case, Satan is understood to be the leader who is mentioned in the last verse: إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًۭا :We were your followers. So, on the Day of Judgement when the followers appeal to their leaders that we accepted what you said and followed you, the leaders would say: It was your following that made us disbelievers. Many people who claim an equal status with God, with people blindly following them are continuing to do so because of the ignorance of their followers. If people elevate a person, then it leads to them having delusions of grandeur. Thus, when people claim that we are in distress because of following you, the leaders will reply that we became disbelievers because you thrust greatness on us and fed our increasing disbelief. In other words, you are responsible for our destruction.
Another interpretation is Satan saying I deny that you made me a partner with Allah in your obedience of Allah, because Allah commands the doing of good deeds and I called you to commit evil deeds.
There are two noteworthy takeaways from this verse: The promises of Allah are true, and the promises of Satan are false. The practical manifestation of this can be seen in this world. Acts of goodness always leads to happiness as promised by Allah and the happiness that Satan promises from doing evil never materializes. Those who get ruined by keeping bad company know that the promises made by their devilish friends when luring them into evil, turn out to be false. The second important takeaway is that Satan has no domination over anyone, good or evil. Satan can only insinuate, which the unfortunate person readily accepts. While Allah has not given Satan power over any human, people often choose to follow Satan of their own free will.
14-23 And those who believe and do good are made to enter Gardens, wherein flow rivers, abiding therein by their Lord’s permission. Their greeting therein is, Peace!
وَأُدْخِلَ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ جَنَّـٰتٍۢ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ ۖ تَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلَـٰمٌ (۲۳)
14-24 Seest thou not how Allah sets forth a parable of a good word as a good tree, whose root is firm and whose branches are high,a
أَلَمْ تَرَ كَيْفَ ضَرَبَ ٱللَّهُ مَثَلًۭا كَلِمَةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ كَشَجَرَةٍۢ طَيِّبَةٍ أَصْلُهَا ثَابِتٌۭ وَفَرْعُهَا فِى ٱلسَّمَآءِ (۲۴)
14-24a: أَصْل – The أَصْل of a thing is its lowest part (LA) or the foundation of a thing such that if the foundation is lifted, the whole thing is lifted with it (R).
فَرْع – It means a branch and its plural is فُرُوع . It is used in two contexts; one is in the sense of length or height because the meaning of فَرَعَ is طَالَ and second in the sense of width as تفَرَّعَ means spread out.
In this verse, a metaphor is given of كَلِمَةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ :a good word, and in verse 14:26 a metaphor is given of كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ :an evil word, depicting truth and falsehood. Some have taken كَلِمَةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ to mean لا الٰه اِلّا اللّٰہ :There is no god but Allah, some have taken it to mean the Quran, and some have taken it to be inviting people to Islam. In actuality, all these are included in كَلِمَةًۭ طَيِّبَةًۭ. Similarly, كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ has variously been interpreted as unbelief, untruth etc., all of which are included in falsehood. We are told that the example of a truthful word is like a tree whose roots are firmly grounded in the earth and its branches are spread out high above, such that the branches are both lofty and encompass a large area. This metaphor is given to help our understanding. Is the tree mentioned a date-palm? In an authentic hadith, a Muslim has been compared to a date palm because no part of a date palm is wasted, and everything is put to good use. However, in this verse the example is not of a Muslim but of a good word, and what is conveyed is that just as the branches of a tree whose roots are firmly grounded in the earth creates a wide canopy of branches, so too is a good word whose foundational principle is strong and its subsidiary tenets are firmly connected with the foundational principle regardless of how distant they may spread out, just like the branches of a tree are connected with the trunk.
The subsidiary tenets fall within the domain of the foundational principle, and just as there is a clearly visible relationship between the branches and the roots of a tree, similarly the use of logic illuminates the relationship between the foundational principle and the subsidiary tenets. Another similarity indicated is that just as the roots of a tree obtain nutrients by absorbing water while its branches spread out above and absorb sunlight and gases to complement and complete the plant’s nutritional needs, similarly the foundational principles of truth are established by Divine revelation which is like the water for the tree, but the subsidiary tenets, besides being fed by the Divine revelation are also fed by ijtihad, or logical reasoning, to meet the exigencies prevailing as a result of current conditions.
The trees of heaven are born from a person’s deeds: The parable of the trees is mentioned immediately after the mention of paradise which indicates that there is a connection between the two. The description of paradise given in the Quran is that of a garden with rivers flowing beneath. By comparing a good word with a tree, it is made known that the trees and fruits of heaven are the result of good words that one accepts and then acts upon. Thus, every good word is like a seed that grows into a tree that fruits perpetually, as stated in 14:25. The heavenly trees are not like the trees of this world which fruit once or twice in a year. In contrast, the heavenly trees bear fruit all the time. It is a person’s actions that transform into gardens and fruits. In this world, these heavenly trees and fruits for the most part remain hidden, but they will become fully visible in the next world. Thus, every person’s paradise is prepared according to his deeds.
14-25 Yielding its fruit in every season by the permission of its Lord? And Allah sets forth parables for men that they may be mindful.
تُؤْتِىٓ أُكُلَهَا كُلَّ حِينٍۭ بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهَا ۗ وَيَضْرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْأَمْثَالَ لِلنَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَذَكَّرُونَ (۲۵)
14-26 And the parable of an evil word is as an evil tree pulled up from the earth’s surface; it has no stability.a
وَمَثَلُ كَلِمَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍۢ كَشَجَرَةٍ خَبِيثَةٍ ٱجْتُثَّتْ مِن فَوْقِ ٱلْأَرْضِ مَا لَهَا مِن قَرَارٍۢ (۲۶)
14-26a: ٱجْتُثَّتْ – The جُثّة of a thing is its part which can be seen, and اِجۡتِثَات is the uprooting of its manifest part.
Just as the example of a good word is given by a firmly rooted tree, the example of falsehood is given by a tree whose roots are not firmly entrenched and which gets uprooted at the slightest opposition. The hallmark of falsehood is that it is not sustainable. A single argument can shatter it. By giving these two examples, we are told that the truthfulness of the Quran is so strong that no argument can break through its armor. As rational thinking becomes more commonplace in the world, the strength of Quranic truths and the elevated status of its branches will continue to become more manifest, and falsehood will continue to dissipate. The situation with all false beliefs that are opposed to Islam is that they are not based on sound principles and hence cannot stand up against Islam.
14-27 Allah confirms those who believe with the sure word in this world’s life and in the Hereafter; and Allah leaves the wrongdoers in error; and Allah does what He pleases.a
يُثَبِّتُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ بِٱلْقَوْلِ ٱلثَّابِتِ فِى ٱلْحَيَوٰةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَفِى ٱلْـَٔاخِرَةِ ۖ وَيُضِلُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ ۚ وَيَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ مَا يَشَآءُ (۲۷)
14-27a: In this last verse of the section, the effect of following the true principles is explained as firmness that can be seen in the lives of the righteous, both in this world and in the Hereafter. There is probably a weakness in the belief of a person who does not find strength in his conviction.
يُضِلُّ ٱللَّهُ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ – In the statement, Allah leaves the wrongdoers in error, we are told that Allah intends to strengthen the belief of people through His revelations, but He leaves those who choose to act unjustly in their erroneous ways. Persisting in ignorance leads to destruction.
Bayan-ul-Quran 