Al-Qur'an Surah Az-Zumar Verse 71

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Those who disbelieved will be driven towards Jahannam in groups, until when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its keepers will say to them, “Did messengers from among you not come to you reciting to you the verses of your Lord, and warning you about the meeting of this day of yours?” They will say, “Yes (they did),but the word of punishment had become certain against those who disbelieved.”

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in ˹successive˺ groups. When they arrive there, its gates will be opened and its keepers will ask them: “Did messengers not come to you from among yourselves, reciting to you the revelations of your Lord and warning you of the coming of this Day of yours?” The disbelievers will cry, “Yes ˹indeed˺! But the decree of torment has come to pass against the disbelievers.”

Ruwwad Translation Center

Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, until when they reach it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say to them, “Did there not come to you messengers from among you, reciting the verses of your Lord and warning you of your meeting of this Day?” They will say, “Yes indeed, but the decree of punishment has come to pass against the disbelievers.”

A. J. Arberry

Then the unbelievers shall be driven in companies into Gehenna till, when they have come thither, then its gates will be opened and its keepers will say to them, 'Did not Messengers come to you from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your Lord and warning you against the encounter of this your day?' They shall say, 'Yes indeed; but the word of the chastisement has been realized against the unbelievers.'

Abdul Haleem

Those who rejected the Truth will be led to Hell in their throngs. When they arrive, its gates will open and its keepers will say to them, ‘Were you not sent your own messengers to recite the revelations of your Lord to you and warn you that you would meet this Day?’ and they will say, ‘Yes indeed we were.’ But the sentence of punishment will have been passed against those who rejected the truth.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

And those who disbelieve will be driven onto Hell in troops till, when they arrive thereto, the portals thereof will be opened, and the keepers thereof will say Unto them: came there not Unto you apostles from amongst you, rehearsing Unto you the revelations of you Lord and warning you of the meeting of this your Day? They shall say: Yea, but the word of torment hath been justified on the Infidels.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Unbelievers will be led to Hell in crowd; until, when they arrive, there, its gates will be opened. And its keepers will say, "Did not messengers come to you from among yourselves, rehearsing to you the Signs of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of This Day of yours?" The answer will be; "True; but the Decree of Punishment has been proved true against the Unbelievers!"

Abul Ala Maududi

(After the judgement has been passed) the unbelievers shall be driven in companies to Hell so that when they arrive there, its gates shall be thrown open and its keepers shall say to them: “Did Messengers from among yourselves not come to you, rehearsing to you the Signs of your Lord and warning you against your meeting of this Day?” They will say: “Yes indeed; but the sentence of chastisement was bound to be executed against the unbelievers.”

Ahmed Ali

The unbelievers will be driven into Hell in groups till, when they reach it and its doors are opened up, its keepers will say to them: "Did not apostles of your own come to you reciting your Lord's revelations, warning you of this your day of Doom?" They will answer: "Yes;" but the sentence of punishment was justified against the unbelievers.

Ahmed Raza Khan

And the disbelievers will be herded towards hell in groups; to the extent that when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its guards will say to them, “Did not the Noble Messengers come to you from amongst you, who used to recite to you the verses of your Lord and warn you of confronting this Day?” They will say, “Yes indeed, why not?” But the Word of punishment proved true upon the disbelievers.

Ali Quli Qarai

The faithless will be driven to hell in throngs. When they reach it and its gates are opened, its keepers will say to them, ‘Did there not come to you [any] apostles from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your Lord and warning you of the encounter of this day of yours?’ They will say, ‘Yes, but the word of punishment became due against the faithless.’

Ali Ünal

Those who disbelieve (and die unbelievers) will be led to Hell in companies. Until when they arrive there, its doors will immediately be opened and its keepers will ask them: "Did there not come to you Messengers from among you, reciting to you the Revelations of your Lord and warning you of this Day that you were to encounter?" They will answer: "Yes, indeed!" But the word of (God’s) punishment upon the unbelievers is fulfilled.

Amatul Rahman Omar

And those who disbelieve will be driven to Gehenna in multitudes, until when they reach it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say to them, `Did there not come to you Messengers from among yourselves to proclaim to you the Messages of your Lord and to warn you about the meeting of this Day of yours?´ They will say, `They did come, yet Allâh´s verdict of the punishment was justly due to have proved true against the disbelievers.´

English Literal

And those who disbelieved are driven to Hell (in) groups/gangs until when they came to it, (then) its doors/entrances were opened, and its safe keepers said to them: "Did not messengers from you come to you, they read/recite on (to) you your Lord`s evidences/verses , and they warn/give you notice (of) this your day/time, this meeting (today`s meeting)?" They said: "Yes/certainly." And but the torture`s words/expression became deserved/a fact on the disbelievers.

Faridul Haque

And the disbelievers will be herded towards hell in groups; to the extent that when they reach it, its gates will be opened, and its guards will say to them, “Did not the Noble Messengers come to you from amongst you, who used to recite to you the verses of your Lord and warn you of confronting this Day?” They will say, “Yes indeed, why not?” But the Word of punishment proved true upon the disbelievers.

Hamid S. Aziz

And those who disbelieve shall be driven to hell in companies; until, when they come to it, its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them, "Did not there come to you messengers of your own, reciting to you the revelations (or communications) of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this your Day?" They shall say, "Yea, verily. But the sentence of punishment is fulfiled against the unbelievers."

Hilali & Khan

And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups, till, when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened (suddenly like a prison at the arrival of the prisoners). And its keepers will say, "Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, reciting to you the Verses of your Lord, and warning you of the Meeting of this Day of yours?" They will say: "Yes, but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!"

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And every soul is paid back fully for what it did, and He knows best what they do.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

And those who disbelieve shall be driven to hell in companies; until, when they come to it, its doors shall be opened, and the keepers of it shall say to them: Did not there come to you apostles from among you reciting to you the communications of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this day of yours? They shall say: Yea! But the sentence of punishment was due against the unbelievers.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

And those who disbelieve are driven unto hell in troops till, when they reach it and the gates thereof are opened, and the warders thereof say unto them: Came there not unto you messengers of your own, reciting unto you the revelations of your Lord and warning you of the meeting of this your Day? they say: Yea, verily. But the word of doom of disbelievers is fulfilled.

Muhammad Sarwar

The disbelievers will be driven to hell in hordes. Its gates will be opened when they are brought nearby and the keepers will ask them, "Did Messengers from your own people not come to you to recite your Lord's revelations and to warn you about this day?" They will reply, "Yes, the Messengers did come to us, but the unbelievers were doomed to face the torment".

Qaribullah & Darwish

In companies the unbelievers shall be driven into Gehenna. As they draw near, its gates will be opened and its keepers will ask them: 'Did there not come to you Messengers of your own, who recited to you the verses of your Lord and warned you of the encounter of this your Day' 'Yes indeed' they will answer. And the word of the punishment has been realized against the unbelievers.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups till when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened. And its keepers will say: "Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves, reciting to you the Ayat of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours" They will say: "Yes," but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!

Wahiduddin Khan

Those who rejected the truth will be led to Hell in throngs. When they reach it, its gates will be opened and its keepers will say to them, "Have messengers not come to you from among yourselves, who conveyed to you the revelations of your Lord and warned you about meeting [Him] on this Day?" They will answer, "Yes, they did come." But the decree of punishment has proved true against the deniers of the truth.

Talal Itani

Those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in throngs. Until, when they have reached it, and its gates are opened, its keepers will say to them, “Did not messengers from among you come to you, reciting to you the revelations of your Lord, and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours?” They will say, “Yes, but the verdict of punishment is justified against the disbelievers.”

Tafsir jalalayn

And those who disbelieve will be driven, violently, to Hell in troops, in separate groups, until, when they reach it, its gates are opened (futihat abwbuh is the response to idh, `when') and its keepers will say to them, `Did there not come to you [any] messengers from among yourselves, reciting to you the signs of your Lord, the Qur'n and otherwise, and warning you of the encounter of this day of yours?' They will say, `Yes, indeed; but the word of chastisement -- namely, the verse; Assuredly I will fill Hell ... [Q. 11;119] -- against the disbelievers has been fulfilled'.

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

How the Disbelievers will be driven to Hell

Allah informs,

وَسِيقَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ زُمَرًا

And those who disbelieved will be driven to Hell in groups,

Allah tells us how the doomed disbeliever will be driven to Hell by force, with threats and warnings.

This is like the Ayah;

يَوْمَ يُدَعُّونَ إِلَى نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ دَعًّا

The Day when they will be pushed down by force to the fire of Hell, with a horrible, forceful pushing. (52;13)

which means, they will be pushed and forced towards it, and they will be extremely thirsty, as Allah says;

يَوْمَ نَحْشُرُ الْمُتَّقِينَ إِلَى الرَّحْمَـنِ وَفْداً وَنَسُوقُ الْمُجْرِمِينَ إِلَى جَهَنَّمَ وِرْداً

The Day We shall gather those who have Taqwa unto the Most Gracious, like a delegation. And We shall drive the criminals to Hell, in a thirsty state. (19;85-86)

When they are in that state, they will be blind, dumb and deaf, and some of them will be walking on their faces;

وَنَحْشُرُهُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ عَلَى وُجُوهِهِمْ عُمْيًا وَبُكْمًا وَصُمًّا مَّأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ كُلَّمَا خَبَتْ زِدْنَاهُمْ سَعِيرًا

and We shall gather them together on the Day of Resurrection on their faces, blind, dumb and deaf; their abode will be Hell; whenever it abates, We shall increase for them the fierceness of the Fire. (17;97)

حَتَّى إِذَا جَاوُوهَا فُتِحَتْ أَبْوَابُهَا

till when they reach it, the gates thereof will be opened.

means, as soon as they arrive, the gates will be opened quickly, in order to hasten on their punishment.

وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا

And its keepers will say;

Then the keepers of Hell, who are stern angels, severe and strong, will say to them by way of rebuking and reprimanding;

أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ رُسُلٌ مِّنكُمْ

Did not the Messengers come to you from yourselves,

meaning, `of your own kind, so that you could have spoken to them and learned from them,'

يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْكُمْ ايَاتِ رَبِّكُمْ

reciting to you the Ayat of your Lord,

means, `establishing proof against you that what they brought to you was true,'

وَيُنذِرُونَكُمْ لِقَاء يَوْمِكُمْ هَذَا

and warning you of the meeting of this Day of yours,

means, `warning you of the evil of this Day.'

;

قَالُوا بَلَى

They will say, "Yes",

meaning, the disbeliever will say to them that they did come to us and warn us and establish proof and evidence against us,'

وَلَكِنْ حَقَّتْ كَلِمَةُ الْعَذَابِ عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ



but the Word of torment has been justified against the disbelievers!

means, `but we rejected them and went against them, because we were already doomed, as it was decreed that we would be, because we had turned away from the truth towards falsehood.'

This is like the Ayat;

كُلَّمَا أُلْقِيَ فِيهَا فَوْجٌ سَأَلَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَذِيرٌ


قَالُوا بَلَى قَدْ جَاءنَا نَذِيرٌ فَكَذَّبْنَا وَقُلْنَا مَا نَزَّلَ اللَّهُ مِن شَيْءٍ

إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلاَّ فِي ضَلَلٍ كَبِيرٍ


وَقَالُوا لَوْ كُنَّا نَسْمَعُ أَوْ نَعْقِلُ مَا كُنَّا فِي أَصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ

Every time a group is cast therein, its keeper will ask;"Did no warner come to you" They will say;"Yes, indeed a warner came to us, but we denied him and said;`Allah never revealed anything; you are only in great error."' And they will say;"Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we would not have been among the dwellers of the blazing Fire!" (67;8-10)

which means, they will feel regret and will blame themselves.

فَاعْتَرَفُوا بِذَنبِهِمْ فَسُحْقًا لاَِّصْحَابِ السَّعِيرِ


Then they will confess their sin. So, away with the dwellers of the blazing Fire! (67;11)

means, they are lost and doomed