Al-Qur'an Surah Al-An'am Verse 31

Mufti Taqi Usmani

Losers indeed are those who deny that they will ever face Allah, until when the Hour will come upon them suddenly, they will say, “Alas! We have been negligent about it.” They shall carry their burdens on their backs. Beware! Evil is the burden they carry.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

Losers indeed are those who deny the meeting with Allah until the Hour takes them by surprise, then they will cry, “Woe to us for having ignored this!” They will bear ˹the burden of˺ their sins on their backs. Evil indeed is their burden!

Ruwwad Translation Center

Losers indeed are those who deny the meeting with Allah, until when the Hour comes upon them by surprise, they will say, “Woe to us for having ignored this!” They will bear their burdens on their backs. Terrible indeed is their burden!

A. J. Arberry

Lost indeed are they that cried lies to the encounter with God, so that when the Hour comes to them suddenly they shall say, 'Alas for us, that we neglected it!' On their backs they shall be bearing their loads; O how evil the loads they bear!

Abdul Haleem

Lost indeed are those who deny the meeting with their Lord until, when the Hour suddenly arrives, they say, ‘Alas for us that we disregarded this!’ They will bear their burdens on their backs. How terrible those burdens will be!

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Lost surely are those who belie their meeting with Allah, until when the Hour cometh on them on a sudden, and they will say: woe betide us, that we neglected it! - the while they will be bearing their burthens on their backs. Lo! vile is that which they shall bear.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Lost indeed are they who treat it as a falsehood that they must meet Allah,- until on a sudden the hour is on them, and they say; "Ah! woe unto us that we took no thought of it"; for they bear their burdens on their backs, and evil indeed are the burdens that they bear?

Abul Ala Maududi

Those who consider it a lie that they will have to meet Allah are indeed the losers so much so that when that Hour comes to them suddenly they will say: 'Alas for us, how negligent we have been in this behalf.' They will carry their burden (of sins) on their backs. How evil is the burden they bear!

Ahmed Ali

They are surely lost who call the meeting with God a lie. When the Hour comes upon them unawares, they will say: "Alas, we neglected it!" and carry their burdens on their backs: How evil the burden they will carry!

Ahmed Raza Khan

Those who denied their meeting with Allah, have indeed failed; to the extent that when the Last Day suddenly came upon them they said, “Woe to us that we failed to believe in it” – and they carry their burdens on their backs; what an evil burden they carry!

Ali Quli Qarai

They are certainly losers who deny the encounter with Allah. When the Hour overtakes them suddenly, they will say, ‘Alas for us, for what we neglected in it!’ And they will bear their burdens on their backs. Look! Evil is what they bear!

Ali Ünal

Assuredly, those have lost who deny the (truth of the final) meeting with God until, as the Hour comes upon them all of a sudden, they cry, "Alas for us! how negligent we have been in this regard," when they have already loaded their burdens on to their backs . Evil indeed is the burden they are loading themselves with!

Amatul Rahman Omar

Those who cried lies to (the news of) meeting Allâh have indeed suffered a loss; (they will go on denying it) until the Hour (of Resurrection) overtakes them unaware. They will then say, `Woe to Us, for our neglecting it (-the Hour, in our life).´ And they shall be bearing the burdens (of their sins) on their backs. Behold! how evil is the burden they shall bear.

English Literal

Those who denied had lost with God`s meeting until when the Hour/Resurrection came to them82suddenly, they said: "Oh, our grief/sorrow on what we neglected/wasted in it." And they are carrying their sins on their backs, is it not evil/harmful what they carry/bear?

Faridul Haque

Those who denied their meeting with Allah, have indeed failed; to the extent that when the Last Day suddenly came upon them they said, “Woe to us that we failed to believe in it” - and they carry their burdens on their backs; what an evil burden they carry!

Hamid S. Aziz

Naught is the life of this world but a game (or pastime) and a sport (or amusement). Surely, better by far is the abode of the Hereafter for those who fear (and do their duty). Will you not understand?

Hilali & Khan

They indeed are losers who denied their Meeting with Allah, until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is on them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!

Maulana Mohammad Ali

And if thou couldst see when they are made to stand before their Lord! He will say: Is not this the truth? They will say: Yea, by our Lord! He will say: Taste then the chastisement because you disbelieved.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

They are losers indeed who reject the meeting of Allah; until when the hour comes upon them all of a sudden they shall say: O our grief for our neglecting it! and they shall bear their burdens on their backs; now surely evil is that which they bear.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

They indeed are losers who deny their meeting with Allah until, when the Hour cometh on them suddenly, they cry: Alas for us, that we neglected it! They bear upon their backs their burdens. Ah, evil is that which they bear!

Muhammad Sarwar

Those who do not believe in the Day of Judgment have incurred upon themselves a great loss. When the Day of Judgment suddenly comes upon them, they will sink under the burden of their sins in grief for their neglecting that day. Terrible indeed will be their burden!

Qaribullah & Darwish

They are lost indeed, those who belied the meeting with Allah. When the Hour overtakes them suddenly, they will say: 'Alas, for us, that we neglected it' On their backs they shall be bearing their sinful loads; how evil is what they sin!

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

They indeed are losers who denied their meeting with Allah, until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is upon them, and they say: "Alas for us that we gave no thought to it," while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!

Wahiduddin Khan

Those indeed are the losers who deny the meeting with God. When the Hour comes on them suddenly, they cry, "Alas for us, that we neglected it!" They shall bear their burdens on their backs. Evil are the burdens they shall bear.

Talal Itani

Losers are those who deny the encounter with God. Then, when the Hour comes upon them suddenly, they will say, “Alas for us, how we have neglected it.” And they will carry their burdens on their backs—evil is what they carry.

Tafsir jalalayn

They indeed are losers who deny the encounter with God, through resurrection, until (hatt is purposive to expose the [extent of their] mendacity) when the Hour, the Resurrection, comes upon them suddenly, they shall say, `Alas for us (y hasratan, `O grief of ours', expresses extreme suffering, the [vocative] call to which is figurative, meaning `Now is the time for you [O grief], so come forth!') that we neglected it!', the worldly life. On their backs they shall be bearing their burdens, so that these come to them at the Resurrection in the vilest of forms and with the most putrid of smells, and they ride them. Ah, evil is that, burden of theirs, which they bear!

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Allah says;

قَدْ خَسِرَ الَّذِينَ كَذَّبُواْ بِلِقَاء اللّهِ

They indeed are losers who denied their meeting with Allah,

Allah describes the regret of the disbelievers when facing Him, and their disappointment at the commencement, along with their sorrow for not performing good deeds and for their evil deeds.

This is why Allah said,

حَتَّى إِذَا جَاءتْهُمُ السَّاعَةُ بَغْتَةً قَالُواْ يَا حَسْرَتَنَا عَلَى مَا فَرَّطْنَا فِيهَا

until all of a sudden, the Hour (signs of death) is upon them, and they say;"Alas for us that we gave no thought to it."

`It' here refers to either the life of this world, or the affairs of the Hereafter.

Allah's statement,

وَهُمْ يَحْمِلُونَ أَوْزَارَهُمْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِمْ أَلَا سَاء مَا يَزِرُونَ



while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!

Asbat said that As-Suddi said,

"Upon entering his grave, every unjust person will meet a man with an ugly face, dark skin, awful odor, wearing dirty clothes, who will enter his grave with him. When the unjust person sees him, he will say, `How ugly is your face!'

He will reply, `So was your work, it was ugly.'

The unjust person will say, `How foul is the odor coming from you!'

He will reply, `Such was the case with your work, it stunk.'

The unjust person will say, `How dirty are your clothes!'

He will reply, `And your work too was dirty.'

The unjust person will ask, `Who are you?'

He will reply, `I am your deeds.'

So he will remain with the unjust person in his grave, and when he is resurrected on the Day of Resurrection, his companion will say to him, `In the life of the world, I used to carry you because you followed desire and lust. Today, you carry me.'

So he will ride on the unjust person's back and lead him until he enters the Fire.

So Allah said,
وَهُمْ يَحْمِلُونَ أَوْزَارَهُمْ عَلَى ظُهُورِهِمْ أَلَا سَاء مَا يَزِرُونَ
(while they will bear their burdens on their backs; and evil indeed are the burdens that they will bear!"

Allah's statement