32.22
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(And who doth greater wrong) no one is more insolent and iniquitous (than he who is reminded of) admonished by (the revelations of his Lord) this was revealed about the hypocrites and the deriders of the Qur'an, (then turneth from them) in denial. (Lo! We shall requite) We will chastise (the guilty) the idolaters.
And who does greater wrong than he who is reminded of the signs of his Lord such as the Qur’ān but then turns away from them? in other words none does greater wrong than such a person. Assuredly We shall take vengeance upon the criminals the idolaters.
Allah tells us that in His justice and generosity, on the Day of Judgement He will not judge those who believed in His signs and followed His Messengers, in the same way as He will judge those who rebelled, disobeyed Him and rejected the Messengers sent by Allah to them. This is like the Ayat:
(Or do those who earn evil deeds think that We shall hold them equal with those who believe and do righteous good deeds, in their present life and after their death Worst is the judgement that they make.) (45:21),
(Is then he who is a believer like him who is a rebellious Not equal are they. ) i.e., before Allah on the Day of Resurrection. `Ata' bin Yasar, As-Suddi and others mentioned that this was revealed concerning `Ali bin Abi Talib and `Uqbah bin Abi Mu`it. Hence Allah has judged between them when He said:
(As for those who believe and do righteous good deeds,) meaning, their hearts believed in the signs of Allah, and they did as the signs of Allah dictate, i.e. righteous good deeds.
فَلَهُمْ جَنَّـتُ الْمَأْوَى
(for them are Gardens of Abode) i.e., in which there are dwellings and houses and lofty apartments.
نُزُلاً
(as an entertainment) means, something to welcome and honor a guest,
(for what they used to do. And as for those who rebel,) means, those who disobeyed Allah, their dwelling place will be the Fire, and every time they want to escape from it, they will be thrown back in, as Allah says:
(Every time they seek to get away therefrom, from anguish, they will be driven back therein) (22:22). Al-Fudayl bin `Iyad said: "By Allah, their hands will be tied, their feet will be chained, the flames will lift them up and the angels will strike them.
(and it will be said to them: "Taste you the torment of the Fire which you used to deny.'')'' means, this will be said to them by way of rebuke and chastisement.
(And verily, We will make them taste of the near lighter torment prior to the greater torment,) Ibn `Abbas said, "The near torment means diseases and problems in this world, and the things that happen to its people as a test from Allah to His servants so that they will repent to Him.'' Something similar was also narrated from Ubayy bin Ka`b, Abu Al-`Aliyah, Al-Hasan, Ibrahim An-Nakha`i, Ad-Dahhak, `Alqamah, `Atiyah, Mujahid, Qatadah, `Abd Al-Karim Al-Jazari and Khusayf.
(And who does more wrong than he who is reminded of the Ayat of his Lord, then turns aside therefrom) means, there is no one who does more wrong than the one whom Allah reminds of His signs and explains them to him clearly, then after that he neglects and ignores them, and turns away from them, forgetting them as if he does not know them. Qatadah said: "Beware of turning away from the remembrance of Allah, for whoever turns away from remembering Him will be the most misguided and the most in need, and the most guilty of sin.'' Allah says, warning the one who does that:
إِنَّا مِنَ الْمُجْرِمِينَ مُنتَقِمُونَ
(Verily, We shall exact retribution from the criminals.) meaning, `We shall avenge Ourselves on those who do that in the strongest possible terms.'
32.21-22
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
"The greater torment" is the torment of the Hereafter, which will be imposed on the guilty ones in consequence of disbelief and disobedience. "The lesser torment", in contrast, implies those calamities which afflict man even in this world, e.g., diseases in the life of individuals, deaths of the near and dear ones, serious accidents, losses, failures, etc. and storms, earthquakes, floods, epidemics, famines, riots, wars and many other disasters, in collective life, which affect hundreds of thousands of the people simultaneously. The reason given for sending these calamities is that the people should take heed even before they are involved in the "greater torment" and give up the attitude and way of life in consequence of which they will have to suffer the greater torment ultimately. In other words, it means this: Allah has not kept man in perfect security in the world so that he may live in full peace, and become involved in the misunderstanding that there is no power above him, which can cause him harm. But Allah has so arranged things that He sends disasters and calamities on individuals as well as on nations and countries from time to time, which give man the feeling that he is helpless and that there is about him an All-Powerful Sovereign Who is ruling His universal Kingdom. These calamities remind each individual and group and nation that there is another Power above him Who is controlling their destinies. Everything has not been placed at man's disposal. The real Power is in the hand of the Sovereign. When a calamity from Him descends on man, you can neither avert it by any artifice, nor can escape from it by invoking a jinn, or a spirit, or a god or goddess, or a prophet or saint. Considered in this light, these calamities are not mere calamities but warnings of God, which are sent to make man conscious of the reality and to remove his misunderstandings. If man learns a lesson from these and corrects his belief and conduct here in the world, he will not have to face the greater torment of God in the Hereafter."
"The Signs of his Lord" include all kinds of the Signs. A perusal of all the Qur'anic verses in this regard shows that these Signs are of the following six kinds: (1) The Signs which are found in everything from the earth to the heavens and in the system of the universe as a whole. (2) The Signs which are found in man's own creation and in his constitution and body. (3) The Signs which are found in man's intuition, his unconscious and subconscious mind and in his moral concepts. (4) The Signs which are found in the continuous experience of human history. (5) The Signs which are found in the, coming down of the earthly and heavenly calamities on man. (6) And, over and above all these, the Revelations which Allah sent through His Prophets so that man may be made conscious in a rational way of those realities, which are pointed out by all the above-mentioned Signs. All these Signs proclaim consistently and clearly: `O man, you are neither without God, nor the servant of many gods, but your God is only One God: no other way of life is correct for you except the way of His service and obedience. You have not been left to live a free and independent and irresponsible lift in this world, but you have to appear before yow God and render an account of your deeds after your life-activity here has come to an end, and be rewarded or punished accordingly. Therefore, it is in yow own interest that you should follow the guidance which your God has sent through His Prophets and His Books for your instruction and desist from an independent way of lift." Now, obviously, the man who has been warned in so many different ways, for whose admonition countless different Signs have been provided, and who has been blessed with the eyes to see and the cars to hear and the mind to think, and yet he closes his eyes to all these Signs, and closes his cars to the admonitions of his well-wishers, and uses his mind also for inventing stupid and blind philosophies only can be a wretched and wicked person. He only deserves to be given full punishment for rebellion when he appears before his God after the expiry of the period of test in the world.
