Ghafir (The Forgiver)

32. “And, O my people! Indeed I fear for you the Day when there will be mutual calling.”

33. A Day when you will turn your backs and flee having no protection from Allah[’s torment]. And whomsoever Allah sends astray [for his evil deeds and abandons him], for him there is no guide.

In promulgation of faith we are not supposed to expect achievement of favorable consequences at imparting the first reminder, but reiteration is a part and parcel of the task. One should also attend to emotions and feelings in this vein. We are supposed to remind people of Divine Wrath in this world and on the Day of Resurrection.

According to Verse 32, the believing man of the family of Pharaoh said:

“O my people! Indeed I fear for you the Day when there will be mutual calling,” when people call one another for help but they hear no answer. The word al-tanad, originally al-tanadi whose final /i/ is omitted and the final /i/ indicates the ellipsis derives from n-d-’ (“call”).

Most of Qur’anic exegets maintain that:

“the Day of mutual calling”

is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection. Different exegets attend to very similar aspects of the appellation in question.

According to an exeget, mutual calling refers to calling the people of Paradise by the people of Hell as it is attested elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an:

“And the dwellers of Hell call to the dwellers of Paradise: ‘Pour on us some water or anything that Allah has provided you with.’ They will say: ‘Both Allah has forbidden to disbelievers’”1 .

They may as well call others seeking refuge in one another and the Callers of Resurrection call unto them:

“No doubt! The curse of Allah is on wrong doers”2 .

When a believer sees the record of his deeds, he cries excitedly:

“Here, this is the record of my deeds. Come hither. O people! Read it!”3

A disbeliever at that time will fearfully cry out:

“I wish that I had not been given the record of my deeds”4 .

It is worthy of note that a broader semantic range may be assumed for the Verse in question such that

“the Day of mutual calling”

may comprehend this world as well, since it merely indicates calling one another and those who are at the end of their tether call one another but their calling is of no avail.

We find so many instances of mutual calling when Divine torments are sent down, when societies come to dead ends for their own sins and faults, when crises and terrible incidents adversely affect everyone, they flee seeking some refuge but there is not one to be found; all cry out for succor!

Verse 33 provides an interpretation for the Day of mutual calling:

“A Day when you will turn your backs and flee having no protection from Allah[’s torment].”

One whom God Almighty sends astray [for his evil deeds] may not find any guide. Such people lose the Path of Guidance and sink in the dire of ignorance and error and will lose the Path of Paradise and Divine Bounties.

The aforesaid expression may allude to Pharaoh’s words:

“I show you only that which I see and I guide you only to the path of guidance!”