وَبَرَزُوا۟ لِلَّهِ جَمِيعًا فَقَالَ ٱلضُّعَفَٰٓؤُا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ٱسْتَكْبَرُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كُنَّا لَكُمْ تَبَعًا فَهَلْ أَنتُم مُّغْنُونَ عَنَّا مِنْ عَذَابِ ٱللَّهِ مِن شَىْءٍ ۚ قَالُوا۟ لَوْ هَدَىٰنَا ٱللَّهُ لَهَدَيْنَٰكُمْ ۖ سَوَآءٌ عَلَيْنَآ أَجَزِعْنَآ أَمْ صَبَرْنَا مَا لَنَا مِن مَّحِيصٍ
Wa barazū li'llāhi jamīʿan fa-qāla'ḍ-ḍuʿafāʾu li'lladhīna'stakbarū innā kunnā lakum tabaʿan fa-hal antum mughnūna ʿannā min ʿadhābi'llāhi min shayʾ · Qālū law hadāna'llāhu la-hadaynākum · Sawāʾun ʿalaynā ajaziʿnā am ṣabarnā mā lanā min maḥīṣ
"They all come forth before God. The weak say to those who were arrogant: 'We followed you; can you now ward off from us anything of God's punishment?' They say: 'Had God guided us we would have guided you. Now it is all one for us whether we cry out or endure; there is no place of escape for us.'"
The root ب-ر-ز: to come out into the open, to emerge from where one was hidden. Barāz — open ground, empty land. From the same root come bāriz (prominent) and mubāraza (coming out to fight in single combat).
And the verb comes in the perfect tense, though the event recounted is in the future. In Arabic this is the manner of recounting a future that is certain to come about in the past tense, and it has been treated in several places in the series (the same usage was recorded in scenes of the resurrection in al-Takwīr and al-Ḥāqqa). I rely on that treatment.
The verb will occur twice in the sūra: here and in verse 48 (wa barazū li'llāhi'l-Wāḥidi'l-Qahhār). There is a difference between the two occurrences:
| Verse | Expression | Before whom they come forth |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Wa barazū li'llāhi jamīʿā | Before God — all together |
| 48 | Wa barazū li'llāhi'l-Wāḥidi'l-Qahhār | Before the One, the Overwhelming |
In the first occurrence the stress falls on those who come forth (jamīʿan — all of them), in the second on the One before whom they come (two names). This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
Tabaʿ may be the plural of tābiʿ, and it may also be a verbal noun; taken as a verbal noun, a heavier sense comes out, something like "we were nothing but following you". The lexicographers record both possibilities.
And the question of the weak is worth recording: they do not ask for deliverance. Hal antum mughnūna ʿannā min ʿadhābi'llāhi min shayʾ — "anything" — the smallest part of it.
I record this as an observation about the word order: the request, reduced to its least, still goes unanswered. And the second min before min shayʾ (partitive) performs this diminishing with the language itself.
The answer is a law sentence (a condition that has not come about). That is, those who were arrogant set out their situation not as an excuse but as a statement of fact: we were not guided, and so we could not guide.
What must be recorded is this, and I give it as an observation: the verse gives no reply to this answer. It neither confirms it nor denies it; the sentence is left as it stands, and immediately afterwards comes the speech of Satan — and there the same matter will be taken up once more, but with the place of responsibility stated plainly (verse 22: fa-lā talūmūnī wa lūmū anfusakum).
That is, the sūra leaves the answer to a verse later. This is an arrangement that can be verified from the word order.
The root ج-ز-ع: a thing's being split in two down the middle; and from there the breaking of endurance, the snapping of forbearance. The lexicographers define jazaʿ as the opposite of endurance: crying out, wailing.
And the word was treated at al-Maʿārij 70/20 (idhā massahu'sh-sharru jazūʿā). I rely on that treatment.
The construction of the sentence must be recorded: sawāʾun ʿalaynā — "the two are one for us." That is, endurance is mentioned here with no promise of benefit. I record this as my own reading: the value of endurance lies where it can change the outcome; where the outcome is closed, both attitudes come out at the same place — and the verse has them say this with their own mouths.