“You shall certainly see the blazing fire," 7.

“You shall certainly see the blazing fire," 7. “Again, you will surely see it with certainty of sight!" 8.

“Then, on that Day you will surely be questioned about the joy (you indulged in).” The Occasion of Revelation As we mentioned before, commentators believe that this Surah was revealed against the tribes who vied in boasting with one another and prided themselves on increasing their wealth, position, and the number of their adherents so to add to the number of men in each tribe, they even went to the cemetery and counted the tribal graves.

Some believe that the meaning refers to two tribes from the tribes of Quraish in Mecca, while some others think it refers to two tribes from the helpers of the Prophet (S), the Ansar, in Medina; and still, some relate it to the vying of the Jews to others, though to consider the Surah Meccan seems more appropriate. But, it is certain that whatever these occasions of revelation could be, they never limit the meaning of the verse. The Affliction of Vying in Exuberance!

In these verses, at first, in a scorning tone, it says: "Engageth you (your) vying in exuberance", "Until you visit the graves", To enumerate the graves of your dead. In commenting on the verse, this probability has also been conveyed that 'vying' has engaged them so much so that it will continuously persist until they enter their graves.

But, the first meaning, 'Until you visit the graves' considering the occasion of revelation and also the words of Hazrat Ali (as) in Nahj-ul-Balagha, which will be dealt with later, is more fitting.

The term /alhakum/ is based on the root /lahw/ with the meaning of 'amusement, being busy with unimportant small things and neglectful of great aims and ideas.’ Raqib cites in Mufradat: “The word /lahw /means something that amuses one with itself and detains him from his real goals.” The term /takathur/ is derived from, /kithrat/ with the sense of 'vying, glorifying and boasting in each other's sight'.

The term /zurtum/ is based on /ziyarat/ and /zaur/ which originally means 'the upper part of the chest' and later, it has been used in the sense of 'to visit' and 'to face with’. The term /maqabir/ is the plural form of /maqbirah/ with the meaning of 'the place of the grave of a corpse'; and visiting the graves metaphorically means "death" (according to some commentaries), or it has the meaning of 'going to the graves in order to vie for the number of the dead'.

As it was said earlier, the second meaning seems more proper.