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13 Jumada al-awwal 1448 AH Saturday, 24 October 2026
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Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

Fatir 35:18

Word by word

وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ ۚ وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَىٰ حِمْلِهَا لَا يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰٓ ۗ إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۚ وَمَن تَزَكَّىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّىٰ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And if a heavily laden soul calls [another] to [carry some of] its load, nothing of it will be carried, even if he should be a close relative. You can only warn those who fear their Lord unseen and have established prayer. And whoever purifies himself only purifies himself for [the benefit of] his soul. And to Allāh is the [final] destination.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

Mankind is in need of Allah, and each Person will carry His own Burdens on the Day of Resurrection

Allah tells us that He has no need of anyone or anything else, but all of creation is in need of Him and is in a position of humility before Him. He says:يأَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَنتُمُ الْفُقَرَآءُ إِلَى اللَّهِ(O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah.) meaning, they need Him in all that they do, but He has no need of them at all. Allah says:وَاللَّهُ هُوَ الْغَنِىُّ الْحَمِيدُBut Allah is the Rich, Worthy of all praise. meaning, He is unique in His being Free of all needs, and has no partner or associate, and He is Worthy of all praise in all that He does, says, decrees and legislates.إِن يَشَأْ يُذْهِبْكُـمْ وَيَأْتِ بِخَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ (If He willed, He could destroy you and bring about a new creation.) means, if He wanted to, He could destroy you and bring forth another people, and this is not difficult or impossible for Him.

He says:وَمَا ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ بِعَزِيزٍ (And that is not hard for Allah.) Allah's saying:وَلاَ تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى(And no bearer of burdens shall bear another's burden;) means, on the Day of Resurrection.وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَى حِمْلِهَا(and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, ) means, if the person who is carrying a heavy burden calls someone else to help him carry his load, all or part of it,لاَ يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَى(nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.) means, even if he is closely-related to him, even if he is his father or son, for each person will be preoccupied with his own self and his own situation.

Then Allah says:إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُواْ الصَّلَوةَ(You can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen and perform the Salah.) means, `the only ones who will draw a lesson from what you have brought are those who are possessed of insight and wisdom, who fear their Lord and who do as He commands.'وَمَن تَزَكَّى فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّى لِنَفْسِهِ(And he who purifies himself, then he purifies only for the benefit of himself.) means, who does righteous deeds, the benefit of that will come back to him,وَإِلَى اللَّهِ الْمَصِيرُAnd to Allah is the Return. means, to Him everything will ultimately return, and He is swift in bringing to account. He will reward or punish everyone according to his deeds: if they are good, then the end will be good, and if they are bad, then the end will be bad.

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

Commentary

Verse 18: وَلَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other person) means that, on the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to bear the burden of another person's sins. Everyone will have to bear his or her burden. As for what appears in Surah Al-` Ankabut (29:13): وَأَثْقَالًا مَّعَ أَثْقَالِهِمْ , which means that people who make others go astray will not only bear the burden of going astray personally, but will also bear the burden of having made others go astray. it does not mean that they will somehow lighten the burden of those they had caused to go astray. Instead, their burden will weigh on them as it was in its own place and because of the crime of those who made people go astray, being twofold, their burden too will become twofold, one: that of being astray and two: that of making others go astray. Therefore, there is no contradiction in these two verses.

(Ruh-ul-Ma’ ani)Explaining this verse, Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said: On that Day, a father would say to his son, 'You know how affectionate a father I was to you?' He will say, 'yes, your favors to me are countless. You have certainly faced many a hardship for me during the life of the world.' Then, the father will say, 'son, today I need you. Give me some of your good deeds, so that I can have my salvation.' The son will say, 'father, the return you asked for is not much, but what can I do? If I were to give that to you, I shall be facing the same situation that you are facing now, therefore, I am sorry, I cannot help you.' Then, he will say the same thing to his wife, 'I sacrificed everything for you during the life of the world. Today, I need a few of your good deeds. Please give these to me.' The wife will give him the same answer as was given by the son.

Sayyidna ` Ikrimah ؓ said that this is what the verse: لَا تَزِرُ‌ وَازِرَ‌ةٌ وِزْرَ‌ أُخْرَ‌ىٰ (And no bearer will bear the burden of any other) means. Then he said that the noble Qur'an has taken up this subject in several of its verses. At one place, it has said: لَّا يَجْزِي وَالِدٌ عَن وَلَدِهِ وَلَا مَوْلُودٌ هُوَ جَازٍ عَن وَالِدِهِ شَيْئًا that is, on that Day, neither a father would be able to have his son be spared from the punishment, nor would a son be able to do that for his father (31:33). The essential sense is that no one will save another person by carrying the burden of his sins over one's own shoulders. However, the matter of intercession (shafa'ah) is dierent. Similarly, in another verse, it was said: يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ‌ الْمَرْ‌ءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبِيهِ that is, on that Day, one will run from his brother and his mother and father and his wife and children (80:34, 35). The purpose of running is no other but that he would be in fear, lest these people try to pass on the burden of their sins on him or come up with a request for some of his good deeds.

(Ibn Kathir)

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

ولا تحمل نفس مذنبة ذنب نفس أخرى، وإن تَسْأل نفسٌ مثقَلَة بالخطايا مَن يحمل عنها من ذنوبها لم تجد من يَحمل عنها شيئًا، ولو كان الذي سألتْه ذا قرابة منها من أب أو أخ ونحوهما. إنما تحذِّر -أيها الرسول- الذين يخافون عذاب ربهم بالغيب، وأدَّوا الصلاة حق أدائها. ومن تطهر من الشرك وغيره من المعاصي فإنما يتطهر لنفسه. وإلى الله سبحانه مآل الخلائق ومصيرهم، فيجازي كلا بما يستحق.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وقوله : ( ولا تزر وازرة وزر أخرى ) أي : يوم القيامة ، ( وإن تدع مثقلة إلى حملها ) أي : وإن تدع نفس مثقلة بأوزارها إلى أن تساعد على حمل ما عليها من الأوزار أو بعضه ، ( لا يحمل منه شيء ولو كان ذا قربى ) ، أي : ولو كان قريبا إليها ، حتى ولو كان أباها أو ابنها ، كل مشغول بنفسه وحاله ، [ كما قال تعالى : ( يوم يفر المرء من أخيه وأمه وأبيه وصاحبته وبنيه لكل امرئ منهم يومئذ شأن يغنيه ) ] [ عبس : 34 - 37 ] .قال عكرمة في قوله : ( وإن تدع مثقلة إلى حملها ) الآية ، قال : هو الجار يتعلق بجاره يوم القيامة ، فيقول : يا رب ، سل هذا : لم كان يغلق بابه دوني . وإن الكافر ليتعلق بالمؤمن يوم القيامة ، فيقول له : يا مؤمن ، إن لي عندك يدا ، قد عرفت كيف كنت لك في الدنيا ؟ وقد احتجت إليك اليوم ، فلا يزال المؤمن يشفع له عند ربه حتى يرده إلى [ منزل دون ] منزله ، وهو في النار . وإن الوالد ليتعلق بولده يوم القيامة ، فيقول : يا بني ، أي والد كنت لك ؟ فيثني خيرا ، فيقول له : يا بني إني قد احتجت إلى مثقال ذرة من حسناتك أنجو بها مما ترى . فيقول له ولده : يا أبت ، ما أيسر ما طلبت ، ولكني أتخوف مثل ما تتخوف ، فلا أستطيع أن أعطيك شيئا ، ثم يتعلق بزوجته فيقول : يا فلانة - أو : يا هذه - أي زوج كنت لك ؟

فتثني خيرا ، فيقول لها : إني أطلب إليك حسنة واحدة تهبينها لي ، لعلي أنجو بها مما ترين . قال : فتقول : ما أيسر ما طلبت . ولكني لا أطيق أن أعطيك شيئا ، إني أتخوف مثل الذي تتخوف ، يقول الله : ( وإن تدع مثقلة إلى حملها ) الآية ، ويقول الله : ( لا يجزي والد عن ولده ولا مولود هو جاز عن والده شيئا ) [ لقمان : 33 ] ، ويقول تعالى : ( يوم يفر المرء من أخيه وأمه وأبيه وصاحبته وبنيه لكل امرئ منهم يومئذ شأن يغنيه ) رواه ابن أبي حاتم رحمه الله ، عن أبي عبد الله الطهراني ، عن حفص بن عمر ، عن الحكم بن أبان ، عن عكرمة ، به .ثم قال : ( إنما تنذر الذين يخشون ربهم بالغيب وأقاموا الصلاة ) أي : إنما يتعظ بما جئت به أولو البصائر والنهى ، الخائفون من ربهم ، الفاعلون ما أمرهم به ، ( ومن تزكى فإنما يتزكى لنفسه ) أي : ومن عمل صالحا فإنما يعود نفعه على نفسه ، ( وإلى الله المصير ) أي : وإليه المرجع والمآب ، وهو سريع الحساب ، وسيجزي كل عامل بعمله ، إن خيرا فخير ، وإن شرا فشر .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.