Comparative Narrations from the Two Branches of Faith on "Surely your enemy is the one who shall be without posterity"*

There is misconception about the manifestation and meaning of the word abtar </em>[without posterity] used in the verse in question. The misconception emanates from a lack of attention to the events following the revelation of the surah and the demise of the Prophet (s). It is vital to note that this verse shows the contrasts between two currents of thought that will stand against each other in all areas of politics, economics, culture and society. The commentators have many differences in determining the manifestation and also in expressing the meaning of the word in question. Some have even confused conceptually between the manifestation and the meaning. The findings of this research in determining the manifestation of the word abtar </em>are of two kinds. Some narrations mention names of people such as Āas Ibn Wā'il, etc., and others have spoken of attributes instead of names. It seems that both types of the manifestation do not conflict with each other and are acceptable for abtar</em>. One of the important findings and the result of the discussion concerning the said term can be the meaning of "not achieving the goal".  The present study has been conducted comparatively in the sense that hadith</em> has been compared with the Quranic verses. Based on this method, it is the hadith (not the narrator) that has been labeled as either authentic or poor.