A Comparison of the Views of Interpreters in the Interpretation of “ثم قضی اجلا و اجل مسمی عنده” Based on the Relationship between Verses

In interpreting the phrase “ثم قضی‏ اجلا و اجل مسمی عنده” (al-An'am, 2), different views have been expressed by interpreters. In interpretations, the word “ajal” has been taken to refer to the period from birth to death, the inevitable end, the end related to the Hereafter, sleep, the end that can be preceded and delayed, the end of the world, the end related to the Resurrection and the end that has been recorded in obliteration and registration tablet. Also, a lot of differences are seen among the opinions of interpreters in the interpretation of “ajal mosamma”.  They believe it refer to: the time interval between death and the Resurrection (the period of barzakh), the end that can be preceded and delayed, the end of the world, the end related to Resurrection, the end related to death, the fixed and inevitable end, the time interval between creation and death, and so on. Irrespective of the interpreters who have given no reason for their opinions, the other ones are divided into four main groups: the first group consider ajal as the period of life and ajal mosamma’ as the period after death, the second group believe ajal and ajal mosamma’ refer to sleep and death, the third group hold that ajal is avoidable and ajal mosamma’ is unavoidable, and the fourth group believe that ajal can be preceded and delayed and ajal mosamma’ is inevitable and fixed. Inspecting the reasons of the interpreters in presenting these opinions, relying on the relationship between the verses and considering the order and relationship between the words in this verse, this study reveals how examining the context and the relationship between words in the comparative interpretation of this verse helps the interpreter. The study further reveals that ajal can be preceded and delayed considering the consequences of human actions, ajal mosamma’ is what God knows about, and the time of the occurrence of these two coincides at the end of each person's life.