Quran Universe
6:129

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُوَلِّي بَعۡضَ ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَ بَعۡضَۢا بِمَا كَانُواْ يَكۡسِبُونَ

Wakathalika nuwallee baAAda alththalimeena baAAdan bima kanoo yaksiboona

And thus will We make some of the wrongdoers allies of others for what they used to earn.

Word by word
  1. وَكَذَٰلِكَAnd thus
  2. نُوَلِّيWe make friends
  3. بَعۡضَsome (of)
  4. ٱلظَّـٰلِمِينَthe wrongdoers
  5. بَعۡضَۢا(to) others
  6. بِمَاfor what
  7. كَانُواْthey used to
  8. يَكۡسِبُونَearn
Al-An'am · 6:129Makkah

Wrongdoers end up with wrongdoers as their allies.

The company you keep is earned

How it works
a wrongdoer
is given
another wrongdoeras friend, or over him
because of
what they earned
Where my circle comes from
pure chancejust who I met
what I choosedeeds shape company

Qatadah said wrongdoers become allies of each other, following one another into the Fire. Ibn Zayd recited whoever turns from the remembrance of the Merciful, We assign him a devil as companion. Ibn Kathir adds that Allah also sets wrongdoers over one another, as a just result.

You start lying at work and suddenly your lunch group is the people who lie best. You start gossiping and the gossips find you. Your deeds shape your circle. The good news: it works the other way too.

My friends just happened. They have nothing to do with how I live.

The company I keep follows the deeds I choose. I can change both.

Try this

Spend some time this week with one person whose habits you want to grow into.

Related43:36
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

And thus We do make the wrongdoers supporters of one another, because of that which they used to earn (129)

The Wrongdoers Are the Supporters of Each other

Ma'mar said that Qatadah commented on this Ayah, "Allah makes the wrongdoers supporters for each other in the Fire by following one another into it." 'Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam commented on Allah's statement,

وَكَذَٰلِكَ نُوَلِّي بَعْضَ الظَّالِمِينَ بَعْضًا

(And thus We do make the wrongdoers supporters of one another.)

"It refers to the wrongdoers of the Jinns and mankind." He then recited,

وَمَن يَعْشُ عَن ذِكْرِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ نُقَيِّضْ لَهُ شَيْطَانًا فَهُوَ لَهُ قَرِينٌ

(And whosoever turns away blindly from the remembrance of the Most Gracious (Allah), We appoint for him Shaytan to be a companion to him.)[43:36]

He said next – concerning the meaning of the Ayah; "We appoint the wrongdoer of the Jinns over the wrongdoer of mankind." A poet once said, "There is no hand, but Allah's Hand is above it, and no wrongdoer but will be tested by another wrongdoer."

The meaning of this honorable Ayah thus becomes: 'Just as We made this losing group of mankind supporters of the Jinns that misguided them, We also appoint the wrongdoers over one another, destroy them by the hands of one another, and take revenge from them with one another. This is the just recompense for their injustice and transgression.'