25:27

وَيَوۡمَ يَعَضُّ ٱلظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيۡهِ يَقُولُ يَٰلَيۡتَنِي ٱتَّخَذۡتُ مَعَ ٱلرَّسُولِ سَبِيلٗا

Wayawma yaAAaddu alththalimu AAala yadayhi yaqoolu ya laytanee ittakhathtu maAAa alrrasooli sabeelan

And the Day the wrongdoer will bite on his hands [in regret] he will say, "Oh, I wish I had taken with the Messenger a way.

Word by word
  1. وَيَوۡمَAnd (the) Day
  2. يَعَضُّwill bite
  3. ٱلظَّالِمُthe wrongdoer
  4. عَلَىٰ[on]
  5. يَدَيۡهِhis hands
  6. يَقُولُhe will say
  7. يَٰلَيۡتَنِيO I wish
  8. ٱتَّخَذۡتُI had taken
  9. مَعَwith
  10. ٱلرَّسُولِthe Messenger
  11. سَبِيلٗاa way
Al-Furqan · 25:27Makkah

Biting his hands: if only I had walked with the Messenger.

The regret of the one who chose another path


The wrongdoer that Day
bites his handsin sorrow
says
if onlyI had taken a path with him
When regret helps
that Dayregret avails nothing
todaythe path is still open

Ibn Kathir describes the regret of the wrongdoer who rejected the path of the Messenger. He says it may have been revealed about Uqbah bin Abi Mu'it or another, but it applies to every wrongdoer. On that Day the regret will avail him nothing.

You know which path you should be on. You keep saying next month. The verse is a voice from the future, letting you hear the if only while you can still act on it.

There is plenty of time to get serious later.

I would rather feel the pull of this verse today than say if only on that Day.

Try this

Pick one practice of the Prophet ﷺ you have neglected and do it once today.

Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir (shared passage from 25:25)

And (remember) the Day when the heaven shall be rent asunder with clouds, and the angels will be sent down, with a grand descending (25)The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty) of the Most Gracious, and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers (26)And (remember) the Day when the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, he will say: "Oh! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. (27)"Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as an intimate friend! (28)"He indeed led me astray from the Reminder after it had come to me. And Shaytan is to man ever a deserter. (29)

The Terrors of the Day of Resurrection, and How the Wrongdoers Will Wish That They Had Taken a Path With the Messenger (ﷺ)

Here Allah tells us about the terror of the Day of Resurrection and the tremendous events that will happen, including the splitting of heavens when they are pierced by the clouds, that is the shadow of the magnificent light which dazzles all sight. The angels of heaven will come down on that Day and surround all creatures at the place of gathering, then the Lord, may He be blessed and exalted, will come to pass judgement. Mujahid said, "This is as Allah says:

هَلْ يَنظُرُونَ إِلَّا أَن يَأْتِيَهُمُ اللَّهُ فِي ظُلَلٍ مِّنَ الْغَمَامِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةُ

(Do they then wait for anything other than that Allah should come to them in the shadows of the clouds and the angels)" (2:210)

الْمُلْكُ يَوْمَئِذٍ الْحَقُّ لِلرَّحْمَٰنِ

(The sovereignty on that Day will be the true (sovereignty) of the Most Gracious,) This is like the Ayah,

لِّمَنِ الْمُلْكُ الْيَوْمَ ۖ لِلَّهِ الْوَاحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ

(Whose is the kingdom this Day: It is Allah's, the One, the Irresistable!)(40:16) In the Sahih it says:

أَنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى يَطْوِي السَّمَوَاتِ بِيَمِينِهِ، وَيَأْخُذُ الْأَرَضِينَ بِيَدِهِ الْأُخْرَى، ثُمَّ يَقُولُ: أَنَا الْمَلِكُ أَنَا الدَّيَّانُ، أَيْنَ مُلُوكُ الْأَرْضِ؟ أَيْنَ الْجَبَّارُونَ؟ أَيْنَ الْمُتَكَبِّرُونَ؟

(Allah, may He be exalted, will fold up the heavens in His Right Hand, and will take the earths in His other Hand, then He will say: "I am the Sovereign, I am the Judge. Where are the kings of the earth Where are the tyrants Where are the arrogants")

وَكَانَ يَوْمًا عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ عَسِيرًا

(and it will be a hard Day for the disbelievers.) means it will be very difficult, because it will be the Day of justice and the decisive judgement, as Allah says:

فَذَٰلِكَ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَوْمٌ عَسِيرٌ - عَلَى الْكَافِرِينَ غَيْرُ يَسِيرٍ

(Truly, that Day will be a hard Day – Far from easy for the disbelievers)(74:9-10). This is how the disbelievers will be on the Day of Resurrection. As for the believers, Allah says:

لَا يَحْزُنُهُمُ الْفَزَعُ الْأَكْبَرُ

(The greatest terror will not grieve them.)(21:103)

وَيَوْمَ يَعَضُّ الظَّالِمُ عَلَىٰ يَدَيْهِ يَقُولُ يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا

(And (remember) the Day when the wrongdoer will bite at his hands, he will say: "O! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger.") Here Allah tells us of the regret felt by the wrongdoer who rejected the path of the Messenger and what he brought from Allah of clear truth concerning which there is no doubt, and followed another path. When the Day of Resurrection comes, he will feel regret but his regret will avail him nothing, and he will bite on his hands in sorrow and grief. Whether this Ayah was revealed concerning 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'it or someone else among the doomed, it applies to every wrongdoer, as Allah says:

يَوْمَ تُقَلَّبُ وُجُوهُهُمْ فِي النَّارِ

(On the Day when their faces will be turned over in the Fire) as mentioned in those two Ayat [33:66] Every wrongdoer will feel the ultimate regret on the Day of Resurrection, and will bite at his hands, saying:

يَا لَيْتَنِي اتَّخَذْتُ مَعَ الرَّسُولِ سَبِيلًا - يَا وَيْلَتَىٰ لَيْتَنِي لَمْ أَتَّخِذْ فُلَانًا خَلِيلًا

(O! Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. Ah! Woe to me! Would that I had never taken so-and-so as an intimate friend!) meaning, the one among the propagators of misguidance who diverted him from true guidance and led him to follow the path of misguidance, whether this refers to Umayyah bin Khalaf or his brother Ubayy bin Khalaf, or to someone else.

لَّقَدْ أَضَلَّنِي عَنِ الذِّكْرِ

(He indeed led me astray from the Reminder) means the Qur'an,

بَعْدَ إِذْ جَاءَنِي

(after it had come to me.) means, after it had reached me. Allah says:

وَكَانَ الشَّيْطَانُ لِلْإِنسَانِ خَذُولًا

(And Shaytan is to man ever a deserter (in the hour of need).) meaning, he leads him away from the truth and diverts him from it, and uses him for the purposes of falsehood and calls him to it.