Transliteration:( Wa lā taziru wāziratun wizra ukhrā; wa in tadʿu muthqalatun ilā ḥimlihā lā yuḥmal minhu shayʾun walaw kāna dhā qurba; innamā tunziru alladhīna yakhshawna Rabbahum bil-ghaybi wa aqāmū al-ṣalāh; wa man tazakkā fa-innamā yatazakkā linafsih; wa ilā Allāhi al-maṣīr )
"And no soul bearer of burden will bear the burden [57] of another. And if anyone heavily loaded calls any other to share its load, no one will bear anything from its burden [58] even though he may be a near relation. O Beloved Prophet! Your warning is only useful [59] for those who fear their Lord without seeing [60] and establish [61] Salaah. And whoso purifies [62], purifies [63] for his own good. And to Allah is the return."
On the Day of Judgement, no soul will be held accountable for another’s sins in a way that allows the actual wrongdoer to escape punishment.
However, the leaders of disbelief will carry the sins of their followers as a punishment for misleading them.
This means that no person will voluntarily bear another’s burden of sin. But by Allah’s command, those who led others astray—such as heretical leaders—will be made to carry the burden of their followers' misguidance.
What a beautiful translation! The Holy Prophet ﷺ is the warner for all the worlds, but only those with true faith derive benefit from this warning.
There is no contradiction—only those with receptive hearts are truly impacted by divine warnings.
This tells us that true faith and worship must be based on belief in the unseen, without public display.
When the disbelievers die, they too will declare faith—but it will be rejected, as it will be a faith of doubt, not conviction.
The faith of the Prophet ﷺ is superior—faith through vision, as he witnessed the hidden realms during the night of Mi‘raaj.
This implies performing regular Salaah with a heart fully present.
It is through establishing prayer that the fear and consciousness of Allah is nurtured.
This includes purifying the heart from corrupt beliefs and the body from sinful actions.
It is both internal and external purification that benefits the soul.
O Beloved! You are not dependent on their acceptance.
Even if the entire world rejects faith, it does not harm you in the least.
Everyone’s return is to Allah, and He alone will judge.
The tafsir of Surah Fatir verse 18 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Fatir ayat 15 which provides the complete commentary from verse 15 through 18.
(35:18) No one can bear another’s burden.[39] If a heavily laden one should call another to carry his load, none of it shall be carried by the other, even though he be a near of kin.[40] (O Prophet), you can warn only those who fear their Lord without seeing Him and establish Prayer.[41] Whoever purifies himself does so to his own good. To Allah is the final return.
39. “Burden”: the burden of the responsibilities of actions. It means: In the sight of Allah every one is responsible for his own actions and for no one else’s. There is no possibility that Allah will place the burden of one man’s responsibility upon the other, nor is there the possibility that a person will take the burden of another’s responsibility upon himself and get himself seized for the crime committed by the other. This thing has been said here because the polytheist kinsmen and relatives of the people who were embracing Islam in Makkah, used to urge them, saying, Give up Islam and return to your ancestral faith. We take the responsibility of any punishment etc. on ourselves.
40. In the preceding sentence, Allah’s law of justice has been enunciated, according to which He will not seize any person for the sin committed by another, but will hold everyone responsible for his own sin. In this sentence the Muslims have been told: Those who urge you to give up faith and commit evil on the assurance that they will take on themselves the burden of your sins on the Day of Resurrection, are in fact giving you a false hope. When Resurrection comes and the people see what fate they are going to meet in consequence of their misdeed, everyone will be concerned only about himself. Brother will turn away from brother and father from son, and no one will be prepared to take even an atom’s weight of another’s burden on himself.
41. In other words, your warnings cannot have any effect on obstinate and stubborn people. Your admonitions can bring only such people to the right path who have fear of God in their hearts and who are inclined to bow before their real Master.
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