إِنِّىٓ أُرِيدُ أَن تَبُوٓأَ بِإِثْمِى وَإِثْمِكَ فَتَكُونَ مِنْ أَصْحَٰبِ ٱلنَّارِ ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَٰٓؤُا۟ ٱلظَّٰلِمِينَ
Important Words:
ارید (I wish) is derived from راد i.e. he or it went to and fro; or he desired or sought (a thing). ارید means, he intended or willed or wished or desired or sought. But sometimes the word does not express an actual will or wish but simply a practical state or condition likely to develop in a certain manner. The Arabs say of a seriously sick person یرید ان یموت (lit. he wishes to die) meaning, he is about to die or his condition bespeaks of nearness of death. The Quran says: یرید ان ینقض viz.the wall intended to fall down, i.e. it was about or ready to fall down (18:78) (Aqrab & Lane).
Commentary:
The verse does not mean, as some may be led to think, that Abel desired his brother, Cain, to be cast into Hell. What he meant by the word ارید (I wish), as explained under Important Words above, was simply that the natural and inevitable consequence of his own non-aggressive attitude would be that his brother would go to Hell. In fact, by using this expression, Abel desired to dissuade Cain from perpetration of the horrible crime of fratricide by picturing to him its awful consequences. He told his brother that, as for himself, he would rather die the death of one sinned against than raise his hand to kill him. The result of this would be that he (Cain) would take upon himself the burden of his (Abel’s) sin, (i.e.that of slaying him) as well as that of other sins of his own.
The expression may be explained in another way also. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that on the Day of Judgement the good deeds of transgressors would be transferred to the account of the persons whom they had wronged and if transgressors had no good deeds to their account, the sins of the persons transgressed against would be transferred to them and thus wrongdoers would bear not only their own sins but also those of the persons whom they had wronged (Muslim, ch. on Birr Was-Silah).
Uridu is derived from Rada which sometimes does not express an actual wish but simply a practical state or condition likely to develop in a certain manner (18:78). The verse does not mean that Abel desired his brother Cain to be cast into Hell. What he meant was simply that the natural and inevitable result of his own non-aggressive attitude would be that his brother would go to Hell.
Ithmi means, "the sin committed against me." The would-be victim is only describing the consequences of his brother’s intended action.