057- AL-HADID
IRON
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies God, and He is the Mighty, the Wise. # Unto Him belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things. # He is the First, and the Last, and the Outward, and the Inward; and He is Knower of all things. # He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days. Then He mounted the Throne. He knows that which enters the earth and that which issues therefrom, that which descends from Heaven and that which ascends thereto. He is with you wheresoever you are, and God sees whatsoever you do. # Unto Him belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and unto God are all matters returned. # He makes the night pass into the day and makes the day pass into the night, and He knows what lies within breasts. # Believe in God and His Messenger and spend from that over which He has appointed you as trustees. For those of you who believe and spend, theirs shall be a great reward. # How is it that you believe not in God when the Messenger calls you to believe in your Lord—and He has indeed made a covenant with you—if you are believers? # He it is Who sends down clear signs upon His servant to bring you out of darkness into light, and truly God is Kind and Merciful unto you. # And how is it that you do not spend in the way of God when unto God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth. Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the victory. They are greater in rank than those who spend and fight afterwards; yet God has promised unto each that which is most beautiful, and God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # Who is it that will lend unto God a goodly loan? He will multiply it for him, and his shall be a generous reward. # On the Day when you see the believing men and the believing women with their light spreading before them and on their right, “Glad tidings unto you this Day: Gardens with rivers running below, therein to abide. That is the great triumph.” # On the Day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say to those who believe, “Wait for us that we may borrow from your light, # it will be said, “Turn back and seek a light!” Thereupon a wall with a gate will be set down between them, the inner side of which contains mercy, and on the outer side of which lies punishment. # They will call unto them, “Were we not with you?” They reply, “Indeed! But you tempted yourselves, bided your time, and doubted; and false hopes deluded you till the Command of God came, and the Deluder deluded you concerning God. # So this day no ransom shall be taken from you, or from those who disbelieved.” Your refuge shall be the Fire; it shall be your master. What an evil journey’s end! # Has not the time come for those who believe for their hearts to be humbled to the remembrance of God and the truth that has come down, and to be not like those who were given the Book aforetime? But the span of time was too long for them, such that their hearts hardened and many of them are iniquitous. # Know that God revives the earth after its death. We have indeed made the signs clear for you, that haply you may understand. # Truly men who give in charity and women who give in charity and lend unto God a goodly loan, it will be multiplied for them, and theirs shall be a generous reward. # And those who believe in God and His messengers—it is they who are truthful and are witnesses before their Lord. They have their reward and their light. And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, they are the inhabitants of Hellfire. # Know that the life of this world is but play, diversion, ornament, mutual boasting among you, and vying for increase in property and children—the likeness of a rain whose vegetation impresses the farmers; then it withers such that you see it turn yellow; then it becomes chaff. And in the Hereafter there shall be severe punishment, forgiveness from God, and contentment, and the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion. # Race unto forgiveness from your Lord and to a garden whose breadth is as the breadth of Heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers. That is the Bounty of God, which He gives to whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty. # No misfortune befalls the earth nor yourselves, save that it is in a Book before We bring it forth—truly that is easy for God— # that you not despair over what has passed you by, nor exult in that which He has given unto you. And God loves not any vainglorious boaster, # those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly. Yet whosoever turns away, truly God, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praised. # We have indeed sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and We sent down the Book and the Balance with them, that the people would uphold justice. And We sent down iron, wherein are great might and benefits for mankind, and so that God may know those who will help Him and His messengers unseen. Truly God is Strong, Mighty. # And indeed We sent Noah and Abraham and established prophethood and the Book among their progeny. And among them is he who is rightly guided; yet many of them are iniquitous. # Then We sent Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and We sent Jesus son of Mary, and We gave him the Gospel and placed kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who follow him. And monasticism they invented—We did not ordain it for them—only to seek God’s Contentment. Yet they did not observe it with proper observance. So We gave those of them who believed their reward, yet many of them are iniquitous. # O you who believe! Reverence God and believe in His Messenger; He will give you a twofold portion of His Mercy, make a light for you by which you may walk, and forgive you—and God is Forgiving, Merciful— # such that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over any of God’s Bounty, and that the Bounty is in God’s Hand; He gives it unto whomsoever He will; and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty.
Commentary
# Whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth glorifies God, and He is the Mighty, the Wise.
1 Whatsoever (mā) is used rather than whosoever (man) to indicate that the praise of God predominates throughout all that exists (JJ). All existing realities in the heavens and on the earth glorify God through their tongues or through their states of being (Aj, Z). The verb “to glorify” (sabbaḥa) indicates declaring something to be beyond all evil, which derives from the original meaning of the verb sabaḥa, “he went beyond” (Aj, N, Z). The verb “to glorify” occurs in several different forms in the Quran: past, present, imperative, and verbal noun, indicating that from the moment existents come into being they continuously glorify God through speech and deeds, willingly and unwillingly, for there is no thing, save that it hymns His praise, though you do not understand their praise (17:44; Āl). In this and other verses, sabbaḥa is followed by the particle lām, meaning “to” or “for,” an addition that can convey the exact same meaning as when sabbaḥa occurs without it, or it can convey a sense of glorifying God for God’s sake alone (N, Z).
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# Unto Him belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth. He gives life and causes death, and He is Powerful over all things.
2 That unto Him belongs sovereignty (cf. 2:107; 3:189; 5:17, 18, 40, 120; 7:158; 9:116; 24:42; 25:2; et passim) indicates God’s complete control over all modes of existence. That He gives life and causes death (cf. 2:258; 3:156; 7:158; 9:116; 10:56; 22:6; 23:80; 40:68; 44:8; 53:44) indicates God’s power over all phases of life, existence and nonexistence, at all times (for the stages of life and death, see, e.g., 2:28). Among the Divine Names are the Giver of Life (al-Muḥyī) and the Causer of Death (al-Mumīt). Although neither Divine Name occurs in the Quran, the many Quranic references to God’s giving life and causing death serve as their source, and both Names occur in the traditional lists of the Ninety-Nine Names of God.
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# He is the First, and the Last, and the Outward, and the Inward; and He is Knower of all things.
3 God is the First in that “God was and there was nothing other than Him”; the Last in that All upon it passes away. And there remains the Face of thy Lord, Possessed of Majesty and Bounty (55:26–27); the Outward in that Wheresoever you turn, there is the Face of God (2:115); and the Inward in that Sight comprehends Him not (6:103) and We are nearer to him than his jugular vein (50:16). According to al-Zamakhsharī, rather than a simple list of four Divine Names, this verse can be read as two pairs, “He is the First and the Last, and He is the Outward and the Inward,” indicating that God is outwardly manifest and inwardly hidden at every moment, past and future (Āl, Z). It is also said that the Outward indicates the One Who is above all things, predominating over them, and the Inward indicates the One Who is within everything, such that He knows their inner dimensions (Z). From a Sufi perspective, that God is the Outward points to the manner in which everything that exists can be understood as a “Self-Disclosure” of God. One of the more famous supplications that the Prophet taught his followers invokes all four of these Divine Names: “O God, Lord of the seven heavens and Lord of the Magnificent Throne! Our Lord, and Lord of everything, Revealer of the Torah, the Gospel, and the Criterion [i.e., the Quran], Splitter of the grain of corn and the date stone! I seek refuge with Thee from the evil of everything over whose forehead Thou hast control. O God! Thou art the First, for nothing is before Thee; the Last, for nothing is after Thee; the Outward, for nothing is above Thee; and the Inward, for nothing is below Thee. Remove the burden of debt from us and free us from poverty” (IK).
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# He it is Who created the heavens and the earth in six days. Then He mounted the Throne. He knows that which enters the earth and that which issues therefrom, that which descends from Heaven and that which ascends thereto. He is with you wheresoever you are, and God sees whatsoever you do.
4 For the meaning of creation in six days followed by a reference to God’s mounting the Throne, see 7:54c; 10:3; 11:7; 25:59; 32:4. The second part of this verse, beginning with He knows, is repeated in 34:2. That which enters the earth refers to both rain and buried corpses, while that which issues therefrom refers to vegetation and minerals (JJ). The manner in which God is with human beings is debated; some say it refers to God’s Knowledge (JJ) or His Knowledge and Power (Q), while others maintain that it is through His very Essence (Aj) or Being (wujūd; R). That God is with you wheresoever you are at all times follows from His being the First, and the Last, and the Outward, and the Inward. Nonetheless, such “with-ness” can only be affirmed for God in relation to human beings, but not for human beings in relation to God, since you are needful of God; and He is the Self-Suf icient, the Praised (35:15).
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# Unto Him belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and unto God are all matters returned.
5 For unto God are all matters returned, see 2:210; 3:109; 8:44; 11:123; 22:76; 35:4c; 42:52–53c.
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# He makes the night pass into the day and makes the day pass into the night, and He knows what lies within breasts.
6 The passing of the night into the day and the day into the night (cf. 22:61; 31:29; 35:13) can refer to either the daily exchange of light and darkness (Aj) or seasonal variations in the length of days and nights (JJ). The references to God’s Knowledge in vv. 3–6 can be seen as an extension of God being the Outward and the Inward. That God knows all things is made clear in v. 3; v. 4 then relates this to the Outward, saying, God sees whatsoever you do (cf. 2:233, 237; 3:156; 33:9; 48:24; 49:18; 60:3; 64:2); and the present verse relates it to the Inward, saying, He knows what lies within breasts (cf. 3:119, 154; 5:7; 8:43; 11:5; 29:10; 31:23; 35:38; 39:7; 42:24; 64:4; 67:13), emphasizing that God is aware of the intentions behind all deeds and all inner thoughts. In this way the sūrah prepares for the discussion of the hypocrites in vv. 13–15, who are often unable to discern between inner intentions and outward actions or who would prefer that there were no way to discern between inner intentions and outward actions.
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# Believe in God and His Messenger and spend from that over which He has appointed you as trustees. For those of you who believe and spend, theirs shall be a great reward.
7 That God has appointed people as trustees over some things indicates that nothing is actually their property, but the property of God, which He has entrusted to them (R, Z). So spending from it should be just as easy as spending from another person’s wealth (Aj, Z). Or the verse can indicate that the property people have inherited from others will then be passed on to the generation after them, so they should not be stingy with it (R, Z). Trustees (mustakhalafīn) derives from the same root as vicegerent (khalīfah). In this way, the command to spend of what God has entrusted is connected to the very purpose for which human beings were created (see 2:30; 6:165; 35:39).
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# How is it that you believe not in God when the Messenger calls you to believe in your Lord—and He has indeed made a covenant with you—if you are believers?
8 He has indeed made a covenant with you could also be read, “Your covenant has indeed been made” (Aj, Bg). Both readings refer to the pretemporal covenant made by God with all of humanity before creation when they were still in Adam’s loins (see 7:172c; JJ, N). In this context, the expression How is it that you believe not . . . if you are believers? reflects the broad Quranic argument that everyone has an innate ability to recognize the truth, if they would only follow what is available to them through the intellect and through revelation (N, R).
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# He it is Who sends down clear signs upon His servant to bring you out of darkness into light, and truly God is Kind and Merciful unto you.
9 Clear signs refers to the Quran or to the Quran and other miracles given to the Prophet. In other verses, clear signs refers to the miracles that Moses performed (17:101; 28:36). For bring you out of darkness into light, see also 14:1, 5; 33:43. Regarding the many implications of this phrase, Ibn ʿAjībah writes, “out of the darkness of sin into the light of repentance and righteousness; out of the darkness of heedlessness into the light of wakefulness; out of the darkness of desire and selfishness into the light of renunciation and purity; out of the darkness of the sensual into the light of the spiritual; out of the darkness of ignorance into the light of knowledge through God.” For the symbolism of light in the Quran, see 24:35c.
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# And how is it that you do not spend in the way of God when unto God belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth. Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the victory. They are greater in rank than those who spend and fight afterwards; yet God has promised unto each that which is most beautiful, and God is Aware of whatsoever you do.
10 The Inheritor is one of the Divine Names, as in 15:23: Surely it is We Who give life and cause death, and We are the Inheritor (cf. 28:58), implying that all things return to God. As all things return to God, nothing should prevent one from spending what belongs to God in the first place (see 57:7c). Unto God are all matters returned (v. 5); so if one willingly spends in the way of God, one derives benefit from it, and if one does not, the property still returns to God, but one derives no benefit. The victory refers to the conquest of Makkah in 8/630, after which Islam quickly spread throughout the rest of Arabia and it became politically advantageous to donate to its cause. Whereas before the victory, or “opening,” anyone who spent, fought, or emigrated for its cause was clearly doing so in the way of God (e.g., 2:195, 218, 244, 261). In this vein, the Prophet is reported to have said with regard to those who spent and fought before the conquest, “If one of you were to spend the equivalent of Mt. Uḥud [a mountain on the outskirts of Madinah] in gold, it would not reach the extent of what one of them did, not even half of it” (Aj, IK). Some propose that this verse refers specifically to Abū Bakr’s willingness to spend all of his wealth in the cause of Islam (R). According to a ḥadīth narrated by Ibn ʿUmar, “One time when the Prophet was sitting with Abū Bakr, Gabriel came and inquired about Abū Bakr’s impoverished condition, to which the Prophet responded, ‘O Gabriel, he has spent all his wealth before the victory [over Makkah]!’ Gabriel said, ‘In that case, convey to him God’s greetings of peace and tell him that his Lord asks him, “Are you pleased with Me in your state of poverty or are you averse?”’ The Prophet addressed Abū Bakr, ‘O Abū Bakr, Gabriel is here to convey the greetings of peace from God, and He is asking you whether are you pleased with Him in your state of poverty or are you averse?’ Upon hearing this, Abū Bakr wept and said, ‘How can I be averse unto my Lord? I am pleased with my Lord! I am pleased with my Lord!’” (Q, W). This verse introduces a clear gradation among the believers, as does 4:95: God favors those who strive with their goods and their lives a degree above those who stay behind. Unto both God has promised that which is most beautiful. But He favors those who strive with a great reward above those who stay behind. Regarding this distinction, a ḥadīth states, “One who is strong in belief is better and more beloved to God than one who is weak in belief, but in each there is good” (IK).
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# Who is it that will lend unto God a goodly loan? He will multiply it for him, and his shall be a generous reward.
11 The idea of lending unto God a goodly loan (cf. 2:245; 5:12; 57:18; 64:17; 73:20) may refer to anything given in charity. Some, however, stipulate that for charity to be goodly it must meet certain conditions. The most complete list is provided by al-Rāzī:
(1) what is given must be from wealth earned in a permissible (ḥalāl) manner;
(2) what is given must be from the best of what one owns rather than the dregs (see 2:267);
(3) one should give charity despite one’s love for the thing given (see 2:177; 76:8);
(4) the charity should be distributed to those who are most needy and most worthy of receiving it;
(5) the charity should be concealed to the extent possible (see 2:271);
(6) charitable deeds must not be followed by preening or harm (see 2:264);
(7) in giving one should seek to please God rather than to be seen of men (see 4:38);
(8) what one has given should be regarded as little, no matter how large, as one can only give of the things of this world, which are themselves little;
(9) one should give out of what is most valued and loved, for you will never attain piety till you spend from that which you love (3:92);
(10) one must not think highly of oneself and poorly of the recipient of the charity. Regarding the multiplication of good deeds, see 57:18c.
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# On the Day when you see the believing men and the believing women with their light spreading before them and on their right, “Glad tidings unto you this Day: Gardens with rivers running below, therein to abide. That is the great triumph.”
12 This verse may be read as a continuation of the previous verse (“his shall be a generous reward on the Day when . . . ”) or as the beginning of a new sentence with an implied “Remember” at the beginning (Aj, Bḍ). Their light can refer to the light of faith that is hidden in the breast while in this world, but becomes outwardly manifest in the next (Aj); the light of good deeds (Aj, IK); or the light that shines from the countenance of the believers. Al-Rāzī, however, notes, “The real light is God, and the light of knowledge, which is the light of insight, is the most worthy of being [called] light.” Despite these varying perspectives, their light is seen by most as the light by which God guides the believers over the traverse (ṣirāt) that leads from the plain of Judgment (see 18:47; 79:14) to Paradise (Aj, IK, R); see 57:28c and the essay “Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran.” The light spreads before them and on their right (cf. 66:8), because that is the direction from which they receive the scrolls of their deeds (IK, Q, R, Sh). For the great triumph as the attainment of the Garden of Paradise, see also 4:13; 5:119; 9:89, 100; 61:12; 64:9; 85:11.
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# On the Day when the hypocrites, men and women, will say to those who believe, “Wait for us that we may borrow from your light, ” it will be said, “Turn back and seek a light!” Thereupon a wall with a gate will be set down between them, the inner side of which contains mercy, and on the outer side of which lies punishment.
13 Wait for us (unẓurūnā) could also be rendered “Look upon us”; if the believers were to look upon the hypocrites, the hypocrites could borrow from their light, as the light of the believers shines in front of them (Aj, R, Ṭ, Z). An alternate reading is anẓirūnā, meaning, “Give us a chance” (JJ). The believers tell the hypocrites to turn back and seek a light, that is, to return to the place where the believers themselves received the light from God (Aj, Z) or to return to the world below to perform good deeds through which these lights are earned (R, Z). After they turn back trying to attain this light, which is no longer available to them, a wall is set down between them. According to Mujāhid, one of the earliest Quran commentators, the gate in the wall is the same as the veil mentioned in 7:46: And there will be a veil between them (JJ, R, Ṭ). The inner side refers to the side of the wall on which the believers stand, which contains mercy, and the outer side refers to the side on which the hypocrites find themselves, which faces the Fire (JJ). The hypocrites thus stand between the wall and the punishment (Aj). That the hypocrites can see through the gate, seeing the light that is not theirs, only increases their sorrow (Aj). Alternately, the inner and outer refer to the two sides of the gate within the wall (Ṭ, Z). The existence of a gate in the wall can be seen as an allusion to the continuing possibility of Divine intercession for those who have been denied Paradise. According to a long ḥadīth qudsī, God tells the angels to bring from the Fire those upon whom God wishes to show mercy, those who did not ascribe any partners to Him. They are removed from the Fire scraped and torn and then brought back to life by the water of life. When there is only one who remains looking toward the Fire, God turns him away from the Fire upon his request. Then after he gazes upon the Garden for as long as God wills, God brings him to the door of the Garden, and after he requests, “My Lord bring me into the Garden!” the door of the Garden is opened unto him and God admits him to the Garden, granting every wish until all his wishes and desires are exhausted.
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# They will call unto them, “Were we not with you?” They reply, “Indeed! But you tempted yourselves, bided your time, and doubted; and false hopes deluded you till the Command of God came, and the Deluder deluded you concerning God.
14 When their fate becomes apparent, the hypocrites call to the believers, Were we not with you? They tempted themselves, thus bringing trials and tribulations into their own lives, and bided either to overcome the believers themselves or for disaster to afflict the believers, as in 4:141, which describes the hypocrites and disbelievers as those who wait upon you, and if a victory comes to you from God, they say, “Were we not with you?” But if the disbelievers have some success, they say, “Did we not overwhelm you, and did we not protect you from the believers?” Here waited can also imply that they wavered in their faith, never truly affirming it (Ṭ). Till the Command of God came refers to the moment of death or to the Day of Judgment, indicating that they wavered in religion until the opportunity to repent had passed. The Deluder (ghurūr) is a reference to Satan, but can also indicate anything that deludes a person. It could also be rendered “delusion” (gharūr instead of ghurūr), in which case it indicates the self-deluding expectations of one who knowingly commits a sin, thinking that God will forgive it (Bg, Ṭ, Z; see 31:33c). Reading this verse in conjunction with v. 16, “delusion” can be read as an allusion to more subtle degrees of hypocrisy that afflict those who become self-satisfied with their religious attainments and cease to strive upon the spiritual path.
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# So this day no ransom shall be taken from you, or from those who disbelieved.” Your refuge shall be the Fire; it shall be your master. What an evil journey’s end!
15 No ransom shall be taken from you means that on the Day of Judgment the hypocrites have no way of redeeming themselves, as they did in this world through repentance and performing good deeds (regarding ransom, see 2:48c). That the Fire shall be their master (mawlā) implies both that it has complete control over them and that it is what is nearest to them (ūlā bihim; Aj), that is, to their true nature.
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# Has not the time come for those who believe for their hearts to be humbled to the remembrance of God and the truth that has come down, and to be not like those who were given the Book aforetime? But the span of time was too long for them, such that their hearts hardened and many of them are iniquitous.
16 To be humbled translates takhshaʿa, which is related to the word khushūʿ, “humility,” one of the most important virtues in Islam, some say the root of all true virtue. The Prophet is reported to have often prayed, “I seek refuge in God from a heart that is not humbled (lā takhshaʿa).” According to a ḥadīth, “The first thing to be removed from this community will be humility, until you will not see a single humble person” (Sy). Some maintain that this verse refers to the hypocrites, who displayed faith outwardly, while failing to manifest it in their hearts. But most agree that it is addressed to Muslims, as “the believer is not truly a believer without humility of heart” (R). According to Ibn Masʿūd, “There were but four years between the time we entered Islam and the time this verse came to reproach us” (Aj, Āl, IK, Z). Others view this verse as a later revelation, based upon a saying attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, “The believers’ hearts had grown tepid; so they were reproached at the beginning of the thirteenth year of the revelation” (Aj, IK). In this context, the remembrance of God may indicate either the mention of God’s Name, as in 8:2, Only they are believers whose hearts quake with fear when God is mentioned, or the Quran, among whose names is the “Remembrance of God” (Dhikr Allāh). If taken as a reference to God, the truth that has come down refers to the Quran (R), while in this particular context the Book refers to scripture in general. From a Quranic perspective, hearts harden when they become distant from revelation. That the span of time was too long for them thus indicates that hardness overcame the hearts of many Jews and Christians who were living much later in time than their prophets (Aj, R). This verse thus evokes a Biblical theme, as expressed in a prayer of the Prophet Isaiah: “Why, O Lord, do you make us stray from your ways and harden our heart, so that we do not fear you? Turn back for the sake of your servants, for the sake of the tribes that are your heritage” (Isaiah 63:17; cf. Isaiah 6:9–10; Psalm 95:8; 1 Samuel 6:6; Mark 8:17; John 12:40; Romans 9:18; Hebrews 3:8; 4:7). Regarding the hardness of hearts among previous religious communities, see 2:74c; 5:13c; 6:42–44c. In other verses, hearts are referred to as blind (22:46), diseased (2:10; 5:52; 33:12, 32, 60; 47:20, 29; 74:31), locked (47:24), sealed (2:7; 9:87; 47:16), and rusted (83:14). In contrast, the healthy heart softens unto the remembrance of God (39:23), is at peace in the remembrance of God (13:28), and is infused with Tranquility (sakīnah; 48:4).
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# Know that God revives the earth after its death. We have indeed made the signs clear for you, that haply you may understand.
17 God revives the earth after its death by bringing forth vegetation. So too does He revive hearts by restoring them to humility (IK, JJ, R, Z). The relation of this verse to the previous one is found in the following ḥadīth, “The difference between one who remembers God and one who does not is like the difference between the living and the dead.”
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# Truly men who give in charity and women who give in charity and lend unto God a goodly loan, it will be multiplied for them, and theirs shall be a generous reward.
18 Who give in charity (muṣṣaddiq) can also be read, “who confirm [the truth]” (muṣaddiq), which would link it more closely to the mention of the truthful (al-ṣiddīqūn) in v. 19. For a goodly loan, see 57:11c. The manner in which God multiplies charitable offerings is best reflected in 2:261: The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of God is that of a grain that grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. And God multiplies for whomsoever He will (see also 2:245; 4:40; 6:160; 64:17). Those who lend unto God a goodly loan can also refer to those who strive in the way of God until they have removed the love of all that is other than God from their hearts and have thus given their very selves to Him. He will then multiply the Divine lights and the knowledge of Divine mysteries for them (Aj).
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# And those who believe in God and His messengers—it is they who are truthful and are witnesses before their Lord. They have their reward and their light. And those who disbelieve and deny Our signs, they are the inhabitants of Hellfire.
19 It is reported that Mujāhid said, “Every believer is truthful and a witness,” and then recited this verse (R, Ṭ). This verse is thus read by some as a reference to all believers, though many maintain that it designates a select group of believers who exceed others in faith (Aj). Truthful (ṣiddīq) is an emphatic form that indicates both those who fervently affirm the truth and those who are utterly honest and sincere. It is thus interpreted to mean those who have the same virtues inwardly and outwardly (Aj). This verse could also be read as making a distinction between the truthful and the witnesses: “Those who believe in God and His messengers, they are the truthful. And those who are witnesses before their Lord shall have their reward and their light” (R, Ṭ). Witnesses translates shuhadāʾ, which is interpreted by some to mean martyrs (IK, Ṭ), as it relates to those who “witness” by dying in the service of their faith, just as “striving” (jihād) is a spiritual virtue that can include fighting in the cause of God; see 4:69–70c.
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# Know that the life of this world is but play, diversion, ornament, mutual boasting among you, and vying for increase in property and children—the likeness of a rain whose vegetation impresses the farmers; then it withers such that you see it turn yellow; then it becomes chaff. And in the Hereafter there shall be severe punishment, forgiveness from God, and contentment, and the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion.
20 The relativity of the wealth of this world is a recurring Quranic theme. Such wealth is seen as a cause of gratitude and should be managed properly, as in 28:77: And forget not your portion in this world; see 34:35–37c. Crops that dry or fail are also used as a metaphor for the relativity of the joys of this world in 2:266; 18:32–42; 39:21; 68:17–33. In this passage, farmers translates kuf ār, which can also mean “disbelievers” and could be rendered as such in this passage. For the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion, see also 3:185; 6:32. The discussion of the deceptive nature of this world continues this sūrah’s focus upon the relationship between the inward and the outward, about which Ibn ʿAjībah writes: “[The world] is something that appears beautiful on the outside, but that conceals what is ugly within it, like one who tricks people and then cheats them. The world appears to those who pursue it as sweetness and infatuation, overtaking them little by little, until they become totally entangled in it and neglect all preparation for the Hereafter. Life passes from their hand in vanity, and the world continues to delude and betray them until it brings them bankrupt to the moment of their death.”
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# Race unto forgiveness from your Lord and to a garden whose breadth is as the breadth of Heaven and earth, prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers. That is the Bounty of God, which He gives to whomsoever He will, and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty.
21 Race unto is an encouragement to aspire toward God, Heaven, and all that is good. Elsewhere the believers are told to vie in good deeds (2:148; 5:48) and to vie in patience (3:200). For the breadth of Heaven and earth, see 3:133, which is almost identical to this verse.
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# No misfortune befalls the earth nor yourselves, save that it is in a Book before We bring it forth—truly that is easy for God—
22 From an Islamic perspective, misfortunes and afflictions can be a means of spiritual purification if they are endured with patience. In this vein, the Prophet is reported to have said, “No illness or fatigue, no sickness or sadness, not even a worry afflicts a believer without expiating some of the wrongs he has committed.” That all things have been recorded in a Book (cf. 20:52; 22:70; 78:29) before time indicates that all events of this earth have been recorded on the Preserved Tablet (85:22) before entering this realm (R), a point made emphatically in 35:11: God created you from dust, then from a drop, then He made you pairs, and no female bears or brings forth save with His Knowledge. And none who grows old grows old, nor has aught lessened of his life, but that it is in a Book. Truly that is easy for God. For an extended discussion of the issues of predestination and free will onto which this discussion opens, see 4:79c; 54:49c; see also 76:29–30.
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# that you not despair over what has passed you by, nor exult in that which He has given unto you. And God loves not any vainglorious boaster,
23 Patience and gratitude are considered the proper responses for all that God bestows (see 2:156–57), as a ḥadīth states, “How remarkable is the situation of the believer: everything is good for him; yet this cannot be said except of the believer. If comfort and ease come to him, he is grateful and that is good for him; and if hardship befalls him, he is patient, and that is good for him.” Given that the life of this world is naught but the enjoyment of delusion (v. 20), one should not despair over what has passed nor exult in worldly achievements or possessions, for in the final analysis all things perish, save His Face (28:88). Elsewhere the Quran indicates that one must also avoid being overly exuberant, lest it turn into wanton exultation or lest one attribute blessings from God to other sources or to one’s own merit and forget to remember God (see, e.g., 17:67; 30:33; 39:50).
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# those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly. Yet whosoever turns away, truly God, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praised.
24 The first phrase of this verse is repeated in 4:37. To be miserly and encourage others to be the same is connected to being a vainglorious boaster, as it is only by attributing to one’s own merit what God has given that one is able to ignore God’s Command to spend from that over which He has appointed you as trustees (v. 7), that is, property that is ultimately His. Some commentators see this verse as a critique of the Madinan hypocrites, who only gave charity for selfserving purposes (see 2:264; 4:142; 8:47; 107:4–7). Others see it as a general critique of “miserliness” in both wealth and knowledge (Aj). Turns away indicates turning from God or from the duty to give charity (JJ).
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# We have indeed sent Our messengers with clear proofs, and We sent down the Book and the Balance with them, that the people would uphold justice. And We sent down iron, wherein are great might and benefits for mankind, and so that God may know those who will help Him and His messengers unseen. Truly God is Strong, Mighty.
25 For clear proofs, see the introduction to Sūrah 98. In this context, the Book refers to all scriptures (Q). The Balance has many meanings, including the religious Law (Sharīʿah), which provides the standard by which to weigh what is good and beneficial against what is evil and harmful; see 42:17c. From another perspective, the Balance indicates all of those things by which human beings uphold the justice enjoined in the scriptures, and iron containing great might is the means of fashioning weapons with which to defend the truth and to oppose those who revolt against justice (Aj, N). The benefits in iron are then taken as a reference to tools such as the scythe and the pickax, which facilitate other activities. Sent down may be taken literally to mean that iron was sent down directly by God or simply that God created iron, in the same way that 39:6 states that God sent down for you of cattle eight pairs (Q), meaning that He created them. Those who help God are those who help His religion (Q, T, Z). That they do so unseen refers to those who work for religion even though they have not seen one of God’s messengers (Q, Z), or to those who do not perform good deeds for them to be seen by others.
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# And indeed We sent Noah and Abraham and established prophethood and the Book among their progeny. And among them is he who is rightly guided; yet many of them are iniquitous.
26 The Book refers in a collective manner to each of the scriptures that the progeny of Abraham was given: the Torah, the Psalms, the Gospel, and the Quran (JJ). The Quran here suggests that, although many of those who followed these revelations are iniquitous, it is not a condemnation of their respective religions or revealed books, but of human nature. That such iniquity can afflict Muslims as well is reflected in a ḥadīth in which the Prophet says of the Muslim community in later times, “The upright will depart one after another until nothing remains but impoverished people, the like of leftover barley and dates.”
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# Then We sent Our messengers to follow in their footsteps, and We sent Jesus son of Mary, and We gave him the Gospel and placed kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who follow him. And monasticism they invented—We did not ordain it for them—only to seek God’s Contentment. Yet they did not observe it with proper observance. So We gave those of them who believed their reward, yet many of them are iniquitous.
27 We placed kindness and mercy in the hearts of those who follow him indicates that God disposed the followers of Jesus to love one another. This verse could also be read, “and [We] placed kindness, mercy, and monasticism in the hearts of those who follow him,” meaning that God gave monasticism to them initially, but then they altered it and made their own innovations in the practices that God had given them (Q). In this sense it is similar to the accusation that some People of the Book distort the meaning of the word (4:46; 5:13, 41). Most interpret only to seek God’s Contentment to mean that they wanted to please God by inventing monasticism or to mean that God did not ordain them to practice that; rather, God ordained them only to seek what pleases God (IK). According to the latter interpretation, the translation would be, “and We gave him the Gospel and placed kindness, mercy, and monasticism in the hearts of those who follow him; yet they made inventions therein. We did not ordain it for them except for [the purpose of] seeking God’s Contentment.” According to the interpretation represented in the translation, Yet they did not observe it with proper observance indicates that they were not able to maintain the practices they had imposed upon themselves (IK), namely, monasticism. In contrast, the alternate translation implies that they were not able to maintain the practices enjoined by God. The view that some form of monasticism may have been enjoined upon Christians by God is supported by a ḥadīth: “Every Prophet has a form of monasticism; striving (jihād) in the way of God is the monasticism of this community” (IK). Regarding the ascetic practices associated with the Christian form of monasticism, the Prophet is reported to have said, “Giving up the world does not mean making lawful things unlawful or wasting possessions. Rather, giving up the world means that you do not rely more upon what is in your hand than upon what is in the Hands of God.”
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# O you who believe! Reverence God and believe in His Messenger; He will give you a twofold portion of His Mercy, make a light for you by which you may walk, and forgive you—and God is Forgiving, Merciful—
28 In this context, O you who believe is understood by many commentators as an address to Jews and Christians, calling them to believe in the prophethood of Muhammad (IK, Q, R, Z). A twofold portion of His Mercy is thus apportioned to them for following their religion and then believing in and following the Prophet (IK, Q, R, Z). This interpretation is supported by a well-known ḥadīth in which the Prophet stated that among those who will receive their reward twice is “a believer from the People of the Book who has been a true believer in his prophet and then believes in me” (Aj, IK). Others understand this verse as an address to Muslims (Aj, Q), calling upon them to deepen their faith, as in v. 16. The light for you alludes to guidance or to the Quran (Q), although some say it is the same light mentioned in v. 12 (Z). By which you may walk is understood to be the light by which God guides the believers over the traverse (ṣirāt) that leads from the plain of Judgment (see 18:47; 79:14) to Paradise (Q). According to many accounts in the Ḥadīth literature, on the Day of Judgment all believers are called to cross a traverse (sirāṭ) over Hell that is as fine as a hair and as sharp as a sword and has large thorns that afflict those who must walk or crawl upon it in accordance with their sins. God provides the believers a light whereby they are able to cross, but does not provide any light for the disbelievers, since he for whom God has not appointed any light has no light (24:40); see the essay “Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran.” From a spiritual perspective, light for you refers to the lights of the spirit and the Self-Disclosure of God’s Attributes in the heart of the believer (K) and thus to the light of spiritual guidance from God.
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# such that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over any of God’s Bounty, and that the Bounty is in God’s Hand; He gives it unto whomsoever He will; and God is Possessed of Tremendous Bounty. 29 According to some, this verse indicates the People of the Book who do not believe in the Prophet Muhammad (Z), as distinguished from those who follow the command to do so in the previous verse. Many see this verse as a response to those who argued that, since Muslims have come later than previous religious communities, their reward with God would be less. Regarding this interpretation, the Prophet is reported to have said to his Companions, “The parable of you and the Jews and Christians is that of a man who employed some laborers and asked them, ‘Who will work for me from the dawn prayer until midday for one qīrāt [a special weight of gold] each?’ And the Jews worked. Then he asked, ‘Who will work for me from the early afternoon prayer until the time of the late afternoon prayer for one qīrāt each?’ And the Christians worked. Then he said, ‘Who will work for me from the later afternoon prayer until sunset for two qīrāt each?’ You are those who did this work. The Jews and the Christians got angry and said, ‘We did more work, but got less wages.’ God responded, ‘Have I been unjust to you with your reward?’ They said, ‘No.’ So God said, ‘Then it is My Bounty, which I give unto whomsoever I will.’” (IK). The verse can also be taken to mean that no one has any control over whom God appoints as a prophet, prophethood and revelation being His greatest bounties. The Jews of Arabia are said to have rejected the prophethood of Muhammad on the grounds that he was not of their lineage and thus could not be a prophet (see 2:90c), while many Arabs opposed him on the grounds that he was not already a leader among them when he was chosen as a prophet (see 43:31c).
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