Source: Ibn Kathir
| Mankind is in need of Allah, and each Person will carry His own Burdens on the Day of Resurrection |
Allah tells us that He has no need of anyone or anything else, but all of the creation is in need of Him and is in a position of humility before Him.
He says:
(O mankind! it is you who stand in need of Allah.) meaning, they need Him in all that they do, but He has no need of them at all.
Allah says:
(But Allah is the Rich, Worthy of all praise.) meaning, He is unique in His being Free of all needs, and has no partner or associate, and He is Worthy of all praise in all that He does, says, decrees and legislates.
(If He willed, He could destroy you and bring about a new creation.) means, if He wanted to, He could destroy you and bring forth another people, and this is not difficult or impossible for Him. He says:
(And that is not hard for Allah.)
Allah's saying:
(And no bearer of burdens shall bear another's burden;) means, on the Day of Resurrection.
(and if one heavily laden calls another to (bear) his load, ) means, if the person who is carrying a heavy burden calls someone else to help him carry his load, all or part of it,
(nothing of it will be lifted even though he be near of kin.) means, even if he is closely-related to him, even if he is his father or son, for each person will be preoccupied with his own self and his own situation.
Then Allah says:
(You can warn only those who fear their Lord unseen and perform the Salah.) means, `the only ones who will draw a lesson from what you have brought are those who are possessed of insight and wisdom, who fear their Lord and who do as He commands.'
(And he who purifies himself, then he purifies only for the benefit of himself.) means, who does righteous deeds, the benefit of that will come back to him,
(And to Allah is the Return.) means, to Him everything will ultimately return, and He is swift in bringing to account. He will reward or punish everyone according to his deeds: if they are good, then the end will be good, and if they are bad, then the end will be bad.
| The Believer and the Disbeliever are not equal |
Allah says that these antonyms are clearly not equal, the blind and the seeing are not equal, there is a difference and a huge gap between them. Darkness and light are not equal, neither are shade and the sun's heat.
By the same token, the living and the dead are not equal. This is the parable Allah makes of the believers who are the living, and the disbelievers who are the dead.
This is like the Ayat:
(Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (of belief) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the (depths of) darkness from which he can never come out) (6:122),
(The parable of the two parties is as that of the blind and the deaf and the seer and the hearer. Are they equal when compared) (11:24)
The believer sees and hears, and walks in the light upon a straight path in this world and the Hereafter, until he comes to settle in Gardens (Paradise) wherein is shade and springs. The disbeliever is blind and deaf, walking in darkness from which he cannot escape, he is lost in his misguidance in this world and the Hereafter, until he ends up in fierce hot wind and boiling water, and shadow of black smoke, neither cool nor good.
(Verily, Allah makes whom He wills to hear,) means. He guides them to listen to the proof and accept it and adhere it.
(but you cannot make hear those who are in graves.) means, `just as the dead cannot benefit from guidance and the call to truth after they have died as disbelievers and ended up in the graves, so too you cannot help these idolators who are decreed to be doomed, and you cannot guide them.'
(You are only a warner) means, all you have to do is to convey the Message and warn them, and Alla0h leaves astray whomsoever He wills and guides whomsoever He wills.
(Verily, We have sent you with the truth, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner.) means, a bearer of glad tidings to the believers and a warner to the disbelievers.
(And there never was a nation but a warner had passed among them.) means, there was never any nation among the sons of Adam but Allah sent warners to them and left them with no excuse.
This is like the Ayat:
(You are only a warner, and to every people, there is a guide) (13:7).
(And verily, We have sent among every Ummah a Messenger (proclaiming): "Worship Allah and avoid all false deities.'' Then of them were some whom Allah guided and of them were some upon whom the straying was justified) (16:36).
(And if they deny you, those before them also denied. Their Messengers came to them with clear signs,) means, clear miracles and definitive proofs.
(and with the Scriptures,) means, the Books.
(and with the Book giving light.) means, clear and obvious.
(Then I took hold of those who disbelieved,) means, `despite all of this, they denied the Messengers and the Message they brought, so I seized them, i.e., with My punishment.'
(and how terrible was My denial!) means, how great and intense and terrible do you think My punishment was? And Allah knows best.
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Allah tells us of His complete and perfect power of creation. He tells us how He makes different kinds of things from one thing, which is the water that He sends down from the heaven. From the water, He brings forth fruits of various colours, yellow, red, green, white and other colours, as we can see in the immense variety of their colours, tastes and scents.
This is like another Ayah where Allah says:
(And in the earth are neighbouring tracts, and gardens of vines, and green crops, and date palms, growing into two or three from a single stem root, or otherwise, watered with the same water; yet some of them We make more excellent than others to eat. Verily, in these things, there are Ayat for the people who understand.) (13:4)
(and among the mountains are Judad, white and red, of varying colours) means, He created the mountains like this, with different colours, as we also see that there are indeed white and red mountains, and in some of them there are streaks which are also of varying colours. Ibn `Abbas said Al-Judad means pathways.
This was also the view of Abu Malik, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and As-Suddi. And there are some mountains which are very black. `
Ikrimah said, "Al-Gharabib means mountains which are high and black. This was also the view of Abu Malik, `Ata' Al-Khurasani and Qatadah.
Ibn Jarir said, "When the Arabs describe something as being very black, they say Ghirbib.
(And likewise, men and moving creatures and cattle are of various colors.) means, the same is true of living creatures too, humans and animals, all creatures which walk on their feet, and cattle. Here something general is followed by something specific. These are all different too, for among mankind there are Berbers, Ethiopians and some non-Arabs who are very black, and Slavs and Romans who are very white, and the Arabs who are in between, and the Indians.
Allah says in another Ayah:
(and the difference of your languages and colours. Verily, in that are indeed signs for men of sound knowledge) (30:22).
Similarly, animals and cattle vary in their colours, even within one species, and a single animal may have patches of different colours. Blessed be Allah, the Best of creators. Allah then says:
(It is only those who have knowledge among His servants that fear Allah.) meaning, only those who have knowledge truly fear Him as He should be feared, because the more they know about the Almighty, All-Powerful, All-Knowing Who has the most perfect attributes and is described with the most beautiful Names, the more they will fear Him. `
Ali bin Abi Talhah reported that Ibn `Abbas commented on the Ayah:
(It is only those who have knowledge among His servants that fear Allah.) those who know that Allah is able to do all things. Ibn `Abbas said, "The one among His servants who knows about Ar-Rahman, is the one who does not associate anything in worship with Him; the one who accepts as lawful that which He has permitted and accepts as unlawful that which He has prohibited. He obeys His commands and is certain that he will meet Him and be brought to account for his deeds.
Sa`id bin Jubayr said, "Fear is what stands between you and disobeying Allah, may He be glorified.''
Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The knowledgeable person is the one who fears Ar-Rahman with regard to the Unseen, who likes that which Allah wants him to like, and who shuns that which angers Allah.''
Then Al-Hasan recited: (It is only those among His servants who have knowledge that fears Allah. Verily, Allah is Almighty, Oft-Forgiving.)
Sufyan Ath-Thawri narrated from Abu Hayyan At-Taymi from a man who said,
"It used to be said that the knowledgeable are of three types:
(first) one who knows Allah and the command of Allah,
(second) one who knows Allah but does not know the command of Allah, and
(third) one who knows the command of Allah but does not know Allah.
The one who knows Allah and the command of Allah is the one who fears Allah and knows the limits (Hudud) and the obligatory duties (Fara'id).
The one who knows Allah but does not know the command of Allah is the one who fears Allah but does not know the limits (Hudud) and the obligatory duties (Fara'id).
The one who knows the command of Allah but does not know Allah is the one who knows the limits (Hudud) and the obligatory duties (Fara'id) but does not fear Allah.''
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| The Muslims will be the Ones Who gain in the Hereafter |
Here Allah tells us that His believing servants, who recite and believe in His Book, and do the deeds prescribed in it such as establishing regular prayer at the prescribed times, night and day, spending (in charity) out of that which Allah has provided for them secretly and openly,
(they hope for a (sure) trade-gain that will never perish.) means, they hope for a reward from Allah which will inevitably be theirs. Allah says:
(That He may pay them their wages in full, and give them (even) more, out of His grace.) meaning, that He may give them a reward for what they have done, and multiply it by adding more, such as has never occurred to them.
(Verily, He is Oft-Forgiving,) means, He forgives their sins,
(Most Ready to appreciate.) means, He appreciates even a little of their good deeds.
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| The Qur'an is The true Book of Allah |
And what We have revealed to you -- O Muhammad, of the Book, i.e., the Qur an,
(it is the (very) truth confirming that which was (revealed) before it.) means, of the previous books. It confirms them just as they bore witness to the coming of the Qur'an and that it would be sent down from the Lord of the worlds.
(Verily, Allah is indeed All-Aware and All-Seer of His servants.) means, He is All-Aware of them and knows who deserves to receive the blessing which He may give to him and not to others. the Prophets and the Messengers are favoured above the rest of mankind, and some of the Prophets were given more than others and given higher status than others. The position given to Muhammad is higher than that of all the others, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon them all.
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