Verses 16–24
This section of verses continues the aims of the previous section, which are to encourage the audience to have faith in God and His Messenger and to spend in the way of God. It rebukes the faithful for the signs of hard-heartedness that have appeared from them, and it encourages them to spend in the way of God by expounding the lofty station those who do will enjoy in the eyes of God. It commands them to hasten to God’s forgiveness and to paradise, and it condemns this world and those of its inhabitants who are stingy and bid others to stinginess.
Note that the context of these verses has shifted from addressing the believers specifically to addressing everyone, Muslims and People of the Book alike, and we will explain the significance of this below.
Commentary
أَلَمْ يَأْنِ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْ تَخْشَعَ قُلُوبُهُمْ لِذِكْرِ اللَّهِ وَمَا نَزَلَ مِنَ الْحَقِّ وَلَا يَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلُ فَطَالَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْأَمَدُ فَقَسَتْ قُلُوبُهُمْ ۖ وَكَثِيرٌ مِنْهُمْ فَاسِقُونَ ١٦
(57:16) Is it not time yet (a lam yaʾni) for those who have faith that their hearts should be humbled (an takhshaʿ qulūbuhum) for Allah’s remembrance and to the truth which has come down, and to be not like those who were given the Book before? Time took its toll on them and so their hearts were hardened, and many of them are transgressors.
It is said that the verb yaʾnī means for something’s assigned time to have come, while for one’s heart to be humbled means that it is affected by God’s greatness and tremendousness. Allah’s remembrance means anything by which God is remembered, and the truth which has come down refers to the Qurʾan, which has come down from God almighty. It is natural that, when the believer remembers God, this evokes a sense of humility in him, just as when the truth is sent down by Him, this also inspires humility in those who believe in God and His messengers.
Some commentators have said that the meaning of both Allah’s remembrance (dhikr) and the truth which has come down is the Qurʾan, because both of these descriptions highlight qualities that inspire humility in the faithful. After all, the Qurʾan is the remembrance of God, which inspires humility, and it is also the truth which has come down from Him, which also inspires humility.
This verse subtly criticizes the faithful for the hardness that has crept into their hearts and their lack of humility in response to God’s remembrance and the truth that has come down from Him. It compares their condition to those of the People of the Book to whom scriptures were revealed previously, but whose hearts were hardened over the passage of time.
… and to be not like those who were given the Book before? Time took its toll on them (ṭāla ʿalayhum al–amad) and so their hearts were hardened: This follows on from … should be humbled …, above. In other words: ‘And is it not time yet that their hearts should be humbled and that they should not be like those who were given the Book before.
Al-amad means time (zamān). Al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī says: ‘The difference between amad and zamān is that amad refers to a period of time with its end in mind, whereas zamān is general, encompassing both its beginning and its end. That is why some say madā (‘extent’) and amad are close in meaning.’
In this verse, God warns the faithful that their hearts are becoming similar to those of the People of the Book, whose hearts were hardened by the passage of time. A hard heart is one that does not experience humility and is not affected by the truth. This is possibly to the extent that it forsakes the mantle of servanthood altogether, no longer pays any attention to what is forbidden, and immerses itself in sin and transgression. That is why God follows the phrase, their hearts were hardened with the statement, and many of them are transgressors.
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ يُحْيِي الْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ مَوْتِهَا ۚ قَدْ بَيَّنَّا لَكُمُ الْآيَاتِ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَعْقِلُونَ ١٧
(57:17) Know that Allah revives the earth after its death. We have certainly made the signs clear for you so that you may apply reason.
Having reprimanded the faithful for the hardness of their hearts, God now presents tis similitude to strengthen their resolve and encourage them to find humility once more.
Perhaps the entirety of the above reprimand can be read as an announcement by God that He will not leave the matter of religion to its own devices. On the contrary, as these hearts harden and are deprived of submissiveness to God’s command, God brings new hearts that are alive with humility, which will worship Him as He desires to be worshipped.
Therefore, the meaning of this verse is in the same vein as the verse, Ah! There you are, being invited to spend in the way of Allah; yet among you there are those who are stingy; and whoever is stingy is stingy only to himself. Allah is the All-sufficient, and you are all-needy, and if you turn away He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you ().
This is also why God ends the verse with the refrain, We have certainly made the signs clear for you so that you may apply reason.
إِنَّ الْمُصَّدِّقِينَ وَالْمُصَّدِّقَاتِ وَأَقْرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا يُضَاعَفُ لَهُمْ وَلَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَرِيمٌ ١٨
(57:18) Indeed the charitable men and charitable women, and those who lend Allah a good loan—it shall be multiplied for them, and there is a noble reward for them.
Note that this verse repeats the promise to multiply the rewards of the faithful manyfold and to give them a noble reward in addition to this, this is to encourage them to spend in the way of God. However, this verse also adds the men and women who give charity to those who grant God a good loan. In other words: ‘Those who give charity and those who give God a good loan, whatever they give will be multiplied for them, and they shall have a noble reward.’
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الصِّدِّيقُونَ ۖ وَالشُّهَدَاءُ عِنْدَ رَبِّهِمْ لَهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ وَنُورُهُمْ ۖ وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا أُولَٰئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَحِيمِ ١٩
(57:19) Those who have faith in Allah and His messengers—it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord; they shall have their reward and their light. But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell.
Note that God does not say: ‘Those who have faith in Allah and His Messenger (singular)’, as he says at the beginning of the chapter, in the verse, Have faith in Allah and His Messenger (), and at its end, in the verse, O you who have faith! Be wary of Allah and have faith in His Messenger (). This is because He has mentioned the People of the Book in the previous verse—and to be not like those who were given the Book before—which shifted the context from addressing the faithful specifically to addressing both the Muslims and the People of the Book together. In the same vein, He says a few verses below, Certainly We sent Our messengers with manifest proofs (). Conversely, the verses at the beginning and the end of the chapter are addressed to the faithful in the nation of the Prophet in particular, and that is why ‘His Messenger’ is mentioned in the singular, rather than ‘messengers’ in the plural.
The meaning of ‘faith in Allah and His messengers’ here means pure faith that is innately inseparable from submission and obedience, as has already been highlighted in the verse, Have faith in Allah and His Messenger (), above. When God says, it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord, this means that those who have faith in God and His messengers will be amongst the truthful and the witnesses, as indicated by the qualifying phrases, with their Lord and they shall have their reward and their light. Therefore, they will be admitted to these two groups and treated in the same manner as the truthful and the witnesses, given the same reward and the same light to guide them in the Hereafter.
It appears that ‘the truthful and the witnesses’ refers to those mentioned in the verse, Whoever obeys Allah and the Apostle—they are with those whom Allah has blessed, including the prophets and the truthful, the witnesses, and the righteous, and excellent companions are they (). In our commentary on this verse, we discussed how the truthful (al-siddīqīn) were the ones who were honest in their words and deeds, such that their words matched their actions, and their actions matched their words. Meanwhile, the witnesses (al-shuhadāʾ) denote the witnesses to deeds on the Day of Resurrection, rather than those who are martyred in the way of God.
Therefore, those who believe in God and His messengers will be admitted to the ranks of the truthful and the witnesses, who will enjoy a lofty station with God—by His decree, in other words—and they will have their reward and their light.
When God says, they shall have their reward and their light, the pronoun ‘they’ refers to those who have faith in God and His messengers, while the two instances of the pronoun ‘their’ refers to the truthful and the witnesses. In other words, those who have faith in God and His messengers shall have the same reward and light as that given to the truthful and the witnesses by God. This is it what it means when someone says the verse means: ‘They shall have a reward like their reward, and they shall have a light like their light.’
Perhaps one might say that the intent of the verse is to show that they themselves are the truthful and the witnesses in actuality, not that they will merely be admitted to their ranks or made equivalent to them. Therefore, they shall have their own reward and their own light. However, the context does not really support such a reading.
Another interpretation is that ‘the witnesses’ is not joined to ‘the truthful’ or follow on from it but is actually the start of a new sentence. In this case, ‘the witnesses’ is the subject of a new nominal sentence, and its predicate is ‘with their Lord’ and ‘they shall have their reward.’ Therefore, the verse is split into two parts: ‘Those who have faith in God and His messengers, it is they who are the truthful.’ This is one statement. There then begins a new one, ‘And the witnesses are with their Lord’—in the same vein as the verse, rather they are living and provided for near their Lord (). In this case, the meaning of ‘the witnesses’ (shuhadāʾ) is, in fact, those martyred in the way of God. Then God completes this statement with the words, ‘they shall have their reward and their light.’
But as for those who are faithless and deny Our signs, they shall be the inmates of hell: In other words, they shall never depart from it and will remain in it forever.
Notice how in this verse God turns from discussing the condition of those who are admitted to the ranks of the truthful and the witnesses to discuss the state of those who disbelieve and deny His signs. The first are, without a doubt, are the best of humankind and the ones of them who have definitely attained salvation, while the latter are assuredly the worst of humankind and the ones of them who have definitely perished. However, there remains a group between these two groups; the believers who have committed various kinds of sins and misdeeds and, in doing so, rebelled against God and His Messenger. This is the habit of the Qurʾanic discourse in many of the instances where God discusses the conditions of various people on the Day of Resurrection therein.
God adopts this approach in the Qurʾan in order to inspire both hope and fear in this middle group that find themselves caught between the best and the worst, so that they might incline towards everlasting felicity and choose salvation over damnation. That is why God follows this verse with a condemnation of the life of this world, to which the hearts of those who are resistant to spending in the way of God have become attached.
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَوْلَادِ ۖ كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا ۖ وَفِي الْآخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ ۚ وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلَّا مَتَاعُ الْغُرُورِ ٢٠
(57:20) Know that the life of this world is just play (laʿb) and diversion (lahw), and glitter (zīna), and mutual vainglory (tafākhur) among you and covetousness (takāthur) for wealth and children—like the rain whose vegetation impresses the farmer; then it withers and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes chaff, while in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure; and the life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion.
Laʿb (‘play’) denotes an activity with imaginary goals rather than real ones, such as the games of children.
Lahw (‘diversion’) refers to anything that distracts a person from their important goals.
Zīna (‘glitter’) refers to any kind of adornment, whereby something desirable or valuable is attached to something else to make it more desirable because of the beauty it confers upon it.
Tafākhur (‘mutual vainglory’) means to boast of one’s lineage or ran.
Takāthur (‘covetousness’) in wealth and children means to seek an increase of them.
The life of this world is transitory and illusory—a false image that is afflicted by all five of the aforementioned traits: It is play, diversion, glitter, mutual vainglory, and covetousness. It is to these things that the human’s low desires attach themselves, whether to some of them or all of them. These are imaginary matters and fleeting gains that will not endure for the human being. None of them can provide the human being with any real good or nurture any growth in their soul.
The great Safavid-era jurist, philosopher, and mystic, Shaykh Bahāʾī, remarked that the five traits of this world mentioned in this verse correspond to the five stages of the human being’s life herein. He is first carried away by play in his childhood or adolescence; then he grows and matures, and he becomes interested in diversions and distractions; then he grows and matures, and becomes focused on adornments such as fine-looking clothes, impressive mounts, and high rank, because of the beauty and majesty he perceives in them; then when he grows older, he becomes boastful of his lineage or rank; then, when he grows old, he is concerned with amassing ever more wealth and descendants.
… like the rain (ghayth) whose vegetation impresses the farmers (kuffār); then it surges (yahīju), and you see it turn yellow, then it becomes chaff (huṭām): This is a parable given for the trinkets of the life of this world that the human being becomes attached to and is deceived by, but which will not remain his for long before he is forced to give them up.
Ghayth is a downpour of rain.
Kuffār here is the plural of kāfir, not in the sense of ‘disbeliever’ but rather of ‘farmer’, as the kāfir is someone who ploughs the earth.
Yahīj (to surge) means to move.
Huṭām refers to the broken up pieces of desiccated plants.
The meaning of the verse is: ‘In its captivating but fleeting delight, this world is like rain, which causes vegetation to flourish in a way that impresses the farmers, but once this vegetation has reached its utmost growth, you see it turn yellow in color, then it withers and crumble to chaff that is carried away by the wind.’
… while in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure: God’s forgiveness is mentioned before His pleasure because forgiveness purifies the receptacle of that pleasure. Note also that this forgiveness is described as being ‘from Allah’ while punishment is not, and this suggests that what God really desires is to forgive humankind rather than to punish them, and that punishment is only necessary because the human being forsakes the mantle of divine servanthood.
… and the life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion: In other words, it is a provision that nurtures delusion, and this is dependent upon the one who is deluded by it.
The phrase, while in the Hereafter there is a severe punishment and forgiveness from Allah and His pleasure, highlights the two aspects of the Hereafter, so that the listener might be aware of them and choose God’s forgiveness and pleasure over His punishment. Then, when God says, and the life of this world is nothing but the wares of delusion, He warns the listener to be on guard lest the life of this world deceives and misleads him with its delusions.
سَابِقُوا إِلَىٰ مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضِ أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُؤْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ ٢١
(57:21) Take the lead (sābiqū) towards forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who have faith in Allah and His messengers. That is Allah’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace.
The imperative sābiqū (‘take the lead’) is derived from musābaqa (‘to race’), which means to vie with one another to reach a goal first. Each racer tries to outrun his rivals so that he reaches the end first. Therefore, musābaqa conveys something more than musāraʿa (‘to hasten’), as musāraʿa simply means to move quickly and determinedly, while musābaqa means to move quickly and determinedly in order to outrun one’s rivals and beat them to a goal.
Therefore, when God says, take the lead towards forgiveness, this places an even greater responsibility on His servants’ shoulders than, And hasten towards your Lord’s forgiveness and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for the Godwary ().
This also illustrates the lack of validity in opinion that the verse in Sūrah Āl ʿImrān is about the Foremost Ones who are brought near to God (al-sābiqūn al-muqarrabūn), while the present verse is about the generality of the faithful. Proponents of this view argue this based on the fact that the present verse only mentions faith in God and His Messenger, while the verse from Sūrah Āl ʿImrān also mentions righteous deeds. That is also why the paradise promised in that verse is described as being as vast as the heavens (al-samāwāt—plural) and the earth, while in this verse, it is only described as as vast as the heavens (al-samāʾ—singular) and the earth. They say this shows that the paradise promised to those addressed in the first verse is vaster than the one promised in the present verse.
However, this opinion lacks validity because what is being asked of the listener in this verse is greater than what is being asked of them in the verse from Sūrah Āl ʿImrān. This is because the word al-samāʾ takes the definite article (al-) in the present verse, and this article marks it as denoting the category of the heavens. Therefore it has the same meaning as al-samāwāt in the previous verse.
In the present verse, forgiveness is placed before paradise, because life in paradise is a pure life in a pure realm. Therefore, in order to enjoy such a life, one must first be cleansed of the impurities of sins and their pollutions.
Note also that the word ʿaraḍ is used to describe paradise as vast here, and that it is not being used merely in the sense of breadth (as opposed to length, or ṭuwal), which is the meaning of the term ʿaraḍ in everyday speech. The context of the statement shows that it is intended to convey the superlative expansiveness of paradise.
Some have argued that ʿaraḍ here is, in fact, being used in the sense of breadth, but that this is actually a rhetorical device to emphasise the vastness of paradise. As, if only its breadth is vaster than the heavens and the earth, then how massive would it be if we were to take into account its length as well? Furthermore, breadth also tends to be the shortest dimension of a thing, therefore its length must be even greater still.
However, this is a somewhat arbitrary reading of the verse, as there is nothing to suggest in it that the length of the heavens and the earth is equal to their breadth. Neither is there anything to suggest that the length of paradise is greater than its breadth, such that this would entail its length being greater than the length of the heavens and the earth. It is entirely possibly that the length and breadth of both the heavens and the earth and paradise are equal, in the same way that all the sides of a square, circle, cube, or sphere are equal to one another, and it is still possible that one dimension could be greater than the others. There is simply no evidence for either possibility to be found in the verse.
… prepared for those who have faith in Allah and His messengers: From the phrase, have faith in Allah and His messengers, and the phrase, those who have faith in Allah and His messengers (), it is evident that faith in God and His messengers refers a lofty level of faith whose effects are manifest in its bearer in the form of doing righteous deeds and avoiding sins and transgressions.
Some have claimed that the verse contains glad tidings for all of the faithful when God says, … prepared for those who have faith in Allah and His messengers, as faith here is not predicated upon any conditions such as righteous deeds. However, this reading and others like it are not valid because, if we wished to interpret the verse only on the basis of its wording, then it would include both the faithful and the faithless, and the righteous and the sinners. Rather, because the verse is, in fact, addressed to the faithful, it exhorts them to the kind of faith that is accompanied by righteous deeds. Had it meant mere belief in God and His messengers not necessarily accompanied by righteous deeds, and paradise was prepared for them, and the verse was calling them to hasten to God’s forgiveness and paradise, then the command, take the leave would only be directed to the faithless, as the believers would have already reached the goal through mere belief. However, the verse’s context does not allow for such a reading.
That is Allah’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes: And He has willed that He will grant it to those who have faith in God and His messengers. As we have explained already, the reward that God grants to His faithful servants is a grace and a favour from Him rather than something they have earned or made themselves deserving of.
… and Allah is dispenser of a great grace: This highlights the tremendousness of His grace, and shows that the forgiveness and paradise with which He will reward the faithful is given out of this tremendous grace.
مَا أَصَابَ مِنْ مُصِيبَةٍ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَلَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ إِلَّا فِي كِتَابٍ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَبْرَأَهَا ۚ إِنَّ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ ٢٢
(57:22) No affliction (muṣība) visits the earth or yourselves but it is in a book before We bring it about (nabraʾahā)—that is indeed easy for Allah—
A muṣība (‘affliction’) is a misfortune that befalls (tuṣīb) something, it is derived from the verb iṣāba, which refers to an arrow hitting its mark. In terms of its basic meaning, iṣāba can include both good and ill. However, it is most commonly used for misfortunes. Therefore, a muṣība usually denotes a form of adversity.
An affliction visited on the earth refers to drought, blight, devastating earthquakes, and the like, while an affliction visited upon the selves refers to illness, injury, or death.
Barʾ and burūʾ (from which the verb nabraʾahā, ‘We bring about’) means to create from nothingness. The pronoun ‘it’ in We bring it about refers back to affliction, although some scholars have said it refers to yourselves, the earth, or to both the earth and yourselves and affliction. The first possibility is supported by the fact that the verse occurs in the context of expounding the misfortunes that people face in this world, that lead to the loss of wealth and lives, which lead them then to hold back from spending in God’s way and hang back from waging jihād.
The book references in this verse is the Tablet upon which is written all that was, all that is, and all that will be until the Day of Resurrection, as indicated by numerous verses and narrations. This verse only mentions it in regard to the afflictions that befall the earth and its inhabitants, because that is the subject under discussion here.
Some have said that the verse has only restricted affliction to in the earth or yourselves because not all afflictions are inscribed upon the Tablet, because the Tablet is finite and events in this world are infinite, and the finite cannot be a receptacle for the infinite.
However, this interpretation appears to be based on the idea the tablet in this verse is a material one suspended in the sky somewhere, upon which events are inscribed in some language in a script that resembles our own human writings. We have already discussed the meaning of the Tablet and the Pen elsewhere, but we shall make some additional remarks below.
Others have said that the book here refers to the book of God’s knowledge. However, this runs contrary to the apparent meaning of the verse, unless, of course, it is referring to the book in which all the events of this world are inscribed as a level of God’s knowledge at the level of the divine acts (al-ʿilm al-fiʿlī).
The verse concludes with the words, that is indeed easy for Allah to show that determining that events should happen before they occur and ordaining that they should come to pass with an irrevocable decree is not something difficult for Him.
لِكَيْلَا تَأْسَوْا عَلَىٰ مَا فَاتَكُمْ وَلَا تَفْرَحُوا بِمَا آتَاكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ كُلَّ مُخْتَالٍ فَخُورٍ ٢٣
(57:23) so that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor exult for what He gives you, and Allah does not like any swaggering braggart.
This verse explains the rationale for the previous one, meaning it explains why such events are inscribed in a book before they come to pass. It is so that you do not grieve for the bounties that you lose or exult for what bounties God bestows upon you. This is because, when the human being is certain that whatever befalls him is ordained to happen and unavoidable, he will not err and will remember that whatever blessings He is given are merely a deposit that he holds in trust until a specified time, then he will not be overly grieved if he loses these blessings, nor will he be overjoyed if he is given more of them.
It is said that there is a difference between what escapes you and what He gives you, insomuch as the former is attributed to the things themselves, while the latter is attributed to God. This is because what escapes you refers to loss and non-existence, which pertain to the essences of things, as if things are left to their own devices, they will not last and will pass away. This is utterly unlike their coming into being and their remaining existent, as this can only come about through God’s intervention. Therefore, it is attributed to Him rather than the things themselves.
… and Allah does not like any swaggering braggart (mukhtāl fakhūr): According to al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, a mukhtāl (‘braggart’) is someone taken by conceitedness (khuyalāʾ), an arrogance which emanates from imagining (takhayyul) that he possesses a certain virtue. Meanwhile, a fakhūr is someone who abounds in pride (fakhr) and vanity. Both conceitedness and pride stem from a person’s false belief that they are deserving of whatever blessings they possess. This runs contrary to the reality of the matter, which is that they possess whatever they have only by virtue of God assigning it to them, not because of anything to do with their own selves. Therefore, conceitedness and pride are both moral vices and are not liked by God.
الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ ۗ وَمَنْ يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ ٢٤
(57:24) Such as are stingy and bid people to be stingy. And whoever refuses to comply, indeed Allah is the All-sufficient, the All-laudable.
This is a description of every swaggering braggart, explaining why it is that God does not like them. The reason why they hoard their wealth is that their pride and conceitedness depend upon it, and the reason why they bid others to do likewise is because they like to have wealth themselves, so they like to have others have it to. This is because, were people to be generous, open-handed, and enthusiastic about spending in the way of God, this would bring their own stinginess to light.
And whoever refuses to comply, indeed Allah is the All-sufficient, the All-laudable: This refers to those who turn away from spending in the way of God and refuse to heed God’s admonishments. Furthermore, they are those whose hearts are not assured by the Qurʾanic condemnation of this world, its lofty descriptions of paradise, or by the knowledge that God is the one who determines all things. Such persons should know that God is the All-sufficient (al-Ghanī), which means He does not have any need of their what they spend, and He is All-laudable in whatever He does.
Therefore, these three verses—from No affliction visits the earth or yourselves … () until … Allah is the All-sufficient, the All-laudable ()—as is evident, encourage people to spend in the way of God and admonish them against being stingy and withholding their wealth. They do this by encouraging them to practice renunciation (zuhd) by neither being grieved by what escapes them nor overjoyed by what God gives them, based on the knowledge that all affairs have been ordained and decreed in a divine book before God even brought them into being.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, concerning the verse, Is it not time yet…? (), al-Suyūṭī narrates from Ibn al-Mubārak, ʿAbd al-Razzāq, and Ibn Mundhir, all of whom narrate from al-Aʿmash: ‘When the Companions of the Messenger of God came to Medina and found their lives easier after all the hardship they had endured, it is as though they became lax in some of the things about which they had previously been observant. Therefore, the verse was revealed, Is it not time yet for those who have faith …?
Author’s comments: This is the most upright of the narrations about the context in which the verses of this chapter were revealed. There is also a narration from Ibn Masʿūd, in which he says: ‘We had not been Muslims for four years before God rebuked us with the verse, Is it not time yet for those who have faith that their hearts should be humbled for Allah’s remembrance.’ The narration appears to suggest that the chapter was revealed in Mecca. Another narration seems to affirm the same thing when it says that it was after this chapter was revealed that ʿUmar converted to Islam. However, you know that the tone and the context of the verses of this chapter clearly mark it as being of Medinan provenance. It is possible to interpret the narration of Ibn Masʿūd as meaning that the verse in question or that both it and the verses that followed it were revealed in Mecca, but not the remainder of the verses of the chapter.
There is also a narration from the Prophet, which reads: ‘God found the hearts of the Emigrants slow to respond to Him seventeen years after the beginning of the Qurʾan’s revelation, so God sent down the verse, Is it not time yet…?.’ This suggests that the verse was revealed in the fourth or fifth year after the Emigration to Medina. Yet another narration, this time from Ibn ʿAbbās, says: ‘God found the hearts of the Emigrants slow to respond to Him, so He rebuked them some thirteen years after the Qurʾan’s revelation had first come down, saying, Is it not time yet…?’ This would indicate that the chapter was revealed at around the time of the Emigration. However, neither of these reports are in keeping with the context and tone of the verses.
- Also in al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī narrates from Ibn al-Jarīr from al-Barrāʾ b. ʿĀzib: ‘I heard the Messenger of God say, “The faithful of my nation are witnesses.” Then the Prophet recited the verse, Those who have faith in Allah and His messengers—it is they who are the truthful and the witnesses with their Lord ().
- In Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, it is narrated via a chain going back to Manhāl al-Qaṣṣāb: ‘I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh (al-Ṣādiq), “Invoke God to grant me martyrdom (shahāda).” He replied, “The faithful one is already a witness (shahīd).” Then he recited this verse.’
Author’s comments: There are other narrations with the same meaning, and it appears that some of them, like this narration, use the term shahīd to mean one who is slain in the way of God.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, it is narrated via a chain of narrators from Ḥafṣ b. Ghiyāth: ‘I said to Abū ʿAbd Allāh, “May I be your sacrifice, what is renunciation of this world (al-zuhd fī al-dunyā)?” He said, “God has defined it in His Book with the verse, so that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor exult for what He gives you ().”’
- In Nahj al-Balāgha, Imām ʿAlī says, ‘Renunciation in its entirety is contained between two statements in the Qurʾan: so that you may not grieve for what escapes you, nor exult for what He gives you. Whoever does not grieve for what has past nor exult for what is to come, he has held fast to renunciation from both sides.’
Author’s comments: The foundation of these two narrations is that renunciation means not to allow one’s heart to become attached to this world. There is a well-known tradition which reads, ‘Love of this world is the source of every sin.’