Tafsir of Surah Maryam - Verse 76

Increasing Guidance of Those Who are guided

After Allah mentions the extended time and respite that is allowed to those who are in misguidance, increasing them in misguidance, He informs of the increase in guidance of those who are rightly guided. Similarly He says,

وَإِذَا مَآ أُنزِلَتْ سُورَةٌ فَمِنْهُمْ مَّن يَقُولُ أَيُّكُمْ زَادَتْهُ هَـذِهِ إِيمَـناً

(And whenever there comes down a Surah, some of them say: "Which of you has had his faith increased by it") 9:124 And the following Ayah also shows this. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَالْبَـقِيَاتُ الصَّـلِحَاتُ

(And the righteous good deeds that last) Its explanation has already preceded in Surat Al-Kahf, along with a lengthy discussion concerning it and the related Hadiths.

خَيْرٌ عِندَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا

((they) are better with your Lord for reward.) meaning the recompense and reward.

وَخَيْرٌ مَّرَدّاً

(and better for resort.) meaning in the final outcome, the result for its doer.

وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ‌ عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ‌ مَّرَ‌دًّا

''And the everlasting virtues are better with your Lord in respect of reward and better in their return". - 19:76

These words have been interpreted differently by different scholars as has been explained at some length in the commentary of Sarah Al-Kahf (سورۃ کھف). The more plausible interpretation, however, is that the words refer to submission to the commands of Allah and to good deeds, the benefits of which are everlasting.

مَّرَ‌دًّا by means consequences, and the sense of this verse is that good deeds alone are the real wealth whose reward is great and whose result is eternal peace.

To be rightly guided means the arousal of one’s consciousness and the turning of it in the right direction. Whatever the circumstances, and whatever events befall a rightly guided man, he interprets them correctly and his soul derives nourishment from them. In this way there is a constant increase in the guidance he receives in terms of faith and quality of life. The guidance received by him is not like a stagnant pool or a lifeless rock: it is like a living and ever-growing tree. Just as one who keeps worldly interests in view progresses in this world, similarly, one who acts with the Hereafter in view keeps on accumulating his good deeds. But as they are being amassed and stored in the Hereafter, their build-up is not visible in this world. However, when Doomsday tears apart the veil, everybody will see how the guidance of the guided one was being enhanced and how, along with this, his righteous deeds were also accruing.