Tafsir of Surah Al-Furqan - Verse 76

The Reward of the Servants of the Most Gracious, and a Warning to the People of Makkah

After mentioning the beautiful attributes of His believing servants, and their fine words and deeds, Allah then says:

أُوْلَـئِكَ

(Those) meaning, the people who are described in this manner,

يُجْزَوْنَ

(will be rewarded) on the Day of Resurrection,

الْغُرْفَةَ

(with the highest place), which is Paradise. Abu Ja`far Al-Baqir, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak and As-Suddi said, "It was so called because of its elevation."

بِمَا صَبَرُواْ

(because of their patience.) means, their patience in doing what they did.

وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا

(Therein they shall be met) means, in Paradise.

تَحِيَّةً وَسَلَـماً

(with greetings and the word of peace and respect.) This means that they will be greeted first with words of welcome and honor. Peace will be theirs and they will be wished peace. And angels shall enter unto them from every gate, saying, "Peace be upon you for that you persevered in patience! Excellent indeed is the final home!"

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ

(Abiding therein) means, they will settle there and never leave or move or die, they will never exit or wish to move to somewhere else. This is like the Ayah,

وَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ سُعِدُواْ فَفِى الْجَنَّةِ خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَا مَا دَامَتِ السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ

(And those who are blessed, they will be in Paradise, abiding therein for all the time that the heavens and the earth endure) (11:108).

حَسُنَتْ مُسْتَقَرّاً وَمُقَاماً

(excellent it is as an abode, and as a place to rest in.) Its appearance is beautiful and it is a good place in which to rest and to dwell. Then Allah says:

قُلْ مَا يَعْبَؤُا بِكُمْ رَبِّى

(Say: "My Lord pays attention to you only because of your invocation to Him...") meaning, He would not care to pay attention to you if you did not worship Him, for He only created mankind to worship Him Alone and to glorify Him morning and evening. His saying:

فَقَدْ كَذَّبْتُمْ

(But now you have indeed denied. ) "O you disbelievers."

فَسَوْفَ يَكُونُ لِزَاماً

(So the torment will be yours forever.) So your denial will remain with you forever, i.e., it will lead to your punishment, doom and destruction in this world and the Hereafter. This also refers to the day of Badr, as it was interpreted by `Abdullah bin Mas`ud, Ubayy bin Ka`b, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah, As-Suddi and others.

فَسَوْفَ يَكُونُ لِزَاماً

(So the torment will be yours forever.) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said: "The Day of Resurrection." And there is no conflict between the two interpretations. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Furqan, all praise and thanks are due to Allah.

أُولَـٰئِكَ يُجْزَوْنَ الْغُرْ‌فَةَ (Such people will be rewarded with the high place - 75) The literal meaning of غُرفَہ (ghurfah) is upper story. The righteous people having special closeness to Allah will be given high chambers in Paradise which will look like stars to common people. (al-Bukhari, Muslim, Mazhari)

It is narrated in Musnad of Ahmad, Bayhaqi, Tirmidhi and Hakim on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Malik al-Ash'ari that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said "In Paradise there will be such upper Houses that their interior could be seen from outside and the exterior from inside". Sahabah inquired from him as to who will live in them. Then he replied "Those who keep their speech clean and soft, greet every Muslim, feed the poor, and offer Tahajjud prayers at night when others are sleeping." (Mazhari)

وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلَامًا (And will be received therein with prayers of their eternal life and peace - 25:75). That is beside other boons of Paradise they will have the honour that angels will greet and felicitate them.

Upto this point the traits and deeds of the sincere believers and their rewards and recompense were described. Then in the last verse the infidels and disbelievers have been warned again of the chastisement on which the Surah is concluded.

Those who had humbled themselves in this world for the sake of Truth, will be lodged in the loftiest dwellings of paradise. They lived with humility in this world, so in the Hereafter God will reward them with high status. This was expressed by Jesus Christ as follows: ‘Blessed are those who are poor in this world. It is they who will enter the Kingdom of Heaven.’ Paradise is the place on high where all desires will be completely fulfilled; The qualities which take a human being to paradise may be developed by one who is prepared to exercise patience. For, in exercising patience, he will be able to fully curb his desires in this world. This is the price one has to pay for entering Paradise. One who is not prepared to pay the requisite price of patience in this world will be doomed to live forever in hell.