Tafsir of Surah Ar-Room - Verse 16

اللَّهُ يَبْدَأُ الْخَلْقَ ثُمَّ يُعِيدُهُ

(Allah originates the creation, then He will repeat it,) Just as He was able to create it in the first place, so He is also able to repeat it.

ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

(then to Him you will be returned.) on the Day of Resurrection, when each will be requited according to his deeds. Then Allah says:

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يُبْلِسُ الْمُجْرِمُونَ

(And on the Day when the Hour will be established, the criminals will be plunged into destruction with despair.) Ibn `Abbas said, "The sinners will be filled with despair." Mujahid said, "The sinners will be exposed;" according to another report he said, "The sinners will grieve."

وَلَمْ يَكُن لَّهُمْ مِّن شُرَكَآئِهِمْ شُفَعَاءُ

(No intercessors will they have from those whom they made equal with Allah,) means, the gods whom they used to worship instead of Allah will not intercede for them; they will reject them and betray them despite their desperate need of them. Then Allah says:

وَيَوْمَ تَقُومُ السَّاعَةُ يَوْمَئِذٍ يَتَفَرَّقُونَ

(And on the Day when the Hour will be established -- that Day shall (all men) be separated.) Qatadah said: "By Allah, this refers to the separation after which there will be no reunion." In other words, if one person is taken up to the highest heights and another is sent down to the lowest depths of Hell, that is the last they will ever see of one another. Allah says:

فَأَمَّا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ فَهُمْ فِى رَوْضَةٍ يُحْبَرُونَ

(Then as for those who believed and did righteous good deeds, such shall be honored and made to enjoy a luxurious life in a Garden of Delight.) Mujahid and Qatadah said, "This means, they will enjoy a life of luxury."

Commentary

فَهُمْ فِي رَ‌وْضَةٍ يُحْبَرُ‌ونَ (They will be in a garden, extremely delighted - 30:15). Yuhbarun (يُحْبَرُ‌ونَ ) is derived from hubur, (حَبُور)which means happiness, joy, or delight. This word encompasses all types of delight, which the dwellers of paradise will draw from the bounties of Paradise. The Holy Qur'an has not specified this, and has rather kept it generalized. At another place it is said فَلَا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَّا أُخْفِيَ لَهُم مِّن قُرَّ‌ةِ أَعْيُنٍ (32:17) that is, ` no one knows in this world what delight and joy is in store for them (the people of Paradise) in Paradise'. While explaining this verse some commentators have mentioned various delightful things, which all fall under the category of joy and delight.

The existence of a perfect and complete world is a definite proof of the First Creation. If the first creation was possible, why should the second creation not be possible? If one accepts the present world, but does not accept the Hereafter, it amounts to denying a natural corollary of a fact which one has oneself accepted as such. ‘The guilty’ refers to the influential people who led the campaign against the Truth, and who provided arguments in support of the denial of Truth. When the Doomsday explosion dislocates the system of the world, the guilty ones will suddenly realize that the supports of which they had been proud were without foundation. The words which, according to them, supplied uncontradictable arguments in favour of their stand, will all prove false. When they see conditions which are quite contrary to their expectations and which shatter their illusions, they will be dumbfounded. On the Day of Judgement, human beings will be divided into two groups—one consisting of those who glorify God and offer praises to Him, and the other consisting of those who do quite the reverse. The people of the first group are those who realize God to such a degree that He becomes the sole topic of their conversation. A definite manifestation of this glorification of God and offering praises is the prayers offered five times a day. In this verse, the offering of praises ‘in the morning’ means the fajr. The prayers of maghrib, and ‘isha are included in the words ‘in the evening’. Prayer at midday is called zuhr, while that of in the late afternoon is called ‘asr.