Tafsir of Surah Fussilat - Verse 47

Everyone will be requited according to His Deeds

مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ

(Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for himself;) means, the benefit of which will come to him.

وَمَنْ أَسَآءَ فَعَلَيْهَا

(and whosoever does evil, it is against himself.) means, the consequences of that will come back on him.

وَمَا رَبُّكَ بِظَلَّـمٍ لِّلْعَبِيدِ

(And your Lord is not at all unjust to (His) servants) means, He only punishes people for their sins, and He does not punish anyone except after establishing proof against him and sending a Messenger to him.

Knowledge of the Hour is with Allah Alone

Then Allah says:

إِلَيْهِ يُرَدُّ عِلْمُ السَّاعَةِ

(To Him is referred the knowledge of the Hour.) meaning, no one knows about that apart from Him. Muhammad ﷺ , the leader of mankind, said to Jibril, who is one of the leading angels, when he asked him about the Hour:

«مَا الْمَسْؤُولُ عَنْهَا بِأَعْلَمَ مِنَ السَّائِل»

(The one who is asked about it does not know more than the one who is asking.)" And Allah says:

إِلَى رَبِّكَ مُنتَهَـهَآ

(To your Lord belongs the term thereof.) (79:44)

لاَ يُجَلِّيهَا لِوَقْتِهَآ إِلاَّ هُوَ

(None can reveal its time but He) (7:187).

وَمَا تَخْرُجُ مِن ثَمَرَتٍ مِّنْ أَكْمَامِهَا وَمَا تَحْمِلُ مِنْ أُنْثَى وَلاَ تَضَعُ إِلاَّ بِعِلْمِهِ

(No fruit comes out of its sheath, nor does a female conceive nor brings forth (young), except by His knowledge.) means, all of that is known to Him, and nothing is hidden from your Lord the weight of a speck of dust on the earth or in the heaven. Allah says:

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلاَّ يَعْلَمُهَا

(not a leaf falls, but He knows it) (6:59).

يَعْلَمُ مَا تَحْمِلُ كُلُّ أُنثَى وَمَا تَغِيضُ الاٌّرْحَامُ وَمَا تَزْدَادُ وَكُلُّ شَىْءٍ عِندَهُ بِمِقْدَارٍ

(Allah knows what every female bears, and by how much the wombs fall short or exceed. Everything with Him is in (due) proportion) (13:8).

وَمَا يُعَمَّرُ مِن مُّعَمَّرٍ وَلاَ يُنقَصُ مِنْ عُمُرِهِ إِلاَّ فِى كِتَـبٍ إِنَّ ذَلِكَ عَلَى اللَّهِ يَسِيرٌ

(And no aged man is granted a length of life nor is a part cut off from his life, but is in a Book. Surely, that is easy for Allah.) (35:11)

وَيَوْمَ يُنَادِيهِمْ أَيْنَ شُرَكَآئِى

(And on the Day when He will call unto them (saying): "Where are My (so-called) partners") means, on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will call out to the idolators before all of creation and say, "Where are My partners whom you worshipped besides Me"

قَالُواْ ءَاذَنَّاكَ

(They will say: "We inform You...") means, `we tell You,'

مَا مِنَّا مِن شَهِيدٍ

(that none of us bears witness to it.) means, `not one of us will bear witness today that You have any partner.'

وَضَلَّ عَنْهُم مَّا كَانُواْ يَدْعُونَ مِن قَبْلُ

(And those whom they used to invoke before (in this world) shall disappear from them, ) means, they will go away, and will be of no benefit to them.

وَظَنُّواْ مَا لَهُمْ مِّن مَّحِيصٍ

(and they will perceive that they have no place of refuge) means, they will have no way of escaping from the punishment of Allah. This is like the Ayah:

وَرَأَى الْمُجْرِمُونَ النَّارَ فَظَنُّواْ أَنَّهُمْ مُّوَاقِعُوهَا وَلَمْ يَجِدُواْ عَنْهَا مَصْرِفًا

(And the criminals shall see the Fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from there.) (18:53)

أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَ‌بِيٌّ (Is it a non- Arabic [ book ] and an Arab [ messenger ]? - 44) The original word used for non-Arabic in the text is a'jamiyy (with hamza before the letter 'ain) which is an Arabic term for ` ineloquent speech', while ` ajam' (without hamzah in its beginning) means any nation other than Arabs. Therefore ` ajamiyy is a person who is non-Arab, even though he may speak eloquently, and a'jamiyy is a person who cannot speak eloquently (Qurtubi). The use of the word أَعْجَمِيٌّ ajamiyy in this verse means that if We had revealed the Qur'an in any language other than Arabic, then the Quraysh who are the first addressees of the Qur'an would have complained that they did not understand this Book and would have said wonderingly that the prophet is an ` Arab, but the book is ajamiyy which is ineloquent.

قلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاءٌ (Say, "For those who believe, it is guidance and cure. - 44) Two attributes of The noble Qur'an are stated here. One is that Qur'an gives guidance - such guidance in all spheres of life as is beneficial and useful for human beings. The second attribute is that the Qur'an is cure. That it is a cure for spiritual ailments like kufr, shirk, arrogance, jealousy, greed, etc. is quite obvious, but is also cure for bodily ailments, as has been proved by experience of treating patients through Qur'anic prayers which has been successful.

أُولَـٰئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ (Such people are being called from a distant place. - 44) This is a similitude. A person who understands what is being said, the Arabs say to him, اَنتَ تسمَعُ مِن قَرِیب (you are listening from a near place) and if a person does not understand the discourse, they say to him اَنتَ تُنَادٰی مِن بَعِید (you are being called from a distant place) (Qurtubi). The meaning is that since these people do not intend to listen and to understand the directions of the Qur'an, their ears are almost deaf and their eyes are blind, therefore teaching them the Qur'anic guidance is like calling someone from such a distant place that the voice does not reach his ears.

The springing of a fruit from a tree or the emerging of a live being from the womb of a mother is in essence the same as the emergence of the world of the Hereafter from the present world. What is fruit? It is the change of the fruitless into the fruitful. What is a human being? It is a non-human entity turning into a human being. The Hereafter, too, in fact, is the change of present existence into the Hereafter. The first type of change occurs before us every day. Then why should another, but greater change of a similar nature (i.e. the change of the present world into the world of the Hereafter) be incredible? The Day of the Hereafter will be the day of the final appearance of realities. When that Day arrives, all false bases on which human beings had built their lives will be demolished.