Tafsir of Surah An-Naba' - Verse 36

The Great Success will be for Those Who have Taqwa

Allah informs about the happy people and what He has prepared for them of esteem, and eternal pleasure. Allah says,

إِنَّ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ مَفَازاً

(Verily, for those who have Taqwa, there will be a success;) Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak both said, "A place of enjoyable recreation." Mujahid and Qatadah both said, "They are successful and thus, they are saved from the Hellfire." The most obvious meaning here is the statement of Ibn `Abbas, because Allah says after this,

حَدَآئِقَ

(Hada'iq) And Hada'iq are gardens of palm trees and other things.

حَدَآئِقَ وَأَعْنَـباً - وَكَوَاعِبَ أَتْرَاباً

(And vineyards, and Kawa`ib Atrab,) meaning, wide-eyed maidens with fully developed breasts. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and others have said,

كَواعِبَ

(Kawa`ib) "This means round breasts. They meant by this that the breasts of these girls will be fully rounded and not sagging, because they will be virgins, equal in age. This means that they will only have one age." The explanation of this has already been mentioned in Surat Al-Waqi`ah. Concerning Allah's statement,

وَكَأْساً دِهَاقاً

(And a cup Dihaq.) Ibn `Abbas said, "Continuously filled." `Ikrimah said, "Pure." Mujahid, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Ibn Zayd all said,

دِهَاقاً

(Dihaq) "This means completely filled." Then Allah says,

لاَّ يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْواً وَلاَ كِذَباً

(No Laghw shall they hear therein, nor lying;) This is similar to Allah's statement,

لاَّ لَغْوٌ فِيهَا وَلاَ تَأْثِيمٌ

(Free from any Laghw, and free from sin.) (52:23) meaning, there will not be any vain, worthless speech therein, nor any sinful lying. Rather, it will be the abode of peace, and everything that is in it will be free of any shortcomings. Allah then says,

جَزَآءً مِّن رَّبِّكَ عَطَآءً حِسَاباً

(Rewarded from your Lord with a sufficient gift.) meaning, `this that We have mentioned to you is what Allah will reward them with, and they will be given it by His favor and from Him. It will be a kindness, mercy, gift, and recompense from Him. It will be sufficient, suitable, comprehensive and abundant.' The Arabs say, "He gave me and he sufficed me." This means that he sufficiently provided for me." From this comes the saying, "Allah is sufficient for me."

زَاءً مِّن رَّ‌بِّكَ عَطَاءً حِسَابًا (this being a reward from their Lord, a suffering grant...78:36). The blessings of Paradise described above is the reward of the believers and is an abundant grant from their Lord. Here two things are mentioned. First, these blessings are a reward of their deeds. Secondly, they are a Divine grant. Apparently, they seem to be contradictory, because reward means receiving something in lieu of doing some service, whereas grant is given gratis. The Qur'an has combined the two words in order to indicate that the blessings of Paradise are reward for the inmates of Paradise only apparently, and in reality they are a Divine grant given to them gratis, because human deeds cannot be the reward of even those blessings which were given to him in the world, let alone the blessings of the Hereafter which depend entirely on Divine grace as is confirmed by the Tradition of the Holy Prophet ﷺ : "No one can enter Paradise merely by virtue of his deeds, unless Allah shows His grace." The Companions asked: "What about you, Messenger of Allah ﷺ . "He replied: "Nor will I enter Paradise merely by virtue of my action."

The word hisaban has two meanings: [ 1] a grant [ that is ] sufficient [ and ] abundant. This meaning is adapted from the following idiom: اَحسبتُ فُلاناً ای اَعطَیتُہ، ما یَکفِیہِ حَتَٰی قَالَ حَسبِی 'ahsabtu means that I gave him so much so that it was sufficient for him until he yelled out "enough, this is too much for me"; and [ 2] the second meaning 'balancing of account' and 'comparing'. Sayyidna Mujahid ؓ says that in this context the verse purports to say that the Divine grant will be given gratis to the inmates of Paradise. The grant will be in keeping with the degree of sincerity as reported in authentic Traditions. The deeds of the noble Companions are greater than the deeds of the rest of the Ummah. If a Companion were to spend in the way of Allah one mudd = [ 815, 39 grams ] and a non-Companion were to spend to the equivalent of Mount Uhud, the Companion's one mudd will weigh heavier than the mountain. And Allah knows best!

Every year we experience periods of calm weather followed by gales bringing clouds and rainstorms. Soon it is clearly visible that where the land was desolate, a new world has sprung up. This event of nature indicates the possibility of the Hereafter. This shows in symbolic fashion that the emergence of the Hereafter from the present world is just as possible as the emergence of lush green foliage from dry barren land.