Meditations on Allah's Saying: "Verily, for the Muttaqûn, there will be a success (Paradise)."

All praise be to Allah and peace be upon His Messenger. I bear witness that there is no god but Allah alone who has no partner, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His Servant and Messenger.

Allah (may He be Exalted) says: "Verily, for the Muttaqûn, there will be a success (Paradise); * Gardens and vineyards, * And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age, * And a full cup (of wine). * No Laghw (dirty, false, evil talk) shall they hear therein, nor lying; * A reward from your Lord, an ample calculated gift (according to the best of their good deeds). * (From) the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is in between them, the Most Gracious, with Whom they cannot dare to speak (on the Day of Resurrection except by His Leave). * The Day that Ar-Rûh [Jibrîl (Gabriel) or another angel] and the angels will stand forth in rows, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allâh) allows, and he will speak what is right. * That is (without doubt) the True Day. So, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)! * Verily, We have warned you of a near torment - the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: I wish I would have been dust!" [Surat An-Naba': 31 - 40].

After Allah had mentioned the condition of the wretched, He mentioned the condition of the happy pious people so as a person would know his final destination for sure. The worship of a person to his Lord is not achieved but when a person seeks the mercy of his Lord and fears His Torment.

Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal (may Allah bestow mercy on his soul) said: A person should worship his Lord between fear of His Punishment and hope for His Reward.

As for Allah's Saying: "Verily, for the Muttaqûn, there will be a success (Paradise),"  Ibn `Abbas and Ad-Dahhak said: Out of His Bounty. Mujahid and Qatadah said: They have won by rescuing them from Hell-Fire.

The pious are those who avoid the punishment of Allah by adhering to His Commands and avoiding His Punishment.

Allah (Glory be to Him) told the people about that great reward when He says: "That He may admit the believing men and the believing women to Gardens under which rivers flow (i.e. Paradise) to abide therein forever, and He may expiate from them their sins; and that is with Allâh a supreme success." [Surat Al Fath: 5].

Moreover, He (Glory be to Him) says: "Verily, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them will be Gardens under which rivers flow (Paradise). That is the great success." [Surat Al Buruj: 11].

As for Allah's Saying: "Gardens and vineyards," i.e., gardens full of fruits and grapes with beautiful scenes.

As for Allah's Saying: "And young full-breasted (mature) maidens of equal age," i.e., virgins of equal ages as Allah says in Surat Al Waqi`ah: "Verily, We have created them (maidens) of special creation.* And made them virgins.* Loving (their husbands only), (and) of equal age." [Surat Al Waqi`ah: 35 - 37].

Moreover, they shall be given: "And a full cup (of wine)," as Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "The description of Paradise which the Muttaqûn (the pious) have been promised (is that) in it are rivers of water the taste and smell of which are not changed, rivers of milk of which the taste never changes, rivers of wine delicious to those who drink, and rivers of clarified honey (clear and pure), therein for them is every kind of fruit, and forgiveness from their Lord." [Surat Muhammad: 15].

The wine of the Hereafter is not like the wine of the world which causes headache and vomit to man, but Allah (Glory be to Him) cancelled that bad effect when He says: "Wherefrom they will get neither any aching of the head, nor any intoxication." [Surat Al Waqi`ah: 19].

As for Allah's Saying: "No Laghw (dirty, false, evil talk) shall they hear therein, nor lying," [Surat An-Naba': 35] they do not hear idle speech nor lie, so they do not lie nor belie one another.

Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "No Laghw (dirty, false, evil vain talk) will they hear therein, nor any sinful speech (like backbiting). * But only the saying of: Salâm! Salâm! (greetings with peace)!" [Surat Al Waqi`ah: 25 - 26].

Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "And We shall remove from their breasts any deep feeling of bitterness (that they may have). (So they will be like) brothers facing each other on thrones." [Surat Al Hijr: 467].

As for Allah's Saying: "A reward from your Lord, an ample calculated gift (according to the best of their good deeds)," they shall be rewarded by this as a reward from their Lord (Glory be to Him) for the righteous deeds which they did in the world. Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "And to Allâh belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth, that He may requite those who do evil with that which they have done (i.e. punish them in Hell), and reward those who do good, with what is best (i.e. Paradise)." [Surat An-Najm: 31].

As for Allah's Saying: "(From) the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is in between them, the Most Gracious, with Whom they cannot dare to speak (on the Day of Resurrection except by His Leave)," Allah (Glory be to Him) tells people about His Greatness and Glory and that He is the Lord of the Heavens and the earth and that is in between, and He is the Merciful Whose Mercy has widened to include everything. "(From) the Lord of the heavens and the earth, and whatsoever is in between them, the Most Gracious, with Whom they cannot dare to speak (on the Day of Resurrection except by His Leave)." No one is able to speak without His Permission as He says: "Who is he that can intercede with Him except with His Permission" [Surat Al Baqarah: 255] and as His Saying: "On the Day when it comes, no person shall speak except by His (Allâh's) Leave. Some among them will be wretched and (others) blessed." [Surat Hud: 105].

As for Allah's Saying: "The Day that Ar-Rûh [Jibrîl (Gabriel) or another angel] and the angels will stand forth in rows, they will not speak except him whom the Most Gracious (Allâh) allows, and he will speak what is right." No one will speak; neither angels nor others as Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "On that Day mankind will follow strictly (the voice of) Allâh's caller, no crookedness (that is without going to the right or left of that voice) will they show him (Allâh's caller). And all voices will be humbled for the Most Gracious (Allâh), and nothing shall you hear but the low voice of their footsteps." [Surat Taha: 108].

Commentators differed about the meaning of "soul": Some people said: They are the offspring of Adam, and it was said: Gabriel as Allah (Glory be to Him) says: "Which the trustworthy Rûh [Jibrîl (Gabriel)] has brought down * Upon your heart (O Muhammad peace be upon him) that you may be (one) of the warners," and it was said: It is the Qur'an. Others said: An angel who is entitled to come down with revelation.

Some commentators have predominated that the meaning is Gabriel (peace be upon him). "except the one for whom the Most Gracious (Allâh) has given permission and whose word is acceptable to Him."

Al Bukhari and Muslim reported on the authority of Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "And none will speak on that Day except the Messengers. And the invocation of the Messengers on that Day will be: 'O Allah, save! Save!"[1]

As for Allah's Saying: "That is (without doubt) the True Day. So, whosoever wills, let him seek a place with (or a way to) His Lord (by obeying Him in this worldly life)!" Al Qurtuby said: "Do a righteous deed for the sake of Allah and resort all these righteous deeds to Allah (Glory be to Allah) and attribute all bad things to yourself. Look at this meaning in the Prophet's saying: "All goodness is in Your Hand and evil is not from You, out of politeness with Allah.""[2][3] .

As for Allah's Saying: "Verily, We have warned you of a near torment - the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: "I wish I would have been dust!"" All actions shall be reviewed before Him: Good or bad, old and new such as Allah's Saying: "And they will find all that they did, placed before them, and your Lord treats no one with injustice." [Surat Al Kahf: 49] and as Allah's Saying: "On that Day man will be informed of what he sent forward (of his evil or good deeds), and what he left behind (of his good or evil traditions)." [Surat Al Kahf: 13].

Allah described that punishment of nearness because any coming thing is near. Some Commentators said: It includes the torment of the Hereafter, death, and the Day of Recompense because when a person dies, he shall be held accountable; and if he is one of the inhabitants of Paradise, he shall see his seat there and if he is one of the inhabitants of Hell, he shall see his seat there. [4]

As for Allah's Saying: "Verily, We have warned you of a near torment - the Day when man will see that (the deeds) which his hands have sent forth, and the disbeliever will say: "I wish I would have been dust!"" On that day, a disbeliever wishes to turn into dust and wishes that he have not been created because he had seen the torment of Allah for his bad deeds.

It was said: He shall wish that when Allah judges justly between animals to the extent that He retaliates for the sheep which does not have a horn from the horny sheep.

When He finishes retaliation, He says to them: "Be dust." and they would be, then disbelievers shall say: "I wish I would have been dust!"[5]

Ibn Jarir mentioned in his Tafsir some narrations from the Companions such as `Abdullah ibn `Umar and Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with them) who said that Allah (Glory be to Him) shall judge between these animals on the Day of Recompense then would say to them: Be dust, then disbelievers shall say: "I wish I would have been dust!"[6]

Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds, and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and Companions!