in the least.” (Qur’an 52:21)

(1) That is: Allah, exalted be He, raises the rank of a believer’s children in Paradise to the rank of their parents—even though the children did not do what their parents did—without diminishing anything from the parents’ deeds, so that He may reunite them at the highest level and gladden their eyes by gathering them together with their offspring.

Al-Thawri narrated—from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas—who said: “Indeed Allah elevates the offspring of the believer to his station, even though they are beneath him in deeds, so as to delight his eye through them.” He then recited: “And those who believed and whose offspring followed them in faith—We shall unite their offspring with them, and We shall not diminish anything of their deeds in the least.” (Qur’an 52:21)

Ibn Jarir and Ibn Abi Hatim transmitted this in their Tafsirs from al-Thawri as a mawqūf report; Ibn Jarir likewise narrated it from Shuʿbah, from ʿAmr ibn Murrah, from Saʿid, from Ibn ʿAbbas, also mawqūf. Al-Bazzar recorded it in his Musnad, and Ibn Marduyah in his Tafsir, through the chain of Qays ibn al-Rabiʿ, from ʿAmr, from Saʿid, from Ibn ʿAbbas, from the Prophet ﷺ, yet the mawqūf version related by al-Thawri and Shuʿbah is the more reliable—and Allah knows best. (2)

Ibn Abi Hatim likewise related—through al-Layth, from Ḥabib ibn Abi Thabit, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas—regarding this verse: “They are the offspring of the believer who die upon faith. If their fathers’ stations are higher than theirs, they will be joined to their fathers, and nothing will be subtracted from the deeds they themselves performed.”

Al-Tabarani said: Ḥaddathana al-Ḥusayn ibn Ishaq al-Tustari (3), ḥaddathana Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Rahman ibn Ghazwan, ḥaddathana Sharik, from Salim al-Afṭas, from Saʿid ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbas—I think from the Prophet ﷺ—who said:

“When a man enters Paradise he asks about his parents, his wife, and his children. It will be said, ‘They did not reach your rank.’ He will say, ‘My Lord, I worked both for myself and for them.’ Thereupon they will be ordered to be joined to him.” Ibn ʿAbbas then recited: “And those who believed and whose offspring followed them in faith…” to the end of the verse. (1) (4)

Al-ʿAwfi narrated from Ibn ʿAbbas regarding this verse: “Those whose offspring attained faith and acted in obedience to Me—I shall, by virtue of their faith, cause them to follow them into Paradise; and their young children will likewise be joined to them.”

This interpretation is one of the scholarly opinions on the meaning of “offspring” (dhurriyya) here: are they only the minors, or does the term include both minors and adults? He cites, for example: “And, of his progeny, David and Solomon …” (Qur’an 6:84); and His words: “The progeny of those We carried with Noah” (Qur’an 17:3); and: “A progeny, some of whom are from others” (Qur’an 3:34).