until he meets Allah.” (1)

Isma‘il ibn ‘Abd al-Qahir al-Jurjani informed us; ‘Abd al-Ghafir ibn Muhammad al-Farisi narrated to us; Muhammad ibn ‘Isa al-Juludi narrated to us; Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan narrated to us; Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj narrated to us; Abu Bakr ibn Abi Shaybah narrated to us; Waki‘ narrated to us; al-A‘mash narrated to us, from al-Ma‘rur ibn Suwayd, from Abu Dharr, may Allah be pleased with him, who said: The Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “Allah, mighty and majestic, says: ‘Whoever comes with a good deed shall have ten like it, and I shall increase it; whoever comes with an evil deed, its recompense is one like it, or I may forgive. Whoever draws near to Me by a handspan, I draw near to him by a cubit; whoever draws near to Me by a cubit, I draw near to him by a fathom; whoever comes to Me walking, I come to him hastening. Whoever meets Me with sins as great as the earth, while associating nothing with Me, I shall meet him with forgiveness as great as it.’” (2)

Ibn ‘Umar said: The verse concerns good deeds other than acts of charity. As for acts of charity, they are multiplied seven hundredfold.

Regarding His saying, exalted is He: “Say, ‘Indeed, my Lord has guided me to a straight path, an upright religion’”: The people of Kufa and Syria recited it as qiyaman, with the qaf vowelled with kasrah and the ya vowelled lightly with fathah. The others recited it as qayyiman, with the qaf vowelled with fathah and the ya vowelled with kasrah and doubled. Both have the same meaning: sound and upright. It is in the accusative because the meaning is: “My Lord has guided me to an upright religion”—“the way of Abraham, inclining toward truth; and he was not among the polytheists.”

“Say, ‘Indeed, my prayer and my rites of sacrifice’”: It was said that by “rites of sacrifice” He means the sacrificial offering in Hajj and ‘umrah. Muqatil said: “My rites” means “my Hajj.” It was also said that it means: “my religion.” “And my living and my dying,” meaning: my life and my death, “are for Allah, Lord of the worlds,” meaning: He is the One who gives me life and causes me to die. It was also said: My life through righteous deeds, and my death if I die upon faith, are for Allah, Lord of the worlds. It was also said: My obedience during my life is for Allah, and my recompense after my death is from Allah, Lord of the worlds. The people of Medina recited wa-mahyay, with the ya unvowelled, and wa-mamatiya, with it vowelled with fathah. The general reading is mahyaya, with the ya vowelled with fathah, so that two unvowelled letters do not occur together.

Regarding His saying, exalted is He: “He has no partner. This is what I have been commanded, and I am the first of those who submit”: Qatadah said: “I am the first of those who submit from this community.”