(59–63) “But there came after them successors who neglected prayer and followed their desires, so they will meet perdition—except those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds. They will enter Paradise and will not be wronged in the least: the Gardens of Eden, which the Most Merciful has promised His servants in the unseen. His promise is sure to be fulfilled. There they will hear no idle talk, but only words of peace, and they will have their provision there morning and evening. That is the Paradise We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who were mindful of Allah.”
After Allah Most High mentioned these prophets ⦗497⦘—the sincere (1), who pursued their Lord’s pleasure and turned penitently to Him—He mentioned those who came after them and altered what they had been commanded to uphold. Successors arose after them who regressed and turned backward. They neglected the prayer they had been commanded to observe and establish, treating it carelessly and letting it go to waste. If they neglected prayer—the pillar of the religion, the measure of faith and sincerity toward the Lord of all worlds, the most emphatically required deed, and the finest virtue—they would be still more neglectful of everything else in their religion and even more ready to cast it aside.
The cause of this was that they followed their own desires and wishes. Their concerns thus became focused upon those desires, which they placed ahead of Allah’s rights. Consequently, they neglected His rights and pursued their own desires: whenever something they desired presented itself, they secured it and indulged in it however they could.
“So they will meet perdition”—that is, severe and multiplied punishment. Allah Most High then made an exception, saying, “except those who repent” of polytheism, religious innovations, and sins, giving them up, regretting them, and firmly resolving never to return to them; “believe” in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day; “and do righteous deeds”—namely, deeds that Allah has prescribed through His messengers, when performed for His sake. “They”—those who combine repentance, faith, and righteous deeds—“will enter Paradise,” which contains everlasting bliss, wholesome life, and nearness to the Most Generous Lord, “and will not be wronged in the least” concerning their deeds. Rather, they will find them complete, their rewards granted in full and multiplied many times over.
He then explained that the Paradise He promised them is unlike any other garden. It is the Gardens of Eden—that is, gardens of perpetual residence, with no departure, change, or passing away—because of their vastness and the abundance of good, joy, delight, and happiness they contain.
“Which the Most Merciful has promised His servants in the unseen.” That is, the Gardens promised by the Most Merciful. He associated them with His name “the Most Merciful” because they contain mercy and benevolence that no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and that has never occurred to the heart of [any human being]. Allah Most High also called Paradise His mercy, saying, “As for those whose faces turn bright, they will be in Allah’s mercy, abiding therein forever.” Furthermore, associating Paradise with His mercy indicates that its joy will endure and that it will remain as long as His mercy remains, for Paradise is an effect and necessary consequence of that mercy.
The servants intended in this verse are His servants in respect of His divinity: those who worshipped Him and adhered to His revealed laws, so that servitude became a defining quality of theirs, as in His words, “The servants of the Most Merciful,” and similar passages. This is unlike those who are merely His owned servants but do not worship Him. Although they are servants under His lordship—because He created them, provided for them, and governs their affairs—they are not among His servants in respect of His divinity, which is the voluntary servitude for which a person is praised. Their servitude is one of compulsion, for which they merit no praise.
His words “in the unseen” may be linked to “the Most Merciful has promised.” The meaning would then be that Allah promised the Gardens to them while they remained unseen: they had neither witnessed nor seen them, yet they believed in them, affirmed their unseen reality, and strove as they deserved to be striven for. If they had seen them, they would have sought them still more earnestly, desired them still more intensely, and striven still harder for them. This interpretation praises them for their faith in the unseen, which is beneficial faith.
The phrase may instead be linked to “His servants,” meaning those who worshipped Him while He was unseen by them and they did not see Him. Such was their worship even though they had not seen Him; had they seen Him, they would have worshipped Him still more, turned to Him more fully, loved Him more deeply, and yearned for Him more intensely.
It may also mean that these Gardens, which the Most Merciful has promised His servants, are among those matters that no description can encompass and that no one knows except Allah. This arouses longing for them, while the general description stirs souls and impels even the complacent to seek them. It would then resemble His words: “No soul knows what delights have been hidden away for them as a reward for what they used to do.” All these meanings are sound and established, but the first possibility is more likely, as indicated by His words, “His promise is sure to be fulfilled.” It must inevitably come to pass, for He never breaks His promise, and He is the most truthful of speakers.
“There they will hear no idle talk”—that is, no vain speech that has no benefit, nor anything sinful. They will hear no insults, faultfinding, words involving disobedience to Allah, or distressing speech—“but only words of peace”: words free of every defect, including the remembrance of Allah, greetings, joyful speech, glad tidings, pleasant conversations exchanged among brethren, the address of the Most Merciful, the moving voices of the houris, angels, and youths, enrapturing melodies, and mellifluous words. For this realm is the Abode of Peace, and it contains nothing but complete peace in every respect.
“And they will have their provision there morning and evening.” That is, their provisions of food, drink, and every kind of pleasure will be continuously available wherever they seek them and at any time they desire. Part of their perfection, delight, and beauty is that they come at known times—“morning and evening”—so that their impact is greater and their benefit complete.
That is the Paradise We have described: “which We shall give as an inheritance to those of Our servants who were mindful of Allah.” That is, We shall give it as an inheritance to the God-fearing and make it their permanent home, from which they will never depart and which they will never desire to exchange for another. As Allah Most High says: “Hasten toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden as vast as the heavens and earth, prepared for those mindful of Allah.”