(58–59) “Those who emigrated in the cause of Allah and were then killed or died—Allah will surely provide them with a good provision. Indeed, Allah is surely the best of providers. * He will surely cause them to enter an entrance with which they will be pleased. Indeed, Allah is surely All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.”

This is magnificent glad tidings for anyone who emigrates in the cause of Allah, leaving his home, homeland, children, and wealth to seek the Face of Allah and support His religion. His reward has thereby become incumbent upon Allah, whether he dies in his bed or is killed while striving in the cause of Allah. “Allah will surely provide them with a good provision” in the intermediate realm and on the Day of Resurrection, by admitting them into Paradise, which encompasses comfort and delight, beauty and beneficence, and bliss for both heart and body.

It is also possible that the meaning (1) is that the worldly provision of one who emigrates in the cause of Allah is guaranteed: an abundant and wholesome provision, whether, in Allah’s knowledge, he is to die in his bed or be killed as a martyr. In either case, his provision is guaranteed. He should therefore not suppose that leaving his home and wealth will reduce him to poverty and need, for the One who provides for him is the best of providers.

What He foretold did indeed come to pass. The earliest Emigrants left their homes, children, and wealth to support Allah’s religion, but only a short time elapsed before Allah opened lands to them and granted them authority over their people. They amassed enough of those lands’ wealth to become among the richest of people.

According to this interpretation, His words, “He will surely cause them to enter an entrance with which they will be pleased,” may refer either to the lands Allah would open to them—especially the conquest of the honored city of Makkah, which they entered in a state of contentment and joy—or to provision in the Hereafter, namely, entrance into Paradise. The verse would thus encompass both forms of provision: provision in this world and provision in the Hereafter. Its wording admits all of these meanings, and each meaning is sound; there is therefore nothing to preclude intending them all.

“Indeed, Allah is surely All-Knowing” of all matters: their outward and inward aspects, what precedes and what follows. He is “Most Forbearing”: created beings disobey Him and openly confront Him with enormities, yet despite His perfect power, He does not hasten to punish them. Rather, He continues to provide for them and bestows His bounty upon them.