Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (554)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

“And those who give what they give while their hearts are fearful because they will return to their Lord—those are the ones who hasten to good deeds, and they are foremost in them. We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity. With Us is a Record that speaks the truth, and they will not be wronged.”

“And those who give what they give” means that they exert themselves in fulfilling what they have been commanded, doing everything within their ability—prayer, zakat, pilgrimage, charity, and other deeds. Yet, despite this, “their hearts are fearful because they will return to their Lord.” That is, they fear the moment when their deeds are presented to Him and they stand before Him, lest their deeds fail to save them from Allah’s punishment. This is because they know their Lord and recognize the many forms of worship that are His due.

“Those are the ones who hasten to good deeds.” That is, in the arena of competing to perform righteous deeds, their overriding concern is whatever draws them nearer to Allah, and their resolve is directed toward whatever will save them from His punishment. Whenever they hear of any good deed or an opportunity to perform one presents itself, they seize it and hasten to it. They see Allah’s allies and chosen servants ahead of them, to their right, and to their left, hastening to every good deed and competing for nearness to their Lord, so they compete with them.

One who hastens in a race to outstrip others may get ahead through earnest resolve and exertion, or may fail to do so through shortcoming. Allah Most High therefore informs us that these belong to the former category, saying:

“And they are foremost in them”—that is, in good deeds. They have reached their summit and raced with the leading vanguard. Moreover, Allah’s prior decree of blessedness had already gone forth for them: that they would be among the foremost.

After mentioning their haste toward good deeds and their precedence in them, someone might imagine that what is required of them and others is beyond their ability or unduly difficult. Allah Most High therefore informs us that He does not burden “any soul beyond its capacity”—that is, He burdens it only with what it can bear while still having strength to spare, not with anything that exhausts its entire strength. This is out of His mercy and wisdom, to make the path leading to Him easy and to ensure that the road traveled by those journeying to Him remains thronged at all times.

“With Us is a Record that speaks the truth.” This is the primordial Record, which contains everything and corresponds precisely to every event that occurs; it therefore speaks the truth. “And they will not be wronged”: no good deed of theirs will be diminished, nor will their sins or punishment be increased.

﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا وَقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ * أُولَئِكَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ وَهُمْ لَهَا سَابِقُونَ * وَلا نُكَلِّفُ نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنْطِقُ بِالْحَقِّ وَهُمْ لا يُظْلَمُونَ﴾ . ﴿وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا﴾ أي: يعطون من أنفسهم مما أمروا به، ما آتوا من كل ما يقدرون عليه، من صلاة، وزكاة، وحج، وصدقة، وغير ذلك، ﴿و﴾ مع هذا ﴿قُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ﴾ أي: خائفة ﴿أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ﴾ أي: خائفة عند عرض أعمالها عليه، والوقوف بين يديه، أن تكون أعمالهم غير منجية من عذاب الله، لعلمهم بربهم، وما يستحقه من أصناف العبادات. ﴿أُولَئِكَ يُسَارِعُونَ فِي الْخَيْرَاتِ﴾ أي: في ميدان التسارع في أفعال الخير، همهم ما يقربهم إلى الله، وإرادتهم مصروفة فيما ينجي من عذابه، فكل خير سمعوا به، أو سنحت لهم الفرصة إليه، انتهزوه وبادروه، قد نظروا إلى أولياء الله وأصفيائه، أمامهم، ويمنة، ويسرة، يسارعون في كل خير، وينافسون في الزلفى عند ربهم، فنافسوهم. ولما كان السابق لغيره المسارع قد يسبق لجده وتشميره، وقد لا يسبق لتقصيره، أخبر تعالى أن هؤلاء من القسم السابقين فقال: ﴿وَهُمْ لَهَا﴾ أي: للخيرات ﴿سَابِقُونَ﴾ قد بلغوا ذروتها، وتباروا هم والرعيل الأول، ومع هذا، قد سبقت لهم من الله سابقة السعادة، أنهم سابقون. ولما ذكر مسارعتهم إلى الخيرات وسبقهم إليها، ربما وهم واهم أن المطلوب منهم ومن غيرهم أمر غير مقدور أو متعسر، أخبر تعالى أنه لا يكلف ﴿نَفْسًا إِلا وُسْعَهَا﴾ أي: بقدر ما تسعه، ويفضل من قوتها عنه، ليس مما يستوعب قوتها، رحمة منه وحكمة، لتيسير طريق الوصول إليه، ولتعمر جادة السالكين في كل وقت إليه. ﴿وَلَدَيْنَا كِتَابٌ يَنْطِقُ بِالْحَقِّ﴾ وهو الكتاب الأول، الذي فيه كل شيء، وهو يطابق كل واقع يكون، فلذلك كان حقا، ﴿وَهُمْ لا يُظْلَمُونَ﴾ أي لا ينقص من إحسانهم، ولا يزداد في عقوبتهم وعصيانهم.