Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (756)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(19–20) “Allah is Most Subtle and Kind toward His servants. He provides for whomever He wills, and He is the All-Powerful, the Almighty. * Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter, We shall increase his harvest; and whoever desires the harvest of this world, We shall give him some of it, but he will have no share in the Hereafter.”

Allah Most High tells of His subtle kindness toward His servants so that they may know and love Him and seek His subtle kindness and generosity. His subtle kindness—one of His attributes—means that He perceives innermost thoughts and secrets and brings His servants, especially the believers, to what is good for them in ways they neither know nor expect.

Part of His subtle kindness toward His believing servant is that He guides him to goodness in ways that would never occur to him, by facilitating the means that lead to it. These include the innate disposition He has given him to love the truth and submit to it, and Allah Most High inspiring His noble angels to make His believing servants steadfast, encourage them toward goodness, and place in their hearts such an appreciation of the truth’s beauty as will induce them to follow it.

Part of His subtle kindness is that He commanded the believers to perform communal acts of worship, through which their resolve is strengthened, their aspirations are stirred, and they compete ⦗757⦘ with and emulate one another in pursuing and desiring goodness.

Part of His subtle kindness is that He appoints for His servant every means that restrains him and stands between him and sin. Indeed, when Allah Most High knows that worldly life, wealth, leadership, or other things for which worldly people compete would cut His servant off from obedience to Him, cause him to become heedless of Him, or lead him into disobedience, He turns those things away from him and restricts his provision. He therefore says here: “He provides for whomever He wills,” as His wisdom and subtle kindness require. “And He is the All-Powerful, the Almighty”: all power belongs to Him, and no created being possesses any ability or power except through Him. He is the One to whom all things submit.

Allah Most High then says: “Whoever desires the harvest of the Hereafter”—that is, its reward and recompense, and therefore believes in it, accepts it as true, and strives for it as it ought to be striven for—“We shall increase his harvest,” by multiplying his deeds and their reward many times over. Allah Most High likewise says: “But whoever desires the Hereafter and strives for it as it ought to be striven for, while being a believer—it is they whose striving will be appreciated.” Even so, his allotted share of this world will inevitably come to him.

“And whoever desires the harvest of this world”—meaning that this world is his aim and the ultimate object of his pursuit, so he sends nothing ahead for his Hereafter, neither hopes for its reward nor fears its punishment—“We shall give him some of it,” namely, the share allotted to him; “but he will have no share in the Hereafter.” He is deprived of Paradise and its bliss and has deserved the Fire and its torment.

This verse is similar to the statement of Allah Most High: “Whoever desires the life of this world and its adornments, We shall repay them in full for their deeds therein, and they will suffer no diminution therein,” and so on through the following verses.

﴿١٩-٢٠﴾ ﴿اللَّهُ لَطِيفٌ بِعِبَادِهِ يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ وَهُوَ الْقَوِيُّ الْعَزِيزُ * مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الآخِرَةِ نَزِدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ نَصِيبٍ﴾ . يخبر تعالى بلطفه بعباده ليعرفوه ويحبوه، ويتعرضوا للطفه وكرمه، واللطف من أوصافه تعالى معناه: الذي يدرك الضمائر والسرائر، الذي يوصل عباده -وخصوصا المؤمنين- إلى ما فيه الخير لهم من حيث لا يعلمون ولا يحتسبون. فمن لطفه بعبده المؤمن، أن هداه إلى الخير هداية لا تخطر بباله، بما يسر له من الأسباب الداعية إلى ذلك، من فطرته على محبة الحق والانقياد له وإيزاعه تعالى لملائكته الكرام، أن يثبتوا عباده المؤمنين، ويحثوهم على الخير، ويلقوا في قلوبهم من تزيين الحق ما يكون داعيا لاتباعه. ومن لطفه أن أمر المؤمنين، بالعبادات الاجتماعية، التي بها تقوى عزائمهم وتنبعث هممهم، ويحصل منهم التنافس ⦗٧٥٧⦘ على الخير والرغبة فيه، واقتداء بعضهم ببعض. ومن لطفه، أن قيض لعبده كل سبب يعوقه ويحول بينه وبين المعاصي، حتى إنه تعالى إذا علم أن الدنيا والمال والرياسة ونحوها مما يتنافس فيه أهل الدنيا، تقطع عبده عن طاعته، أو تحمله على الغفلة عنه، أو على معصية صرفها عنه، وقدر عليه رزقه، ولهذا قال هنا: ﴿يَرْزُقُ مَنْ يَشَاءُ﴾ بحسب اقتضاء حكمته ولطفه ﴿وَهُوَ الْقَوِيُّ الْعَزِيزُ﴾ الذي له القوة كلها، فلا حول ولا قوة لأحد من المخلوقين إلا به، الذي دانت له جميع الأشياء. ثم قال تعالى: ﴿مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الآخِرَةِ﴾ أي: أجرها وثوابها، فآمن بها وصدق، وسعى لها سعيها ﴿نزدْ لَهُ فِي حَرْثِهِ﴾ بأن نضاعف عمله وجزاءه أضعافا كثيرة، كما قال تعالى: ﴿وَمَنْ أَرَادَ الآخِرَةَ وَسَعَى لَهَا سَعْيَهَا وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَئِكَ كَانَ سَعْيُهُمْ مَشْكُورًا﴾ ومع ذلك، فنصيبه من الدنيا لا بد أن يأتيه. ﴿وَمَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ حَرْثَ الدُّنْيَا﴾ بأن: كانت الدنيا هي مقصوده وغاية مطلوبه، فلم يقدم لآخرته، ولا رجا ثوابها، ولم يخش عقابها. ﴿نُؤْتِهِ مِنْهَا﴾ نصيبه الذي قسم له، ﴿وَمَا لَهُ فِي الآخِرَةِ مِنْ نَصِيبٍ﴾ قد حرم الجنة ونعيمها، واستحق النار وجحيمها. وهذه الآية، شبيهة بقوله تعالى: ﴿مَنْ كَانَ يُرِيدُ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَزِينَتَهَا نُوَفِّ إِلَيْهِمْ أَعْمَالَهُمْ فِيهَا وَهُمْ فِيهَا لا يُبْخَسُونَ﴾ إلى آخر الآيات.