“Our command is but one, as swift as the blink of an eye. We have indeed destroyed those like you; is there anyone who will take heed? Everything they did is recorded in the written records, and every matter, small or great, is inscribed. Indeed, those mindful of Allah will be amid Gardens and rivers, in a seat of honor in the presence of an All-Powerful King.”

“Our command is but one, as swift as the blink of an eye.” When He wills something, He says to it, “Be,” and it comes to be just as He wills—in the blink of an eye, without resistance or difficulty.

“We have indeed destroyed those like you”—among the former nations, who acted as you have acted and rejected the truth as you have rejected it—“so is there anyone who will take heed?” That is, anyone who will remember and recognize that Allah’s way with earlier and later peoples is one and the same, and that just as His wisdom required the destruction of those wicked people, these people are like them, with no difference between the two groups.

“Everything they did is recorded in the written records.” That is, all their good and evil deeds are recorded concerning them in the records of divine decree. “And every matter, small or great, is inscribed”—that is, set down and recorded in writing.

This is the true nature of divine ordainment and predestination: Allah Most High has known all things and inscribed them with Him in the Preserved Tablet. Whatever Allah wills comes to pass, and whatever He does not will does not come to pass. Whatever befalls a person could never have missed them, and whatever misses them could never have befallen them.

“Indeed, those mindful of Allah”—by obeying His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and who guard themselves against associating partners with Him and against major and minor sins—

“will be amid Gardens and rivers.” That is, in Gardens of bliss containing what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has never occurred to any human heart: lush trees, flowing rivers, lofty palaces, elegant dwellings, delicious foods and drinks, beautiful heavenly maidens, radiant meadows in the Gardens, the pleasure of the Sovereign Judge, and the triumph of nearness to Him. Hence He says, “in a seat of honor in the presence of an All-Powerful King.”

After this, do not ask about the honor and generosity their Lord will bestow upon them, or the favor and grace with which He will continually provide them. May Allah make us among them and not deprive us, because of the evil within us, of the good that is with Him.

This completes the commentary on the surah beginning “The Hour Has Drawn Near.” All praise and thanks are due to Allah.

Commentary on Sūrat al-Rahmān (The Most Merciful)

[It is] Meccan.