(9–10) “On the Day He gathers you for the Day of Gathering—that will be the Day of Mutual Loss and Gain. Whoever believes in Allah and does righteous deeds, He will erase their misdeeds and admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow, abiding therein forever. That is the supreme triumph.”

That is: Remember the Day of Gathering, when Allah will gather the first and the last, make them stand at a tremendous and terrifying station, and inform them of what they did. At that time, the distinctions and disparities among creation will become manifest. Some will be raised to the loftiest heights, in lofty chambers and elevated dwellings containing every pleasure and all that is desired. Others will be brought down to the lowest of the low—the abode of anxiety, distress, sorrow, and severe torment. This will be the outcome of what they sent ahead for themselves and put forward during their lifetimes. Hence He said: “That will be the Day of Mutual Loss and Gain.”

That is, the loss and gain, and the disparity among creation, will become manifest on that Day. The believers will gain at the expense of the defiantly disobedient, while the evildoers will realize that they stood upon no truth whatsoever and that they themselves are the losers. It is as though the question were asked: What brings about success or misery, bliss or torment?

Allah Most High then stated the causes of these outcomes: “Whoever believes in Allah”—with complete faith encompassing everything in which Allah has commanded belief—“and does righteous deeds,” both obligatory and voluntary, fulfilling the rights owed to Allah and those owed to His servants, “He will admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow.” Therein is all that souls desire, eyes delight in, spirits choose, and hearts yearn for; there one will find the ultimate fulfillment of every desire. “Abiding therein forever. That is the supreme triumph.”