(42, 43) “Those who believe and do righteous deeds—We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity—they are the inhabitants of Paradise, where they will abide forever. We shall remove all rancor from their hearts. Rivers will flow beneath them, and they will say, ‘All praise is for Allah, who guided us to this. We would never have been guided had Allah not guided us. The messengers of our Lord certainly came with the truth.’ They will be called, ‘This is Paradise, which you have inherited because of what you used to do.’”
After mentioning the punishment of the sinful wrongdoers, Allah Most High mentions the reward of the obedient. He says: “Those who believe” with their hearts “and do righteous deeds” with their limbs. Thus, they combine faith with action, outward deeds with inward deeds, and the performance of obligations with abstention from prohibitions.
Since the words “and do righteous deeds” are general and encompass all obligatory and recommended righteous deeds, some of which may be beyond a servant’s ability, Allah Most High says: “We do not burden any soul beyond its capacity”—that is, beyond what its strength can bear and without imposing anything too difficult for it. In such circumstances, a person must fear Allah to the best of his ability. If he is incapable of performing some obligations that others are capable of performing, they no longer apply to him. Allah Most High says: “Allah does not burden any soul beyond its capacity”; “Allah does not burden any soul beyond what He has given it”; “He has placed no hardship upon you in religion”; and “So fear Allah as much as you are able.” Thus, no obligation applies when one is incapable, and no prohibition applies in a case of necessity.
“They”—those characterized by faith and righteous deeds—“are the inhabitants of Paradise, where they will abide forever.” They will neither be removed from it nor desire any substitute for it, because they will see therein every kind of pleasure and every variety of desirable delight at which all aspirations come to rest, with nothing higher left to seek.
“We shall remove all rancor from their hearts.” This is part of Allah’s generosity and kindness toward the inhabitants of Paradise: He will uproot and remove the rancor that had existed in their hearts and the rivalry that had arisen between them, until they become loving brothers and devoted friends, pure-hearted toward one another.
Allah Most High says: “We shall remove all rancor from their hearts; they will be brothers upon couches, facing one another.” Allah will also bestow such honor upon them that each of them will experience delight and joy and will see no bliss greater than that which he possesses. They will thereby be safe from envy and mutual hatred, because their causes will have disappeared.
His words, “Rivers will flow beneath them,” mean that they will cause them to gush forth wherever and whenever they wish: through their palaces, through those lofty chambers, or through the gardens of Paradise, beneath those radiant gardens.
They will be rivers flowing without channels and blessings without limit. Therefore, when they see what Allah has bestowed upon them and the honor He has granted them, “they will say, ‘All praise is for Allah, who guided us to this.’” He favored them, inspired their hearts so that they believed in Him and submitted to the deeds leading to this abode, and preserved their faith and deeds until He brought them through those deeds to this abode. How excellent is the Generous Lord, who initiated His favors toward us and bestowed outward and inward blessings beyond the enumeration of those who count or the reckoning of those who calculate!
“We would never have been guided had Allah not guided us.” That is, we had no capacity within ourselves to receive guidance, had He Most High not graciously blessed us with His guidance and with following His messengers.
“The messengers of our Lord certainly came with the truth.” That is, as they enjoy the bliss of which the messengers had informed them, it becomes certainty through direct experience for them after having been certainty through knowledge [for them]. They will say: We have now witnessed and seen the fulfillment of what the messengers promised us, and everything they brought was truth known with absolute certainty, containing neither doubt nor ambiguity.
“They will be called”—by way of congratulation, honor, greeting, and respect—“This is Paradise, which you have inherited.” That is, you have become its heirs, and it has become an estate allotted to you, while the Fire was allotted to the disbelievers. You have inherited it “because of what you used to do.”
Some of the early Muslims said: “The inhabitants of Paradise were saved from the Fire by Allah’s pardon, admitted into Paradise by Allah’s mercy, and their dwellings were apportioned to them and inherited through righteous deeds—which themselves are part of His mercy, indeed, among the highest forms of His mercy.”