(19–24) “Can one who knows that what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth be like one who is blind? Only people of understanding take heed: * those who fulfill Allah’s covenant and do not break the solemn pledge; * those who maintain what Allah has commanded to be maintained, stand in awe of their Lord, and fear a terrible reckoning; * those who patiently persevere, seeking their Lord’s Countenance, establish prayer, spend privately and publicly from what We have provided them, and repel evil with good. Such people will have the ultimate abode: * Gardens of everlasting residence, which they will enter along with the righteous among their forebears, spouses, and descendants. The angels will enter upon them through every gate, * saying, ‘Peace be upon you for your patience. How excellent is the ultimate abode!’”
Allah Most High says, distinguishing those who possess knowledge and act upon it from their opposites: “Can one who knows that what has been sent down to you from your Lord is the truth”—and therefore understands and acts upon it—“be like one who is blind,” who neither knows the truth nor acts upon it? The difference between them is as vast as that between heaven and earth. A servant should therefore take heed and reflect upon which of the two groups enjoys the better condition and finer end, then choose its path and follow in the footsteps of its people. Yet not everyone takes heed of what benefits or harms them.
“Only people of understanding take heed,” meaning those of sound minds and mature judgment, who are the very core of humanity and the choicest of Adam’s children. If you ask how they are described, you will find no finer description than that given by Allah in His words:
“Those who fulfill Allah’s covenant”—the covenant He enjoined upon them and to which He bound them, namely, that they uphold His rights fully and completely. Fulfilling it means rendering those rights in full, completing them, and being sincere in doing so. “And” part of fulfilling them completely is that they “do not break the solemn pledge,” meaning the covenant they made with Allah. This includes every solemn compact, covenant, oath, and vow by which people bind themselves. A servant can therefore be among the people of understanding who receive the immense reward only by discharging these obligations in full, neither breaking nor diminishing them.
“Those who maintain what Allah has commanded to be maintained.” This applies generally to everything Allah has commanded people to maintain: faith in Him and His Messenger, love for Him and His Messenger, submission to worshipping Him alone without partner, and obedience to His Messenger.
They maintain ties with their fathers and mothers by treating them dutifully in word and deed and never mistreating them. They maintain ties with relatives and kin by treating them well in word and deed. They also uphold the relationships between themselves and their spouses, companions, and those in their possession by rendering in full all their religious and worldly rights.
What causes a servant to maintain what Allah has commanded to be maintained is awe of Allah and fear of the Day of Reckoning. Thus He says: “They stand in awe of their Lord,” meaning that they fear Him.
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Their fear of Him and of standing before Him on the Day of Reckoning prevents them from daring to disobey Allah or falling short in anything He has commanded, as they fear punishment and hope for reward.
“Those who patiently persevere” in carrying out what they are commanded, refraining from and distancing themselves from what is prohibited, and bearing Allah’s painful decrees without resentment.
This is on condition that their patience is exercised while “seeking their Lord’s Countenance,” not for any other corrupt aim or purpose. This is the beneficial patience by which a servant restrains himself, seeking his Lord’s pleasure, hoping to draw near to Him and obtain His reward. This patience is a distinctive quality of the believers. As for the patience common to all people, whose utmost purpose is merely to display fortitude and whose final end is boasting, it may be displayed by the righteous and the wicked alike, and by believers and unbelievers. It is not truly praiseworthy.
“They establish prayer” with all its pillars, conditions, and complementary elements, both outwardly and inwardly. “They spend privately and publicly from what We have provided them.” This includes obligatory expenditures, such as obligatory almsgiving and expiations, as well as voluntary expenditures. They spend wherever a need calls for spending, both privately and publicly. “They repel evil with good,” meaning that when someone wrongs them in word or deed, they do not respond in kind but instead treat that person with kindness.
They give to those who withhold from them, pardon those who wrong them, maintain ties with those who sever ties with them, and show kindness to those who mistreat them. If this is how they respond to an offender, how then do you suppose they treat one who has done them no wrong?!
“Such people”—those whose sublime qualities and fine virtues have been described—“will have the ultimate abode.” He explains it with His words: “Gardens of everlasting residence,” meaning a permanent dwelling from which they will never depart or desire any transfer. They see no destination beyond them worth seeking, for these Gardens contain such bliss and joy as represent the culmination of every aspiration and aim.
Part of their perfect bliss and delight will be that “they will enter them along with the righteous among their forebears,” both male and female, “and their spouses,” meaning a husband or wife, as well as their peers and counterparts, companions and loved ones, for these are included among their spouses and descendants. “The angels will enter upon them through every gate,” congratulating them upon their safety and the honor Allah has bestowed upon them, and saying: “Peace be upon you.” This means that safety and Allah’s greeting have descended upon them and become theirs. This necessarily entails the removal of everything undesirable and the attainment of everything beloved.
“For your patience,” meaning that their patience brought them to these lofty stations and precious Gardens. “How excellent is the ultimate abode!”
Anyone who sincerely seeks his own good and values his soul should therefore strive against it, in the hope that it may acquire a share of the qualities possessed by people of understanding and thereby attain this abode—the longing of souls and joy of spirits, encompassing every pleasure and delight. For such a reward let the workers work, and for it let the competitors compete.