God, exalted be He, says: “Verily, the friends of Allah shall have no fear upon them, nor shall they grieve—those who believe and remain mindful of Him. For them are glad tidings in the life of this world and in the Hereafter. No one can alter the words of Allah; that is the supreme triumph.”
Explanation
The author—may Allah have mercy on him—opens the chapter on the extraordinary gifts (karamāt) bestowed upon the saints with this very verse: “Verily, the friends of Allah shall have no fear upon them nor shall they grieve—those who believe and remain mindful of Him.” We have already noted that Allah Himself defines His friends (awliyāʾ) as none other than the believing, God-fearing servants: “those who believe and remain mindful of Him.”
From this verse Shaykh al-Islām Ibn Taymiyyah, may Allah have mercy on him, derived a concise maxim: “Whoever is a true believer and God-fearing is a friend of Allah.” Concerning such servants Allah declares: “There shall be no fear upon them nor shall they grieve”—no fear regarding what lies ahead, and no grief over what is past. Having grasped the reality of worldly life, they performed righteous deeds, believed in Allah, and were mindful of Him; thus they became His friends. The verse continues: “For them are glad tidings in the life of this world and in the Hereafter.”
Glad tidings (al-bushrā) in this world take several forms:
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A righteous dream that the believer sees himself or that is seen for him by another upright person—such as a dream in which he is given the good news of Paradise, or is shown among its people, or is beheld in a praiseworthy state. The Prophet ﷺ said that the righteous dream a believer sees or that is seen for him “is the believer’s immediate glad tiding.”
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The joy and delight one feels in obedience, so that worship becomes the coolness of one’s eyes. This is a sign of being among Allah’s friends. The Prophet ﷺ said: “Whoever is pleased by his good deed and distressed by his misdeed—that is the believer.” If you find your breast opening up when you obey Allah and tightening when you disobey Him, then rejoice—this is good news that you are one of His believing, God-fearing servants. For this reason the Prophet ﷺ said, “The coolness of my eyes has been placed in the prayer.”
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The praise, love, and good mention bestowed by the people of virtue. When you observe that upright people love you, speak well of you, and draw near to you, know that this is a glad tiding from Allah. The praise or blame of the wicked carries no weight; they possess no sound criterion and their testimony is not accepted before Allah.
Further glad tidings in this world appear when the servant is about to depart it. The angels descend upon him, saying: “Do not fear, nor grieve, but rejoice in the Paradise you were promised. We were your protectors in the worldly life and in the Hereafter. There you will have whatever your souls desire and whatever you ask for, as hospitality from One All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” Another glad tiding is given at the very moment of death: it is said to the soul, “O good and pure soul that inhabited a good and pure body, come out to the mercy and good pleasure of Allah,” whereupon the soul rejoices and is delighted.
There is also the glad tiding in the grave. When a person is asked about his Lord, his religion, and his prophet, and he answers truthfully, a caller from Heaven proclaims, “My servant has spoken the truth; spread out for him bedding from Paradise, clothe him from Paradise, and open for him a gate to Paradise.”
Still another glad tiding comes on the Day of Gathering; the angels will greet them, saying: “This is your Day, the one you were promised,” and “Rejoice in the Paradise you were promised.”
In short, the friends of Allah are granted glad tidings in both the present life and the Hereafter. We ask Allah to make us and you among them. “No one can alter the words of Allah; that is the supreme triumph.” His cosmic decrees cannot be changed by anyone, and while people of falsehood may distort the revealed words—exactly as the Jews and Christians altered their scriptures—the universal decrees remain beyond alteration. “No one can alter the words of Allah; that is the supreme triumph.”
Allah alone grants success.