14:23 Ibrahim (Abraham)

ولما ذكر عقاب الظالمين ذكر ثواب الطائعين فقال: { وَأُدْخِلَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ } أي: قاموا بالدين، قولا، وعملا، واعتقادا { جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ } فيها من اللذات والشهوات ما لا عين رأت، ولا أذن سمعت، ولا خطر على قلب بشر، { خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ } أي: لا بحولهم وقوتهم بل بحول الله وقوته { تَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلَامٌ } أي: يحيي بعضهم بعضا بالسلام والتحية والكلام الطيب.

ثم لما ذكر تعالى مآل الأشقياء وما صاروا إليه من الخزي والنكال وأن خطيبهم إبليس عطف بمآل السعداء فقال " وأدخل الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات جنات تجري من تحتها الأنهار " سارحة فيها حيث ساروا وأين ساروا " خالدين فيها " ماكثين أبدا لا يحولون ولا يزولون " بإذن ربهم تحيتهم فيها سلام " كما قال تعالى " حتى إذا جاءوها وفتحت أبوابها وقال لهم خزنتها سلام عليكم " وقال تعالى " والملائكة يدخلون عليهم من كل باب سلام عليكم " وقال تعالى " ويلقون فيها تحية وسلاما " وقال تعالى " دعواهم فيها سبحانك اللهم وتحيتهم فيها سلام وآخر دعواهم أن الحمد لله رب العالمين ".

Shaytan disowns His Followers on the Day of Resurrection

Allah narrates to us what Iblis will say to his followers after Allah finishes with the judgement between His servants, sending the believers to the gardens of Paradise and the disbelievers to the lows (of the Fire). Iblis, may Allah curse him, will stand and address the latter, in order to add depression to their depression, sorrow to their sorrow and grief to their grief. He will declare,

إِنَّ اللَّهَ وَعَدَكُمْ وَعْدَ الْحَقِّ

`(Verily, Allah promised you a promise of truth.) by the words of His Messengers that if you follow them, you will gain safety and deliverance. Truly, Allah's promise was true and correct news, while I promised you then betrayed you.' Allah said in another Ayah,

يَعِدُهُمْ وَيُمَنِّيهِمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمْ الشَّيْطَـنُ إِلاَّ غُرُوراً

(He (Shaytan) makes promises to them, and arouses in them false desires; and Shaytan's promises are nothing but deceptions.) 4:120

وَمَا كَانَ لِىَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّن سُلْطَـنٍ

(I had no authority over you) Shaytan will say, `I had no proof for what I called you to, nor evidence for what I promised you,

إِلاَّ أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَاسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِى

(except that I called you, and you responded to me.) even though the Messengers establish the proof and unequivocal evidences against you and affirmed the truth of what they were sent to you with. But you disobeyed the Messengers and ended up earning this fate,

فَلاَ تَلُومُونِى

(So blame me not,) today,

وَلُومُواْ أَنفُسَكُمْ

(but blame yourselves.), because it is your fault for defying the proofs and following me in the falsehood that I called you to.' Shaytan will say next,

مَّآ أَنَاْ بِمُصْرِخِكُمْ

(I cannot help you), I cannot benefit, save, or deliver you from what you are suffering,

وَمَآ أَنتُمْ بِمُصْرِخِىَّ

(nor can you help me.), nor can you save me and deliver me from the torment and punishment I am suffering,

إِنِّى كَفَرْتُ بِمَآ أَشْرَكْتُمُونِ مِن قَبْلُ

(I deny your former act of associating me (Shaytan) as a partner with Allah.) or because you associated me with Allah before,' according to Qatadah. Ibn Jarir commented; "I deny being a partner with Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored." This opinion is the most plausible, for Allah said in other Ayat,

وَمَنْ أَضَلُّ مِمَّن يَدْعُو مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ مَن لاَّ يَسْتَجِيبُ لَهُ إِلَى يَوْمِ الْقِيَـمَةِ وَهُمْ عَن دُعَآئِهِمْ غَـفِلُونَ - وَإِذَا حُشِرَ النَّاسُ كَانُواْ لَهُمْ أَعْدَآءً وَكَانُواْ بِعِبَادَتِهِمْ كَـفِرِينَ

(And who is more astray than one who calls on others besides Allah, such as will not answer him till the Day of Resurrection, and who are (even) unaware of their calls to them And when mankind are gathered, they will become their enemies and will deny their worshipping.)46:5-6 and,

كَلاَّ سَيَكْفُرُونَ بِعِبَـدَتِهِمْ وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدّاً

(Nay, but they (the so-called gods) will deny their worship of them, and become opponents to them.)19:82 Allah said next,

إِنَّ الظَّـلِمِينَ

(Verily, the wrongdoers), who deviate from truth and follow falsehood, will earn a painful torment. It appears that this part of the Ayah narrates the speech that Shaytan will deliver to the people of the Fire after they enter it, as we stated. `Amir Ash-Sha`bi said, "On the Day of Resurrection, two speakers will address the people. Allah the Exalted will say to `Isa, son of Maryam,

أَءَنتَ قُلتَ لِلنَّاسِ اتَّخِذُونِى وَأُمِّىَ إِلَـهَيْنِ مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ

(Did you say unto men: "Worship me and my mother as two gods besides Allah") 5:116 until,

قَالَ اللَّهُ هَـذَا يَوْمُ يَنفَعُ الصَّـدِقِينَ صِدْقُهُمْ

(Allah will say: "This is a Day on which the truthful will profit from their truth.")5:119 Shaytan, may Allah curse him, will stand and address the people,

وَمَا كَانَ لِىَ عَلَيْكُمْ مِّن سُلْطَـنٍ إِلاَّ أَن دَعَوْتُكُمْ فَاسْتَجَبْتُمْ لِى

(I had no authority over you except that I called you, and you responded to me.) Allah next mentioned the final destination of the miserable ones, who earned the disgrace and torment and having to listen to Shaytan address them, then He mentioned the final destination of the happy ones,

وَأُدْخِلَ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَاتِ جَنَّـتٍ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الأَنْهَـرُ

(And those who believed and did righteous deeds, will be made to enter Gardens under which rivers flow,) wherever they wish them to flow and wherever they may be,

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ

(to dwell therein for ever,) and will never transfer or be transferred from it,

بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ تَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلَـمٌ

(with the permission of their Lord. Their greeting therein will be: "Salam (peace!). ") Allah said in other Ayat,

حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءُوهَا وَفُتِحَتْ أَبْوَبُهَا وَقَالَ لَهُمْ خَزَنَتُهَا سَلَـمٌ عَلَيْكُـمْ

(Till, when they reach it, and its gates will be opened and its keepers will say: "Salamun `Alaykum (peace be upon you!)") 39:73

وَالمَلَـئِكَةُ يَدْخُلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مِّن كُلِّ بَابٍسَلَـمٌ عَلَيْكُمُ

(And angels shall enter unto them from every gate (saying): "Salamun `Alaykum (peace be upon you!).") 13:23-24

وَيُلَقَّوْنَ فِيهَا تَحِيَّةً وَسَلَـماً

(Therein they shall be met with greetings and the word of peace and respect.) 25:75

دَعْوَهُمْ فِيهَا سُبْحَـنَكَ اللَّهُمَّ وَتَحِيَّتُهُمْ فِيهَا سَلاَمٌ وَءَاخِرُ دَعْوَاهُمْ أَنِ الْحَمْدُ للَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(Their way of request therein will be Subhanaka Allahumma (glory to you, O Allah) and Salam (peace!) will be their greetings therein (Paradise)! And the close of their request will be: Al-Hamdu Lillahi Rabbil-'Alamin all praise to Allah the Lord of that exists.)10:10

And those who believed and performed righteous deeds they are admitted to gardens underneath which rivers flow abiding khālidīna is a circumstantial qualifier of an implied situation therein by the leave of their Lord their greeting therein from God and from the angels and between themselves ‘Peace!’.

In the last verse here (8), it was said: قَالَ مُوسَىٰ إِن تَكْفُرُ‌وا أَنتُمْ وَمَن فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ جَمِيعًا (And Musa said, "If you are ungrateful, you and all those on earth, then, Allah is free of all needs, worthy of every praise.) " This was said by Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) to his people. He is telling them that should they or, for that matter, all inhabitants of the earth become ungrateful to Allah Ta’ ala, it is not going to cause any loss to Allah Ta’ ala. As for Him, He needs no praise or gratitude for Himself. He is Independent. He is beyond that. He is intrinsically Praised and deserving of praise. If you do not praise Him, the angels do, all of them, and so does every particle of this universe.

So, whatever good there is in gratitude, that is for you alone. There-fore, when you are asked to be grateful by Allah Ta’ ala, there is no gain for Him in doing so. In fact, it is His infinite mercy reaching out to you in your interest.

Those who have faith and do wholesome deeds were given entry into the Garden....Their greeting therein is “Peace!” The meaning is that tomorrow the faithful and the friends will be brought into paradise, the house of victory, subsistent bliss, and everlasting kingship. The outward meaning of the word were given entry is that this decree was issued on the first day at the Beginningless Covenant and that the faithful were brought into paradise on the day when the decree was issued. It is not a new want that He puts into effect; it is a beginningless deed that He makes appear. He does not caress them today, for He caressed them in the Beginningless and finished the work. The worshipper is always looking toward the Endless, fearing what will be done to him tomor- row. The recognizer is always looking toward the Beginningless, burning because of what may have been done to him then. He who looks toward the Endless sees only bowing and prostrating. He who looks toward the Beginningless sees only ecstasy and finding; absent from seeing himself, he sees neither self nor anything from himself. He sees only the Real and knows only the Real. He who looks at the Endless accepts what he is given and is content with it. He who looks at the Beginningless accepts nothing and is not content with any robe of honor. If he were adorned with every robe of honor in the two realms of being, he would be more naked with every robe. If the whole realm of being were made into a table placed before his heart, he would find no savor in the feast. Both realms of being were made a morsel and placed in Abū Yazīd's maw full of pain, but he gave no mark of surfeit. He kept on shouting out, “I am a captive of face-to-face vision, how can I be content with reports?! I am seeking hard cash, how can hope suffice me?!” Without You, O repose of my spirit, how can I live? If You are not in my embrace, how can I be happy? And those who have faith and do wholesome deeds were given entry into the Garden. They will be settled down tomorrow in the paradises. There is not just one paradise, for there are eight, and not just eight degrees but one hundred.