16:96 An-Nahl (The Bee)

فآثروا ما يبقى على ما يفنى فإن الذي عندكم ولو كثر جدا لا بد أن { يَنْفَدُ } ويفنى، { وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ } ببقائه لا يفنى ولا يزول، فليس بعاقل من آثر الفاني الخسيس على الباقي النفيس وهذا كقوله تعالى: { بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى } { وَمَا عِنْدَ اللَّهِ خَيْرٌ لِلْأَبْرَارِ } وفي هذا الحث والترغيب على الزهد في الدنيا. خصوصا الزهد المتعين وهو الزهد فيما يكون ضررا على العبد ويوجب له الاشتغال عما أوجب الله عليه وتقديمه على حق الله فإن هذا الزهد واجب. ومن الدواعي للزهد أن يقابل العبد لذات الدنيا وشهواتها بخيرات الآخرة، فإنه يجد من الفرق والتفاوت ما يدعوه إلى إيثار أعلى الأمرين [وليس الزهد الممدوح هو الانقطاع للعبادات القاصرة كالصلاة والصيام والذكر ونحوها، بل لا يكون العبد زاهدا زهدا صحيحا حتى يقوم بما يقدر عليه من الأوامر الشرعية الظاهرة والباطنة، ومن الدعوة إلى الله وإلى دينه بالقول والفعل، فالزهد الحقيقي هو الزهد فيما لا ينفع في الدين والدنيا، والرغبة والسعي في كل ما ينفع] { وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُوا } على طاعة الله، وعن معصيته، وفطموا نفوسهم عن الشهوات الدنيوية المضرة يدينهم { أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ } الحسنة بعشر أمثالها إلى سبعمائة ضعف إلى أضعاف كثيرة فإن الله لا يضيع أجر من أحسن عملا

"ما عندكم ينفد" أي يفرغ وينقضي فإنه إلى أجل معدود محصور مقدر متناه"وما عند الله باق" أي وثوابه لكم في الجنة باق لا انقطاع ولا نفاد له فإنه دائم لا يحول ولا يزول "ولنجزين الذين صبروا أجرهم بأحسن ما كانوا يعملون" قسم من الرب تعالى مؤكد باللام أنه يجازي الصابرين بأحسن أعمالهم أي ويتجاوز عن سيئها.

If Allah had willed, He would have made all of Humanity one Nation

Allah says:

وَلَوْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ

(And had Allah willed, He would have made you) meaning - O mankind,

أُمَّةً وَحِدَةً

((all) one nation,) This is like the Ayah:

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا

(And had your Lord willed, all of those on earth would have believed together.) 10:99, meaning, He could have created harmony among them, and there would not be any differences, conflicts or hatred between them.

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلاَ يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ

إِلاَّ مَن رَّحِمَ رَبُّكَ وَلِذلِكَ خَلَقَهُمْ

(And if your Lord had so willed, He would surely, have made mankind one Ummah nation or community, but they will not cease to disagree. Except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His mercy, and for that did He create them.) (11:118-119) Similarly, Allah says here:

وَلـكِن يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(but He allows whom He wills to stray and He guides whom He wills. ) Then on the Day of Resurrection, He will ask them all about their deeds, and will reward or punish them even equal to a scalish thread in the long slit of a date stone or the size of a speck on the back of a date stone, or even a thin membrane of the date stone.

The Prohibition on taking an Oath for Purposes of Treachery

Then Allah warns His servant against taking oaths as means of deception, i.e., using them for treacherous purposes, lest a foot should slip after being firmly planted. This is an analogy describing one who was on the right path but then deviated and slipped from the path of guidance because of an unfulfilled oath that involved hindering people from the path of Allah. This is because if a disbeliever were to find that after having agreed to a covenant, then the believer betrayed him, then the believer will have hindered him from entering Islam. Thus Allah says:

وَتَذُوقُواْ الْسُّوءَ بِمَا صَدَدتُّمْ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَكُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

(and you taste the evil of having hindered from the path of Allah, and you will suffer a terrible punishment.)

Do not break Oaths for the sake of Worldly Gain

Then Allah says:

وَلاَ تَشْتَرُواْ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً

(And do not use an oath by Allah for the purchase of little value.) meaning, do not neglect an oath sworn in the Name of Allah for the sake of this world and its attractions, for they are few, and even if the son of Adam were to gain this world and all that is in it, that which is with Allah is better for him, i.e., the reward of Allah is better for the one who puts his hope in Him, believes in Him, seeks Him and fulfills his oaths in the hope of that which Allah has promised. This is why Allah says:

إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَمَا عِندَكُمْ يَنفَدُ

(if you only knew. Whatever you have will be exhausted,) meaning, it will come to an end and will vanish, because it is only there for a certain, limited time.

وَمَا عِندَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ

(and what is with Allah will remain.) meaning, His reward for you in Paradise will remain, without interruption or end, because it is eternal and will never change nor disappear.

وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُواْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(And to those who are patient, We will certainly grant them their rewards in proportion to the best of what they used to do. ) Here the Lord swears, with the Lam of affirmation, that He will reward the patient for the best of their deeds, i.e., He will forgive them for their bad deeds.

That which is with you of the things of this world will come to an end will perish but that which is with God remains it is everlasting. And He shall surely pay read la-yajziyanna or la-najziyanna ‘We shall surely pay’ those who were patient in fulfilling their covenants their reward according to the best of what they used to do ‘the best’ here means ‘the good’.

All Worldly Gains and States will Perish - Only their Outcome with Allah shall Remain

A casual look at the expression: مَا عِندَكُمْ (ma ` indakum: 'what is with you' meaning world gains) leads one to think of wealth and possessions only. My revered teacher, Maulana Sayyid Asghar Husain of Deoband, may the mercy of Allah be upon him, said that the word: مَا ma (what) is general lexically and there is nothing prohibiting us from taking it in a general sense, therefore, included under it are wealth and possessions of the present world as well as all states and matters that one experiences therein. These could be happiness and sorrow, pain and comfort, sickness and health, gain and loss or someone's friendship or enmity. These form part of it for all these are transitory and must perish. However, the after-effects of all these states and matters which are to bring reward or punishment on the Day of Judgment are destined to remain. So, any reckless pursuit of states and matters that must perish and to stake one's life and its energies on this altar by becoming negligent of the eternal reward and punishment is something no sane person should elect to do.

What is with you runs out, but what is with God subsists. What is with you runs out is the attribute of this world, its annihilation; and what is with God sub- sists is the attribute of the afterworld and everlasting subsistence. Jesus was asked, “Why don't you make a house for yourself?” He said, “I have no stomach for busying myself with something that will not be my companion forever.” The Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī put a dinar in his hand and said, “'O yellow thing, make my face yellow. O white thing, make me white and delude other than me.' O world and O bliss of this world! Go, for you are an adorned bride, and you cannot break the claws of a lion with a bride's fingers. Go, delude someone else, for the son of Abū Ṭālib has no stomach for falling into the snare of your delusion.” The life of this world is nothing but the enjoyment of delusion [3:185]. What is with you runs out, but what is with God subsists. In other words, “What is with you, namely the yearning you have to encounter Me, is susceptible to disappearance and accepts cessa- tion. But My description of Myself subsists, namely in the tradition, 'Surely the yearning of the pi- ous to encounter Me has become protracted, but My yearning to encounter them is more intense.'” Whatever comes from the servant-obedience, service, affection, love-even if it is continu-ous, is susceptible to disappearance, for it is an attribute of newly arrived things, and annihilation has access to them. It is only the welcoming of the divine majesty and exaltation and the Lord's caressing of the servant that never finish and remain untouched by annihilation. Whatever comes from us is suited to us, infected by our own shares and described by dispersion. Whatever comes from God comes with the attribute of infinite exaltedness and majesty, for the reality of together- ness is that it is necessarily subsistent and permanent. These generous, gentle favors, infinite caresses, and lordly welcoming that set forth from the side of All-compellingness lodge only at the core of the friends' hearts. It is they whose life in this world is the goodly life and whose conduct and path are wholesome deeds along with faith; this is their attribute, for the Exalted Lord says,