51:22 Adh-Dhaariyat (The Winnowing Winds)

{ وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِزْقُكُمْ } أي مادة رزقكم، من الأمطار، وصنوف الأقدار، الرزق الديني والدنيوي، { وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ } من الجزاء في الدنيا والآخرة، فإنه ينزل من عند الله، كسائر الأقدار.

"وفي السماء رزقكم" يعني المطر "وما توعدون" يعني الجنة قاله ابن عباس رضي الله عنهما ومجاهد وغير واحد وقال سفيان الثوري قرأ واصل الأحدب هذه الآية "وفي السماء رزقكم وما توعدون" فقال ألا أرى رزقي في السماء وأنا أطلبه في الأرض؟ فدخل خربة فمكث ثلاثا لا يصيب شيئا فلما أن كان اليوم الثالث إذا هو بدوخلة من رطب وكان له أخ أحسن نية منه فدخل معه فصارتا دوخلتين فلم يزل ذلك دأبهما حتى فرق بينهما الموت.

Qualities of Those Who have Taqwa and Their Reward

Allah the Exalted informs about those who have Taqwa, that on the Day of their Return they will be amidst gardens and springs. To the contrary the miserable ones will be amidst torment, punishment, fire and chains. Allah said,

ءَاخِذِينَ مَآ ءَاتَـهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ

(Taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them.) His statement;

ءَاخِذِينَ

(Taking) describes the state of the people of Taqwa in the midst of gardens and springs. They will receive what their Lord gives them, meaning, delight, happiness and favors. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

إِنَّهُمْ كَانُواْ قَبْلَ ذَلِكَ

(Verily, they were before that), in the life of the world,

مُحْسِنِينَ

(gooddoers) As He said:

كُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ هَنِيئَاً بِمَآ أَسْلَفْتُمْ فِى الاٌّيَّامِ الْخَالِيَةِ

(Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past!)(69:24) Allah the Exalted described the good acts that they performed,

كَانُواْ قَلِيلاً مِّن الَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ

(They used to sleep but little at night.) The scholars of Tafsir have two opinions about this:

The First Opinion

The first is that, they used to spend a little part of every night awake. Ibn `Abbas said, "Every night, they would worship Allah, even during a little part of the night." Qatadah narrated that Mutarrif bin `Abdullah said, "Hardly a night would pass by them that they did not pray to Allah the Exalted and Most Honored, either in the beginning, or the middle of it." Mujahid said, "Only a few nights, if any, would they sleep through the night until the morning without praying Tahajjud." Qatadah said similarly. Anas bin Malik and Abu Al-`Aliyah said, "They used to pray between Al-Maghrib and Al-`Isha'." The Second Opinion They used to spend a little part of the night in sleep. This was preferred by Ibn Jarir. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:

كَانُواْ قَلِيلاً مِّن الَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ

(They used to sleep but little by night), "They performed voluntary night prayer and would not sleep during the night except a little. They were active and would continue until they were seeking forgiveness right before dawn." `Abdullah bin Salam said, "When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ arrived at Al-Madinah, people quickly gathered around him and I was among them. When I saw his face, I knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first statement I heard from him was,

«يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ أَطْعِمُوا الطَّعَامَ، وَصِلُوا الْأَرْحَامَ، وَأَفْشُوا السَّلَامَ، وَصَلُّوا بِاللَّيْلِ وَالنَّاسُ نِيَامٌ، تَدْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ بِسَلَام»

(O people! Feed with food, keep relations to kith and kin, spread the Salam, pray at night while people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace.)" Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِنَّ فِي الْجَنَّةِ غُرَفًا يُرَى ظَاهِرُهَا مِنْ بَاطِنِهَا وَبَاطِنُهَا مِنْ ظَاهِرِهَا»

(Verily, there are lofty rooms in Paradise in which their outside can be seen from inside and their inside from the outside.) Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said, "Who are they for, O Allah's Messenger" He said,

«لِمَنْ أَلَانَ الْكَلَامَ، وَأَطْعَمَ الطَّعَامَ، وَبَاتَ للهِ قَائِمًا وَالنَّاسُ نِيَام»

(For those who use soft speech, feed food and spend the night in voluntary prayer while people are asleep.) Allah said:

وَبِالاٌّسْحَـرِ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُونَ

(And in the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness.) Mujahid and several others said: "They were performing Salah." Others said that they would stand in prayer during the night and delayed asking Allah for forgiveness until the latter hours before dawn. As Allah, the Exalted the Blessed, said;

وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِينَ بِالاٌّسْحَارِ

(And those who seek forgiveness during the last hours of the night.)(3:17); This is because it is better if asking for forgiveness is done while praying. It is confirmed in the Sahih collections as well as others, from several Companions, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى يَنْزِلُ كُلَّ لَيْلَةٍ إِلَى سَمَاءِ الدُّنْيَا حِينَ يَبْقَى ثُلُثُ اللَّيْلِ الْأَخِيرُ، فَيَقُولُ: هَلْ مِنْ تَائِبٍ فَأَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِ. هَلْ مِنْ مُسْتَغْفِرٍ فَأَغْفِرَ لَهُ. هَلْ مِنْ سَائِلٍ فَيُعْطَى سُؤْلَهُ؟ حَتْى يَطْلُعَ الْفَجْر»

(Allah, the Most High, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says, "Is there anyone who is repenting so that I may accept his repentance Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, so that I may forgive him Is there anyone asking of Me, so that I may grant him his request" until Fajr begins.) Many of the scholars of Tafsir said that when the Prophet Ya`qub said to his sons:

سَوْفَ أَسْتَغْفِرُ لَكُمْ رَبِّى

(I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you)(12:98), he delayed doing so until the hours before dawn. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

وَفِى أَمْوَلِهِمْ حَقٌّ لَّلسَّآئِلِ وَالْمَحْرُومِ

(And in their wealth there was the right of the Sa'il and the Mahrum.) After Allah mentioned their quality of performing prayer, He then mentioned their quality of spending in charity and acts of compassion and kindness,

وَفِى أَمْوَلِهِمْ حَقٌّ

(And in their wealth there was the right), a designated part which they dedicated to the Sa'il and Mahrum. The Sa'il is the poor who begs others, and he has a due right. As for the Mahrum, Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "He is the poor person who does not receive a stipend." Meaning he does not receive a stipend from the Muslim treasury, nor does he have a means of income, nor a profession. The Mother of the faithful, `A'ishah may Allah be pleased with her, said about the Mahrum, "He is the displaced, the one who does not have a profession to easily earn an income from." Qatadah and Az-Zuhri: "The Mahrum is the one who does not ask the people for anything." Az-Zuhri added that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«لَيْسَ الْمِسْكِينُ بِالطَّوَّافِ الَّذِي تَرُدُّهُ اللُّقْمَةُ وَاللُّقْمَتَانِ وَالتَّمْرَةُ وَالتَّمْرَتَانِ، وَلكِنِ الْمِسْكِينُ الَّذِي لَا يَجِدُ غِنًى يُغْنِيهِ وَلَا يُفْطَنُ لَهُ فَيُتَصَدَّقَ عَلَيْه»

(The poor (Miskin) is not the one who goes round to the people and asks them for a mouthful or two or a date or two. But the poor is the one who does not have enough to satisfy his needs and whose condition is not known to others, so that others may give him something in charity.) This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs using another chain of narration.

Allah's Signs on the Earth and in Mankind

Allah the Exalted and the Blessed said next,

وَفِى الاٌّرْضِ ءَايَـتٌ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ

(And on the earth are signs for those who have faith with certainty.) Allah says that there are signs on earth that testify to the might of the Creator and His boundless ability. These signs include what Allah placed on the earth, the various plants, animals, valleys, mountains, deserts, rivers and oceans. He also created mankind with different languages, colors, intentions and abilities, and a variety among them, differences in the power of understanding and comprehension, their deeds, and ultimately earning happiness or misery. Allah put every organ in their bodies in its rightful place where they most need it to be. So He said؛

وَفِى أَنفُسِكُمْ أَفَلاَ تُبْصِرُونَ

(And also in yourselves. Will you not then see) Qatadah commented, "He who thinks about his own creation will realize that he was created with flexible joints so that it is easy for him to perform acts of worship." Allah the Exalted said next,

وَفِى السَّمَآءِ رِزْقُكُمْ

(And in the heaven is your provision,) meaning, rain,

وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ

(and that which you are promised.) meaning Paradise. This was said by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several others. Allah said:

فَوَرَبِّ السَّمَآءِ وَالاٌّرْضِ إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَآ أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ

(Then by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth, just as you can speak.) Allah is swearing by His honorable Self, all of the matters of the Judgement, Resurrection, and Recompense that they have been promised shall certainly occur. Therefore, it is the truth, there being no doubt about it, so do not doubt its coming, just as you do not doubt that you can speak When he would talk to one of his friends, Mu`adh used to say: "What I am saying is as true as your being here."

And in the heaven is your provision that is the rain from which results the vegetation that is your provision and there is also what you are promised in the way of the ultimate return reward and punishment in other words all of this is foreordained in the heaven.

وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِ‌زْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heavens, there is your sustenance and all that you have been promised.... 51:22). The plain and simple interpretation of this is that 'in heaven' here means what has been written in the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lauh-ul-Mahfuz). It is clear that man's sustenance, what has been promised to him and whatever its consequences will be - are all preserved in the Preserved Tablet. Sayyidna Abu Said Khudri ؓ reports that the Holy Messenger ﷺ said: "Even if someone tries to avoid and run away from his designated sustenance, he will not succeed, because his sustenance will pursue him just as he cannot run away from his death". (Qurtubi) Some scholars say that 'sustenance' here signifies "rain". In this case 'heaven' will not refer to the body, arch or vault of the sky. It refers to anything that hangs overhead and covers things in its shade, including the celestial atmosphere and clouds from where the rain falls. The expression 'all that you have been promised' refers to Paradise and its delights. Allah, the Pure and Exalted, knows best.