52:18 At-Tur (The Mount)

{ فَاكِهِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ } أي: معجبين به، متمتعين على وجه الفرح والسرور بما أعطاهم الله من النعيم الذي لا يمكن وصفه، ولا تعلم نفس ما أخفي لهم من قرة أعين، ووقاهم عذاب الجحيم، فرزقهم المحبوب، ونجاهم من المرهوب، لما فعلوا ما أحبه الله، وجانبوا ما يسخطه ويأباه.

"فاكهين بما آتاهم ربهم" أي يتفكهون بما آتاهم الله من النعيم من أصناف الملاذ من مآكل ومشارب وملابس ومساكن ومراكب وغير ذلك "ووقاهم ربهم عذاب الجحيم" أي وقد نجاهم من عذاب النار وتلك نعمة مستقلة بذاتها على حدتها مع ما أضيف إليها من دخول الجنة التي فيها من السرور مالا عين رأت ولا أذن سمعت ولا خطر على قلب بشر.

Description of the Destination of the Happy

Allah the Exalted described the destination of the happy ones,

إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِى جَنَّـتٍ وَنَعِيمٍ

(Verily, those who have Taqwa will be in Gardens and Delight.) in contrast to the torment and punishment of the miserable;

فَـكِهِينَ بِمَآ ءَاتَـهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ

(Enjoying in that which their Lord has bestowed on them,) meaning, enjoying the various types of delight that Allah has granted them therein, such as various types of foods, drinks, clothes, dwelling places, mounts, and so forth,

وَوَقَـهُمْ رَبُّهُمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِ

(and (the fact that) their Lord saved them from the torment of the blazing Fire.) He saved them from the torment of the Fire, which is a bounty itself. Added to this blessing is the fact that they were entered into Paradise, which has delights that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, nor has a heart ever imagined. The statement of Allah the Exalted,

كُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ هَنِيئَاً بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

("Eat and drink with happiness because of what you used to do") is similar to another of His statements,

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) meaning this is the just reward for your deeds; surely, all this is a favor from Allah and a reward from Him. Allah the Exalted said,

مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَى سُرُرٍ مَّصْفُوفَةٍ

(They will recline (with ease) on thrones Masfufah.) Ath-Thawri reported from Husayn, from Mujahid, from Ibn `Abbas: "Thrones in howdahs." And the meaning of, (Masfufah) is they will be facing each other,

عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُّتَقَـبِلِينَ

(Facing one another on thrones.)(37:44) Allah said next,

وَزَوَّجْنَـهُم بِحُورٍ عِينٍ

(And We shall marry them to Hur (fair females) with wide lovely eyes.) We made for them righteous spouses, beautiful wives from Al-Hur Al-`Ayn. We mentioned the description of Al-Hur Al-`Ayn in several other places in this Tafsir, and therefore, it is not necessary to repeat their description here.

rejoicing delighting in what bi-mā relates to the verbal action their Lord has given them and that their Lord has shielded them from the chastisement of Hell-fire wa-waqāhum rabbuhum ‘adhāba’l-jahīmi is a supplement to ātāhum ‘what He has given them’ in other words rejoicing in their having been given this reward and shielded from Hell-fire.

يَوْمَ تَمُورُ‌ السَّمَاءُ مَوْرً‌ا (...the Day when the sky will tremble, a horrible trembling, ...52:9) The lexicographical denotation of the word mawr is violent shaking, or movement caused by unrest. This verse describes the violent movement of the heavens on the Day of Resurrection.

Surely the godwary will be in gardens and bliss, rejoicing in what their Lord has given them. These verses demand hope. The Lord of the worlds has them follow one after another so that the servant will constantly travel between hope and fear. Hope and fear are each other's mates. When they come together, the beauty of faith's realities shows its face. Any traveling that is empty of these two meanings will result either in security or in despair, and these two are attributes of the unbelievers. This is because one feels secure from the incapable, and to believe that God is incapable is unbelief. One despairs of the base, and to believe that there is baseness in God is associationism. Also, one must not simply fear punishment, nor must one simply hope and wait for mercy. This will become clear to you with an example: When a lamp has no oil, it gives no light. When it has oil but no fire, it gives no illumination. When there are oil and fire but no wick to sacrifice its being, it is not complete. Thus fear is like fire, hope like oil, faith like a wick, and the heart like a lamp-holder. If there is only fear, this is like a lamp that has no oil. If there is only hope, this is like a lamp that has oil but no fire. When fear and hope come together, the result is a lamp that has both the oil to aid subsistence and the fire to give the material of illumination. Thus faith takes help from both, one for subsistence and one for illumination. The person of faith travels on the road with the escort of illumination and walks with the escort of subsistence.