87:16 Al-A'laa (The Most High)

{ بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا } أي: تقدمونها على الآخرة، وتختارون نعيمها المنغص المكدر الزائل على الآخرة.

أي تقدمونها علي أمر الآخرة وتبدونها على ما فيه نفعكم وصلاحكم في معاشكم ومعادكم.

A Statement concerning the People of Success

Allah says,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى

(Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success.) meaning, he purifies himself from despised characteristics and he follows what Allah has revealed to the Messenger ﷺ.

وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى

(And remembers the Name of his Lord, and performs Salah.) meaning, he establishes the prayer in its appointed time, seeking the pleasure of Allah, obedience to His command, and implementation of His Law. We have already reported from the Commander of the believers, `Umar bin `Abdul-`Aziz, that he used to command the people to give the Sadaqat Al-Fitr, and he would recite this Ayah:

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى - وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى

(Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success. And remembers the Name of his Lord, and performs Salah.) Abu Al-Ahwas said, "If someone comes to any of you begging, and he wants to pray, then he should give charity (Zakah) before he prays. For verily, Allah the Exalted says,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى - وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى

(Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success. And remembers the Name of his Lord, and performs Salah.)" Qatadah said concerning this Ayah,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى - وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى

(Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success. And remembers the Name of his Lord, and performs Salah (Fasalla).) "He purifies his wealth and pleases his Creator."

This World is Worthless in Comparison to the Hereafter

Then Allah says,

بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا

(Rather you prefer the life of this world.) meaning, `you give it precedence over the matter of the Hereafter, and you prefer it because of what it contains of usefulness and benefit for you in livelihood, and your returns (i.e., income, profitable gain).'

وَالاٌّخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى

(Although the Hereafter is better and more lasting.) meaning, the reward of the final abode is better than the worldly life, and it is more lasting. For indeed, this worldly life is lowly and temporal, whereas the Hereafter is noble and eternal. Thus, how can an intelligent person prefer that which is short-lived over that which is eternal. How can he give importance to that which will soon pass away from him, while ignoring the importance of the abode of eternity and infinity. Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَنْ أَحَبَّ دُنْيَاهُ أَضَرَّ بِآخِرَتِهِ، وَمَنْ أَحَبَّ آخِرَتَهُ أَضَرَّ بِدُنْيَاهُ، فَآثِرُوا مَا يَبْقَى عَلَى مَا يَفْنَى»

(Whoever loves his worldly life, will suffer in his Hereafter, and whoever loves his worldly life, will suffer in his Hereafter, and whoever loves his Hereafter, will suffer in his worldly life. Therefore, chose that which is everlasting over that which is temporal.) Ahmad was alone in recording this Hadith.

The Scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa

Allah then says,

إِنَّ هَـذَا لَفِى الصُّحُفِ الاٍّولَى - صُحُفِ إِبْرَهِيمَ وَمُوسَى

(Verily, this is in the former Scriptures -- the Scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa.) This Ayah is similar to Allah's statement in Surat An-Najm,

أَمْ لَمْ يُنَبَّأْ بِمَا فِى صُحُفِ مُوسَى - وَإِبْرَهِيمَ الَّذِى وَفَّى - أَلاَّ تَزِرُ وَزِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى - وَأَن لَّيْسَ لِلإِنسَـنِ إِلاَّ مَا سَعَى - وَأَنَّ سَعْيَهُ سَوْفَ يُرَى - ثُمَّ يُجْزَاهُ الْجَزَآءَ الأَوْفَى - وَأَنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الْمُنتَهَى

(Or is he not informed with what is in the Scriptures of Musa. And of Ibrahim who fulfilled (or conveyed) all that (Allah ordered him to do or convey): that no burdened person (with sins) shall bear the burden (sins) of another. And that man can have nothing but what he does. And that his deeds will be seen. Then he will be recompensed with a full and the best recompense. And that to your Lord is the End (Return of everything).) (53:36-42) And so forth, until the end of these Ayat. Abu `Aliyah said, "The story of this Surah is in the earlier Scriptures." Ibn Jarir preferred the view that the meaning of Allah's statement,

إِنَّ هَذَآ

(Verily, this) is referring to His previous statement,

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى - وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى - بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَوةَ الدُّنْيَا - وَالاٌّخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَى

(Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success. And remembers the Name of his Lord, and offers Salah. Rather you prefer the life of this world. Although the Hereafter is better and more lasting.) Then Allah says,

إِنَّ هَذَآ

(Verily, this) meaning, the content of this discussion,

إِنَّ هَـذَا لَفِى الصُّحُفِ الاٍّولَى - صُحُفِ إِبْرَهِيمَ وَمُوسَى

(in the former Scriptures, the Scriptures of Ibrahim and Musa.) This view that he (At-Tabari) has chosen is good and strong. Similar to it has been reported from Qatadah and Ibn Zayd. And Allah knows best. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-A`la (Sabbih). All praise and blessings are due to Allah, and He is the Giver of success and protection from error.

Nay but you prefer or read yu’thirūna ‘they prefer’ the life of this world to the Hereafter

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ (Success is surely achieved by him who purifies himself,..87:14) The word tazakka is derived from zakah, the primitive meaning of which is 'to purify'. The zakah of wealth is so called because it purifies the rest of man's wealth for him. In this context, the word tazakka is used in a general sense, which comprehends the purity of faith and character, and purity of wealth.

وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّىٰ (and pronounces the name of his Lord, then offers prayer....87:15). This covers all categories of prayer, obligatory as well as supererogatory. Some commentators say that it refers especially to Id prayers. This interpretation too can fall under the preceding category.

بَلْ تُؤْثِرُونَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا (But you prefer the worldly life,...87:16). Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ says that people generally prefer the worldly blessings and comforts to the blessings and comforts of the Hereafter, because the former is visible and readily available, while the latter is invisible and unavailable readily. People unaware of reality preferred the visible to the invisible, which became the cause of eternal loss. In order to spare them the eternal loss, Allah, through His Messengers ﷺ and Books, described to them the blessings and comforts of the Hereafter so clearly as if they can perceive them [ through their sense organs ]. It has been made plain to them that what they think is readily available and preferred, is actually fragile and will very soon perish. It is unwise to put one's heart into, or faith in, it and waste one's energy on it. Thus the Qur'an says:

وَالْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ وَأَبْقَىٰ (while the Hereafter is much better and much more durable...87:17). The verse purports to warn those who prefer this life to the Hereafter that they should use their intelligence to find out what they have preferred and what they have abandoned. They are, first of all, made to realise that the highest degree of comfort and pleasure in this life is not free from the mixture of grief and hardship. In the second place, it is not permanent. We experience in our daily life that a king of today becomes a pauper tomorrow. A vigorous youth of today becomes old tomorrow. In the Hereafter, on the other hand, there will be freedom from both these defects. All its blessings and comforts will be 'much better' and they cannot be compared to the blessings and comforts of this life. Most importantly, it is abqa 'much more durable'.

Let us consider the following scenario: It is said to a person that there are two houses in front of him, one of which is a magnificent mansion, fully furnished and another an ordinary, substandard house, not properly furnished. He has the choice to take the mansion, but only for a month or two. Thereafter, he will have to vacate the mansion. Or he may take the underdeveloped house that he will own permanently. Which of the two houses a wise person will prefer? The answer is obvious that he will prefer the second option. On this analogy, one should prefer the blessings of the Hereafter even if, for argument's sake, they are substandard, because they are permanent and eternal. But the fact is that they are not only permanent, but also much better and far more superior to the worldly comforts. In this situation only an unfortunate fool will prefer the blessings of this life to the bounties of the Hereafter.