Tafsir of Yunus 10:64

This is a resumption introduced to serve as a justification for the negation of their grief and fear in the preceding verse. It functions as an explanation of the virtues of the two abodes that He, the Almighty, has bestowed upon them, after He had informed [us] of their salvation from the evils and hardships of both. It is as if, upon this, it were asked: "Is there any grace or honor for them beyond this?" to which the response came: "For them is the glad tidings, etc."

The priority [of mentioning the worldly life] is because "clearing" (the removal of fear and grief) precedes "adorning" (the bestowal of glad tidings). Furthermore, it observes the right of juxtaposition between the good state of the believers and the evil state of those who fabricate lies, and it serves to hasten the entry of joy by bringing tidings of salvation from terrors. The placement of this explanation between the "clearing" and the "adorning" is to manifest the perfection of His care for them, signaling that the absence of the aforementioned [fears and griefs] is due to their faith and their piety regarding the causes that lead to them.

Some have interpreted "the allies" (awliya) as those who befriend Him, the Almighty, through obedience, and whom He befriends with honor; they treated "those who believe" as an explanation of their friendship toward Him, and this sentence as an explanation of His friendship toward them. This was criticized on the grounds that, while there is no doubt regarding the consideration of the latter condition (tawali bi-l-karama) in the concept of wilaya (sainthood), it is inappropriate for the context of encouraging believers to attain it and remain steadfast in it, or for announcing its effects and results. Rather, it is detrimental to that, for "attainment" relates only to what is within one's capacity, and "rejoicing" is not realized except through what one knows to be a fulfilled cause. The aforementioned condition is neither within their capacity—so that they might attain wilaya by achieving it—nor is it known to them at the time of its occurrence—so that they might know wilaya has been attained and rejoice in its beautiful effects. Indeed, being befriended with honor is the very result of wilaya; thus, considering it in the title of the subject, and then informing them of the absence of fear and grief, is not befitting the dignity of the Majestic Revelation. This is the end of the criticism. You know, however, that what that person [the interpreter] committed is forced interpretation and a turning away from the apparent meaning; therefore, one should not turn toward it, even if what the critic mentioned is not free from scrutiny.

It is permissible that the conjunctive noun (alladhina) is the subject, and this sentence is its predicate. Some reports support this. "Glad tidings" (al-bushra) originally refers to news that brings joy to the skin of the face; "the good news" (al-bishara) is similar, and it is also used for the content of the good news itself. Some have inclined toward the latter. The two adverbial phrases following it, in the first case, are related to it, and in the second, they are in the position of a state (hal) from it. The factor [governing them] is the meaning of "stability" contained in the predicate—that is, "They have the glad tidings, existing in the world and existing in the Hereafter," meaning [in the] immediate and the deferred [time]. Or [they relate] to the genitive pronoun, meaning "while they are in the life of the world and in the Hereafter."

The most established view in the majority of narrations is that the glad tidings in the life of the world are the "righteous dream" which is one of forty-six parts of prophecy, as is well known, or one of seventy parts of it, as narrated by Ibn Abi Shaybah from Ibn Umar and Abu Hurayrah. The same is narrated by him and Ibn Majah from the former. Al-Tayalisi, Ahmad, Al-Darimi, Al-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Al-Tabarani, Al-Hakim (who authenticated it), Al-Bayhaqi, and others recorded from Ubadah ibn al-Samit, who said: "I asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) about the saying of the Almighty: 'For them is the glad tidings in the life of the world,' and he said: 'It is the righteous dream that the believer sees or is seen for him.'"

Ibn Marduyah narrated from Ibn Mas’ud that he asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) about that, and he was answered similarly. He also narrated through the path of Abu Sufyan from Jabir the same. Ibn Abi al-Dunya, Abu al-Shaykh, and Abu al-Qasim ibn Mandah narrated through the path of Abu Ja'far from the mentioned Jabir, who said: A man from the desert came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and said: "O Messenger of Allah, tell me about the saying of Allah, the Exalted: 'Those who believe and used to fear Allah, for them is the glad tidings,' etc." The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "As for His saying, the Almighty: 'For them is the glad tidings in the life of the world,' it is the good dream seen for the believer, so he is given glad tidings of it in his world. As for His saying, the Almighty: 'And in the Hereafter,' it is the believer’s tidings at the moment of death: that Allah has forgiven you and [forgiven] whoever carried you to your grave." This interpretation has been reported in both marfu’ (attributed to the Prophet) and mawquf (attributed to a companion) forms from more than one source.

Ibn Jarir and Ibn al-Mundhir narrated through the path of Ali ibn Abi Talhah from Ibn Abbas that the glad tidings in the life of the world is His saying, the Almighty, to His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "And give glad tidings to the believers that they shall have from Allah a great bounty." Al-Zajjaj and Al-Farra stated that it is this and what resembles it, such as His saying, the Almighty: "And give glad tidings to those who believe that they have a step of sincerity with their Lord," and His saying, the Almighty: "Their Lord gives them glad tidings of mercy from Him," and His saying, the Almighty: "And give glad tidings to the patient," and so forth. Ibn Abi Shaybah and others narrated from al-Dahhak that he said regarding this: "They know where they are before they die." Regarding the glad tidings in the Hereafter, there came what you heard in the report from Jabir.

Ibn Jarir and others narrated from Abu Hurayrah as a marfu’ report that it is Paradise. 'Ata said that the glad tidings in the world is that the angels come to them at the time of death with mercy, as Allah, the Almighty, says: "The angels descend upon them [saying]: 'Do not fear and do not grieve, and be glad for Paradise.'" As for the glad tidings in the Hereafter, it is the meeting of the angels with them, greeting them and giving them glad tidings of success and honor, and the brightness of their faces, the handing of their scrolls to their right hands, and what they read from them, and other such tidings.

It was said: The intended meaning of the immediate glad tidings is things like victory, conquest, spoils, good praise, a beautiful reputation, and the love of people. As for the deferred glad tidings, it is self-evident. You know that one should not turn away from what has been narrated from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) regarding the interpretation of this, if it is authentic. Since some have turned away from it—likely because they did not encounter those reports—the best course is to interpret the glad tidings in both abodes as any news that confirms the negation of fear and grief, whatever that may be. The context directs one to this, as well as the angels' giving them glad tidings of this time after time, until they enter Paradise. The Noble Book has spoken in more than one place of these glad tidings from Allah, the Almighty, upon us by His mercy and generosity.

"There is no changing the words of Allah" means there is no alteration to His statements, among which are His promises that serve as glad tidings for the believing, pious people. Therefore, the glad tidings mentioned here are included primarily, and the impossibility of His breaking them is established with absolute certainty, as a matter of grace and generosity. If it is intended that "glad tidings" means the righteous dream, then "no changing the words of Allah" means there is no contradiction between them and what indicates their truth and occurrence in what is to come by way of promise in His saying—Blessed be His Name—: "For them is the glad tidings," not a lack of contradiction between them and their worldly and afterlife results. After reflection, no other aspect appeared to me. It is well known that the truth of what a righteous dream indicates does not fail. It has come from the hadith of Al-Hakim al-Tirmidhi and others from Ubadah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said to him regarding the righteous dream: "It is words with which your Lord speaks to His servant in his sleep."

"That" (i.e., what has been mentioned regarding them having glad tidings in both abodes) "is the great success," beyond which there is no success. It is also permissible that the indication is to the glad tidings in the sense of "the act of giving good news." It was said: This refers to the bliss for which the glad tidings were given. Many have considered the first sentence and this sentence to be a parenthetical statement introduced to verify the glad tidings in order to exalt its status. This is built upon the permissibility of multiple parenthetical statements and that they may occur at the end of the speech. Hence, the scholar Al-Tayyibi said: "If the first were considered parenthetical and the second a tailpiece (tadhil) to the parenthetical and the one to whom it relates, confirming both, it would have been better," based on the view that what is at the end of the speech is called a "tailpiece" rather than a "parenthetical," though this is merely a matter of terminology.