Tafsir of Al-Qasas 28:83

After the Almighty mentioned previously the saying of the people of knowledge, "The reward of Allah is better," He mentioned the place of that reward by His saying, the Almighty and Majestic: "That home of the Hereafter," indicating with a gesture of veneration and exaltation that which has descended, due to its fame, to the status of something sensed and witnessed, as if it were said: "That which you have heard the report of, and whose description has reached you."

"The home" (ad-dār) is an adjective for the demonstrative pronoun which functions as the subject, and it is described by the noun itself; there is no need to estimate a genitive construct (muḍāf), meaning "the bliss of the home," as the wording of al-Baḥr might suggest. And "the Hereafter" (al-ākhirah)—meaning, [we assign it to those who do not desire] dominance or power, nor corruption, which is injustice and aggression against the servants, as was the custom of Pharaoh and Qārūn. The relative pronoun is not exclusively for them. In repeating the particle "no" (lā), there is an indication that each of dominance and corruption is intended by the negation, and by anchoring the promise to the desire for them rather than the act of them, there is increased warning against them.

‘Abd ibn Ḥumayd and Ibn Abī Ḥātim extracted from ‘Ikrimah that he said: "Dominance in the land is arrogance and the seeking of honor and status with its sultans and kings, and corruption is acting in disobedience and taking wealth without its right." From al-Kalbī: "Dominance is arrogance against the faith, and corruption is the call to worship other than Allah Almighty." It is reported from Muqātil the interpretation of dominance as what was reported from al-Kalbī.

Ibn Mardawayh and Ibn ‘Asākir extracted from ‘Alī—may Allah the Almighty ennoble his face—that he used to walk in the markets alone while he was the governor, guiding the lost and helping the weak. He would pass by the grocer and the merchant, open the Quran to them, read, "That home of the Hereafter," until the end of it, and say: "This verse was revealed concerning those in authority who are just and humble, and those of the people of power among the rest of the people."

Ibn Mardawayh extracted from ‘Adī ibn Ḥātim that when he entered upon the Prophet—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—he cast a cushion to him, so he sat on the ground. The Prophet—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—said: "I testify that you do not seek dominance in the land nor corruption." So he accepted Islam. It is reported of al-Fuḍayl that he read the verse and then said: "Hopes have departed here." It is reported of ‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-‘Azīz that he would repeat it until he was taken [in death].

Ibn Abī Shaybah, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim extracted from ‘Alī—may Allah the Almighty ennoble his face—that he said: "Verily, a man may love for the lace of his sandal to be better than the lace of his companion's sandal, so he enters into this verse."

Perhaps this is if he loves that in order to boast over his companion and belittle him; otherwise, Abū Dāwūd narrated from Abū Hurayrah that a man came to the Messenger of Allah—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—and he was beautiful, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, I am a man to whom beauty has been made beloved, and I have been given of it what you see, such that I do not love for anyone to surpass me—whether he said by a sandal strap or a sandal lace—is that from arrogance?" He said: "No, but arrogance is the rejection of the truth and the belittling of people." Muslim, Abū Dāwūd, and at-Tirmidhī narrated from Ibn Mas‘ūd that the Prophet—peace and blessings of Allah be upon him—said: "No one will enter Paradise who has in his heart a mustard seed's weight of arrogance." A man said: "Verily, a man loves for his garment to be fine and his sandal to be fine." He said: "Verily, Allah the Almighty is beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance is the rejection of truth and the belittling of people."

Some of the Mu‘tazilah used the verse as evidence—based on the generality of dominance and corruption within it—for the eternal abiding of the perpetrator of a major sin in the Fire. In al-Kashshāf is that which is apparent in this regard. Some of them committed themselves in answering to interpreting dominance and corruption as how al-Kalbī interpreted them, and another said that what is intended by them is what is of the same nature as the dominance and corruption that were from Pharaoh and Qārūn. This was refuted by the fact that the concluding statement with His saying, "And the outcome is for the righteous," indicates that the foundation is piety, and it is not sufficient to merely leave the dominance and corruption that are restricted [to the actions of Pharaoh and Qārūn].

It was answered that the righteous person here is the one who is righteous from the dominance of Pharaoh and the corruption of Qārūn, or one who was not among the believers like Pharaoh in arrogance toward Allah the Almighty by not obeying His commands and not refraining from His prohibitions, and was not like Qārūn in desiring corruption in the land and removing every thing from being a thing to be benefited from—especially his own self, for the pinnacle of its corruption is refraining from the worship of its Lord, as it was created for worship, so when it refrains from it, it exits from the state of being a thing to be benefited from. And the meaning of "the righteous" is nothing but this. The author of al-Kashf critiqued this, saying that the first is a restriction without evidence, and the second is what the Mu‘tazilite is striving for. The learned al-Khafājī said: "Unless it is intended by the 'outcome' the praiseworthy outcome in a complete sense, or it is intended by 'the righteous' the one who is righteous from what Allah the Almighty does not approve—such as the state of Qārūn—by the evidence of the context and the texts indicating that those other than the disbelievers do not abide eternally in the Fire. Thus, there is no basis for the saying that this is a restriction without evidence, given that the basis of the argumentation is that the 'lam' (in lil-muttaqīn) is for exclusivity, which is denied."

Some said in the answer—assuming the intention of generality in "dominance" and "corruption": "What is intended by making Paradise for those who do not desire anything of them is granting them power over it in the most complete manner, similar to your saying: 'The sultan has made such-and-such a city for so-and-so.' That does not negate that others, from among the perpetrators of major sins, might enter it, and they would be in it at a rank lower than theirs." And perhaps he only entered it by the intercession of some of them. Similar to this is what was said: "That the making of it for them is in consideration that they are its primary inhabitants and its previous kings, and others only come upon them and reside with them." And one says regarding His saying, "And the outcome is for the righteous," the same as what passed just now from al-Khafājī.

There remains in the verse another discussion: some used it as evidence for the non-existence of Paradise today, based on the fact that the meaning of "We make it for those who do not desire," etc., is "We will create it in the future for them." It was answered that it is possible that the "making" is transitive to two objects, the second of which is "for those who do not desire," etc., so the meaning becomes "We make it to be existing and obtained for them in the future time." Thus, the verse signifies that making it "existing for them" is not obtained now, not that its essence is not existing—which is the location of the dispute. It was rebutted that what is immediate to the mind from "making the home existing for Zayd" is granting him power and not preventing him from having the ability to be in it, whether he obtains that ability or not. So the meaning of "We make it for those..." is "We will grant them power in the future to be in it." It is not hidden that this is weak, because the ability to be in it is necessary for its existence and inseparable from it, according to what His saying indicates: "Prepared for the righteous." Thus, it is not possible that the essence of Paradise is currently existing and that its being made existing for them is in the future. Carrying "the making" to mean actual power and granting the ability to have power—even if it were necessary for the existence of Paradise—is a departure from the immediate understanding, for what is immediate to the mind from your saying: "I have made the home for Zayd" is granting him the ability to be in it, not making Zayd actually capable of being in it. So ponder all of that.