Tafsir of As-Saffat 37:84

{ When he came to his Lord }

The term is in the accusative case as a supplement to an implied [imperative verb] "Remember," as is customary in its parallels. It has also been suggested that it relates to an implied verb indicated by His saying, the Exalted: { And indeed, among his followers is... } as if it were said: "When did he follow him?" and the answer was: "He followed him when he came to his Lord." It is also said that it relates to the word "followers" (Shi'ah) due to the meaning of "following" contained within it. This has been refuted on the grounds that it would necessitate an element preceding the lam of inception (lam al-ibtida') governing what follows it, which they do not permit due to the [particle's] requirement for priority—hence, one cannot say "Indeed, the one striking is coming to us Zayd." Furthermore, it would necessitate separating the governor from the governed by an extraneous element, which is impermissible.

It has been countered that there is no impediment to any of this when the governed element is an adverb (zarf), due to their leniency regarding it.

{ With a sound heart } That is, sound from all ailments, such as corruption of beliefs, evil intentions, and repulsive traits like envy, rancor, and the like. Qatadah reported that this soundness is specifically regarding [freedom from] polytheism, but the generalization we mentioned is more appropriate. It may also mean sound from worldly attachments, in the sense that there is nothing in it of love for, or reliance upon, the world and its people. It is also said that salim (sound) here means "grieved," which is a metaphor derived from salim meaning "one bitten by a snake or scorpion," for the Arabs used this as an optimistic term for his [eventual] safety, and it became a literal term for it. However, what preceded is more appropriate to the context, and the [prefix] 'ba' is for transitivity.

The meaning of his "coming to his Lord with his heart" is his dedication of his heart to Him, the Exalted, by way of explicit derivative metaphor. Its basis is the analogy of his dedication of his heart to Him, the Almighty and Majestic, to his coming to Him with a gift, in that both are causes for attaining [God's] pleasure. The impossibility of the literal meaning, combined with the fact that the context is one of praise, serves as sufficient evidence. The summary of the structure's meaning is: "When he, peace be upon him, dedicated his heart to God Almighty—a heart sound from ailments, detached from attachments, or grieved and broken." This has been challenged on the grounds that a heart's soundness from ailments cannot exist without sincerity, and likewise, detachment from attachments cannot exist without it. It was answered that both can exist without [sincerity], as is the case with the hearts of the simple-minded.

In the Mutall', the meaning of his "coming to his Lord with his heart" is that he dedicated his heart to God Almighty, and this was known from him just as one who is absent and his states are known through his arrival and presence; thus, "coming" is coined as a metaphor for this. It is also argued that the speech contains a representative metaphor (isti'ara tamthiliyya), where the state derived from Abraham—peace be upon him—dedicating his heart to his Lord, and His glory knowing that sincerity to be present in him, is likened to the state derived from the arrival of an absent person before another, [that person's] recognition of him, and knowledge of his states; then the metaphor is applied as it is applied. To convey this meaning, the phrasing shifted from "He came to his Lord as a sound-hearted man" to what is found in the Majestic Ordering.

It is also said that the 'ba' is for accompaniment (mulabasa), which is perhaps the most immediate understanding. The meaning of his "coming to his Lord" is his entry into a state of compliance and the like. It is mentioned that the subtlety of shifting from what you heard to what is found in the Majestic Ordering is its safety from the illusion that the state [of being sound-hearted] is transient, since transience is the more frequent state of the two [adverbial states], while the [actual] structure is more manifest in showing that the soundness of the heart was his—peace be upon him—even before the "coming." So let this be pondered.