Tafsir of Al-Hashr 59:18

"O you who have believed, fear Allah"—in all that you perform and all that you abandon—"and let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow"—meaning, what it has sent ahead of deeds for the Day of Resurrection. It is expressed as "tomorrow" because of its proximity, as the morrow is near to the day before it, or because the life of this world is like the day, and the "tomorrow" of the Hereafter involves conditions different from the previous conditions.

The use of the indefinite form for "tomorrow" (ghadin) serves to magnify and intimidate, as if it were said: "for a tomorrow" whose true nature is unknown due to its extreme magnitude. As for the indefinite form of "soul" (nafs), it signifies the scarcity of those souls that truly contemplate, as if it were said: "and let one single soul look into that." There is in this a great exhortation to contemplate, a reproach for abandonment, and an indication that heedlessness has overwhelmed everyone, so that no one has escaped it. From this, it becomes clear, as stated in al-Kashf, that classifying this as being of the same category as the verse: "A soul will know what it has brought" (81:14) is not appropriate for the context. Rather, it is like the Hadith: "People are like a hundred camels; you will not find among them a single riding beast," because although the command to contemplate is universal, those who obey and contemplate are fewer than the few. The purpose of the minimization is precisely this, for the one commanded does not heed the command until he acts upon it.

Ibn Atiyyah allowed the possibility that it refers to the day after death, but that is weak. Abu Haywah and Yahya ibn al-Harith read "wa-li-tanzur" with a kasra on the lam, and this was also narrated from Hafs from Asim. Al-Hasan read it with a kasra on the lam and a fatha on the ra, interpreting the lam as a lam of purpose (lam al-kay), such that the meaning would be: "And let a soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow, for we have commanded you to have Taqwa."

"And fear Allah"—this repetition is for emphasis, or the first is for the performance of obligatory acts, as is suggested by what follows it regarding the command to act, and this is for the abandonment of prohibited things, as is signaled by the threat in His saying, Exalted is He: "Indeed, Allah is [fully] acquainted with what you do"—meaning, of acts of disobedience. This second perspective is more plausible because preference is given to establishing a new meaning over mere emphasis. There is a manifest majesty in the arrival of the two commands in an absolute form, which cannot be hidden. It has been said: Taqwa is comprehensive and includes the abandonment of what causes sin, and there is no sound basis for the distribution [of duties between the two commands]. The context is one of concern for the matter, so emphasis is more appropriate and stronger.

However, there is an obvious objection here; for how could that be, when the immediate understanding of "what it has put forth" is deeds of goodness? This is what has been said. Perhaps the one who argues for emphasis says: His saying, Exalted is He, "Indeed, Allah is [fully] acquainted..." includes both promise and threat, and therefore generalizes "what it has put forth" as well. And you, perhaps, with this, will lean toward [the interpretation of] establishing a new meaning.