| Jonah: (30) There everyone will be tested...
And know that this verse is a supplement to what preceded it.
His saying: {There} (هنالك) means: in that station, or in that place, or it could mean at that time, using the name of a place metaphorically for time.
Regarding His saying: {you will be tested} (تبلوا), there are several points of discussion:
First Discussion: Recitations of تبلوا
- Hamzah and Al-Kisā'ī recited it as تتلوا (with two *tā'*s). This recitation has two possible meanings:
- First: That the meaning of تتلوا is "you will follow what you have previously done," because one's deeds guide them to the path of Paradise or the path of the Fire.
- Second: That it means every soul will read what is in its record of good or evil, as in the verse: "Read your book; sufficient is yourself this Day against you as an accountant" (Al-Isrā': 14), and "Then those—they will read their book" (Al-Isrā': 71).
- 'Āṣim recited it as تكسب كل نفس (you earn, and kull is in the accusative case). This means that Allah Almighty says at that time: "We test every soul because of the test of the deeds it performed." The meaning is: We know its state by knowing the state of its deeds; if it is good, it is fortunate, and if it is ugly, it is wretched. We deal with it as one who tests, like His saying: "that He may test you as to which of you is best in deed" (Al-Mulk: 2).
- The famous recitation (تبلوا with tā' and bā'): This means that every soul will have its deeds tested at that time.
Second Discussion: The Meaning of Testing (الابتلاء)
The testing (الابتلاء) means examination, as Allah says: "And We tested them with good fortunes and misfortunes" (Al-A'rāf: 168). It is said that testing (البلاء) then examination (الابتلاء) implies that the examination should precede the actual consequence.
A questioner might ask: At that time, the results of deeds and the effects of actions become manifest. How is it permissible to call the occurrence of knowledge by the name of testing?
The Answer: Testing is the cause for the occurrence of knowledge. Applying the name of the cause to the result (the effect) is a common metaphorical usage.
Regarding His saying: {And they will be returned to Allah, their true Master} (وردوا إلى الله مولاهم الحق)
Know that returning (الرد) means turning something back to the place from which it originated. Here, there are several possibilities:
- The meaning of {And they will be returned to Allah} is that they will be returned to a place where there is no judgment except Allah's, similar to previous contexts.
- The meaning is that they will be returned to what Allah reveals to them of reward and punishment, indicating that Allah's judgment of reward and punishment is unchangeable.
- The meaning is that they will be compelled to confess His divinity, after they used to worship others besides Allah in the world. This is why He said: {their true Master} (مولاهم الحق), meaning they turned away from the false Master and returned to the True Master.
As for His saying: {their true Master} (مولاهم الحق), its exegesis has already passed in Sūrat Al-An'ām.
Regarding His saying: {And lost to them will be what they used to invent} (وضل عنهم ما كانوا يفترون)
This means that they used to claim concerning what they worshipped that they were intercessors and that their worship brought them closer to Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty points out that this will vanish in the Hereafter, and they will know that it was falsehood, fabrication, and invention.
| 7 < { Say: Who provides for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who controls the hearing and the sight? And who brings the living out of the dead, and brings the dead out of the living? And who manages the affair? They will say, "Allah." Say, "Then will you not fear Him?" * * * * So that is Allah, your Lord, the Truth. So what is there after the truth except error? So how are you turned away? * * * * And thus has the word of your Lord been justly decreed against those who were defiantly disobedient: that they will not believe. } > 7 ! |
