Surah As-Sajdah: Verses (18-20) - Is one who was a believer...

After establishing the state of the criminal and the believer, He asks the rational person: Are these two groups equal?

Then He clarifies that they are not equal, detailing the distinction:

This points to what we mentioned: God's initial favor is not in exchange for a reward. When the servant believes and performs good deeds, He accepts it as if it were a new beginning, and thus rewards him with Paradise.

This indicates that what follows are further things, because Nuzul (reception/lodging) is what a king gives to a guest upon arrival, before establishing a regular stipend or provision for him.

This confirms what we have stated.

This points to the state of the disbeliever. We have mentioned repeatedly that righteous deeds have an effect when accompanied by faith. However, when disbelief occurs, there is no regard for [previous] deeds. He did not say, "As for those who defiantly disobeyed and did evil deeds," because what is meant by "those who defiantly disobeyed" (fasiqun) here is those who disbelieved (kafaru). If the punishment were stated in direct opposition to both disbelief and deeds, one might assume that mere disbelief alone incurs no punishment.

Regarding the believers, His statement {for them} (using the preposition of possession, li-) is an added honor. If one says to another, "Reside in this house," it is usually understood as a loan, which he can reclaim. But if one says, "This house is yours," it is understood as an assignment of ownership, which cannot be reclaimed. Similarly, in the case of Paradise, when God settled Adam in it, knowing He would expel him, He said: {“O Adam, dwell, you and your spouse, in the Garden”} (Al-Baqarah: 35), and did not say, "The Garden is yours." But in the Hereafter, since the believers will never leave, He says, {“The Garden is yours”} and {“for them are the Gardens”}.

This points to a judicial reality: when pain becomes established and prolonged, there is no longer a complete sensation of it. This is why physicians say that the heat of a wasting fever (fever of consumption) compared to the heat of a phlegmatic fever is like the ratio of fire to heated water. Furthermore, the person suffering from the wasting fever does not feel the heat as intensely as one with the phlegmatic fever because the wasting condition is deeply established and the memory of the phlegmatic heat is recent. Similarly, if a person puts his hand in cold water, he feels pain from the cold. If he endures it for a long time, his hand becomes numb, and that intense pain ceases, even though his temperament is corrupted.

Knowing this, His statement: {Every time they wish to escape from it, they will be returned to it} indicates that the torment will not cease for them; rather, a painful matter will be renewed for them in every instance.

This confirms what we mentioned. It means that in the world, they denied the punishment of the Fire. When they taste it, it becomes more painful because experiencing something one does not expect is more impactful. Moreover, in the Hereafter, just as in the world, they become certain that no punishment greater than what they are currently experiencing exists, and they do not anticipate any further torment. Then, a torment greater than the first is returned to them, which they had denied by saying, "There is no punishment beyond what we are in."

Thus, the meaning of His statement: {Taste the punishment of the Fire which you used to deny} is not limited to their denial in the world. Rather, {Every time they wish to escape from it, they will be returned to it} and it will be said to them: Taste a punishment you denied before—either in the world by saying, "There is no punishment in the Hereafter," or in the Hereafter by saying, "There is no punishment greater than what we are currently enduring."

| 7 < {And We will surely make them taste of the nearer punishment before the greater punishment that they might return [to righteousness].} > 7

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