Tafsir of Al-Ahzab 33:44

Al-Ahzab (33): Their greeting the Day they meet Him...

Then the Almighty said: {Their greeting the Day they meet Him will be Peace (Salam)}.

After Allah mentioned His care for them in this world (the previous verse), He mentioned His care in the Hereafter. He mentioned Salam (Peace) because it is the indicator of all good things. If someone meets another and greets him with Salam, it indicates sincerity between them. If he does not greet, it indicates animosity.

The phrase {the Day they meet Him} refers to the Day of Resurrection. This is because, in this worldly life, a person is not wholly devoted to Allah; how could he be, when he is heedless of Him during sleep, and most of the time preoccupied with earning his livelihood? However, in the Hereafter, no one will have any preoccupation distracting them from the remembrance of Allah; thus, that is the true meeting.

Then the Almighty said: {And He has prepared for them a noble reward}.

If someone were to ask: Preparation (I'dad) is usually done by one who lacks the ability to provide something when needed. But Allah, the Exalted, has neither need nor inability. So, when Allah meets them, He will give them what pleases them and more. What, then, is the meaning of "preparation" on His part?

We say: The preparation is for the sake of honoring them, not out of necessity. This is like when a king is told that a certain person has arrived. If the king wishes to honor him, he prepares a house for him and various types of honors. He does not say, "When he arrives, we will open the treasury and give him what satisfies him." Similarly, for the sake of complete honor, Allah has prepared a noble reward for the one who remembers Him.

The term "noble" (Karim), as we have mentioned regarding sustenance, means a reward that comes to them without their seeking it, unlike in this world where one might seek sustenance a thousand times and only receive a fraction of it.

The phrase {Their greeting the Day they meet Him will be Peace} is appropriate for their state. Because they mentioned Allah in their worldly lives, they attained true knowledge (ma'rifah). When they glorified Him (sabbahu), that knowledge was confirmed, as they came to know Him as He ought to be known, with the attributes of Majesty and the descriptions of Perfection. Allah knows their state in this world, so He treated them with mercy, as He Almighty said: {It is He Who sends His blessings upon you...} and {And He has ever been, to the believers, Merciful} (Al-Ahzab: 43).

Furthermore, when two people who are affectionate toward one another meet, and one holds the other in high esteem, the meeting cannot be truly realized except through Salam and various forms of honor.