Surah Ad-Dukhan: Verses (51-59)

The Promise to the Pious

Indeed, the pious...

It is known that after mentioning the threat (in the preceding verses), the Almighty mentioned the promise in these verses, saying: {Indeed, the pious} (41:51).

Our scholars say: Whoever avoids Shirk (polytheism) is truly called al-Muttaki (the pious one). Therefore, the sinner (al-Fasiq) must also be included in this promise.

The Blessings of Paradise

The Almighty mentioned four things that contribute to their enjoyment:

The first is their dwellings, as He said: {in a secure station} (51:52).

The dwelling is only pleasant under two conditions:

1. That they are safe from everything they fear and guard against. This is what is meant by {in a secure station}.
   • The majority of reciters read ma-qāmin (مقام) with a fatḥa on the mīm (place of standing).
   • Nāfi‘ and Ibn ‘Āmir read it with a ḍamma (mu-qāmin, place of residence).
   • The author of Al-Kashshāf says that ma-qām (with fatḥa) means the place of standing, referring to the location, which is a specific term used in a general sense. Mu-qām (with ḍamma) means the place of dwelling.
   • Amīn (secure) comes from the root meaning trustworthiness; it is the opposite of treacherous. The place is described as secure metaphorically because a frightening place is as if it betrays its occupant.
2. The second condition for a pleasant dwelling is that it contains the means of delight, which are gardens and springs. Since the Almighty mentioned these two conditions for the dwellings of the people of Paradise, He has described them with something that admits no further increase in quality.

The second category of their enjoyments is their clothing, as He said: {They will be clothed in garments of fine silk and brocade} (52:53).

It is said that sundus (fine silk) is the thin type of silk fabric, and istabraq (brocade) is the thick type. Istabraq is an Arabized form of the Persian word istabrak. If someone asks how a non-Arabic word can appear in the Qur'an, we reply: once it has been Arabized, it becomes Arabic.

The third category is their sitting arrangement, which is facing one another (taqābul). The purpose is for mutual companionship and enjoyment.

If someone asks: Is sitting facing each other not isolating, as each person observes the actions of the other? Furthermore, the one whose reward is less might feel distressed upon seeing the state of one whose reward is greater. We reply: The conditions of the Hereafter are different from the conditions of this world.

The fourth category is their spouses, as He said: {Thus, and We will marry them to wide-eyed maidens} (52:54).

There are two interpretations for the particle kadhālik (Thus):

1. It is in the nominative case, meaning: The matter is thus.
2. It is in the accusative case, meaning: We grant them the like of that.

Abū ‘Ubaydah said: We made them pairs, just as a husband is paired with a wife, meaning We made them two by two.

There is a difference of opinion on whether this term implies the completion of a marriage contract:

• Yūnus said that {We will marry them to wide-eyed maidens} means We will join them with them, and it is not a marriage contract. Arabs do not say tazawwajtu bihā (I married her), but rather tazawwajtuhā.
• Al-Wāḥidī (may God have mercy on him) supports Yūnus, citing the verse: {So when Zayd had accomplished his purpose concerning her, We married her to you} (Al-Aḥzāb: 37). If the meaning were "We married her to you," the phrasing would have been zawwajnāka bihā. Moreover, saying zawwajtuhu bihi means he was single, and We paired him with another, just as one says shaffa‘tuhu bi-ākhar (I paired him with another).

Regarding Ḥūr (wide-eyed): Al-Wāḥidī said the origin of Ḥawr is whiteness, and taḥwīr means whitening. We have already discussed this in the exegesis of the Ḥawārīn (disciples). A ḥawrā’ eye is one whose white part is intensely white and whose black part is intensely black. A woman is not called ḥawrā’ unless the whiteness (ḥawar) is in her eyes and the whiteness is in the color of her body. The evidence that Ḥūr here means white is the recitation of Ibn Mas‘ūd: ‘Isin ‘ayn (white-eyed), as al-‘Is means white.

As for ‘Ayn (wide-eyed): It is the plural of ‘aynā’, which refers to women with large eyes. Al-Jubbā’ī said that a man is a‘yan if he has large and wide eyes, and the feminine form is ‘aynā’, and the plural is ‘ayn.

There is a difference of opinion regarding these Ḥūr ‘Ayn:

• Al-Ḥasan said they are the old women of this world whom God will create anew.
• Abū Hurayrah said they are not from the women of this world.

The fifth type of enjoyment for the people of Paradise is food, as He said: {They will call for every kind of fruit therein, feeling secure} (52:55).

They said that they will eat all types of fruit because they are secure from indigestion (takhm) and illness.

Eternal Life

After describing the types of good things and comforts they will experience, God clarified that their life will be everlasting, saying: {They will not taste death therein, except for the first death} (52:56).

There are two questions regarding this:

Question 1: They did not taste death in Paradise, so how is this exception valid? It is answered in several ways:

1. The author of Al-Kashshāf suggests the intended meaning was: They will not taste death at all therein. The phrase {except for the first death} is used because the past death is impossible in the future. This is like saying: If tasting the first death were possible in the future, they would taste it.
2. Illā (except) means lākin (but). The meaning is: They will not taste death therein, but they have already tasted the first death.
3. The true reality of Paradise is the delight of the soul and its joy in knowing God, obeying Him, and loving Him. If this is the case, the person who attained this happiness is in Paradise in this world and in the Hereafter. Therefore, the first death occurred when the person was in the true Paradise, which is the Paradise of knowing and loving God. This exception serves as a reminder that the true Paradise is attaining this state, not the physical abode of eating and drinking. This is why the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "The Prophets of God do not die; rather, they are transferred from one abode to another."
4. If someone has experienced something and confirmed it, it is valid to say they have tasted it. If knowing something can be called tasting, then remembering it can also be called tasting. Thus, {They will not taste death therein, except for the first death} means except for the taste resulting from remembering the first death.

Question 2: Do the people of Hellfire not also remain alive (i.e., not taste death)? So why is this a blessing for the people of Paradise if the people of Hell share it? The answer is that the good tidings are about the permanence of life following the prior attainment of those goods and felicities. Thus, the difference is clear.

Salvation and Divine Favor

Then He said: {and He will save them from the punishment of Hell} (52:57).

It is recited with tashdīd (stress) on waqqāhum (He saved them). If someone asks: Logically, the protection from the punishment of Hellfire should be mentioned before the attainment of Paradise, because one who is saved from Hellfire might or might not attain Paradise, so mentioning the attainment of Paradise afterward is beneficial. However, one who attains the rewards of Paradise has necessarily escaped God's punishment, so mentioning salvation from Hellfire afterward seems redundant. We reply: The implied meaning is as if God said: He saved them from the punishment of Hellfire at the beginning.

Then He said: {of the Fire} (52:58), {as a favor from your Lord} (52:58). This means that everything the pious attain—salvation from the Fire and attainment of Paradise—is achieved only through the favor of God.

Our scholars use this verse as evidence that reward is attained through God's favor, not through entitlement based on merit. Since God enumerated all the rewards of the pious, He clarified that all of it was obtained through His favor and grace.

Al-Qāḍī said: Although they may have deserved most of these things through their deeds, it is still by God's favor because God favored them by imposing the obligation (taklīf), the purpose of which is to bring them to this station. This is like someone giving another money to reach the ownership of an estate; it can be said that the estate is from his favor.

We reply: Your doctrine holds that this reward is a necessary right upon God, and if He failed to deliver it, He would be considered foolish and would fall short of divinity. How, then, can something like this be described as a favor from God?

Then He said: {That is the great attainment} (52:59).

Our scholars use this verse as evidence that the favor (faḍl) is a higher degree than the deserved reward. He described it as a favor from God, and then described that favor from God as the "great attainment." This is also indicated by the analogy that if a great king pays a laborer his wages and then bestows a robe of honor (khil‘a) upon another person, that robe of honor is of a higher status than the payment of wages.

Conclusion and Final Admonition

After God clarified the signs, explained the promise and the threat, He said: {So We have made it easy by your tongue, that they may remember} (52:59).

The meaning is that God described the Qur'an at the beginning of this Surah as a Kitāb Mubīn (a clear Book), meaning one full of explanation and benefit. At its conclusion, He mentioned what confirms this: that this clear Book, full of benefit, {We have made it easy by your tongue}, meaning We revealed it in Arabic, in your language, {that they may remember}.

Al-Qāḍī said: This indicates that He intended faith and knowledge from everyone, and that He did not intend disbelief for anyone. Our scholars responded that the pronoun in {that they may remember} refers to specific people, and we apply that to the believers.

Then He said: {So wait; indeed, they are waiting} (52:59).

• {So wait}: Meaning, await what will befall them.
• {indeed, they are waiting}: They are lying in wait for what will befall you, anticipating calamities.

And God knows best.

The author, may God have mercy on him, concluded the exegesis of this Surah on the night of Tuesday, in the middle of the second night of Dhu al-Ḥijjah, in the year 603 AH.

O Everlasting in Goodness, O Ancient in Benevolence! The shining of the Throne, the light of the Footstool, the ascensions of the heavens, and the lights of the fixed and moving stars upon their high platforms, penetrating the highest altitudes, and their ascensions purified from the dust of the world of existence and corruption—all testify to You that You are the Eternal, the Primal Truth. Nothing from the attachments of intellects, the impurities of thoughts, or the associations of created things is suitable for You. The moon, due to its fading, confesses its deficiency. The sun, by the testimony of its ascensions, admits its need for the management of the Merciful. The natures are subdued beneath the Overpowering Might. Thus, in the unseen high ascensions and the changing phenomena, there is a witness to His immutability, and the successive events speak of the permanence of His eternity. Everything we attribute to the past or the future, He is their Creator, and He is higher than it. By His generosity is existence and creation, and by His withdrawal is annihilation and corruption. Everyone besides Him is wandering in His Majesty, turning away when the light of His Sovereignty rises. All that the intellects of creation can grasp is that He is contrary to all creation. To Him belongs the Might and Glory, the Power and Perfection, the Generosity and Bestowal. Our Lord and the Lord of our origins, it is You we seek, and for You we pray and fast. Upon You is the reliance, and You are the First Originator. Glory be to You, Glory be to You.