The Event (Al-Wāqiʿah): (86) "But if he were of those brought near..."

There are several issues concerning this verse:

The majority of exegetes hold that the second lawlā (in verse 86) is a repetition of the first one found in verse 83: { فلولا إذا بلغت الحلقوم } (If only, when [the soul] reaches the throat).

• Al-Zamakhshari's View: He suggests there is only one condition and its response. The structure is: "If only you could return it [the soul] when it reaches the throat, if you are not being recompensed."
• Another Opinion: Some suggest it is like the verse: { فإما يأتينكم مني هدى فمن تبع هداي فلا خوف عليهم } (Then if guidance comes to you from Me, whoever follows My guidance, no fear will come upon them), where fa-lā khawfa (then no fear) serves as the response to two conditions.
• The Apparent View (Al-Razi's Preference): The response to the first lawlā (when the soul reaches the throat) is implied by what preceded it: You used to deny [the Resurrection] during your life, making denial your sustenance and livelihood. So, if only you would not deny [the truth] at the moment of departure, when you are witnessing and knowing the realities. As for the second lawlā, its response is { ترجعونها } (you would return it).

There are several interpretations for the word { مدينين }:

1. Owned/Possessed (Mamlūkīn): Meaning you are not under anyone's dominion.
2. Recompensed (Mujziyyīn): Meaning you are being judged for your deeds.
3. Al-Zamakhshari's View: He relates it to dāna al-sulṭān (the ruler governed/managed him).
4. Not Settled/Resident (Ghayr Muqīmīn): Derived from madana (to settle/reside). When one settles, they become faʿīl (like madīnah, city), and its plural is madā’in without showing the yā’ (as opposed to maʿā’ish from maʿāyish).

The Rationale for these interpretations:

• If Madīnīn means "Not subject to eternal punishment": Those who denied eternal punishment (or denied its permanence, like those who believed in limited time in the Fire, cf. Al-Baqarah: 80) are being challenged: If you truly believe you won't remain in eternal punishment, why don't you return yourselves to the world if the Hereafter is not the abode of permanence?
• If Madīnīn means "Not being recompensed": The meaning is: At the moment of death, you will believe the messengers regarding the Resurrection. If, after that, you are not going to be recompensed, why don't you return yourselves to your worldly lives? The only thing preventing you from returning is the recompense. If there were no recompense, you would be free to choose where to go, just as you were in your worldly life, which was not the abode of recompense.
• If Madīnīn means "Not owned/possessed" (from milk): This is the clearest meaning. If you are not under anyone's power, why can't you return yourselves to the world, as you wished and desired in your worldly life, which was not the abode of recompense?

Unifying the Meanings:

All these interpretations ultimately return to one core concept. The disbelievers held philosophical views regarding nature, believing that phenomena (rain, plants, animals) were generated by astronomical causes, and that God had no choice in anything. They denied the messengers and the Resurrection.

The response is: If your philosophical claims are true, why can't the natural philosopher—who claims knowledge—return the soul from the throat, especially since nature, in their view, allows for sustenance and the removal of illness by medicine?

• If we take { ghayr madīnīn } to mean not owned, it refers to their denial of free will and God's absolute power to turn matters as He wills.
• If we take it to mean not resident, it still relates to their denial of the Resurrection, which is based on their reliance on natural causes.
• If we take it to mean not being held accountable/recompensed, it also relates to their denial of the Resurrection.

Having established that death is inevitable and the Resurrection necessarily follows, the text then explains what happens after the Resurrection, to motivate the accountable toward righteous deeds and deter the rebellious from disobedience and falsehood:

! 7 < { But as for him who is of those brought near, * Then [there is for him] rest and provision, and Gardens of Pleasure. } > 7 !

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