ﱁ ﱂ ﱃ ﱄ ﱅ ﱆ ﱇ ﱈ ﱉ ﱊ ﱋ ﱌ ﱍ ﱎ ﱏ ﱐ ﱑ ﱒ ﱓ ﱔ ﱕ ﱖ ﱗ ﱘ
On the Day you see the believing men and believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right, [it will be said], "Your good tidings today are [of] gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein you will abide eternally." That is what is the great attainment.
Tafsir
Verse range: 57:12
Then the Almighty said: {The Day you see the believing men and the believing women, their light proceeding before them and on their right hands.} There are several issues concerning this:
The phrase {The Day you see} is either an adverbial accusative (ظرف) referring to His saying: {and for them is a noble reward} (Al-Hadid: 11), or it is accusative by way of emphasizing (تعظيما) that Day.
This Day refers to the Day of Reckoning. There are different opinions regarding this light:
First Opinion: Some said that the light refers to the actual light, as narrated from the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him): "Every rewarded person will have light according to their deeds and reward, in size and smallness." According to this, the ranks of lights are varied: for some, the light will shine as far as between Aden and Sana'a; for others, the light will be like a mountain; and for some, the light will not illuminate more than their footsteps. The least illuminated among them will have a light only on their big toe, which sometimes extinguishes and sometimes ignites. This view is narrated from Ibn Mas'ud, Qatadah, and others. Mujahid said: "No servant will pass by on the Day of Resurrection except that someone will call out, 'O so-and-so, here is your light,' and 'O so-and-so, you have no light.' We seek refuge in Allah from that."
We have previously explained in Surah An-Nur that the true Light is Allah Almighty, and that the light of knowledge, which is the light of insight (basirah), is more deserving of being called light than the light of sight (basar). If this is the case, it becomes clear that the knowledge of Allah is the light on the Day of Resurrection. Thus, the measures of the lights on the Day of Resurrection correspond to the measures of knowledge in the world.
Second Opinion: The intended meaning of the light is that which is the cause of salvation. The phrase {before them and on their right hands} is used because the fortunate ones will receive their record books from these two directions, just as the wretched ones receive them from their left hands and behind their backs.
Third Opinion: This light refers to the guidance to Paradise. This is similar to saying, "This matter has no light (no clarity/success)" if the intended goal is not achieved, and saying, "This matter has light and radiance," if the goal is achieved.
Sahl ibn Shu'ayb read {wa bi-aymānihim} (and on their right hands) with a kasra on the hamza (بِأَيْمَانِهِم). The meaning is that their light proceeds before them, and this proceeding occurs by their right hands. A parallel example is His saying: {That is because of what your hands have put forward} (Al-Hajj: 10), meaning that is caused by that.
Then the Almighty said: {Good tidings to you this Day: Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein you will abide eternally. That is the great attainment.} There are several issues concerning this:
We have previously mentioned the reality of good tidings (bushra) in the exegesis of His saying: {And give good tidings to those who believe} (Al-Baqarah: 25, Yunus: 2). They (the scholars) then said: The structure of the verse is: The angels will say to them, "Good tidings to you this Day," just as He said: {And the angels will enter upon them from every gate, * 'Peace be upon you'* } (Ar-Ra'd: 23-24).
This verse indicates that the believers will not be afflicted by the horrors of the Day of Resurrection, because the Almighty described this as their state on that Day without any qualification (i.e., it applies to all believers).
Al-Ka'bi used this verse as evidence that the sinner (fasiq) is not a believer. He argued: If he were a believer, he would fall under this good tidings, and if that were the case, it would be certain that he is among the people of Paradise. Since this is not the case, it is established that he is not a believer.
The response is: The sinner is certain that he is among the people of Paradise because either he will not enter the Fire, or if he enters it, he will eventually exit it and enter Paradise, remaining there eternally. Therefore, he is certain of being among the people of Paradise, so this line of reasoning fails.
His saying {That} refers back to everything mentioned previously: the light and the good tidings of the eternal Gardens.
It has been recited: (dhālika al-fawz) (that is the attainment), omitting the word huwa (it is).
Know that when the Almighty explained the state of the believers at the station of Resurrection, He followed it by explaining the state of the hypocrites. He said:
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