Chapter: Al-Layl (The Night)

Verse 5: "As for him who gives and fears [God]..."

Regarding the word "gives" (أَعْطَى), there are two interpretations:

1. It refers to spending wealth in all avenues of goodness: freeing slaves, ransoming captives, and strengthening Muslims against their enemies, just as Abu Bakr used to do. This applies whether the spending is obligatory or voluntary. This usage is unrestricted, similar to the verse: {And of what We have provided for them, they spend} (Al-Anfal: 3), which encompasses all spending in God's way, obligatory or voluntary. God praised a people saying: {And they give food, out of love for Him, to the needy, the orphan, and the captive} (Al-Insan: 8). And at the end of this Surah: {But the most righteous will be kept far from it, Who gives his wealth to purify himself, And has not conferred [a favor] upon anyone for which a reward is due, Except only seeking the countenance of his Lord, the Most High} (Al-Layl: 17-20).
2. The word "gives" (أَعْطَى) encompasses giving the rights of wealth and giving the rights of the self in obedience to God Almighty. It is said, "So-and-so gave obedience" or "gave ease."

And His saying {and fears [God] (وَاتَّقَى)} points to abstaining from everything that is improper. We have already discussed whether abstaining from minor sins is a condition of being righteous (Muttaqi) in the exegesis of {a guidance for the righteous} (Al-Baqarah: 2).

And His saying {and believes in the Best (وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى)}: The Al-Husna (the Best) has several meanings:

1. It is the declaration of "There is no god but God" (Tawhid). The meaning is: As for him who gives, fears God, and affirms monotheism and prophethood, he attains Al-Husna. This is because giving wealth or abstaining from prohibitions is of no benefit alongside disbelief, similar to the verse: {Or feeding on a day of severe hunger... Then being among those who believe} (Al-Balad: 14-16).
2. Al-Husna is a term for the acts of worship that God has ordained for the body and wealth. It is as if it means: He gave in God's way, feared prohibitions, and believed in the divine laws (Sharia'). Thus, it is known that God only legislated them because they contain aspects of benefit and goodness.
3. Al-Husna is the recompense (Khalaf) that God promised in the verse: {And whatever you spend, He will replace it} (Saba: 39). The meaning is: He gave from his wealth in obedience to God, believing in the good replacement promised by God. This is because God said: {The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of God} (Al-Baqarah: 261), so the replacement is an addition, making it appropriate to use the term Al-Husna for it. According to this meaning, {and denies the Best (وَكَذَّبَ بِالْحُسْنَى)} means he did not believe in the replacement, thus being miserly with his wealth due to poor opinion of the Worshipped One, as some say: "Withholding what is present stems from a poor opinion of the Worshipped One." It is narrated from Abu Ad-Darda' that he said: "No day ends with the setting of the sun except that two angels call out, whose call all creation hears except humans and jinn: 'O God, give every spender a replacement, and every hoarder a loss.'"
4. Al-Husna is the reward, and it is said to be Paradise. The meaning is the same. Qatadah said: He believed God's promise and acted upon that promise. Al-Qaffal said: In summary, Al-Husna is a word that encompasses every good characteristic. God says: {Say: Can you expect for us anything but one of the two best things?} (At-Tawbah: 52), meaning victory or martyrdom. God also says: {Whoever performs a good deed, We will give him a good [reward] in return} (Ash-Shura: 23), calling the multiplication of the reward Husna. And He says: {Indeed, for me is the Best [reward] with Him} (Fussilat: 50).

Regarding His saying: {We will make his path easy to the easy} (فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى), there are several issues:

There are several views:

1. It means Paradise.
2. It means Goodness. They interpret Al-'Usra (the difficult path) as Shirk (polytheism).
3. It means that everything he is commanded to do or refrain from will be made easy for him. Al-'Usra means that all of that becomes difficult for him.
4. Al-Yusra (the easy path) is the return to the obedience he performed initially. It is as if He is saying: We will make it easy for him to return to giving in God's way. They interpret Al-'Usra as the opposite: making it easy for him to return to miserliness and withholding the fulfillment of financial rights.

Al-Qaffal said: All these interpretations involve a linguistic metaphor. This is because actions are judged by their consequences. Whatever leads to ease, comfort, and praiseworthy outcomes is Al-Yusra (the easy path), which describes all acts of obedience. Whatever leads to hardship and toil is Al-'Usra (the difficult path), which describes all sins.

There are several views regarding the feminine form:

1. If Al-Yusra and Al-'Usra refer to groups of deeds, the feminine form is clear. If they refer to a single deed, the feminine form refers back to the khullah (disposition/trait) or the fi'lah (act). If one interprets Al-Yusra as facilitating the return to the obedience performed, the feminine form refers back to the return (عَوْدَة), as if He said: We will make his return easy, and that return is Al-Yusra.
2. The reference for the feminine form is the path/way (طَرِيقَة), as if He said: the easy path and the difficult path.
3. Acts of worship are physically arduous. When the accountable person knows that they lead to Paradise, those difficult actions become easy for him due to his expectation of Paradise. Thus, God named Paradise Al-Yusra. Then He explained that facilitating obedience is due to this Al-Yusra, and {We will make his path easy to the easy} is the opposite of that.

1. Whoever interprets Al-Yusra as Paradise, interprets the facilitation as God admitting them into Paradise easily and with honor, as God informed us: {And the angels will enter upon them from every gate, [Saying], "Peace be upon you for what you patiently endured. Excellent is the final home"} (Ar-Ra'd: 23-24), and {You have been rewarded [with Paradise] for what you patiently endured. Excellent is the final home} (Az-Zumar: 73).
2. Whoever interprets Al-Yusra as good deeds, facilitation means making them easy for the one who intends them, so that he does not experience the sluggishness that afflicts hypocrites and those who seek show, as God says: {And indeed, it is difficult except for the humbly submissive} (Al-Baqarah: 45). And: {Indeed, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them} (An-Nisa: 142). And: {What is [the matter] with you that when it is said to you, "Go forth in the cause of Allah," you become heavy on the earth?} (At-Tawbah: 38). Thus, facilitation means encouragement/stimulation.

The scholars used this verse as proof for their doctrine concerning Divine Guidance (Tawfiq) and Abandonment (Khidhlan). They argue that:

• {We will make his path easy to the easy} indicates that God specifically grants the believer the Tawfiq by making obedience preferable to sin for him.
• {We will make his path easy to the difficult} indicates that He specifically grants the disbeliever Khidhlan by making sin preferable to obedience for him.

If the verse indicates the establishment of preference (Rujhan), it necessitates obligation (Wujub) for them, because there is no middle ground between action and inaction. Since preference is established, the state of equilibrium is impossible, and the state of being outweighed (Marjuh) is even more impossible. If one of the two opposing states is impossible, the other must necessarily occur, as there is no escape from the two contradictory poles.

Al-Qaffal, may God have mercy on him, responded to the reliance on this verse in several ways:

1. Naming one of two opposites by the name of the other is a common metaphor. God says: {And the recompense of a bad deed is its like} (Ash-Shura: 40) and {then give him tidings of a painful punishment} (Al-Inshiqaq: 24). When God calls the facilitation leading to obedience "facilitation to the easy," He calls the abandonment of these facilitations "facilitation to the difficult."
2. It could be by way of attributing the action to the cause rather than the doer, as said concerning the idols: {My Lord, indeed they have led astray many of the people} (Ibrahim: 36).
3. It could be by way of judgment and reporting about the outcome.

The response to all these is that they involve turning away from the apparent meaning, which is not permissible, especially since we have established that the apparent meaning, from our perspective, is confirmed by decisive rational proof. Furthermore, our companions reinforced the apparent meaning of this verse with what is narrated from Ali (peace be upon him) from the Prophet (PBUH) who said: "There is no soul created except that God has known its place in Paradise or Hell. They asked: 'Should we then rely [on this knowledge]?' He replied: 'No, work! For everyone is facilitated to what he was created for.'"

Al-Qaffal responded to this by saying that all people were created to worship God, as He says: {And I did not create the jinn and mankind except to worship Me} (Adh-Dhariyat: 56). We say that this narration is weak because the Prophet (PBUH) mentioned this in response to their question, meaning: "Work, for everyone is facilitated to what aligns with God's prior knowledge." This supports our view that what God has decreed for the servant and known about him is impossible to change. And God knows best.

There are several views:

1. It is for assurance and gentleness, which is a definite certainty from God, as in {Worship your Lord and fear Him, that you may be successful} (Al-Baqarah: 21).
2. It implies that the obedient person might become disobedient, and the disobedient person might become obedient through repentance, so this cause implies that change was impossible (i.e., the facilitation is permanent).
3. Since most of the reward occurs in the Hereafter, which has not yet arrived, and no one knows its time except God, delay is inherent. Thus, the letter Sīn (which denotes future tense/delay) was included to indicate that the promise is deferred, not immediate. And God knows best.

Regarding His saying:

Verse 7: {And what will not avail him his wealth when he goes down [into the pit]}