Tafsir of Al-Furqan 25:15

"Say, is that better..."

The referent returning to the two relative pronouns (al-mawsūlayn) is omitted. It means: what the God-fearing have been promised, and what they desire.

It is said "it was" (kānat) because whatever God has promised, its realization is as if it has already occurred. Or, it was written in the Preserved Tablet long before He created them: that Paradise is their reward and their destination.

If you ask: What is the meaning of His saying: "It was for them a reward and a destination"?

I say: It is like His saying: "An excellent reward and a good resting place" (Al-Kahf: 31). He praises the reward and its location, just as He said: "An evil drink and an evil resting place" (Al-Kahf: 29), where He condemns the punishment and its location. This is because bliss is not complete for the one enjoying it unless the place is pleasant, spacious, and in accordance with their desires and cravings, and free from disturbance. Likewise, punishment is compounded by the foulness of the place, its narrowness, its darkness, and its accumulation of causes for aversion and hatred. Therefore, the "destination" (maṣīr) is mentioned alongside the "reward" (jazāʾ).

The pronoun in "it was" (kānat) refers to "what they desire" (mā yashāʾūn).

"The promise" (al-waʿd) refers to the "promised thing" (al-mawʿūd). That is: it was a promise incumbent upon your Lord to fulfill, worthy of being asked for and sought, because it is a reward and a deserved recompense.

It is also said: People and angels have asked for it in their supplications: "Our Lord, and grant us what You promised us through Your messengers" (Al-Imran: 194), "Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good" (Al-Baqarah: 201), and "Our Lord, and admit them to gardens of perpetual residence which You have promised them" (Ghafir: 8).

"And [mention] the Day He will gather them and that which they worship besides Allah and will say, 'Did you mislead these, My servants, or did they [themselves] stray from the way?' They will say, 'Exalted are You! It was not for us to take any allies besides You. But You provided comforts for them and their fathers until they forgot the message and became a people ruined.'"