Tafsir of Al-Hashr 59:18

"O you who have believed..."

The command to piety (taqwa) is repeated for emphasis: "Fear Allah" in the performance of obligations, because it is linked to what constitutes action; and "fear Allah" in abandoning sins, because it is linked to what functions as a warning.

"And let every soul look to what it has put forth for tomorrow"

• "Tomorrow" (al-ghad): This refers to the Day of Resurrection. It is named "the day that follows your day" to bring it closer [to the mind]. Al-Hasan said: "He kept bringing it closer until He made it like tomorrow." Similar to this is the Almighty’s saying: “As if they had not flourished yesterday” (Yunus: 24), meaning: to bring the past time closer. It is also said that the Hereafter is expressed as "tomorrow" as if the world and the Hereafter are two days: today and tomorrow.

• The Indefinite Noun (Tankir): If you ask: What is the meaning of using the indefinite form for "soul" (nafs) and "tomorrow" (ghad)?
  • As for the indefiniteness of "soul," it is to minimize the souls that look into what they have prepared for the Hereafter, as if it said: "Let a single soul look into that."
  • As for the indefiniteness of "tomorrow," it is to emphasize its magnitude and the ambiguity of its nature, as if it were said: "For a tomorrow whose essence is unknown due to its greatness."

• Malik bin Dinar said: It is written on the gate of Paradise: "We found what we did; we profited from what we sent ahead; we lost what we left behind."

"And do not be like those who forgot Allah, so He made them forget themselves"

• They forgot His right, so He caused them to forget the right of their own souls through abandonment, until they did not strive for them with what would benefit them in His presence.
• Or, it means: He showed them such terrors on the Day of Resurrection that they forgot their own selves, as in the Almighty’s saying: “Their glance does not return to them” (Ibrahim: 43).

"The companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise are not equal. The companions of Paradise—they are the attainers [of success]."