Surah Adh-Dhaariyat (51): Read Online and Download - English Translation

Qualities of Those Who have Taqwa and Their Reward

Allah the Exalted informs about those who have Taqwa, that on the Day of their Return they will be amidst gardens and springs. To the contrary the miserable ones will be amidst torment, punishment, fire and chains. Allah said,

(Taking joy in the things which their Lord has given them.) His statement;

(Taking) describes the state of the people of Taqwa in the midst of gardens and springs. They will receive what their Lord gives them, meaning, delight, happiness and favors. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

(Verily, they were before that), in the life of the world,

(gooddoers) As He said:

(Eat and drink at ease for that which you have sent on before you in days past!)(69:24) Allah the Exalted described the good acts that they performed,

(They used to sleep but little at night.) The scholars of Tafsir have two opinions about this:

The First Opinion

The first is that, they used to spend a little part of every night awake. Ibn `Abbas said, "Every night, they would worship Allah, even during a little part of the night." Qatadah narrated that Mutarrif bin `Abdullah said, "Hardly a night would pass by them that they did not pray to Allah the Exalted and Most Honored, either in the beginning, or the middle of it." Mujahid said, "Only a few nights, if any, would they sleep through the night until the morning without praying Tahajjud." Qatadah said similarly. Anas bin Malik and Abu Al-`Aliyah said, "They used to pray between Al-Maghrib and Al-`Isha'." The Second Opinion They used to spend a little part of the night in sleep. This was preferred by Ibn Jarir. Al-Hasan Al-Basri said:

(They used to sleep but little by night), "They performed voluntary night prayer and would not sleep during the night except a little. They were active and would continue until they were seeking forgiveness right before dawn." `Abdullah bin Salam said, "When the Messenger of Allah arrived at Al-Madinah, people quickly gathered around him and I was among them. When I saw his face, I knew that it was not the face of a liar. The first statement I heard from him was,

(O people! Feed with food, keep relations to kith and kin, spread the Salam, pray at night while people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace.)" Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Verily, there are lofty rooms in Paradise in which their outside can be seen from inside and their inside from the outside.) Abu Musa Al-Ash`ari said, "Who are they for, O Allah's Messenger" He said,

(For those who use soft speech, feed food and spend the night in voluntary prayer while people are asleep.) Allah said:

(And in the hours before dawn, they were asking for forgiveness.) Mujahid and several others said: "They were performing Salah." Others said that they would stand in prayer during the night and delayed asking Allah for forgiveness until the latter hours before dawn. As Allah, the Exalted the Blessed, said;

(And those who seek forgiveness during the last hours of the night.)(3:17); This is because it is better if asking for forgiveness is done while praying. It is confirmed in the Sahih collections as well as others, from several Companions, that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Allah, the Most High, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says, "Is there anyone who is repenting so that I may accept his repentance Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, so that I may forgive him Is there anyone asking of Me, so that I may grant him his request" until Fajr begins.) Many of the scholars of Tafsir said that when the Prophet Ya`qub said to his sons:

(I will ask my Lord for forgiveness for you)(12:98), he delayed doing so until the hours before dawn. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored said,

(And in their wealth there was the right of the Sa'il and the Mahrum.) After Allah mentioned their quality of performing prayer, He then mentioned their quality of spending in charity and acts of compassion and kindness,

(And in their wealth there was the right), a designated part which they dedicated to the Sa'il and Mahrum. The Sa'il is the poor who begs others, and he has a due right. As for the Mahrum, Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid said, "He is the poor person who does not receive a stipend." Meaning he does not receive a stipend from the Muslim treasury, nor does he have a means of income, nor a profession. The Mother of the faithful, `A'ishah may Allah be pleased with her, said about the Mahrum, "He is the displaced, the one who does not have a profession to easily earn an income from." Qatadah and Az-Zuhri: "The Mahrum is the one who does not ask the people for anything." Az-Zuhri added that the Messenger of Allah said,

(The poor (Miskin) is not the one who goes round to the people and asks them for a mouthful or two or a date or two. But the poor is the one who does not have enough to satisfy his needs and whose condition is not known to others, so that others may give him something in charity.) This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs using another chain of narration.

Allah's Signs on the Earth and in Mankind

Allah the Exalted and the Blessed said next,

(And on the earth are signs for those who have faith with certainty.) Allah says that there are signs on earth that testify to the might of the Creator and His boundless ability. These signs include what Allah placed on the earth, the various plants, animals, valleys, mountains, deserts, rivers and oceans. He also created mankind with different languages, colors, intentions and abilities, and a variety among them, differences in the power of understanding and comprehension, their deeds, and ultimately earning happiness or misery. Allah put every organ in their bodies in its rightful place where they most need it to be. So He said؛

(And also in yourselves. Will you not then see) Qatadah commented, "He who thinks about his own creation will realize that he was created with flexible joints so that it is easy for him to perform acts of worship." Allah the Exalted said next,

(And in the heaven is your provision,) meaning, rain,

(and that which you are promised.) meaning Paradise. This was said by Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and several others. Allah said:

(Then by the Lord of the heaven and the earth, it is the truth, just as you can speak.) Allah is swearing by His honorable Self, all of the matters of the Judgement, Resurrection, and Recompense that they have been promised shall certainly occur. Therefore, it is the truth, there being no doubt about it, so do not doubt its coming, just as you do not doubt that you can speak When he would talk to one of his friends, Mu`adh used to say: "What I am saying is as true as your being here."

The Guests of the Prophet Ibrahim

We mentioned this story before in Surah Hud and Al-Hijr. Allah said,

(Has the story reached you, of the honored guests of Ibrahim), whom Ibrahim honored and who,

(they said: "Salaman!" He answered: "Salamun.")

(When you are greeted with a greeting, greet in return with what is better than it, or return it equally.)(4:86) So the Friend of Allah chose a better reply in return for their greeting, implementing Allah's command: Reciprocating the greeting with the term Salamun is stronger than the greeting using the term Salaman. The three angels; Jibril, Mika'il and Israfil came to Ibrahim in the image of handsome young wonderfully graceful men. This is why Ibrahim said,

(You are a people unknown to me.) Allah the Exalted said,

(Then he turned to his household,) Ibrahim discretely went inside in haste,

(and brought out a roasted calf.) from the best of his menu, And in another Ayah

(And he hastened to entertain them with a roasted calf.) (11:69) means roasted on hot coals

(And placed it before them), brought it close to them,

(Saying, "Will you not eat") Ibrahim said this polite and kind statement to his guests, and surely, this Ayah indicates proper manners for honoring guests. For he brought the food to his guests quickly, while they were unaware that it was being prepared for them. He did not first mention this favor to them by saying, "We will make food for you." Rather, he discretely had it prepared and placed before them. He prepared the best kind of food he had, a young, fat roasted calf. He did not place the food far from them and invite them to come close to it to eat. Rather, he placed it close to them and refrained from ordering them to eat. Instead he invited them using a kind and subtle invitation,

(Will you not eat) This statement is similar to one of us saying to a guest, "Would you be kind and generous to do such and such" Allah the Exalted said,

(Then he conceived fear of them.) this Ayah is explained by Allah's statement,

(But when he saw their hands went not towards it, he mistrusted them, and felt a sense of fear of them. They said: "Fear not, we have been sent against the people of Lut." And his wife was standing (there), and she laughed.)(11:70-71), meaning, she was glad that the people of Lut would be destroyed on account of their rebellion and transgression against Allah, the Exalted. This is when the angels delivered the good news to her of a son, Ishaq, and Ya`qub after Ishaq,

(She said: "Woe unto me! Shall I bear a child while I am an old woman, and here is my husband an old man Verily, this is a strange thing!" They said, "Do you wonder at the decree of Allah The mercy of Allah and His blessings be on you, O family of the house. Surely, He (Allah) is All-Praiseworthy, All-Glorious.")(11:72-73) Allah said here;

(And they gave him glad tidings of a son having knowledge.) This news was as good to Ibrahim as it was to his wife, for this son would be theirs, and therefore, they both were getting some good news. Allah the Exalted said,

(Then his wife came forward with a loud voice), She screamed loudly, according to Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Abu Salih, Ad-Dahhak, Zayd bin Aslam, Ath-Thawri and As-Suddi. She said when she shouted,

(Ah! Woe to me!)(25:28), then,

(she smote her face,) meaning, she struck herself upon her forehead, according to Mujahid and Ibn Sabit. Ibn `Abbas said that she smacked her face just as women do when confronted with an amazing thing,

(and said: "A barren old woman!") meaning, "How can I give birth while I am an old woman And even when I was young I was barren and could not have children,"

(They said: "Even so says your Lord. Verily, He is the All-Wise, the All-Knower"), `He is the All-Knower of the honor that you are worthy of and He is the most Wise in His statements and decisions.'