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Ayah
Word by Word
سَابِقُوٓاْ
Race
إِلَىٰ
to
مَغۡفِرَةٖ
(the) forgiveness
مِّن
from
رَّبِّكُمۡ
your Lord
وَجَنَّةٍ
and a Garden
عَرۡضُهَا
its width
كَعَرۡضِ
(is) like (the) width
ٱلسَّمَآءِ
(of) the heaven
وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ
and the earth
أُعِدَّتۡ
prepared
لِلَّذِينَ
for those who
ءَامَنُواْ
believe
بِٱللَّهِ
in Allah
وَرُسُلِهِۦۚ
and His Messengers
ذَٰلِكَ
That
فَضۡلُ
(is the) Bounty
ٱللَّهِ
(of) Allah
يُؤۡتِيهِ
He gives
مَن
(to) whom
يَشَآءُۚ
He wills
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
ذُو
(is) the Possessor of Bounty
ٱلۡفَضۡلِ
(is) the Possessor of Bounty
ٱلۡعَظِيمِ
the Great
سَابِقُوٓاْ
Race
إِلَىٰ
to
مَغۡفِرَةٖ
(the) forgiveness
مِّن
from
رَّبِّكُمۡ
your Lord
وَجَنَّةٍ
and a Garden
عَرۡضُهَا
its width
كَعَرۡضِ
(is) like (the) width
ٱلسَّمَآءِ
(of) the heaven
وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ
and the earth
أُعِدَّتۡ
prepared
لِلَّذِينَ
for those who
ءَامَنُواْ
believe
بِٱللَّهِ
in Allah
وَرُسُلِهِۦۚ
and His Messengers
ذَٰلِكَ
That
فَضۡلُ
(is the) Bounty
ٱللَّهِ
(of) Allah
يُؤۡتِيهِ
He gives
مَن
(to) whom
يَشَآءُۚ
He wills
وَٱللَّهُ
And Allah
ذُو
(is) the Possessor of Bounty
ٱلۡفَضۡلِ
(is) the Possessor of Bounty
ٱلۡعَظِيمِ
the Great
Translation
Race [i.e., compete] toward forgiveness from your Lord and a Garden whose width is like the width of the heavens and earth, prepared for those who believed in Allāh and His messengers. That is the bounty of Allāh which He gives to whom He wills, and Allāh is the possessor of great bounty.
Tafsir
Vie with one another for forgiveness from your Lord and a the Paradise the breadth of which is as the breadth of the sky and the earth, if one were placed at the end of the other, prepared for those who believe in God and His messengers. That is the bounty of God, which He gives to whomever He will, and God is [dispenser] of tremendous bounty.
This Life of this World is Fleeting Enjoyment
Allah the Exalted degrades the significance of this life and belittles it by saying,
اعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَزِينَةٌ وَتَفَاخُرٌ بَيْنَكُمْ
وَتَكَاثُرٌ فِي الاَْمْوَالِ وَالاَْوْلَادِ
Know that the life of this world is only play and amusement, pomp and mutual boasting among you, and rivalry in respect of wealth and children.
meaning, this is the significance of this life to its people, just as He said in another Ayah,
زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ الشَّهَوَتِ مِنَ النِّسَأءِ وَالْبَنِينَ وَالْقَنَـطِيرِ الْمُقَنطَرَةِ مِنَ الذَّهَبِ وَالْفِضَّةِ وَالْخَيْلِ الْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَالَانْعَـمِ وَالْحَرْثِ ذَلِكَ مَتَـعُ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَأَبِ
Beautified for men is the love of things they covet; women, children, much of gold and silver (wealth), branded beautiful horses, cattle and well-tilled land. This is the pleasure of the present world's life; but Allah has the excellent return with Him. (3:14)
Allah the Exalted also sets a parable for this life, declaring that its joys are fading and its delights are perishable, saying that life is,
كَمَثَلِ غَيْثٍ
Like a rain (Ghayth),
which is the rain that comes down to mankind, after they had felt despair.
Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,
وَهُوَ الَّذِى يُنَزِّلُ الْغَيْثَ مِن بَعْدِ مَا قَنَطُواْ
And He it is Who sends down the Ghayth (rain) after they have despaired. (42:28)
Allah's statement,
أَعْجَبَ الْكُفَّارَ نَبَاتُهُ
thereof the growth is pleasing to the tiller;
meaning that farmers admire the vegetation that grows in the aftermath of rain. And just as farmers admire vegetation, the disbelievers admire this life; they are the most eager to acquire the traits of life, and life is most dear to them,
ثُمَّ يَهِيجُ
فَتَرَاهُ مُصْفَرًّا ثُمَّ يَكُونُ حُطَامًا
afterwards it dries up and you see it turning yellow; then it becomes straw.
meaning, that vegetation soon turns yellow in color, after being fresh and green. After that, the green fades away and becomes scattered pieces of dust.
This is the parable of this worldly life, it starts young, then matures and then turns old and feeble.
This is also the parable of mankind in this life; they are young and strong in the beginning. In this stage of life, they look youthful and handsome. Slowly, they begin growing older, their mannerism changes and their strength weakens. They then grow old and feeble; moving becomes difficult for them, while doing easy things becomes beyond their ability.
Allah the Exalted said,
اللَّهُ الَّذِى خَلَقَكُمْ مِّن ضَعْفٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ ضَعْفٍ قُوَّةٍ ثُمَّ جَعَلَ مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ ضَعْفاً وَشَيْبَةً يَخْلُقُ مَا يَشَأءُ وَهُوَ الْعَلِيمُ الْقَدِيرُ
Allah is He Who created you in (a state of) weakness, then gave you strength after weakness, then after strength gave (you) weakness and grey hair. He creates what He wills. And He is the All-Knowing, the All-Powerful. (30:54)
This parable indicates the near demise of this life and the imminent end of it, while in contrast, the Hereafter is surely coming. Those who hear this parable should, therefore, be aware of the significance of the Hereafter and feel eagerness in the goodness that it contains,
وَفِي الاْخِرَةِ عَذَابٌ شَدِيدٌ وَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرِضْوَانٌ
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور
But in the Hereafter (there is) a severe torment, and (there is) forgiveness from Allah and (His) pleasure. And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment.
meaning, surely, the Hereafter that will certainly come contains two things either severe punishment or forgiveness from Allah and His good pleasure.
Allah the Exalted said,
وَمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا إِلاَّ مَتَاعُ الْغُرُور
(And the life of this world is only a deceiving enjoyment). meaning,
this life is only a form of enjoyment that deceives those who incline to it. Surely, those who recline to this life will admire it and feel that it is dear to them, so much so, that they might think that this is the only life, no life or dwelling after it. Yet, in reality, this life is insignificant as compared to the Hereafter.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Abdullah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
لَلْجَنَّةُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَى أَحَدِكُمْ مِنْ شِرَاكِ نَعْلِهِ وَالنَّارُ مِثْلُ ذلِك
Paradise is nearer to any of you than the strap on his shoe, and so is the (Hell) Fire.
Al-Bukhari collected this Hadith through the narration of Ath-Thawri.
This Hadith indicates the close proximity of both good and evil in relation to mankind. If this is the case, then this is the reason Allah the Exalted encouraged mankind to rush to perform acts of righteousness and obedience and to avoid the prohibitions. By doing so, their sins and errors will be forgiven and they will acquire rewards and an exalted status.
Allah the Exalted said
سَابِقُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا كَعَرْضِ السَّمَاء وَالاْاَرْضِ
Race with one another in hastening towards forgiveness from your Lord, and Paradise the width whereof is as the width of the heaven and the earth,
Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah,
وَسَارِعُواْ إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِّن رَّبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَـوَتُ وَالاٌّرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ
And march forth in the way (to) forgiveness from your Lord, and for Paradise as wide as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who have Taqwa. (3:133)
Allah said here,
أُعِدَّتْ لِلَّذِينَ امَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ
ذَلِكَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ يُوْتِيهِ مَن يَشَاء وَاللَّهُ ذُو الْفَضْلِ الْعَظِيمِ
prepared for those who believe in Allah and His Messengers. That is the grace of Allah which He bestows on whom He is pleased with. And Allah is the Owner of great bounty.
meaning, This, that Allah has qualified them for, is all a part of His favor, bounty and compassion.
We mentioned a Hadith collected in the Sahih in which the poor emigrants said to the Messenger,
O Allah's Messenger! The wealthy people will get higher grades and permanent enjoyment.
He asked, Why is that?
They said, They pray like us and fast as we do. However, they give in charity, whereas we cannot do that, and that free servants, whereas we cannot afford it.
The Prophet said,
أَفَلَ أَدُلُّكُمْ عَلَى شَيْءٍ إِذَا فَعَلْتُمُوهُ سَبَقْتُمْ مَنْ بَعْدَكُمْ وَلَا يَكُونُ أَحَدٌ أَفْضَلَ مِنْكُمْ إِلاَّ مَنْ صَنَعَ مِثْلَ مَا صَنَعْتُمْ
تُسَبِّحُونَ
وَتُكَبِّرُونَ
وَتُحَمِّدُونَ
دُبُرَ كُلِّ صَلَةٍ ثَلَثًا وَثَلَثِين
Shall I tell you of a good deed that, if you acted upon, you would catch up with those who have surpassed you, none would overtake you and be better than you, except those who might do the same. Say,
Glorious is Allah,
Allah is Most Great, and
Praise be to Allah,
thirty three times each after every prayer.
They later came back and said, Our wealthy brethren heard what we did and they started doing the same.
Allah's Messenger said,
ذلِكَ فَضْلُ اللهِ يُوْتِيهِ مَنْ يَشَاء
This is the favor of Allah that He gives to whom He wills.
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