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Ayah
Word by Word
إِلَّا
Except
ٱبۡتِغَآءَ
seeking
وَجۡهِ
(the) Countenance
رَبِّهِ
(of) his Lord
ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰ
the Most High
إِلَّا
Except
ٱبۡتِغَآءَ
seeking
وَجۡهِ
(the) Countenance
رَبِّهِ
(of) his Lord
ٱلۡأَعۡلَىٰ
the Most High
Translation
But only seeking the face [i.e., acceptance] of his Lord, Most High.
Tafsir
but, he did this, only seeking the pleasure of his Lord the Most High, that is to say, only seeking [to secure] God's reward;
The Matter of Guidance and other than it is in the Hand of Allah, and Allah's Warning about the Hellfire
Allah's says,
إِنَّ عَلَيْنَا لَلْهُدَى
Truly, on Us is (to give) guidance.
Qatadah said,
This means, We will explain what is lawful and what is prohibited.
Others have said that it means,
Whoever traverses upon the path of guidance, then he will reach Allah (i.e., in the Hereafter).
They consider this Ayah like Allah's saying,
وَعَلَى اللَّهِ قَصْدُ السَّبِيلِ
And upon Allah is the responsibility to explain the Straight path. (16:9)
This has been mentioned by Ibn Jarir.
Allah said;
وَإِنَّ لَنَا لَلْإخِرَةَ وَالاْإُولَى
And truly, unto Us (belong) the last (Hereafter) and the first (this world).
This means, `they both belong to Us and I (Allah) am in complete control of them.'
Then Allah says,
فَأَنذَرْتُكُمْ نَارًا تَلَظَّى
Therefore I have warned you of a Fire Talazza.
Mujahid said, Blazing.
Imam Ahmad recorded from Simak bin Harb that he heard An-Nu`man bin Bashir giving a sermon, in which he said,
I heard the Messenger of Allah giving a sermon, in which he said:
أَنْذَرْتُكُمُ النَّار
I have warned you of the Fire.
And he said it in such a voice that if a man was in the marketplace he could hear it from where I am standing now.
And he said it (with such force) that the garment that was on his shoulder fell down to his feet.
Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Ishaq that he heard An-Nu`man bin Bashir giving a sermon, in which he said, I heard the Messenger of Allah saying,
إِنَّ أَهْوَنَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ عَذَابًا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ رَجُلٌ تُوضَعُ فِي أَخْمَصِ قَدَمَيْهِ جَمْرَتَانِ يَغْلِي مِنْهُمَا دِمَاغُه
Verily, the person to be punished lightest of the people of the Fire on the Day of Judgement will be a man who will have placed on the soles of his feet two coals that will cause his brain to boil.
Imam Al-Bukhari also recorded this narration.
Muslim recorded that Abu Ishaq narrated from An-Nu`man bin Bashir that the Messenger of Allah said,
إِنَّ أَهْوَنَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ عَذَابًا مَنْ لَهُ نَعْلَنِ وَشِرَاكَانِ مِنْ نَارٍ يَغْلِي مِنْهُمَا دِمَاغُهُ كَمَا يَغْلِي الْمِرْجَلُ مَا يَرَى أَنَّ أَحَدًا أَشَدُّ مِنْهُ عَذَابًا وَإِنَّهُ لَاَهْوَنُهُمْ عَذَابًا
Verily, the lightest punishment received by the people of the Hellfire will be a man who will have two sandals whose straps will be made of fire that will cause his brain to boil just as a cauldron boils. Yet he will not think that anyone is receiving a torment more severe than him, even though he will be receiving the lightest punishment of them.
Allah says,
لَاا يَصْلَاهَا إِلاَّ الاْاَشْقَى
None shall enter it save the most wretched.
meaning, none will enter surrounded by it on all sides except the most wretched.
Then Allah explains who this (the most wretched) is by His saying
الَّذِي كَذَّبَ
Who denies, meaning, in his heart.
.
وَتَوَلَّى
and turns away.
meaning, from acting with his limbs and performing deeds according to their pillars.
Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,
كُلُّ أُمَّتِي يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّـةَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ إِلاَّ مَنْ أَبَى
All of my followers will enter Paradise on the Day of Judgement except for whoever refuses.
They (the Companions) said, Who would refuse, O Messenger of Allah
He replied,
مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي دَخَلَ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَقَدْ أَبَى
Whoever obeys me, he will enter Paradise, and whoever disobeys me, then he has refused.
Al-Bukhari also recorded this Hadith.
Allah then says,
وَسَيُجَنَّبُهَا الاَْتْقَى
And those with Taqwa will be far removed from it.
meaning, the righteous, pure, most pious person will be saved from the Fire.
Then He explains who he is by His saying,
الَّذِي يُوْتِي مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّى
He who gives of his wealth for self-purification.
meaning, he spends his wealth in obedience of his Lord in order to purify himself, his wealth and whatever Allah has bestowed upon him of religion and worldly things.
وَمَا لاَِحَدٍ عِندَهُ مِن نِّعْمَةٍ تُجْزَى
And who has (in mind) no favor from anyone to be paid back.
meaning, giving his wealth is not done so that he may gain some favor from someone wherein they return some good to him, and therefore he gives to get something in return.
He only spends his wealth
إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ الاَْعْلَى
to seek the Face of his Lord, the Most High.
meaning, hoping to attain the blessing of seeing Him in the final abode in the Gardens of Paradise.
Allah then says,
وَلَسَوْفَ يَرْضَى
He, surely, will be pleased.
meaning, indeed those with these characteristics will be pleased.
The Cause of this Revelation and the Virtue of Abu Bakr
Many of the scholars of Tafsir have mentioned that these Ayat were revealed about Abu Bakr As-Siddiq. Some of them even mentioned that there is a consensus among the Qur'anic commentators concerning this. There is no doubt that he is included in the meaning of these Ayat, and that he is the most deserving of the Ummah to be described with these characteristics in general, for indeed, the wording of these Ayat is general. As in Allah's saying,
وَسَيُجَنَّبُهَا الاٌّتْقَى
الَّذِى يُوْتِى مَالَهُ يَتَزَكَّى
وَمَا لاًّحَدٍ عِندَهُ مِن نِّعْمَةٍ تُجْزَى
And those with Taqwa will be far removed from it. He who gives of his wealth for self-purification. And who has (in mind) no favor from anyone to be paid back.
However, he (Abu Bakr) was the first and foremost of this Ummah to have all of these characteristics and other praiseworthy characteristics as well. For verily, he was truthful, pious, generous, charitable, and he always spent his wealth in obedience of His Master (Allah) and in aiding the Messenger of Allah . How many Dirhams and Dinars did he spend seeking the Face of His Most Noble Lord. And did not consider any of the people as owning him some favor that he needed to get compensation for. Rather, his virtue and kindness was even shown towards leaders and chiefs from all the other tribes as well. This is why `Urwah bin Mas`ud, who was the chief of the Thaqif tribe, said to him on the day of the Treaty of Hudaybiyyah,
By Allah, if I did not owe you a debt, which I have not paid you back for, I would have responded to you (i.e., your call to Islam).
Abu Bakr As-Siddiq became angry with him for saying such a thing (i.e., I owe you something). So if this was his position with the chiefs of the Arabs and the heads of the tribes, then what about those other than them. Thus, Allah says,
وَمَا لاًّحَدٍ عِندَهُ مِن نِّعْمَةٍ تُجْزَى
إِلاَّ ابْتِغَأءَ وَجْهِ رَبِّهِ الاٌّعْلَى
وَلَسَوْفَ يَرْضَى
And who has (in mind) no favor from anyone to be paid back. Except to seek the Face of his Lord, the Most High. He, surely, will be pleased.
And in the Two Sahihs it is recorded that the Messenger of Allah said,
مَنْ أَنْفَقَ زَوْجَيْنِ فِي سَبِيلِ اللهِ دَعَتْهُ خَزَنَةُ الْجَنَّةِ يَاعَبْدَاللهِ هَذَا خَيْر
Whoever equipped two riding animals in the way of Allah, the Gatekeepers of Paradise will call to him saying,
O servant of Allah! This is good.
So Abu Bakr said,
O Messenger of Allah! The one who is called from them will not have any need. Will there be anyone who will be called from all of them
The Prophet replied,
نَعَمْ وَأَرْجُو أَنْ تَكُونَ مِنْهُم
Yes, and I hope that you will be one of them.
This is the end of the Tafsir of Surah Al-Layl, and all praise and thanks are due to Allah.
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