The Inevitable Event (Al-Waqi‘ah)
Verses 8-26 GROUP_1432 56.8-26
8
فَأَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ مَا أَصْحَابُ الْمَيْمَنَةِ
Those on the Right—how blessed are those on the Right!
9
وَأَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ مَا أَصْحَابُ الْمَشْأَمَةِ
Those on the Left—how unlucky are those on the Left!
10
وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ
The third to the fore shall be the foremost.
11
أُوْلَئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
They shall be the nearest to God.
12
فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ
They will dwell in the Gardens of Bliss:
13
ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ
a large group of the early believers,
14
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ
and a lesser number from the later generations.
15
عَلَى سُرُرٍ مَّوْضُونَةٍ
Seated on couches wrought in gold and encrusted with precious stones,
16
مُتَّكِئِينَ عَلَيْهَا مُتَقَابِلِينَ
reclining on them facing each other;
17
يَطُوفُ عَلَيْهِمْ وِلْدَانٌ مُّخَلَّدُونَ
they will be waited on by ageless youths
18
بِأَكْوَابٍ وَأَبَارِيقَ وَكَأْسٍ مِّن مَّعِينٍ
carrying goblets and ewers and cups filled with the purest wine,
19
لَا يُصَدَّعُونَ عَنْهَا وَلَا يُنزِفُونَ
neither causing headaches, nor intoxication;
20
وَفَاكِهَةٍ مِّمَّا يَتَخَيَّرُونَ
along with fruits of their choice;
21
وَلَحْمِ طَيْرٍ مِّمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ
and the meat of any bird that they may desire;
22
وَحُورٌ عِينٌ
and fair maidens with large, lustrous eyes
23
كَأَمْثَالِ اللُّؤْلُؤِ الْمَكْنُونِ
like the pearls in their shells:
24
جَزَاء بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ
shall be their recompense for their deeds.
25
لَا يَسْمَعُونَ فِيهَا لَغْوًا وَلَا تَأْثِيمًا
They will not hear therein any vain or sinful talk,
26
إِلَّا قِيلًا سَلَامًا سَلَامًا
only the words of peace and tranquillity.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) The group at the forefront (as-sabiqun) will comprise of those who, immediately accept the Truth when it appears before them, and surrender themselves to it without hesitation. According to the Prophet’s wife, ‘A’ishah, the Prophet said, ‘Do you know, on the Day of Judgement, who will be the first to find a place in the protective shade of God?’ People said that God and His Prophet knew best. Then he said, ‘It will be those to whom Truth was presented and they accepted it. When Truth was demanded of them, they gave it. They gave the same decision with regard to others as they did with regard to themselves.’ (Tafsir ibn Kathir). In the early period of the call for Truth, for those who came forward and embraced Islam, it was a discovery. The generation coming after them, regarded Islam as a legacy. It is this difference between discovery and legacy which raises the status of first group over that of the second group. Naturally, the second group is larger in number than the first group. In the Hereafter, there will be ordinary rewards for the second group while, for the first group, there will be royal rewards.