Al Ḥijr

وَلَقَدْ نَعْلَمُ أَنَّكَ يَضِيقُ صَدْرُكَ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ

فَسَبّـِحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبّـِكَ وَكُن مّـِنَ السَّاجِدِينَ

وَاعْبُدْ رَبَّكَ حَتَّي يَأْتِيَكَ الْيَقِينُ

97. “And (O’ prophet!) We certainly know your breast is straitened by what they say.”
98. “Therefore, (to reinforce yourself), celebrate the praise of your Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him).”
99. “And worship your Lord until the Certain comes to you.”

Among the commentators it is well-known that the aim in mentioning /yaqin/ (certainty), in these verses, is the most certain of all that takes place with regard to man, that is, death. As it is also quoted from the tongue of the pagans in verses 46-47 of Surah Al-Muddaththir No. 74 saying that they used to reject the Day of Judgment till death overtook them. The meaning of the Arabic word /yaqin/ is not death, of course, but death prepares the grounds for arriving at certainty, for at the time when death is forth coming, all curtains are drawn and man becomes certain of the realities.

Some deviants have made a pretext out of the verse and claim: if one arrives at the state of certainty, there is no more any need for worshipping, little knowing that it is the Prophet (S) who is being addressed and who had arrived at certainty from the earliest day and used to declare in face of inciting greed and threats of the pagans:

“If you place the moon into my one hand and the sun into another one, I shall not be stopped from performing my duty.”

However, despite such a state of certainty, he used to worship till the last moments of his life. Anyway, Allah adds as a console and as a reinforcement for elevating the spirit of the holy Prophet (S) in the noble verse:

“And (O’ prophet!) We certainly know your breast is straitened by what they say.”

Your delicate spirit and your very sensitive heart cannot withstand all those ill-intentioned words and blasphemous sentences, thus making you deeply depressed. However, do not be disturbed; to remove the ill-effects of their nasty and inappropriate words, worship and praise your Lord, and remain one of those who prostrate. The verse says:

“Therefore, (to reinforce yourself), celebrate the praise of your Lord, and be of those who make prostration (unto Him).”

For, such a gratitude shown towards Allah will remove the ill-effects of their words from the minds of the lovers of Allah. Moreover, it provides you with energy, ability, illumination and sincerity as well. Some Islamic traditions denote that whenever the Prophet (S) became sad, he used to establish prayer by which he would wipe out the effects of that grief from his mind. Therefore, The Lord gives him His last commandment in connection with this matter that he must not give up worshipping Allah throughout his life and he (S) must keep on worshipping and serving Him till his certain death occurs.

The holy verse says:

“And worship your Lord until the Certain comes to you.”

It is cited in Majma‘-ul-Bayan that if Allah would say only: ‘worship the Lord’ and would not confine it to a certain limit in time, it was sufficient for man to worship Allah once and prove his servitude to Him. However, with this meaning, He convinces man to worship Allah as long as he is alive. In conclusion, worshipping Him is the highest level of education; it provokes one’s thought and calls one’s way of thinking towards the endless boundaries.

It wipes out and washes away all the dust of sinfulness and negligence from one’s heart and soul, while inculcating supreme human values within him. It strengthens one’s faith and awareness, and makes one responsible in his affairs. It is for this reason that it would be impossible to imagine that man might be needless of this great educational school for even one moment. Those who think man may reach a stage where he will be no more in need of worshipping, either have regarded man’s development as a limited process, or they have not grasped the full meaning of worshipping.