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fa-ʾaqim wajhaka li-d-dīni l-qayyimi min qabli ʾan yaʾtiya yawmun lā maradda lahū mina llāhi yawmaʾidhin yaṣṣaddaʿūna
So set your heart on the upright religion, before there comes a day irrevocable from Allah. On that day they shall be split [into various groups].
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah Ar-Room – Verse 43
43. “Then Set your face to the established religion before there comes a day from Allah which cannot be averted; on that day shall become separated.”
Then addressee in this verse is the Prophet (S) when it says:
No one, on that Day, has any power to turn back that Day and to stop the program of Allah when people will become divided into different groups and the rows will be separated from each other; a group will be admitted in Paradise and the other group will be sent into Hell. The Arabic word /qayyim/ in this verse means: ‘subsistent’ and ‘establisher’, and it, qualifying the religion by this attribute, in fact, points to the constant regard to the religion. That is, since the religion of Islam is a subsistent, and straight religion which establishes the peoples’ system of material and spiritual life, the Prophet (S) should never deviate from it.
Allah addresses the Prophet (S) in this verse so that others take care of their own account. The Arabic phrase /yassadda‘un/ is derived from /sad‘/ which originally means: ‘to break or cleave a plate’ but gradually it has been used for any separation. Here it refers to the separation of the rows of the people of Heaven and the people of Hell that either of them will also be divided into some rows according to their degrees in Paradise and in Hell.