al-Wāqi‘ah

وَالسَّابِقُونَ السَّابِقُونَ

اُوْلَئِكَ الْمُقَرَّبُونَ

فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ

ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأوَّلِينَ

وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ

10. And those foremost in doing righteous good deeds shall be foremost in receiving Rewards.

11. These shall be the nearest Divine Threshold.

12. In the Gardens abounding in Blessings.

13. A multitude of those shall be from the ancients and former nations.

14. And a few of those shall be from later generations.

Taking the lead in matters of faith and doing righteous good deeds is meritorious. Those who take the lead in doing righteous good deeds in this world shall be foremost in receiving Divine Rewards. Depicting the third group, the blessed Verses 10 and 11 are saying that "those foremost shall be nearest to Divine Threshold." The Arabic word sabiqun is ad hoc applied to those who are not only foremost in matters of faith and belief, but are also foremost in doing righteous good deeds and in matters of human ethics. They serve as people's role models and leaders as a consequence of which they are nearest to Divine Threshold.

Therefore, different Qur’anic exegetes interpret their being foremost owing to their being foremost in obedience to Allah, establishing the five daily prayers, embarking upon jihad and emigration, repentance, and the like. Thus, Qur’anic exegetes address different aspects of such broad sense. According to Islamic traditions, the Arabic word sabiqun is applied to Habil (Abel), the believer among the family of Pharaoh, Habib Najjar, and the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as) owing to their being foremost in their own communities, for instance Imam ‘Ali (as) was the first man who converted to the Islamic faith.

Such instances do not restrict the semantic application of the word. It is also worthy of note that Ibn ‘Abbas narrates from the Messenger of Allah (S) that he asked the Noble Prophet of Islam (S) concerning the exegesis of the blessed Verse in question and he replied:

"Gabriel said unto me that they are ‘Ali (as) and his followers who shall be foremost in being admitted to Paradise and they shall be nearest to Divine Threshold owing to the respect accorded them by God Almighty." ⁶

These are actually the manifest and perfect instances of the aforesaid concept encompassing all who have been foremost in all nations and communities. The blessed Verse 12 tersely depict the exalted state of:

"those nearest to Divine Threshold"

in the Gardens of Paradise abounding in Divine Blessings, saying that different material and immaterial Blessings of Paradise are in store for them. The depiction may also reflect that the Gardens of Paradise constitute the only place where Divine Blessings may be found. They stand in contrast against the gardens in this world which are the means of living and toil for mankind. In like manner, the state of those nearest to Divine Threshold in this world is different than that of the Hereafter, since their exalted state in this world is accompanied by responsibilities, whereas the Hereafter is their resting place abounding in Blessings.

It goes without saying that "nearest" herein reflects their exalted state rather than spatial nearness, since God Almighty does not exist in space and is nearer to us than ourselves. The blessed Verse 13 treats of the manner of diving people in former nations and the Muslim community, saying that:

"a multitude of those shall be from the ancients and former nations."

The blessed Verse 14 is saying that:

"and a few of those shall be from later generations"

in which the Arabic word thulla designates "group, multitude" and some Qur’anic exegetes maintain that it denotes "piece, part" which ad hoc connotes "enormous part." According to the blessed Verse, a great multitude of those nearest to Divine Threshold are from former nations and few of them are from the Muslim community. It is also worthy of note that certain believers may not be amongst those foremost in matters of belief, but they may possess certain qualities and characteristics thereby they may be on a par with "the foremost" in terms of being granted Divine Rewards.

In this vein, traditions have been narrated from Imam Muhammad Baqir (as) who said:

"We are the foremost of the foremost and we are the last ones." ⁷

It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) that addressed to a number of his followers, he said:

"You are the first and the last of those foremost in loving us in this world and the foremost in being admitted to Paradise in the Hereafter." ⁸

It is also worthy of note that some Qur’anic exegetes interpret the foremost and the last as the first and the last Muslim communities that are accordingly the nearest to Divine Threshold.

Footnotes

1. 6. Tafsir Nur al-Thiqalayn, under the blessed Verse in question; Tafsir Safi; Khisal; Ikmal al-Din; Tafsir Burhan, under the blessed Verse in question. The tradition is also attested in some Sunni sources including exegetic works.
2. 7. Tafsir Safi, under the blessed Verse in question; Tafsir Atyab al-Bayan and other exegetic works.
3. 8. Tafsir Safi; Tafsir Burhan; see also other exegetic works.