al-Mursalāt

إِنَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ فِي ظِلَالٍ وَعُيُونٍ

وَفَوَاكِهَ مِمَّا يَشْتَهُونَ

كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا هَنِيئًا بِمَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

كُلُوا وَتَمَتَّعُوا قَلِيلًا إِنَّكُمْ مُجْرِمُونَ

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمُ ارْكَعُوا لَا يَرْكَعُونَ

وَيْلٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ لِلْمُكَذِّبِينَ

فَبِأَيِّ حَدِيثٍ بَعْدَهُ يُؤْمِنُونَ

41. “The righteous are amidst shades and fountains (of Heaven),”
42. “And fruits such as they desire”.
43. “Eat ye and drink ye pleasantly (until you are satiated) in return for what ye did”.
44. “Thus do We certainly reward the Doers of Good”.
45. “Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth”.
46. “(O ye Unjust) Eat and enjoy yourselves (on earth) a little while, (but be warned that an evil End in the Hereafter awaits you) for that ye are sinners”.
47. “Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth”.
48. “And when it is said unto them: Bow down, they bow not down”.
49. “Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth”.
50. “(If they do not believe in Holy Qur’an) then what statement, after that, will they believe in?”

What Statement Will They Believe In, If They Do Not Believe in Holy Qur’an?

We know that the Qur’anic style generally couples warning with glad tidings, threats with encouragement, and the fate of the Righteous with that of the sinners, so that the affairs are better understood. On this basis, after describing various punishments of the sinners, in the Hereafter, in the aforementioned verses, there follows a short, but meaningful verse about the state of the Righteous on that Day:

Meanwhile, the sinners are in the shade of stifling smoke from fire, as it was understood from the previous verses. The Arabic word

is the plural form of /żill/ ‘shadow’; whether in the shade of a tree and the like, during the day, or in the shadows of the darkness at night, while /fi’/ is ‘to cast a shadow by only a single source of light’ such as the shadow of trees which intercepts the rays of the sun. Then it says:

It is clear that fruits, shadows, and fountains are a small part of the Blessings that Allah will bestow on them: a small part, describable in human language, is in comparison with all the Blessings in Heaven, but so plentiful and beyond the imagination of the Earth’s dwellers, that it is indescribable. It is interesting to note that they will be entertained so excellently and abundantly at Allah’s feast that they are told:

The statement which is said to them directly, whether by Allah or by Angels, is full of kindness and affection; clearly is a sustenance for their soul. The phrase,

denotes that these gifts are not given to anyone undeserving, and nothing is obtained by raw claim or imagination but, is actually prepared by good deeds. As Raqib cited in Mufradat: /hani’/ means anything that is wholesome and has no pain afterward. So, water and the daily meal are thus called and it is sometimes used for life, too. Therefore, this shows that the fruits, foods and drinks, in Heaven, are not the same as those in this world; of which we sometimes suffer malnutrition, pain and undesirable effects.

Some commentators believe that this imperative sentence denotes to the allowance of using these Blessings, lawfully, while some others believe that this is just a command. But, on the whole, it should be understood that, at ceremonies, these commands are a kind of hospitality and the host’s desire is that the guests would be asked to help themselves, as a kind of respect and dignity shown to them, because he likes that his meal will be eaten completely, by the guests, and this shows that they honor him.

The next verse emphasizes that these gifts are not undeservedly given:

Note that the first verse insists on ‘righteousness’ and ‘devotion’ then another verse is based on ‘deed’, and this verse emphasizes on ‘doing good’. ‘Righteousness’ or ‘virtuousness’ means avoidance of any sin, corruption, paganism and the denial of Allah; and ‘doing good’ is used for any good action; while ‘deed’ refers only to the activities which are piously done. So, the blessings bestowed by Allah are for these groups, not for the fake claimants of faith and committers of various kind of sin, though they appear to be among the faithful people.

At the end of this part, the refrain is, again, mentioned:

Woe to those who are deprived of these blessings and affections. The pain of the regret of this deprivation is not minor to the blazing fire of Hell. Since being busy with worldly pleasures and the desire of having unconditional freedom for following after carnality, is one of the factors of the denial of Resurrection, the next verse addresses the sinners and in a threatening tone says:

The term

can refer either to the short period of life in this world, or to the few blessings of this world in comparison with the countless, immense blessings of the next world. In fact, the righteous are highly regarded in the Hereafter and are addressed with this affectionate sentence:

but worldly men are addressed with this threatening sentence:

The Righteous are told:

but the unjust are told:

Further, it makes it clear that it is man’s sin, originating from faithlessness or lusts, that paves the way for Allah’s punishment. Then, the aforementioned warning is followed again by:

Woe to those who were deceived by this scintillating world and its lusts, and consequently prepared Allah’s punishment for themselves. In the next verse another source of their disaster, that is: ‘pride and self‑conceit’, is touched on where it says:

many of the commentators have said that this verse was revealed about the Thaqif tribe when the Prophet (S) told them to say prayers and they answered that they would never bow; that it would be a disgrace for them. Then he (S) said:

“Religion is worthless without bowing and prostration”.

They not only refused bowing and prostration, but also had this quality of pride throughout their life and permeating their ideas. They resigned neither to Allah’s Will nor to the Prophet’s instructions nor to people’s rights; they were humble neither to the Creator nor to other human beings. In fact, these two elements, ‘pride and carnality’, are the most important factors in committing crimes, sins, cruelties, and denial. Then, finally, for the tenth time in this Surah, it says:

In the last verse of Surah Mursalat, in a scorning tone and with profound astonishment, it questions:

One who does not believe in Qur’an; that which if it were sent down on a mountain, that mountain would humble itself and cleave asunder for fear of Allah, would not resign to believe in any Holy Book or any rational logic, and this is a sign of enmity and obstinacy. As it was mentioned, at the beginning of this Surah, the verse:

is repeated ten times for emphasis on one important fact: Resurrection. Repetitions, like this one, are found in the statements of all eloquent speakers for what they want to emphasize on; whether it be prose or verse. But some commentators believe that each time the verse is repeated, it means that it is about a new subject, and which comes just before the one that the rejecters deny; so, therefore, actually there is no repetition of the verse. We conclude this Surah with a sentence from ‘Ruh-al-Bayan’ which says:

“This Surah was revealed to the Prophet (S) in a cave somewhere close to ‘Qif Mosque’ Mina and I have seen the cave myself “.

Supplication

O Lord! Bestow on us Your Grace not to reject Your verses.

O Lord! Protect us against pride and carnal desires; the main sources of sin. O Lord! Set us in the Bliss of the Righteous among those who win be highly regarded at Your Feast.