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Part 26
Sura Nazi'at 79:34-41
34. "But when the great
calamity comes,"
35. "That Day man shall
remember what he strove for,"
36. "And Hell-fire
shall be manifest for him who sees,"
37. "Then as for him who
transgressed,"
38. "And had preferred the
life of this world,"
39. "Then surely Hell-fire
will he the Abode."
40. "And as for him who
feared his Lord's presence and restrained the
soul from the low
desires,"
41. "Then surely the Garden
will be the Abode."
Commentary:
Those
who restrain their soul from low desires.
To
continue stating the details of the Resurrection, mentioned in the former
verses, the following verses refer to the subject, again, and explain the
destiny of those who fear Allah and of those who disobey
and follow their low desires.
"But when the
great calamity comes"
The
term / tammah/ is derived from /tamm/ which originally means 'to fill',
and anything which is in a high state is called /tammah/; hence, it is used for
the great and difficult events and also for the grievous, disastrous happenings
to come. Here, it refers to the Hereafter, which is full of horrible incidents.
It is characterized by the word 'great' as an emphasis on the importance
of this unique event.
"That
Day man shall remember what he strove for".
But
what is the use of this remembrance? How could it be helpful to him? If he asks
to return to this world to recompense the past, his request will be denied and
the reply will be: 'Nay!'.
If
he repents for the pardoning of his evil deeds, it will be useless, since it
will be too late for it.
Then,
he can do nothing, but regret and as the Qur'an says: "The Day that the
wrongdoer will bite at his hands...". (Sura Furqan, No. 25, verse 27.)
It
should be noted that the term /yataDakkaru/ is a verb in the future tense,
which usually expresses the constancy of an action, i.e. on that Day Man will
constantly remember all his deeds because on that Day the hearts and the souls
of men will be unveiled and all the hidden facts will be made manifest.
"And
Hell-fire shall he manifest for him who sees".
Hell
exists at the present time. Furthermore, according to Sura
Ankabut, No.
29, verse 54: "But, of a surety, Hell will encompass the rejecters of
Faith!",, however, the curtains of this world hinder it to be seen; hence,
on the Day of Judgment, that is, the Day of the manifestation of everything,
Hell becomes apparent and the most clearly visible.
The
words /liman yara/ 'for him who sees' denote that Hell, on that Day,
will be so visible that everyone who has the ability to see, and with no
exception, will see it. It will be covert neither to the righteous nor to the
evildoers, whose abode is-Hell.
It
is, also, probable that the words refer to those who have eyes to see with on
that Day, because according to Sura Ta-Ha, No. 20. verse 124, some
will be blind then: "... and We shall raise him up blind on the Day of
Judgment". But the first meaning which is accepted by many commentators
seems more fitting, because Hell, for the evildoers, is a punishment and a
doubled penalty. That some of them will be blind, perhaps, occurs at some
definite sites in the Hereafter, not everywhere.
Then,
attention is paid to the status of sinners and unbelievers in the Hereafter
and, in a few short, but meaningful sentences, both the destiny of theirs and
its causes are expressed:
"Then as for him who
transgressed",
"And had preferred
the life of this world,"
"Then
surely Hell-fire will be the Abode".
In
the first sentence, their corrupted belief is referred to since transgression
originates from self-complacence and self-conceit, which, itself,
is caused by the absence of knowledge of Allah.
One
who knows Allah, the Almighty, finds
himself insignificant and never rejects his servitude.
The
second sentence points to their corrupted deeds, because transgression causes
man to consider the glitter of the lusts of this scintillating world his
highest values and prefers it to everything else.
These
two, in fact, are the 'cause and effect' of each other. Transgression
caused by corrupted belief is the source of corrupted deeds and also preferring
this fleeting life to all, brings about the blazing fire of Hell.
Hazrat
Ali (p.b.u.h.) has said: "He who transgresses, goes astray and acts not
reasonably".title="">[1] This is because of self-complacence in
which Man acknowledges his low desires and conceives them as being valuable.
Then,
through two short and extremely meaningful sentences, it characterizes the
Blessed, thus:
"And as for him who feared
his Lord's presence and restrained the
soul from the low desires..
"Then
surely the Garden will be the Abode".
Yes,
the first condition of being 'blessed' is 'fear' caused by 'knowledge'
knowing the presence of the Lord and being afraid of disobeying His
command. The second condition, which is, indeed, the fruit of knowledge and
fear of Allah, is restraining the soul
from rebellion, since, all the sins, corruption's and disasters, come from low
desires which is the worst god worshipped in the world.
The
means of Satan to influence in Man's entity, is still 'low desire'. It
is this inner evil that opens the gate for the outer Evil to come in, or else
this case would never be possible, as Sura Al-Hijr, No. 15, verse 42 says: "For
over My servants no authority shalt thou have, except such as put themselves in
the wrong and follow thee".
Explanations:
What
is the meaning of "the Presence of the Lord"?
It
is worthy to note that in Verse 40, of the current Sura, it says:
"...
as for him who feared his Lord's presence..." but
it does not say: 'as for him who feared his Lord'. Then, what is 'the
'Lord's presence'?
The
following are some different commentaries to be considered:
1.
It means 'the halting-places in the Hereafter' wherein Man stands
in front of the Lord for Judgment. Therefore, 'the Lord's presence' is
in the sense of 'his presence with his Lord', i.e. the standing of Man
before his Lord.
2.
It points to 'Allah's knowledge and His
protection' for
all human beings; as Sura Ra'd, No. 13, verse 33 says: "Is
then He Who standeth over every soul (and knoweth) all that it doth, (like any
others) ?"
The
next evidence to this commentary is the tradition that has been narrated from
Imam Sadiq who said: "He who knows that Allah sees him, hears what he
says, knows what he does regarding good or evil, and this consciousness keeps
him away from doing wrong, it is he who '... feared his Lord's presence and
restrained the soul from the low desires'".
3.
It means 'His Justice' since His Holy Essence is not frightening. The
fear is for His Justice. In fact, this fear is obtained from the comparison
between our actions and His Justice. Criminals tremble when they see the just
judge, and fear when they hear the words 'court and Judgment', while an
innocent person feels no fear of any of them.
These
three commentaries do not contrast with each other and all of them may be
gathered in the meaning of the verse.
The
Relation between the Rebels and Worldliness.
In
fact, the above verses clearly and in a beautiful style illustrate the
principles of both Man's happiness and adversity. The adversity of Man is
considered in his worldliness, and his happiness is found in his fear of Allah and the absence of low
desires; the whole of which is the extract and essence in the teachings of all
Prophets and Saints.
A
tradition from Hazrat Ali (p.b.u.h.) says: "0' people what I fear most about
you are two things: acting according to desires and extending of hope. As
regards acting according to desires, this prevents from truth; and as regards
extending of hopes, it makes one forget the next world." [2]
Low
desires put a curtain over Man's mind, decorates his evil deeds to seem good in
his sight, robs him of the sense of recognition; which is the greatest gift of Allah, is the privilege of Man
over animal, and makes him preoccupied with himself. This is the very thing
that Jacob, the conscientious prophet, told his guilty children: "...Nay,
but your minds have made up a tale (that may pass) with you ....", (Sura
Yusuf, No. 12,
verse 18).
There
are many things to say in this regard, but we will conclude this subject with
two traditions from Ahlul-Bait (p.b.u.th.) containing many facts.
Imam
Baqir has said: "Paradise is covered in pain and patience. Then he who shows
patience in suffering and toils in this life, will enjoy Heaven. Hell is
covered in (unlawful) pleasures and lusts. Then, he who leaves his soul in
them, will enter into the fire.name="_ftnref3" title="">[3]
Imam
Sadiq has said: "Don't let the soul free in its low desires. Surely low
desires cause the death of the soul, and if you leave the soul free in its low
desires, it causes pain for it, and keeping it apart from its low desires is a
remedy for it," name="_ftnref4" title="">[4] Not only is the fire of the Next World the
fruit of lusts and low desires, but, it is also the blazing fires of this
world, such as: insecurities, chaos's, wars, murders, conflicts, hatreds and
vengeance's which totally originate from them.
There
are only Two Groups.
In
the above verses people are categorized in only two groups: the worldly rebels
and the pious who fear Allah. The permanent abode of the
first group is Hell, and the eternal site of the second group is Heaven.
Of
course, there is, here, a third group who are not mentioned in these verses
They are those guilty believers, of minor sins, through human frailty, who had
repented and been forgiven and if they deserve it will join the blessed, and if
not, will enter Hell, but, they will not be there for ever.
title="">[1] Nur-uth-Thaqalayn,,
vol 5, p. 506, Tradition No. 43.
title="">[2] Nahj-ul
Balaqa, Sermon No. 42 (Arabic Version), No. 47 (English Version).
name="_ftn3" title="">[3] Nur uth-Thaqalayn, vol 5, p. 507,
Tradition No. 46.
name="_ftn4" title="">[4] ibid., Tradition No. 45.
