إِنّا نَحنُ نُحيِي المَوتىٰ وَنَكتُبُ ما قَدَّموا وَآثارَهُم ۚ وَكُلَّ شَيءٍ أَحصَيناهُ في إِمامٍ مُبينٍ

Indeed it is We who revive the dead and write what they have sent ahead and their effects [which they left behind], and We have figured everything in a manifest imām.

EXEGESIS

In it is We who revive the dead God has referred to Himself by the plural pronoun naḥnu (we). In most languages, when ‘we’ is used by a single speaker, it reflects a position of power, majesty, and authority, and is called ‘the majestic we’.

Revive the dead could be taken literally for Judgement Day, which aligns with the recording of deeds. According to some exegetes it could be taken metaphorically to mean guiding the misguided, as opposed to the people with blocked and dead hearts whose hearts cannot be revived.^{‎[1]Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn, (DKI Beirut, 1992), 5/10.} This meaning also flows with the theme and the context of the previous verses.^{‎[2]Ibn al-Tamjīd, Ḥāshiyat al-Qūnawī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Imām al-Bayḍāwī wa maʿahu Ḥāshiyat Ibn al-Tamjīd, (DKI Beirut, 2001), 16/101.}

Mā qaddamū (that which they have sent ahead) refers to the deeds they have done during their lives.

Āthārahum (their effects (which they left behind)), refers to the effects of their acts that have left good or evil consequences after they have passed away. Those consequences would be recorded as long as they last, even if for centuries. These are, on the good side, things such as charity that continues to help others or a book of knowledge that may benefit people, and on the evil side it may be a conflict, the effect of which may continue for several generations.^{‎[3]Amthal, 14/144.}

Linguistically, the word imām means a guide that is followed; today, this word is commonly used for the imam who leads the congregational prayers. It may also be applied for a leader, a commander of an army, a guide for tourists, a vast clear road, the articles of law, role models and examples, and a master copy from which other copies are produced.^{‎[4]ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Hasan Ḥabannakah, Maʿārij al-Tafakkur wa Daqāʾiq al-Tadabbur, (Damascus: Dār al-Qalam, 1942), 6/60.} Furthermore, it can also be used for a rectifier or criterion that evaluates an action or a thing.^{‎[5]Lane, p. 91.}

In the verse, and before him there was the book of Moses, an imām and a mercy (11:17), the term imām either refers to the Torah because it is a book that guides the people through proofs, signs, and instructions, or it may refer to Prophet Moses (a) because he was the leader and the prophet of the Children of Israel.

In this verse, however, imām either refers to the book of records of human actions or the master copy according to which the creation unfolds, which is called the protected tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ).

EXPOSITION

After mentioning that God revives the dead for accounting, the verse expands on the concept of recording of actions. It is not only the acts they have sent ahead which are comprehended and recorded, but even the consequences of their acts, their effects [which they left behind], are accounted for. Examples of good deeds that would continue to benefit after death could be books that benefit people after the author’s demise, building bridges, hospitals, libraries, and charitable endowments. Similarly, the bad traditions established would be things such as the continuous oppressions established by an oppressor, deviating media and literature, tools of immoral entertainment, and forbidden activities that are used to spread corruption. Mentioning the recording of deeds after stating reviving the dead is because the recording would be useless without a resurrection.^{‎[6]Razi, 26/259.}  

The angels record the deeds and their effects to compile a book for every individual. On the other hand, the manifest book or the protected tablet encompasses the knowledge of God about everything, including the actions before they are performed; thus, both books match each other.

The book recorded by the angels is mentioned in, Indeed, there are over you watchers, noble writers, who know whatever you do (82:10-12); and the protected tablet is mentioned in, With Him are the treasures of the unseen; no one knows them except Him. He knows whatever there is in land and sea. No leaf falls without His knowing it, nor is there a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything fresh or withered, but it is in a manifest book (6:59).

According to the majority of exegetes,^{‎[7]Amthal, 14/144.} including Tabatabai, the manifest imām in this verse refers to the protected tablet, which includes the knowledge of God that is not subject to any change or alteration or modification. That includes His detailed decree for the creation and the prior knowledge about their intentions and actions.

This plane of creation or realm of knowledge is referred to by different names in the Quran, such as the preserved tablet (85:22), the mother-book (13:39), and the manifest book (44:2), and in this verse as a manifest imām. These names indicate the same concept from different perspectives and with specific considerations associated with the way they are described. The reason for naming it a manifest imām here is due to its inclusion of the inevitable definite decree of God, which the creation follows accordingly. Therefore, this verse indicates that God has endowed knowledge of everything that would happen eternally in the manifest book, which includes His knowledge about those idol worshippers who would never believe, and the warnings would never affect them, unlike the humble ones to God, who observe the awe of God.

The second probable meaning of manifest imām is, as was discussed, the book of deeds that are written by the angels; however, this opinion is away from the context of this verse, along with further speculative opinions that lack proper supportive arguments.^{‎[8]Mizan, 17/66.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Prophet stopped [during a journey] on bare land, and told his companions to get wood [to light a fire]; they said: ‘O Messenger of God, we are on a bare land, there is no trace of wood in it.’ He said: ‘Every man should bring whatever he is capable of [bringing].’ So they brought small twigs and sticks and piled it one over another in front of the Messenger of God. The Prophet said: ‘This is how sins get piled up,’ and he also said: ‘Beware of the sins which loom small [in your eyes]. [Because] everything has a seeker, and the seeker of it [the belittled sins] writes what they have sent ahead and their effects, and We have figured everything in a manifest imām.’^{‎[9]Nur, 4/378, h. 25.}
2. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘Avoid the belittled sins, for it has a seeker [the angel]; one among you should not say “I will sin and then seek forgiveness” [because] God, the mighty and exalted, says: We write what they have sent ahead and their effects [which they left behind]. And He, the mighty and exalted, said: Even if it should be the weight of a mustard seed, and [even though] it should be in a rock, or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will produce it. Indeed Allah is all-attentive, all-aware [31:16].’^{‎[10]Nur, 4/378, h. 24; Kafi, 2/207.}
3. The Prophet is reported to have said: ‘Whoever establishes a good tradition, he will have the reward of it and the reward of those who practiced it, without any decrease in the reward of the one who performed it. However, whoever establishes a bad tradition, he would bear the burden of that sin and the sin of whoever practices it.’^{‎[11]Razi, 26/259.}
4. The Prophet said: ‘When the son of Adam dies, his deeds stop except for three: a continuing charity, a knowledge that would benefit others after him, and a pious son who prays for him.’^{‎[12]Sayyid Husayn Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ Aḥādīth al-Shīʿah fī Aḥkām al-Sharīʿah, 15/503.}
5. The Prophet said: ‘Three things follow the deceased [until the grave]: his family, his wealth, and his deeds, however, two of those return and one remains [with him] – his family and wealth return, and the deeds remain.’ He also said: ‘Verily the actions and good deeds of a believer that goes along with him after his death are: a knowledge that he taught and spread, a pious progeny he left behind, a Quran that he bequeathed as inheritance, a mosque that he built, a house for a wayfarer that he constructed, a river that he extended [its flow], or a charity that he took out from his wealth while he was healthy in his life; all such continue for him after he dies.’^{‎[13]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 4/2978, h. 3748.}
6. The Prophet said: ‘The reward of seven [deeds] continues to be recorded for a servant [of God, even] after his death: [for example] a man planted a palm tree, dug a well, extended a river flow, built a mosque, wrote the Quran, left knowledge in his inheritance, or left a pious son seeking forgiveness for him after his death.’^{‎[14]Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/2124.}
7. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘If any servant from the servants of God established a rewardable practice or a tradition, he would get the reward equal to the reward of anyone who practiced it, without any decrease in the rewards of those [who practiced it]. If any servant from the servants of God had established a deviated practice or tradition, then he would bear the burden of the sin similar to those who practice it, without any decrease in the sins of those [who practice it].’^{‎[15]Bihar, 71/258, 2/261.}
8. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘I am, by God, the manifest imām; I distinguish the truth from the falsehood, [through the knowledge] I have inherited from the Messenger of God (s).’^{‎[16]Nur, 4/379, h. 28.}
9. Imam Ali (a) told ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir: ‘I am that manifest imām.’^{‎[17]Burhan, 4/570, h. 8909; Ibn Shādhān, al-Faḍāʾil, p. 94.}

Note: Obviously, manifest imām is used in a different meaning in these last two narrations.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Manifest imām: based on the probability mentioned before, this verse indicates two recordings, pre-action in the manifest book and post-action along with its effects, by the angels. The prior knowledge of the deeds written in the manifest book is secured and does not deteriorate, get lost, or get neglected by God, Their knowledge is with my Lord, in a book. My Lord neither makes any error nor forgets (20:52). When God mentions the post-action recordings of deeds and after that mentions the secured book, which has the prior knowledge of their actions, it is from the method of mentioning the general characteristics of a thing after mentioning the specific characteristics of it. Therefore, the manifest book is inclusive of everything and not limited to people’s actions only; Everything they have done is in the books, and everything big and small, is committed to writing (54:52-53). The book in this verse is called imām because it is the plan according to which everything unfolds.

The adverse effects of deeds left by the deceased can be observed in a few verses such as, that they may bear their entire burdens on the Day of Resurrection, along with some of the burdens of those whom they lead astray without any knowledge. Look! Evil is what they bear! (16:25); But surely they will carry their own burdens and other burdens along with their own burdens, and they will surely be questioned on the Day of Resurrection concerning that which they used to fabricate (29:13). These verses indicate that a person is accountable for his deeds and the deeds done by others after him through his establishments and immoral projects; That day man will be informed about what he has sent ahead and left behind (75:13), Then a soul shall know what it has sent ahead and left behind (82:5).^{‎[18]Muhammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān fī Īḍāḥ al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, 6/426.}

Rāzī considers the book of deeds as a meaning of imām in the verse, The day We shall summon every group of people with their imām, then whoever is given his book in his right hand – they will read it, and they will not be wronged so much as a single date-thread (17:71), that book will lead everyone on the Day of Judgement to heaven or hell.^{‎[19]Razi, 26/259.} However, Tabatabai considers that imām to be a human guide, as mentioned previously.^{‎[20]Mizan, 1/273, 13/166.}

It was said that what they have sent ahead could be their intentions, and their effects are the manifestations of their intentions in their actions; however, this opinion and a few other opinions mentioned about this verse are far from the context of the verse.^{‎[21]Mizan, 17/66.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

The concept of recording deeds has been observed in the Judeo-Christian religious texts as well:^{‎[22]Joseph Harvey, Angels: The Nature and Ministry, < https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1441.153 >, p. 13.}

1. Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard. A scroll of remembrance was written in his presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honoured his name.^{‎[23]Mal 3:16.}
2. Then the Lord called to the man clothed in linen who had the writing kit at his side, and said to him, ‘Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.’^{‎[24]Ezekiel 9:3-4.}
3. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books. The sea gave up the dead that were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead that were in them, and each person was judged according to what they had done.^{‎[25]Revelation 20:12-13.}
4. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.^{‎[26]2 Cor 5:10.}

[1] Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn, (DKI Beirut, 1992), 5/10.
[2] Ibn al-Tamjīd, Ḥāshiyat al-Qūnawī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Imām al-Bayḍāwī wa maʿahu Ḥāshiyat Ibn al-Tamjīd, (DKI Beirut, 2001), 16/101.
[3] Amthal, 14/144.
[4] ʿAbd al-Raḥmān Hasan Ḥabannakah, Maʿārij al-Tafakkur wa Daqāʾiq al-Tadabbur, (Damascus: Dār al-Qalam, 1942), 6/60.
[5] Lane, p. 91.
[6] Razi, 26/259.
[7] Amthal, 14/144.
[8] Mizan, 17/66.
[9] Nur, 4/378, h. 25.
[10] Nur, 4/378, h. 24; Kafi, 2/207.
[11] Razi, 26/259.
[12] Sayyid Husayn Burūjirdī, Jāmiʿ Aḥādīth al-Shīʿah fī Aḥkām al-Sharīʿah, 15/503.
[13] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 4/2978, h. 3748.
[14] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 3/2124.
[15] Bihar, 71/258, 2/261.
[16] Nur, 4/379, h. 28.
[17] Burhan, 4/570, h. 8909; Ibn Shādhān, al-Faḍāʾil, p. 94.
[18] Muhammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān fī Īḍāḥ al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, 6/426.
[19] Razi, 26/259.
[20] Mizan, 1/273, 13/166.
[21] Mizan, 17/66.
[22] Joseph Harvey, Angels: The Nature and Ministry, < https://m.egwwritings.org/en/book/1441.153 >, p. 13.
[23] Mal 3:16.
[24] Ezekiel 9:3-4.
[25] Revelation 20:12-13.
[26] 2 Cor 5:10.