سَلامٌ قَولًا مِن رَبٍّ رَحيمٍ
‘Peace!’ – a watchword from the all-merciful Lord.
EXEGESIS
Salām (peace) is a subject with an implicit predicate, the full meaning of which would be: ‘Peace be upon them or to them!’
In general, the word salām signifies safety, security, and freedom from faults, defects, imperfections, vices, and any type of evil. If someone says it to another person, he intends not to do or say anything that is disagreeable or annoying. Salām is also a name of God because He is everlasting, perfect, free from any defect or imperfection, and from cessation of existence. He is Peace and greets with peace all whom He would place in the abode of eternal peace (dār al-salām), which is another word for paradise: For them shall be the abode of peace near their Lord, and He will be their guardian because of what they used to do (6:127). It will be an everlasting abode of safety and security from every type of pain, infirmity, disease, death, and evil.
Qawlan (watchword); salām may be a direct word from God addressing them or a message from Him conveyed to them by the angels. In both cases, it indicates their extreme reverence and honour. Both qawl and rabb are used in indefinite forms to convey a sense of mystery and grandeur.
EXPOSITION
A pleasant call of love and affection from the great and merciful Master of the whole universe, the beloved and exalted Creator and Cherisher, gives a deep sense of joy, happiness, and spirituality to His righteous servants, which is an incomparable bounty. It is a call that fills the hearts of the people of paradise with love and incredible grace.
Some exegetes say that this verse is, in fact, an explanation for whatever they want mentioned in the previous verse. They demand this peace and greeting from their merciful Lord, which is above all their enjoyments in paradise. All other enjoyments of paradise are dwarfed compared to such sense of intimacy. This refreshing and pleasant salām, which is full of His love and affection, attracts them so deeply and gives them such an enlivening spiritual joy that does not match any other bounty. This peace is so pervasive in paradise that Allah calls it the abode of peace: Allah invites to the abode of peace, and He guides whomever He wishes to a straight path (10:25).
Apart from this salām from the Lord, there are other stages of greetings for a believer. When their souls depart their bodies, the angels greet them giving them the good tidings of paradise, Those whom the angels take away while they are pure. They say [to them]: ‘Peace be to you! Enter paradise because of what you used to do’ (16:32).
Later, on the Day of Judgement, the purest people on the heights (aʿrāf) would also greet them before they enter paradise: And on the elevations will be certain men who recognise each of them by their mark. They will call out to the inhabitants of paradise: ‘Peace be to you!’ They will not have entered it, though they would be eager to do so (7:46).
When the believers arrive at the gates of paradise, the angels will call on them from every door: ‘Peace be to you, for your patience.’ How excellent is the reward of the [ultimate] abode!’ (13:23-24).
Later, the believers would greet each other with greetings of peace and sense the feeling of peace amongst themselves, avoiding any type of malice talk or sinful words: Their greeting therein will be ‘Peace!’ (14:23); They will not hear therein any vain talk or sinful speech, but only the watchword, ‘Peace!’ ‘Peace!’ (56:25-26).
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- The Holy Prophet said: ‘Indeed, Peace is one of the names of God Almighty, so spread it among yourselves.’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Salām in this verse is a subject that requires an implied predicate to complete the sentence; Rāzī considers the implied predicate to be ‘upon them’, using a third-person pronoun since the previous verses starting from verse 55 had third-person pronouns.
God bestows the favour of His greetings upon the righteous servants in paradise, similar to what He did in this world upon His messengers, as stated in Peace to Noah, throughout the nations! (37:79). Other prophets were also greeted in the same surah until God sent His greetings upon all His messengers by saying peace be to the apostles (37:181).
The other probable meaning is that He addresses the believers directly using an implied predicate, a second person pronoun ‘upon you’. It seems that the second probable meaning creates a strong joyful impact in the hearts of the believers, that God is directly communicating with them by allowing them to sense His greetings directly, which is the best and the greatest joy for a believer in paradise.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- Jesus said: Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices. You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy. A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born, she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world. So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again, and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy. In that day, you will no longer ask me anything.
- You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.
[1] Amthal, 14/217.
[2] Muhammad Rayshahri, Mīzān al-Ḥikmah, 2/1349.
[3] Razi, 26/94.
[4] John 16:20-23.
[5] Psalms 16:5-6, 9-11.