وَتَرَى المَلائِكَةَ حافّينَ مِن حَولِ العَرشِ يُسَبِّحونَ بِحَمدِ رَبِّهِم ۖ وَقُضِيَ بَينَهُم بِالحَقِّ وَقيلَ الحَمدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ العالَمينَ

And you will see the angels surrounding the Throne, celebrating the praise of their Lord, and judgement will be made between them with justice, and it will be said: ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!’

EXEGESIS

Ḥāffīn: surrounding, encompassing, circumambulating. It is the plural of ḥāff.^{‎[1]Raghib; Tahqiq, under ḥ-f-f; Alusi, 12/290.} It means that the angels will be gathered around the Throne in service, worship, and adoration.

EXPOSITION

This is a beautiful way to finish both the chapter and the description of events in the hereafter. It provides a summary of the previous verses. Therefore, judgement will be made between them with justice could include all of the stages of judgement and retribution discussed hitherto.^{‎[2]Mizan, 17/299.} Once the people are sent to their eternal abodes, God’s absolute kingdom and sovereignty (referred to as His Throne) will become evident and manifest to everyone forever. It is said that this verse presents a symbolic picture of an otherworldly reality based on a tangible scene in this world: when a grand king wishes to judge between his people, he will sit on his throne, and his hosts and servants will stand around him with respect and reverence towards his decree. Thus God is depicting His grandeur and absolute kingdom on that day by talking about the Throne and the angels that will surround it and glorify His majesty, even though He certainly has no throne to settle on in the physical sense.^{‎[3]Tibyan, 9/51.}

Angels constantly indulge in God’s glorification and praise (7:206, 21:20, 40:7, 41:38, 42:5). ‘Their food is glorification,’ as narrated from the Prophet, Imam Ali (a), and Imam al-Ṣādiq (a).^{‎[4]Bihar, 27/42, 54/92, 57/249.} According to the previous verse (and some other verses in the Quran, such as 7:43, 10:10, 35:34), the inhabitants of paradise are angelic beings, for they too engage in the praise of God. God’s celebration, glorification, and praise by the inhabitants of paradise (and by the angels) will be a source of joy and pleasure to them, because the hereafter is no place for worship as a legislative duty anymore.^{‎[5]Tibyan, 9/51; Razi, 27/481.} The joy of this praise is far superior to the joy of any heavenly bounty or pleasure. Glorification and praise are to be found around God’s Throne, which is above and beyond the bountiful gardens of paradise. This shows that immersion in the beauty and majesty of God is a pleasure far beyond and more intense than any physical pleasure.^{‎[6]Bursawi, 8/147.}

What do you think my friend? Reflect a bit:

Is sugar sweeter or the One Who makes it?

Is moon brighter or the One Who creates it?

So drop the sugars, and the beauties, omit;

For these are the body and He is the spirit.^{‎[7]Rūmī, Dīwān-i Kabīr, ghazal 605.}

Judgement will be made between them with justice. This could include judgement between the people, between the people and their prophets, or between the inhabitants of paradise and the inhabitants of hell.^{‎[8]Tabrisi, 8/796.} It could also include the angels, as they will also be involved in the process of questioning, reckoning, testimony, and judgement on that day (25:17-18, 34:40-41). Justice in judgement means that the punishment of the faithless and the sinners will not be more than their sins, and the reward of the God-wary will not be less than their good deeds.^{‎[9]Kashif, 6/435.}

God will be praised and glorified by His angels for His fair judgement among His servants and for His insuperable dominion over His creatures. But He will also be praised as the Lord of all the worlds. God’s attribute of lordship summarises and encompasses all of His creation, resurrection, and judgement. He deserves to be praised because He is the Lord of all the worlds.^{‎[10]Razi, 27/481.}

The final call on that eternal day will be All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds! A few points have been suggested for this statement: 1. It is apparently a final word of praise by the angels. 2. It is also the final call of the believers in paradise: Their call therein will be: ‘O Allah! Immaculate are You!’ and their greeting therein will be ‘Peace!’ and their concluding call, ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds’ (10:10). 3. It could also be God’s praise of Himself as a concluding remark, for He also praised Himself at the onset of creation: All praise belongs to Allah who created the heavens and the earth and made the darkness and the light (6:1).^{‎[11]Tabari, 24/26, narrated from Qatādah.} Thus, we should also learn from His custom to begin and end every speech with His praise.^{‎[12]Tabrisi, 8/796.} 4. It might emphasise and reinforce the fact that judgement will be made between them with justice, such that God will not regret His decision: And He does not fear its outcome (91:15).^{‎[13]Maybudi, 8/439.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. Once, the Prophet told some of his companions: ‘I shall recite some verses from the end of Sūrat al-Zumar to you. Whoever of you weeps will certainly enter paradise.’ He then started reciting from verse 67 to the end of the chapter, whereby some of the companions wept while others did not. The second group then told the Prophet: ‘O Messenger of God, we did our best to weep but we could not.’ The Prophet replied: ‘I shall recite the verses to you one more time; whoever could not weep should pretend to weep.’^{‎[14]Tabarani, 2/348; Amali.S, p. 545; Suyuti, 5/335; Kanz, 1/592, h. 2695.}

Notes: 1. This hadith shows the immensity and horror of the events discussed in these verses, and how they should awaken our souls. 2. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘It rarely happens that one assimilates into a group and does not become one of them very soon.’^{‎[15]Nahj, saying 207.} This general rule can have many applications, and the above hadith could be one of them. Pretending to be fearful of the hereafter and God’s punishment is an easy initial step towards mastering and internalising this virtue. Notwithstanding it is by no means sufficient.

2. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Indeed God, to whom belongs all praise, began His book by praising Himself [1:2], and will mark the end of this world and the advent of the hereafter by praising Himself, as He said: judgement will be made between them with justice, and it will be said: ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!’‘^{‎[16]Kafi, 1/141, h. 7; Tawhid, pp. 32-33.}
3. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘Should a lady have a hard time giving birth, you should write the following formula on a piece of paper or parchment: O God, O remover of sorrow, O reliever of grief, O the all-beneficent and the all-merciful of this world and the hereafter! Show such mercy to so-and-so, daughter of so-and-so, that you would make her needless of the mercy of anyone else, that you would remove her sorrow, relieve her grief, and facilitate her delivery. And judgement will be made between them with justice, and they will not be wronged [verse 69]. And it will be said: ‘All praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of all the worlds!’’^{‎[17]Makarim, p. 409.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and worshipped God.^{‎[18]Revelation 7:11.}

TOPICAL ARTICLES

See Topical Article: Throne.

[1] Raghib; Tahqiq, under ḥ-f-f; Alusi, 12/290.
[2] Mizan, 17/299.
[3] Tibyan, 9/51.
[4] Bihar, 27/42, 54/92, 57/249.
[5] Tibyan, 9/51; Razi, 27/481.
[6] Bursawi, 8/147.
[7] Rūmī, Dīwān-i Kabīr, ghazal 605.
[8] Tabrisi, 8/796.
[9] Kashif, 6/435.
[10] Razi, 27/481.
[11] Tabari, 24/26, narrated from Qatādah.
[12] Tabrisi, 8/796.
[13] Maybudi, 8/439.
[14] Tabarani, 2/348; Amali.S, p. 545; Suyuti, 5/335; Kanz, 1/592, h. 2695.
[15] Nahj, saying 207.
[16] Kafi, 1/141, h. 7; Tawhid, pp. 32-33.
[17] Makarim, p. 409.
[18] Revelation 7:11.