وَتِلكَ الجَنَّةُ الَّتي أورِثتُموها بِما كُنتُم تَعمَلونَ

That is the paradise you have been given to inherit for what you used to do.

EXEGESIS

Tilka (that) is a demonstrative pronoun for something distant and is employed here to evoke the grandeur and sublimity of paradise. This is a conventional rhetorical device, similar to how one might refer to a person of high rank and immense stature with such a demonstrative pronoun.^{‎[1]Hadi, 3/261-262.} Grammatically, one might expect the demonstrative pronoun to agree with the plural verbs (inherit (plural form) and you (plural) used to do), resulting in tilkum. Instead, the singular tilka is used. This subtle choice emphasises that every single inhabitant of paradise is being acknowledged and honoured in their own right, not merely as part of a collective.^{‎[2]Darwish, 9/106.}

Kuntum (you used to) is a verb that indicates continuity, thus reflecting that paradise and its bounties are reserved for those who would continuously do good.^{‎[3]Rahnama, 17/101.} Some exegetes even suggest that this denotes continuously doing good until one’s death.^{‎[4]Ibn Ashur, 25/290.}

EXPOSITION

This verse indicates that the blessings of paradise are given as a recompense or as consequences of one’s actions and not arbitrarily or in vain. The verse combines two ideas: on one level, it presents paradise as the equitable reward for actions. On another, it designates it an inheritance, a term reserved for benefits accrued without striving. This suggests that while human deeds constitute the necessary basis for salvation, the ultimate reward bestowed is so vastly disproportionate to those deeds that it is, in effect, a gratuitous grant from God – benefaction attained solely through His grace.^{‎[5]Amthal, 16/95.}

According to al-Bayḍāwī, the reward and compensation given to the believer for his deeds has been likened to inheritance due to it succeeding it, i.e. the reward comes after and takes the place of the work, just as an inheritance comes after and takes the place of the deceased person for their heir.^{‎[6]Baydawi, 5/96.} Other exegetes mention that you have been given to inherit is metaphorically used to mean, ‘it has been given to you to the exclusion of others’. This is done by comparing God’s granting of the bliss of paradise bliss to believers, to the exclusion of others, to a ruler’s granting of a deceased person’s wealth to his heir, to the exclusion of other relatives, because the heir is the most deserving of it and the foremost in attaining it.^{‎[7]Ibn Ashur, 25/290.}

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes suggest that every person has a potential abode in paradise and a potential place in hellfire. Thus, the inhabitants of paradise inherit the potential abodes of the inhabitants of the fire, and the inhabitants of the fire inherit the potential places of the inhabitants of paradise. This view has been attributed to Ibn Abbas^{‎[8]Tabrisi, 9/85.} and Hasan al-Baṣrī (see also 23:10-11).^{‎[9]Tibyan, 9/216.} In Sunni sources, the following narration has been attributed to the Prophet, as reported by Abū Hurayrah: ‘There is not anyone except that he has a spot in paradise and a spot in hellfire. The disbeliever inherits the believer’s position in the hellfire and the believer inherits the disbeliever’s position in paradise, and that is His words, That is the paradise you have been given to inherit for what you used to do.’^{‎[10] Ibn Abi Hatim, 10/3286.}

Others suggest that the meaning of inherit here is that the people of paradise are the ones exclusively entitled to paradise, and that they are the ones who remain alive, enjoying God’s blessings to the exclusion of all others. This is because the people of the fire taste death (in a sense) even though they do not die, while they were the ones who enjoyed blessings in the worldly life – blessings which have now been removed from them. Indeed, whoever succeeds a people in possessing blessings is their inheritor. This expression is based on the premise that were it not for this divergence in the outcome of deeds, all would be enjoying blessings uniformly.^{‎[11] Hadi, 3/262.}

According to Khaṭīb, the inheritance metaphor serves two purposes. Firstly, to encourage complete enjoyment. An heir does not hold back from enjoying what they inherit because they did not have to struggle to earn it. Similarly, this wording invites the people of paradise to freely and fully enjoy its blessings, without any sense of restriction or guilt.

Secondly, to emphasise divine grace. This phrasing makes clear that paradise is a pure gift from God’s grace and favour. The believers’ good deeds in this life did not pay for this immense reward, as if in a transaction. Instead, those deeds were simply the means through which they sought God’s pleasure – much like a relative’s kinship is the reason they receive an inheritance, even if they did nothing to create the wealth itself. The source of the reward is God’s generosity, not their own effort.^{‎[12] Khatib, 13/163.}

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. For He repays man according to his work, and makes man to find a reward according to his way.^{‎[13] Job 34:11.}
2. Say to the righteous that it shall be well with them, for they shall eat the fruit of their doings.^{‎[14] Isaiah 3:10.}
3. I, the LORD, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.^{‎[15] Jeremiah 17:10.}
4. Now he who plants and he who waters are one, and each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor.^{‎[16] 1 Corinthians 3:8.}
5. “And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.”^{‎[17] Revelation 22:12.}

[1] Hadi, 3/261-262.
[2] Darwish, 9/106.
[3] Rahnama, 17/101.
[4] Ibn Ashur, 25/290.
[5] Amthal, 16/95.
[6] Baydawi, 5/96.
[7] Ibn Ashur, 25/290.
[8] Tabrisi, 9/85.
[9] Tibyan, 9/216.
[10] Ibn Abi Hatim, 10/3286.
[11] Hadi, 3/262.
[12] Khatib, 13/163.
[13] Job 34:11.
[14] Isaiah 3:10.
[15] Jeremiah 17:10.
[16] 1 Corinthians 3:8.
[17] Revelation 22:12.