يَومَ تَرَى المُؤمِنينَ وَالمُؤمِناتِ يَسعىٰ نورُهُم بَينَ أَيديهِم وَبِأَيمانِهِم بُشراكُمُ اليَومَ جَنّاتٌ تَجري مِن تَحتِهَا الأَنهارُ خالِدينَ فيها ۚ ذٰلِكَ هُوَ الفَوزُ العَظيمُ
The day you will see the faithful, men and women, with their light moving swiftly before them and on their right [and greeted with the words]: ‘There is good news for you today! Gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. That is the great success.’
EXEGESIS
The day is the Day of Judgement and continues from the previous verse as the day when the faithful will have a noble reward. You will see is given with a singular pronoun and therefore addresses the Apostle of God or perhaps a general reference to mean ‘one’ will witness this on the Day of Judgement.
Faithful, men and women are mentioned separately to remind and emphasise that, in their ability to partake of God’s light and attain paradise, they are equal.
Their light may be the light of their faith and righteous actions that is hidden while in this world but manifests in the hereafter, or it is the light that will shine from the radiant countenances of the faithful (75:22, 80:38-39, 83:24, 88:8). Other interpretations of this light are given under the Review of Tafsīr Literature.
Moving swiftly before them and on their right is understood as the light guiding the faithful until they arrive at the gates of paradise (see the Exposition) because immediately thereafter, the verse speaks of the faithful being greeted: ‘There is good news for you today! Gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever]. That is the great success.’
The light appears to be attached to them like one’s shadow. So the fact that it is seen moving swiftly (yasʿā), suggests their movement as well, towards eternal bliss, is swift. The word yasʿā is from saʿā, to walk swiftly, and saʿy is a walk that is quick and vigorous,[1] yet not a run.[2] It is also used to denote an earnest and serious effort to acquire or accomplish something, good or evil.
With the definite article, al-saʿy (the walk), it refers to the ritual walk of pilgrims in Mecca, between the mounts of Ṣafā and Marwah (2:158), as part of the ʿumrah or hajj, once again denoting a walk that is purposeful, meaningful, and goal-oriented.
Good news is given as bushrā. The word bashar, commonly translated as ‘man’, is skin, and likewise, basharah is complexion. Bushrā is an announcement that brings about a change in the complexion of a person, usually one of joy or grief. When used on its own, bushrā always signifies good news, such as in this verse, ‘Good news (yā bushrā)!’ he said. ‘This is a young boy!’ (12:19). And this is the same for the verb bashara, bashshara, and so on. It is only with an appropriate adjunct that the term may hold a negative meaning; for example: so inform them (fa bashshirhum) of a painful punishment (3:21), where it may simply mean ‘announce to them’ and the painful punishment tells us the imperative is given with a negative connotation. Some have even understood this as sarcasm, to mean: so give them the glad tidings of a painful punishment!
The announcement, There is good news for you today! Gardens with streams running in them, to remain in them [forever] is, therefore, a greeting from the angels that will alter the mood of the faithful and overwhelm them with joy. The faithful are greeted with a variety of greetings as they enter paradise (10:10, 13:23-24, 16:32, 33:44, 36:58, 39:73, 56:25-26).
Added to the joy of the good news … today … Gardens with streams running in them will be the fact that this is not only for one day, but they shall remain in them [forever] and That is the great success.
The conclusion, That is the great success may still be the words of the angels congratulating the faithful, or it may be God’s words now, referring back to everything: from the swiftly-moving light to the greetings of the angels, and from the admittance to paradise to abiding in it forever.
Al-fawz al-ʿāẓīm (great success) occurs numerous times in the Quran, always in reference to the attainment of paradise as the greatest triumph in the hereafter (4:13, 5:119, 9:89, 9:100, 48:5, 57:12, 61:12, 64:9) and marked by God’s pleasure (9:72). In 85:11 this attainment is described with a change in the adjective, as the supreme success (al-fawz al-kabīr), and some verses give it as the manifest success (al-fawz al-mubīn) (45:30, 6:16).
Fawz in itself means a triumph or victory,[3] to acquire some good fortune, or even to attain safety and security, and to escape from some evil or great harm.[4] The Quran uses the term with all these meanings. As an escape from punishment and to safety, it is seen, for example, in the words, Whoever is delivered from the fire and admitted to paradise has certainly succeeded (fāz) (3:185). See also 3:188, 6:16, 39:61, 40:9, and 44:56-57.
Furthermore, the state of being in, or the place of, triumph or safety, is called mafāzah, and occurs with such a meaning in 3:188 and 78:31.
The way to attain this great success is by obedience to God and His Apostle (24:52, 33:71) and the signs of those who attain this state of great success is that Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him (5:119, 9:100), they strive in God’s way with their possessions and persons (9:20, 9:111), and are patient (23:111).
EXPOSITION
This light’s swift movement will be before them and on their right, not only as a sign of felicity but also because these are the two directions from which they will receive their scrolls of deeds (17:71, 69:19, 84:7).[5] The wretched will be handed their deeds from behind their backs or from their left (17:71, 69:19, 69:25, 84:7, 84:10). The two groups are often contrasted as the people of the right hand (56:27, 56:90-91, 74:39) versus the people of the left hand (56:41), respectively. This may also hint at the fact that the ʿilliyyīn (83:18-20), where the record of righteous actions is preserved, may be to the right and front of people, whereas the sijjīn (83:7-9), its antithesis and the repository of wicked deeds, may be to the left and behind of people on Judgement Day, as the masses journey towards their final abodes.
Many exegetes believe that after all of mankind is resurrected and gathered on an open plain for judgement, they will be compelled to cross a traverse or bridge (ṣirāṭ) over hellfire, to get to the gates leading to paradise.[6] And it is on this bridge that the faithful will be seen with their light moving swiftly before them as it guides them quickly, from one stage to another, until it leads them safely to paradise.
The presence and intensity of this light will be in proportion to one’s faith in this world. In other words, it is earned here. Those who come out of darkness into light (2:257, and verse 9 of this surah) and thereafter they follow the light that has been sent down with him [the Apostle] (7:157) whilst in this world, will be the ones seen on Judgement Day with their light moving swiftly before them and on their right.[7]
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
On the matter of the light that will be seen moving swiftly before, and to the right of the faithful, the share of the hypocrite will only be a dim light at the tip of his left foot’s big toe, says Qummī.[8] That is why he will call out to the faithful: Please let up on us, that we may glean something from your light! (verse 13). Ibn Kathīr and Thaʿālabī believe the light of the hypocrites will soon extinguish and it is the light of the faithful only that will remain with varying degrees. Based on various reports attributed to the Prophet, for some, this light will be as vast as the distance between Mecca and Ṣanʿāʾ (in Yemen); for others, it will be like a distant date palm, and yet for others it will only light the space before their feet.[9] Thaʿālabī also adds that for some, there will be great anxiety as their light will at times flicker and fade and at times come on again, in ratio to their level of disobedience versus obedience to God in the world.[10]
Nasr comments that ‘according to many accounts in the hadith literature, on the Day of Judgement, all believers are called to cross a traverse (ṣirāṭ) over hell that is as fine as a hair and as sharp as a sword and has large thorns that afflict those who must walk or crawl upon it in accordance with their sins’[11] and whereas God provides the faithful a light whereby they can cross, He does not provide any light for the faithless, since one whom Allah has not granted any light has no light (24:40).
Rāzī believes one’s light will only be in proportion to one’s knowledge (maʿrifah) of God. This, he argues, is because the light of knowledge is superior to the light of vision and since the real light (al-nūr al-ḥaqīqī) is only God, the exalted (cf. 24:35), therefore it is the realisation of God (maʿrifat allāh) that shall be the light of the Day of Judgement, and people will have their light in accordance to how much they knew their Lord in this world.[12]
There is hope, however: even as the faithful journey towards paradise, they will call out to God, They will say: ‘Our Lord! Perfect our light for us, and forgive us! Indeed You have power over all things’ (66:8), and so it will continue to grow and strengthen – in Rāzī’s understanding – their knowledge of God will continue to increase until it is completed for them.
Some Shia traditions interpret the light as the leader (imām pl. aʾimmah) that one followed and looked up to in this world. It is related, for example, from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) concerning the words, their light moving swiftly before them and on their right, he said: ‘[It is] the Imams of the faithful on the Day of Resurrection moving swiftly before the faithful and on their right until they set them down in the abode of the inhabitants of paradise.’[13]
Similarly, concerning the words, So have faith in Allah and His Apostle and the light which We have sent down (64:8), it is reported from Imam al-Bāqir (a) that he said to a companion: ‘O Abū Khālid! The light, by Allah, are the Imams.’[14]
Tabatabai notes that the faithful, men and women are of all nations, in all times, and not restricted to the nation of Prophet Muhammad (s) only.[15] So the light being the Imam is not restricted to the Twelve Imams that the Shia believe to be the rightful successors to the Prophet. Each nation would follow the prophet or divine guide of his or her time; and there is a guide for every people (13:7). And for the hypocrites and the wrongdoers, they would be led into hellfire, groping for light, by their ‘imam’, such as the Pharaoh: We made them leaders (aʾimmatan) who invite to the fire (28:41). Cf. 11:38.
Such interpretations and the narrations, as given here from Imam al-Bāqir (a) and Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), are ‘from the flow’ (min al-jary),[16] and support for such traditions can be found from other verses, including 17:71: The day We shall summon every group of people with their imam. See also the Exposition of verse 28 for more on this interpretation.
[1] Lane, s-ʿ-y.
[2] Raghib, s-ʿ-y.
[3] Raghib, f-w-z.
[4] Lane, f-w-z.
[5] Ibn Kathir, 8/49; Qurtubi, 17/243; Razi, 29/455; Shawkani, 5/203-204.
[6] Suyuti, 6/172; Ibn Kathir, 8/49.
[7] Qaraati, 9/464.
[8] Qummi, 2/351.
[9] Ibn Kathir, 8/49; Thaalabi, 5/381.
[10] Thaalabi, 5/381.
[11] Nasr, p. 1340.
[12] Razi, 29/455.
[13] Kafi, 1/195, h. 5.
[14] Kafi, 1/195, h. 4.
[15] Mizan, 19/155.
[16] Min al-jary or ‘from the flow’ is used to describe traditions that offer esoteric interpretations of the Quran besides the apparent meaning of the verses. In a tradition from the Apostle of God, he said: ‘Indeed the Quran has an outer and inner [meaning]; and its inner has up to seven levels deep,’ or according to another version, ‘up to seventy levels deep.’ (ʿAwālī al-Laʾālī, 4/107; Mizan, 1/7). Similarly, a narration from Imam al-Bāqir (a) describes the Quran such that: ‘Its outer meaning (ẓahruhu) is its revelation (tanzīl) and its inner meaning (baṭnuhu) is the interpretation (taʾwīl) derived from it, of the past and the future. It flows (yajrī) like the flow of the sun and moon.’ (Baṣāʾir al-Darajāt, 1/196, h. 7; Ayyashi, 1/11; Safi, 1/29). And this is an apt and beautiful analogy because, just as the sun and moon remain the same yet they constantly give out ‘new’ light, the same may be said of the Quran, which remains the same in its apparent meaning but constantly holds and finds new applications and examples to which its verses may be applied, albeit without violating the original meaning and context for which they were revealed. The Shia also hold that this derivation of the Quran’s esoteric meanings (taʾwīl) is the prerogative of the Prophet only and the rightful, infallible Imams after him. See 3:7 for a detailed discourse on the concept of min al-jary.