سابِقوا إِلىٰ مَغفِرَةٍ مِن رَبِّكُم وَجَنَّةٍ عَرضُها كَعَرضِ السَّماءِ وَالأَرضِ أُعِدَّت لِلَّذينَ آمَنوا بِاللَّهِ وَرُسُلِهِ ۚ ذٰلِكَ فَضلُ اللَّهِ يُؤتيهِ مَن يَشاءُ ۚ وَاللَّهُ ذُو الفَضلِ العَظيمِ
Take the lead towards forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise as vast as the heavens and the earth, prepared for those who have faith in Allah and His apostles. That is Allah’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace.
EXEGESIS
Sābiqū (take the lead) is an imperative plural derived from sabq. Sabq is to take the lead in any movement or journeying toward something,[1] as in, By those who take the lead (sābiqāt), racing (sabqan) (79:4); see also 12:17, 12:25, 23:61, and 46:11. Then this original meaning of racing also became a metaphor to mean overtaking or outmanoeuvring (8:59, 29:39, 56:60), or that which is prior (20:129), or foremost (56:10). Rāghib interprets it to mean being foremost in the acquisition of (God’s) grace through a zeal to do good works as shown in 3:114, 23:61, and other verses.[2]
Sābiqū, patterned on the verb form tafāʿala, also implies a vying with one another. It is often used with a positive connotation to inspire and encourage the faithful to compete with each other and take the lead in doing good (2:148, 5:48), similar to other words in the same verb form, such as sāriʿū (hasten before others) (3:133) in doing good, and ṣābirū (vie in patience) (3:200).
ʿArḍ is literally width or breadth, as a horizontal measurement, but it is understood here in the sense of vastness (saʿah) or expansiveness (basṭ), just as it is used in the verse: he makes protracted (ʿarīḍ) supplications (41:51). For more on this, see the Exposition of 3:133. And as mentioned there, taking the lead towards forgiveness and paradise, even on its own, would have been very desirable. The fact that it is from your Lord makes it even more enticing.
Samāʾ (the heaven or sky) is the singular for samāwāt. They are both used in 41:12 to denote the seven heavens (sabʿa samāwāt) versus each heaven (kullu samāʾ) or the lower heaven (al-samāʾ al-dunyā), and they derive from the root sumuww (highness, elevation). The highest part of something in relation to another is therefore called samāʾ. It is used, for example, to refer to clouds or even a building’s roof.[3] It is also used in the Quran to mean rainfall (6:6, 11:52, 71:11) and celestial bodies (2:164, 51:47), but most commonly, to refer to the heavens or the sky and space above the earth (2:2, 2:144, 14:24, 15:16, 25:61, 85:1). In 7:40, for example, it is quite evident that it refers to the metaphysical heavens as opposed to the visible one.
In the case of this verse, the heavens may refer to the visible sky, since it is juxtaposed with and the earth, or, as mentioned under verse 2, it could be a case where the Quran speaks of the heavens and the earth to denote everything in existence. So as vast as the heavens and the earth can be a metaphor for as vast as whatever you can imagine of the universe and all that exists. This however has not stopped exegetes from speculating and debating how vast paradise is, and what its vastness encompasses. For more, see the Review of Tafsīr Literature section and 3:133.
Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles was also mentioned in verse 19 and here it confirms having faith in all of God’s apostles as a requirement to attain paradise (cf. 2:136, 2:285, 3:84) since their message is one, and it is only by acknowledging them all, without exception, that innovations to their message can be removed.
Faḍl (grace) is that which exceeds moderation. It can have both a positive and negative connotation such as faḍl in knowledge and compassion versus in anger. Usually, however, faḍl is used in the praiseworthy sense and when the blameworthy is intended, such as extravagance and wastefulness in spending and consumption, fuḍūl is used instead.[4] Speech that is a waste of time (gossip for example) can also be described as fuḍūl al-kalām, whereas God’s grace is often described as His faḍl (3:74, 4:32, 4:83) because it represents His generosity over and above or in excess of His justice, in dispensing what people deserve.
Livelihood, for example, is often described as God’s grace (17:12, 62:10, 73:20) and the faithful are asked not to forget graciousness (al-faḍl) among yourselves (2:237). Faḍl can also be used as a verb to compare two things and show the excellence of one over the other (4:95, 16:71, 17:55, 17:70). Ultimately, no one has any power over anything of Allah’s grace (faḍl), and that all grace (faḍl) is in Allah’s hand which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is the dispenser of a greater grace (faḍl) (verse 29).
The concluding words: That is Allah’s grace … and Allah is dispenser of a great grace (al-faḍl al-ʿaẓīm) is a message oft-repeated in the Quran. Besides this verse, and again at the end of this surah (verse 29), it is also given, usually as a conclusion, in 2:105, 3:73-74, 8:29, and 62:4.
EXPOSITION
Forgiveness from God precedes the mention of His pleasure in verse 20, and here as well (and in 3:133) forgiveness from your Lord appears before the mention of paradise, confirming that spiritual purification is a prerequisite to admittance into paradise.
That is Allah’s grace is to point out that forgiveness and paradise are not rights that one can claim but a grace which He grants to whomever He wishes. There is none to restrict whom or how much He gives. No one nation can claim: The fire shall not touch us except for a number of days (2:80, 3:24), nor can anyone claim: No one shall enter paradise except one who is a Jew or a Christian (2:111), or Be either Jews or Christians, that you may be [rightly] guided (2:135). Rather, forgiveness and the eternal abode of paradise is of God’s grace which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace. This message is reiterated at the end of the surah, reminding the faithful that no nation can claim to be chosen by God, unaccountable, or above His laws (5:18). God will appoint whomever He pleases as His apostle and send him to any nation from His grace, So that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over anything of Allah’s grace, and that all grace is in Allah’s hand which He grants to whomever He wishes (verse 29).
Whomever He wishes does not however mean that He gives indiscriminately and to the undeserving, for that would be unjust and would render the words Take the lead meaningless; rather, those to whom He wishes to give are the deserving, from the faithful and the God-wary. For example, whomever He wishes is also said for those whom God guides or leaves to go astray (16:93, 35:8), but then the criterion is clarified: Allah guides those who follow His pleasure (5:16), He guides to Himself those who turn penitently [to Him] (13:27), and so on. See also the Exposition of 3:6 and the Exposition of 3:129.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
In 3:133, a very similar verse to this one, forgiveness and paradise is promised, but to the God-wary, which leads us to conclude that they are the same as those who have faith in Allah and His apostles.
But according to Tabatabai and Makārim Shīrāzī, some (unnamed) exegetes believe that the paradise promised in 3:133 is for the elite only whilst this is for the rest of the faithful in general. And they hold this view for various reasons: firstly because God-wariness is a higher level than faith, and the God-wary are mentioned in 3:133 whereas here only those who have faith in Allah and His apostles are mentioned; secondly because righteous actions are also mentioned in 3:134 whereas it is omitted here; and lastly because in 3:133 the heavens are mentioned in the plural (samāwāt) whereas here it is given in singular (samāʾ), therefore the paradise described in 3:133 is vaster.[5]
Tabatabai has then discounted all these arguments, saying firstly (as we have seen), those who have faith in Allah and His apostles are not ordinary Muslims. They are of a very high rank in faith (cf. Exposition of verse 19). So their being God-wary, having righteous actions, and abstaining from sin is a given; if the verse was only describing ordinary Muslims with basic faith then the words Take the lead would not mean much. It would simply mean take the lead over the faithless, a level above whom the ordinary faithful are found, nor would it resonate well with the meaning of the rest of the verse and what it promises as being a special reward, such as the words That is Allah’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes.
Secondly, whereas the verb sāriʿū (hasten), given in 3:133, only encourages a hastening of one’s pace, the verb sābiqū (Take the lead), in this verse, suggests a hastening of pace as well as an overtaking of others. So, if anything, this verse is more emphatic and adds to that which is given in 3:133;[6] and lastly, the heavens are not necessarily in the singular in this verse because, in Arabic, both samāʾ and samāwāt can be singular or plural, masculine or feminine.[7] They are part of a vocabulary with these properties, just like the word jannah, used mostly for paradise in the Quran but at times given as its plural: jannāt.
Also noteworthy are verses where the faithful and the God-wary are mentioned together, such as, So have faith in Allah and His apostles; and if you are faithful and God-wary, there shall be a great reward for you (3:179).
On a separate note, this verse is an example that showcases how the Mutazilites and Asharites have argued their views on free will and predestination using the Quran.
The Asharites, for example, have argued that because this verse proves that paradise is of God’s grace, which He grants to whomever He wishes, it therefore also proves He does not have to reward the righteous or chastise the wretched. If He so pleases, He may do the opposite and grant paradise to whomever He wishes. Al-Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār, expressing the Mutazilite view, responded to this saying, firstly, just as paradise is a grace from God so are the righteous actions of the faithful. So there is nothing wrong with believing that the faithful earned paradise through their actions because the opportunity and inclination to do those good actions, which earned them paradise, was God’s grace. And secondly, if we assume He grants to whomever He wishes means He grants paradise indiscriminately, then the command Take the lead would be meaningless. To this, Rāzī’s response is typically Asharite: ‘Just because God, out of His grace, bestows someone the opportunity to do good does not mean He must also, out of His grace, give the same person paradise. And just because God tells the faithful, Take the lead towards forgiveness from your Lord and a paradise … does not compel Him to admit them into paradise – even if they take the lead towards it!’[8]
[1] Raghib, s-b-q.
[2] Raghib, s-b-q.
[3] Lisan, s-m-w; Tahqiq, s-m-w.
[4] Raghib, f-ḍ-l.
[5] Nemuneh, 23/360; Mizan, 19/165.
[6] Mizan, 19/165.
[7] Raghib, s-m-ʾ, where examples from the Quran for each permutation is given.
[8] Razi, 29/466.