فَأَمّا مَن طَغىٰ
وَآثَرَ الحَياةَ الدُّنيا
فَإِنَّ الجَحيمَ هِيَ المَأوىٰ
وَأَمّا مَن خافَ مَقامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفسَ عَنِ الهَوىٰ
فَإِنَّ الجَنَّةَ هِيَ المَأوىٰ
As for him who was rebellious,
and preferred the life of this world,
his refuge will indeed be hell.
But as for him who is awed to stand before his Lord and forbids the soul from [following] desire,
his refuge will indeed be paradise.
EXEGESIS
In verse 40, maqām literally describes a place where a physical body stands. One can also think of maqām as one’s rank, or status, or position (5:107, 10:71, 37:164). God’s maqām would then be described as one who is vigilant over every soul as to what it earns (13:33). Hence, in verse 40, the maqām that God is calling us to be conscious of refers to His lordship and His attributes such as absolute knowledge, absolute power, all-mercifulness, and retribution (15:49-50). A particular cause for fear for the righteous is God’s justice which detracts them from committing acts of aggression towards others or themselves (3:18, 36:54). Another perspective on maqām is that it is one’s own position before God on the Day of Judgement when he will be questioned (83:4-6).
Hawā comes from the root hawaya, which is to lean or incline towards anything, or to fall in general. Most commonly, hawā has come to mean to fall to the demands of one’s carnal desire or to what is considered a vice.
EXPOSITION
Verses 37-41 divide people on the Day of Judgement into two groups with opposite traits and outcomes: those who settle in paradise and those who settle in hellfire. The verses speak of the people of hell first because those that are primarily addressed in this surah are the disbelievers.
For each of the traits of the people of paradise, there is an opposing trait found in the people of hell. The people of heaven were conscious of God and fearful to invoke His displeasure. They recognised their weakness and helplessness before God and stood in submission and awe before Him. On the other hand, the people of hell, out of their arrogance, chose to transgress and refused to take heed to God’s right upon them. In line with their God-wariness, the people of paradise kept from giving in to their base desires and wants and aspired instead for that which is higher and eternal. They knew that giving in to their base desires would become their downfall. In line with their arrogance, the people of hellfire refused to prefer the hereafter for themselves, as God wanted for them, and chose to give precedence to this immediate, temporal life.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Him who was rebellious is he who persists with an action without proof or evidence.’
- Regarding For him who stands in awe of his Lord will be two gardens (55:46), Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) is reported to have said: ‘Whoever was conscious that God sees and hears him and knows what he was doing from good or bad and thus kept himself aloof from committing bad deeds, he is the one who has stood in awe before his Lord and has forbidden himself from following base desires.’
- In Uṣūl al-Kāfī, Yaḥyā ibn ʿAqīl narrates from Imam Ali (a) that he said: ‘I am afraid for you with regards to two things: the following of base desires and the assumption that one has ample time for repentance, taking life on earth for granted. As for the following of base desires, it bars you from the truth. As for assuming that one has ample time for repentance, it makes one forget the hereafter.’
[1] Qarai also placed this alternative translation in a footnote.
[2] Mizan, 20/193.
[3] Nemuneh, 26/109.
[4] Tibyan, 10/264.
[5] Raghib, p. 849.
[6] Mizan, 20/192.
[7] Qummi, 2/404.
[8] Safi, 5/283.
[9] Mizan, 20/192.
[10] Nur, 5/506, h. 43.
[11] Kafi, 2/70-71, h. 10.
[12] Kafi, 2/335, h. 3.