Surah Ar-Ra'd 13:19-26 - Quran Translation Commentary

19. Can he who knows that what is revealed to you from your Lord is the truth be like him who is blind? Verily men with understanding will only heed admonition.⁴⁷

20. Those who fulfil the covenant of Allah and do not break the pledge;⁴⁸

21. And those who join that (relationship) which Allah has commanded to be joined,⁴⁹ and fear their Lord and dread terrible reckoning;

22. And those who kept patience for seeking the pleasure of their Lord,⁵¹and established salat, (namaz) and spent openly and secretly from what (provision) We granted them,⁵² and warded off evil with good;⁵³ for such is the Eternal Homes⁵⁴ of Hereafter.

23. Gardens of Eden (Everlasting) which they will enter, and also the righteous among their fathers, and their spouses and their off springs, ⁵⁵ and angels shall enter unto them from every gate.

24. (Saying): Peace be up on you because you kept patience.⁵⁶ So excellent is the Home of Hereafter!

25. And those who break the covenant of Allah after firmly making it, and sever that (relationship) which Allah has commanded to be joined, and make mischief in the earth:⁵⁷ for such is the curse on them and is the un happy (Evil) Home.

26. Allah enlarges the livelihood for whom He will, and gives sparingly⁵⁸ to whom He will; and they rejoice in the life of the world, whereas the life of the world is but brief comfort in comparison with the Hereafter.⁵⁹

Commentary

47. The facts which have been disclosed here are enough to make a person a truth lover, but only those people prove to be wise who use their intelligence without prejudices and who try to see. No advice or admonition impresses the blind of intellect and heart.

48. When a man uses his intelligence rightly he becomes God-conscious and self-understanding, which creates in him a sense of responsibility, and as a result he is blessed with excellent attributes. The best of these attributes is keeping the covenant with Allah. This covenant is that pledge which the human race had given to Allah before coming to this world, and which is ingrained in the human nature in such a way that man easily recognizes his Lord. (See Surah A’raf Note No.264 & 265), and it also includes that pledge which a man gives to Allah after accepting this faith.

49. Refers to familial relationships, and joining or uniting them means treating one’s kinsmen kindly and justly, and paying their dues. Man is put to severe test in connection with his treatment of his relatives, and kind and just treatment of relatives is an excellent moral trait, while ill-treatment of relatives is a very bad moral conduct.

50. That is: Inspite of living a righteous life they fear lest they may be questioned strictly on the Day of Judgment. This fear makes their lives or their way of living cautious and the paths of virtue open up for them.

And those who kept patience for seeking the pleasure of their Lord,and established salat, (namaz) and spent openly and secretly from what (provision) We granted them, and warded off evil with good; for such is the Eternal Homes of Hereafter. (Al-Quran)

51. It shows that for Allah the patience and forbearance which a man shows to seek His pleasure has considerable value. If Allah’s pleasure is not the objective of any patient forbearance or perseverance, then expectation of any reward from Him is futile.

Remaining steadfast on truth is patience. Man should undergo willingly sufferings and misfortunes in the path of worshipping and obeying Allah, should forbear with rectitude penury and sickness, should be steadfast and unyielding in facing difficulties, attempting reforms of his fellow beings and striving in the path of Allah. In this way the whole life of a Momin (faithful) is the life of patience.

52. That is: Spending for seeking Allah’s pleasure, and spending for good causes. For further elucidation please see Note No.452, Surah Baqarah.

53. Filth cannot be removed by filth. To wash it away, water is required. Similarly, evil cannot be removed by counter-evil, but it can be removed by good and by kind treatment. Therefore, in a corrupt environment the weapon used by the reformers is virtue and goodness.

54. That is: The abode of the Hereafter, Whose blessed gifts will be received by such virtuous people.

55. This is an additional glad tiding for the people of faith that in the Paradise there will be with them those of their parents, spouses and children who will be righteous, so that their enjoyment be increased. This glad tiding prompts the people of faith to make efforts to persuade their family folk to be righteous so that all the members of the family may become deserving of Paradise.

56. That is: The life of patience which you lived in the world has made you eligible to get Paradise, where there is absolute peace for you. This very thought provides spiritual pleasure for the people of faith that in Paradise angels will be coming to specifically meet them and will congratulate them on their achievement.

57. This is the condition of those who do not want to remain as slaves of the one and only God. They break the covenant of worship which is a natural covenant. Besides, they also break the promise of worship that they make to God in all awareness when they are placed in adverse circumstances. After they are released from that adversity, they follow the path of disbelief and polytheism, and commit every kind of corruption in the world.

58. By seeing abundance of wealth of the disbelievers and the polytheists and their economic ‘progress’ people carry a wrong impression that if they deserved to receive divine curses, how is it that the world has offered them so much of its bounties. To remove this wrong impression, it is stated that the abundance of means of livelihood and its scarcity is dependent on Allah ‘s will, and in this matter man is put to test to see whether he makes success in the Hereafter as his objective or this world as his goal. Therefore, abundance of wealth and economic progress is no argument to prove that it is provided on account of Allah’s being pleased with that person.

59. To ignore the life in the Hereafter and to consider the worldly life as the only important thing is that basic error which has put men on a wrong track. Just now they are absorbed in building up their world, but their eyes will open when the Hereafter will occur. At that time, they will realize that the worldly wealth was not the real wealth nor the worldly progress was the real progress, and that by going on the wrong track in their lives they have deprived themselves of the eternal wealth and everlasting blessings of the Hereafter.