Verse:66 Commentary - - - Verse:67 Commentary - - - Verse:68 Commentary لَنَحْشُرَ‌نَّهُمْ وَالشَّيَاطِينَ ثُمَّ لَنُحْضِرَ‌نَّهُمْ

"We will definitely gather them together with the devils, then We will definitely make them present." - 19:68.

This verse may be interpreted in two ways. First, that on the Day of Judgment every infidel will be brought before God along with his own devil, and this suggests that this is a reference to the gathering of infidels and their devils. But if it is interpreted in a general sense to include all believers and infidels then the meaning of the devils being gathered with all of them would be that while the infidels will be gathered with their devils, the believers would also be gathered at the same time and place. Thus the devils will be gathered along with the infidels as well as with the believers.

حَوْلَ جَهَنَّمَ جِثِيًّا

"Around the Jahannam fallen on their knees." - 19:68.

On the Day of Resurrection every one - believers, infidels, the blessed and the wretched - will be assembled around Hell. Everyone will be seized with awe and terror, and they will all be on their knees, then the believers and the blessed will be taken across Hell and admitted into Paradise, so that having viewed the extreme suffering of Hell they may all the better enjoy their own state of felicity, and at the same time rejoice at the punishment which has been inflicted upon the infidels. Verse:69 Commentary ثُمَّ لَنَنزِعَنَّ مِن كُلِّ شِيعَةٍ

"Then We will certainly draw out from every group." - 19:69.

The word is applied to a particular person or the followers of a particular faith, and it also means a sect. The meaning of the verse is that the most rebellious from amongst the different sects of the infidels will be picked out. Some commentators say that the sinners will be committed to Hell in the order of the intensity of their sins, i.e. those sinners will be driven in first whose sins are most intense and those with less intense sins, will follow them, and so on. Verse:70 Commentary - - - Verse:71 Commentary وَإِن مِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِ‌دُهَا وَإِن مِّنكُمْ إِلَّا وَارِ‌دُهَا

"And there is none among you who is not to arrive at it." - 19:71.

This means that everybody - be he a believer or an infidel - will go across Hell. However, this does not mean that they would go to stay in it; they would only go across it. But even if the word means "entry", then the pious believers on entry into Hell will feel no discomfort because its fires will cool down and will do no harm to them. Sayyidna Abu Sumayya ؓ has related that The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم once said that:

"Everybody whether he is a pious man or a sinner will initially enter Hell, but for the pious believers the fire will cool down just as the fire of Namrud cooled down when Sayyidna Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) was cast into it. Thereafter, the believers will be taken to Paradise."

This view is confirmed by the next sentence ثُمَّ نُنَجِّي الَّذِينَ اتَّقَوا which mens then We will save those who feared Allah - 19:72. A similar view has also been expressed by Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، thus even if the word وُرُود occurring in the Qur'an is taken to mean دُخُول (entry), then the word دُخُول will be interpreted as synonymous with the word عُبُور (going across). Thus there is no contradiction in the meaning of the word. Verse:72 Commentary - - - Verse:73 Commentary Commentary

خَيْرٌ‌ مَّقَامًا وَأَحْسَنُ نَدِيًّا

"Superior in respect of its place and better in respect of its assembly" - 19:73.

The infidels never relaxed their efforts to confuse and perplex the believers. They were very rich and possessed material wealth in great abundance. They had their retinues, their followers, friends and supporters. In contrast, the believers were poor and lacking in worldly assets. However, it is a common experience that material wealth turns people's heads and makes them unduly proud and arrogant, so that even the sensible and wise among them are led to believe that their prosperity and affluence is the reward of their personal merit and effort, and will last forever. History is replete with instances where prosperous communities and rich nations crumbled to dust and vanished without leaving a trace. But these instances of Divine wrath hold no lesson for them and fail to turn them from their erroneous ways.

On the other hand there are good people who, following the teachings of Qur'an, do not regard wealth and worldly honors as the result of their own effort and merit, but as Allah Ta` ala's bounty to be held as a trust from Him and to be expended according to His command. They are well aware that these gifts from Allah Ta` ala will not last forever, and the prospect of their abatement or even their total loss does not cause them any concern. These are the people who are safe from the mischief resulting from wealth and material abundance to which the infidels are exposed. Prophets like Sayyidna Sulayman and Dawud (علیہما السلام) ، many a followers of The Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and multitude among the pious believers fall in this category.

Allah Ta` ala has dispelled the mistaken notions of the infidels by saying that the transient material prosperity cannot be regarded as a token of His goodwill nor as a symbol of their own merit, because it often happens that foolish and undeserving people are loaded with wealth while wise and learned persons spend their lives in poverty. Verse:74 Commentary - - - Verse:75 Commentary - - - Verse:76 Commentary وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ‌ عِندَ رَ‌بِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ‌ مَّرَ‌دًّا

''And the everlasting virtues are better with your Lord in respect of reward and better in their return". - 19:76

These words have been interpreted differently by different scholars as has been explained at some length in the commentary of Sarah Al-Kahf (سورۃ کھف). The more plausible interpretation, however, is that the words refer to submission to the commands of Allah and to good deeds, the benefits of which are everlasting.

مَّرَ‌دًّا by means consequences, and the sense of this verse is that good deeds alone are the real wealth whose reward is great and whose result is eternal peace. Verse:77 Commentary Commentary

لَأُوتَيَنَّ مَالًا وَوَلَدًا ("I shall certainly be given wealth and children". - 19:77) Bukhari and Muslim relate the story of Sayyidna Khabab Ibn Al-'Aratt ؓ who had lent some money to ` As Ibn Wa' il. When pressed to return the loan, ` As Ibn Wa' il said that he would not make the payment until he (Sayyidna Khabab ؓ dissociated himself from the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم . Sayyidna Khabab ؓ replied that he would never do that - not until ` As was dead and rose to life again. At this ` As Ibn Wa' il said, "What? Will I be brought to life again after I am dead? If so I will repay the loan only after I am brought back to life again because even then I will have my wealth and my children." (Qurtubi) Verse:78 Commentary This verse is an answer to ` As Ibn Wa' ils boastful claim. How does he know that when he is brought back to life he will still have his wealth and children?

أَطَّلَعَ الْغَيْبَ (Has he peeped in the unseen - 19:78) It is obvious that nothing of this kind has happened. Then why has he considered it as a surety?

أَمِ اتَّخَذَ عِندَ الرَّ‌حْمَـٰنِ عَهْدًا

" Or taken a covenant with The Rahman (All-Mercifull)"

Or has he entered into a covenant with Allah Ta` ala and obtained a promise from Him for his wealth and his children? Verse:79 Commentary - - - Verse:80 Commentary وَنَرِ‌ثُهُ مَا يَقُولُ

"And We will inherit from him what he is talking about" - 19:80.

It is foolish of him to talk about retaining his wealth and children in the Hereafter because he will have to leave behind even these things which he possesses in this world, and his wealth and children will all revert to Allah Ta' ala.

وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْ‌دًا

"And he.will come to Us all alone" - 19:80.

And on the Day of Judgment he will appear in God's presence one without his wealth and his children. Verse:81 Commentary - - - Verse:82 Commentary وَيَكُونُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضِدًّا

"And they will be just the opposite for them" - 19:82.

The idols and the false gods whom the infidels worshipped in the hope of winning their help will turn against them on the Day of Judgment. God will grant speech to them and they will say, "0 God! Finish these sinners because they turned away from you and made us the objects of their worship."