Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 57 Al-Hadid, Ayat 12-13

يَوۡمَ تَرَى الۡمُؤۡمِنِيۡنَ وَالۡمُؤۡمِنٰتِ يَسۡعٰى نُوۡرُهُمۡ بَيۡنَ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَبِاَيۡمَانِهِمۡ بُشۡرٰٮكُمُ الۡيَوۡمَ جَنّٰتٌ تَجۡرِىۡ مِنۡ تَحۡتِهَا الۡاَنۡهٰرُ خٰلِدِيۡنَ فِيۡهَا​ؕ ذٰلِكَ هُوَ الۡفَوۡزُ الۡعَظِيۡمُ​ۚ‏ ﴿57:12﴾ يَوۡمَ يَقُوۡلُ الۡمُنٰفِقُوۡنَ وَالۡمُنٰفِقٰتُ لِلَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوا انْظُرُوۡنَا نَقۡتَبِسۡ مِنۡ نُّوۡرِكُمۡ​ۚ قِيۡلَ ارۡجِعُوۡا وَرَآءَكُمۡ فَالۡتَمِسُوۡا نُوۡرًاؕ فَضُرِبَ بَيۡنَهُمۡ بِسُوۡرٍ لَّهٗ بَابٌؕ بَاطِنُهٗ فِيۡهِ الرَّحۡمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهٗ مِنۡ قِبَلِهِ الۡعَذَابُؕ‏ ﴿57:13﴾

(57:12) On that Day you will see believing men and women that their light will be running before them and on their right hands.17 (They will be told): “A good tiding to you today.” There shall be Gardens beneath which rivers flow; therein they shall abide. That indeed is the great triumph. (57:13) On that Day the hypocrites, both men and women, shall say to the believers: “Look at us that we may extract some light from your light.”18 They will be told: “Go back and seek light for yourselves elsewhere.” Then a wall shall be erected between them with a door in it. On the inside of it there will be mercy, and on the outside of it there will be chastisement.19

Notes

17. This and the following verses show that the light on the Day of Judgment will be specifically meant for the righteous believers only. As for the disbelievers and the hypocrites and the wicked people, they will be wandering about in the darkness as they had been in the world. The light there will be the light of righteous deeds. The sincerity of the faith and the piety of the character and conduct will turn into light that will lend brightness to the personality of the virtuous. The brighter the deed the more luminous will be his person, and when he will walk towards Paradise, his light will be running forward before him. The best explanation of it is Qatadah’s mursal tradition in which he says; The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: The light of some one will be so strong and sharp that it will be running on before him equal to the distance between Al-Madinah and Aden, of another equal to the distance between Madinah and Sana, and of another even less than that; so much so that there will be a believer whose light will just extend beyond his steps. (Ibn Jarir). In other words, the intensity of the light of a person will be proportionate to the extent of the good done and spread by him in the world, and the beams of his light will be running on before him in the Hereafter extending as far as his good will have extended in the world.

Here, a question may arise in the mind of the reader: One can understand the meaning of their light running on before the believers but what does their light running on only on their right hand mean? Will there be darkness on their left side? The answer is: When a man is walking with a light on his right hand, his left side also will be bright, though the fact of the matter is that the light will be on his right hand. This has been explained by the Hadith, which Abu Dharr and Abu Darda have reported, saying that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: I shall recognize the righteous people of my ummah by their light which will be running on before them and on their right and on their left. (Hakim, Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduyah).

18. It means that when the believers will be going towards Paradise, the light will be before them, and the hypocrites will be stumbling about in the darkness behind. At that time they will call out to the believers, who lived with them together in the same Muslim society in the world, saying: Look back towards us awhile so that we also may get some light.

19. This means that the people of Paradise will enter it through a gate and then the gate will be closed. On one side of the gate there will be the blessings of Paradise and on the other the torment of Hell. For the hypocrites it will not be possible to cross the barrier that will stand between them and Paradise.