اِنَّ Indeed الْمُتَّقِیْنَ the righteous فِیْ (will be) in جَنّٰتٍ Gardens وَّ عُیُوْنٍؕ and water springs اُدْخُلُوْهَا Enter it بِسَلٰمٍ in peace اٰمِنِیْنَ secure وَ نَزَعْنَا And We (will) remove مَا what فِیْ (is) in صُدُوْرِهِمْ their breasts مِّنْ of غِلٍّ rancor اِخْوَانًا (they will be) brothers عَلٰی on سُرُرٍ thrones مُّتَقٰبِلِیْنَ facing each other لَا Not یَمَسُّهُمْ will touch them فِیْهَا therein نَصَبٌ fatigue وَّ مَا and not هُمْ they مِّنْهَا from it بِمُخْرَجِیْنَ will be removed نَبِّئْ Inform عِبَادِیْۤ My slaves اَنِّیْۤ that I اَنَا I am الْغَفُوْرُ the Oft-Forgiving الرَّحِیْمُۙ the Most Merciful وَ اَنَّ And that عَذَابِیْ My punishment هُوَ it الْعَذَابُ (is) the punishment الْاَلِیْمُ the most painful وَ نَبِّئْهُمْ And inform them عَنْ about ضَیْفِ (the) guests اِبْرٰهِیْمَۘ (of) Ibrahim 15. Al-Hijr Page 265 اِذْ When دَخَلُوْا they entered عَلَیْهِ upon him فَقَالُوْا and said سَلٰمًا ؕ Peace قَالَ He said اِنَّا Indeed we مِنْكُمْ (are) of you وَ جِلُوْنَ afraid قَالُوْا They said لَا (Do) not تَوْجَلْ be afraid اِنَّا indeed we نُبَشِّرُكَ [we] bring glad tidings to you بِغُلٰمٍ of a boy عَلِیْمٍ learned قَالَ He said اَبَشَّرْتُمُوْنِیْ Do you give me glad tidings عَلٰۤی Do you give me glad tidings اَنْ although مَّسَّنِیَ has overtaken me الْكِبَرُ old age فَبِمَ Then about what تُبَشِّرُوْنَ you give glad tidings قَالُوْا They said بَشَّرْنٰكَ We give you glad tidings بِالْحَقِّ in truth فَلَا so (do) not تَكُنْ be مِّنَ of الْقٰنِطِیْنَ the despairing قَالَ He said وَ مَنْ And who یَّقْنَطُ despairs مِنْ of رَّحْمَةِ (the) Mercy رَبِّهٖۤ (of) his Lord اِلَّا except الضَّآلُّوْنَ those who are astray قَالَ He said فَمَا Then what خَطْبُكُمْ (is) your business اَیُّهَا O messengers الْمُرْسَلُوْنَ O messengers قَالُوْۤا They said اِنَّاۤ Indeed we اُرْسِلْنَاۤ [we] have been sent اِلٰی to قَوْمٍ a people مُّجْرِمِیْنَۙ criminals اِلَّاۤ Except اٰلَ the family لُوْطٍ ؕ of Lut اِنَّا indeed we لَمُنَجُّوْهُمْ surely will save them اَجْمَعِیْنَۙ all اِلَّا Except امْرَاَتَهٗ his wife قَدَّرْنَاۤ ۙ We have decreed اِنَّهَا that she لَمِنَ (is) surely of الْغٰبِرِیْنَ۠ those who remain behind
(15:45) As for the God-fearing,27 they shall be amid gardens and springs.
(15:46) They will be told: "Enter it in peace and security."
(15:47) And We shall purge their breasts of all traces of rancour;28 and they shall be seated on couches facing one another as brothers.
(15:48) They shall face no fatigue in it, nor shall they ever be driven out of it.29
(15:49) (O Prophet), declare to My servants that I am indeed Ever Forgiving, Most Merciful.
(15:50) At the same time, My chastisement is highly painful.
(15:51) And tell them about Abraham's guests.30
(15:52) When they came to Abraham they said: "Peace be upon you!" He replied: "Indeed we feel afraid of you."31
(15:53) They said: "Do not feel afraid, for we give you the good news of a wise boy."32
(15:54) Abraham said: "What, do you give me this tiding though old age has smitten me? Just consider what tiding do you give me!"
(15:55) They said: "The good tiding we give you is of truth. Do not, therefore, be of those who despair."
(15:56) Abraham said: "Who despairs of the Mercy of his Lord except the misguided?"
(15:57) He added: "What is your errand O sent ones?"33
(15:58) They said: "Verily we have been sent to a guilty people34
(15:59) excepting the household of Lot. We shall deliver all of them,
(15:60) except his wife (about whom Allah says that) We have decreed that she shall be among those who stay behind."
27. This refers to those who did not follow Satan; who, out of their God-foreignness, lived as God’s faithful servants.
28. The hearts of the righteous will be purged of any feeling of bitterness and rancor — if they ever had any such-feelings — before entering Paradise. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’ an, vol. Ill, al-A‘raf7, n. 32, p. 28.)
29. This Qur’anic statement has been elaborated in the following tradition.
The Prophet (peace be on him) said: ‘It will be said to the people of Paradise: ‘‘You will now remain healthy forever and will never fall sick. You will live forever and never die. You will always remain young and never grow old. You will always remain settled, and will never require to undertake [the strain of] any journey’’.’ (For the contents of this tradition see Muslim, Kitab al-Jannah wa Sifat Na‘i miha wa Ahliha, ‘Bab fi Dawam Na‘im Ahl al-Jannah’, and al-Tirmidhi, Abwab al-Tafsir, ‘Tafsir Surah al-Zumar’ .)(We have been unable, however, to trace the last sentence quoted here, viz. This is further explained by the Qur’an and several traditions from the Prophet (peace be on him) which state that the inmate of Paradise will have no need to toil for his bread. Man will receive all that he wishes for without having to toil for it.
30. This marks the commencement of the story of Abraham (peace be on him). This is immediately followed by the story of the people of Lot (peace be on him).
In order to fully understand the underlying purpose of this narration, it is necessary to bear in mind some of the verses in the earlier part of the present surah. First of all, we encounter the statement of the Makkan unbelievers: ‘Why do you not bring down angels upon us if you are indeed truthful?’ (verse 7). At that point a brief rejoinder has been made: ‘We do not send down angels [in frivolity] and when We do send them down, We do so with truth, and then people are granted no respite’ (verse 8). An elaboration of the same point is made here with reference to these two stories. The unbelievers are told that the angels had brought one kind of ‘truth’ to Prophet Abraham (peace be on him) (verses 52-6), but brought ‘truth’ of quite another kind to the people of Lot (peace be on him). Now it was for the unbelievers themselves to decide which ‘truth’ should be communicated to them. It was quite obvious that they had not brought along the kind of truth which was sent to Abraham (peace be on him) through the angels. Were they, then, desirous that the kind of truth which was brought to the people of Lot (peace be on him) by the angels— one that spelled mass destruction should also be sent to them?
31. Cf. Hud 11: 69 ff. and the relevant notes there.
32. This alludes to the prophecy about the birth of Isaac (peace be on him), which has been clearly stated in Hud. (See verse 71 — Ed.)
33. It is evident from Prophet Abraham’s question that angels appear in human form only in extraordinary circumstances. Whenever they come in that form, it is to carry out some extraordinary mission.
34. The brevity of the reference indicates that the guilt of the people of Lot had exceeded all limits, and that they had become quite notorious for it. As a result, it was sufficient to mention them as a ‘guilty people’ ‘without specifically naming them.