A COMMENTARY ON THE LAST SECTION QUR`AN 
Chapter 78: Surat Al-Naba`
The News

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

In the name of Allah,
the Beneficent, the Merciful

This phrase is the very first of the Qur`an and reappears at the beginning of all the chapters except one. It is said that the entire Qur`an is contained in this phrase. 'In the Name of' indicates what is impossible to name or describe, that is, Allah. The entire creation is 'in the Name of Allah'.

The Attributes 'the Beneficent' and the 'Merciful' are from the same Arabic verbal root. 'The Beneficent' indicates the general mercy and compassion extended indiscriminately to all creation, while 'the Merciful' indicates specific mercy channelled to those who have surrendered to the stream of the One Transcendent Reality.

1. Of what do they ask one another?

2. About the awesome news

3. Of which they differ

This is an early Meccan sûrah. The question is directed to all those who denied the truth, the kuffâr (those who cover up, who are ungrateful). The kuffâr are those who could not bear the light of the message or comprehend its depth, those who could not yield themselves to the meaning of tawhîd (unity), those who considered the life of this world to be the only one and believed that there would be nothing after it. These deniers would naturally deny the 'great event', the ultimate final event; they would object to it and question it.

What is it that impels them to ask? 'Amma is a contraction of 'an mâdhâ, which means 'about what?' The fact that they are able to ask is due to the spark of life in them, and where there is life there must also be death, for in this existence everything has its opposite. By reflecting on this fact, one can see that since life and death exist in this consciousness, then it is likely that there is life in another form at another level of consciousness, or life after death, which will be inaugurated by the Day of Rising. Therefore, how dare they question this fact! The absolute, undebatable fact is that whatever has begun will come to an end. Upon further thought, it is obvious that He Who brought this creation into being can also easily bring into being its mirror image.

In the total picture of existence, the subtle aspects of this life will be the manifest aspects of the next life, and the gross aspects of this life will appear as only subsidiary or lesser manifestations; for example, the shape of the body, which is of primary importance now, will be only subsidiary in the next experience. The fact that the kuffâr question the next life is proof of their uncertainty and confusion. On the other hand, the believer has complete certainty about his next abode.

Naba' means 'news, tidings, information, announcement', here referring to the news about the end of this creation. Those who deny the message of reality as expounded by the Book of tawhîd, the Qur`an, wonder about the end and assume that the end of this experience will be the end of all experiences. They question it, and disagree among themselves because they have no idea at all about its nature. They imagine that they can escape the tribulations and turmoil of the last day in one way or another without recognizing that on that day Allah's justice will be definitive and absolute and that all they will bring with them will be the fruits of their own actions.

Man thinks he can overcome the laws that govern existence in this life. He thinks he can escape the fact that his ultimate reward is only according to his actions which, in turn, stem from his intentions. His life in the next level of consciousness will be based upon his actions and intentions; he will be re-created according to the overall make-up of his actions and intentions at the point of his departure from this life.

4. Nay, they will come to know.

5. Again, nay, they will come to know!

Kallâ is a rebuke, a positive reprimand to those who differ. Each person will experience the end of creation through his own death, and will later also experience the end of the entire creation and resurrection. The death of the individual is the death of the microcosm. At that point those who deny will no longer have any doubt about the news, the tremendous event, which is the end of this existence.

6. Have We not made the earth an even expanse,

7. And the mountains as supports?

Verses 6 to 16 constitute a single meaning. God is pointing to the proof of the perfection of creation and its cyclical nature. Is the earth not made expansive for our ease of movement so that we may gain a livelihood, and are the mountains not its support? Geologically, mountains are like sunken pillars holding the thin crust of the earth together in a semblance of security and stability.

8. And We have created you in pairs

This refers to the pairs of every living species, male and female, and to the opposites in every other aspect of creation, such as good and bad, healthy and unhealthy, the lower nafs (the self) and the higher nafs.

9. And We have made your sleep as a rest,

10. And We have made the night as a covering,

11. And We have made the day for seeking livelihood,

The Arabic verbal root of 'rest' (subât) means hibernate, rest, stop action (sabata). A related noun means 'Saturday, the Sabbath' (sabt), the day when the Jews were not supposed to do any work in the worldly sense. All outer action was forbidden so that the people might replenish themselves inwardly. Sleep, a form of hibernation or mini-darkness, actually recreates our vitality by allowing our physical being to realign and balance itself after the troubles of the day. When night engulfs us, it comes over us like a cloak. The word used here for 'covering' is libâs, from the verb labisa, which means 'to slip a cover over something, to cloak, clothe or dress'.

Livelihood, ma`âsh, comes from `âsha, which means 'to live, to be alive'. Ma`âsh also means 'a way of living or lifestyle'. The day is the time for outer action because there is light. By the law of opposites, when there is no light, as at night, it is the time for inward light.

12. And We have built above you seven strong ones

The 'seven strong ones' here are the seven heavens. Shidâd is the plural of shadîd, which means 'strong' from the root shadda, which means 'to be firm, solid, strong, fortified', and 'to saddle'. This means that the heavens are firmly interlinked and intertwined, held together by subtle forces beyond our perception. Of the seven layers of higher physical realities, we can only discern the one in which the stars exist.

Banâ means 'to construct, to erect, to build, to set up'. The heavens are held together and constructed by subtle forces and powers. The physical parts of the heavens above are in a way less significant than the myriad unseen forces which hold them in balance during their course of expansion.

13. And We have made them a blazing lamp

This is a description of the sun, depicted as it often is, as sirâj wahhâj (a blazing lamp). Wahhaj means 'blazing, incandescent, white-hot, bursting forth in flames, brilliant'. The nature of the sun is to emanate light, whereas the nature of the moon is to reflect light.

14. And We have sent down from the rain-clouds water flowing copiously

The word used here for rain-clouds (mu`sirât) derives from `asara, which means 'to squeeze, to press out'. 'Asîr means 'juice'. Mu`sirat are clouds from which rain is expressed like juice which pours down abundantly (thajjâj).

15. That We may bring forth by it grain and plants,

16. And gardens of thick foliage.

Through the agitation that is caused by the rain's descent and the earth's throbbing, the grain and new plants spring forth and the gardens that are folded up within themselves open out into dense lushness.

17. Surely the Day of Decision is an appointed time –

Then there is a sudden shift. The Day of Decision (or the Day of Reckoning) is the day of division and separation, the day of clarity, when everything is clearly apportioned and put where it belongs, the good with the good and the bad with the bad. On this day there will be no uncertainties. The word translated here as 'decision' (fasl), derives from the verbal root fasala which means 'to separate, to segregate, to make a decision without any possibility of doubt' – no gray areas. Fasala also means 'to wean', because the act of weaning separates a baby from its first source of sustenance, its mother. The Arabic word for 'decisive criterion' (faysal) derives from this same verb, and also means 'a judge' or 'dividing sword'.

This verse implies that today is not the day of clarity, but rather today is a day of confusion when we do not know whether something is right or wrong or whether we are truly in îmân (faith, trust, belief). At best, there is some wisdom in this day, and there is at least an attempt to discriminate by remembrance of Allah. But on that day, after death, there will be no possibility of confusion. The people of the Fire shall be in the Fire, the people of the Garden shall be in the Garden, and everything shall be seen clearly through the eye of a just Creator.

The appointed time for this event is fixed. Mîqât comes from waqt which means 'a fixed or appointed time, a deadline' or 'meeting point'. We will all meet on that day which is also called the Day of Gathering, when everyone will be gathered together for the final reckoning.

18. The Day when the trumpet is blown you will come forth in groups

This refers to the Day when the angelic entity of Esrafil will blow into the horn of light to extinguish all other lights except the one and only Light. One that day there will be no other way of seeing things except by the pure Light of God. When the second sounding of the trumpet will be heard, it will signal the Resurrection. There will be nothing other than the Light of the Creator, and no interference can take place. Nations will rise in thronging tribes, families and households. They will come in waves according to a rhythm, and within these groups will be the souls who led them – prophets and messengers. The Qur'an says that according to the measure of Allah that Day will be 50,000 years of our normal reckoning. The closer one is to God, the Timeless, the clearer the relativity of time becomes. An instant of God's time can seem infinite to us.

19. And Heaven will be opened, and be as doors,

The forces which now hold the heavens together will no longer be present, as if doorways into other zones have been created. When this readjustment comes about, all the energies of creation will slip through these doors. Heaven will no longer be held together as one single structure, but will be subject to a new trend, which is its destruction, and will return to its original state, its annihilation in the Creator. Instead of seven strong layers, there will be channels through which it may seem that everything is moving backwards in time.

20. And the mountains will be set in motion as if they were a mere mirage.

The mountains which now appear to us as solid forms, will disappear as though they were mirages. The common translation of sarâb is 'mirage'. Its root is sariba which means 'to slip or slither away, to disappear before one's eyes unnoticed'. The closer one moves towards a mirage, the further away it appears, forever elusive. This implies that there is another level of consciousness where matter and energy will interchange and exchange. Mountains will not become mirages, but they will be transformed. Their form will take a course that cannot be understood, a course that is secret, and the secret is that they will dissolve back into their subtle reality, back into an increasingly subtler energy form, back to the nothingness from which they originally sprang.

The collapse of creation will be a transformative reversal of the creational process. From nothingness came originally the subtlest forms of matter, manifesting itself as gas, which then liquified and became molten. After it had cooled and solidified, the water cycle began. Next came plants and the constant creational cycle, a moment of which we, in our short lifetime, have been able to witness. Later, however, that process will be reversed. Step by step, creation will return to its source.

21. Surely Hell lies in wait

Jahannam (hell) is one of the names used in the Qur'an to designate the opposite of jannah (the Garden). The word is connected to the root jahuma which means 'to frown' and jahm, which means 'grim, gloomy, sullen, morose'. A related noun, jahnîm means 'a bottomless pit'. Such a place has no stability or peace. It is man's nature to seek security as well as certainty. The worst uncertainty anyone can experience is being flung into a bottomless pit to flounder helplessly forever.

The idea of something lying in wait for us implies an ambush, a mirsâd. Mirsâd derives from rasada, meaning 'to watch something intently', as a stalking cat watches a mouse at the mouse hole. In modern Arabic, mirsâd means 'telescope,' for by the use of a telescope we ambush a star, by cornering it in our field of vision. Thus this bottomless pit, that state which will cause us endless trouble, is in fact looking for us, scanning the landscape to capture those who qualify in its 'field of vision'.

22. A place of return for the transgressors

Every system has a boundary. To go beyond those boundaries is to transgress, which is what taghâ means. If in our system we do not keep within the bounds we will eventually be destroyed. Jahannam, the final perpetual bottomlessness, is the state to which those who transgress (al-tâghîn) will return. This implies that they were already on their way towards that final abode in this life. By their wrong actions and intentions they were already moving into the field of fire and confusion.

The Qur'an defines the ultimate Fire as the Nâr al-Kubrâ, the Great Fire, the permanent one), implying thereby that a lesser fire, nâr al-sughrâ, is accessible here and now. Small fires are the ones we taste in this existence because of our ignorance and injustice. Many other verses in the Qur'an tell us that whoever has transgressed is already in a mini-Jahannam within this realm of existence. He may not be aware of it himself, but he fuels it with his anger, insecurity and hate. If he can truly reflect upon his state, he will see that he is moving towards the state of either the Garden or the Fire. The verse specifies 'a place of return', as if the transgressors take refuge in it. The same is true of the people of Garden. The Qur'an tells us that when they find themselves in the Garden in the next life, they will say, 'We remember this!' This means that they have already experienced aspects of the Garden state in this existence.

We prepare for the state or condition that will engulf us in the next consciousness. At the point of death the final unalterable state of our being will have been wrought by all our intentions and actions. The next life, therefore, is the fruition and continuum of our final state in this life.

23. Dwelling therein eternally.

24. They will not taste in it any coolness or drink,

25. But boiling water and a paralyzing cold,

People whose intentions and actions have not been unified, who have lived a life of disconnectedness and dispersion, end up in extreme agitation, in conditions conducive to neither peace nor centerdness. They will remain in Jahannam for ages because the next consciousness is in a timeless zone that seems to go on forever.

The condition of Hell is one of extreme agitation, where neither life nor death is experienced. It is the opposite of the love of connectedness, fusion and certainty, which are ingrained in man's spirit. If a soul has lived a life of confusion, then its natural progression will be to an abode wherein that dreadful state reaches its perfection. The same is true for a soul that has lived in harmony: its natural progression is toward the Garden. This life and the next are not disconnected but form a continuum. What differs is the level of consciousness and the clarity and purity of experience. This can be illustrated by the example of a dreamer who, upon awakening from dreadful nightmares, is terrified, or a dreamer who, upon awakening from joyful dreams, finds himself happy and well-satisfied.

26. A fitting recompense.

This is the appropriate outcome or recompense for a life of covering up and denial. Jazâ means 'reward or recompense'. This end perfectly corresponds to all that came before. God's creation and decree are in perfect harmony.

27. Surely, they did not anticipate an account,

Those people, individually or collectively as nations, did not expect either a final account or a reaction to their actions, nor did they think that they would ultimately meet the reflection of what they themselves had created by their actions and thoughts.

28. And they called Our signs lies with strong denial.

Kadhaba means 'to lie, deceive, or delude'. This means they have denied the truth which was inscribed within themselves, the truth that Allah is the One Lord, that the purpose of creation is unity (tawhîd), and that the prophets and messengers of this truth showed the way to live in harmony with the unified pattern of creation. By denying this, they have deluded themselves.

29. And We have recorded everything in a Book.

Everything in this existence is gathered in the one and only Book. Everything is the Book, and the Book contains everything. Everything in existence is interconnected and is ultimately brought to its conclusion from one point. Nothing is separate. Those who deny this truth have transgressed against themselves, and this transgression itself is also within that Book. Everything has been considered and is included in the Book of reality, the Book of manifestation, the comprehensive Book of qadâ' wa qadar (fate and divine decree). The Qur'an is the clear manifestation of that Book.

30. So taste! For We shall not add to you anything but punishment.

'So taste!' means 'Connect!' in the sense of full experience. We will taste, we will know fully what our intention was. Whoever has denied, therefore, will be denied. If he denies that there is only oneness, that he has come into existence by the grace of that oneness, that through oneness he is sustained, he will return to this oneness in separation and dispersion. If he denies the fact that there were prophets and messengers who confirmed this truth leaving behind the message itself in the form of the Book, then he is deluded. It will be these discordant and confusing states which he will fully taste in the Hereafter. He is blind now and refuses to be conscious of his blindness, but in the next consciousness he will dwell only in blindness.

31. Surely, for those who have fearful awareness is achievement,

The muttaqîn guard themselves, fearfully aware of the boundaries. They live as if walking along a sheer cliff edge, and thus move straight. Their cautious and fearful awareness holds them back from exceeding the limits, and thereby from harming themselves. This quality of cautiousness is enhanced by faith based on knowledge, îmân.

32. Enclosed gardens and vineyards,

33. And companions with freshness of youth, equal in age,

Here the chapter comes down to the level of our understanding, our human needs and our expectations in this world. Our desires are symbolized by the heavenly sate of a lush garden ripe with nourishing fruits and companionship that is complementary, compatible in age and compassionate. Kawâ`iba atrâbâ means 'youthful women' or 'companions of the same age', of appropriate understanding.

34. And a full cup.

In this state there is never any decrease. Their cups are full, thus there is no need, no anxiety. Desires and expectations are completely neutralized.

35. They will not hear in it any foolish chatter or falsehood,

Laghw means 'foolish talk, nonsense', or 'ineffectual, null'. The verbal root is laghâ which means 'to speak nonsense', and from it comes lughah which means 'language'. Speech cancels out silence. By its very grossness, the energy of linguistic communication overrides what preceded it, that is, the peace of silence. The condition described here is a very high state of the Garden, a most sublime and tranquil consciousness of peace in which there is no distraction or break.

36. A reward from your Lord, a gift according to a reckoning.

This is the reward and natural outcome. Rabb means 'Lord', the Attribute that brings our growth in knowledge to its full potential and causes us to realize that in this life we will be rewarded according to our actions and intentions, and in the next life we will also be recreated according to our actions and intentions. This process of action and reaction is in perfect balance, and it comes about according to a just measure. This balance is so intricate that it encompasses both meaning and form. For example, a physical action in this world may have its reward at the mental or intellectual level, or a good intention may result in a physical reward.

37. The Lord of the heavens and the earth and what is between them, the All-Merciful, they are not able to address Him.

Here Allah refers to Himself as the Lord of the heavens and the earth. The Sustainer of the heavens contains all that is in the heavens and the earth, and the interspace between them. This verse specifies the interspace between the two different systems and emphasizes the fact that physical and energy sub-systems, obeying the laws of measurement and predictability, are bonded together by anther aspect of reality that is not immediately perceptible to us. What governs the earthly realm is often discernible and measurable. What governs celestial entities is also reasonably measurable by human beings because these two systems are not separate. That no-man's land, the interspace, the nature of which may escape us when we shift our attention from Newtonian physics to quantum mechanics – for example – is under the same Lordship. Having studied various systems, physical science has found that the laws of one are not applicable to all. Between these systems there are interspaces through which they interface and which we do not understand. Each module makes sense, but the interrelationship between them does not. Newtonian physics makes sense, but only up to a certain point. Quantum mechanics applies to a zone where Newtonian physics makes no sense. Sub-atomic physics differs from both. Each science has its self-contained laws. In the interspace, in between the heavens and the earth, there are also indiscernible zones, and they are all sustained by the Lord.

The word for 'address' or 'speak' used here is khitâb which derives from khataba, meaning 'to deliver a public address'. It also means 'to ask for a woman's hand in marriage'. Khutûbah means 'courtship, engagement'. All these derivatives imply communication and therefore connection and unification. The transgressors were those who disconnected themselves from what governed physical reality in this life; thus they can only taste even greater disconnectedness in the next life.

38. The Day when the spirit and the angels will stand in ranks – none will speak except he to whom the All-Merciful gives permission, and who speaks words that hit the mark.

The Day of Reckoning, when all action ceases, is the day when a new set of laws which have existed from the very beginning will take hold. Our bodies are complex systems made up of the subtle interaction of sub-systems involving chemical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical and other physical forces, as well as more subtle forces, each subject to its own laws. The laws that apply in the next realm, after the end of this existence, are of another nature. Now we experience everything along a certain direction of time; the collapse of creation will occur as if creation has been reversed in time. But we can only intellectualize and theorize about it since we only have a very limited comprehension of it.

In that situation, we are told that, as individuals, we shall no longer have the power to act – we shall be completely and utterly under the control and at the mercy of the new dominion. The end of the drama will be sealed and the time will have come to evaluate each players' performance.

The word translated here as spirit, rûh, comes from the same root as râhah. It is also related to rîh, which means 'wind', mirwahah, meaning 'fan', and istirwâh which means 'respiration'.

Rûh is the subtle element that is breathed into us in the form of the soul, as we call it. The rûh issues from the command of the Sustainer and is the subtlest manifestation which covers itself with the body, rendering it sentient and capable of conflicting and diverse possibilities. When the rûh slips out, the process of death begins, leaving the body behind where it belongs, in the earth.

We generally take our ability to act and speak for granted, but on the Day of Resurrection no action or verbal interference can take place. Only the Merciful and the perfect will prevail in every way. There will no longer be any possibility for anybody to perform harmful acts. Transgression can only occur in this realm of existence, in this dimension, and along the direction of time. The only choice we have here is to recognize that in reality we have no choice. Choice is really ignorance. The knowledge of having no choice is wisdom. If we know what is the best action to take in each new situation, the question of choice does not arise, for it is clear what we must do.

39. That is the true Day – so whosoever desires should seek refuge with his Lord.

On that day, in the new state of affairs, justice is perfect: truth (haqq) will prevail with absolute certainty. True justice also prevails in this existence, but as limited beings we often do not recognize it because we cannot perceive all the inter-relationships between the multitudinous creational systems. From the point of view of absolute reality, there is never any injustice. Allah says, 'I created them for the Fire and I do not care.' Allah has created everything in justice, bil-haqq. It is only man who, through ignorance, upsets the balance and thereby creates apparent injustice.

'So whosoever desires should seek refuge with his Lord' indicates that Allah is addressing people who are not aware of the fact that they are sustained and contained by the Lord. A warning is therefore conveyed for those who would now wish to find a way back to the only reality which has given them the freedom to rebel. Allah is the 'Oft-Returning'. He accepts our return over and over, as does a loving father who knows his child is so rebellious that he will constantly leave. Whenever the child returns, the father welcomes him, knowing full well that in the next moment he will be off again.

Man's lower nature is full of nagging doubt. But for someone who trusts in the absolute mercy of Allah and so submits to it, doubts cannot arise because he accepts what comes to him as being the best for him, and from that very acceptance certainty arises.

On the Day of Judgment, the Day of Decision, all doubt and questioning will cease. Whoever wishes to return to that state of unity, which is his true heritage and is already contained in his essence, will have to find a way, and that way lies in recognizing all that is not the way. The way towards knowledge of the Lord is through knowledge of the nafs, the experiencing self; that is, being able to recognize the lower nafs, the animal nafs, the commanding nafs, the doubting nafs, the whimsical or inspired nafs, and the trouble caused by all of these aspects of the lower self. In recognizing all of these traits men of reason will be able to avoid them in future situations, and the higher aspects of the self will spontaneously become nourished and begin to predominate.

The secure and contended self, the higher nafs that is purified, is at ease and at peace in the hands of its Lord, serenely allowing the Lord to do with it what He wills according to a perfect design. The path to the Lord, therefore, lies in recognizing and avoiding all that is going to cause us harm and confusion. By avoiding what is clearly wrong we shall automatically move toward what is right.

40. Surely We warn you of a punishment near at hand: The Day when man will see what his hands have sent ahead, and the one who covers up will say: Oh, would that I were dust!

The Prophet Muhammad, may the peace and blessings of Allah be upon him, his family and his righteous Companions,^** warned mankind of the boundaries where tranquility ends and certain loss begins. He warned against transgressing acceptance of the decree and affirmed that the decree is just; to deny and reject this is to expose oneself to the suffering that being at a loss brings.

The inner meaning of this verse is that we bring affliction upon ourselves here and now, but we may not notice it because we justify ourselves with all manner of excuses. Since man possesses an all-encompassing nafs which contains and reflects the meaning of Rahmân (the Merciful), as well as the meaning of Shaytân (Satan), he can justify any action, high or low, good or bad. Justification is, in fact, a way of connecting one thing to another. It reflects the naturally built-in desire for unity (tawhîd) within us, but is, in fact, a deviant aspect of it. By uniting intention with action, everyone is in a state of worship. It could be at the altar of the High, which results in knowledge of the Almighty Lord, or at the altar of the low, which is that of delusion and despair.

The condition or state of the Day of Resurrection, when everything is exposed, can be partially tasted now by each one of us if we are willing and able to stop our minds and actions and take complete stock of ourselves. If we have the courage to face our intentions and truly to recognize the degree of our own purification, we will catch a glimpse of what this day of requital means and we will understand the meaning of balance.

On the Day of Judgment we shall be reconstructed according to our intentions and actions in this world. If we want to know the condition of our hearts in the next life, all we need to do is look at the condition of our hearts in this life. If the condition of the heart is pure, our home in the next life will be close to the pure Source of creation. If not, it will rest somewhere along a spectrum, at one of which is the eternal Fire and at the other end of which are the highest Gardens. If we live totally in the present, remaining aware and taking account of ourselves, then we are living the Day of Resurrection now.

'And the one who covers up will say: Oh, would that I were dust!' Whoever has denied the past, been disconnected, and suddenly sees that he has wasted the treasure of his time and life, will wish that he were nothing but dust, forgotten. Unfortunately for such a one nothing is forgotten. Every person, every rûh, will be fully brought to life and to the full recognition of his full significance. He will not be able to hide like dust lost in the desert. Allah says that if one has done an iota of good, it will appear before him. There will no longer be any recesses for the nafs to slink into; all the corridors will be opened. That is why if a person truly faces himself in the now, this act becomes his personal Day of Judgment. This is one meaning of the prophetic saying, 'If you know yourself, you know your Lord', because the business of Lordship is to expose everything openly in everyway.

We all seek permanency in everything in this life, in relationships and knowledge, and that is why we distinguish between true knowledge and mere information. Information changes, such as when new medicines are developed to cure certain diseases. True knowledge however, does not change. It is absolute, and for this reason we all seek it. Absolute knowledge is the news, the naba'. What are they asking about? What news do they want? What higher information or news can they want other than the truth that there is only Allah, and by His grace we have been created. When we abandon ourselves to Allah and follow the men of Allah, we will enter this sought-after realm of absolute knowledge.

End of the Surah

^**It is customary, whenever the name of the Prophet Muhammad is mentioned, to invoke the peace and blessings of Allah upon him, his family and his righteous Companions.