COMMENTARY ON THE QUR`AN
Chapter 56: Surat Al-Wâqi'ah
The Event

By: Shaykh Fadhlalla Haeri

  1. Therein they shall not hear vain or offensive speech.

'Vain speech' (laghw) is that which distracts from reality or is empty of meaning. From the same root comes the word for language (lughah) and linguist (lughawi). Linguistics can often stray into trifling and nonsensical affairs.

There is no offensiveness in the Garden of Bliss. In the next world, complete equity and justice will be witnessed by all. In this world, though one may witness aberrations of justice, perceiving by one's inner eye, one sees nothing other than the justice of Reality. As long as one is in this world, one must constantly do one's best to bring about outer justice, even though the eye of abandonment sees that everything is perfect. Because there is no human interference in the next life, it will be completely meaningful and just. In this life however man's inadvertent acts or transgressions create an ambience of injustice, although even what appears to be unjust is brought about for a purpose and with reason.

Thus, outwardly, one must strive to bring about justice while inwardly one accepts whatever is decreed as being part of one's upbringing (tarbîyyah) by the Lord. Outwardly, one acts as the agent of Allah, because man is the representative (khalîfah) of Allah on earth.

If, despite upholding justice, one should find oneself in an unjust situation caused by the transgressions of others, one must nevertheless pay the price along with them. Imam Husayn did not escape the injustice that had arisen in the Muslim community; it cost him his life and the lives of seventy-two members of his family; he was not spared, by destiny. The wave of tyranny will swallow the good and the bad in its wake. But if a man is truly in submission and awareness, he will recognize that this is the justice of Allah, for he does not dwell upon his own selfhood. Allah's justice is to afford one the opportunity to know the meaning of blissful abandonment by closing all doors save the one that leads to Him.

  1. Only the saying peace, peace.

Peace occurs when there is no action. There is no movement or experience other than timeless peace. It is not the peace of a dead stone but of pure awareness. It is a state of bliss which man can taste here and now provided he keeps to the path of Allah and if he keeps to the path of the Qur`an and the way of the Prophet without fear or hypocrisy. It is the higher state of the Garden that only those who accept the message and act correctly and fully can attain.

  1. And the companions of the right hand, what of the companions of the right hand?

  2. Amid thornless lote-trees.

For 'the companions of the right hand', the state of joy that they had attained in this existence is mirrored in the next. The lote-tree (sidr) of the next world has no thorns because it is in its purest form. Everything is in its ultimate, highest, purest original form. Thorns are undesirable, and therefore they do not exist in the Garden of the next world. In that world, there is nothing that will afflict its inhabitants.

  1. And clustered plantains.

This is a description of the plantains clustered with fruit and growing in clusters. The plantain was virtually unknown to the people of Arabia at the time of the Qur`anic revelation.

  1. And extended shade.

  2. And water flowing forth.

  3. And abundant fruit.

  4. Neither out of reach nor forbidden.

  5. And exalted thrones.

In the desert culture of Arabia, the sun, though an important life-giving element, is also a constant threat. Therefore, shade is a great mercy. The greater the shade, the larger is the object that provides the shade. The maximum shade is extended by Allah, the Vast (al-'Azîm). In Islamic culture one shows respect for a revered person or saint by saying: 'May Allah increase your shadow.'

In the final abode one witnesses the ultimate shade, for everything is under the shade of the Creator. In that abode, no one can cast a shadow or darken anything. The 'extended shade' is the shadow that protects one and which, by inference, causes one to recognize Allah, because direct vision is not possible. If someone were to say that he had seen Allah at a given time and a given place, where would He be the rest of the time? Allah is always present, all-encompassing, beyond time, beyond comprehension and beyond sight. The faculties of sight and comprehension exist by virtue of the life Allah has placed in human beings. How can these faculties possibly perceive what causes them to function? One infers the existence of Allah by reason, by heart, and by one's innate nature (fitrah). Within everyone is this inherent recognition of the perfect Creator.

  1. Surely We have created them anew.

The Garden is the new creation where there are no desires, whims, troubles or attachments; it is another realm, one that is not physical; it is based upon light. The world of light is only accessible to man in moments of deep meditation, reflection and unveiling.

  1. Then we have made them virgins.

  2. Loving, equals in age.

  3. For the companions of the right hand.

  4. A numerous company from among the first,

  5. And a numerous company from among the last.

Stretching man's imagination, Allah describes the physical satisfaction of man-woman companionship. Women in the next life are in a state of perpetual purity and youth. The description of women in the Garden is not related to what can be experienced or physically understood; it is allegorical. It belongs to another realm in the world of lights and consciousness.

  1. And those of the left hand, what of those on the left hand?

  2. In scorching wind and boiling water.

  3. And the shade of black smoke.

  4. Neither cool nor honorable.

Those at a loss in this world are grouped together and cast aside. The beings that have not evolved and purified themselves in this existence are left in despair, fire and dejection. They experience hot wind and boiling water, the opposites of tranquility, joy, stability and ease.

Ibn 'Arabi talks about the purification of people by fire and describes the Fire in seven different degrees. A person may be put to the Fire in order to have a final chance of purification. Discussion of these categories may result in unnecessary speculation. It could lead to information gathering and not the attainment of inner knowledge and transformation.

There are people who may be judged by men to be evil, but by Allah's judgment they are good. Judgment, however, in this life can only be according to the Law (Sharî'ah). Allah will have His own judgment on the subtler, hidden aspects of transgression, but that is not our domain.

  1. Surely before that they lived in ease and luxury.

  2. And they persisted in great violation.

Being reckless with nature's generosity, one becomes covetous and abusive.

The act of charity is an act of freedom and purification by giving; it acts as a natural cure against greed and other vices that often beset man. Islamic acts of charity such as zakât and khums are amazingly in accord with the measure of poverty that actually exists among humankind. If the peoples of the world gave according to the dictates of Islamic Law, poverty would be eradicated from the earth.

Some people only love the world and are content with it. They are reinforced by material success. The Qur`an advises those with intellect and discrimination to leave these people alone, for their time is short. They are far from knowledge of Reality and unable to see their inevitable end and accountability. They have not invested towards this future. Allah says that when He wishes to destroy a culture or a people that have transgressed He unleashes these materially oppressive people. By their transgression within the world, divine punishment and justice are established. Transgression causes a reaction which ultimately destroys. The cycle is self-sustaining and repetitive, a cycle of destruction and rejuvenation that resuscitates the proper order of nature.

People are not destroyed by winged demons descending and blowing fire upon them. They are destroyed by the monsters within and amongst themselves. Anyone possessed of a measure of detachment and reflection can see that this has recurred repeatedly in the history of humankind – nothing changes. The way of Allah never changes. The laws that govern existence remain reliable, for they are the foundation upon which existence is built.

The permanency of the laws reflects an aspect of Allah's mercy, in that man is given something to rely upon. Man-made laws enjoy no such mercy or permanency. True laws are unchanging; they come from the one and only source of this existence and the next.

  1. And they say: Shall we be raised after we die and have become dust and bones?

  2. Or our fathers of yore?

The deniers of reality think that this life is all that exists; therefore they want to immerse themselves in as much sensual pleasure as possible. There are two attitudes towards the next world. The first holds that this world is not an end but a prelude to a never-ending world. People with this attitude continue so to believe until they have direct knowledge of the next world. They are the believers. Those who believe regard this life as a training ground for entry into the non-temporal dimension.

The second attitude is that entertained by those encapsulated in materialism. Since nothing else exists for them but this life they become increasingly materialistic, selfish, covetous and fearful of death. They make no effort to obtain the qualifications necessary for entry into the Garden of the next life by sharpening their inner awareness and increasing their state of self knowledge and awakening to real freedom. Though one is programmed to seek freedom, they mistakenly look for it within the physical world.

Man is a seeker by nature, but if he thinks that nothing exists beyond this life, his motivation for action takes on a dimension that brings about chaos. This is the difference between the believer and the non-believer.

Man's disbelief in the Hereafter manifests itself in greed, ambition and aggressiveness. Nowadays it is considered desirable for one to be aggressive and ambitious; indeed, such a person is the first candidate to be employed. In the past, however, a person described as having these qualities would have been denounced.

In every human being there is a deep yearning to live forever, but most do not reflect that this innate yearning is from Allah, beaming from within to return to one's source. It is a constant signal from the heart whose wave-length is never-ending. The call from Allah is from one's innermost core to come to know the meaning of eternal ongoingness, for He is the Everlasting. There is only He. There is no one but He (lâ huwa illâ hûwa). This fact, however, is not recognized, so the signal is muffled and finally extinguished.

The life of this world has its allure and attraction. Dipping one's toes into it is enough to be pulled into the current and become submerged in it. Nowadays, people are immersed in the highly technologized factory of modern life which spews them out after a lifetime of slave-like service to the system, rejected and dejected. The slaves follow habits, but the seeker breaks habits and thus becomes free of the system of enslavement.