Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Volume 7: Ale-Imran, Verses 156-164

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَكُونُوا كَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا وَقَالُوا لِإِخْوَانِهِمْ إِذَا ضَرَبُوا فِي الْأَرْضِ أَوْ كَانُوا غُزًّى لَّوْ كَانُوا عِندَنَا مَا مَاتُوا وَمَا قُتِلُوا لِيَجْعَلَ اللَّـهُ ذَٰلِكَ حَسْرَةً فِي قُلُوبِهِمْۗ وَاللَّـهُ يُحْيِي وَيُمِيتُۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ﴿١٥٦﴾ وَلَئِن قُتِلْتُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ أَوْ مُتُّمْ لَمَغْفِرَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَرَحْمَةٌ خَيْرٌ مِّمَّا يَجْمَعُونَ ﴿١٥٧﴾ وَلَئِن مُّتُّمْ أَوْ قُتِلْتُمْ لَإِلَى اللَّـهِ تُحْشَرُونَ ﴿١٥٨﴾ فَبِمَا رَحْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ لِنتَ لَهُمْۖ وَلَوْ كُنتَ فَظًّا غَلِيظَ الْقَلْبِ لَانفَضُّوا مِنْ حَوْلِكَۖ فَاعْفُ عَنْهُمْ وَاسْتَغْفِرْ لَهُمْ وَشَاوِرْهُمْ فِي الْأَمْرِۖ فَإِذَا عَزَمْتَ فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّـهِۚ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُتَوَكِّلِينَ ﴿١٥٩﴾ إِن يَنصُرْكُمُ اللَّـهُ فَلَا غَالِبَ لَكُمْۖ وَإِن يَخْذُلْكُمْ فَمَن ذَا الَّذِي يَنصُرُكُم مِّن بَعْدِهِۗ وَعَلَى اللَّـهِ فَلْيَتَوَكَّلِ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ ﴿١٦٠﴾ وَمَا كَانَ لِنَبِيٍّ أَن يَغُلَّۚ وَمَن يَغْلُلْ يَأْتِ بِمَا غَلَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِۚ ثُمَّ تُوَفَّىٰ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ مَّا كَسَبَتْ وَهُمْ لَا يُظْلَمُونَ ﴿١٦١﴾ أَفَمَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضْوَانَ اللَّـهِ كَمَن بَاءَ بِسَخَطٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَمَأْوَاهُ جَهَنَّمُۚ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ ﴿١٦٢﴾ هُمْ دَرَجَاتٌ عِندَ اللَّـهِۗ وَاللَّـهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا يَعْمَلُونَ ﴿١٦٣﴾ لَقَدْ مَنَّ اللَّـهُ عَلَى الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ بَعَثَ فِيهِمْ رَسُولًا مِّنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿١٦٤﴾

O you who believe! be not like those who disbelieve and say of their brethren when they travel in the earth or engage in fighting. “Had they been with us, they would not have died and they would not have been slain;” so Allah makes this to be an intense regret in their hearts; and Allah gives life and causes death; and Allah sees what you do (156). And if you are slain in the way of Allah or you die, certainly forgiveness from Allah and mercy is better than what they amass (157). And if indeed you die or you are slain, certainly to Allah shall you be gathered together (158). Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you are lenient to them, and had you been rough, hard-hearted, they would certainly have dispersed from around you; pardon them therefore and ask forgiveness for them, and take counsel with them in the affair; but when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah; surely Allah loves those who trust (in him) (159). If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him? And on Allah should the believers rely (160). And it is not attributable to a prophet that he should defraud; and he who defrauds shall bring (with him) that which he has defrauded, on the Day of Resurrection; then shall every soul be paid back fully what it has earned, and they shall not be dealt with unjustly (161). Is then he who follows the pleasure of Allah like him who has brought upon himself the wrath from Allah, and whose abode is hell? And it is an evil destination (162). They are of (diverse) grades with Allah, and Allah sees what they do (163). Certainly Allah conferred (His) favor upon the believers when He raised among them a Messenger from among themselves, reciting to them His signs and purifying them, and teaching them the Book and wisdom, although before that they were surely in manifest error (164).

COMMENTARY

It is the continuation of the verses revealed especially about the battle of Uhud. It deals with another affair affecting them, i.e., the grief and sorrow that had overwhelmed them because so many of their braves and notables had been slaughtered. The overwhelming majority of the martyrs was from the Helpers; as reportedly no more than four of the Emigrants were martyred. It gives rise to the surmise that most of the resistance was from the Helpers' side and that the Emigrants had left the battleground long before them.

In short, these verses explain the error and mistake in sorrowing and grieving; then turn to another matter resulting from that grief, that is, their critical attitude towards the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a), thinking that it was he who had brought them to that disaster and put them into that perdition. It may be inferred from their talk alluded to herein: “Had they been with us, they would not have died and they would not have been slain.” In other words, if they had listened to them and not obeyed the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a) they would have been alive today. It means that it was he who had led them to the slaughter. The verses make it clear that it was not meet for the Prophet that he should deceive anyone; he is Allah's Messenger, noble of heart, sublime in character; he is lenient to them by mercy of Allah, pardons them and seeks Allah's forgiveness for them and takes their counsel by permission of Allah; and Allah has conferred His favor on them by sending him to them in order that he may take them out of error bringing them to the guidance.

QUR'AN: O you who believe! be not like those who disbelieve . and Allah sees what you do:

The word, “those who disbelieve”, refers to the unbelievers not to the hypocrites, as some people think. It is not the hypocrisy, per se, which incites such talks - although the hypocrites had uttered these words. Such talk, in reality, is a product of disbelief. Thus it was necessary to ascribe it to the unbelievers. ad-Darb fil-ard (lit., striking in the earth) metaphorically means travelling. Al-Ghuzza is plural of al-ghaizi (fighter) like at-talib and at-tullab or ad-darib and ad-durrab “so Allah makes this to be an intense regret in their hearts”, i.e., so that Allah may punish them through this intense regret; it has thus put the means in place of the end. The words, “Allah gives life and causes death”, explain the reality about which the unbelievers had gone astray, and had said, “Had they been with us, they would not have died and they would not have been slain.” The words, “death”, as used here, covers natural death as well as slaughter - we have explained earlier that when used alone, this word covers every type of death. The clause, “and Allah sees what you do”, explains the reason for the prohibition contained in the words, “be not like those who disbelieve”.

In the clause, “they would not have died and they would not have been slain”, death is mentioned before slaying; the sequence follows that of the preceding clause, “when they travel . or engage in fighting”. Also, unlike slaying (which is an abnormal happening) death is a natural and normal phenomenon; therefore the normal was mentioned before the abnormal.

The verse, in short, admonishes the believers not to be like the unbelievers; they should not say about someone who dies outside his home town or among strangers, or is slain when engaged in jihad, that if he had been with them he would not have died or been killed. This type of talk throws one into mental agony and divine punishment - it is the intense grief put in their hearts. Moreover, it emanates from sheer ignorance: Being near them or away from them neither gives life nor causes death. Giving life and death is among the affairs exclusively reserved for Allah - the One Who has no partner or colleague. Therefore, the believers should fear Allah and not be like the unbelievers; and Allah sees what they do.

QUR'AN: And if you are slain in the way of Allah or you die, certainly forgiveness from Allah and mercy is better than what they amass:

Obviously, “what they amass”, refers to property and wealth as well as to its concomitants, as these are the best objects of desire in this life.

This verse mentions martyrdom before normal death, because being slain in the way of Allah is nearer to divine forgiveness compared to other deaths. This fine point has caused this change of sequence. Thereafter, the next verse, “And if indeed you die or you are slain. ..”, reverts to the normal pattern, putting death before slaughter, because there is no such fine point there to justify any change.

QUR'AN: Thus it is due to mercy from Allah. . should the believers rely:

“al-Fazz” (rude, rough); hard-heartedness metaphorically means unkindness, ill-nature and intolerance; al-infidad (to disperse).

The verse turns away from the believers, addressing the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) directly, although the real import is as follows: It is due to Our mercy that Our Messenger is lenient to you; that is why We have ordered him to pardon you, ask forgiveness for you and take counsel with you in the affair, and to place his trust in Us when he has taken any decision.

In spite of that meaning, the mode of address was changed (and we have explained this reason in the beginning of this topic of Uhud) because there is a current of censure, admonition and stricture running throughout the narrative, and the Qur'an turns its face from the believers whenever a chance occurs. This situation is one of them, because it touches a condition of theirs, which tends to put blame on the Prophet. Their grieving for the slaughter of their martyrs might sometimes lead them to find fault with the Prophet's actions and to accuse him of bringing them to the hazardous eventuality where they were killed and extirpated. That is why Allah turned away from them and addressed His Prophet directly: “Thus it is due to mercy from Allah that you are lenient to them. .”

This talk is based on another implied one which may be understood from the context: “If they are entangled, as you see, in such undesirable condition that they resemble the unbelievers and intensely grieve for their martyrs, then it is only due to Our mercy that you are lenient to them, otherwise, they would have dispersed from around you.” (And Allah knows better).

The clauses, “pardon them therefore and ask forgiveness for them, and take counsel with them in the affair”, endorse the precedent established by the Prophet, as he was doing all this from the beginning, and he had taken their counsel shortly before the battle of Uhud. The verse points to the fact that the Prophet does what he is told by Allah to do, and Allah is pleased with his performance.

Allah told His Prophet to pardon them (i.e., he should not mete out to them the consequences of their disobedience), and to ask Allah to forgive them (and in that case He would certainly do so). The word, although general and unrestricted, does not include the shari'ah's penal code and things like that; otherwise it would result in discarding the whole shari'ah. Moreover, the next clause, “and take counsel with them in the affair”, implies that the preceding two orders too are related to the matters of government and public affairs - in which he is required to take counsel with them.

Now we have reached the last sentences: “but when you have decided, then place your trust in Allah, surely Allah loves those who trust (in Him).” When He loves, He will be your Guardian and Helper; and will never forsake you. The next verse makes it clear and even invites the believers to have trust in Him: “If Allah assists you, then there is none that can overcome you, and if He forsakes you, who is there then that can assist you after Him?” Then He orders the believers to have trust in Him and says: “and on Allah should the believers rely.” The sentence metaphorically puts the effect in place of the cause. They should rely on Allah because they believe in Him, and there is no helper or supporter except Him.

QUR'AN: And it is not attributable to a prophet that he should defraud . and Allah sees what they do:

“al-Ghill “ (to defraud, to act faithlessly). We have mentioned in verse 3:79 (It is not meet for a man that Allah should give him the Book and the wisdom and prophethood, then he should say to men: “Be my servants rather than Allah's”) that this mode of speech is intended to declare the purity and blamelessness of the Prophet showing that he was far removed from evil and indecency. This verse means as follows: Far be it from a prophet to defraud or be faithless to his Lord or the people (and defrauding the people too is another form of defrauding Allah); it is because he who defrauds will have to meet his Lord with that which he has defrauded and shall be paid back fully what he has earned.

Then He declares that accusing the Prophet of defrauding is an unjust and untenable idea, because he follows the pleasure of Allah, he never goes beyond His pleasure; and the man who defrauds, brings upon himself severe wrath of Allah and his abode is the hell, and it is an evil destination. The verse, “Is then he who follows the pleasure of Allah . “, gives the above connotation.

Then He says that the various groups (i.e., those who follow the pleasure of Allah and those who bring wrath of Allah upon themselves) are of diverse grades; and Allah sees what they do. The people should not think that Allah loses sight of even an iota of good or evil done by them; they should not be careless in following His pleasure or avoiding His wrath.

QUR'AN: Certainly Allah conferred (His) favor. . they were surely in manifest error:

Again the mode of address has changed, taking the believers as absent. The general reason of such changes has already been explained. As for this particular verse, the reason is as follows: The verse intends to describe Allah's favor upon the believers - because of their belief. That is why it has used the adjective, “the believers”, and not the verb, “those who believe”, because only an adjective shows inseparable relationship, and only the adjective could show the causality (as has been said) or could show it more perfectly. The verse's meaning is clear.

There are other matters worth explaining in this verse; and, God willing, some will be given in appropriate places.

Volume 7: Surah Ale-Imran, Verses 165-171

أَوَلَمَّا أَصَابَتْكُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَدْ أَصَبْتُم مِّثْلَيْهَا قُلْتُمْ أَنَّىٰ هَـٰذَاۖ قُلْ هُوَ مِنْ عِندِ أَنفُسِكُمْۗ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿١٦٥﴾ وَمَا أَصَابَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْتَقَى الْجَمْعَانِ فَبِإِذْنِ اللَّـهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٦٦﴾ وَلِيَعْلَمَ الَّذِينَ نَافَقُواۚ وَقِيلَ لَهُمْ تَعَالَوْا قَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ أَوِ ادْفَعُواۖ قَالُوا لَوْ نَعْلَمُ قِتَالًا لَّاتَّبَعْنَاكُمْۗ هُمْ لِلْكُفْرِ يَوْمَئِذٍ أَقْرَبُ مِنْهُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِۚ يَقُولُونَ بِأَفْوَاهِهِم مَّا لَيْسَ فِي قُلُوبِهِمْۗ وَاللَّـهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَكْتُمُونَ ﴿١٦٧﴾ الَّذِينَ قَالُوا لِإِخْوَانِهِمْ وَقَعَدُوا لَوْ أَطَاعُونَا مَا قُتِلُواۗ قُلْ فَادْرَءُوا عَنْ أَنفُسِكُمُ الْمَوْتَ إِن كُنتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ﴿١٦٨﴾ وَلَا تَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ قُتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ أَمْوَاتًاۚ بَلْ أَحْيَاءٌ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ يُرْزَقُونَ ﴿١٦٩﴾ فَرِحِينَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ وَيَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِالَّذِينَ لَمْ يَلْحَقُوا بِهِم مِّنْ خَلْفِهِمْ أَلَّا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ ﴿١٧٠﴾ يَسْتَبْشِرُونَ بِنِعْمَةٍ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ وَفَضْلٍ وَأَنَّ اللَّـهَ لَا يُضِيعُ أَجْرَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ ﴿١٧١﴾

What! When a misfortune befell you while you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much, you began to say: “Whence is this?” Say: “ It is from your own selves; surely Allah has power over all things” (165) And what befell you on the day when the two armies met (at Uhud) was with Allah's permission, and that He might know the believers (166), And that He might know the hypocrites; and it was said to them: “Come, fight in Allah's way, or (at least) defend yourselves.” They said: “If we knew fighting, we would certainly have followed you. “ They were on that day much nearer to unbelief than to belief. They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts; and Allah best knows what they conceal (167). Those who said of their brethren whilst they (themselves) held back: “Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed.” Say. “Then ward off death from yourselves if you are truthful” (168). And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord (169), Rejoicing in what Allah has given them out of His grace, and they rejoice for the sake of those who, (being left) behind them, have not yet joined them, that they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve (170). They rejoice on account of favor from Allah and (His) grace, and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers (171).

COMMENTARY

It is the conclusion of the verses about the battle of Uhud. These verses describe the position of some hypocrites who had deserted the believers when they were proceeding from Madina to Uhud, and refute what they were saying about those who were slain in the way of Allah; then the verses extol the condition of the martyrs saying that they were enjoying Allah's bounties in His presence and were happily waiting for their brothers who were left behind in this world.

QUR'AN: What! When a misfortune befell you . Allah has power over all things”:

First they were told not to be like the unbelievers - grieving and feeling intense sorrow for their slain brethren. It was explained to them that life and death were exclusively in the hands of Allah, they had no concern in this affair; and it would have made no difference whether the martyrs were near them or far from them, or whether they had gone forth to fight or sat behind. After making all this clear, now Allah explains the immediate cause of that disaster according to the law of causality. He tells them that debacle was caused by their disobedience which they committed on that day: the disobedience of the archers when they left their position, and then the disobedience of all those who fled away from the battlefield. In short, the disaster took place because they disobeyed the Messenger, their Commander, and showed lack of courage and disputed among themselves. All this led to their retreat according to the law of nature and custom.

The verse's meaning is therefore as follows: Do you know how this misfortune befell you? Was it not a misfortune that you had previously inflicted twice as much on your enemies, the unbelievers? This time the disaster was brought on you by your own selves. It were you who undermined the means of victory with your own hands; it were you who did not follow the clear order of your Commander, fell into temptation and disputed one with the other.

The clause, “while you had certainly afflicted (the unbelievers) with twice as much”, prompts them to compare their losses in Uhud (martyrdom of seventy believers) with those suffered by the unbelievers in Badr when they had suffered twice as many casualties - as seventy of the unbelievers were slain and seventy taken prisoners.

This description is intended to soothe the believers' feelings, making the calamity look less devastating. After all, they have suffered only half of that, which they had inflicted on their enemies; so they should not grieve, should not be distressed.

Some people have explained it differently. According to them the clause, “It is from your own selves”, means that you yourselves had opted for this misfortune. It happened like this: They had chosen to release the prisoners of Badr in exchange for ransom. But the initial order was to kill them; and they were warned that if they accepted the ransom, a similar number from their side would be killed next year; but they said: “We agree to this condition. We shall take the ransom and enjoy its benefits; and if one of us is killed later on, he shall be a martyr. “

The ending clause of this verse (surely Allah has power over all things) supports, or rather proves, this latter explanation; as this clause does not connect properly with the former meaning. We shall quote in the next “Traditions” ahadith from the Imams of the Ahlu 'I-bayts (a.s.) regarding this topic.

QUR'AN: And what befell you on the day …and Allah best knows what they conceal:

The first of these two verses supports the above theme that the clause, “Say: 'It is from you own selves' “, refers to their opting for the ransom in exchange of Badr's prisoners and agreeing to the attached condition. Only in this way, it can be said that the misfortune that befell them in Uhud was with Allah's permission. As for the former explanation, (that the immediate cause of this misfortune was your disobedience), it has no relevance with this verse; obviously, there is no sense in saying that their disobedience was by permission of Allah.

Accordingly, the statement that the misfortune that had befallen them was by Allah's permission explains the preceding declaration that it was from their own selves. It paves the way of the next clause, “and that He might know the believers”, which in its turn opens the way to deal with the hypocrites, together with their talk and its refutation; and to unveil the reality of this especial death, i.e., martyrdom in the way of Allah.

The clause, “or (at least) defend yourselves”, intends to persuade them to fight; if you do not fight in the way of Allah, then at least defend your families and your own selves. “They were on that day much nearer to unbelief than to belief.” The preposition “li” in “li 'l-kufr” (to unbelief) and “li 'l-iman” (to belief) has been used in meaning of “to”. It shows their position vis-à-vis open disbelief; as for hypocrisy, they had certainly fallen in it.

The word, “with their mouths”, in the sentence, “They say with their mouths what is not in their hearts”, has been put here for emphasis and as a counter-balance to the clause, “in their hearts”.

QUR'AN: Those who said of their brethren. . if you are truthful:

The word, “brethren” refers to those with whom they had family ties from among the martyrs. Allah has mentioned here their “brotherhood”, side by side with the comment, “while they (themselves) held back”; it is meant to put them to shame in a most vivid and crushing way, showing that they held back from helping their own brothers who were meanwhile massacred by the enemy. The sentence, “Say: 'Then ward off death from yourselves'“, refutes their talk. ad-Dar' (to ward off; to avert) .

QUR'AN: And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way. . provided sustenance from their Lord:

Again the speaker turns away from the Muslims and speaks with the Prophet alone; and its reason has been mentioned several times in Commentaries of the relevant verses.

Also, it is possible to treat this address as continuation of the preceding sentence where it addresses the Prophet, “Say: Then ward off death. .'.

Death in this verse means nullity of consciousness and action. That is why Allah explains the martyrs' life by showing that they receive sustenance (and it is action) and rejoice in Allah's grace (and it shows their feeling which proves consciousness).

QUR'AN: Rejoicing in what Allah has given them. . nor shall they grieve: “al-Farah “ is opposite of “al-huzn” (sorrow). al-Bisharah and al-bushra (good news); al-istibshar (to seek happiness through a good news). The verse means: They rejoice in what they have received of Allah's grace and which is always present with them; they feel happy when they receive the good tidings regarding those who have not yet joined them - are still in this world - that they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve.

Two things are clear from the above:

First: Those who are killed in the way of Allah continue to receive the news about good believers whom they had left alive in this world.

Second: The good news concerns the reward of the believers' deeds - that they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve. It happens that they see this reward in the abode, which they abide in. It is because their knowledge of things emanates from observation, not from arguments.

The verse therefore proves that after death man's existence continues between his death and the Day of Resurrection. We have described it in detail under “The Life of al-Barzakh” under the verse, And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead (2:154)3 .

QUR'AN: They rejoice on account of favor from Allah and (His) grace . the reward of the believers:

This rejoicing is more comprehensive and covers their joy for others as well as for themselves. It is proved from the clause, “and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers”, which being unrestricted covers all the believers. Perhaps this is the reason why the “rejoicing” and also “grace” have been repeated here. Meditate on this verse.

The words, “favor” and “grace”, have been used as common nouns, and “sustenance” has been left unspecified. This style gives the hearer's imagination full rein; he is free to visualize whatever he likes. Likewise fear and grief are left vague, so that put in negative form they would signify comprehensiveness.

One finds on meditating on the verse that:

First: The verses intend to describe the believers' reward;

Second: That reward consists of their sustenance near Allah;

Third: That sustenance is a favor and grace from Allah;

Fourth: That favor and grace is mirrored in the fact that they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve.

The clause, “that they shall have no fear nor shall they grieve”, is really wonderful; the more you meditate on it, the more expansive and extensive its meaning will be, with its subtlety, sublimity and graceful flow. The thing that comes before the eyes is that the fear and sorrow are removed from the martyrs. Fear takes shape when there is possibility of something occurring which would nullify an existing happiness of man; sorrow appears when that thing has already happened. Misfortune - or any undesirable phenomenon - is feared as long as it has not befallen; but once it has begun, the fear gives way to sorrow. There is no fear after a misfortune has taken shape, and no sorrow before that.

Fear, with all its aspects, may be removed from man only when there is no chance of deterioration or extinction for any bounty that he enjoys and possesses. Sorrow, with all its aspects, may be removed from him only when he is not deprived of any such bounty to begin with, nor has he lost it after finding it. When the Qur'an says that Allah has removed general fear and general sorrow from a man, it means that He has given him all possible bounties and favors for his enjoyment; and those bounties and favors will never deteriorate or be taken away from him. In other words, man will remain alive forever enjoying the everlasting happiness.

It is evident that removal of fear and sorrow means the same as man's receiving sustenance from Allah; He says: and that which is with Allah is best for the righteous (3:198); and what is with Allah is enduring (16:96). These two verses show that what is with Allah is everlasting and enduring bounty, not tainted by any affliction, not liable to extinction.

Also, it is clear that negation of fear and sorrow is one with affirmation of favor and grace that is, divine bounty. But we have explained in the beginning of the book (and further details will be given under the verse, . with those upon whom Allah has bestowed favors...4:69) that “favor”, whenever used in the Qur'an, means divine guardianship. Therefore, this verse means that Allah is their Guardian Who manages their affairs and bestows on them exclusive grace.

Some people have supposed that “grace” means a bounty given in excess of what a man's deeds have made him eligible to; and “favor” means the bounty equal to the deeds. But it does not enmesh with the end clause, “and that Allah will not waste the reward of the believers”. The word, “reward”, shows that they are “eligible “ for grace and favor both; and you have seen that all these clauses, “are provided sustenance from their Lord”, “Rejoicing in what Allah has given”, “They rejoice on account of favor from Allah and (His) grace”, “and Allah will not waste the reward of the believers”, lead to one and the same reality.

There are other aspects of these verses, some of which were explained under the verse, And do not speak of those who are slain in Allah's way as dead (2:154); hopefully Allah will help us to complete, according to our capacity, other related matters in other appropriate places, God willing.