Ayaat 20-25 – But You Love the Present Life
The theme of the Surah resumes. Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala narrates the real cause of neglectful behavior towards the Day of Resurrection. He says,
The only thing that has caused them to reject the Day of Judgment and oppose the true revelation and the Mighty Qur’an is that their only concern is the present worldly life. They are preoccupied and distracted from the Hereafter. For them only those results are important which are immediate and apparent, and they cannot wait for or care about what will happen in the Hereafter. They think they should expend all their labor and effort in attaining whatever benefits, pleasures or joys they can attain here, for if one attained this, one attained everything, no matter what evil end this might lead to in the Hereafter.
Then Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala describes the two categories of people and their condition in the Hereafter.
“Some faces that Day shall be Nadirah,” (75:22), the word nadirah comes from the root noon-daad-ra and it means ‘splendid, radiant, glowing, delighted with goodness’. These people will be joyful for they believed in the Hereafter, and worked accordingly. For the sake of the delights of Hereafter, they gave up the unlawful pleasures of the world and suffered worldly losses for eternal gains. They were satisfied with their trade and now it was time for them to enjoy their rewards; the first reward being looking at their Lord with their own eyes. This is confirmed by a prophetic narration.
In the two Saheehs it is recorded from Jabir that he said, “The Messenger of Allah (salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam) looked at the moon on a night when it was full, and he said,
إِنَّكُمْ تَرَوْنَ رَبَّكُمْ كَمَا تَرَوْنَ هَذَا الْقَمَرَ، فَإِنِ اسْتَطَعْتُمْ أَنْ لَا تُغْلَبُوا عَلَى صَلَاةٍ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَلَا قَبْلَ غُرُوبِهَا، فَافْعَلُوا
“Verily, you will see your Lord just as you see this moon. So if you are able to avoid missing a prayer before the rising of the sun (Fajr) or before its setting (‘Asr) then do so.”
Among the ahadeeth, which Muslim was alone in recording, is a narration from Suhayb that the Prophet salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said,
إِذَا دَخَلَ أَهْلُ الْجَنَّةِ الْجَنَّةَ قَالَ يَقُولُ اللهُ تَعَالى: تُرِيدُونَ شَيْئًا أَزِيدُكُمْ؟ فَيَقُولُونَ: أَلَمْ تُبَيِّضْ وُجُوهَنَا؟ أَلَمْ تُدْخِلْنَا الْجَنَّةَ وَتُنَجِّنَا مِنَ النَّارِ؟ قَالَ: فَيَكْشِفُ الْحِجَابَ، فَمَا أُعْطُوا شَيْئًا أَحَبَّ إِلَيْهِمْ مِنَ النَّظَرِ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ، وَهِيَ الزِّيَادَة
“When the people of Paradise enter the Paradise, Allah will say, ‘Do you want me to give you anything extra.’ They will say, ‘Haven’t you whitened our faces? Haven’t you entered us into Paradise and saved us from the Fire?’ Then He will remove the veil and they will not be given anything more beloved to them than looking at their Lord, and that will be the extra (Ziyadah).” Then he recited this Ayah,
لِّلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُواْ الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ
“For those who have done good is the best and extra (ziyadah),” (10:26).
“And some faces, that Day, will be Basirah, thinking that some calamity was about to fall on them,” (75:24). These will be the faces of the sinners and deniers of the Hereafter. Basirah is from the root ba-seen-ra and it means ‘frown, contract one’s face, looking morosely/sternly, or scowl’. Some faces that Day will be dark and gloomy. They will be certain that they are about to be struck by a disaster. They will think that they are going to enter into the Hellfire. We have explained their details in Surah ‘Abasa ayaat 38-42 and Surah Ghashiyah ayaat 2-4.
We ask Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala to choose us from those whose faces on that Day will be Nadirah, and who will enjoy the pleasure of seeing Him with their own eyes, aameen.
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