Introduction and Summary

This is the eight of the short Madinah Surahs, each dealing with a special aspect of the life of the Community.

The special aspect spoken of here is the mutual gain and loss of god and evil, contrasted in this life in the Hereafter.

It is an early Madinah Surah, of the year 1 of Hijrah or possibly even of the Makkan period just before the Hijrah. (See n. 5494 below).

Summary- Both the Unbelievers and the Believers were created bt the one True God, Who created all and knows all: why should Unbelief and Evil exult in worldly gain when their loss will be manifest in the Hereafter as will be the gains of Believers? (64:1-18, and C. 243).

C.243 The running Commentary, in Rhythmic Prose

The self-same God created all men,

If some do good and others evil,

And ye wonder how the good do suffer

And the evil thrive, remember the Final

Goal, when true adjustments will

Be made. The gainers here will be

The Losers there, and the Losers Gainers.

Some of this exchange you will see

Even here, in this life, for Unbelievers

Who deny the Hereafter; but in the Hereafter,

Full account and true adjustment

Of good and ill will follow before

The Judgement Seat; nay, Good will get

More than its full reward: for Allah

Is Bounteous, Merciful, Mighty, Wise.

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

C5479. Cf. 62:1, and n. 5449.

All things by their very existence proclaim the Glory and the Praises of Allah. He has dominion over all things, but He uses His dominion for just and praiseworthy ends. He has power over all things: therefore He can combine justice with mercy, and His Plan and Purpose cannot be frustrated by the existence of Evil along with Good in His Kingdom.

C5480. It is not that He does not see Rebellion and Evil, nor that He cannot punish them. He created all things pure and good, and if evil crept in by the grant of a limited free-will by Him, it is not unforeseen: it is in His wise and universal Plan, for giving man a chance of rising higher and ever higher.

C5481. Cf. 40:64, and n. 4440: also 7:11 and n. 996.

In addition to the beauty and grandeur of all God's Creation, He has endowed man with special aptitudes, faculties and capacities, and special excellencies which raise him at his best to the position of vicegerent on earth. "Beautiful" also includes the idea of "adapted to the ends for which they were created".

C5482. "The final Goal": not only of mankind, but of all things created, whether material or in the realm of ideas and events. All things return to Allah: as they derive their origin from Him, so is the return or destination of all of them to Allah.

C5483. Not only does He create and develop and sustain all things; but all thoughts, motives, feelings, ideas, and events are known to Him. Therefore we must not imagine that, if some evil seems to go unpunished, it is not known to Him or has escaped His notice. His Plan is wise and good in its fullest compass: sometimes we do not see its wisdom and goodness because we see only a broken fragment of it, as our own intelligence is narrow.

C5484. "The evil result of their conduct" begins to manifest itself in this very life, either in external events, or in internal restlessness and agonies of conscience. But its culminating force will be seen in the "grievous Penalty" of the Hereafter.

C5485. This is referred to in a more expanded form in 14:9-11.

C5486. Their obedience is not necessary to Allah, nor will their rejection of Truth affect the validity of Truth or injure the progress of Truth. Allah is free of all needs or dependence on any circumstance whatever. He sends His Message for the good of mankind, and it is man who suffers by ignoring, rejecting, or opposing it.

C5487. In other words, they think that there is no future life, and no responsibility for our actions beyond what we see in the present life. If that were true, all the profits of fraud and roguery, which remain unpunished in this world-and many do remain unpunished in this world-will remain with the wicked; and all the losses and pain suffered by integrity and righteousness, if they find no compensation in this life, will never find any compensation. This would be an odd result in a world of justice. We are taught that this is not true,-that it is certain that the balance will be redressed in a better future world; that there will be a resurrection of what we call the dead; and that on that occasion the full import of all we did will be made plain to us, and our moral and spiritual responsibility will be fully enforced.

C5488. "The Light which We have sent down": i.e., the light of Revelation, the fight of conscience, the light of reason, and every kind of true light by which we may know Allah and His Will. If we play false with any such lights, it is fully known to Allah.

C5489. The Day of Judgment will truly be "a Day of Mutual Loss and Gain", as the title of this Surah indicates. Men who thought they were laying up riches will find themselves paupers in the Kingdom of Heaven. Men who thought they were acquiring good by wrong-doing will find their efforts were wasted; 18:104.

On the other hand the meek and lowly of this life will acquire great dignity and honour in the next; the despised ones doing good here will be the accepted ones there; the persecuted righteous will be in eternal happiness. The two classes will as it were change their relative positions.

C5490. "Remove from them their ills". The ills may be sins, faults, mistakes, or evil tendencies; Allah will of His grace cover them up, and blot out the account against them; or they may be sorrows, sufferings, or disappointments: Allah may even change the evil of such persons into good, their apparent calamities into opportunities for spiritual advancement: 25:70. This is because of their sincere Faith as evidenced by their repentance and amendment.

 C5491. "Gardens" the place of the highest Bliss,

see 2:25, n. 44; 13:35; 47:15. (R).

Section II

C5492. What we consider calamities may be blessings in disguise. Pain in the body is often a signal of something wrong, which we can cure by remedial measures. So in the moral and spiritual world, we should in all circumstances hold firmly to the faith that nothing happens without Allah's knowledge and leave; and therefore there must be some justice and wisdom according to His great universal Plan. Our duty is to find out our own shortcomings and remedy them. If we try to do so in all sincerity of heart, Allah will give us guidance.

C5493. The Messenger comes to guide and teach, not to force and compel. The Messenger's teaching is clear and unambiguous, and it is open and free to all.

Cf. also 5:95.

C5494. In some cases the demands of families, i.e., wife and children may conflict with a man's moral and spiritual convictions and duties. In such cases he must guard against the abandonment of his convictions, duties, and ideals to their requests or desires. But he must not treat them harshly. He must make reasonable provision for them, and if they persist in opposing his clear duties and convictions, he must forgive them and not expose them to shame or ridicule, while at the same time holding on to his clear duty. Such cases occurred when godly men undertook exile from their native city of Makkah to follow the Faith in Madinah. In some cases their families murmured, but all came right in the end.

C5495. For the different words for "forgiveness", see n. 110 to 2:109.

C5496. Children may be a "trial" in many senses:

their different ways of looking at things may cause you to reflect, and to turn to the highest things of eternal importance;

their relationship with you and with each other may confront you with problems far more complicated than those in separate individual lives, and thus become a test of your own strength of character and sense of responsibility;

their conflict with your ideals (see n. 5494 above) may vex your spirit, but may at the same time search out your fidelity to Allah; and

their affection for you and your affection for them, may be a source of strength for you if it is pure, just as it may be a danger if it is based on selfish or unworthy motives.

So also riches and worldly goods have their advantages as well as dangers.

C5497. "Fear Allah" combined with "as much as you can" obviously means: "lead lives of self-restraint and righteousness": the usual meaning of Taqwa:

see n. 26 to 2:2.

C5498. Charity is meant to help and do good to other people who need it. But it has the highest subjective value for the person who gives it. Like mercy "it blesseth him that gives and him that takes". It purifies the giver's soul: the affection that he pours out is for his own spiritual benefit and progress.

Cf. Coleridge: "He prayeth best who loveth best all things both great and small, for the Great God Who loveth us, Who made and loveth all".

C5499. Cf. 59:9.

Our worst enemy is within ourselves,-the grasping selfishness which would deprive others of their just rights or seize things which do not properly belong to it. If we can get over this covetous selfishness, we achieve real Prosperity in justice and truth.

C5500. Cf. 2:245 and n. 276.

Our Charity or Love is called a loan to Allah, which not only increases our credit account manifold, but obtains for us the forgiveness of our sins, and the Capacity for increased service in the future.

C5501. Cf. 14:5, n. 1877; and 35:30, n. 3917.

Allah's appreciation of our service or our love goes far deeper than its intrinsic merits or its specific expression on our side. His reward is beyond our deserts, and passes over out defects. He judges by our motives, which He can read through and through: see next verse.

C5502. Allah's Appreciation and Forbearing Kindness can reach so far beyond our merits, because

- His universal knowledge comprehends hidden motives, which others cannot see in us;

- His power is so great that He can afford to reward even the unworthy; and

- the Wisdom is so great that He can turn even our weakness into our strength.

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