Surah Al-Waqi'ah, Ayah 40

The Reward of Those on the Right After

Allah mentioned the final destination of those foremost in faith, the nearest to Him, He next mentioned the end of those on the right, the righteous believers. Maymun bin Mihran said that those on the right side are lesser in rank than the foremost in faith. Allah said,

وَأَصْحَـبُ الْيَمِينِ مَآ أَصْحَـبُ الْيَمِينِ

(And those on the right -- how (fortunate) will be those on the right) who are those on the right, what is their condition and what will their final destination be like Allah next answers this question by saying,

فِى سِدْرٍ مَّخْضُودٍ

((they will be) among Sidr Makhdud.) Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Ibn Al-Ahwas, Qasamah bin Zuhayr, As-Safr bin Nusayr, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, `Abdullah bin Kathir, As-Suddi, Abu Hazrah and several others said, "The kind without thorns." And from Ibn `Abbas: "It is the one that is laden with fruits." This is also reported from `Ikrimah and Mujahid. Similar was also said by Qatadah as we mentioned. So it is the one with a full load of fruits without thorns. So it appears that both meanings apply here. The lote tree, of this life is thorny and carries few fruits. In the Hereafter, it is the opposite; it does not have thorns and carries plenty of fruit, the weight of which strains its trunk. `Utbah bin `Abd As-Sulami said, "I was sitting with Allah's Messenger ﷺ, when a bedouin came and said, `O Messenger of Allah! Have you heard about the tree that has more thorns than any other being in Paradise' Meaning the Talh tree. So Allah's Messenger ﷺ said:

ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ وَثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الْآخِرِ‌ينَ (many from the earlier generations, and many from the later ones....56:39-40) In connection with sabiqun, (the Foremost) two views of the commentators were quoted earlier as to the identity of 'the earlier' and the 'later' generations. If 'the earlier' refers to the generations from 'Adam (علیہ السلام) to the period just prior to the advent of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and 'the later generations' refers to the 'Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ till the Day of Judgment, as some of the commentators have opined, then the verses would mean: 'the People of the Right' will constitute a 'large party' of believers and the righteous from all the previous communities combined together, while there will be a 'large party' from the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ alone. In this case, it is a great honor for the Ummah of the Holy Prophet ﷺ that, despite the short period they lived in this world, they could be compared to all the previous communities who were headed by hundreds of thousands of Prophets (علیہم السلام) . Besides, the words 'many from the later generations' has the scope of being larger in number than the 'many from the earlier generations'.

‘Those on the Right’ (ashab al-yamin) means the ordinary people of paradise. This category includes all those people who, according to their belief and character, were pious. As regards faith, they were not in possession of a high degree of consciousness. However, they were sincere about God and His Prophet, and they maintained themselves on the path of justice and went in fear of God throughout their lives. In this category there will be a fair number of persons from the earlier period and a considerable number from the later period.