Surah Az-Zukhruf, Ayah 66

The Resurrection will come suddenly, and Enmity will arise between close Friends among the Disbeliev

Allah says, `do these idolaters who disbelieve in the Messengers wait'

إِلاَّ السَّاعَةَ أَن تَأْتِيَهُمْ بَغْتَةً وَهُمْ لاَ يَشْعُرُونَ

(only for the Hour that it shall come upon them suddenly while they perceive not) means, for it is real and will inevitably come to pass, and these negligent people are unprepared for it. When it comes, it will catch them unawares, and on that Day they will feel the utmost regret when regret will not benefit them in the slightest and will not afford them any protection.

الاٌّخِلاَءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلاَّ الْمُتَّقِينَ

(Friends on that Day will be foes one to another except those who have Taqwa.) means, every friendship that exists for a purpose other than for the sake of Allah will turn to enmity on the Day of Resurrection, except for that which is for the sake of Allah, which will last forever. This is like the statement of Ibrahim, peace be upon him, to his people:

إِنَّمَا اتَّخَذْتُمْ مِّن دُونِ اللَّهِ أَوْثَـناً مَّوَدَّةَ بَيْنِكُمْ فِى الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا ثُمَّ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ يَكْفُرُ بَعْضُكُمْ بِبَعْضٍ وَيَلْعَنُ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاً وَمَأْوَاكُمُ النَّارُ وَمَا لَكُمْ مِّن نَّـصِرِينَ

(You have taken (for worship) idols instead of Allah. The love between you is only in the life of this world, but on the Day of Resurrection, you shall disown each other, and curse each other, and your abode will be the Fire, and you shall have no helper.) (29:25)

Good News for Those with Taqwa on the Day of Resurrection, and Their entry into Paradise

يعِبَادِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُوَلاَ أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ

(My servants! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve.) Then He will give them the glad tidings:

الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَكَانُواْ مُسْلِمِينَ

((You) who believed in Our Ayat and were Muslims.) means, their hearts believed and they submitted inwardly and outwardly to the Laws of Allah. Al-Mu`tamir bin Sulayman narrated that his father said: "When the Day of Resurrection comes and the people are resurrected, there will be no one left who will not be filled with terror. Then a caller will cry out:

يعِبَادِ لاَ خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ وَلاَ أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ

(My servants! No fear shall be on you this Day, nor shall you grieve.) So all the people will be filled with hope, but this will be followed by the words:

الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَكَانُواْ مُسْلِمِينَ

((You) who believed in Our Ayat and were Muslims.) Then all of mankind will be filled with despair apart from the believers."

ادْخُلُواْ الْجَنَّةَ

(Enter Paradise, ) means, they will be told to enter Paradise.

أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَجُكُمْ

(you and your wives,) means, your counterparts

تُحْبَرُونَ

(in happiness (Tuhbarun).) means, in delight and joy.

يُطَافُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِصِحَـفٍ مِّن ذَهَبٍ وَأَكْوَبٍ

(Trays of gold and cups will be passed round them;) means, fine vessels of gold containing food and drink, without spouts or handles. (وَفِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِي الْأَنْفُسُ) (there will be) therein all that their souls could desire). Some of them recited:

مَا تَشْتَهِيهِ الاٌّنْفُسُ

(that their souls desire,)

وَتَلَذُّ الاٌّعْيُنُ

(and all that eyes could delight in) means, of good food, delightful fragrances and beautiful scenes.

وَأَنتُمْ فِيهَا

(and you will therein) means, in Paradise

خَـلِدُونَ

(abide forever) means, you will never leave it or want to exchange it. Then it will be said to them, as a reminder of the blessing and favor of Allah:

وَتِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِى أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ

(This is the Paradise, which you have been made to inherit because of your deeds that you used to do.) means, the righteous deeds which were the cause of your being included in the mercy of Allah. For no one will be admitted to Paradise by virtue of their deeds alone; that will be by the mercy and grace of Allah. But the varying ranks and degrees of Paradise will be attained according to one's righteous deeds.

لَكُمْ فِيهَا فَـكِهَةٌ كَثِيرَةٌ

(Therein for you will be fruits in plenty,) means, of all kinds.

مِّنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ

(of which you will eat.) means, whatever you choose and desire. When food and drink are mentioned, fruit is also mentioned to complete the picture of blessing and joy. And Allah knows best.

وَلِأُبَيِّنَ لَكُم بَعْضَ الَّذِي تَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيهِ (and to explain to you some of those matters in which you differ...43:63) Since Bana Isra'il were drowned in arrogance and obstinacy, they had tampered with the Divine laws. Sayyidna ` Isa (علیہ السلام) disclosed the reality of such distortions. The words 'some matters' are used because some other matters were purely of mundane nature. He might have not felt the need to deal with those differences. (Bayan-ul-Qur an).

Here ‘wisdom’ means the spirit of religion and ‘straight path’ means the upholding of the virtues that are mentioned in the verse, namely, fear and worship of God, prayer to Him and obedience to the Prophet. This is the real religion. What the Jews did at a later stage was to lose the spirit of religion and indulge in hair-splitting over the basic principles of religion. Due to these totally contrived additions, differing sects developed among them. One sect laid stress on one controversial issue, another laid stress elsewhere. In this way, with them, one religion turned into several religions. Jesus Christ was sent to the Jews to tell them that the really important aspect of religion was its spirit and not form; and also to inform them that they would achieve salvation on following the true religion sent by God and not that religion which they had themselves devised. Jesus told them that the real religion was based on the fear of God, and that they should become worshippers of the one and only God and follow the example of the Prophet in everyday affairs. Beyond this, whatever innumerable problems they had created by their futile discussions and hair-splitting arguments were their own self-made additions. They were advised to give up all these additions and be steadfast in their adherence to the real religion. All these exhortations made by Jesus exist in the Bible even today.