Surah Luqman, Ayah 8

The Good Destiny of the Believers

Here Allah mentions the destiny of the righteous in the Hereafter, those who believe in Allah and His Messenger and do righteous deeds in accordance with the Laws of Allah.

لَهُمْ جَنَّـتُ النَّعِيمِ

(for them are Gardens of Delight.) means, there they will enjoy all kinds of delights and pleasures, food, drink, clothing, dwelling-places, means of transportation, women, a light of beauty and delightful sounds, which have never crossed the mind of any human being. They will stay there forever, never leaving and never desiring change.

وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقًّا

(It is a promise of Allah in truth.) meaning, this will undoubtedly come to pass, for it is a promise from Allah, and Allah never breaks His promise, because He is the Most Generous Bestower Who does what He wills and is able to do all things.

وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ

(And He is the All-Mighty,) Who has subjugated all things and to Whom all things submit,

الْحَكِيمُ

(the All-Wise.) in what He says and what He does, Who has made this Qur'an a guidance to the believers.

قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ هُدًى وَشِفَآءٌ وَالَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ فِى ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى

(Say: "It is for those who believe, a guide and a healing. And as for those who disbelieve, there is heaviness (deafness) in their ears, and it is blindness for them) (41:44).

وَنُنَزِّلُ مِنَ الْقُرْءَانِ مَا هُوَ شِفَآءٌ وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَلاَ يَزِيدُ الظَّـلِمِينَ إَلاَّ خَسَارًا

(And We send down of the Qur'an that which is a healing and a mercy to those who believe, and it increases the wrongdoers nothing but loss.) (17:82)

The word: اشتراء (ishtira) in: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِ‌ي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ (And from among the people who buys the distracting amusement of things - 31:6) literally means 'to buy.' And on occasions, the same word is used in the sense of 'doing an act instead of another' - as in: أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ اشْتَرَ‌وُا الضَّلَالَةَ بِالْهُدَىٰ are the people who have bought error at the rice of guidance - 2:16, 2:175 and in some other verses.

The Cause of Revelation

This verse was revealed because of a particular event relating to Nadr Ibn Harith. He was one of the top businessmen from among the Mushriks of Makkah who used to travel to different countries in connection with his business. Once he bought and brought back a collection of historical stories featuring Cyrus and other Persian kings from Iran. Thus armed, he said to the Quraish of Makkah: "Muhammad tells you the stories of the people of ` Ad and Thamud and others. I shall tell you better stories, those of Rustam, Isfandyar and other kings of Persia. They started listening to his stories eagerly simply because they contained no lessons to learn and no work to do. It was nothing but some delicious stories. Because of these, many Mushriks who had some measure of interest in the Divine Word because of its miraculous nature, rather listened to it stealthily, found an excuse to draw away from the Qur'an. (ذکرہ فی الروح عن اسباب النزول للواحدی و مقاتل و ذکرنحوہ فی الدر المنثور بروایۃ البیھقی)

In this world, the criterion of the proper performance of a task (ihsan) is that it should be in accordance with the facts. From this point of view, one who carries out a task in this way is one who admits the reality (muhsin); his actions become a manifestation of his spirit of submission. Those who have it in their nature to mould themselves according to the factual position, are those who, when the Truth presents itself to them, accept it without suffering from any psychological complications. They immediately start fulfilling its practical requirements—they become regular offerers of prayers (salat), which is symbolic of fulfilling God’s will. They give prescribed alms (zakat), which amounts to honouring the rights of God’s subjects in the economic sphere. They shun the worship of worldly achievements and begin to think fondly of the Hereafter, because they know that the place where the question of success or failure shall finally be decided is nowhere other than the Hereafter.