The Reward of the Believers in the Hereafter

English Translation and Tafsir of Surah of al-Kahf Ayah 107-110

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds – the Gardens of Paradise will be their dwelling.

They will abide therein forever, not desiring to move thereof. 

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like thereof as replenishment.’  

Say, ‘I am only a man like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is One God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.’ [Surah al-Kahf: 107-110]

After mentioning the severe punishment of the disbelievers, the ayat refer to the reward awaiting the believers.

Tafsir

Indeed, those who believe and do righteous deeds – the Gardens of Paradise will be their dwelling. [107]

The reward of those who believe in the Oneness of Allah, His messengers, the Scriptures He revealed to His messengers, and do righteous deeds will be the Gardens of Paradise. They will dwell forever in al-Firdows, i.e. the highest part of Paradise. 

Messenger Muhammad said, ‘In Paradise, there are a hundred levels; the distance between every two levels is like the distance between the heavens and the earth. Al-Firdows is the highest level of Paradise. The four rivers of Paradise flow therefrom and the Throne of Allah is over it. Thus, if you pray to Allah, ask Him to grant you al-Firdows.’ 

They will abide therein forever, not desiring to move thereof. [108]

The believers will abide in Paradise forever. They will not think about moving to another place. The believers’ love to stay forever in Paradise indicates that they dearly love it. It may be thought that a person permanently living in a particular place becomes bored and wants to leave it, which is a natural human characteristic. However, though the believers will remain for good in Paradise, they will never think about moving to another place. 

Just as the surah began by praising Allah, Exalted is He, it is concluded with praising Him, referring to the comprehensiveness of His knowledge, and His perfect ability, and that He alone deserves to be worshipped.

Say, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of my Lord, the sea would be exhausted before the words of my Lord were exhausted, even if We brought the like thereof as replenishment.’ [109]

O Messenger! Say to the people, ‘If the sea were ink for writing the words of Allah, the sea, though it is vast and abundant, would be used up before the words of Allah were exhausted.’ 

(…even if We brought the like thereof as a replenishment.)

Here the sentence indicates an emphasis on what has been mentioned regarding the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah, Exalted is He.

The ayah describes the comprehensiveness of the knowledge of Allah eloquently in a manner that makes it comprehensible to the human intellect by making an analogy between intangible and tangible things. The sea with its vastness is tangible and a finite thing whereas the comprehensive knowledge of Allah is intangible and infinite. 

All created things are finite and limited whereas the speech of Allah, which is one of His characteristics and His characteristics are not created things, is infinite and limitless. 

Finally, the surah is concluded with this command to Messenger Muhammad.

Say, ‘I am only a man like you. It has been revealed to me that your God is One God. Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.’ [110]

O Messenger! Say to the people, after you have demonstrated the limitlessness of the knowledge of Allah, ‘I am just a human being like you. Allah has chosen me to be His messenger. He has sent me to convey the message of His Oneness and command you to worship none but Him. Thus, you must worship Allah alone and obey Him.’

The ayah confirms the human nature of Messenger Muhammad, and at the same time, it confirms that he is a messenger to whom Allah revealed His revelation.

(Whoever hopes to meet his Lord should do righteous deeds and must not worship anyone besides His Lord.)

O People! Whoever, hopes to meet His Creator, Allah, on the Day of Judgment and attain His reward and pleasure, must worship Allah alone and he should do righteous deeds.

Learned Lessons from Surah Al-Kahf Ayah 107-110

• The reward of the believers, who believe in Allah and His messengers, and do righteous deeds, will be dwelling in al-Firdows, which is the highest part of Paradise. They will abide therein forever.

• No one can count the number of the words of Allah, which indicates the comprehensive knowledge of Allah, Exalted is He.

• Messenger Muhammad is a human being. Allah chose him to be His messenger and prophet and revealed to him His revelation.

• He, who wishes to meet Allah, Exalted is He, on the Day of Judgment and be rewarded by Him, must believe in the Oneness of Allah, and His messengers, obey Allah, and does righteous deeds.

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf Ayah: 54-59

Tafsir of Surah an-Nahl Ayah 79

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf: Ayah 99-106

We shall leave them muddling with one another. And the Trumpet will be blown and We shall gather them all together. 

We shall plainly show Hell on that day to the disbelievers. 

Those who turned a blind eye to My admonition and could not stand listening to it. 

Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My slaves as guardians instead of Me? Indeed, We have prepared Hell as a dwelling for the disbelievers.

Say, ‘Shall we tell you the greatest losers in respect of their deeds?’

They are those whose efforts are in vain in this worldly life while they think they are doing good deeds. 

They are those who disbelieve in the proofs of their Lord and meeting with Him; thus, their deeds have become void and We shall not give them weight on the Day of Judgment.

That will be their recompense, Hell, for they disbelieved and made a mockery of My proofs and messengers. [Surah al-Kahf: 99-106]

The Punishment of Disbelievers 

After narrating the story of Dhul-Qarnayn, the surah mentions the horrors of the Day of Judgment and the punishment of the disbelievers in the Hereafter so that people may be admonished, learn lessons, and repent of their sins. 

Tafsir

We shall leave them muddling with one another. And the Trumpet will be blown and We shall gather them all together. [99]

We, Allah, according to Our wisdom, will, and ability, shall leave Gog and Magog muddling with one another, confused and perplexed after building the dam. They will not be able to find any place from which they can penetrate to the dam. Thus, they will become in a state of muddling and disorder. Some scholars maintain that Gog and Magog will be muddling when the time for their getting out of their place and spreading on earth comes. 

The scholars of Tafsir have three opinions on the pronoun ‘them’, (We shall leave them muddling with one another…). The first is that it refers to Gog and Magog. The second is that it refers to the disbelievers. The third is that it refers to all creatures, human beings, and the jinn. According to the second and third opinion, ‘On that day…’ refers to the Day of Judgment.  

All three opinions are possible; however, the most possible one is that ‘On that day…' refers to the time when Allah will make the dam level to the ground. On that day, Gog and Magog will muddle with one another. Then the Trumpet will be blown, which will be one of the major sings of the occurrence of the Day of Judgment. 

(And the Trumpet will be blown and We shall gather them all together.)

 Gog and Magog will be left muddling with one another. Then Allah will command the angel, Israfil, to blow the Trumpet. All creatures will be gathered together for reckoning on the Day of Judgment.

The scholars discuss the issue of coming out of Gog and Magog when interpreting ayah (99). Some scholars believe that Gog and Magog have already come out and their proof is the following narration. Zaynab bin Jahash, may Allah be pleased with her, narrated that Messenger Muhammad came to her frighteningly. He said, ‘None has the right to be worshipped but Allah. Woe to the Arabs! There is evil that is about to come! Today, a hole has been made in the dam of Gog and Magog as this.’ Then he made a circle with his two fingers. Zaynab said, ‘Will we be destroyed though there are righteous people among us? He said, ‘Yes, if the evil becomes widespread.’  One of the scholars who held this opinion is Sheikh Muhammad al-Qasmy. He said that the most probable meaning of the coming out of Gog and Magog is the coming out of the Tatar, who are descendants of Gog and Magog. They attacked the nations in the seventh century and caused great corruption. 

The Quran has not given a specific time for the coming of the promise of Allah. ‘Dhul-Qarnayn said, (This dam is a mercy from my Lord. When the promise of my Lord comes, He will level it to the ground. The promise of my Lord will ever true.) [Al-Kahf: 98] This statement does not say that the promise of Allah is destroying the dam and making it level. Maybe the promise of Allah took place when the Tatar attacked the nations and caused corruption on the earth.

On the other hand, some scholars believe that Gog and Magog have not come out yet. They maintain that their coming out will be one of the major signs of the occurrence of the Day of Judgment. One of the scholars, who supports this opinion, is Sheikh Muhammad al-Ameen ash-Shanqyty.  His opinion is probably correct since Messenger Muhammad said in an authentic narration that the coming out of Gog and Magog would be one of the signs of the Day of Judgment. In this narration, Messenger Muhammad stated that Allah would tell Jesus about the coming out of Gog and Magog after he kills the liar messiah. 

We shall plainly show Hell on that day to the disbelievers. [100]

This ayah mentions the torment Allah has prepared for the disbelievers. On the Day of Judgment, Allah will gather all creatures. The disbelievers will plainly see Hell and its horrors. Specifying the disbelievers by seeing Hell is good news to the believers. 

Then the following ayah mentions why the disbelievers will deserve severe torment in Hell. 

Those who turned a blind eye to My admonition and could not stand listening to it. [101]

The disbelievers will plainly see Hell on the Day Judgment as their eyes turned away from seeing Allah’s proofs and refused to reflect on them in the worldly life. Moreover, they did not ponder on the proofs of Allah, denoting His Oneness, to learn from them, which would lead them to worship Him alone, obey His commands, and avoid His prohibitions. They also could not bear listening to the proofs mentioned in the Quran because they were heedless and willingly chose to follow Satan’s footsteps.

 After referring to the severe punishment that has been prepared for the disbelievers on the Day of Judgment, a condemning remark is mentioned.

Do those who disbelieve think that they can take My slaves as guardians instead of Me? Indeed, We have prepared Hell as a dwelling for the disbelievers. [102]

Do those, who disbelieve in Allah and worship other gods than Him, such as the angels, Jesus, the Messenger of Allah, and idols, think that these false gods will benefit them, or protect them from the punishment of Allah? No, they will never benefit them. 

(Indeed, We have prepared Hell as a dwelling for the disbelievers.)

 Indeed, Allah has prepared Hell as a dwelling for the disbelievers. They will dwell therein forever because they disbelieve in Allah.

Say, ‘Shall we tell you the greatest losers in respect of their deeds?’ [103]

O Messenger! Say to those who stubbornly argue with you, ‘Shall we tell you the greatest losers in respect of their deeds. They will not attain rewards for their deeds; rather, they will be punished and suffer severe torment. They are like a seller, who sold a commodity to gain profit, but he lost his business.

They are those whose efforts are in vain in this worldly life while they think they are doing good deeds. [104]

The losers, who will lose their deeds, are those whose deeds are not in conformity with the guidance and teachings that Allah revealed to His Messengers in the worldly life. Their deeds are misguided, but they mistakenly think that they are doing good deeds.    

Such people have compound ignorance. A person, who does wrong things and knows that he is wrong, may be guided to the truth. On the other hand, a person, who does wrong deeds and he believes that he is doing good deeds, is certainly following misguidance and will hardly be guided to the right path.

They are those who disbelieve in the proofs of their Lord and meeting with Him; thus, their deeds have become void and We shall not give them weight on the Day of Judgment. [105]

The reason why the disbelievers will be losers is that they denied proofs denoting the Oneness of Allah and disbelieved in resurrection and reckoning On the Day of Judgment. Thus, their deeds that they thought would benefit them will be void. Therefore, they will have no value on the Day of Judgment and no reward for their deeds. They will be ignored and their just recompense will be Hell.  

That will be their recompense, Hell, for they disbelieved and made a mockery of My proofs and messengers. [106]

The recompense of the disbelievers will be making their deeds void and entering Hell because they disbelieved in the Oneness of Allah and made a mockery of Allah’s proofs and His Messengers. 

Learned Lessons 

• Affirming resurrection and gathering all creatures on the Day of Judgment for the reckoning.

• Hell will be clearly shown to the disbelievers as they did not reflect on the proofs denoting the Oneness of Allah and could not bear listening to them.

• The disbelievers are wrong when they think that worshipping gods other than Allah, such as Messenger Jesus and the angels, will benefit them on the Day of Judgment.

• The disbelievers are wrong when they believe that they will not be punished for sins. No! Allah will punish them. He has prepared Hell for them, wherein they will severe torment. 

• The greatest losers of the fruits of their deeds that they did to attain rewards are those who disbelieve in Allah and His messengers.

• Some people do deeds, believing that they are good ones, though they are void.

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

English Translation of Surah al-Kahf

Tafsir of Surah al-Kahf Ayah: 60-70

Introduction to Tafsir of Surah al-Isra

Happy Life: Quran Surah an-Na-Nahl Ayah 97