Tafseer of Jonas · Yunus · 10:26
For them who have done good is the best [reward] and extra. No darkness will cover their faces, nor humiliation. Those are companions of Paradise; they will abide therein eternally
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا الْحُسْنَى وَزِيَادَةٌ ("For those who do good is the best, and yet more") (10:26).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: for those among His creatures who served Allah well in this worldly life, and obeyed Him in what He commanded and forbade, there is (al-ḥusnā, the best).
* * *
Then the exegetes differed concerning the meaning of "al-ḥusnā" (the best) and "al-ziyāda" (the addition), both of which He has promised to the doers of good among His creatures.
Some of them said: "al-ḥusnā" is the Garden (al-janna), which Allah has appointed as a reward for the doers of good among His creatures, and "the addition above it" is the beholding of Allah.
* Mention of who said that:
17610 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of their Lord.
17611 - Sufyān related to us, saying: Ḥumayd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Numrān, on the authority of Abū Bakr concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of Allah.
17612 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of their Lord.
17613 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd, who said concerning this verse (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: "the addition" is the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful (al-Raḥmān).
17614 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Muslim ibn Nadhīr, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of their Lord.
17615 - Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa al-Yarbūʿī related to me, saying: Sharīk related to us, saying: I heard Abū Isḥāq saying concerning the statement of Allah (and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful.
17616 - ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā related to me, saying: Shabāba related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, saying: I heard Abū Tamīma al-Hujaymī narrate on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, he said: When the Day of Resurrection arrives, Allah will send to the people of the Garden a caller who proclaims: "Has Allah fulfilled for you what He promised you?" Then they look at what Allah has prepared for them of honors, and they say: "Yes!" Then He says: (for those who do good is the best, and yet more) — the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful.
17617 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, saying: Abū Tamīma al-Hujaymī informed us, saying: I heard Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī delivering a sermon on the pulpit of Basra in which he said: Verily, Allah sends on the Day of Resurrection an angel to the people of the Garden, who says: "O people of the Garden, has Allah fulfilled for you what He promised you?" Then they look, and they see the ornaments, the garments, the fruits, the rivers, and the purified spouses, and they say: "Yes, Allah has fulfilled for us what He promised us!" Then the angel says: "Has Allah fulfilled for you what He promised you?" — three times, and they lack nothing of what was promised them, and they say: "Yes!" Then he says: "There remains for you yet something, for verily, Allah says: (for those who do good is the best, and yet more). Verily, the best is the Garden, and the addition is the beholding of the face of Allah."
17618 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Shabīb informed me, on the authority of Abān, on the authority of Abū Tamīma al-Hujaymī: that he heard Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī narrate on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: Verily, Allah sends on the Day of Resurrection a caller who calls out to the people of the Garden with a voice that the first and the last of them hear: "Verily, Allah has promised you the best and an addition; the best is the Garden, and the addition is the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful."
17619 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of their Lord. And he recited: وَلا يَرْهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمْ قَتَرٌ وَلا ذِلَّةٌ ("Neither darkness nor humiliation covers their faces"), he said: that is after the beholding of the face of their Lord.
17620 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīra, saying: Thābit informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā concerning His statement (and yet more): he said: he was asked: what do you say concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best, and yet more)? He said: Verily, when the people of the Garden enter the Garden and receive therein what is given to them of honors and favors — he said — they are called: "O people of the Garden, verily Allah has promised you the addition," and then He reveals Himself to them. Ibn Abī Laylā said: what then do you think of them, when their scales weighed heavy, when the scrolls came into their right hands, when they crossed the bridge over Jahannam and entered the Garden, and received therein what is given to them of honors and favors? All of that was nothing compared to what they then beheld!
17621 - ... he said: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar and Sulaymān ibn al-Mughīra, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of their Lord.
17622 - ... he said: al-Ḥajjāj and Muʿallā ibn Asad related to us, both saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, he said: When the people of the Garden enter the Garden, it is said to them: verily, there remains of your due yet something that has not been given to you! He said: then He, the Blessed and Exalted, reveals Himself to them. He said: then all that was given to them becomes small in their eyes. He said: then he said: (for those who do good is the best, and yet more), he said: the best is the Garden, and the addition is the beholding of the face of their Lord, and neither darkness nor humiliation covers their faces thereafter.
17623 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): the beholding of the face of Allah.
17624 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Hawdha related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning the statement of Allah (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): the beholding of the Lord.
17625 - ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī and Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, both saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ concerning this verse (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: When the people of the Garden enter the Garden and the people of the Fire enter the Fire, they are called: "O people of the Garden, verily, for you there is with Allah an appointment!" They say: what is it? Has He not made our faces white, made our scales heavy, admitted us into the Garden and saved us from the Fire? Then the veil is removed and He reveals Himself to them, and by Allah, He gave them nothing dearer to them than the beholding of Him. And the wording of the report is that of ʿAmr.
17626 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of Ṣuhayb, he said: The Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited this verse (for those who do good is the best, and yet more), he said: "When the people of the Garden enter the Garden and the people of the Fire enter the Fire, a caller calls out: 'O people of the Garden, verily, for you there is with Allah an appointment that He wishes to fulfill for you.' Then they say: 'And what is it? Has Allah not made our scales heavy and made our faces white?'" Then he mentioned the rest of the report in the manner of the report of ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī and Ibn Bashshār, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān.
17627 - ... he said: al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Numrān, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the beholding of the face of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted.
17628 - ... he said: Sharīk related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn Saʿd, in the same manner.
17629 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): it has reached us that, when the believers entered the Garden, a caller called out to them: verily, Allah has promised you the best, and that is the Garden, and as for the addition, that is the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful.
17630 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, in the same manner.
17631 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mukhtār related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Kaʿb ibn ʿUjra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the addition is the beholding of the face of the Most Merciful, the Blessed and Exalted.
17632 - ... he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sābiṭ, he said: "al-ḥusnā" is the radiant beauty, and "the addition" is the beholding of the face of Allah.
17633 - Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, saying: I heard Zuhayr, from someone who heard Abū al-ʿĀliya, he said: Ubayy ibn Kaʿb related to us: that he asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ about the statement of Allah (for those who do good is the best, and yet more), he said: the best is the Garden, and the addition is the beholding of the face of Allah.
* * *
And others said concerning "the addition" the following:
17634 - Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa related to us, saying: Fuḍayl ibn ʿIyāḍ related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: "the addition" is a chamber of a single pearl, with four doors.
17635 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, in a similar manner, except that he said: in it are four doors.
17636 - ... he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn ʿUtayba, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, in exactly the same manner as the report of Yaḥyā ibn Ṭalḥa on the authority of Fuḍayl.
* * *
And others said: "al-ḥusnā" is one good deed for one good deed, and "the addition" is the multiplication up to the full tenfold.
* Mention of who said that:
17637 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: it is equivalent to His statement وَلَدَيْنَا مَزِيدٌ ("and with Us is yet more") [Surah Qāf: 35], He says: He rewards them for their deed, and increases it for them out of His grace. And He said: مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا وَمَنْ جَاءَ بِالسَّيِّئَةِ فَلا يُجْزَى إِلا مِثْلَهَا وَهُمْ لا يُظْلَمُونَ ("Whoever comes with a good deed, for him is tenfold thereof, and whoever comes with an evil deed is recompensed only with the like thereof, and they will not be wronged") [Surah al-Anʿām: 160].
17638 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Qābūs, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿAlqama ibn Qays concerning (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: I said: this is the best, but what is the addition? He said: do you not see that Allah says: مَنْ جَاءَ بِالْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُ عَشْرُ أَمْثَالِهَا ("Whoever comes with a good deed, for him is tenfold thereof")?
17639 - Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-Ḥasan said concerning this verse (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: the addition is, for the good deed, the tenfold thereof, up to seven hundredfold.
* * *
* And others said: "al-ḥusnā" is a good deed equal to a good deed, and "the addition" is an addition of forgiveness from Allah and good pleasure.
* Mention of who said that:
17640 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: (for those who do good is the best) — a best equal to that, "and an addition" — forgiveness and good pleasure.
* * *
And others said: "the addition" is what has been given to them in this worldly life.
* Mention of who said that:
17641 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best, and yet more): he said: "al-ḥusnā" is the Garden, and "an addition" is what He has given them in this worldly life, for which He will not call them to account on the Day of Resurrection. And they recited: وَآتَيْنَاهُ أَجْرَهُ فِي الدُّنْيَا ("and We gave him his reward in this worldly life") [Surah al-ʿAnkabūt: 27], he said: what He has given him of what he loves in this worldly life, He has given to him as a reward brought forward therein.
* * *
And Ibn ʿAbbās used to say concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best) the following:
17642 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement (for those who do good is the best): he says: for those who bore witness that there is no god but Allah.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct of the statements concerning this is that one says: that Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, has promised the doers of good among His servants the best for their good-doing — that He will recompense them for their obedience to Him with the Garden, and that their faces will become white — and He promised them, alongside the best, also the addition above it. And among the addition above their admission into the Garden is: that He honors them with the beholding of Him, that He gives them chambers of pearls, and that He increases for them forgiveness and good pleasure — all of that belongs to the additions of Allah's gift to them above the best that Allah has appointed for the people of His Gardens. And our Lord, exalted be His praise, has made general, with His statement (and yet more), all the additions above "the best," and has excepted nothing thereof above anything else. And it is not surprising that Allah, out of His grace, should bring together all of that for them; indeed, all of that is brought together for them, if Allah wills. So the correct of the statements concerning this is that one takes it generally, just as He, mighty is His mention, has kept it general.
* * *
The discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: وَلا يَرْهَقُ وُجُوهَهُمْ قَتَرٌ وَلا ذِلَّةٌ أُولَئِكَ أَصْحَابُ الْجَنَّةِ هُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ("And neither darkness nor humiliation covers their faces; they are the companions of the Garden, therein they will abide eternally") (26).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means by His statement (and neither darkness nor humiliation covers their faces): neither sorrow nor gloom covers their faces, such that they would become, out of grief, as though a darkness lay over them.
* * *
And "al-qatar" is the dust, and it is the plural of "qatara." To that belongs the statement of the poet:
Crowned with the robe of kingship, there follows him a surging flood above which you see the banners and the dust (al-qatar).
He means by "al-qatar" the dust.
* * *
(and no humiliation) — nor disgrace; (they are the companions of the Garden) — He says: these, whose characteristic I have described, they are the people of the Garden and its companions, and those who are therein; (therein they will abide eternally) — He says: they abide therein forever; it does not perish, such that they would fear the cessation of their bliss, and they are not driven out of it, such that their delight would be spoiled.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* * *
And Ibn Abī Laylā used to say concerning His statement (and neither darkness covers their faces) the following:
17643 - Muḥammad ibn Manṣūr al-Ṭūsī related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, saying: Zayd related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā concerning (and neither darkness nor humiliation covers their faces): he said: that is after their beholding of their Lord.
17644 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: al-Ḥajjāj and Muʿallā ibn Asad related to us, both saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā, in a similar manner.
17645 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His statement (and neither darkness covers their faces): he said: the blackness of the faces.
