Tafseer of The Rock · Al-Hijr · 15:47
And We will remove whatever is in their breasts of resentment, [so they will be] brothers, on thrones facing each other.
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.
Concerning His word وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ (And We have removed what is in their breasts of rancor): by this He says: We have removed from the breasts of these God-fearing ones — whose qualities He has described — what was in them of rancor and enmity toward one another.
The exegetes differed concerning the time at which Allah removes this from their breasts. Some said: that occurs after they have entered the Garden (janna).
Mention of those who said this:
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ghassān related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Bishr al-Baṣrī, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Abū Umāma, who said: The people of the Garden enter the Garden with what was in their breasts in this world of enmity and rancor; but when they have gathered together and behold one another, Allah removes what was in their breasts in this world of rancor. He then recited: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ .
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Abū Faḍāla related to us, on the authority of Luqmān, on the authority of Abī Umāma, who said: No believer enters the Garden until Allah has removed what is in their breasts of rancor; then the predatory instinct is removed from him.
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥajjāj ibn al-Minhāl related to us, saying: Sufyān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abī Mūsā — who heard al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī say: ʿAlī said: "By Allah, concerning us — the people of Badr — this verse was revealed: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ ."
Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn al-Zubayr related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿUyayna: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ : he said: of enmity.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Yazīd al-Wāsiṭī related to us, on the authority of Juwaybar, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, [who said concerning] وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ : he said: the enmity.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿAlī, [who said concerning] وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ : he said: the enmity.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: Ibn Jurmūz — the slayer of al-Zubayr — came to seek permission to enter upon ʿAlī. ʿAlī kept him outside for a long time, then he admitted him and said to him: "But those of the tribulation you shun." ʿAlī replied: "May your mouth be filled with dust! I hope to be, I and Ṭalḥa and al-Zubayr, among those of whom Allah said: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ ."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of ʿAlī: the like of it.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of Abān ibn ʿAbdallāh al-Bajalī, on the authority of Nuʿaym ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of Rabʿī ibn Ḥirāsh: the like of it, but with the addition: A man from Hamadān stood up before ʿAlī and said: "Allah is more just than this, O Commander of the Believers." ʿAlī then let out a cry such that I thought the palace had collapsed by it, and then said: "If it is not us — then who are they?"
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya al-Ḍarīr related to us, saying: Abū Mālik al-Ashjāʿī related to us, on the authority of Abī Ḥabība, the freedman of Ṭalḥa, who said: ʿImrān ibn Ṭalḥa visited ʿAlī after he had finished with the people of the Battle of the Camel. ʿAlī welcomed him warmly and said: "I hope that Allah will place me and your father among those of whom Allah said: إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ ." Two men were sitting at the edge of the carpet and said: "Allah is more just than that — you kill them yesterday and you are brothers with them?" ʿAlī said: "Get up — may the farthest and most remote earth be yours. Then who are they, if it is not me and Ṭalḥa?" Abū Muʿāwiya related the narration to us at length.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAffān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid related to us, saying: Abū Mālik related to us, saying: Abū Ḥabība related to us, who said: ʿAlī said to the son of Ṭalḥa: "I hope that Allah will place me and your father among those from whose breasts Allah has removed the rancor and made them brothers upon couches facing one another."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Khālid al-Khayyāṭ related to us, on the authority of Abī al-Juwayria, he said: Muʿāwiya ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ṭalḥa, who said: When ʿAlī beheld me, he said: "Welcome, son of my brother" — and he mentioned the like of it.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Hishām reported to us, on the authority of Muḥammad, who said: Al-Ashtar sought permission to come to ʿAlī, while a son of Ṭalḥa was with him. He kept him outside, then he admitted him. When he entered, he said: "I see that you only kept me outside because of him." He said: "Indeed." He said: "I see that if the son of ʿUthmān had been with you, you would also have kept me outside." He said: "Indeed, for I hope that I and ʿUthmān will be among those of whom Allah said: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ ."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Isḥāq al-Azraq related to us, saying: ʿAwf reported to us, on the authority of Sīrīn: the like of it.
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Isḥāq al-Ḥaḍramī related to us, saying: Al-Sakan ibn al-Mughīra related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Rāshid related to us, who said: ʿAlī said: "I hope that Allah will place me and ʿUthmān among those of whom Allah said: وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ ."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: Ibn al-Mutawakkil al-Nājī related to us, that Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported to them, that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "The believers are delivered from the Fire and are halted upon a bridge between the Garden and the Fire. Retribution (qiṣāṣ) is exacted among them for wrongs that were between them in this world, until they are refined and purified. Then they are given permission to enter the Garden. By Him in Whose hand is the soul of Muḥammad — each one of them will know his dwelling place in the Garden better than his dwelling that he had in this world." And some said: They resemble no others as much as they resemble the people of the Friday service when they depart after the Friday service.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: ʿAffān ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿArūba related to us concerning this verse وَنَـزَعْنَا مَا فِي صُدُورِهِمْ مِنْ غِلٍّ إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ : he said: Qatāda related to us, that Abū al-Mutawakkil al-Nājī reported to them, that Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī reported to them, he said: The Prophet of Allah ﷺ said — and he mentioned the like of it up to his words "and they were given permission to enter the Garden." Then he made the rest of the words come from Qatāda; he said: Qatāda said: "By Him in Whose hand is my soul — each one of them will know his dwelling place better" — then he mentioned the rest of the narration like the narration of Bishr, except that the words up to the end are from him. He said, however, in his narration: Qatāda said, and some said: They resemble no others as much as they resemble the people of the Friday gathering when they depart after the Friday.
Naṣr ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Awdī related to me, saying: ʿUmar ibn Zarʿa related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Ismāʿīl al-Zubaydī, on the authority of Kathīr al-Nawwāʾ, who said: I heard him say: I visited Abā Jaʿfar Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī and said: "My friends are your friends, my peace is your peace, my enemy is your enemy, and my war is your war. I ask you by Allah: do you disavow Abū Bakr and ʿUmar?" He said: "Then I would have gone astray and would not be among the rightly guided. Take them as friends, O Kathīr; whatever befalls you, that is my responsibility." Then he recited this verse: إِخْوَانًا عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ — that is to say: brothers who see one another's faces, the one opposite the other, not with his back to him so that one looks at the nape of his neck. Thus also the exegetes have explained it.
Mention of those who said this:
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Ḥuṣayn related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word عَلَى سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ : he said: None of them looks at the nape of the neck of his companion.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Muʾammal related to us, they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: the same.
The surur (couches) is the plural of sarīr, just as al-judud is the plural of jadīd. One combines surur, and the doubling is made manifest in it — the two rāʾ letters are both vocalized on account of the lightness of nouns. In verbs one does not do this, on account of the heaviness of verbs; in verbs one assimilates the doubling so that one of the two letters is at rest and thereby becomes lighter. But when something is added to the verb that brings the second letter to rest, one then makes the doubling manifest.