Tafseer of The Cave · Al-Kahf · 18:46
Wealth and children are [but] adornment of the worldly life. But the enduring good deeds are better to your Lord for reward and better for [one's] hope.
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 exposition of the interpretation of the words of the Exalted: الْمَالُ وَالْبَنُونَ زِينَةُ الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلا (18:46)
Allah, exalted be His praise, says: Wealth and sons — by which ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ boast, and on account of which they look down upon Salmān, Khabbāb, and Ṣuhayb — are but ornaments of the worldly life, and they do not belong to the matters of the Hereafter. وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا — He says: That which Salmān, Khabbāb, and Ṣuhayb perform of obedience to Allah, and their calling upon their Lord at the break of dawn and in the evening, seeking thereby His face — the good deeds that remain for them after the perishing of the worldly life — these are, for you, Muḥammad, better in reward with your Lord than the wealth and the sons by which these polytheists (mushrikīn) boast, which perish and do not remain for their possessors. وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلا — He says: And what Salmān, Ṣuhayb, and Khabbāb hope to receive is better than what ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ hope for from their possessions and children. These verses — from وَاتْلُ مَا أُوحِيَ إِلَيْكَ مِنْ كِتَابِ رَبِّكَ up to this place — are reported as having been sent down concerning ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ.
Mention of those who said this:
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr al-ʿAnqazī related to us, saying: My father related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Azdī — and he was the Qurʾān reciter (qāriʾ) of the Azd — on the authority of Abū al-Kanūd, on the authority of Khabbāb, concerning وَلا تَطْرُدِ الَّذِينَ يَدْعُونَ رَبَّهُمْ بِالْغَدَاةِ وَالْعَشِيِّ ; then he mentioned the account which we have related in Sūrah al-Anʿām concerning the story of ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ, up to وَلا تُطِعْ مَنْ أَغْفَلْنَا قَلْبَهُ عَنْ ذِكْرِنَا — he said: ʿUyayna and al-Aqraʿ — وَاتَّبَعَ هَوَاهُ — he said: then he said: thereupon a parable was struck for them of two men, and the parable of the worldly life.
The exegetes differed concerning the intended meaning of al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt, just as they differed concerning the intended meaning of the supplication which Allah, exalted be His praise, described as the characteristic of those whom He forbade the Messenger of Allah ﷺ to drive away, and whom He commanded him to accompany with steadfastness. Some said: they are the five prayers. Others said: it is the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah by tasbīḥ (SubḥānAllāh), taqdīs, tahlīl (Lā ilāha illallāh), and the like. Others said: they are the works of obedience to Allah. Still others said: they are the good words.
Mention of those who said that they are the five prayers:
Muḥammad ibn Ibrāhīm al-Anmāṭī related to me, saying: Yaʿqūb ibn Kāsib related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Umawī related to us, saying: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd ibn Hurmuz relate from ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUtba, from Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: "Al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt are the five prayers."
Zurayq ibn Isḥāq related to me, saying: Qabīṣa related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "The five prayers," he said.
Yaḥyā ibn Ibrāhīm al-Masʿūdī related to me, saying: My father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuraḥbīl concerning this verse وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "They are the prescribed prayers," he said.
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "Al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt are the five prayers," he said.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ — the five prayers.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Abū Maysara: وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ — "The five prayers," he said.
Mention of those who said that it is the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah by tasbīḥ, taḥmīd, and the like:
Ibn Ḥumayd, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād, and Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd related to us, saying: Ḥaywat informed us. He said: Abū ʿAqīl Zuhra ibn Maʿbad al-Qurashī — of the Banū Taym, of the clan of Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq — informed us, that he heard al-Ḥārith, the freedman of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān, say: "ʿUthmān was asked: What are al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt?" He answered: "They are: Lā ilāha illallāh, SubḥānAllāh, al-Ḥamdu lillāh, Allāhu akbar, and lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
Saʿd ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Abū Zurʿa related to us, saying: Ḥaywat related to us, saying: Abū ʿAqīl Zuhra ibn Maʿbad related to us, that he heard al-Ḥārith the freedman of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān say: "ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān was asked: What are al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt?" He answered: "They are: Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-SubḥānAllāhi wa-biḥamdih, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Barqī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn Yazīd and Rushdīn ibn Saʿd related to us, both of whom said: Zuhra ibn Maʿbad related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḥārith the freedman of ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān say: "ʿUthmān was asked: What are al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt?" — and he mentioned the same.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Hurmuz, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar," he said.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar," he said.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — with the same.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Mālik related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣayyād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab, who said: وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ — "SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
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 Mujāhid, who said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUthmān ibn Khuthaym informed me, on the authority of Nāfiʿ ibn Sarjis, who informed him that he asked Ibn ʿUmar about al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt. He answered: "Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-SubḥānAllāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh." Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ said the same.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt are: SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid — with nearly the same.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar," he said.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Abū Ṣakhr related to me, that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān — the freedman of Sālim ibn ʿAbd Allāh — related to him, saying: Sālim ibn Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī sent me and said: "Tell him to meet me at the corner of the grave, for I have need of something from him." They met, greeted one another, and then Sālim said: "What do you consider al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt to be?" The other answered: "Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-SubḥānAllāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh." Sālim asked: "When did you include lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh in it?" He answered: "I have always had it therein." Sālim repeated his question two or three times, but the other did not deviate. He said: "Then hold fast to it." Sālim said: "Yes, hold fast — for Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī related to me that he heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: 'I was taken up to the heaven, and Ibrāhīm was shown to me. He said: O Jibrīl, who is this with you? He said: Muḥammad. He greeted me warmly and graciously, and then said: Command your community to plant much of the planting of the Garden (janna), for its soil is good and its ground is wide. I asked: What is the planting of the Garden? He answered: Lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh.'"
I found in my book — on the authority of al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bazzār, on the authority of Abū Naṣr al-Tammār, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn Muslim, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Maqburī, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra — that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar are among al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt."
Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar and al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ṣila ibn Zufar, who said: I heard Hudhayfa say concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ : "Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-SubḥānAllāh — they are al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAmr ibn al-Ḥārith informed us, that Darrāj Abū al-Samḥ related to him, on the authority of Abū al-Haytham, on the authority of Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Make much use of al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt." It was asked: "And what are they, Messenger of Allah?" He answered: "Al-milla." It was asked: "And what is that, Messenger of Allah?" He answered: "Al-takbīr, al-tahlīl, al-tasbīḥ, al-ḥamd, and lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Mālik informed me, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn Ṣayyād, that he heard Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab say concerning al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt: "They are the words of the servant: Allāhu akbar, wa-SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
Ibn al-Barqī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb informed us, saying: Ibn ʿAjlān related to me, on the authority of ʿUmāra ibn Ṣayyād, who said: Saʿīd ibn al-Musayyab asked me about al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt. I answered: "The prayer and the fasting." He said: "You have not got it right." I said: "The zakāh and the pilgrimage." He said: "You have not got it right — rather they are the five words: Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh."
Mention of those who said that they are the works of obedience to Allah:
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 وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلا : "The good deeds: SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar," he said.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "They are the remembrance (dhikr) of Allah — the words: Lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar, wa-SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-tabāraka Allāh, wa-lā ḥawla wa-lā quwwata illā billāh, wa-astaghfiru Allāh, wa-ṣallā Allāhu ʿalā rasūlih — and the fasting, the prayer, the pilgrimage (ḥajj), the alms-tax (zakāh), the manumission (ʿitq), the jihād, the maintaining of kinship ties, and all good deeds — they are al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt that remain for their people in the Garden (janna) as long as the heavens and the earth endure."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا وَخَيْرٌ أَمَلا : "The good deeds," he said.
Mention of those who said that they are the good words:
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 وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ : "The good words," he said.
The most correct opinion concerning this — in my judgment — is that of him who says: They are all kinds of good deeds, as is reported from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, for all of this belongs to the good deeds that remain for their possessor in the Hereafter, for which he is recompensed and rewarded. And Allah, exalted be His admonition, in His words وَالْبَاقِيَاتُ الصَّالِحَاتُ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَ رَبِّكَ ثَوَابًا , has not set one above another — neither in a Book nor through a report from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
And if anyone supposes that this has been more narrowly specified by the report which we have related on the authority of Abū Hurayra from the Prophet ﷺ — then that is contrary to what he supposes. For the report of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says only that the words SubḥānAllāh, wa-l-Ḥamdu lillāh, wa-lā ilāha illallāh, wa-Allāhu akbar are among al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt — it does not say: "they are the entirety of al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt," nor "al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt in their totality." It is permissible that these formulas be among al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt, and that other works of piety also be al-bāqiyāt al-ṣāliḥāt.
