Tafseer of Those drawn up in Ranks · As-Saaffaat · 37:113
And We blessed him and Isaac. But among their descendants is the doer of good and the clearly unjust to himself.
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.
And His statement ( وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى إِسْحَاقَ ) — "And We blessed him and Isḥāq" — the Exalted, whose praise is mentioned, says: and We blessed Ibrāhīm and Isḥāq ( وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ ) — "and among their offspring is a doer of good". By the doer of good He means: the believer who is obedient to Allah, who acts well in his obedience to Him. ( وَظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ ) — "and one who clearly wrongs himself". And by "one who wrongs himself" He means: the disbeliever in Allah, who through his disbelief (kufr) brings upon himself the punishment of Allah and His painful retribution. ( مبين ) — "clear": this means the one who has made clear the wrong he does to himself through his disbelief in Allah.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning his statement ( مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ ), he said: the doer of good is the one who is obedient to Allah, and the one who wrongs himself is the one who is disobedient to Allah.
