Tafseer of The Groups · Az-Zumar · 39:10
Say, "O My servants who have believed, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good, and the earth of Allah is spacious. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward without account."
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 explanation of the saying of the Exalted: قُلْ يَا عِبَادِ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمْ لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ (Say: "O My servants who believe, fear your Lord. For those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]. And Allah's earth is wide. Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning") (10).
The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says to His prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace: ( قُلْ ) (Say), O Muḥammad, to My servants who believe: ( يَاعِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ) (O My servants who believe) in Allah and who held His messenger to be truthful, ( اتَّقُوا رَبَّكُمُ ) (fear your Lord) by obeying Him and avoiding the committing of sins against Him; ( لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَة ) (for those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]).
Then the people of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of that. Some of them said: its meaning is: for those who obeyed Allah there is a good [reward] in this worldly life; and they held that "في" (in) is connected to ḥasana (the good reward), and they made the meaning of al-ḥasana: health and well-being.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, ( لِلَّذِينَ أَحْسَنُوا فِي هَذِهِ الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةٌ ) (For those who do good in this worldly life there is a good [reward]): he said: well-being and health.
And others said: "في" (in) is connected to aḥsanū (doing good), and the meaning of al-ḥasana is: paradise (al-janna).
And His word: ( وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ ) (And Allah's earth is wide) — the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: and Allah's earth is spacious and wide, so emigrate from the land of polytheism (shirk) to the abode of Islam.
As Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: ( وَأَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةٌ ) (And Allah's earth is wide): so emigrate and remove yourselves from the idols.
And His word: ( إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ) (Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning) — the Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: indeed, Allah gives to the people of patience, for what they endured therein in the worldly life, their reward in the hereafter without reckoning; he says: their reward is without reckoning.
And just as we have said this, so too said the people of interpretation.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, ( إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ) (Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning): no, by Allah, there is no measure nor scale for you there.
Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, ( إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُونَ أَجْرَهُمْ بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ ) (Indeed, the patient will be given their reward in full, without reckoning): he said: in paradise.
