Tafseer of The Beneficent · Ar-Rahmaan · 55:46
But for he who has feared the position of his Lord are two gardens -
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.
Discussion of the explanation of the saying of the Exalted: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (46) (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens) (55:46).
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and for whoever of His servants feared Allah — that is, whoever feared the standing before Him, obeyed Him by fulfilling His obligations and avoiding His acts of disobedience — for him there are two gardens, that is to say: two orchards.
In agreement with what we have said about this, the exegetes spoke, even though their wordings differed in expounding its explanation; the meaning according to all of them, however, points to this.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: Allah, exalted is His praise, promised the believers who feared the standing before Him and therefore fulfilled His obligations, the Garden.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He says: he feared and then remained God-fearing; and the one who fears is he who took upon himself obedience to Allah and abandoned disobedience to Him.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, he said: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). It is the man who is about to commit the sin, but then remembers the standing before his Lord and refrains from it.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: it is the man who is about to commit the sin, but then remembers his standing before Allah and abandons it; for him there are two gardens.
He said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: it is the man who is about to commit the disobedience, but then remembers Allah, mighty and exalted, and forsakes it.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: it concerns the one who, when he is about to commit a disobedience, abandons it.
Naṣr ibn ʿAlī related to us, he said: Isḥāq ibn Manṣūr related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: it is the man who is about to commit disobedience to Allah, the Exalted, but then abandons it out of fear of Allah.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: he is about to commit the sin, but then remembers the standing before his Lord and forsakes it.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm concerning this verse: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: when he wants to sin, he restrains himself out of fear of Allah.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: indeed, the believers feared that standing, and therefore they performed works for it, submitted to it, and worshipped by night and by day.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Marwān related to us, he said: Abū al-ʿAwwām related to us, he said: Qatāda related to us, concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: indeed, Allah has a standing which the believers feared.
Muḥammad ibn Mūsā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Ḥārith al-Qurashī related to us, he said: Shuʿba ibn al-Ḥajjāj related to us, he said: Saʿīd al-Jurayrī related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Saʿd, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ, he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). I said: even if he commits fornication (zinā) and even if he steals? He said: "Even if he commits fornication and steals, to the displeasure of Abū al-Dardāʾ."
And Zakariyyā ibn Yaḥyā ibn Abān al-Miṣrī related to me, he said: Ibn Abī Maryam related to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥarmala, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Yasār, he said: Abū al-Dardāʾ informed me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ one day recited this verse: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). I said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals, O Messenger of Allah? He said: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, even if he commits fornication and even if he steals? He said: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). I said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals, O Messenger of Allah? Then he said: "Even if he commits fornication and even if he steals, to the displeasure of Abū al-Dardāʾ."
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, he said: Muʾammal related to us, he said: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of Abū Mūsā, on the authority of his father, he said — Ḥammād: I know it only as that he traced it back to the Prophet ﷺ — concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: two gardens of gold for those brought near — or he said: for the foremost — and two gardens of silver for the people of the right hand.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of his father, he said: Sayyār related to us, he said: it was said to Abū al-Dardāʾ concerning this verse: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). It was said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals? He said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals.
And he said: indeed, if he fears the standing before his Lord, he does not commit fornication and does not steal.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Ibn al-Mubārak, on the authority of Saʿīd al-Jurayrī, on the authority of a man, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). Abū al-Dardāʾ said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals? He said: "Yes, even if it is to the displeasure of Abū al-Dardāʾ."
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn al-Ṣalt related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Thābit, on the authority of someone whom he mentioned, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: even if he commits fornication and even if he steals.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: they are the two gardens of the foremost; and he recited ذَوَاتَا أَفْنَانٍ (the two, with branches full of fruit), and he recited on until he reached كَأَنَّهُنَّ الْيَاقُوتُ وَالْمَرْجَانُ (as though they were rubies and coral). Then he returned to the people of the right hand and said: وَمِنْ دُونِهِمَا جَنَّتَانِ (and below those two are two other gardens), and he mentioned the excellence of those two and what is in them.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning his saying: وَلِمَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ جَنَّتَانِ (And for him who fears the standing before his Lord, there are two gardens). He said: His standing is when the servants will stand up on the Day of Resurrection; and he recited يَوْمَ يَقُومُ النَّاسُ لِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ (the Day when mankind will stand before the Lord of the worlds), and he said: that is the standing before your Lord.
