Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:19
And those who have believed in Allah and His messengers - those are [in the ranks of] the supporters of truth and the martyrs, with their Lord. For them is their reward and their light. But those who have disbelieved and denied Our verses - those are the companions of Hellfire.
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 Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and those who acknowledged the oneness of Allah and the sending of His messengers, and so held the messengers to be truthful and believed in what they brought them from their Lord — those, they are the truthful ones (al-ṣiddīqūn).
And His word: (and the witnesses with their Lord) — the exegetes differed concerning this. Some of them said: "and the witnesses with their Lord" is separate from what precedes it, and the report about those who believed in Allah and His messengers ends at His word: (the truthful ones); and "the truthful ones" are in the nominative through His word "they." Then the report about the witnesses begins anew, and it is said: and the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light; and "the witnesses" are, in their view, in the nominative through His word (for them is their reward and their light).
* Mention of who said that:
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 His word: (And those who believed in Allah and His messengers, those, they are the truthful ones) he said: this is separated off. (And the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light).
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 Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq: (those, they are the truthful ones and the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light) he said: this applies specifically to the witnesses (martyrs).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, he said: this applies specifically to the witnesses (martyrs).
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā: (those, they are the truthful ones), then he resumed the discourse and said: and the witnesses with their Lord.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His word: (And those who believed in Allah and His messengers, those, they are the truthful ones) — this is separated off; Allah called them truthful ones because they believed in Allah and held His messengers to be truthful; then He said: (And the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light) — this is separated off.
Others said: no, His word "and the witnesses" belongs to the description of those who believed in Allah and His messengers. They said: the report about those who believed does not end until His word: (and the witnesses with their Lord), and then begins the report about what is for them, and it is said: for them is their reward and their light.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: Abū Qays informed us that he heard Hudhayl relate, he said: they mentioned the witnesses (martyrs), and ʿAbd Allāh said: the man fights to be mentioned, the man fights so that his place may be seen, the man fights for the worldly life, the man fights for fame, the man fights for the spoils of war (al-maghnam). Shuʿba said something whose meaning is this: and the man fights while desiring the face of Allah, and the man dies on his bed while he is a witness (martyr). And ʿAbd Allāh recited this verse: (And those who believed in Allah and His messengers, those, they are the truthful ones and the witnesses with their Lord).
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥabīb ibn Abī Thābit, and Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid: (And those who believed in Allah and His messengers, those, they are the truthful ones and the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light) he said: every believer is a witness (martyr), and then he recited it.
Ṣāliḥ ibn Ḥarb Abū Maʿmar related to me, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAjlān related to us, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, he said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "The believers of my community are witnesses (martyrs)." He said: then the Prophet ﷺ recited this verse: (And those who believed in Allah and His messengers, those, they are the truthful ones and the witnesses with their Lord).
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: (the truthful ones and the witnesses with their Lord) he said: through faith against themselves, for Allah.
Others said: the witnesses with their Lord in this place are the prophets who bear witness against their communities, according to Allah's word, mighty and exalted is He: How will it be then when We bring from every community a witness, and We bring you as a witness over these?
And the statement which in my judgment is the most correct concerning this is the statement of him who said: the discourse and the report about those who believed ends at His word: (those, they are the truthful ones), and His word: (and the witnesses with their Lord) is a newly begun report about the witnesses.
And we said only that this is the most correct statement concerning it because that is, in the apparent sense, the predominant of its meanings, and because faith, in customary usage, does not warrant for the believer the appellation "witness" (shahīd) — except in another sense — unless what is meant by it is: a witness of that which he believed in and held to be true; then that would be a possibility, even though there is some remoteness in it, because that is not the known one of its meanings when it is used absolutely without connection [to anything else]. The interpretation of His word (and the witnesses with their Lord, for them is their reward and their light) is then: and the witnesses (martyrs) who were killed in Allah's path, or who perished in His path, with their Lord, for them is Allah's reward to them in the hereafter and their light.
And His word: (And those who disbelieved and denied Our signs, those, they are the inhabitants of the Hellfire) — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and those who disbelieved in Allah and denied His proofs and rejected His arguments, those, they are the inhabitants of the Hellfire.
