Tafseer of The Iron · Al-Hadid · 57:28
O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger; He will [then] give you a double portion of His mercy and make for you a light by which you will walk and forgive you; and Allah is Forgiving and Merciful.
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 remembrance is exalted, says: O you who have believed Allah and His Messenger to be true, from among the people of the two Books, the Torah and the Gospel, fear Allah by performing obedience to Him and avoiding acts of disobedience to Him, and believe in His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ.
As Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ ("O you who have believed, fear Allah and believe in His Messenger"); he means: those who have believed from among the People of the Book.
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: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ ; he means: those who have believed from among the People of the Book.
And His word: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ("He will give you a double portion of His mercy"): He will give you a double reward, on account of your belief in ʿĪsā ﷺ and the prophets before Muḥammad ﷺ, and then your belief in Muḥammad ﷺ when he was sent as a prophet. The original meaning of al-kifl is: the portion, and its origin is that by which the rider holds himself fast and which restrains him and preserves him from falling. He says: this portion (kifl) protects you from the punishment, just as the portion (kifl) protects the rider from falling.
In accordance with what we have said about this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū ʿAmmār al-Marwazī related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: two rewards, on account of their belief in ʿĪsā ﷺ and their affirmation of the Torah and the Gospel, and their belief in Muḥammad ﷺ and their affirmation of him.
He said: Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: two rewards: their belief in Muḥammad ﷺ and their belief in ʿĪsā ﷺ, and the Torah and the Gospel.
And through him, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; and Hārūn ibn ʿAntara, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: two rewards.
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he says: a double portion.
He said: Mihrān related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar ibn Abī al-Mughīra, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: the Prophet ﷺ sent Jaʿfar with seventy riders to the Negus to call him; he came to him and called him, and he responded and believed in him. When he was about to depart, some people from his kingdom who had believed in him — forty men in number — said: permit us to go to this prophet and embrace Islam at his hand, and to assist these people upon the sea, for we know the sea better than they do. So they came with Jaʿfar to the Prophet ﷺ, while the Prophet ﷺ had prepared for the battle of Uḥud. When they saw the need and harsh circumstances of the Muslims, they asked the Prophet ﷺ for permission and said: O Prophet of Allah, we have possessions, and we see the need of the Muslims; if you permit us, we will depart and come with our possessions and share them with the Muslims. So he permitted them, and they departed and came with their possessions and shared them with the Muslims. Then Allah sent down concerning them: الَّذِينَ آتَيْنَاهُمُ الْكِتَابَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِ هُمْ بِهِ يُؤْمِنُونَ ("those to whom We gave the Book before it, they believe in it") ... up to His word: وَمِمَّا رَزَقْنَاهُمْ يُنْفِقُونَ ("and they spend out of that which We have provided them") (28:52-54), and that was the spending by which they had assisted the Muslims. Now when the People of the Book who had not believed heard His word: يُؤْتَوْنَ أَجْرَهُمْ مَرَّتَيْنِ بِمَا صَبَرُوا ("they will be given their reward twice over for what they patiently endured"), they boasted against the Muslims and said: O company of Muslims, as for whoever of us believes in your Book and our Book, for him his reward is twofold, and whoever of us does not believe in your Book, for him is a reward like your rewards, so in what do you surpass us? Then Allah sent down: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ , and so He gave them their reward and increased for them the light and the forgiveness. Then He said: لِكَيْلا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ ("so that the People of the Book may know"). And thus Saʿīd ibn Jubayr read it: لِكَيْلا يَعْلَمَ أَهْلُ الْكِتَابِ أَلا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَى شَيْءٍ ("so that the People of the Book may know that they have no power over anything").
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: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: a double portion.
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: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: and the two portions (kiflān) are two rewards, on account of their first belief, and on account of the Book with which Muḥammad ﷺ came.
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: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ وَآمِنُوا بِرَسُولِهِ ; he means: those who have believed from among the People of the Book, يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he says: two rewards, on account of your belief in the first Book and in that with which Muḥammad ﷺ came.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: two rewards: the reward of this world and the reward of the Hereafter.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, he said: ʿAnbasa related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of Abī al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of Abū Mūsā: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ; he said: the two portions (kiflān): a double reward, in the language of Abyssinia.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: the people will be in four ranks on the Day of Resurrection: a man who believed in ʿĪsā and then believed in Muḥammad ﷺ, for him are two rewards. A man who disbelieved in ʿĪsā and then believed in Muḥammad ﷺ, for him is one reward. A man who disbelieved in ʿĪsā and then disbelieved in Muḥammad ﷺ, this one returned with wrath upon wrath. And a man who disbelieved in ʿĪsā, from among the polytheists of the Arabs (mushrikīn), and died in his disbelief before Muḥammad, this one returned with wrath.
Al-ʿAbbās ibn al-Walīd related to me, saying: my father informed me, saying: I asked Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz about the portion (kifl), how much it is. He said: three hundred and fifty good deeds, and the two portions (kiflān): seven hundred good deeds. Saʿīd said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb — may Allah be pleased with him — asked a scholar from among the scholars of the Jews: how much is the most by which the good deed is multiplied for you? He said: a portion, three hundred and fifty good deeds. He said: and ʿUmar praised Allah that He had given us two portions. Then Saʿīd mentioned the word of Allah, Mighty and Exalted is He, in sūrat al-Ḥadīd: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ , and I said to him: are the two portions on Friday like this? He said: yes.
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the report from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has been soundly transmitted.
* Mention of who said that:
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Maʿmar ibn Rāshid related to us, on the authority of Firās, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Abī Burda ibn Abī Mūsā, on the authority of his father, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Three receive their reward twice over: a man who believed in the first Book and the last Book; a man who had a slave-girl (ama), brought her up and brought her up well, then freed her (aʿtaqahā) and married her; and an owned slave (ʿabd mamlūk) who performed well the worship of his Lord and gave his master (sayyid) sincere counsel."
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, saying: Ṣāliḥ ibn Ṣāliḥ al-Hamdānī related to me, on the authority of ʿĀmir, on the authority of Abī Burda ibn Abī Mūsā, on the authority of Abī Mūsā, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, in similar manner.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Ṣamad related to me, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ṣāliḥ ibn Ṣāliḥ, who heard al-Shaʿbī transmit, on the authority of Abī Burda, on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, in similar manner.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Ḥakam related to me, saying: Isḥāq ibn al-Furāt informed us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd said: Nāfiʿ informed us that ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿUmar said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "Your lifespan, compared to the lifespan of the communities that have passed away, is only like the time between the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) and sunset. Indeed, the likeness of you and the likeness of the Jews and the Christians is like the likeness of a man who hired laborers and said: who will work from the morning to the middle of the day for a qīrāṭ each? So the Jews worked. Then he said: who will work from the middle of the day to the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) for a qīrāṭ each? So the Christians worked. Then he said: who will work from the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) to sunset for two qīrāṭ each? So you worked."
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dīnār, that he heard Ibn ʿUmar say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The likeness of this community — or he said: my community — and the likeness of the Jews and the Christians is like the likeness of a man who said: who will work for me from the morning to the middle of the day for a qīrāṭ? The Jews said: we; and they worked. He said: who will work from the middle of the day to the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) for a qīrāṭ? The Christians said: we; and they worked. And you, the Muslims, work from the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr) to the night for two qīrāṭ. Then the Jews and the Christians became angry and said: we have done more work and received less wage. He said: have I withheld anything of your wage from you? They said: no. He said: that, then, is My favor, which I give to whom I will."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: al-Layth and Ibn Lahīʿa informed me, on the authority of Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Abī Umāma al-Bāhilī, that he said: I witnessed the sermon of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on the day of the Farewell Pilgrimage, and he spoke many good, fine, and beautiful words, and among them was: "Whoever of the people of the two Books embraces Islam, for him is his reward twice over, and for him is the same as what is for us, and upon him is the same as what is upon us; and whoever of the polytheists (mushrikīn) embraces Islam, for him is his reward, and for him is what is for us, and upon him is the same as what is upon us."
And His word: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ ("and He will make for you a light by which you will walk"): the exegetes differed concerning what is meant by the light in this place. Some of them said: by it the Qurʾān is meant.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū ʿAmmār al-Marwazī related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ ; he said: the criterion (al-furqān) and their following of the Prophet ﷺ.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ ; he said: the criterion (al-furqān), and their following of the Prophet ﷺ.
Abū Kurayb and Abū Hishām related to us, both of them saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَيَجْعَلْ لَكُمْ نُورًا تَمْشُونَ بِهِ ; he said: the Qurʾān.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd, the like of it.
And others said: by the light in this place is meant guidance.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, 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: تَمْشُونَ بِهِ ("by which you walk"); he said: guidance.
And the most fitting of the statements about this is that one says: indeed Allah, the Exalted whose remembrance is exalted, promised these people that He would make for them a light by which they would walk; and the Qurʾān, together with following the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, is a light for whoever believes in both and holds both to be true, and a guidance; for whoever believes in it is truly guided.
And His word: وَيَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ ("and He will forgive you"). He says: and He will pardon you your sins and cover them for you, وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ ("and Allah is Forgiving, Merciful"). The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: and Allah is the possessor of forgiveness and mercy.
