Tafseer of The Cloaked One · Al-Muddaththir · 74:42
[And asking them], "What put you into Saqar?"
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.
…whoever wills follows obedience to Allah, and whoever wills lags behind in it.
Bishr related to me; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us; on the authority of Qatāda, concerning لِمَنْ شَاءَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ (for whoever of you wishes to go forward or to lag behind): he goes forward in obedience to Allah, or he lags behind in his disobedience to Him.
The exposition of the interpretation of His words, the Exalted: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ (٣٨) إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (٣٩) فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (٤٠) عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (٤١) مَا سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ (٤٢) قَالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ (٤٣) وَلَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ (٤٤) وَكُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخَائِضِينَ (٤٥) (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned (38), except the companions of the right hand (39); they are in gardens, asking one another (40) about the criminals (41): «What brought you into Saqar?» (42) They say: «We were not among those who prayed (43), and we did not feed the poor (44), and we used to indulge in idle talk together with those who indulged in idle talk (45)»).
Allah, exalted be His mention, says: every soul upon which commands and prohibitions have been imposed is, for the disobedience to Allah it committed in the world, a pledge in Hell (jahannam), إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (except the companions of the right hand), for they are not pledged, but rather they are فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ (in gardens, asking one another about the criminals).
And something similar to what we have said about this has been said by the exegetes.
* Mention of who said that:
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 كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned): he says: seized for its deed.
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His words: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand): he said: all people are locked up except the companions of the right hand.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, he said: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, he said: al-Ḥasan related to us, he said: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His words: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand): he said: they are not called to account.
Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning the words of Allah: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand): the companions of the right hand are not pledged for their sins, but Allah forgives them. And he recited the words of Allah: إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ (except the sincere servants of Allah); he said: Allah does not call them to account for their evil deeds, but Allah forgives them and overlooks them, as He has promised them.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His words: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned): he said: every soul for which the word of punishment (ʿadhāb) has been decreed, Allah pledges in the Fire (al-nār); Allah pledges none of the people of Paradise (janna). Have you not heard that He said: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand)? He says: they are not a pledge, فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ (they are in gardens, asking one another).
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 words: إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (except the companions of the right hand): he said: if for one of them the word of punishment was decreed, his abode would be made in the Fire, wherein he would be a pledge; but none of the people of Paradise is pledged — they are in gardens, asking one another.
The exegetes differed concerning the companions of the right hand whom Allah mentions in this place. Some of them said: they are the children of the Muslims.
* Mention of who said that:
Wāṣil ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, he said: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUthmān, on the authority of Zādhān, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning this verse كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand): he said: they are the young children.
Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, he said: Muʾammal related to us, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān Abū l-Yaqẓān, on the authority of Zādhān Abū ʿUmar, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning His words: كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِمَا كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned, except the companions of the right hand): he said: the young children of the Muslims.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmayr Abū l-Yaqẓān, on the authority of Zādhān Abū ʿUmar, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (except the companions of the right hand): he said: the children of the Muslims.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū l-Yaqẓān, on the authority of Zādhān, on the authority of ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, إِلَّا أَصْحَابَ الْيَمِينِ (except the companions of the right hand): he said: they are the young children.
And others said: they are the angels.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Ẓabyān,
