Tafseer of The Announcement · An-Naba · 78:26
An appropriate recompense.
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 His word, the Exalted: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") (26)
The Exalted, whose renown be praised, says: this punishment with which these unbelievers (kuffār) are punished in the Hereafter, their Lord has inflicted upon them as a recompense — that is to say: as a reward for them in accordance with their evil deeds and words which they used to perform in this worldly life. It is a verbal noun (maṣdar) of the saying: "this and that corresponded with one another, in agreement (wifāqan)."
In accordance with what we have said about this, spoke the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl).
* Mention of who said this:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: it corresponded with their deeds.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — the recompense corresponded with the deeds of the people, the evil deeds.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: in accordance with their deeds.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His word: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: a reward that corresponded with their deeds.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: they performed evil and were recompensed with evil, and they performed good and were recompensed with good. Then he recited the word of Allah: ثُمَّ كَانَ عَاقِبَةَ الَّذِينَ أَسَاءُوا السُّوءَى ("Then the end of those who did evil was the worst").
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: a recompense that corresponded with the deeds of the people.
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: جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا ("a fitting recompense") — he said: the recompense corresponded with the deed.
