Tafseer of The Dawn · Al-Fajr · 89:27
[To the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul,
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.
And His statement: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً ("O you tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and well-pleasing"). The Exalted — praised be His mention — says, reporting about what the angels will say to His protected ones (awliyāʾ) on the Day of Resurrection: O you tranquil soul. By "the tranquil one" (al-muṭmaʾinna) is meant: she who felt tranquil at the promise of Allah which He made to the people who believe (īmān) in Him in this world, namely the honor in the Hereafter, and who held that to be true.
The interpreters of the text differed in opinion about the explanation of this. Some of them said something in accordance with what we have said about it.
* 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: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he says: the affirming one (she who holds it to be true).
Bishr related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"): it is the believer whose soul felt tranquil at what Allah promised.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, he said: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she who is tranquil at what Allah has said, and who affirms what He has said.
Others said: no, the meaning of it is: the affirming one who knows with certainty that Allah is her Lord, who submits to His decree in what He will do with her.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: the soul that knows with certainty that Allah is her Lord, and that resolutely conformed to His command and obedience.
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: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she knew with certainty that Allah is her Lord, and she resolutely conformed to His command.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: the penitent, humble one who knew with certainty that Allah is her Lord, and who resolutely conformed to His command.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she knew with certainty that Allah is her Lord, and she resolutely conformed to His command.
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 word: الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("the tranquil one"), he said: the humble and tranquil one before Allah.
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she who knew with certainty that Allah is her Lord, and who resolutely conformed to His command.
Yaʿqūb related to me, he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, he said: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: the humble one.
Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ al-Rāzī related to me, he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she who knew with certainty that she would meet Allah, and who resolutely conformed to Him.
And it is mentioned that in the reading of Ubayy it reads: يا أيَّتُها النَّفْسُ الآمِنَةُ ("O you secure soul").
* Mention of the narration about that:
Khallād ibn Aslam related to us, he said: al-Naḍr informed us, on the authority of Hārūn al-Qārī, he said: Hilāl related to me, on the authority of Abū Shaykh al-Hunāʾī, in the reading of Ubayy: يا أيَّتُها النَّفْسُ الآمِنَةُ المُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you secure, tranquil soul"). And al-Kalbī said: by "the secure one" (al-āmina) is meant in this place: the believer.
And it is said: that this is the statement of the angel to the servant at the departing of his soul, gladdening him with the good pleasure of his Lord with him, and with the honor that He has prepared for him with Himself.
* Mention of who said that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Jaʿfar, on the authority of Saʿīd, he said: it was recited before the Prophet ﷺ: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً ("O you tranquil soul, return to your Lord, well-pleased and well-pleasing"), whereupon Abū Bakr said: "This is truly beautiful." Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Indeed, the angel will say it to you at death."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, he said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ: ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةً ("return to your Lord, well-pleased and well-pleasing"), he said: this is at death; فَادْخُلِي فِي عِبَادِي ("then enter among My servants"), he said: this is on the Day of Resurrection.
And others said about this in accordance with what Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Usāma ibn Zayd, on the authority of his father, concerning His word: يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ ("O you tranquil soul"), he said: she was gladdened with Paradise at death, on the Day of Gathering, and at the Resurrection.
