Tafseer of The Night · Al-Lail · 92:6
And believes in the best [reward],
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 exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed over the interpretation of His statement, the Exalted: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى ("and believes in the best"). Some of them said: its meaning is: and he believes in the recompense of Allah for the spending of what he has spent of his wealth, with regard to that in which he has spent of what Allah has commanded him to spend therein.
* Mention of who said that:
Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to me, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: and he believes in the recompense of Allah.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he says: and he believes in the recompense of Allah.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd ibn Abī Hind, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى : with the recompense.
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Dāwūd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the like of it.
Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Suddī related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Ḥakam al-Aḥmasī informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn al-Ṣalt, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: he was certain of the recompense.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of ʿIkrima: فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى * وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with the recompense.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of ʿIkrima: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: that Allah will recompense him for it.
He said: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Hāshim al-Makkī, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with the recompense.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī, on the authority of Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with the recompense.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Naḍr ibn ʿArabī, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: with the recompense.
Others said: no, its meaning is: and he believes that Allah is One, without there being any partner with Him.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿUmar ibn ʿAlī al-Muqaddamī related to me, saying: Ashʿath al-Sijistānī related to us, saying: Misʿar related to us; and Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Misʿar, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with "there is no god but Allah" (lā ilāha illā Allāh).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the like of it.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Abū Ḥaṣīn, on the authority of Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the like of it.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His statement: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى : with "there is no god but Allah".
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: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى : he says: he believed in "there is no god but Allah".
Others said: no, its meaning is: and he believes in the Garden (Paradise).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with the Garden.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Muḥbib related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
Others said: no, its meaning is: and he believes in what Allah has promised.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: with that which Allah has promised for Himself, and he acted upon that promise which Allah promised him.
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 statement: وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى , he said: the believer believed in the good promise of Allah.
The statement that most closely accords with what the outward meaning of the Revelation indicates, and which in my view is the one most in keeping with correctness, is the statement of him who says: by this is meant believing in the recompense of Allah for his spending. I have said that this is the most likely to be the correct statement in this matter, because Allah, before it, mentioned someone who spent while seeking thereby its recompense. The most fitting for the meaning, therefore, is that what follows it is the report about his belief in the promise of Allah to him concerning the recompense, since his spending took place in the manner that pleases Him. In addition to this, the report of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, in agreement with what we have said about this, has been transmitted.
* Mention of the report that has been transmitted concerning that:
Al-Ḥasan ibn Salama ibn Abī Kabsha related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: ʿAbbād ibn Rāshid related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: Khulayd al-ʿAṣarī related to me, on the authority of Abū al-Dardāʾ, he said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said: "There is no day on which the sun has set but that on both sides of it stand two angels calling out aloud — all the creatures of Allah hear it, except the two kinds (men and jinn): O Allah, give to him who spends a recompense, and give to him who withholds ruin." And Allah revealed concerning that the Qurʾān: فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى * وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى ... up to His statement لِلْعُسْرَى .
And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may Allah be pleased with him.
* Mention of the report concerning that:
Hārūn ibn Idrīs al-Aṣamm related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Muḥammad al-Muḥāribī related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, on the authority of ʿĀmir ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq used to free slaves for the sake of Islam at Mecca; he used to free old women and women when they accepted Islam. Then his father said to him: O my son, I see that you free weak people; would it not be better that you freed strong men who would stand beside you, protect you, and defend you? He said: O my father, I desire only — I suppose he said — what is with Allah. He (the narrator) said: and some of the people of my household related to me that this verse was revealed concerning him: فَأَمَّا مَنْ أَعْطَى وَاتَّقَى * وَصَدَّقَ بِالْحُسْنَى * فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ لِلْيُسْرَى .
