Ar-Ra'd (The Thunder)

22. “And those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their Lord, and establish prayer, and spend of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, and they avert evil with good; theirs shall be the Ultimate abode”

And those who usually keep their patience in performing the commandments of Allah and do not lose their integrity in face of the diseases and evil consequences and abstain themselves from committing Allah’s sins, and by keeping their patience, they mean to obtain rewards from Allah, the Almighty, because ‘seeking the countenance of Allah’ signifies ‘asking for Allah’ which in turn means asking for Allah’s reward.

Once, in the Arabic language, Arabs want to glorify something, they say ‘its countenance’ and ‘its self’, and by ‘the countenance of Allah’ they mean the Glorious Essence of the Almighty. Nothing is greater than Allah and nothing is His counterpart. Some say that: the purpose of ‘countenance’ in here is reference made as to sincerity and repelling of bigotry and hypocrisy.

The verse says:

“And those who patiently persevere, seeking the countenance of their Lord…”

Then the verse continues explaining the qualities of the possessors of intellect by adding that they perform the prayer with keeping all its limits. In other words, they are always serious in performing their prayer rituals, and they share with others whatever Allah has bestowed on them whether be it in secret or openly. And through their obedience, they repel all sins.

The verse says:

“…and establish prayer, and spend of what We have provided them, secretly and openly, and they avert evil with good…”

Ibn-i-Abb as, regarding the last quality, has said that through the mean of decent and allowed action, they repel the indecent behavior.

It is quoted from the highly esteemed Prophet of Islam (S) who has told Ma‘ az-ibn-Jabal that:

Whenever he did an evil act, then he would perform an admirable deed so as to wipe it out.

Some commentators say one must be kind to those who have bad treatment to them and he would not try to retaliate it.

Some other commentators have claimed that the purpose is that once they are deprived, they go on giving away and once they are oppressed, they forgive; and when they are isolated, they try to establish relationships once more. Ibn-i-Kisan says: it means that they try to remove the penalty for their sins by repentance.

The ending sentence of the verse says:

“…Theirs shall be the Ultimate abode.”

It means that those whom We depicted their profiles of, will receive their reward of Paradise. In this holy sentence the objective meaning of /ad-dar/ is ‘Paradise’ and that of /‘uqba/ is ‘reward’ which refers to the happy ending.

Explanations

‘Patience’ does not merely signify tolerating difficulties; rather, it mostly includes perseverance in worshipping, restraining from sins, toleration in case of calamities, submission in case of obedience, and lack of arrogance in case of affluence.

The Qur’anic phrase ‘the countenance of their Lord’ signifies attracting the attention, favour, and satisfaction of Allah.

Performing prayer is one of the examples of the Divine covenants, which was discussed in the previous verses. Some Islamic traditions also refer to it, saying:

“Prayer is the covenant of Allah.”

Patience and prayers are two channels of communication with Allah, and charity and good acts are two channels of communication with people.

Giving in charity of one’s wealth has got a hierarchy:

Step one:

Sharing of the things Allah has bestowed upon us.

“…spend (in alms) of that which We have provided for you…”1

Step two:

Giving in charity out of one’s earnings through allowed business.

“O you who have faith! Spend (in charity) of the good things that you have earned…”2

Step three:

Giving away of what one likes most.

“You will never attain righteousness unless you spend out of what you love…”3

Step four:

Self-sacrifice:

“…and prefer (them) before themselves though poverty may afflict them…”4

According to Al-Mizan, the Arabic term /‘uqbadd ar/ signifies happy ending in the world, though it may be considered as including both, this world and the Hereafter.

The meaning of returning the good in exchange for evil is that: if from among the faithful someone commits an evil act in connection with us, We ought to overlook it.

But we must not have the same pattern of action with the tyrants and the corrupt, for, concerning them, they must be paid in their own coins. Anyway, though Islam is a religion of ethics, compassion and forgiveness, it has also the following instruction in its place.

The Holy Qur’an says:

“(As for) the fornicatress and the fornicator, flog each of them, (giving) a hundred stripes, and let not pity for them detain you in the matter of obedience to Allah, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day…”5

Islam is a comprehensive religion, and ‘the possessors of intellect’ are some perfect persons.

The existence of such Qur’anic words concerning them as: /yūfūn/, /yaxšaun/, /yax afūn/, /sabarū/, /’aq amū/, /’anfiqū/, and /yadra’ūn/ are signs to show that the perfect men not only are undertaking their promises, but also preserve all their proper communications, and they enjoy a superior state of virtuosity and they stay on the whole scenes of truth actively instead of creeping into isolation.