Ar-Room (The Romans)

56. “And those who have been given knowledge and faith will say (to the guilty); ‘certainly you have tarried according to Allah’s Book till the Day of Resurrection, so this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know’.”

Knowledge and faith are two great Divine gifts which are bestowed on men:

“…who have been given knowledge and faith…”.

This holy verse also reiterates the response of the aware believers to the words of unaware guilty who have no proper information about the situation of purgatory and Hereafter.

It says:

“And those who have been given knowledge and faith will say (to the guilty); ‘certainly you have tarried according to Allah’s Book till the Day of Resurrection, so this is the Day of Resurrection, but you did not know’.”

Mentioning the word of knowledge before the word faith in the holy verse is for the sake that knowledge is the foundation of faith.

The application of the Qur’anic phrase /fi kitab-i-llah/ (according to Allah’s Book) may refer to the genetic Book, or to the heavenly Book, or both of them. It means it was by the genetic and religious command of Allah (s.w.t.) that they were determined to remain in purgatory for such a length of time and then be mustered on the Day of Resurrection.

As for the purpose of /’allaŏina ’utul ‘il mawal ’iman/ (those who have been given knowledge and faith) that who they are, some commentators have said that it points to the Divine angels who have both knowledge and faith, while some others have said that it refers to the aware believers; and the second interpretation is more apparent.

Some authentic Islamic narrations indicate that it has been rendered into the progeny of Hadrat Amir-ul-Mu’mineen Ali (as), the Immaculate Imams (as) which is of the statement of clear extensions and it does not confine the vast meaning of the verse.

This point is also necessary to be mentioned that some commentators believe that the dialogue between these two groups about ‘purgatory’, that one of them imagines its time as long as one hour and the next one knows its real amount of time originates from this point that since the first group are waiting for the Divine punishment they are willing that it can be postponed more and they consider the distances short though they are very long.

But the second group, who are waiting for Paradise and its bounties knowingly, see this distance long.¹