As-Saaffaat (Those drawn up in Ranks)

40. “Save the servants of Allah, the purified ones,”

41. “For them is a known sustenance,”

42. “(Kinds of) fruits, and they shall be highly honoured,”

43. “In the gardens bountiful,”

44. “Upon thrones facing each other.”

In this holy verse the Qur’an says:

“Save the servants of Allah, the purified ones,”

For the relation of this group to Allah, only the phrase /‘ibad-allah/ (servants of Allah) is enough, but when the word /muxlasin/ (the purified) comes beside it, the phrase will earn another kind of depth in its meaning.

The Arabic word /muxlas/ is in passive participle form, which means: ‘the one whom Allah has purified’. He is purified from any kind of polytheism and hypocrisy, and also from any kind of Satanic temptation and blemishes of low desire.

Yes, it is only this group whose deeds will not be simply rewarded, but Allah (s.w.t.) will treat them with His Grace and generosity and will give them innumerable rewards.

In the second verse under discussion, the Qur’an mentions the numerous merits and blessings that Allah bestows on the purified servants. They can be referred to shortly in a few divisions.

At first, it says:

“For them is a known sustenance,”

Is this an extract of the bounties which will be explained in later verses of the Qur’an, or it refers to the unknown spiritual and unexplainable blessings which are at the top of the blessings of Paradise?

According to the interpretation of a group of commentators, the proportion of discussion and totality of blessings are more consistent with the second meaning, and, thus, the first blessing from the blessings which have been mentioned in the verses under discussion, are spiritual merits, spiritual pleasures, and apprehension of the splendour of the Pure Essence of Allah, and being drunk from the pure wine of His love.

The same pleasure which none knows unless he sees it.

And that the material merits of the Paradise have been mentioned frequently in the verses of the Holy Qur’an, but the spiritual merits and the pleasures of soul have been stated ambiguously is for this very sake that the former ones are explainable and the latter ones are not explainable.

Concerning the Arabic phrase: /rizqun ma‘lum/ (a known sustenance) there have been delivered many statements: whether its time is known; or its duration, or its other qualifications. But, based on what was said in the above, the Arabic word /ma‘lum/ is an ambiguous sense for these unexplainable merits.

In the third verse, the Qur’an has referred to stating other blessings, and before anything else, it has mentioned the blessings of heaven. They are the blessings which will be given to the people of Paradise with the utmost respect.

It says:

“(Kinds of) fruits, and they shall be highly honoured,”

They will be entertained honourably as some dear guests who are received with utmost esteem, not like some animals that food is poured in front of them.

And in the fourth verse, after mentioning the blessings: the colourful fruits and respecting and honouring the purified servants, the words are about their position in the green, bountiful gardens.

The verse says:

“In the gardens bountiful,”

Whatever blessing they wish they can find there, and whatever they intend to have will be ready in front of them.

In view of the fact that the greatest delight of man is enjoying the meeting of sincere friends, this bounty is pointed out in the fourth stage. It says about the people of Paradise that they sit therein:

“Upon thrones facing each other.”

They look each other, and speak about everything.

They sometimes talk about their past deeds in the world, and sometimes about the great bounties of Allah in Hereafter, sometimes about the attributes of beauty and dignity of Allah, and sometimes about the ranks of the saints and their extraordinary acts, and some other affairs the information upon which is not conceivable for us, the prisoners of this world.

The Arabic word /surur/ is the plural form of /sarir/ which is called to the thrones on which people sit in the meetings of pleasure and intimacy; though it has also been used in a vaster scope of meaning, so far that sometimes the shroud of a dead has been called /sarir/, perhaps for the hope that it may be a mount of happiness for him toward he Divine forgiveness and His eternal garden.