At-Tawba (The Repentance)

111. “Verily Allah has bought from the believers their souls and their Properties for Paradise to be theirs: they fight in the way of Allah, so they slay and they are slain, (this is) a promise binding on Him in the Turah, and the Evangel and the Qur’ān. And who is more faithful to his promise than Allah? Rejoice then in your bargain that you have made; and that is the great success.”

In many occurrences of the Qur’ān, whenever it says something concerning the infidels, or polytheists, or hypocrites, immediately next to that, it refers to the believers in order that a comparison between these two groups be performed.

Here, after delivering some explanations about the hypocrites and their evil conspiracies, the Qur’ān refers to the believers and their specialties.

In this verse, by applying a delicate similie, the Qur’ān points to the intensive love of the believers to Holy Struggle in the way of Allah. It similizes their deed to a transaction and a bargain. Usually, there are four essential elements in every bargain.

These four factors are: seller, customer, the ware to be transactioned, and price. In this splendid spiritual transaction, the seller is a believer, the customer is Allah, the ware to be transactioned is the soul and the wealth of the believers, and its price is the etetrnal Paradise.

These believers fight in the way of Allah where they slay and are slain. Whether they defeat the enemy or they suffer martyrdom, both are counted felicity for them, and both of them are sought by a belirver. The verse says:

“Verily Allah has bought from the believers their souls and their properties for Paradise to be theirs: they fight in the way of Allah, so they slay and they are slain…”

Imam Sādiq (as) in a tradition says that there is no price for your bodies save Pradise. Then you should not sell your selves for less than Paradise.¹

Next to that, the Qur’ān introduces the document of this transaction, where it says:

“…(this is) a promise binding on Him in the Turah, and the Evangel and the Qur’ān…”

In all these Heavenly Books, believers have been promised Paradise, and the texts of these Divine Books are counted as a document for the believers in this bargain.²

Then, as a further emphasis, the Qur’ān asks:

“…And who is more faithful to his promise than Allah?…”

Therefore, regarding that you have transactioned the best bargain and with the most faithful One, Who is Allah, you must be very happy with this transaction, and this is the great felicity. The verse says:

“…Rejoice then in your bargain that you have made; and that is the great success.”