Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (O you settled soul)
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Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (O you settled soul)]
Then Allah the Exalted concluded this surah with what delights the heart and expands the chest,So he said: [Al-Fajr: 27] May Allah make our souls settled.
[Al-Fajr: 27-28] .
[Al-Fajr: 28] It is said that this statement is addressed to the person at the moment of death, in the final moment of this world,It is said to his soul: Go out, O settled soul, go out to the mercy of Allah and His pleasure, so she rejoices and is glad, and her exit from the body becomes easy; because she has been given glad tidings of what is more blissful than everything in this world,The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: (The place of a whip in Paradise is better than this world and what is in it) The whip of a person: the short stick. The place of the whip in Paradise is better than this world and what is in it, and it is not just your world, but the world from its beginning to its end, with all the bliss, sovereignty, and comfort in it, and others. So the place of a whip of one of you is better than the world and what is in it. How about the one who looks at the sovereignty of his journey of two thousand years, seeing its farthest point as he sees its nearest point, a bliss that we cannot grasp with our souls or our imagination: [As-Sajdah: 17] .
The settled one: That is, the believing, secure soul; because you will never find a soul more settled than the soul of the believer. So the believer—my brothers—his soul is good and settled, and for this reason the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was amazed by the believer and said: (How amazing is the affair of the believer! All his affair is good. If adversity strikes him, he is patient, and it is good for him. If prosperity strikes him, he is grateful, and it is good for him) So he is settled, proceeding with Allah according to His decree and destiny. He does not become angry at calamities, nor arrogant at blessings. Rather, he is grateful at blessings and patient at trials, so you find him settled.
But the disbeliever, or the one weak in faith, neither of them is settled. If a trial strikes him, he panics and becomes angry, and he sees that he is wronged by Allah, may Allah protect us from that. Some of them even commit suicide; because he does not have patience and is not settled. Rather, he is always in anxiety. He looks at himself and finds that he has little money, few children, no wife, and no tribe to protect him,So he says: I am not in blessing; because so-and-so has money, has wives, has children, and has a tribe that protects him. As for me, I have none of this. So he does not see any blessing from Allah upon him; because he is weak in faith and not settled. Rather, he is always in anxiety.
And for this reason, we find people now going to every place to relax themselves and remove pain and fatigue from them; but only true faith removes that from them, for it is what leads to tranquility.
So the settled soul: It is the believing, secure soul, believing in this world, and secure from the punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. May Allah make our souls like this.
My brothers! Some of the Salaf said a strange word,He said: [If the kings and the sons of kings knew what we are in, they would fight us for it with swords] Do you find anyone more blessed in this world than the kings and their sons? No.
There is no one more blessed than them in appearance in the blessing of the body; but their hearts are not like the hearts of the believers. So the believer who has nothing but a patched garment, and a hut that does not protect him from rain or heat; this believer’s world and his bliss in this world are better than the kings and the sons of kings; because his heart is illuminated by the light of Allah and the light of faith.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was imprisoned and afflicted for the sake of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. So when he was put in prison and the door was locked on him,
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said: [Al-Hadid: 13] He says this as a mention of the blessing of Allah, not as boasting,Then he said: What can my enemies do to me?!—What do they do?!—My Paradise is in my chest—What is Paradise? Faith, knowledge, and certainty—, and my imprisonment is seclusion, and my exile—if they exile me from the country—is travel, and my killing is martyrdom.
Glory be to Allah! This is certainty, and this is tranquility.
If a person among us is put in prison, you find him calculating and speculating,And he says: What is my future?! What is the future of my children?! And my family?! And my tribe?! But Ibn Taymiyyah says: My Paradise is in my chest.
And he told the truth,And perhaps this is the secret in His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He: [Ad-Dukhan: 56] Meaning: In Paradise they will not taste death therein except the first death, and there is no first or second death in Paradise; but when the bliss of the heart extends from this world to entering Paradise, this world and the Hereafter become as if they are one Paradise, and there is only one death in it.
So we ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to make a good ending for us and for you, and to gather us with you in Paradise, with our Muslim brothers whom Allah has blessed with the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous; indeed, He is capable of all things.
Then Allah the Exalted concluded this surah with what delights the heart and expands the chest,So he said:
[To the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul,
يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ(27) [To the righteous it will be said], "O reassured soul, (28) Return to your Lord, well-pleased and pleasing [to Him],
يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ * ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَرْضِيَّةًReturn to your Lord
ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِAnd no soul knows what has been hidden for them of comfort for eyes as reward for what they used to do.
فَلا تَعْلَمُ نَفْسٌ مَا أُخْفِيَ لَهُمْ مِنْ قُرَّةِ أَعْيُنٍ جَزَاءً بِمَا كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَThe settled one: That is, the believing, secure soul; because you will never find a soul more settled than the soul of the believer. So the believer—my brothers—his soul is good and settled, and for this reason the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) was amazed by the believer and said: (How amazing is the affair of the believer! All his affair is good. If adversity strikes him, he is patient, and it is good for him. If prosperity strikes him, he is grateful, and it is good for him) So he is settled, proceeding with Allah according to His decree and destiny. He does not become angry at calamities, nor arrogant at blessings. Rather, he is grateful at blessings and patient at trials, so you find him settled.
But the disbeliever, or the one weak in faith, neither of them is settled. If a trial strikes him, he panics and becomes angry, and he sees that he is wronged by Allah, may Allah protect us from that. Some of them even commit suicide; because he does not have patience and is not settled. Rather, he is always in anxiety. He looks at himself and finds that he has little money, few children, no wife, and no tribe to protect him,So he says: I am not in blessing; because so-and-so has money, has wives, has children, and has a tribe that protects him. As for me, I have none of this. So he does not see any blessing from Allah upon him; because he is weak in faith and not settled. Rather, he is always in anxiety.
And for this reason, we find people now going to every place to relax themselves and remove pain and fatigue from them; but only true faith removes that from them, for it is what leads to tranquility.
So the settled soul: It is the believing, secure soul, believing in this world, and secure from the punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. May Allah make our souls like this.
My brothers! Some of the Salaf said a strange word,He said: [If the kings and the sons of kings knew what we are in, they would fight us for it with swords] Do you find anyone more blessed in this world than the kings and their sons? No.
There is no one more blessed than them in appearance in the blessing of the body; but their hearts are not like the hearts of the believers. So the believer who has nothing but a patched garment, and a hut that does not protect him from rain or heat; this believer’s world and his bliss in this world are better than the kings and the sons of kings; because his heart is illuminated by the light of Allah and the light of faith.
Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah (may Allah have mercy on him) was imprisoned and afflicted for the sake of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. So when he was put in prison and the door was locked on him,
He (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
And a wall will be placed between them with a door, its interior containing mercy, but on the outside of it is torment.
فَضُرِبَ بَيْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِيهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَظَاهِرُهُ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ الْعَذَابُGlory be to Allah! This is certainty, and this is tranquility.
If a person among us is put in prison, you find him calculating and speculating,And he says: What is my future?! What is the future of my children?! And my family?! And my tribe?! But Ibn Taymiyyah says: My Paradise is in my chest.
And he told the truth,And perhaps this is the secret in His saying, Blessed and Exalted is He:
They will not taste death therein except the first death, and He will have protected them from the punishment of Hellfire
لا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا الْمَوْتَ إِلَّا الْمَوْتَةَ الْأُولَى وَوَقَاهُمْ عَذَابَ الْجَحِيمِSo we ask Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, to make a good ending for us and for you, and to gather us with you in Paradise, with our Muslim brothers whom Allah has blessed with the prophets, the truthful ones, the martyrs, and the righteous; indeed, He is capable of all things.