Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “(a provision for the servants)”

The Shaykh : That is, We did that as a provision for the servants, because the servants are in need of the provision of Allah (Glorified and Exalted is He). In the Qudsi Hadith, the hadith of Abu Dharr al-Ghifari, which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) narrated from his Lord, He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): All the servants are hungry. Who is able to bring out a grain from the earth? Who is able to bring out a date from a tree, or a fruit from a tree? No one is able to do that. So who is it that brought out these fruits for us? Allah (Mighty and Majestic): Rather, You, O our Lord, are the planter. By Allah, if we had sown every grain in the earth, and watered it with every water, and served it with every flavor, we would not have been able to bring out a single grain from it. But Allah the Exalted, by His mercy and His power, is the One who brings it out. Meaning, if Allah (Mighty and Majestic) had willed, He would have made it rubble after it comes out, emerges, and ripens. He would send a calamity from the sky to crush it after our hearts and souls have attached themselves to it. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) would crush it. But by His mercy (Exalted and Majestic is He) and His power, He grows it and nourishes it for us until its food becomes good and it becomes easy for us. He says: So whatever we find from the fruits of the date palms and other trees, and whatever we harvest from the crops, it is all a provision from Allah for the servants of Allah (Mighty and Majestic). And His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): Is the intended meaning the servants of al-Rahman who obey His command, or all the servants? The intended meaning is all the servants. For this reason, we find these date palms and their fruit existing with most of the servants of Allah, because there is no creature on the earth but that its provision is upon Allah. But I tell you, whatever the disbelievers eat of a date, whatever they raise to their mouths of a mouthful, and whatever they gulp down of a drink of water, they all sin with it. They sin with it and will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection. The evidence for this is the saying of Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He): So it is not for those who believe. It is not lawful in this world, nor pure on the Day of Resurrection. But it is forbidden for them, and they will be punished for it on the Day of Resurrection. And He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): , . So, does one who does not believe bear a sin for what he ate? Answer? Yes, he bears a sin for what he ate. Because Allah says: . So those who did not believe and did not do righteous deeds bear a sin for what they ate. On the Day of Resurrection, they will be reckoned for it and punished for it. And this, as it is an indication by hearing, is also an indication by reason. How can you enjoy the blessing of Allah while you are openly defying Him? What makes it lawful for you to enjoy His blessings while you disbelieve in Him? For this reason, He said (Glorified and Exalted is He): And by this, we know the magnitude of the blessing of Allah upon us with the religion of Islam. We ask Allah to complete it for us until we meet Him. Amen, amen. These disbelievers did not raise a mouthful or gulp a drink but that they are sinners for it, and they will be reckoned for it on the Day of Resurrection. And they did not wear a garment but that they will be reckoned for it on the Day of Resurrection and punished for it. So do not think that the Paradise written for them in this world—do not think that it will be a garden on the Day of Resurrection, but it will be a torment for them on the Day of Resurrection. Unlike the believer; for the believer, it is pure in this world and on the Day of Resurrection, and praise be to Allah. And it has come in the hadith from the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) that he said: How do we explain this hadith? Its explanation is that the pleasure of this world, in relation to the pleasure of the Hereafter, is a prison. And therefore, when a person dies, he sees Paradise on his day when he is buried. No, before he is buried. When the angels come to him to give him glad tidings, they say to his soul: Come out, O tranquil soul. Come out to the mercy of Allah and His pleasure. So it comes out rejoicing and obedient, and it is easy for it to leave this body in which it resided as long as Allah willed for it to reside. Because what is it? It was given glad tidings of what is better. So when the people carry him, when the people carry the funeral on their shoulders, it says: Hurry me, hurry me. Meaning, speed me up so that I reach the pleasure. So when the person is buried, and he answers the messengers, the angels, who ask him about his Lord, his religion, and his Prophet, a door to Paradise is opened for him, and his grave is spacious for him to the extent of his sight, and he is given from the pleasure and spirit of Paradise what would make the greatest pleasure in this world nothing in comparison to it. It is not equal to anything. So this world is the prison of the believer because he is confined in it from what is greater than it in pleasure, and greater than it in kingdom. But for the disbeliever, what is it? It is a Paradise. Because he is confined in it from torment, humiliation, and anger. For when the two angels come to him, first he is given glad tidings at the time of death of the torment, and I seek refuge in Allah. It is said to his soul: Come out to the anger of Allah. So it comes out unwilling, not wanting to come out. Then when it is carried, it says: Woe to it, where are you taking it? Woe to it, where are you taking it? So when it is put in the grave and the messengers, the angels, come to it and it does not answer correctly, the grave is tightened upon it until its ribs differ. They differ, they interlock with each other from the severity of the tightening. And a door to the Fire is opened for it, and it is given from its heat and its poisons. Okay. So, in relation to this torment, what is this world? It is a Paradise. A Paradise. Because it is rest, but this is torment. And it is mentioned that al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him), the author of *Fath al-Bari*, the explanation of *Sahih al-Bukhari*, was the Chief Judge in Egypt. The Chief Judge in Egypt is like the head of judges among us, or the Minister of Justice, the highest position in the judiciary. And he used to ride in a carriage pulled by mules from his home to his place of work, and this was the greatest thing they had at that time. So one day he passed by a Jewish man who was a *ziyat*, meaning he sells what? Oil. And the *ziyat*, you know, his clothes were dirty, he was tired. So when Ibn Hajar passed by him, he stopped him. He said: Your Prophet says: How can this be? You are now in pleasure and I am in torment. How was it a Paradise for you and a prison for me? So Ibn Hajar said to him: Yes, because the pleasure I am in now, in relation to the Paradise in the Hereafter, is what? A prison. And the misery you are in now, in relation to the torment of the Hereafter, is a Paradise. It is known. So the Jew said: I bear witness that there is no god but Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah. Because the reality applied exactly to his state with the state of Ibn Hajar (may Allah have mercy on him). So the important thing is that His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): is not specific to the believers. It is a provision for the servant, the disbelievers and the non-disbelievers. But you will say: How can the disbeliever be a servant? We say: He was a servant by cosmic servitude, not by legislative servitude. And this servitude is indicated by His saying (Glorified and Exalted is He): All people are the servants of Allah. So .