Exegesis of Verses (20 - 23) of Surat al-Hadid.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the session completing the two hundred and twentieth of the Al-Bab al-Maftuh sessions, which take place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the twenty-sixth of the month of Rajab in the year one thousand and forty.
We begin this session, as is customary, with what Allah (Mighty and Majestic) facilitates in the form of exegesis of His perfect words. Allah (Blessed and Exalted is He) says, in explaining the state of this world, which Allah described as play, amusement, adornment, boasting, and competition in wealth and children—five things He enumerated for us?
The student: Play and amusement.

The Shaykh : Play
The student: ...

The Shaykh : And amusement
The student: And boasting.

The Shaykh : And adornment.
The student: And adornment and boasting.

The Shaykh : And boasting among you.
The student: And competition in wealth and children.

The Shaykh : Yes, this is the reality of this world.
Then Allah gave it a parable, for parables clarify meanings, as a parable means measuring a meaning against the tangible: rain, meaning: rain by which the earth grows and by which hardship is removed meaning: the vegetation resulting from it, and it delighted them, meaning: they found it pleasing. The disbelievers are those who disbelieve in Allah (Mighty and Majestic), for the disbeliever is delighted by this world, rejoices in it, is pleased by it, and his heart is attached to it; he has no concern except what he sees of its adornment and amusement. So it was the vegetation of the disbelievers, meaning: the vegetation of this rain, that delighted the disbelievers. Why were the disbelievers specified? I told you because the disbelievers are those who find this world pleasing, are delighted by it, and their hearts are attached to it. As for the believers, they are the opposite; they are concerned only with what benefits the Hereafter. It was said that the intended meaning of "disbelievers" here is the farmers, but this is not correct, for applying the term "disbelievers" to farmers is very rare, if it is even valid. Those who say the intended meaning is farmers say so because the disbeliever disbelieves the seed, meaning: he covers it in the earth, plowing the earth over it so that it may come out. But what we established first is the correct view: that the intended meaning of "disbelievers" here is?
The student: Disbelievers in Allah.

The Shaykh : Disbelievers in Allah. The vegetation delighted the disbelievers, and after it appeared and delighted them, and they found it pleasing and marveled at it, meaning: it withers and dries after it was green and growing, it becomes yellow and dissolving meaning: it crumbles and breaks because it dried. So what was the result of this crop?
The student: Rubble.

The Shaykh : Yes, destruction and disappearance. This is the state of this world: it dazzles a person with its blessings, palaces, vehicles, wealth, children, wives, and so on, and then it crumbles. How many a rich man was happy in his family, enjoying himself in his home, in his vehicle, in his clothes, and in all his circumstances, only to return as a poor man, and his world crumbles. If he did not die and his world crumble by his departure from this world, then one of two things must happen: either this world departs from you, or you depart from it. This is the state of this world, and this is a matter in which there is no doubt in reality. But souls are heedless with it; heedlessness causes a person to be distracted from such a real matter, so he thinks everything is fine and considers the disappearance of this world, or his disappearance from it, unlikely.
As for the Hereafter, listen to it. He said: for the disbelievers for the believers. So which is more deserving of a person's preference: this world, whose end is annihilation and disappearance, or the Hereafter? The second one: prefer the Hereafter. This is reason, for if you prefer this world, there is severe punishment in the Hereafter, and if you prefer the Hereafter, there is forgiveness from Allah and pleasure: forgiveness for sins and pleasure for good deeds.
This sentence contains restriction. What is its method? Negation and affirmation, which is the highest method of restriction. The life of this world is nothing but a temporary enjoyment, and nothing else. And the enjoyment of delusion: a person is deluded by it, so he plays, amuses himself, rejoices, and becomes arrogant, and then all of this disappears. These sentences and these descriptions are intended by Allah (Mighty and Majestic)—and He knows best—to make a person disdain this world and desire the Hereafter. And I ask you: does one who disdains this world and desires the Hereafter miss anything of the enjoyment of this world? The answer is: No, he does not miss it, even if he fears Allah, he does not miss the enjoyment of this world. The evidence for this is from the Qur'an and the Sunnah. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: He did not say "We will increase his wealth, children, and palaces." secure and at ease in it And the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) clarified that in his saying: .
Then He (Mighty and Majestic) said: The first verse mentioned to us the brother Moses, and we are bound by our promise that we have spoken about it. Does it have a corroborating narration? Yes, do you corroborate it with it? Good. He (Mighty and Majestic) said: meaning: all the calamities that befall a person on earth or in his self have been written beforehand. A calamity on earth is like drought, scarcity of rain, the sinking of water and the difficulty of reaching it, and perhaps also trials and wars and the like.
meaning: in the person's own self, such as illness, or the loss of a loved one, or the loss of wealth, or the like, even a thorn that pricks him.
And this Book is the Preserved Tablet. Allah wrote in it the measures of everything. When He (Glorified and Exalted is He) created the Pen, He said to it: "Write." It said: "My Lord, what should I write?" He said: "Write what is to happen until the Day of Resurrection." So it wrote what is to happen until the Day of Resurrection. Glory to Allah! How great is this Tablet that contains everything until the Day of Resurrection. But this is not strange for the power of Allah (Mighty and Majestic), for when Allah the Exalted wills a thing, He says to it "Be," and it is. And indeed, people used to marvel before and not consider it impossible; they marveled but did not consider it impossible that the measures of everything would be written in this Tablet. Now, from the work of man, a small piece has appeared in which thousands of words are recorded. Is that not so? And what is it called?
The student: The computer.

The Shaykh : No, a laser. What is a laser?
The student: ...

The Shaykh : Well, in any case, you know it now; it is a small plate like a disc in which thousands of words are recorded. It may record all the compiled books of hadith, or all the exegeses, or all the books of jurists, and it is the work of man. So how about the work of the One who says to a thing "Be," and it is? When He said "Write what is to happen until the Day of Resurrection," it wrote what is to happen until the Day of Resurrection. So are the calamities that befall people in a prior decree, or are they newly initiated? The answer is: the former. And for this He said: Here, in His saying: It was said that it returns to the calamity, or to the earth, or to the selves, or to all of them. The correct view is that it is for all of them, meaning before we bring forth all these things, meaning before we create them. And that is because Allah wrote the measures of everything before He created the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years. Fifty thousand years is a long period, and this is written. So To what does the pronoun refer? That we bring forth the earth? That we bring forth the calamity? That we bring forth the selves? That we bring forth all of them?
The student: All of them.

The Shaykh : Yes, all of them. All of them. Good. And "bring forth" means: create. For how long? Answer: Fifty thousand years before Allah created the heavens and the earth by fifty thousand years.
meaning: the writing of these calamities is easy for Allah (Mighty and Majestic). How is it easy? Because He said to the Pen "Write," so it wrote. And is this easy or difficult? Easy. One word accomplished everything. Everything is easy for Allah, for the command is one word: "Be," and it is. Have you seen the creation on the Day of Resurrection being resurrected by how many words? Say, everyone: One word. Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: And He (Mighty and Majestic) said: on the face of the earth, they came out of the graves. This is easy, my brothers, easy, by Allah. And when Zakariyya said to Allah (Mighty and Majestic) when He gave him the glad tidings of a child, he said: meaning: from old age Allah (Mighty and Majestic) said: So I created you before you were, and by My power, you can have a child after a long period. So nothing is too difficult for Allah (Mighty and Majestic), nothing is insurmountable for Him, and nothing is delayed from His cosmic command. Indeed, that is easy for Allah.
meaning: We have informed you that every calamity that occurs is in a Book. The lam here is for causation, and "ki" means "that," meaning "so that" you do not grieve. And the meaning of "grieve" is: to regret what has passed from what you love.
Be alert: if you know that a thing is written beforehand, will you regret what has passed?
The student: Yes.

The Shaykh : Why? Because it is written, and what is written must come to pass. Do you rejoice with the joy of arrogance and self-sufficiency when Allah grants you His favor? No, because it is from Allah and was written beforehand. So be moderate: do not regret what has passed, and do not rejoice with the joy of arrogance and self-sufficiency over what Allah has granted you of His favor, for it is from Allah. In the authentic hadith, the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him and his family) said: Strong in what? In faith, my brother! You have done well. It is not the strong in body. The athletes make this their title. The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer. And they say that the meaning is the believer who is strong in body, and this is a mistake. The strong believer—here "strong" is a description that refers back to what preceded it, which is The rhetoricians call this a precaution (ihtirās), meaning that one might think there is no good in the weak one, so he said: Then he said: And when a person knows that everything is decreed and must come to pass, he is content with what has happened, and he knows that it is impossible to remove what has happened, ever. For this reason, it is said that the permanence of a state is impossible, and changing a state—meaning removing a thing after it has occurred—is impossible.
We return to the verse Arrogant in his action, proud in his speech. Among the arrogance in action is dragging his garment, his shawl, or his cloak, yes, or his shawl, or anything else that indicates arrogance, even if he wears a garment that is not dragging, but it is considered arrogance, so it is arrogance. The proud one is the one who is pleased with himself, who says, "I did this and I did that," boasting to people. Since you are doing the deed seeking the reward of Allah, what need is there to boast about it to people? Rather, thank Allah for it and mention it as a blessing from Allah upon you. Then he mentioned their descriptions afterwards, and this will come, if Allah wills, in the next session. Let us take questions, starting with oaths.