Completing the exegesis of Surat al-Bayyinah, from the saying of Allah the Exalted: "Indeed, those who disbelieved from among the People of the Book and the polytheists will be in the Fire of Hell," to the end of the surah.

The Shaykh : In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
Praise be to Allah, and I send prayers and peace upon the Messenger of Allah, and upon his family and his Companions, and upon those who follow his guidance.
As for what follows:
This is the eighty-seventh of the gatherings known as the open gathering, and this is Thursday, the twenty-second of Shawwal in the year 1415.
We begin this gathering by completing the exegesis of Surat al-Bayyinah, and in the previous gathering we had reached the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He: Here, Allah the Exalted has made a clear, emphatic statement using "in" (indeed) that those who disbelieved from among the People of the Book and the polytheists are in the Fire of Hell, meaning in the fire called Hell. It is called Hell because of the depth of its bottom and its darkness; it is derived from "al-juhmah" (the deep, dark place). It is also said to be a foreign name that the Arabs Arabized. In any case, the word "Hell" is one of the names of the Fire. May Allah protect us and you from it.
And His saying: Here, the specification clarifies the ambiguity, meaning the ambiguity of the relative pronoun in His saying: Accordingly, this implies that the People of the Book are disbelievers, and they are the Jews and the Christians. Likewise, the Jews and the Christians are disbelievers because they did not believe in the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), even if they claim to believe in Allah and the Last Day, and they call for mercy for their dead, and so on, using such phrases to seek closeness to Allah. They are liars, for if they truly believed in Allah and the Last Day, they would have believed in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him). In fact, they would have believed in their messengers, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) was described in the Torah and the Gospel, as Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said in Surat al-A'raf: Indeed, 'Isa (peace be upon him) said to the Children of Israel: When this Messenger came, whom 'Isa had foretold with clear proofs, they said: They lied to him and did not follow him, except for a small number of Jews and Christians who believed in Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) and followed him.
"The worst of creation" means the worst of the created beings, because "al-bariyyah" means the created beings. Accordingly, the disbelievers among the children of Adam, from the Jews, Christians, and polytheists, are the worst of creation, the worst of all beings. Allah has made this completely clear in His saying: And He the Exalted said: These disbelievers from the Jews, Christians, and polytheists are the worst of creation in the sight of Allah Mighty and Majestic. Since they are the worst of creation, one should expect nothing but evil from them, for evil flows from the evil-doer. It is never possible to have a good opinion of them. We may trust the truthful among them, as the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) trusted the polytheist 'Abdullah ibn Urayqit when he hired him to guide him on the path of the Hijrah. But the majority and the bulk of them are not to be trusted because they are evil.
When Allah mentioned the ruling concerning these disbelievers from the Jews, Christians, and polytheists, He mentioned the ruling concerning the believers, saying: The Noble Qur'an is "muthani" (doubled), in which meanings are repeated. The meaning is presented along with its opposite, the people of the Fire and the people of Paradise are presented, and verses of warning and verses of encouragement are presented, and so on, so that a person may proceed toward Allah Mighty and Majestic between fear and hope, and so that they do not become bored. Varying the styles and topics undoubtedly gives the soul strength and momentum, unlike if the speech were on a single note, in which case a person might become bored and their soul might not be moved.
They are in four levels, which Allah distinguished in His saying: These four levels are the levels of the believers. The highest is the level of prophethood, and the highest level of prophethood is the level of messengership. After that, following prophethood, is the level of the sincere friends (Siddiqin), and at the head of the sincere friends is Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him). The martyrs are said to be the people of knowledge, and it is also said that they are those who were killed in the cause of Allah. The verse allows for both meanings without contradiction. What is required of the exegete of the Qur'an is that when a verse allows for both meanings without contradiction, it should be understood to include both meanings. Thus, the martyrs are the people of knowledge and they are those who were killed in the cause of Allah. All of them have a high rank above all those who follow the messengers, except for the sincere friends. Allah the Exalted said: They are the lowest of the levels. Thus, those who believed and did righteous deeds, in their various levels, are the best of creation, meaning the best of what Allah Mighty and Majestic has created.
Then He clarified their reward, saying: Here, Allah placed the praise of the believers who did righteous deeds before mentioning their reward, because Allah's praise of them is a higher rank and a greater virtue. Therefore, He placed it before the reward, which is their reward on the Day of Resurrection. "Gardens" is the plural, used because of the variety of their types, because the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: And to this points the saying of Allah the Exalted: Then He mentioned the descriptions of these two gardens, and then said: For them are gardens. The gardens mentioned by Allah the Exalted as the reward for the believers who do righteous deeds are great dwellings prepared by Allah Mighty and Majestic for the believing, God-fearing people. In them is what no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and what has not entered the heart of any human being. It is not possible for a person in this world to ever imagine how the pleasure of the Hereafter is, because it is higher and more noble than what we imagine. Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with him and her) said: "There is nothing in Paradise from what is in this world except the names" but the realities differ greatly.
He the Exalted and Majestic said: "Al-'Adn" means a place of residence and not leaving it. Part of the complete pleasure of the people of Paradise is that each one of them does not seek to change from the pleasure he is in, because he does not see anyone more complete than him, and he does not feel in his heart that he is in a state of inferiority compared to one who is higher and more complete. Allah Blessed and Exalted is He said: Meaning: they do not seek to change from what they are in, because Allah the Exalted has satisfied them with what He has given them, so they do not find anyone with more pleasure than them. For this reason, Allah the Exalted named these gardens "Gardens of 'Adn." I ask Allah to make me and you among their people.
"From beneath them" the scholars said: from beneath their palaces and trees, otherwise it is on their surface and not below. The rivers mentioned by Allah the Exalted here are summarized, and He detailed them in Surat Muhammad, saying: These are the rivers. It has come in the narrations describing these rivers that they flow without channels or ditches, meaning that the river flows on the surface of the earth, heading where the person directs it, without needing to dig ditches or build channels to prevent the water from flowing to the right and left. In this, Ibn al-Qayyim (may Allah have mercy on him) said in his book al-Nuniyyah:
"Its rivers flow without a trench *** Glory to the One who holds them back from overflowing"
Meaning: abiding therein forever. They do not die, nor do they get sick, nor do they feel discomfort, nor do they sleep, nor do they grieve, and no fatigue touches them therein. They are in the most complete pleasure, always, always, and forever, forever of the eternals. O Allah, make us among them. May Allah be pleased with them and may they be pleased with Him. This is the most complete pleasure: that Allah the Exalted is pleased with them, so His pleasure settles upon them, and He does not become angry with them thereafter. Rather, they look at Allah Blessed and Exalted is He with their eyes, as they see the moon on the night of the full moon, without any doubt or suspicion, and without one of them gathering with another to show it to him. Rather, each person sees it in his place as Allah the Exalted willed. Then He the Exalted and Majestic said: Meaning: that reward is for the one who feared Allah the Exalted. Fear (khashiyyah) is the fear of Allah the Exalted accompanied by awe and magnification, and it does not come except from one who knows Allah, as He the Exalted said: And with this, this great surah is completed, and what was possible for us to say regarding its exegesis is completed. We ask Allah to make us all among those who recite the Book of Allah with true recitation. Indeed, He is capable of all things. Now, it is the time for questions, and we start from the right. Each person has one question, hopefully covering everyone.