The Exegesis of the Words of Allah the Exalted: <<And those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a low-lying place, which the thirsty man supposes to be water, until when he comes to it, he finds it to be nothing, and he finds Allah with him>>

Then Allah the Exalted said: When Allah the Exalted mentioned the deeds of these men, those noble deeds, He mentioned the deeds of those who disbelieved. What is their affair? This is the method of Allah the Exalted in His Book: when He mentions the description of the believer, He mentions the description of the disbeliever after it, or vice versa; and when He mentions the description of Paradise, He mentions the description of the Fire after it, or vice versa. This is because the Qur'an is *muthani* (paired), in which meanings are repeated and some are contrasted with others. This is one reason. The other is that when a person is told the attributes of the people of good and the attributes of the people of Paradise, the aspect of hope may dominate him, and he may perish. And when the attributes of the Fire and the attributes of the people of evil are mentioned, the aspect of fear may dominate him, and he may also perish.
For this reason, the scholars differed on whether it is better for a person to let the aspect of hope dominate, or the aspect of fear, or to make them equal. Imam Ahmad said: "It should be that his fear and his hope are equal. Whichever one dominates, its owner perishes. For if fear dominates you, you fall into despair of the mercy of Allah. And if hope dominates you, you fall into security from the stratagem of Allah. Both are paths that do not befit the believer." Some scholars said: "The sick person should let the aspect of hope dominate, based on the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): And the healthy person should let the aspect of fear dominate." Others said: "When committing a sin, the aspect of fear should dominate. Why? Because if hope dominates, one says, 'Allah is Forgiving and Merciful, and I hope that Allah will forgive me,' and thus becomes secure from the sin. And when performing an act of obedience, the aspect of hope should dominate, that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, will accept it from him and reward him, so that he does not despair." He said: "And this is indicated by the like of the saying of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him): Thus, worship Allah while you are in hope that He will accept it from you. In any case, in my opinion, this is the strongest of the opinions: that when a person is in the aspect of devotion and performing worship, hope should dominate, but not with certainty of hope in this, because Allah says: meaning, fearful that it will not be accepted from them. But the meaning is that this [hope] should dominate along with fear. As for the aspect of committing a sin, the aspect of fear should dominate so that one does not proceed with it relying on hope. Well, in any case, we have strayed a little, but our intention was that the Noble Qur'an mentions this and that in it, so that the conduct of the person is balanced.
He said: " *Qiy'ah* is the plural of *qa'*, meaning a desert. It is a stretch of land where, in the heat of midday, something resembling flowing water is seen." This is the exegesis of the mirage. *Al-Qiy'ah* is the desert. The mirage in the desert, I think you all know it. In the intense heat, when you are in a stretch of land, a *qiy'ah* (plural of *qa'*), unlike sandy land where this thing does not occur, but in the *qiy'an* (deserts), it is seen from afar as if there is water in that direction. You suppose it is water and you head toward it. The deeds of these disbelievers are like this: like a mirage in the desert. The thirsty man supposes it to be water, but it is not water. How is that? Because they say They suppose that these intercessors, from whom they will disavow themselves Yes, they suppose them to be intercessors. And you know that when the soul attaches itself to something as an intercessor or as something that brings it closer to Allah, it follows it, or not? It follows it without a doubt. These are like the mirage in the desert. The thirsty man supposes it to be water. The thirsty man, meaning the one who is parched, supposes it to be water. This is a vivid simile, meaning that he heads toward it with intensity and eagerness, believing that it will save him. Is the thirsty man in need of water or not? So when he sees something resembling water, he heads toward it with intensity and eagerness in order to relieve his necessity with it. Does he suppose it will benefit him or not? And if he did not suppose it would benefit him, he would not go to it. But the result is What do you imagine his state to be at that time? A great disappointment, and may Allah protect us from it. No one can imagine it. A thirsty man came to this mirage from afar. And note also that the mirage does not appear in nearby places; from afar, the further you see it from a distant place, the more you want to drink, so the result is that he finds nothing of what he supposed. The author says: "Likewise, the disbeliever supposes that his deed, such as charity, will benefit him, until when he dies and is presented to his Lord, he does not find his deed, meaning it did not benefit him... And he finds Allah with him, meaning with his deed, so He gave him his due, meaning He recompensed him for it in this world. And Allah is swift in reckoning, meaning recompense." Well, this disbeliever supposes that his deed will benefit him, and the author likened it to charity. There is a consideration here, unless he intended to give an example, in which case it is correct. This is among the deeds that disbelievers do, supposing that they will benefit them, while they do not benefit them. But it should be said that it is broader than that. It is not intended to be only charity, but even the worship of idols, which they suppose will benefit them And yet, all of this does not benefit them. They will not find anything of what they suppose and imagine.
And His saying "with him" refers to this mirage, because now he has reached death. So when he dies, he has met Allah, Mighty and Majestic. For this reason, He said, "So He gave him his due." This is the apparent context. As for the opinion of the author, he makes "he finds Allah with him" meaning "with his deed" a branch of his saying "and those who disbelieved," because "those who disbelieved" is general. So it is as if it is said: "And those who disbelieved, meaning the disbeliever, his deed is such and such meaning with that deed, based on his saying "So He gave him his reckoning." But the apparent meaning of the verse is that the pronouns refer to the nearest mentioned, which is this thirsty man who reached the water, was thirsty, and found nothing, so he will perish. He finds Allah with him, so He gave him his due, and Allah is swift in reckoning. "His reckoning" means the recompense for his deed. And His saying "swift in reckoning" means recompense. What is meant by swiftness here? Is it meant because of the nearness of the time of recompense, so the swiftness is temporal? Or is it meant the completion of the reckoning, so the swiftness is operational? Or both? "Allah is swift in reckoning"—does the meaning refer to His swiftness in His reckoning, or does it mean that His reckoning of the servants is near? It is possible that it includes all of this. The reckoning is near, even if it is long for a person in this world, it is near And likewise, when Allah reckons the creation on the Day of Resurrection, He will reckon them in half a day, as Allah, Glorified and Exalted, said: [Al-Furqan: 24] The scholars deduced from this that they will be excused in their dwellings on a day like that. But in any case, the day to which Allah referred is fifty thousand years in magnitude. And whatever the case may be, Allah is capable of something more than that. But with this, this swiftness is great and a complete power. Even if it were fifty thousand years, or twenty-five thousand years, the creation, from the first to the last, between human and jinn, birds, and others, in half a day. Now, if a person were to reckon a person he dealt with for a year, how long would it take? If the reckoning is precise and much, it would take a period. The reckoning may be accurate, and it may not be accurate. But the reckoning of Allah, Mighty and Majestic, with its swiftness, does not leave out a small thing or a large thing except that He records it. This is an example of a disbeliever who did a deed seeking to draw near to Allah, Mighty and Majestic, or another example.