64:1. All that is in the heavens and all that is on earth glorifies Allah. His is the dominion, to Him be praise, and He has power over all things.

64:2. It is He Who has created you; some of you are disbelievers and some of you are believers. And Allah sees well all that you do.

64:3. Allah created the heavens and the earth for a true purpose, and He shaped you and shaped you well. And unto Him is the return [of all],

64:4. He knows all that is in the heavens and on earth, and He knows what you conceal and what you disclose. Allah knows well what is in [your] hearts.

These verses refer to many beautiful and sublime attributes of the Creator. He mentions His perfect divinity, His complete self-sufficiency and the need of all creatures for Him, and the glorification and praise of their Lord by all who are in the heavens and on earth; and He tells us that all dominion belongs to Allah, so no creature is beyond His control.

All praise is for Him: praise for what He possesses of perfect attributes, praise for what He has created of all things, praise for what He has prescribed of laws and what He has bestowed of blessings.

His power is all-encompassing and nothing that exists is beyond His control; nothing He wills is beyond Him.

He tells us that He created human beings, and made some of them believers and some of them disbelievers. Therefore their faith or disbelief is all according to the will and decree of Allah, and it is He Who allowed that for them, as He has given them power and will by means of which they are able to choose to comply with whatever they want of His commands and prohibitions. ﴾And Allah sees well all that you dop.

Having mentioned the creation of man, who is accountable and is subject to commands and prohibitions, Allah now mentions the creation of other created things:

﴾Allah created the heavens and the earth﴿ that is, their physical essence and all that is in them, and He has made them well ﴾for a true purpose jj that is, on the basis of wisdom and for the purpose that He intended.

﴾and He shaped you and shaped you well﴿. This is like the verse in which Allah says:

﴾Verily We have created man in the best of conditions.’^ (at-Teen 95. 4)

Man is the best of all creatures in form, and the most elegant in shape.﴾And unto Him is the return [of all]﴿ on the Day of Resurrection, when He will requite you for your faith or disbelief, and He will question you about the blessings and life of ease that He bestowed upon you: did you give thanks to Him or not?

Then Allah mentions the all-encompassing nature of His knowledge: t(He knows all that is in the heavens and on earth﴿ that is, of things that are hidden and obvious, unseen and seen.

﴾fand He knows what you conceal and what you disclose. Allah knows well what is in [your] hearts﴿ that is, what they contain of good secrets and negative feelings, good intentions and corrupt aims.

Because He knows well what is in our hearts, it is essential for the wise person to be keen and strive to guard his inner thoughts from bad attitudes, and to acquire good characteristics.

64:5. Have the stories not reached you of those disbelievers who came before you? They tasted the evil consequences of their deeds, and theirs will be a painful punishment.

64:6. That is because their Messengers came to them with clear signs, but they said: Shall mere men guide us? Thus they disbelieved and turned away, but Allah had no need of them or their faith. And Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise.

Having mentioned His perfect attributes for which He is known and worshipped, and efforts are made to seek His pleasure and avoid incurring His wrath, Allah te) now tells us of what happenedto previous nations and past generations, whose stories are still told by later generations; the truthful speak of them and how, when the Messengers brought the truth to them, they stubbornly rejected it.

Therefore Allah caused them to taste the evil consequences of their deeds in this world and to be disgraced thereby,

﴾and theirs will be a painful punishment﴿ in the hereafter. Hence He mentions the reason for this punishment:

﴾That﴿, namely the punishment and the evil consequences that were sent upon them, happened because ﴾f﴾their Messengers came to them with clear signs﴿ that pointed to truth and falsehood, but they resented it and were arrogant towards their messengers, and said:

﴾Shall mere men guide us?﴿ That is, they are no better than us; why did Allah single them out and not us? This is like the verse in which Allah says:

﴾Their Messengers said to them: Indeed, we are but human beings like yourselves, but Allah bestows His favour upon whomever He wills of His slaves...﴿ (Ibrdheem 14: II)

They denied the blessing and favour that Allah bestowed upon His Prophets by decreeing that they should be Messengers to humankind, and were too arrogant to submit to them.

That led them to worship rocks and trees, and the like, ﴾Thus they disbelieved'﴿ in Allah, ﴾and turned away﴿ from obedience to Him.

﴾but Allah had no need of them;) and does not care about them, and their going astray does not harm Him in the slightest.

﴾And Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of all praise﴿ that is. He is the Self-Sufficient, Who is completely and absolutely independent and has no need of anyone in any way; praiseworthy in His words, actions and attributes.

64:7. Those who disbelieve claim that that they will never be resurrected. Say: Yes indeed, by my Lord, you will surely be resurrected, then you will surely be informed of all that you have done. And that is easy for Allah.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us of the stubbornness and false claims of the disbelievers, and their denial of the resurrection, with no knowledge, no guidance and no clear book.

He commanded the noblest of His creation to swear by his Lord that He would indeed resurrect them and requite them for their evil deeds and rejection of the truth.

﴾And that is easy for Allah﴿? for even though it is difficult - and in fact impossible - for humans, for even if all their strength were combined to revive one dead person, they would not be able to do that. But for Allah when He wills a matter. He merely says to it, ‘Bel’ and it is.

Allah says elsewhere:

﴾The Trumpet will be blown and all those who are in the heavens and on earth will swoon, except whomever Allah wills. Then it will be blown again, whereupon they will be standing, looking around.8

64:8. So believe in Allah and His Messenger, and the light [the Qur’an] that We have sent down. And Allah is well aware of all that you do.

Having mentioned the denial of those who denied the resurrection, and that this was an implication of disbelief on their part in Allah and His revelations, Allah now enjoins adherence to that which will protect one from doom and misery, which is to believe in Allah, and in His Messenger (ﷺ) and His Book. Allah calls His Book light, because light is the opposite of darkness, and the rulings, laws and stories in the Book that Allah has sent down are lights that will guide one in the dark depths of overwhelming ignorance and enable him to walk in the darkness of night.

Anything other than following the guidance of the Book of Allah is a type of knowledge of which the harm is greater than any benefit, and its evil is greater than its good. In fact there is nothing good and no benefit in it, except that which is in accordance with the message brought by the Messengers.

Belief in Allah, His Messenger (ﷺ) and His Book dictates that one should have certain faith and true belief in them, and that one should act in accordance with them, by complying with their commands and heeding their prohibitions.

fjAnd Allah is well aware of all that you do﴿ and He will requite you for your deeds, both righteous and otherwise.

64:9. [And He will requite you] on the day on which He will gather you for the Day of Gathering, the day of great loss. But whoever believes in Allah and does righteous deeds, He will absolve them of their bad deeds and admit them to gardens through which rivers flow, to abide therein forever; that is the supreme triumph.

64:10. However, those who disbelieve and reject Our signs, they will be inhabitants of the fire, to abide therein forever, a hapless journey’s end.

That is, and He will requite you on the Day of Gathering, on which Allah will gather the first and the last and make them stand in a huge assembly, and He will inform them of what they did.

On that day, the differences between people will become apparent; some people will be raised to the highest status in lofty chambers and dwellings that contain all delights and pleasures.

And some people will be brought down to the lowest of low status, a place of distress, anguish, grief and severe punishment. That will be the outcome of what they sent forth for themselves and what they did during their earthly life. Hence Allah says:

﴾the day of great loss﴿ when there will be a huge difference between people in terms of winning and losing. The believers will be winners and the evildoers will be great losers. The wicked will realise that they were following something of no value, and that they are indeed losers.

It is as if it was asked: how does one attain prosperity and bliss or incur doom and loss? And so Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) mentioned the causes and means of both by saying: ﴾But whoever believes in Allah﴿ with perfect faith, which includes believing in everything that Allah has enjoined people to believe in﴾and does righteous deeds)﴿ both obligatory and supererogatory, by fulfilling his duties towards Allah and towards His slaves ﴾He will absolve them of their bad deeds and admit them to gardens through which rivers flow﴿ in which there is all that their souls may desire and that may delight their eyes, for which their hearts long, where they will find their ultimate desires, ﴾to abide therein forever; that is the supreme triumph﴿.

﴾However, those who disbelieve and reject Our signs﴿ that is, they disbelieve in them without basing their disbelief on any religious text or rational thinking; rather, clear evidence came to them, but they disbelieved in it and stubbornly rejected what it pointed to.

﴾they will be inhabitants of the fire, to abide therein forever, a hapless journey’s end﴿ because it will contain all suffering, hardship, misery and torment.

64:11. No calamity occurs except by Allah’s leave. Whoever believes in Allah, He will guide his heart aright.^{1That is. He will guide him at the time of calamity, so that he will realise that it is from Allah, and will accept the divine decree and be content with it. (ar-Razi)} And Allah has knowledge of all things.

64:12. Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger. But if you turn away, then know that the duty of Our Messenger is only to convey the message in the clearest way.

64:13. Allah, there is no god but He; and in Allah let the believers put their trust.

﴾No calamity occurs except by Allah’s leave﴿ this is general in meaning and includes all calamities, whether they affect the individual himself, his wealth, his children, his loved ones and so on.

Everything that befalls people happens by the will and decree of Allah, and was already known to Allah in His prior knowledge and was written by His pen, ordained by His will and dictated by His wisdom. What matters is whether the individual will do what is required of him or not.

If he does what is required of him, then he will have a great reward in this world and the hereafter.

If he believes that it is from Allah, and he accepts it and submits to His decree, Allah will guide his heart, and he will be reassured and will not panic at times of calamity, as happens in the case of one whose heart is not guided by Allah. Indeed Allah will grant him steadfastness when calamity strikes, and will help them to adhere to patience. Thus he will attain reward in this world, in addition to what Allah has stored up for him on the day of requital. As Allah Ofe) says elsewhere:

﴾...Verily, those who are patient and steadfast will be rewarded abundantly, without measure, js (az-Zumar 39:10)

Thus it is known that whoever does not believe in Allah when calamity strikes, in the sense that he does not acknowledge the divine will and decree, and focuses only on causes, will be forsaken and Allah will leave him to his own devices.

If a person is left to his own devices, in that case he has nothing left at the time of calamity except panic and despair, which is an immediate punishment before the punishment of the hereafter, for having fallen short in adhering to patience.

This has to do with the meaning of the phraseWhoever believes in Allah, He will guide his heart aright﴿ within the limited context of calamity. As for what the phrase means in general terms, Allah tells us that for everyone who believes - in the manner enjoined, believing in Allah, His angels. His Books, His Messengers, the Last Day, and the divine decree, both good and bad - and confirms his faith by doing what it requires of duties, this is a great means of attaining Allah’s guidance in all his circumstances, words and deeds, and in his knowledge and action.

This is the best reward that Allah bestows upon those who believe, as He says when telling us that He will make the believers steadfast in the life of this world and in the hereafter.

Steadfastness means constancy, patience and certainty in the heart when trials come. Allah says:

﴾Allah will make steadfast those who believe, with the word that stands firm, in this world and in the hereafter...﴿ dbraheem 14: 27)

The believers are the most guided of people in their hearts, and the most steadfast at times of panic and anxiety; this is because of what they have of faith.

﴾Obey Allah, and obey the Messenger﴿ that is, by complying with their commands and heeding their prohibitions. Obedience to Allah and obedience to His Messenger form the foundation and basis of happiness and prosperity.

(•jBut if you turn away﴿ from obedience to Allah and obedience to His Messenger (ﷺ)

﴾then know that the duty of Our Messenger is only to convey the message in the clearest way﴿ that is, to convey to you that with which he has been sent to you in such a way that it becomes clear to you and proof is established against you (leaving no excuse for you). He has no power to guide you or to bring you to account.

It is only the Knower of the unseen and the seen who will bring you to account for obedience to Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), or otherwise.

﴾Allah, there is no god but Hej﴿ that is, He is the only One Who is deserving of worship and devotion; everything that is worshipped besides Him is false.

﴾and in Allah let the believers put their trust﴿ that is, let them rely on Him in every matter of concern to them, and in everything they want to do.

For nothing could be achieved except with the help of Allah, and there is no way to attain what one wants except by relying on Him. One cannot truly rely on Allah unless one thinks positively of Him and trusts Him to take care of the matter in which one is relying on Him, according to the level of one’s faith. The stronger a person’s faith is, the stronger his trust in Allah will be.

64:14. O you who believe, verily among your spouses and your children are some that are enemies to you, so beware of them. But if you pardon, overlook and forgive [their misdeeds],^{1Some family members may be «{enemies£ in the sense that they seek to prevent one doing what is right. The reason for the revelation of this verse was that some men in Makkah became Muslim and wanted to migrate to Madinah, but their wives and children did not let them do so. Therefore Allah enjoined them to be on their guard against the hindrance =} then verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

64:15. Your wealth and your children are but a trial, and with Allah there is an immense reward.

Here Allah warns the believers against being deceived by wives and children, for some of them are enemies to you; an enemy is one who wishes ill towards you. Your role is to be alert to anyone who is like that, for people are naturally inclined to love their wives and children.

Allah gives this advice to His slaves lest their love makes them succumb to the demands of wives and children, even if there is some shar'i reservation about what they want. He encourages people to adhere to His commands and give precedence to seeking His pleasure by mentioning that which is with Him of great reward, which will help them to attain these sublime aims and goals, and to give precedence to the hereafter over this transient world.

Because the prohibition on obeying wives and children has to do with that which is harmful and is a warning against that, this may lead some to think that they should be harsh towards them and punish them. Therefore Allah tells us to be cautious regarding them, yet at the same time to overlook and forgive, for that serves innumerable interests. Allah says:

﴾But if you pardon, overlook and forgive [their misdeeds], then verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful)﴿ because the reward matches the nature of the deed. So whoever pardons others, Allah will pardon him; whoever overlooks (their errors), Allah will overlook (his errors); whoever forgives them, Allah will forgive him. Whoever behaves with Allah as He likes him to, and behaves with His slaves as they like him to, and benefits them, will attain the love of Allah and the love of His slaves, and he will be in a good position.

= of their family members, and not to obey them in anything that involved disobedience towards Allah. Yet they were still to forgive their misdeeds, not rebuke them for that, and to conceal the matter. (ash-Shawkani)

64:16. So fear Allah as best you can; listen and obey; and spend in charity for the good of your souls. Those who are protected from their own covetousness - it is they who will be the successful ones.

64:17. If you lend to Allah a goodly loan. He will multiply it for you and forgive you. Allah is Appreciative, Most Forbearing,

64:18. Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Almighty, the Most Wise.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) enjoins His slaves to fear Him, which means complying with His commands and heeding His prohibitions, according to what one is able to do. This verse indicates that every duty a person is unable to do because it is too difficult for him is waived in his case, but if he is able to do some of it and unable to do some of it, then he should do whatever he is able to do, and what he is unable to do is waived for him. As the Prophet (ﷺ) said:

«When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you can.» (Bukhari)

This principle includes innumerable minor issues of religion, glisten:﴿ to what Allah exhorts you to do and what He prescribes for you of rulings; learn about that and submit to Him;

﴾and obey﴿ Allah and His Messenger (jig) in all your affairs (fand spend﴿ in ways that are both obligatory and recommended, for this deed will be good for you in this world and the hereafter.All goodness is in obeying the commands of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), accepting His guidance and submitting to His laws, and all evil is in doing the opposite of that.

But there is a problem that prevents many people from spending in the manner enjoined, which is the covetousness that is inherent in most people. They are stingy with their wealth; they love to have it and they dislike parting with it.

Whomever Allah protects from the evil of his own covetousness, so that he lets himself spend in ways that are beneficial to his soul, ﴾it is they who will be the successful ones﴿, because they have done what is required of them and been saved from what is feared. Indeed this may include all commands and prohibitions that are ordained for people.

But if a person is covetous, he will not be able to do what he is enjoined and he will not pay what is due, and he will not be successful; rather he will be a loser in this world and in the hereafter. But if he is easy-going and at ease, and accepts the laws of Allah and seeks the pleasure of Allah, then there will be nothing standing between him and doing what is enjoined, except coming to know of it and realising that it is pleasing to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Thus he will prosper, succeed and attain great triumph.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) urges people to spend, saying:

﴾If you lend to Allah a goodly loan﴿ - this refers to any spending from permissible earnings, if the intention is to spend it for the sake of Allah fig) and seek His pleasure, and it is spent in an appropriate manner ﴾He will multiply it for you﴿ tenfold, up to seven hundredfold, up to many times more than that

﴾fand﴿ in addition to multiplying it. He will ﴾forgive you﴿ your sins because of that spending and charity, for Allah expiates sins by means of acts of charity and good deeds, t-f...Verily, good deeds erase bad deeds...﴿ (Hood II: 114)

﴾Allah is Appreciative, Most Forbearing﴿ - He is forbearing and does not hasten to punish the one who disobeys Him; rather He gives respite, but He does not forget.

﴾If Allah were to take humankind to task for what they have earned, He would not leave on the face of [the earth] a single living creature, but He gives them respite for an appointed term...﴿ (Fatir35: 45) ﴾Allah is Appreciative﴿ - He accepts a little of good deeds from His slaves and rewards them greatly for them.

He is appreciative of those who bear hardships and difficulties for His sake. Whoever gives up a thing for the sake of Allah, Allah will compensate him with something better than it.

﴾Knower of the unseen and the seen﴿ that is, all that is hidden from people of hosts that no one knows but He, and what they can see of created things.

﴾the Almighty﴿ Who cannot be overcome or resisted. Who has subjugated all things

﴾the Most Wise﴿ in His creation and command, and He does what is appropriate.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat at-Taghabun.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.