Al-Nabaʾ^{1All the MSS give this sūra the title: ‘ʿAmmā yatasāʾalūn’.}

His words, Exalted is He:

and [have We not] made the day for livelihood,

That is, the lights of the heart and its illumination (tanwīr) through Our remembrance (dhikr), are the livelihood (ʿaysh) of the spiritual self (nafs al-rūḥ) and the intellect (ʿaql), as they are the livelihood of the angels. However, the other kind of livelihood is the way of the generality of people (ʿawāmm).

Then he said:

It is not [good] character for the believer to grovel (tadhallul) in times of poverty (fāqa), and it is distasteful for the poor to wear thread-bare clothes, and to carry the concerns related to their provisions (arzāq) in their hearts.^{1In other words the correct behaviour for the believer is not to burden others with displaying his poverty to the world at large, just as he should not burden his heart with concerns for his provision, since he should trust that God will provide for him. It is interesting that among the three guidelines that Tustarī puts forward to avoid the former situation, the inner is addressed first, i.e. depending on God.} [The cure] at the root of these matters consists of three [things]: dependence on God, Majestic and Mighty is He; fleeing from people, and doing the least [possible] harm to others.

ʿĀmir b. ʿAbd al-Qays used to say when he rose in the morning, ‘O God! Verily people have dispersed in pursuit of their needs, but I have only one need, which is that You forgive me.’^{2Ibn Abī ʿĀṣim, Kitāb al-Zuhd, p. 225.}

His words, Mighty and Majestic is He:

As a fitting requital,

The Fire is a fitting punishment for association [idolatry] (shirk), because both of them are momentous (ʿaẓīm). There is no punishment ⸢greater than the Fire and no sin⸣ greater than association.^{1The addition is made on the basis of all three MSS: Z515, f. 127b, F638, f. 61a and F3488, f. 309b.}

His words, Exalted is He:

and buxom maidens…

He said:

Young and attractive concubines, atrāb means of equal age.

His words, Exalted is He:

and a brimming cup.

That is, continuously full.

Once, a wise man (ḥakīm) met another wise man in Mosul and said to him, ‘Do you long for the dark-eyed houris?’ He replied: ‘Should I not long for them, when the light of their faces is from the light of God, Majestic and Mighty is He?’ At this he [the wise man] fell into a swoon and was carried to his home. For a month afterwards people would visit him due to his sickness. Ibn ʿAbbās, رضي الله عنهم said, ‘If one of the maidens [of Paradise] were to spit into the seven seas, they would become sweeter than honey.’^{1Mundhirī, al-Targhīb, vol. 4, p. 299.}

But God, Glorified and Exalted is He, knows best.