Surah Zumar ayat 22 Tafsir Quran 39:22

﴿أَفَمَن شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرَهُ لِلْإِسْلَامِ فَهُوَ عَلَىٰ نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ ۚ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَاسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُم مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ فِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ﴾
[ الزمر: 22]

39:22 So is one whose breast Allah has expanded to [accept] Islam and he is upon a light from his Lord [like one whose heart rejects it]? Then woe to those whose hearts are hardened against the remembrance of Allah. Those are in manifest error.

Is he whose breast God has opened to Islam and becomes guided so that he follows a light from his Lord …? like he whose heart He has sealed with disbelief? — this understanding of the ellipsis is indicated by what follows. So woe — an expression indicating ‘chastisement’ — to those whose hearts have been hardened against the remembrance of God that is hardened against the acceptance of the Qur’ān. Such are in manifest error.

Will he not be secure, he whom Allah has delighted his heart with Islam and accorded the seat of his thoughts and feelings with its principles, and Providence his guide and his source of illumination and enlightenment! Woe betide the hard-hearted who counsel deaf to exhortation and will not apply remembrance to Allah. These are they who are lost in the maze of error

The Parable of the Life of this World Allah tells us that water originates in the sky.
This is like the Ayah: وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً طَهُوراً ( and We send down pure water from the sky ) ( 25:48 ).
So, Allah sends down water from the sky, and it settles in the earth, then He causes it to flow wherever He wills, and He causes springs, great and small, to flow as needed.
Allah says: فَسَلَكَهُ يَنَابِيعَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ ( and causes it to penetrate the earth, as water springs, ) Sa`id bin Jubayr and `Amir Ash-Sha`bi said that all the water on earth has its origins in the sky.
Sa`id bin Jubayr said, its origins lie in the snow, meaning that snow piles up in the mountains, then settles at the bottom ( of the mountains ) and springs flow from the bottom of them. ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُ بِهِ زَرْعاً مُّخْتَلِفاً أَلْوَانُهُ ( and afterward thereby produces crops of different colors ) means, then from the water which comes down from the sky or flows from springs in the earth, He brings forth crops of different colors, i.e., different kinds of forms, tastes, scents, bencfits, etc. ثُمَّ يَهِـيجُ ( and afterward they wither ) means, after they have been ripe and fresh, they become old and you see them turn yellow when they have dried out. ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ حُطَـماً ( then He makes them dry and broken pieces. ) means, then they become brittle. إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لاٌّوْلِى الاٌّلْبَـبِ ( Verily, in this is a reminder for men of understanding. ) means, those who are reminded by this and who learn the lesson from it, that this world is like this -- it is green and fresh and beautiful, then it will become old and ugly.
The young man will become a weak, senile old man, and after all of that comes death.
The blessed one is the one whose state after death will be good.
Allah often likens the life of this world to the way He sends down water from the sky and crops and fruits grow thereby, then they become dry and brittle.
This is like the Ayah: وَاضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنْزَلْنَـهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الاٌّرْضِ فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًا تَذْرُوهُ الرِّياحُ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّقْتَدِرًا ( And put forward to them the example of the life of this world: it is like the water (rain ) which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it, and becomes fresh and green.
But ( later ) it becomes dry and broken pieces, which the winds scatter.
And Allah is able to do everything) ( 18:45 ) The People of Truth and the People of Misguidance are not Equal أَفَمَن شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرَهُ لِلإِسْلَـمِ فَهُوَ عَلَى نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ ( Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is in light from his Lord ) means, is this person equal to the one who is hard-hearted and far from the truth This is like the Ayah: أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِى النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَـتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ ( Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (i.e.
Belief ) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the darkness ( i.e., disbelief ) from which he can never come out) ( 6:122 ) Allah says: فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَـسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ( So, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah! ) meaning, they do not become soft when Allah is mentioned, and they do not feel humility or fear, and they do not understand. أُوْلَـئِكَ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ ( They are in plain error! ).

(39:22) Can he whose breast Allah has opened up for Islam *40 and who is thus (moving along a Path) illumined by a light from Allah *41 (be likened to him who derives no lesson from what he observes)? Woe, then, to those whose hearts were further hardened *42 after Allah's admonition. Such are indeed in obvious error.

So is one whose breast Allah has meaning

*40) " Whose breast...
Islam ": Whom Allah helps to learn a lesson from these realities and to be satisfied with Islam as based on the Truth.
Opening of a man's breast for something is, in fact, a state in which there remains no anxiety or ambiguity or suspicion and doubt in his mind about the thing, nor has he the feeling of any danger and loss in accepting and adopting it, but he decides with full satisfaction of the heart that it is the Truth; therefore, he must follow it whatever be the consequences.
Having made such a decision when a person adopts the way of Islam, he obeys whatever Command he receives from Allah and His Messenger willingly and with pleasure, without any hesitation.
He accepts whatever beliefs and ideas, rules and regulations, he comes across in the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet as if they were the voice of his own heart.
He does not feel any compunction on giving up an unlawful gain, because he believes that it was no gain for him at all; it was rather a loss from which Allah saved him by His grace.
Likewise, even if he incurs a loss while following the way of righteousness, he dces not feel sad about this but bears it with patience and regards it as an ordinary loss as compared to the loss of turning away from the Way of Allah.
The same is his behaviour on confronting dangers.
He believes that there is no other way for him, which he may follow in order to avoid the danger.
The Straight Way of AIlah is only one, which he has to follow in any case: if there is a danger in following it, let it be.

*41) " In the light shown by his Lord " : In the light of the knowledge of the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Prophet, by the help of which he sees clearly at every step which is the straight path of the Truth among the countless by-paths of life.

*42) As against the opening of the breast there can be two other states of man's heart: ( 1 ) The state of narrowing of the breast and squeezing of the heart; and in this state there still remains some room for the truth to permeate it; and ( 2 ) the state of hardening or petrifying of the heart; in this there is left no room whatever for the truth to permeate.
About this second state Allah says that the person who reaches such a stage is totally ruined.
This means that if a person becomes inclined to accept the truth, even though with an unveiling and squeezed heart, there remains some possibility for him to be redeemed.
This second theme becomes obvious from the style and tenor of the verse itself, though Allah has not stated it directly.
For the real intention of the verse was to warn those who were bent upon stubbornness in their antagonism towards the Holy Prophet, and had made up their mind not to listen to him at all.
For this they have been warned, as if to say: " You take pride in this stubbornness of yours, but, as a matter of fact, there cannot be a greater misfortune and unworthiness of man than that his heart should become even more hardened, instead of becoming soft, when he hears Allah being mentioned and the admonition sent by Him.
"
 

The Parable of the Life of this World Allah tells us that water originates in the sky.
This is like the Ayah: وَأَنزَلْنَا مِنَ السَّمَآءِ مَآءً طَهُوراً ( and We send down pure water from the sky ) ( 25:48 ).
So, Allah sends down water from the sky, and it settles in the earth, then He causes it to flow wherever He wills, and He causes springs, great and small, to flow as needed.
Allah says: فَسَلَكَهُ يَنَابِيعَ فِى الاٌّرْضِ ( and causes it to penetrate the earth, as water springs, ) Sa`id bin Jubayr and `Amir Ash-Sha`bi said that all the water on earth has its origins in the sky.
Sa`id bin Jubayr said, its origins lie in the snow, meaning that snow piles up in the mountains, then settles at the bottom ( of the mountains ) and springs flow from the bottom of them. ثُمَّ يُخْرِجُ بِهِ زَرْعاً مُّخْتَلِفاً أَلْوَانُهُ ( and afterward thereby produces crops of different colors ) means, then from the water which comes down from the sky or flows from springs in the earth, He brings forth crops of different colors, i.e., different kinds of forms, tastes, scents, bencfits, etc. ثُمَّ يَهِـيجُ ( and afterward they wither ) means, after they have been ripe and fresh, they become old and you see them turn yellow when they have dried out. ثُمَّ يَجْعَلُهُ حُطَـماً ( then He makes them dry and broken pieces. ) means, then they become brittle. إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لَذِكْرَى لاٌّوْلِى الاٌّلْبَـبِ ( Verily, in this is a reminder for men of understanding. ) means, those who are reminded by this and who learn the lesson from it, that this world is like this -- it is green and fresh and beautiful, then it will become old and ugly.
The young man will become a weak, senile old man, and after all of that comes death.
The blessed one is the one whose state after death will be good.
Allah often likens the life of this world to the way He sends down water from the sky and crops and fruits grow thereby, then they become dry and brittle.
This is like the Ayah: وَاضْرِبْ لَهُم مَّثَلَ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا كَمَآءٍ أَنْزَلْنَـهُ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فَاخْتَلَطَ بِهِ نَبَاتُ الاٌّرْضِ فَأَصْبَحَ هَشِيمًا تَذْرُوهُ الرِّياحُ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَىْءٍ مُّقْتَدِرًا ( And put forward to them the example of the life of this world: it is like the water (rain ) which We send down from the sky, and the vegetation of the earth mingles with it, and becomes fresh and green.
But ( later ) it becomes dry and broken pieces, which the winds scatter.
And Allah is able to do everything) ( 18:45 ) The People of Truth and the People of Misguidance are not Equal أَفَمَن شَرَحَ اللَّهُ صَدْرَهُ لِلإِسْلَـمِ فَهُوَ عَلَى نُورٍ مِّن رَّبِّهِ ( Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is in light from his Lord ) means, is this person equal to the one who is hard-hearted and far from the truth This is like the Ayah: أَوَمَن كَانَ مَيْتًا فَأَحْيَيْنَـهُ وَجَعَلْنَا لَهُ نُورًا يَمْشِي بِهِ فِى النَّاسِ كَمَن مَّثَلُهُ فِي الظُّلُمَـتِ لَيْسَ بِخَارِجٍ مِّنْهَا كَذَلِكَ ( Is he who was dead and We gave him life and set for him a light (i.e.
Belief ) whereby he can walk amongst men -- like him who is in the darkness ( i.e., disbelief ) from which he can never come out) ( 6:122 ) Allah says: فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْقَـسِيَةِ قُلُوبُهُمْ مِّن ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ ( So, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah! ) meaning, they do not become soft when Allah is mentioned, and they do not feel humility or fear, and they do not understand. أُوْلَـئِكَ فِى ضَلَـلٍ مُّبِينٍ ( They are in plain error! ).

( Is he whose bosom Allah hath expanded ) and whose heart Allah made soft ( for the Surrender (unto Him )) by means of the light of Islam, ( so that he followeth a light from His Lord ) so that he is honoured by his Lord and follows the exposition which came from his Lord-the reference here is to ’Ammar Ibn Yasir-as he whose heart is expanded for disbelief, i.e. Abu Jahl? ( Then woe ) then severe punishment; it is also said: then a valley of puss and blood in Gehenna ( unto those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah ) unto those whose hearts are not softened by the remembrance of Allah; the reference here is to Abu Jahl and his host. ( Such ) those who have such traits ( are in plain error ) in manifest disbelief.

Is he whose breast Allah has opened to Islam, so that he is in light from His Lord (as he who is non-Muslim)? So, woe to those whose hearts are hardened against remembrance of Allah! They are in plain error!

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