Commentary
His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "On the Day when wealth and children will not benefit [anyone], except one who comes to Allah with a sound heart." "And Paradise will be brought near to the righteous, and Hellfire will be displayed to the deviators. And it will be said to them, 'Where are those you used to worship besides Allah? Can they help you or help themselves?" "So they will be thrown into it, they and the deviators, and the soldiers of Iblis all together."
"On the Day" is a substitute for the first in His saying, the Most High: "On the Day they will be resurrected" [Ash-Shu'ara: 87]. The meaning is: on the Day when the attachments of this world and its adornments will not benefit. He intended by this the great and most significant mention; because wealth and children are the adornment of worldly life. It appears that the exception is disconnected, meaning: but whoever comes to Allah with a sound heart will benefit from the soundness of his heart. His saying: "with a sound heart" means: free from polytheism and sins, and the worldly attachments that are abandoned, even if they are permissible like wealth and children. Sufyan said: It is the one who meets his Lord and there is nothing in his heart besides Him.
Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This implies the generality of the wording, but the soundness from polytheism is the most important. And Al-Junaid said: "with a heart that is sick from the fear of Allah," and "the sound" is the sick.
"And Paradise will be brought near" means: it was made close, and "the deviators to whom Hellfire was displayed" are the polytheists, indicated by the fact that they were addressed regarding the idols. The saying to them: "Where are those you used to worship besides Allah?" is in the context of reprimand and blame, and stopping them for not considering it. Al-A'mash read: "So it was displayed" with a 'fa', while the majority read it with a 'wa'. Malik ibn Dinar read: "And it was displayed" with a fatḥah on the 'ba' and lightening it, and raising "Hellfire."
Then He informed about the state of the Day of Resurrection that the idols will be thrown into the fire, meaning they will be cast in one heap. And it is connected with the pronoun of those who have intellect, as it was mentioned regarding worship. The pronoun in His saying: "they" returns to the disbelievers, and "the deviators" refers to the devils. "Kubbika" is a doubled form of "kabb", this is the saying of the majority, and it is the correct one; because their meanings are the same, and the doubling is evident, similar to: "sarra" and "sarsara", and others. And "the deviators" are the disbelievers who are encompassed by deviation. And "the soldiers of Iblis": his offspring and all who follow him, because they are his soldiers and supporters.
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