'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿And hasten to forgiveness from your Lord and a garden whose width is like the heavens and the earth, prepared for the righteous﴾ ﴿Who spend in the cause of Allah in times of ease and hardship and who restrain anger and who pardon the people. And Allah loves the doers of good﴾ Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir read: "Hasten" without a waw, and so it is in the mushafs of the people of Medina and the people of the Levant. The remaining seven reciters read with the waw. Abu Ali said: Both readings are common and correct. Whoever reads with the waw does so because he is connecting one sentence to another, and whoever omits the waw does so because the second sentence is implied in the first and does not require the connection with the waw. Al-Kisai tilted the alif from his saying: "Hasten" and from his saying: "And they hasten in good deeds" and "We hasten for them in good deeds" in all of that; Abu Ali said: The tilting here is good due to the occurrence of the broken ra' after it. And 'musar'ah' means 'to hasten', and it is a mutual action since it is as if each person is hastening to arrive before the other. Thus, there is mutuality among them in this, do you not see His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿So race to good deeds﴾ [Al-Baqarah: 148]. And His saying, "to forgiveness" means: hasten with piety, obedience, and drawing near to your Lord to a state in which Allah forgives you, meaning He conceals your sins with His pardon for them and the removal of their ruling, and He admits you into Paradise. Anas ibn Malik and Makhul said in the interpretation of ﴿And hasten to forgiveness﴾ that it means: to the Takbir of Ihram with the Imam. The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This is a good statement to be followed in every act of obedience. (p-354) And His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿Its width is like the heavens and the earth﴾ means: like the width of the heavens and the earth. This is like His saying, exalted and glorified is He: ﴿The creation of you and your resurrection is but like that of a single soul﴾ [Luqman: 28] meaning: like the creation of a single soul and its resurrection. Thus, this concise expression is understood clearly, and from it is the saying of the poet: I thought the sound of my camel was a call, but it is not a call of another. And from it is the saying of another: As if their pond is by the side of Sil, a flock of ostriches in a desolate land. The intended meaning is: the sound of a call and the pond of the ostriches.

As for the meaning of His saying, the Most High: ﴿Its width is the heavens and the earth﴾, the scholars have differed regarding this matter into three opinions. It has been narrated from Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, that he said: The heavens and the earth are joined together as a garment is spread out. That is the width of Paradise, and no one knows its length except Allah. In the hadith from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "Between the two doors of Paradise is a distance of forty years, and there will come a day when people will crowd in it as camels crowd when they arrive thirsty at a watering place." And in the hadith from him, blessings and peace be upon him: "In Paradise, there is a tree under whose shade a rider who is striving can travel for a hundred years without cutting it." All of this strengthens the saying of Ibn Abbas, and it is the saying of the majority: Indeed, Paradise is greater than these mentioned creations, and it extends beyond the heavens wherever Allah, the Most High, wills. This is undeniable, for in the hadith of the Prophet, peace be upon him: "The seven heavens and the seven earths in the Kursi are like a few coins thrown into a vast desert, and the Kursi in relation to the Throne is like a ring in a vast desert."

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: These creations are much greater than the heavens and the earth, and the power of Allah, the Most High, is greater than all of that.

Yala ibn Abi Murrah narrated that he said: "I met the Tanukhite, the messenger of Heraclius to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, in Homs, an old man who had become senile. He said: I came to the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with the letter of Heraclius. He handed the letter to a man on his left, and I said: Who is your companion who is reading? They said: It is Muawiyah. And when the letter of Heraclius was read: 'You have written to me inviting me to a Paradise whose width is the heavens and the earth prepared for the righteous. So where is the Fire?' The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, said: 'Glorified is Allah! So where is the night when the day comes?'" And Qais ibn Muslim narrated from Tariq ibn Shihab that two men from the Jews came from Najran to Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him. One of them said: You say that Paradise's width is the heavens and the earth; where will the Fire be? Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Do you see where the night goes when the day comes? And where does the day go when the night comes? The Jew said: It is similar to that in the Torah. His companion said to him: Why did you inform him? Leave him; he is certain in every way.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: All of these narrations are on one path, that the power of Allah encompasses all of this. He specifically mentioned the width because it indicates when mentioned about length, and length, when mentioned, does not indicate the extent of the width. Rather, it may be that the long one has a narrow width like a thread and the like; and from that is the saying of the Arabs: A vast land, and a vast desert.

And a group said: His saying, the Most High: ﴿Its width is the heavens and the earth﴾ means: like the width of the heavens and the earth, as they are layered, not as if they are joined like the spreading of garments. So Paradise is in the heavens, and its width is like its width and the width of what is beyond it from the earths to the seventh. This indication of greatness suffices without mentioning the length.

And a group said: The saying is based on the Arabic metaphor, so when Paradise is of vastness and expansion to the utmost degree, the expression about it being 'its width is the heavens and the earth' is appropriate. Just as you say to a man: 'This is a sea,' and to a large creature from the animals: 'This is a mountain,' the verse does not intend to specify the width.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And Makki brought this saying without summarization, and he included as evidence the saying of the Arabs: 'A wide land.' And their saying: 'A wide land' is not like his saying: 'its width is the heavens and the earth' except in the indication of mentioning the width in relation to length only, and the same was done by the commentator. It has been narrated that 'the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said to those fleeing on the day of Uhud: "You have gone into a wide expanse."' And Ibn Furak said: Paradise is in the sky, and it will be increased on the Day of Resurrection.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: And in this there is a connection to Mundhir ibn Sa'id and others who said: Indeed, Paradise has not yet been created, and likewise Hell. This is a weak statement, and the majority of scholars hold that they have been created, and this is evident from the Book of Allah, the Exalted, in His saying: "Prepared for the righteous" and "Prepared for the disbelievers" and other than that; and it is a text in the hadiths like the hadith of Isra and others that necessitate that there is indeed a Paradise that has been created. As for the one who says: 'It will be increased in them,' the hadiths do not refute him, but he needs a chain of narration that cuts off the excuse.

And 'prepared' means: made easy and awaited with it. Then He, the Exalted, described the righteous for whom Paradise has been prepared by saying: "Those who spend"... the verse, and the apparent meaning of this verse is that it is praise for the act that is recommended. Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "In ease and hardship" means: in difficulty and ease.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: For the most part, with ease comes vigor and joy of the soul, and with difficulty comes dislike and distress of the soul.

And suppressing anger is to hold it back in the stomach when it is about to come out due to its abundance. So controlling it and preventing it is suppressing it. And 'kidhām' is the strap with which the mouth of the water skin and the bag is tied. And the camel suppressed its water skin: when it held it back in its stomach. And it may be said about holding the water skin before it is released into its mouth: 'kidhām,' as mentioned by Al-Zajjaj, who said: The camel and the she-camel suppress it when they do not chew their cud. And from this is the saying of the shepherd:

So they overflowed after their suppression with a water skin from the one with the pits when they grazed on the grass.

And anger is the essence of wrath, and they often accompany each other. For this reason, some people interpreted anger as wrath, and the liberation of the matter is not like that. Rather, anger is an action of the soul that does not manifest on the limbs, while wrath is a state that has manifestations on the limbs and an action that must occur. For this reason, it is permissible to attribute wrath to Allah, the Exalted, as it is an expression of His actions towards those who are angered, and wrath is not attributed to Him, the Exalted. And Ibn Furak mixed up this term.

And there have been reports regarding suppressing anger and self-control during anger. This is among the greatest acts of worship and striving against the self. Among them is his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "The strong one is not the one who overcomes others in wrestling, but the strong one is the one who controls himself when angry." Among them is the saying of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him: "There is no dose that a servant drinks that is better for him and has greater reward than a dose of anger for the sake of Allah." Abu Huraira reported that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, said: "Whoever suppresses his anger while he is able to act upon it, Allah will fill him with security and faith." And forgiving people is among the noblest forms of doing good. This is where it is permissible for a person not to forgive, and where his right is directed. Abu Al-‘Aliyah said: "And those who forgive people," meaning regarding their servants.

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said:

This is good in terms of example, as they are the servants, and they are often the ones who commit sins, and the ability to act upon them is easy, and enforcing punishment is simple. Therefore, this interpreter exemplified it with this.

And He, the Exalted, mentioned after that that He loves the doers of good, thus encompassing these aspects and others of righteousness. This indicates to you that the verse is about what is recommended. Do you not see the question of Gabriel, blessings be upon him, when he said: "What is faith?" Then he said: "What is Islam?" The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, mentioned to him the obligatory acts. "Then he said to him: What is excellence? He said: To worship Allah as if you see Him..." The hadith.