'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and glorified is He: "No! Indeed, the Book of the righteous is in 'Illiyyin.' And what can make you know what 'Illiyyin' is? It is a written record. Those who are near [to Allah] witness it. Indeed, the righteous will be in pleasure. On adorned couches, they will look. You will recognize in their faces the radiance of pleasure. They will be given to drink from a sealed nectar. Its seal is musk. And for that, let the competitors compete. And its mixture is from Tasneem, a spring from which those near [to Allah] drink. Indeed, those who committed sins used to laugh at those who believed." When the Most High mentioned the matter of the Book of the wicked, He followed that with the mention of a Book opposite to them to clarify the difference. The 'righteous' is the plural of 'bar.' Ibn 'Amir read 'al-abrar' with a kasra on the ra. Ibn Kathir and Nafi' read it with a fatha. Abu 'Amr, Hamzah, and Al-Kisai read it with an imala. 'Illiyyin' is the plural of 'Illi,' on the pattern of 'fi'il,' a form of exaggeration. He means by that the angels, and for that reason, it is grammatically marked with a waw and noon. It is said that he means the high places because it is elevation above elevation. Since this name is on this pattern and has no singular form, it resembles 'twenty,' so it is treated as a plural in its grammatical case, just as it is with 'Qansarayn,' for you say: 'The Qansarayn were pleasant and entered the Qansarayn.' People have differed regarding the well-known place called 'Illiyyin.' What is it? Qatadah said: It is the right side of the Throne. Ibn 'Abbas said: It is the seventh heaven beneath the Throne. It has been narrated from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Al-Dahhak said: It is at Sidrat al-Muntaha. Ibn 'Abbas said: 'Illiyyin is Paradise. Al-Makki said: It is said to be in the fourth heaven. Al-Farra' reported from some scholars: It is in the lowest heaven. The meaning is that their Book, which contains their deeds, is there, being elevated and honored, while the deeds of the wicked are in Sijjin, in the lowest of the low. It has been narrated from Ubayy ibn Ka'b and Ibn 'Abbas that their deeds are raised to the heavens, but the heavens reject them, then they are returned to the earth, and the earth rejects them, land after land, until they end up in Sijjin beneath the seventh earth. And 'a written record' in this verse is the news of 'Indeed,' and the adverbial phrase is omitted. 'Those who are near' in this context refers to the angels who are near to Allah, exalted and glorified is He, the inhabitants of every heaven, as stated by Ibn 'Abbas and others. 'Couches' is the plural of 'arika,' which are the beds in the tents. 'They will look' means: at what they have of pleasure, and it is possible that it means: some of them to others. It is said - from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him - that they will look at their enemies in the Fire, how they are punished. The majority of people read 'you will recognize' addressing Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him, with a fatha on the ta and a kasra on the ra, 'radiance' in the accusative. Abu Ja'far, Ibn Abi Ishaq, Talha, and Ya'qub read 'it will be recognized' with a damma on the ta and a fatha on the ra, 'radiance' in the nominative. Some people read 'it is recognized' with a ya because the femininity of 'radiance' is not real. 'Radiance' means blessing and beauty. 'Nectar' refers to pure wine, and from it is the saying of Hassan: They will drink from the rose of the pure wine.

And sealed, it is possible that it is sealed on the cups from which it is drunk for the purpose of enjoyment and cleansing. The more apparent meaning is that its drinking is sealed with the scent of musk, according to what His saying, glorified and exalted is He, explained: "Its seal is musk."

The interpreters have differed regarding His saying, glorified and exalted is He, "Its seal is musk." Ibn Mas'ud and Alqamah said its meaning is: its mixture and blending. Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, and Sa'id ibn Jubair said its meaning is: its ending, meaning you find the scent at the end of the drinking to be the scent of musk. Abu Ali said the intended meaning is the delight of the taste and the fragrance along with the goodness of the flavor. Likewise, His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "Its mixture is of camphor" [Al-Insan: 5] and His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "ginger," meaning you find it on the tongue. Ibn Muqbil said:

What is aged in the storehouse is its inner part ∗∗∗ sealed with the pepper of Jawn and pomegranate.

Mujahid said its meaning is: its clay which is sealed with musk instead of the clay that is in this world. This is only in the cups, for the wine of the Hereafter is not in vessels; rather, it is in rivers. The majority read: "Its seal is," while Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, Al-Kisai, Al-Dahhak, and Al-Nakha'i read: "Its ending is." This is clear evidence, meaning that it is intended by it to be the stamp on the nectar, and it has also been narrated from them that the 'ta' is broken.

Then, He urged towards Paradise with His saying: "And in that let the competitors compete". Competing in something means to excel in it, and that each one follows his own self, as if their two souls are competing in it. It is said: it is from your saying: a precious thing, so this one magnifies it, and the other magnifies it, and they both strive towards it.

And "the mixture": is the blend, and the pronoun refers back to "the nectar." People have differed regarding "Tasnim." Ibn Abbas and Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with them, said: Tasnim is the noblest of soil in Paradise, and it is a masculine name for the water of a spring in Paradise, which the close ones drink pure, and the nectar of the righteous is mixed with it. This was said by Ibn Mas'ud, Ibn Abbas, Al-Hasan, Abu Salih, and others. Mujahid said its meaning is: "Tasnim" is a source from "sanamtu" when I elevated, and from it is the 'sanam', so it is as if it is a spring that has risen above the people of Paradise, and it flows down. This was said by Muqatil ibn Sulayman. Some people went to the view that the righteous and the close ones in this verse have one meaning that applies to everyone who enjoys Paradise. The majority of the interpreters went to the view that the rank of the righteous is below that of the close ones, and that the righteous are the companions of the right, and that the close ones are the forerunners.

And "a spring" is in the accusative either as praise, or it works in "Tasnim" according to the view of those who see it as a source, or it is in the accusative as a state from "Tasnim," or "they are given to drink," this was said by Al-Akhfash, and in it is distance. His saying, glorified and exalted is He: "they drink from it" means they drink it, like the poet's saying:

They drank from the water of the sea, then they rose ∗∗∗ when the green waves have their roar.

Then Allah, the Most High, mentioned that those who committed crimes by disbelief - meaning they earned it - were in their worldly life laughing at the believers, and they belittled them, and took them as a joke. It is narrated that this story was revealed regarding the leaders of Quraysh and the weakness of the believers. It has been reported that it was revealed because Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and a group with him from the believers passed by a gathering of disbelievers in Mecca, and they laughed at them and belittled them in jest and due to a lack of intellect. So the verse was revealed concerning that.