seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Quran 34:37. It is neither your wealth nor your children that bring you closer to Us, but it is he who believes and does good deeds. These will have a double reward for what they did; and they will reside in the Chambers, in peace and security.
38. But those who work against Our revelations, seeking to undermine them—those will be summoned to the punishment.
39. Say, “My Lord extends the provision to whomever He wills of His servants, or withholds it. Anything you spend, He will replace it. He is the Best of providers.”
40. On the Day when He gathers them all together, then say to the angels, “Was it you these used to worship?”
41. They will say, “Be You glorified; You are our Master, not them. In fact, they used to worship the jinn, and most of them had faith in them.”
42. “Today, none of you has the power to profit or harm the other.” And We will say to those who did wrong, “Taste the agony of the Fire which you used to deny.”
43. And when Our enlightening Verses are recited to them, they say, “This is nothing but a man who wants to divert you from what your ancestors used to worship.” And they say, “This is nothing but a fabricated lie.” And when the Truth comes to them, the blasphemers say of the Truth, “This is nothing but plain magic.”
44. But We gave them no book to study, and We did not send them any warner before you.
45. Those before them also denied the Truth, yet they have not attained one-tenth of what We had given them. They rejected My messengers, so how was My disapproval?
46. Say, “I offer you a single advice: devote yourselves to God, in pairs, or individually; and reflect. There is no madness in your friend. He is just a warner to you, before the advent of a severe punishment.”
47. Say, “Whatever compensation I have asked of you, is yours. My compensation comes only from God, and He is Witness over all things.”
48. Say, “My Lord projects the truth. He is the Knower of the Unseen.”
49. Say, “The Truth has come; while falsehood can neither originate, nor regenerate.”
50. Say, “If I err, I err only to my own loss; but if I am guided, it is by what my Lord inspires me. He is Hearing and Near.”
51. If you could only see when they are terrified, and there is no escape, and they are seized from a nearby place.
52. And they say, “We have believed in it.” But how can they attain it from a distant place?
53. They have rejected it in the past, and made allegations from a far-off place.
54. A barrier will be placed between them and what they desire, as was done formerly with their counterparts. They were in disturbing doubt.
Here's the commentary.Not only in the highest places in paradise, but also in the highest places in this life — a truth which finds abundant illustration in the lives of the early Muslims.
Akhlafa is used in the sense of exceeding or surpassing so as to leave another thing behind (from khalf, meaning behind). Hence yukhlifu-h∂ here signifies that Allåh gives him such a great reward as to leave behind what he had spent in His way.
Compare this with the last section, and it will be clear that the very persons mentioned there as the proud ones are spoken of here as the jinn.
That is, no Book was ever given nor any warner ever raised that taught polytheism; or the meaning may be that, whereas warners appeared all about Arabia, Makkah had not yet seen one.
That is, in power or in material prosperity the Quraish could not stand comparison with many of the early nations.
The Truth may stand for Unity and falsehood for polytheism, the significance being that idol-worship will never again find access to Makkah. Compare 17:81: “Say: The Truth has come and falsehood vanished. Surely falsehood is ever bound to vanish”.
In this world, they were seized upon at Badr and again at Makkah.
For death shall then have removed them into the other world.
Their conjectures that the Prophet will not be successful have no value, as they have no access to the unseen.
Indeed, no punishment is greater than failure to attain that which a man desires most eagerly. This is the hell of this life.
I was just about to give up and then I saw the last comment. Then a clear thought about what I had just read came to me.When Hubby and I talk about winning the lottery.... we think of all the cool things we can do and own. But then we go back to living our own cool little life. We don't have a lot of money at all. We are retired... I am half blind and riddled with cancer spots.... Gary is resigned to taking care of the things I can no longer do. But we don't fret about it.... we know it's a good life because we are happy. We love being together. Our Hades on earth would be if we were separated.... it would have little to do with wealth or power.... our Hades would be heartbreak.
The Wealthy though, the big wigs with all the power and might.... they will never be as happy as Hubby and I are. They are missing something... they are always missing that one more thing.... they are always missing that one more shiny bauble... the one they don't have... the one they have the exclusive power and wealth to own.... they are always missing something. Wealthy people are never really happy.
Even good Wealthy People aren't ever really happy.... because they are always carrying so much responsibility.
Remember the rich man who asked Jesus for Salvation... and Jesus told him to dissolve his wealth and follow Him.... but the man walked away... because he couldn't just give all that up. People depended on him to keep up appearances so they could continue to earn a living or so he could settle their disputes with his power. The Wealthy have no real happiness.
Hubby laughs and says "I'd like to be miserable with money once in a while" or "I'd like to have so much money it makes me sad once in a while". And then we go back to being us.... rich with happiness.
I don't have a lot of shiny baubles..... so I don't worry about someone stealing them.
The Wealthy have to worry all the time that someone is going to move their cheese or steal their bauble.
This is the Hades of this life.
