In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

11- Have you not seen [O Prophet] the Hypocrites saying to their disbelieving brothers among the People of the Scripture, “If you are expelled, we will surely leave with you.We would never listen to anyone who sought to harm you, and we shall certainly come to your aid if you are attacked”? God bears witness that they are in fact liars.

12- Indeed if they are driven out they will never leave with them, and if they are attacked they will never help them. Even if they did come to their aid, they would soon turn tail and flee.In the end, they [the Jews] would have no help.

13- Fear for you [O believers] is more intense in their hearts than fear of God, because they are people devoid of understanding.

14- Even united they would never fight you, except from within fortified strongholds or behind high walls. There is much hostility between them.You think they are united, but their hearts are divided because they are people devoid of reason.

15- They are like those [the BanuQaynuqa and/or the BanuNadir] who, a short time before them, tasted the result of their conduct and a painful punishment awaits them.

16- [The Hypocrites are] like the example of Satan when he says to humanity, “Do not believe!” But when he disbelieves, [Satan] says, “I disown you [for] I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds.”

17- The end of both will be in the Fire, there to remain. That is the reward of evildoers.

18- O you who believe! Be mindful of God and let every soul consider carefully what it sends ahead for tomorrow; be mindful of God, for God is well aware of everything(khabir) you do.

19- Do not be like those who forget God so that God causes them to forget their own souls.They are the rebellious ones.

20- Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise are the successful ones.

21- If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you [O Prophet] would have seen it humbled and split apart in its awe of God. We offer people such parables so that they may reflect.

22- He(huwa) is God: there is no deity other than Him. It is He who knows what is hidden as well as what is in the open. He is the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

23- He is God: there is no deity other than Him, the Controller(al-Malik), the Holy One(al-Quddus), the Source of Peace(as-Salam), the Granter of Security(al-Mu’min), the Guardian over all(al-Muhaymin), the Almighty(al-Aziz), the Compeller(al-Jabbar), the Truly Great(al-Mutakabbir). God is far above anything they consider to be His partner.

24- He is God: the Creator (al-Khaliq), the Originator(al-Bari’), the Fashioner (al-Musawwir). The best names belong to Him. Everything in the heavens and Earth glorifies(tasbih) Him, He is the Almighty, the Wise.

[59:11]Have you not seen [O Prophet] the Hypocrites saying to their disbelieving brothers among the People of the Scripture, “If you are expelled, we will surely leave with you.We would never listen to anyone who sought to harm you, and we shall certainly come to your aid if you are attacked”? God bears witness that they are in fact liars.

People do not always do what they say they will do. The Emigrants were said to be truthful, but the group being referred to here is known as theHypocrites. A group of Madinah’s inhabitants, faced with the fact that the majority of their compatriots were now Muslim, could no longer maintain their traditional beliefsystem. As such, they decided to profess Islam without actually believing in it. One of them, Abdullah ibnUbay, had a sizeable clanand had been the city’s governor. Realizing that the situation had changed, he began making all kinds of deals with the Jews, assuring them that he would protect their interests. Such people wanted to create a certain status for themselves in the new society.

The phrase their brothers indicates that these people were actually brothers to the unbelievers and traitors to the new society being established. This verse reveals that these people were lying,would not help the Jews if they were driven out, and would never stand with them on the battlefield. In short, their promiseswere empty.

[59:12]Indeed if they are driven out they will never leave with them, and if they are attacked they will never help them. Even if they did come to their aid, they would soon turn tail and flee.In the end, they [the Jews] would have no help.

Since the Hypocrites only pursue their own worldly interests, they would never do anything to endanger their own lives or property.

[59:13]Fear for you [O believers] is more intense in their hearts than fear of God, because they are people devoid of understanding.

They do not fear God; rather, they fear you and your striving to follow your faith. If people have no fear of God in their heart, they will fear humanity, for as the Qur’an proclaims:“[God praises those] who convey God’smessagesand fear Him alone and no other …” (33:39). Therefore, these two types of fear are inversely related: The less God-fearing people will have a greater fear ofothers, whereas the more God-fearing people will have a smaller fear of others. In its fifth chapter, the Qur’an narrates the story of Banū Israel:When the people of Moses reached the Holy Land and he ordered them to set foot in it, they refused to do so out of fear of the oppressors who lived there. But two men who had been blessed with God-consciousness and awareness said, “Enter in upon them through the [proper] gate, and when you go in you will overcome them. If you are true believers, put your trust in God” (5:23). In other words, those who fear God have absolutely no fear of His enemies.

[59:14]Even united they would never fight you, except from within fortified strongholds or behind high walls. There is much hostility between them.You think they are united, but their hearts are divided because they are people devoid of reason.

[59:15] They are like those [the BanūQaynuqā and/or the BanūNadīr] who, a short time before them, tasted the result of their conduct and a painful punishment awaits them.

They fear facing you on the battlefield becausetheir prowess and apparent strength is fake. You may be impressed with their numbers, but they are divided in heart and mind. Their hearts have not been bonded and unified with the cement of faith, and thus they resemblea tower whose bricks have not been cemented to each other, a tower that will collapse when the least bit of pressure is applied to it. Do not fear them, for they are empty inside. Mao Zedong once said that imperialism is a paper tiger, which is an apt description of unjust and hypocritical regimes.

This emptiness and brittle character stems from the refusal of such people to engage in serious thought. This basic Qu’ranicprinciple does not just belong to the past, for it is also a contemporary sociological principle.A number of hypocrites secretly negotiated with and agreed to help the enemies of Islam. But they lied and did not fulfill their promises.

[59:16][The Hypocrites are] like the example of Satan when he says to humanity, “Do not believe!” But when he disbelieves, [Satan] says, “I disown you [for] I fear God, the Lord of the Worlds.”

The Qur’an says that humanity will blame Satan on the Day of Judgment and that the latter will retort: “Blame yourself, not me! I only called on you, and you rushed headlong toward me and followed me. I had no power over you.” Tempting is all that Satan does, which is exactly what the Hypocrites mentioned here do. They instigate and tempt you to fight, promise to help you, but will not stand with you when the time comes.

[59:17]The end of both will be in the Fire, there to remain. That is the reward of evildoers.

This is the punishment for oppression and injustice, not for having different beliefs and faiths and denying that the Message that has been conveyed.

[59:18]O you who believe! Be mindful of God and let every soul consider carefully what it sends ahead for tomorrow; be mindful of God, for God is well aware of everything(khabīr) you do.

This verse stresses that we should be aware of what we are doing, for we will be held responsible for our actions in the afterlife. It reminds us twice to be mindful of God, for only that and a strong, unbending will enable us to control ourselves and resist evil (e.g.,wrath, lust, pride, envy,greed, and gluttony). On a side note, the difference between khabīr (acquainted) used in this verse with alīm (knowing) is that the latter refers to a general knowledge of something, whereas the former refers to awareness of the smallest details.

[59:19]Do not be like those who forget God so that God causes them to forget their own souls.They are the rebellious ones.

Thosewho forget God will forget themselves.This may appear counterintuitive, because if they forget God it would appear they would become more mindful of themselves. It might even be said that they are egocentric. However, this is the baser aspect of their being as opposed to their true self. Although they may consider their being to be nothing more than lust, wrath, and other such vices, the true “self” is the soul breathed into all of us by God (15:29; 38:72). This “self” forms our true nature and gives us the potential to become God-like, a being “in God’s image,”and the ability and capacity to absorb and maintain godly characteristics. The Qur’an tells us that God has good names and asks us to call Him by these names, including Knowing and Wise, Forgiving and Friend, which are also His characteristics. We have been created as vessels to be filled with godly characteristics over the course of our lifetime. And so if we forget God, we have forgotten ourselves. For example, if we forget that God is forgiving and generous, we may become unforgiving and stingy. We must not forget God, the source of all good virtues and characteristics, lest we lose our desire to acquire them. If this true “self” is forgotten, we will undoubtedly busy ourselves with our being’s baser aspect, which is nothing more than greed for money and competing for power and other such worldly things. Such people have strayed from God’s path and corrupted their being.

[59:20]Not equal are the companions of the Fire and the companions of Paradise. The companions of Paradise are the successful ones.

To be the companion of an individual, a thing, or a thought means to be in line with and beholden to them.For example, the Prophet’s close followers are often referred to as the Companions, as aremembers of a particular class who share the goal of learning a subject such as the Qur’an. When people become of one mind and heart with someone or something, they become of one essence. Thus, those destined for Hell andthose who have strived for Heaven do not share the same essence and should not be considered alike.

The companions of Paradise are victorious. As was mentioned elsewhere, fawz is defined as passingthrough a mafāzah(i.e., a dry and barren desert characterized by blistering heat). No one ever braved thisextremely dangerous and deadly undertaking, which could only be done at night, alone. Those who successfully did so and reached their destination were called fā’iz. The Qur’an uses this well-known term to metaphorically refer to our passingthrough this life, which is replete with all sorts of challenges, dangers, and satanic temptationson our way toward the afterlife. How can those who successfully traverse this perilous path be equated to those who have been the slaves of evil? The Qur’an is a guide for those individuals who want to become the companions of Paradise.

[59:21]If We had sent down this Qur’an upon a mountain, you [O Prophet] would have seen it humbled and split apart in its awe of God. We offer people such parables so that they may reflect.

We can become companions of Paradise if we follow Qur’an’s teachingsIt provides us with parables and examples to ponder upon and reflect about our faith to acquire a deeper understanding of its message. Even though this Book would have crushed a mountain to fine dust if it had been revealed to it, some of us ignore its teachings and thus are unmoved by it. The next three verses recount three of God’s characteristics.

[59:22]He(huwa) is God: there is no deityother than Him. It is He who knows what is hidden as well as what is in the open. He is the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful.

The pronoun huwa(He) is repeated numerous times in the Qur’an. “He” is in our very being, but we have lost touch with Him and have followed our whims and fancies as well as the unjust. “He” is within the very inner recess of our existence, and our entire being exists because of Him. “He” is “The Compassionate” and “The Merciful.” It should be noted here that the Qur’an uses the adjective Rahīm(The Most Merciful), the specific form of God’s forgiveness, twice as many times as the adjective Rahmān (The Most Compassionate), which is His general forgiveness. As nouns, rahmānhas been repeated 57 times and rahīm 114 times (exactly equal to the number of the Qur’an’s chapters). Rahīm has also been used to describe the Prophet, but within another context and thus differs from the characteristics of God, which is the subject of the enumeration here.

[59:23]He is God: there is no deityother than Him, the Controller(al-Malik), the Holy One(al-Quddūs), the Source of Peace(as-Salām), the Granter of Security(al-Mu’min), the Guardian over all(al-Muhaymin), the Almighty(al-Azīz), the Compeller(al-Jabbār), the Truly Great(al-Mutakabbir). God is far above anything they consider to be His partner.

These characteristics are in harmony. God is the King and the Sovereign. Given that most kings are corrupt and oppressive, the Qur’an qualifies this by attributing another characteristic to God – the “Holy One”– so that people do not associate a king’s vices with God. God is also al-Quddūs(the immaculate and absolutely pure, free from any and all faults) andas-Salām (the one who gives peace). God is a pure king who does not oppress His subjects, is their source of peace and comfort, andal-Mu’min(the one who gives safety and security to those who walk in His path). Given this latter fact,all others should be safe and secure from a Muslim’s words and deeds. God is al-Muhaymin(the Overseer and Protector of all things) and al-Azīz(the invincible superpower who is omnipotent and unrivalled in His power).

Finally, He is al-Jabbār (The Compeller) and al-Mutakabbir (The Truly Great or The Superior). These may seem like bad traits; however, that is the case only if they are the traits of human beings. The verbal form of jabr, from which jabbār is derived, literally means the repair and/or rectification of something by someone who is able to do so and/or has power. Dictators and oppressors always seek to portray themselves as those upon whom the people should rely for solving their problems and fulfilling their needs. Such autocrats think that their opinion and reason are better than those of other people and thus force them into obedience. Such compulsion is a negative trait in human beings; however, in reference to God it is quite appropriate, for it means that He is the one who created the universe and thus imbues all of existence, which is virtuous and good, with His will. All that existswas created by His will, and all that is good and beautiful is due to His will and command. He has expressed Himself by way of being the Compeller and Creator. Unlike dictators, He has bestowed free will, liberty, and autonomy upon human beings so that they will choose their own path in life.

The same can be said of superiority and pride (mutakabbir). Humans should not make the false claim that they are above and thus superior to others, for they are no more than minute beings in the infinite expanse of God’s creation. How can anyone have a sense of grandiosity among billions of galaxies, each containing billions of stars and planetary systems? All of these infinite galaxies make up only about four percent of our material world; the remaining the ninety-six percent comprises dark matter and dark energy, the nature of which we know almost nothing. Even if we someday do gain knowledge of all that exists, God, who has created this infinite and continuously developing expanse, is worthy of superiority – and we are not, for we are no more than limited and weak creations of His.Mutakabbir means one who seeks unlimited increase. As this is the worst and ugliest trait for a human being to acquire, it may be considered an unparalleled sin. As Imam Ali has said, pride is the mother of all sins and no sin rivals it. Therefore only God can be truly Great and Superior and possess these characteristics.

“God is far above anything they consider to be His partner.”He is Exalted and far above those of His subjects who obey and serve dictators instead of Him. Mushrikrefers to someone who seeks to please the powerful because they are afraid of them.Neither God nor His creation possess such deviations.

[59:24]He is God: the Creator(al-Khaliq), the Originator(al-Bāri’), the Fashioner (al-Musawwir). The best names belong to Him. Everything in the heavens and Earth glorifies(tasbīh) Him, He is the Almighty, the Wise.

In the end, the chapter returns to God’s creation and refers to God with the pronoun Huwa [He]. He is the One God who is al-Bāri’ (the Inventor without fault and mistake), and thuswhatever God creates is free from fault.In physical terms, we are His greatest invention because we are the most complex and complete of His earthly creations.

God is al-Musawwir (The Fashioner), which means to create in different forms. This can be seen in the various phases of our own creation:We change from two individual cells (sperm and ovule) into a zygote and then develop through the various germinal, embryonic, and fetal stages of gestation until we are born as a baby. This diversity of creation, which is particular to God, enables Him to call Himself “The Fashioner.”Qur’an 3:6,“It is He who has fashioned you in multiple forms in the womb,”does not refer to the apparent forms of eyes and ears, but to the various stages of fetal development untilwe emerge as a fully formed human being.

“The best names belong to Him.” This reality is exclusive to Him, and any beauty that exists in this world is from Him. If a flower is beautiful, if a perfume has an enchanting scent, if the Moon is bewitching, if water is revitalizing – all of this goodness and beauty emanate from Him.

This chapter started and ended with the same phrase, with the difference that the word tasbīh in the first verse is in the past tense to stress the absoluteness of this act by all of creation.This final verse uses it in its present tense to indicate its continuation and eternal nature.

Translator: Hooman Movasagh
Editor: Hamid Mavani