The day when YOUR LORD comes

7. "You, soul at peace, ..."

T H E   E X P L A N A T I O N   O F   V E R S E S   2 7 , 2 8

 ارْجِعِي إِلَى رَبِّكِ رَاضِيَةً مَّرْضِيَّةً  يَا أَيَّتُهَا النَّفْسُ الْمُطْمَئِنَّةُ 

"You, soul at peace, return to your Lord well-pleased (yourself) and well-pleasing (to Him)."

Allah ( تعالى ) then concludes this chapter of the Quran with something that brings hope and happiness to the hearts and eases the worries. He says: "You, soul at peace..."

The Soul of a Believer in Life

"You, soul at peace..." is said to a believing soul who is safe and at peace. You will never find a soul more reassured, with greater peace of mind than a true believer in Allah. A believer's soul is good and content. Because of this, the messenger ( صلّى الله عليهوسلّم ) was amazed at the state of a believer and said:

عَجَبًا لأَمْرِ الْمُؤْمِنِ ، إِ أَمْرَهُ كُلَّهُ خَيْرٌ وَلَيْسَ ذَاكَ لأَحَدٍ إِلاَّ لِلْمُؤْمِنِ ، إِ «

» أَصَابَتْهُ سَرَّاءُ شَكَرَ فَكَا خَيْرًا لَهُ ، وَإِ أَصَابَتْهُ ضَرَّاءُ صَبَرَ فَكَا خَيْرًا لَهُ

The state of a believer is amazing. Every state he is in is good and that is for no one but a true believer. If something good happens to him, he is thankful and that is good for him. And if something bad happens to him, he is patient and that is also good for him. (Recorded by Muslim)

Such an individual is content, at peace with whatever Allah has decided and decreed. He neither becomes angry with afflictions, nor arrogant and proud during times of prosperity. He is thankful to Allah for blessings, patient with hardships and therefore you fine him truly at peace and content.

The Soul of a Disbeliever in Life

As for an individual who does not believe in Allah or someone with very weak faith, when he experiences hardship, he becomes worried and angry. He may feel he is being dealt with unfairly by Allah, and we ask Allah to protect us from such thoughts. Some people, during difficult times, even commit suicide, refusing to be patient in such times. Such a person is almost always worried about something. He may see himself as having too little money, few relatives to comfort him. Perhaps he has no wife, no family to support him. He may see himself as living a life of no blessings at all. "Others have money, wives, children, supportive family members, but I have nothing." He is unable to recognize Allah's blessings upon him because he has no firm faith in Allah. He is hardly ever at peace, always worried. This is why you see people going to all sorts of different places trying to find ways to entertain themselves, relieve their stress and forget their troubles. Yet nothing will truly remove such worries except true belief in Allah. True and firm faith in Allah leads to contentment and peace of mind in this life.

So the "...soul at peace..." is the believing soul who has belief in Allah in life, safe and secure from the punishment of Allah on the Day of Resurrection. One of the righteous predecessors said an amazing statement about true faith; he said, "If the kings and sons of kings truly knew what we have, they would fight us for it with their swords."

Is there anyone in this life living in more luxury than kings and the sons of kings? No one lives a more affluent life than they do, at least considering the physical enjoyments that are outwardly apparent. Yet their hearts (those with no firm faith) are not like the hearts of true believers. Even a believer who has nothing more than a single, patched up garment or a shack that hardly protects him from rain or heat—yet he is a true believer in Allah—his life and the worldly blessings he experiences in it is better than that of kings and the sons of kings. This is simply because his heart is enlightened with the light of Allah, the light of real faith in Him.