43. Surah Zukhruf

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

يَا عِبَادِ ...

43: 68. My devotees!

C4667. The devotion and service to Allah result in the soul being made free from all fear and sorrow, as regards the past, present, and future, if we may take an analogy from Time for a timeless state. Such devotion and service are shown by

- believing in Allah's Signs, which means understanding and accepting His Will, and

- by merging our will completely in His universal Will, which means being in tune with the Infinite, and acting in all things to further His Kingdom.

... لَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْكُمُ الْيَوْمَ وَلَا أَنتُمْ تَحْزَنُونَ ﴿٦٨﴾

no fear shall be on you that Day, nor shall ye grieve --

الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِآيَاتِنَا وَكَانُوا مُسْلِمِينَ ﴿٦٩﴾

43: 69. (Being) those who have believed in Our Signs and bowed (their wills to Ours) in Islam.

ادْخُلُوا الْجَنَّةَ أَنتُمْ وَأَزْوَاجُكُمْ تُحْبَرُونَ ﴿٧٠﴾

43: 70. Enter ye the Garden, ye and your wives, in (beauty and) rejoicing.

C4668. The Garden is the type of all that is beautiful to eye, mind, and soul, all that is restful and in tune, a complete state of bliss, such as we can scarcely conceive of in this troubled world.

Several metaphors indicate how we can try to picture that bliss to ourselves in "this muddy vesture of decay."

يُطَافُ عَلَيْهِم بِصِحَافٍ مِّن ذَهَبٍ وَأَكْوَابٍ وَفِيهَا مَا تَشْتَهِيهِ الْأَنفُسُ وَتَلَذُّ الْأَعْيُنُ ...

43: 71. To them will be passed round, dishes and goblets of gold:

there will be there all that the souls could desire, all that the eyes could delight in:

C4669. We shall have all our neat and dear ones ("wives") with us: perfected Love will not be content with Self, but like a note of music will find its melody in communion with the others. The richest and most beautiful vessels will minister to our purified desires, and give complete and eternal satisfaction to our souls in every way.

...وَأَنتُمْ فِيهَا خَالِدُونَ ﴿٧١﴾

and ye shall abide therein (for aye).

وَتِلْكَ الْجَنَّةُ الَّتِي أُورِثْتُمُوهَا بِمَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٧٢﴾

43: 72. Such will be the Garden of which ye are made heirs for your (good) deeds (in life).

C4670. We shall be there, not as strangers, or temporary guests, but as heirs,-made heirs in eternity because of the good lives we had led on earth.

لَكُمْ فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ كَثِيرَةٌ ...

43: 73. Ye shall have therein abundance of fruit,

C4671. The "fruit" here links on with the last words in the last verse (72), "ye are made heirs for your (good) deeds (in life)".

It is not a doctrine of "rewards", strictly so called.

A reward is measured by merit, but here the bliss is beyond all merits or deserts. It is a doctrine of works and their fruits: every deed must have its inevitable consequences.

At first sight it may be compared to the doctrine of "Karma". but it differ from it in postulating Allah's unbounded Mercy, and the efficacy of Repentance. (R).

... مِنْهَا تَأْكُلُونَ ﴿٧٣﴾

from which ye shall have satisfaction.

C4672. "Shall eat". But the word akala is used in many places in the comprehensive sense of "enjoy", "have satisfaction". For example, see n. 776 to 5:66.

Cf. also 7:19 and n. 1004.

Asad’s Version:

43:68 [And God will say:] "O you servants of Mine! No fear need you have today, and neither shall you grieve –

(43:69) [O you] who have attained to faith in Our messages and have surrendered your own selves unto Us!

(43:70) Enter paradise, you and your spouses, with happiness blest! "

43:71 [And there] they will be waited upon with trays and goblets of gold; and there will be found all that the souls might desire, and [all that] the eyes might delight in. And therein shall you abide, [O you who believe:]

(43:72) for such will be the paradise which you shall have inherited by virtue of your past deeds:.

(43:73) fruits [of those deeds] shall you have in abundance, [and] thereof shall you partake!