22. Sura al-Hajj
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَالَّذِينَ
هَاجَرُوا فِي
سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ
ثُمَّ قُتِلُوا
أَوْ مَاتُوا
لَيَرْزُقَنَّهُمُ
اللَّهُ رِزْقًا
حَسَنًا...
Waallatheena hajaroo fee sabeeli Allahi thumma qutiloo aw matoo layarzuqannahumu Allahu rizqan hasanan
22: 58. Those who leave their homes in the Cause of Allah, and are then slain or die -- on them will Allah bestow verily a goodly Provision:
C2838. Rizq: sustenance, provision.
I have preferred the latter word here, because after death we can only think of rizq in a large metaphorical sense. i.e., all the provision necessary to equip the person for a full and happy Future Life, and also, I think, a provision for his dependents and near and dear ones in this life. (R).
...وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَهُوَ خَيْرُ الرَّازِقِينَ ﴿٥٨﴾
wa-inna Allaha lahuwa khayru alrraziqeena
truly Allah is He Who bestows the best Provision.
22: 59. Verily He will admit them to a place with which they shall be well pleased:
...وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ لَعَلِيمٌ حَلِيمٌ ﴿٥٩﴾
for Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.
C2839. Martyrdom is the sacrifice of life in the service of Allah. Its reward is therefore even greater than that of an ordinarily good life.
The martyr's sins are forgiven by the very act of martyrdom, which implies service and self-surrender in the highest sense of the word- Allah knows all his past life but will forbear from calling him to account for things that should strictly come into his account.
Asad’s Version:
(22:58) AND AS FOR those who forsake the domain of evil 71 [and strive] in God's cause, and then are slain or die - God will most certainly provide for them a goodly sustenance [in the life to come]: for, verily, God - He alone - is the best of providers;
(22:59) [and] He will most certainly cause them to enter upon a state [of being] that shall please them well: 72 for, verily,
God is all-knowing, most forbearing.
[[Asad’s notes - 71 For this rendering of the phrase alladhi~na hajaru, see note 203 on 2:218. The subsequent mention of "those who strive in God's cause, and then are slain or die" connects with the reference, in verses 39-40, to God's permission to the believers to fight in defence of their faith and liberty. The extreme merit of the self-sacrifice involved is stressed in several Qur'anic passages, and particularly in 4:95-96; hence, it has also a bearing on the Day of Judgment spoken of in the preceding passage.
72 Or: "cause them to enter [upon their life after death] in a manner that will please them well" (cf . note 40 on the last clause of 4 : 3 1 )- thus implying that by sacrificing their lives in God' s cause they will have obtained His forgiveness of whatever sins they may have previously committed. ]]
