36. Sura YaSin
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
فَالْيَوْمَ
لَا تُظْلَمُ
نَفْسٌ شَيْئًا...
36: 54. Then, on that Day, not a soul will be wronged in the least,
C4000. The Judgment will be on the highest standard of Justice and Grace. Not the least merit will go unrewarded, though the reward will be for the righteous far more than their deserts. No penalty will be exacted but that which the doer himself by his past deeds brought on himself.
Cf. 28:84.
... وَلَا تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ ﴿٥٤﴾
and ye shall but be repaid the meeds of your past Deeds.
إِنَّ
أَصْحَابَ
الْجَنَّةِ
الْيَوْمَ فِي
شُغُلٍ فَاكِهُونَ ﴿٥٥﴾
36: 55. Verily the Companions of the Garden shall that Day have joy in all that they do;
C4001. We now have the symbolism for the indescribable Bliss of the Hereafter, in four verses 55-58. Notice the subtle gradation in the description.
First, in this verse, we have the nature of the mise en scene and the nature of the joy therein.
- It will be a Garden i.e., everything agreeable to see and hear and feel and taste and smell;
- delightfully green lawns and meadows, trees and shrubs;
- the murmur of streams and the songs of birds:
- the delicate texture of flowers and leaves and the shapes of beauty in clouds and mist;
- the flavours of fruits;
- and the perfumes of flowers and scents. The joy in the Garden will be an active joy, without fatigue:
whatever we do in it, every employment in which we engage there, will be a source of joy without alloy.
هُمْ
وَأَزْوَاجُهُمْ
فِي ظِلَالٍ
عَلَى الْأَرَائِكِ
مُتَّكِؤُونَ ﴿٥٦﴾
36: 56. They and their associates will be in groves of (cool) shade, reclining on thrones (of dignity);
C4002. Secondly, the joy or happiness is figured to be, not solitary, but shared by associates like those whom we imagine in spiritual Love or Marriage; in whose fair faces "some ray divine reflected shines" (Jami): whose society is enjoyed in homes of happiness, situated in soothing shade, and furnished with thrones of dignity and peace.
لَهُمْ
فِيهَا فَاكِهَةٌ ...
36: 57. (Every) fruit (enjoyment) will be there for them;
C4003. Thirdly, besides any external conditions of Bliss, the Bliss in the Hereafter has an inner quality, expressed by the word fakihatun.
The root fakihah means ‘to rejoice greatly’, to be full of merriment.
The ordinary meaning of ‘fruit’ attached to fakihah is derived from the idea that the flavour of choice, ripe fruit, delights the heart of man. Just as akala (to eat) is used for ‘enjoyment’, (5:66, n. 776 and13:35, n. 1854), so fakihah, ‘fruit’, stands here for the specially choice enjoyment, which goes with a fastidious and well-cultivated taste.
In other words, it suggests that highest kind of joy which depends upon the inner faculty rather than any outward circumstances.
This is further emphasised by the second clause:
“they shall have whatever they call for”.
Again using the language of this life, the musician’s heaven will be full of music; the mathematician's will be full of mathematical symmetry and perfection; the artist's will be full of beauty of form, and so on.
... وَلَهُم مَّا يَدَّعُونَ ﴿٥٧﴾
they shall have whatever they call for;
سَلَامٌ
قَوْلًا مِن
رَّبٍّ رَّحِيمٍ ﴿٥٨﴾
36: 58. "Peace! --
a Word (of salutation) from a Lord Most Merciful!
C4004. Fourthly, we reach the highest grade of bliss, the salutation "Peace!" from Allah Most Merciful. Cf. 10:10.
That Word sums up the attainment of the final Goal. For it explains the nature of the Most High-,-He is not only a Lord and Cherisher, but a Lord Whose supreme glory is Mercy, Peace, and Harmony!.
Asad’s Version:
(36:54) "Today, then, no human being shall be wronged in the least, nor shall you be requited for aught but what you were doing [on earth].
36:55 "Behold, those who are destined for paradise shall today have joy in whatever they do:
(36:56) in happiness will they and their spouses on couches recline; 28
(36:57) [only] delight will there be for them, and theirs shall be all that they could ask for:
(36:58) peace and fulfilment 29 through the word of a Sustainer who dispenses all grace.
[[ Asad’s notes - 28 In the Qur'anic descriptions of paradise, the term zill ("shade") and its plural zilal is often used as a metaphor for "happiness" - thus, for instance, in 4:57, where zill zalil signifies "happiness abounding" (see surah 4, note 74) - while the "couches" on which the blessed are to recline are obviously a symbol of inner fulfilment and peace of mind, as pointed out by Razi in his comments on 18:31 and 55:54.
29 This composite expression is, I believe, the nearest approach in English to the concept of salam in the above context. For a further explanation of this term, see note 29 on 5:16, where salam is rendered as "salvation". ]]