Sura 56, Al-Waqiah (That Which Must Come To Pass), Mecca Period
The Quranic Text & Ali’s translation:
فَأَصْحَابُ
الْمَيْمَنَةِ
مَا أَصْحَابُ
الْمَيْمَنَةِ
﴿٨﴾
56: 8. Then (there will be)the Companions of the Right Hand --
what will be the Companions of the Right Hand?
وَالسَّابِقُونَ
السَّابِقُونَ
﴿١٠﴾
56: 10. And those Foremost (in Faith) will be Foremost (in the Hereafter).
أُوْلَئِكَ
الْمُقَرَّبُونَ
﴿١١﴾
56: 11. These will be those Nearest to Allah:
56: 12. In Gardens of Bliss:
ثُلَّةٌ
مِّنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ
﴿١٣﴾
56: 13. A number of people from those of old,
.
وَقَلِيلٌ
مِّنَ الْآخِرِينَ
﴿١٤﴾
56: 14. And a few from those of later times.
[Those who are maimanah, sabiqun, muqarrabun,]
(56:8) Thus, there shall be such as will have attained to what is right[maimanah]: 2 oh, how [happy] will be they who have attained to what is
56:10 But the foremost shall be [they who in life were] the foremost [in faith and good works]:
(56:11) they who were [always] drawn close unto God!
(56:12) In gardens of bliss [will they dwell] –
(56:13) a good many of those of olden times,
(56:14) but [only] a few of later times. 4
Yuksel’s Translation
56:8 So those on the right; who will be from those on the right?
56:9 Those on the left; who will be from those on the left?
The Higher Heaven
56:10 Those foremost; who will be from those foremost?
56:11 They will be the ones who are brought near.
56:12 In the paradises of bliss.
56:13 Many from the first generations.*
56:14 A few from the later generations
[ * Yuksel’s comments: 056:013-40 Early supporters of the message are rewarded with higher ranks since they take more risks by accepting the truth when it has greater opposition.]
*****************************************
Ali’s comments:
5226. Foremost (in Faith)":
there are two meanings, and both are implied
• Those who have reached the highest degree in spiritual understanding, such as the great prophets and teachers of mankind, will also take precedence in the Hereafter.
• Those who are the first in time-the quickest and readiest-to accept Allah's Message-will have the first place in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Verses 8, 9 and 10 mention the three main categories or classifications after Judgment. In the subsequent verses their happiness or misery are described. This category, Foremost in Faith, is nearest to Allah.
5227. See n. 5223 above.
Nearness to Allah is the test of the highest Bliss. (R).
5228. Of great Prophets and Teachers there were many before the time of the holy Prophet Muhammad. As he was the last of the Prophets, he and the great Teachers under his Dispensation will be comparatively fewer in number, but their teaching is the sum and flower of all mankind's spiritual experience
Asad’s comments:
2 Lit. 'Those [or The people'] of the left side": see note 25 on 74:39.
3 [Lit., "those [or "the people"] of the left side". Similarly to the use of the expression maymanah as a metonym for "attaining to what is right", the term mashamah is used to denote "losing oneself in evil" (e.g., in 90:19). The origin of both these metonyms is based on the belief of the pre-Islamic Arabs that future events could be predicted by observing the direction of the flight of birds at certain times: if they flew to the right, the event in question promised to be auspicious; if to the left, the contrary. This ancient belief was gradually absorbed by linguistic usage, so that "right" and "left" became more or less synonymous with "auspicious" and "inauspicious". In the idiom of the Qur'an, these two concepts have been deepened into "righteousness" and "unrighteousness", respectively.]
4 The above stress on the "many" and the "few" contains an allusion to the progressive diminution, in the historical sense, of the element of excellence in men's faith and ethical achievements. (See also note on verses 39-40.)