2. Al-Baqara

And there are others who say, ‘Our Lord, give to us in this world good, a grace, and good, Paradise, in the Hereafter, and guard us against the chastisement of the Fire’, by not making us enter it. This [former statement] depicts the manner of the idolaters, while [the latter] the way of the believers, and is intended to encourage [people] to petition for good in both abodes, for which one is promised a reward, as He says:

Those — they shall have a portion, a reward, from, as a result of, what they have earned, the deeds they have performed, such as Pilgrimage and supplication; and God is swift at reckoning, reckoning with the whole of creation in half a day of this world, as one hadīth states.

And remember God, by making takbīr [saying Allāhu akbar, ‘God is Great’] while you cast your stones at the Jamarāt, during certain days numbered, the three days of tashrīq. If any man hastens on, his departure from Minā, in two days, that is, on the second day of tashrīq after he has cast his stones, that, hastening, is no sin for him; and if he delays, such that he stays until the third night and cast his stones, it is not a sin for him: that is, they have the choice of either, for the sin has been precluded in both cases; if he fears, God during his pilgrimage — for such [a person] is truly a pilgrim — and fear God, and know that to Him you shall be gathered, in the Hereafter, that He may requite you for your deeds.

And among people there is he whose speech in the life of this world pleases you, but it would not please you in the Hereafter because it contradicts what he actually used to believe; and who calls on God to witness what is in his heart, as being in accordance with what he says; yet he is most stubborn in dispute, with you and your followers on account of his enmity towards you: this was al-Akhnas b. Sharīq, a hypocrite who spoke kindly in the presence of the Prophet (s), swearing that he believed in him and that he loved him, and frequently sitting with him. God then revealed his mendacity in this matter. On one occasion he passed by some crops and livestock that belonged to the Muslims and later that night he set fire to them [the crops] and slaughtered them [the livestock]. God, moreover, says:

And when he turns his back, leaving you behind, he hastens, he walks, about the earth to do corruption there and to destroy the tillage and the stock (these [last two actions] are included in such ‘corruption’); and God loves not corruption, that is to say, it does not please Him.

And when it is said to him, ‘Fear God’, in your actions, he is seized by vainglory, pride and rage, in his sin, the one he was commanded to avoid committing. So Hell shall be enough, [it] suffices, for him — how evil a cradling, a resting place it is!

The following verse was revealed regarding ‘Abd Allāh b. Salām and his companions, who after converting to Islam still observed the Sabbath with reverence and were averse to [the consumption of] camels: O you who believe, come, all of you, into submission (read al-salm or al-silm), that is, Islam; kāffatan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to al-silm, meaning, into all of its precepts; and follow not the steps, the ways, of Satan, that is, his temptations to you by way of creating divisions; he is a manifest foe to you, one whose enmity is obvious.

But if you slip, and incline away from implementing all of its precepts, after the clear proofs, the lucid arguments, have come to you, to the effect that this is the truth, know then that God is Mighty, and nothing can prevent Him from taking His vengeance against you; Wise, in His actions.

What do they, those that fail to enter into it [sc. Islam] completely, wait for, await, that God shall come to them, that is, His Command; this is similar to where God says, or that God’s command should come to pass [Q. 16:33], meaning His chastisement, in the shadows (zulal, plural of zulla) of clouds, and the angels? The matter is determined, the matter of their destruction has been completed, and to God all matters are returned, in the Hereafter, where He will requite each according to his deeds (read passive [turja‘u al-umūr, ‘matters are returned’] or active [tarji‘u al-umūr, ‘matters return’]).