THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its
entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between
610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind,
along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s
discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
But those who believed and did good deeds will be brought into Gardens with rivers flowing through them. They shall abide there forever by their Lord’s permission, and will be welcomed with the greeting, ‘Peace’! (14: 23)
To say assalamu alaykum or ‘peace be with you’ at the time of meeting someone is not simply a formal social custom. This is, in fact, an outward symbol of a heartfelt connection.
Those who have lived their lives in this world with feelings of benevolence towards others, who have known how to forget their grievances and love others wholeheartedly, who have always spoken of others with respect, who have chosen for others what they desired for themselves, who have always longed in their heart of hearts for the well-being of others and who have rejoiced in seeing others in a state of well-being—such will be the people who will be entitled to take up their abode in the splendid world of paradise. The greeting assalamu alaykum has always given expression to their feelings of love and wellwishing whenever they met their brothers; in the Hereafter, when they greet their heavenly neighbours, this salutation will assume a powerful and more aesthetic form.
Do you not see how God compares a good word to a good tree? Its root is firm and its branches are in the sky, it yields its fruit each season with its Lord’s permission—God makes such comparisons for people, in order that they may take heed—but an evil word is like an evil tree torn out of the earth; it has no foothold. (14: 24-26)
Those who think deeply, seeking a more profound reality, find it In the present world, Almighty God has appointed outward symbols for different realities. For example, a good tree is a symbolic representation of the believer.
It is the special characteristic of a tree that it makes the whole world its ‘dining table’, and in this way develops from the stage of a seed to establish itself on the earth as a majestic tree. The tree absorbs from the earth water, minerals and salts in order to grow; at the same time, it obtains nourishment from the air and light from the sun. It takes nourishment from below as well as from above.
Using all these through the process of photosynthesis, the tree is able to make food throughout. This is what is meant by 'yields its fruit all the time'.
This is also true of the believer. While the common tree is materially a tree, the believer is a conscious ‘tree’. The believer observes in the world God’s creation and, looking to the system governing it, derives from it a proper lesson and guidance. Moreover, he continuously receives God’s blessing from ‘above’.
Fruit ripens on the tree in the proper season. Similarly, a believer adopts such behaviour as is proper for every occasion. Whether it is under economic constraints or in economic prosperity; whether it is in a moment of happiness or sorrow; whether it is a matter for complaint or commendation, whether it is in a condition of strength or weakness, on every occasion his language and behaviour express the reverence which he is expected to show as a true servant of God.
The opposite example is that of the ‘evil tree’, i.e. the wild bush. Its appearance suggests that it is provided with extremely unwholesome food, as a result of which it is covered with thorns, and bitter fruits with an unpleasant taste grow on its branches. It greets anyone who goes near it with a foul smell. Nobody likes such a tree. Wherever it grows, it is uprooted and thrown away.
This is the case with the unbeliever, who, from the beginning, has always been a persona non-grata on this earth. To him, the universe, despite its superlative features, has no argument in its favour and teaches no lesson. Though there is no end to the liberality of God’s blessings, he has no share in them; God’s magnanimity is not reflected in his character or his dealings.
God will strengthen the believers with His steadfast word, both in the present life and in the Hereafter. God lets the wrongdoers go astray. He does what He wills. (14: 27)
Being steadfast in the world means persevering in righteousness and doing good deeds at every turn in one’s life. Being steadfast in the Hereafter means having been successful at the time of question -answer in the grave.
Man is at every moment being put to the test. He faces different types of favourable and unfavourable events. On these occasions, only those who have grown the ‘tree of faith’ inside themselves behave in a correct and godly manner.
In the prevailing circumstances, they manifest the most appropriate reaction expected of them according to the will of God. In contrast to this, the man whose personality has grown like a wild bush evinces bitterness at every event; on every occasion he proves to be a thorn. When these two types of person are finally tested beyond the grave, the one who proves himself to be the ‘good tree’ will be ushered into the Garden of Paradise. And the one who proves to be the ‘evil tree’ will receive the appropriate punishment of being uprooted from this world in order to be thrown as fuel into the fire of Hell.