28/83-88 — The close of the sūra
Tilka'd-dāru'l-ākhiratu najʿaluhā li'lladhīna lā yurīdūna ʿuluwwan fi'l-arḍi wa lā fasādā wa'l-ʿāqibatu li'l-muttaqīn
"That is the abode of the hereafter! We give it to those who want neither exaltation in the land nor corruption. The outcome belongs to those who guard themselves."
This verse corresponds exactly to the fourth verse of the sūra — I set it out in a table in the section on the structure:
| Verse | Expression |
|---|---|
| 4 | Inna Firʿawna ʿalā fi'l-arḍi … innahū kāna mina'l-mufsidīn |
| 83 | Li'lladhīna lā yurīdūna ʿuluwwan fi'l-arḍi wa lā fasādā |
Both words are the same: ʿuluww and fasād. This is a repetition that can be verified within the sūra.
And the choice of the verb is worth recording: lā yurīdūna — "those who do not want". That is, the measure is not the deed done — but the thing wanted. I give this as my own reading; its ground is that the verb states an act of will.
مَن جَآءَ بِٱلْحَسَنَةِ فَلَهُۥ خَيْرٌ مِّنْهَا وَمَن جَآءَ بِٱلسَّيِّئَةِ فَلَا يُجْزَى ٱلَّذِينَ عَمِلُوا۟ ٱلسَّيِّـَٔاتِ إِلَّا مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ (84) — the asymmetry between the two sides:
| Side | The return |
|---|---|
| The one who brings good | Fa-lahū khayrun minhā — better than what he brought |
| The one who brings evil | Fa-lā yujzā … illā mā kānū yaʿmalūn — only as much as he did |
On the one side an increase, on the other exact equivalence. This is a difference that can be verified from the text.
إِنَّ ٱلَّذِى فَرَضَ عَلَيْكَ ٱلْقُرْءَانَ لَرَآدُّكَ إِلَىٰ مَعَادٍ (85) — "He who made the Qurʾān binding upon you will surely bring you back to a place of return."
What the word maʿād refers to has been disputed in the classical commentaries: the city of his birth, the hereafter, or the place of return in general. I transmit the disagreement; I do not impose a preference.
And the verb is worth recording: la-rādduka — "will bring you back". The same root (ر-د-د) had occurred in the seventh verse of the sūra, in the promise given to the mother: innā rāddūhu ilayk — "We shall return him to you."
| Verse | Expression | To whom |
|---|---|---|
| 7 | Innā rāddūhu ilayk | To the mother — the child will come back |
| 85 | La-rādduka ilā maʿād | To the Prophet — he will reach the place of return |
The same root, at the two ends of the sūra, for two distinct returns. I record this as my own reading: the sūra begins with a promise of return and ends with a promise of return.
The note kept in this series about the word wajh (face) holds here too: the expression cannot be understood in a way that ascribes a limb or a body to God. The same note had been entered at al-Baqara 2/115 (fa-thamma wajhu'llāh); I rely on that treatment. It is transmitted that in the classical commentaries wajh is explained in the sense of "the essence" or "His good pleasure".
هَالِك — an active participle: "perishing". The lexicographers record that the pattern here states a state already in progress: not what will perish, but what is perishing.