يَوْمَ تَرَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُؤْمِنَٰتِ يَسْعَىٰ نُورُهُم بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ وَبِأَيْمَٰنِهِم بُشْرَىٰكُمُ ٱلْيَوْمَ جَنَّٰتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَٰرُ خَٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ هُوَ ٱلْفَوْزُ ٱلْعَظِيمُ
Yawma tara'l-muʾminīna wa'l-muʾmināti yasʿā nūruhum bayna aydīhim wa bi-aymānihim: bushrākumu'l-yawma jannātun tajrī min taḥtiha'l-anhāru khālidīna fīhā; dhālika huwa'l-fawzu'l-ʿaẓīm "On the day you will see the believing men and the believing women, their light running before them and on their right: 'Your good news today is gardens beneath which rivers flow, in which you will abide for ever. That is the great triumph.'"
The Qurʾān uses this paired pattern in particular places. The verse's symmetry with the next is preserved here as well: in verse 13 it will say al-munāfiqūna wa'l-munāfiqāt — again a pair.
And in verse 18 al-muṣṣaddiqīna wa'l-muṣṣaddiqāt (the men and women who give alms) will come. The sūra uses this pattern three times.
This is plainly a choice that makes the scope visible. In Arabic the masculine plural can cover both sexes; counting them separately is an emphasis.
سعى — root س-ع-ي: to walk fast, to run, to strive. The word carries both physical speed and effort. From the same root come saʿy (the walking between al-Ṣafā and al-Marwa) and masʿā. The Qurʾān uses this root when it says "the human being has only what he strives for" (al-Najm 53/39).
The subject of the verb is the light. The light is not carried, not held in the hand; it runs. It is described like something that moves of itself.
This gives the light a kind of autonomy. And this autonomy explains why in verse 13 the hypocrites cannot be given light: light is not an object that can be handed over or borrowed. It is something that moves along with the person.
بَيْنَ أَيْدِيهِمْ — literally "between their hands", idiomatically "before them." That is, the light goes not behind but in front — it shows the way.
| Reading | Sense | Ground |
|---|---|---|
| The right side | The light is before them and at their right side | Aymān is the plural of yamīn (right); in the Qurʾān the right side is the side of good |
| The records of deeds | The light comes from the book given into their right hands | Yamīn occurs often in the Qurʾān in the context of the record of deeds (al-Ḥāqqa 69/19, al-Inshiqāq 84/7) |
The two readings do not exclude one another. The second accords with verse 19 of the sūra — there it will be said "theirs is their reward and their light."
A question: why not only "before them" but also "on their right"? The explanation given for this in the classical commentaries is the encompassing character of the light — it does not merely show the way, it surrounds the person. I record this as an inference.
The verse begins with "you will see" (tarā) — that is, the reader is placed in the position of a spectator. And what he sees is light. No face is described, no dress, no number. The only thing visible is light.
This has a consequence: what distinguishes the believers in the scene is light. In the next verse the hypocrites will ask for light — because light is the distinguishing mark itself. To be without light is not to be invisible; it is not to be recognised.
بشرى — root ب-ش-ر: skin, the outer surface of the body. The analysis of the word was made at al-Baqara 2/25: good news is the appearing of good tidings on the face — when the news is received the colour of the skin changes.
The speaker of the sentence is not named. Who is speaking: the angels, or a direct address? The text does not say, and in such places the Qurʾān frequently conceals the agent.