This glorious verse: “And ˹surely˺ your Lord will give so much to you that you will be pleased,” is part of the Quranic texts that was revealed to exalt the status of the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the sight of Allah as it is divergently construed by the Qur’anic exegesis. It extols the position of the Prophet (peace be upon him) stating the promise made by Allah to Himself in bestowing upon him (the Prophet) blessings, gifts, and divine favours in order to please him. This offer (present) is absolute and encompasses all the goodness that the Messenger may Allaah’s peace and blessings are upon him, asked for in the affairs of this world, religion, and the hereafter, for himself and his nation.
Grammatically, the connection of subject (Fā’il) to the pronoun of the second person as in “ Yu’tīka rabbuka” connotes that the present i.e. the blessing is exclusively for the Prophet peace be upon him, and no one will share it with him. At the same time, the second object (‘Maf’ūl thaani) is omitted so as to connote whatever wishes the Prophet (peace be upon him) had wanted. Why not? The holder of the promise is Almighty Allaah, and He is more powerful than all beings. The true giver in this matter and in others is the Creator who does not break the promise.
In this addition, there is a beautiful care and perfect kindness from Almighty Allaah to the Messenger, may Allaah bless him and grant him peace.
Ar-Rāzī asked: ” Why Allah says “And ˹surely˺ your Lord will give so much to you that you will be pleased.”. The answer is simple: The chapter from beginning to the end contains the word of Angel Gibrīl (A.S) Allah impliedly put him in place of the speaker to be the one giving the Prophet this glad riding because of his own passion for the Prophet.
Of the apparent glades given to the Prophet in this verse is the gigantic gift of Allah for His Messenger and the expression of His pleasure to him as well as the extolment of his character. Adding to that, he was completely honoured by giving him the blessings of this world and world after.
Nothing has explicitly explained the meaning of this verse and the verses before it like the statement of As-Sa’dī who says:” the meaning of the word of Allah that says: “And surely what comes after is better for you than that which has gone before” is that ‘ the Prophet would never cease ascending higher ranks time to time, and future will always be better than the present time, and Allah would not only render His assistance for him against the enemies but would consistently strengthen his path till he meets Allah. As such, the Prophet reached where no one had reached amongst the past Messengers and Prophets in terms of blessings, mercy and ecstasy.
After that, don’t ask about his status in the hereafter regarding honour, exaltation and all sorts of enjoyment. Allah says:”And soon will your Lord give you so that you shall be well pleased”. As-Sa’dī’s Tafsīr comments that this matter can not be overemphasized.
The views of interpreters on different types of bounties
Majority of scholars who explain the meaning of Qur’an are of the opinion that the “present” mentioned in this verse contained all the goodness of this life and Afterlife. Each of them gives his comments in hisown perception as follows;
1. Ar-Rāzī viewed that there is connection between this verse and the verse before it, insinuating that the present Allah promised His Messenger is the blessings of both worlds. This is perceived in two ways;
i. Allah explained that Hereafter is better than this world and did not explain its limit. This means that the prophet will be given as much as he demands.
ii. When Allah says:” And surely what comes after is better for you than that which has gone before”, I’m of the opinion that the prophet will be given what this world cannot contain. That’s why Allah says the life in the Hereafter will be better for him than this world (See Mafātīh al-Ghayb or Tafsīr al-Kabīr 31/194 of Ar-Rāzī).
2. Al-Baydāwī opined that; this promise contains exaltation of his personality, character and religion. Allah has also kept for him what can not be imagined except by Him.
3. Al-Kāzin and Ibn Jaziy Al-Mālikī are of the opinion that the verse contains in its apparent meaning, all the worldly and hereafter goodness. As such, Allah has given him the whole world, assisted him on his enemies, granted him people’s admiration, gave him victory over many domains till the day of judgement, made his religion exalted, made his nation the best of nations, honoured him with both general and special intercession and lastly, reserved an appraised position for him, al-Maqām al-Mahmūd among others. (See Tafsīr al-Khāzin titled Lubāb at-Ta’wīl Fī Ma’ānī at-Tanzīl 4/1438)
4. Ibn ‘Āshūri opined that this verse contains a very wide promise that encapsulates all what Allah has done for the Prophet including his victory over the enemies in the day of Badr, the day of Fathu Makkah, and embracement of his religion during and after his lifetime, and the continuation of the victory during the era of his four rightly guided caliphs( See At-Tahrīr wat- Tanwīr 30/398).
Some other exegetes like Ibn Kathīr, As-Sa’dī and others are of the opinion that the verse only talks about the immense blessings preserved for the prophet in the Hereafter. This will be understood better by the connection of the previous verse before it. It shows the higher positions and blessings that are kept exclusively for the Prophet alone in the hereafter.
What has been saved for the messenger to give in the hereafter
Allah has absolutely bestowed upon the Prophet immense blessings that could not be overemphasized throughout his lifetime. The blessings that are conspicuously obvious in his uniqueness and preference over other Messengers. Some of this blessings have been highlighted above.
1 – It is stated in the book titled Adwāu Al-Bayān that one of the greatest blessings of Allah upon the prophet in the hereafter is ‘the appraised position’ (Maqāmul Mahmūd) that what Allah refers to in another verse, (Q:17: 79;… maybe your Lord will raise you to a position of great glory”.(17/79).
Various traditions came in relation to the meaning of ‘the position of glory’ (Maqāmu Mahmūd)In Sunnah as the position that the first and the last generation will be envious of, as it is indicated in the hadīth of intercession that gives report of the day when each of the Messengers will cater for himself saying ‘my soul, my soul’. When it gets to the prophet, he will say ” it is for me (it is for me)” etc.
2 Another reserved blessing that is exclusively for the Prophet is ‘Al-Hawd al-Mawrūd’ (the great lake). This is a stream that would only be served to the believers, and would help quench their thirst in the day of judgement.
3. Wasīlah (Medium); This is a very high position in the hereafter that cannot contain more that a person as expatiates in the hadīth that reads this: When you hear the mu’adhdhin repeat what he says, then invoke a blessing on me, for everyone who invokes one blessing on me will receive ten blessings from God. Then ask God to give me the wasila, which is a rank in paradise fitting for only one of God’s servants, and I hope that I may be the one.
4. Intercession for the admission to Paradise: This is explained in a hadīth where the prophet said:” The Chief Security of Paradise will say It is for you that I have been ordered, and not to open it for anyone before you.
5. Incessant Intercession until nobody from the followers of Muhammad remains in the Hell: The prophet was reported to have said:” I’ll not be pleased while any of my people is in hell. May Allah make us beneficiaries of his Intercession and quench us with his stream. A special Intercession is also reserved for special issue like that of his uncle, Abū Tālib. His punishment will be lessened for him.
6. The Prophet’s attestation on the previous Messengers: The prophet will be honoured to the extent of giving attestation on the activeness of other Messengers same as his people will also give attestation on other nations. (See the book titled Adwāu Al-Bayān Fī Īdāu al-Qur’ān bil-Qur’ān 8/559).
This topic as discussed above is a proper response to some of the claims the antagonists of Islam hid behind to cause confusion amongst people. They assumed that the prophet himself doesn’t know his fate in the Hereafter. However the Prophet based on this verse, was so favoured by several honours. While he was actually protected from defects, vices and enemy’s attacks in this world, the bounties preserved for him in the Hereafter shall be more enormous and favorable to the extent that he will intercede for the whole mankind from the trials of the day of judgement.
