Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 69 Al-Haqqah, Ayat 19-28

فَاَمَّا مَنۡ اُوۡتِىَ كِتٰبَهٗ بِيَمِيۡنِهٖۙ فَيَقُوۡلُ هَآؤُمُ اقۡرَءُوۡا كِتٰبِيَهۡ​ۚ‏ ﴿69:19﴾ اِنِّىۡ ظَنَنۡتُ اَنِّىۡ مُلٰقٍ حِسَابِيَهۡ​ۚ‏ ﴿69:20﴾ فَهُوَ فِىۡ عِيۡشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍۙ‏ ﴿69:21﴾ فِىۡ جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍۙ‏ ﴿69:22﴾ قُطُوۡفُهَا دَانِيَةٌ‏ ﴿69:23﴾ كُلُوۡا وَاشۡرَبُوۡا هَنِيۡٓـئًا ۢ بِمَاۤ اَسۡلَفۡتُمۡ فِى الۡاَيَّامِ الۡخَـالِيَةِ‏  ﴿69:24﴾ وَاَمَّا مَنۡ اُوۡتِىَ كِتٰبَهٗ بِشِمَالِهٖ  ۙ فَيَقُوۡلُ يٰلَيۡتَنِىۡ لَمۡ اُوۡتَ كِتٰبِيَهۡ​ۚ‏ ﴿69:25﴾ وَلَمۡ اَدۡرِ مَا حِسَابِيَهۡ​ۚ‏ ﴿69:26﴾ يٰلَيۡتَهَا كَانَتِ الۡقَاضِيَةَ​ ۚ‏ ﴿69:27﴾ مَاۤ اَغۡنٰى عَنِّىۡ مَالِيَهۡۚ‏ ﴿69:28﴾

(69:19) On that Day, he whose Record is given to him in his right hand12 will say: “Lo! Read my Record!13 (69:20) Verily I was sure that I would be handed over my account.”14 (69:21) Then he shall find himself in a life of bliss; (69:22) in a lofty Garden (69:23) the clusters of whose fruit will be hanging low to be within reach (of the inmates of Paradise). (69:24) (They will be told): “Eat and drink with good cheer as a reward for the good deeds you did in the days that have passed by.” (69:25) As for him whose Record will be given to him in his left hand,15 he will exclaim: “Would that I had never been given my Record,16 (69:26) and had not known my account.17 (69:27) Oh! Would that the death that came to me in the world had made an end of me!18 (69:28) My riches have not availed me,


Notes

12. The record’s being given in the right hand will by itself show that the concerned person’s account is clear and settled and he is appearing in the divine court as a righteous man and not as a culprit. It is probable that at the time the records are distributed the righteous man himself will extend his right hand forward to receive his record. For on account of the good treatment that he would have received right from the moment of death till his appearance in the Plain of Assembly at Resurrection would have given him the satisfaction that he was there to be blessed and not to be punished. At many a place in the Quran it has been explicitly stated that right at death itself it becomes clear to every man whether he is entering the next world in a blessed or wretched state. Then from the moment of death till Resurrection the righteous man is treated like a guest and the evil man as a culprit under custody. After this, from the time the second life starts on the Day of Resurrection, the condition and state of the righteous is entirely different from the condition and state of the disbelievers, hypocrites and culprits. (For details, see (Surah Al-Anfaal, Ayat 50); (Surah An-Nahl, Ayats 28-32); (Surah Bani Israil, Ayat 97); (Surah TaHa, Ayats 102, 103, 124-126); (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats 1-3); (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 24); (Surah An-Naml, Ayat 89); (Surah Saba, Ayat 51); (Surah YaSeen, Ayats 26-27); (Surah Al-Momin, Ayats 45-46); (Surah Muhammad, Ayat 27); (Surah Qaf, Ayats 19-23 )and the corresponding Notes.

13. That is, he will be overjoyed as soon as he receives his record and will show it to his companions. In( Surah Allnshiqaq, Ayat 9), it has been said: He will return to his kinsfolk rejoicing.

14. That is, he was fortunate because he had been conscious of the Hereafter in the world and had lived his life with the belief that he would have to appear before God one day and render his account to Him.

15. In Surah Al-Inshiqaq it has been said: And the one whose record is given him behind his back. Probably it will be like this: As the culprit would already be knowing that he was a culprit, and would be aware of what his record contained, he would dejectedly extend his left hand forward to receive it, and then would immediately hide it behind his back so that no one else saw what he had received.

16. That is, I should not have been given this record in the Plain of Assembly and thus publicly disgraced before all mankind, but should have been awarded secretly whatever punishment I deserved.

17. That is, I should not have been told what I had done in the world. Another meaning of this verse can also be: I never knew what an account was: I never had imagined that one day I would also have to render my account and that all my deeds would be presented before me."

18. That is, I should have become extinct after death in the world and should have experienced no other life after death.