﴿ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ • ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Nay! you shall come to know! Again nay! you shall come to know!) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “This is a threat after a threat.” Ad-Dahhak said,
﴿ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Nay! you shall come to know!) “Meaning, `O you disbelievers.’
﴿ ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Again nay! you shall come to know!) meaning, `O you believers.”’ Then Allah says,
﴿ كَلَّا لَوۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ عِلۡمَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ ﴾
(Nay! you shall come to know! Again nay! you shall come to know!) Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, “This is a threat after a threat.” Ad-Dahhak said,
﴿ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Nay! you shall come to know!) “Meaning, `O you disbelievers.’
﴿ ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Again nay! you shall come to know!) meaning, `O you believers.”’ Then Allah says,
﴿ كَلَّا لَوۡ تَعۡلَمُونَ عِلۡمَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ ﴾
(Nay! If you knew with a sure knowledge.) meaning, `if you knew with true knowledge, you would not be diverted by rivalry for wealth away from seeking the abode of the Hereafter until you reach the graves.’ Then Allah says,
﴿ لَتَرَوُنَّ ٱلۡجَحِيمَ • ثُمَّ لَتَرَوُنَّہَا عَيۡنَ ٱلۡيَقِينِ ﴾
(Verily, you shall see the blazing Fire! And again you shall see it with certainty of sight!) This is the explanation of the previous threat which was in Allah’s saying,
﴿ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ • ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَوۡفَ تَعۡلَمُونَ ﴾
(Nay! you shall come to know! Again nay! you shall come to know!) Thus, Allah threatens them with this situation, which is what the people of the Fire will see. It is a Fire, which if it exhaled one breath, every angel who is near (to Allah) and every Prophet who was sent would all fall down on their knees due to fear, awe and the sight of its horrors. This is based upon what has been reported in the narrations concerning it. Allah then says,
﴿ ثُمَّ لَتُسۡـَٔلُنَّ يَوۡمَٮِٕذٍ عَنِ ٱلنَّعِيمِ ﴾
(Then on that Day you shall be asked about the delights!) meaning, `on that Day you all will be questioned concerning your gratitude towards the favors that Allah blessed you with, such as health, safety, sustenance and other things. You will be asked did you return His favors by being thankful to Him and worshipping Him.’ Ibn Jarir recorded that Al-Husayn bin `Ali As-Suda’i narrated to him from Al-Walid bin Al-Qasim, who reported from Yazid bin Kaysan, who reported from Abi Hazim, who reported from Abu Hurayrah that he said, “Once while Abu Bakr and `Umar were sitting, the Prophet came to them and said,
«مَا أَجْلَسَكُمَا ههُنَا؟»
(What has caused you two to sit here) They replied, `By He Who has sent you with the truth, nothing has brought us out of our houses except hunger.’ The Prophet said,
«وَالَّذِي بَعَثَنِي بِالْحَقِّ مَا أَخْرَجَنِي غَيْرُه»
(By He Who has sent me with the truth, nothing has brought me out other than this.) So they went until they came to the house of a man from the Ansar, and the woman of the house received them. The Prophet said to her,
«أَيْنَ فُلَانٌ؟»
(Where is so-and-so) She replied, `He went to fetch some drinking water for us.’ So the man came carrying his bucket and he said, `Welcome. Nothing has visited the servants (of Allah) better than a Prophet who has visited me today.’ Then he hung his bucket near a palm tree, and climbed it and returned to them with a cluster of dates. So the Prophet said,
«أَلَا كُنْتَ اجْتَنَـيْتَ؟»
Why didn’t you pick (some of them)) The man replied, `I wanted you to choose with your own eyes.’ Then he took a blade (to slaughter a sheep) and the Prophet said,
«إِيَّاكَ وَالْحَلُوب»
(Do not slaughter one that gives milk.) So he slaughtered a sheep for them that day and they all ate. Then the Prophet said,
«لَتُسْأَلُنَّ عَنْ هَذَا يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، أَخْرَجَكُمْ مِنْ بُيُوتِكُمُ الْجُوعُ، فَلَمْ تَرْجِعُوا حَتَّى أَصَبْتُمْ هَذَا، فَهَذَا مِنَ النَّعِيم»
(You will be asked about this on the Day of Judgment. Hunger caused you to come out of your homes and you did not return until you had eaten this meal. So this is from the delights.)” Muslim also recorded this Hadith. It has been confirmed in Sahih Al-Bukhari and the Sunans of At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa’i and Ibn Majah from Ibn `Abbas that the Messenger of Allah said,
«نِعْمَتَانِ مَغْبُونٌ فِيهِمَا كَثِيرٌ مِنَ النَّاسِ: الصِّحَّةُ وَالْفَرَاغ»
(Two favors are treated unjustly by most people: health and free time.) This means that the people are lacking gratitude for these two favors. They do fulfill their obligations to them. Therefore, whoever does not maintain the right that is obligatory upon him, then he is unjust. Imam Ahmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet said,
«يَقُولُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَلَّ قال عفان: يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ : يَا ابْنَ آدَمَ، حَمَلْتُكَ عَلَى الْخَيْلِ وَالْإِبِلِ، وَزَوَّجْتُكَ النِّسَاءَ، وَجَعَلْتُكَ تَرْبَعُ وَتَرْأَسُ، فَأَيْنَ شُكْرُ ذَلِكَ؟»
(Allah the Mighty and Majestic says on the Day of Judgment, “O Son of Adam! I made you ride upon the horses and camels, I gave you women to marry, and I made you reside and rule (in the earth). So where is the thanks for that”) Ahmad was alone in recording this Hadith in this manner. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat At-Takathur, and all praise and blessings are due to Allah.