Ali 'Imran · Madani · ayah 15 of 200

Ali 'Imran 3:15

۞ قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيْرٍ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمْ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ ٱتَّقَوْا۟ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّـٰتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا ٱلْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزْوَٰجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ وَرِضْوَٰنٌ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ بَصِيرٌۢ بِٱلْعِبَادِ

“Say, "Shall I inform you of [something] better than that? For those who fear Allāh will be gardens in the presence of their Lord beneath which rivers flow, wherein they abide eternally, and purified spouses and approval from Allāh. And Allāh is Seeing [i.e., aware] of [His] servants -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The Quran does not silence desire; it offers something better, and the best of it is His approval.

A reflection

Ninety-nine good reviews and one bad one

An actor opens in a play that the critics love. Ninety-nine reviews are warm. One is cruel. At two in the morning he can recite the cruel one word for word, and he has already forgotten the rest.

Much of human life is a hunt for approval. The parent's nod, the manager's 'well done', the likes under a photograph. The ego feeds on it and is never full, because human approval is fickle, partial and easily withdrawn.

The ayah lists the rewards of the mindful: gardens with rivers running beneath, a life that never ends, purified spouses. Then the last and highest: wa riḍwānun mina llāh, and approval from Allah. The lexicons define riḍā by its opposite, sukhṭ, the displeasure that turns its face away. Riḍā is a face turning towards you, warm. A modern commentary adds that this approval settles on them and He will never be displeased with them again. Another calls it greater than everything before it.

Then the ayah closes: wa-llāhu baṣīrun bi-l-ʿibād, Allah sees His servants. Nothing about them is hidden from Him. His approval is not a mood based on a review. It is given by the One who saw everything.

Why would Allah describe Himself as All-Seeing? Not because He wants to be watched in return. 'You are the poor ones in need of Allah' (35:15). It is for us. It means the ego can stop performing for a hall of critics. One gaze matters, and it misses nothing, including the good that no one applauded.

Tonight, notice whose approval you checked for today. Then ask for the one face that never turns away once it has turned towards you.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.