Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 74 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:74

وَقَالُوا۟ ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ ٱلَّذِى صَدَقَنَا وَعْدَهُۥ وَأَوْرَثَنَا ٱلْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ ٱلْجَنَّةِ حَيْثُ نَشَآءُ ۖ فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ ٱلْعَـٰمِلِينَ

“And they will say, "Praise to Allāh, who has fulfilled for us His promise and made us inherit the earth [so] we may settle in Paradise wherever we will. And excellent is the reward of [righteous] workers."”

Saheeh International

Essence

The first words inside the Garden are praise: He kept His promise, gave us the land, and we settle wherever we wish.

A reflection

A promise with strength in it

The gate has opened. The keepers have greeted them. And the first thing the people of the Garden say is not about the Garden at all. Al-ḥamdu lillāhi alladhī ṣadaqanā waʿdahu: praise be to Allah, who has been true to us in His promise.

The root of ṣadaqa is established in the lexicons as strength in a thing. A spear that was ṣadq was hard and sound, not cracked inside. Truth is called ṣidq because it holds; a lie has nothing inside it to bear weight. The root of waʿd, promise, has its own picture: the land after rain, whose first green shoots promised good pasture.

So the believers are saying: the green shoots we were shown in the world were real. The pasture they promised is here.

One commentary links this to another ayah. The angels descend on those who stood firm. Do not fear and do not grieve, they say, and receive good news of the Garden you were promised (41:30). Believers held on to promises like that in hospital corridors and at gravesides, with nothing in their hands but words. Now the words have become ground under their feet.

Picture a boy of ten who lends his whole savings tin to his uncle. The uncle says he will pay it back the day the boy leaves for university. Eight years pass. Nobody mentions it. On the morning he leaves, there is an envelope on his bed, with more in it than he lent. He does not count it first. He goes looking for his uncle.

That is the movement of this ayah. They do not inspect the gardens first. They turn to the One who promised, and praise Him.

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.