Al-Waqi'ah · Makki · ayah 91 of 96

Al-Waqi'ah 56:91

فَسَلَـٰمٌ لَّكَ مِنْ أَصْحَـٰبِ ٱلْيَمِينِ

“Then [the angels will say], "Peace for you; [you are] from the companions of the right."”

Saheeh International

Essence

One reflective commentary argues that this is not a greeting at all, because the words for greeting a man are different ones.

A reflection

Peace to you is not a greeting here

Everyone reads this as a greeting. Peace be upon you. One reflective commentary says that it cannot be, and gives a reason that is hard to argue with.

If this were a greeting, it says, He would have said peace upon him. As He said: peace upon Ibrahim. Peace upon Nuh.

That is a point about grammar with a plain test behind it. The Book has a form for greeting somebody, and it uses that form elsewhere, repeatedly. It does not use it here.

So what is it? The same commentary answers. The ayah contains the ranks of people at the lesser Rising, at the moment of coming before Allah. It mentions three sorts. A brought near one, who has relief and fragrance and a garden of bliss. A middling one, of the companions of the right, who has safety. And a wrongdoer, by his denying and his straying, who is promised a welcome of scalding water and a roasting.

And then the sentence that settles it. Since the place was not one for greeting, but for telling of his state, what was mentioned was his safety.

So the ayah is not saying hello to him. It is reporting what he has.

And that changes how the line sits in the surah. Three cases, three statements of outcome. The first gets three items. The third gets two. This one gets one, and the one is safety.

Which is why the usual reading is so much weaker than the ayah. A greeting is a courtesy. This is a verdict, and the verdict is: nothing is going to happen to you.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.