سورة الزمر

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): The people of لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا اللهُ [Muminin who believed in the oneness of Allah and have died] have no fear in their graves. It is as if I see them shaking their heads and saying: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ [Praise be to Allah, Who has made good to us His promise].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): أَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ [And He has made us inherit the land] means the land of Paradise.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Ibn Abbas said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said: "I used to fear the divine punishment day and night, until Jibrail brought me the Surah قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ [Say: He, Allah, is One]. Then I knew that Allah would not punish my Ummah after the revelation of this Surah, because this Surah is the ascription (identity) of Allah the Mighty and Majestic. So whoever undertakes to recite it after every prayer [makes it obligatory upon himself], goodness will rain down from the sky upon the crown of his head... When the Day of Resurrection arrives, the angels will say: 'O our Lord! This servant of Yours loves Your ascription, Surah al-Tawhid.' Allah will say: 'Let no angel among you remain except that he accompanies him to Paradise. [All the angels must escort him to Paradise.]' They will take him to Paradise as a bride is taken to the house of her husband. When he enters Paradise, the angels will look at his ranks and palaces while saying: 'How much higher is this person's station than those who were with him [and have entered Paradise]!' Then Allah the Mighty and Majestic will say: 'I sent the prophets (peace be upon them) and revealed My books with them, and I made clear to them the honour I would bestow upon those who believe in Me, and [made clear that] I will punish those who deny Me, and whoever obeys Me will reach Paradise. And it is not the case that everyone who enters My Paradise will attain this honour. I reward each person according to the measure of his deeds — except the people of Surah al-Ikhlas (those who in the world were devoted to Surah قُلْ هُوَ اللهُ أَحَدٌ) [whom I reward beyond the measure of their deeds]; for they loved reciting this Surah in the hours of day and night, and for this reason I have preferred them over the rest of the people of Paradise.' Consequently, whoever dies with the love of this Surah, Allah the Exalted will say: 'Who has the power to give this servant of Mine a [worthy] reward? I am the Abundant [in wealth]. I will give him his reward.' Therefore He will say: 'O My servant! Enter My Paradise.' When he enters, he will say: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ [Praise be to Allah, Who has made good to us His promise]. Blessed is the one who loves reciting this Surah."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Whoever visits his Mumin brother for the sake of Allah Himself, to fulfil His promise and with the intention of receiving Allah's reward, Allah appoints seventy thousand angels over him to accompany him from the time he leaves his house until he returns home, and they say to him: "Well done and bravo to you, and may Paradise be pleasant for you. Choose your dwelling place from whichever part of Paradise you wish."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): On the Day of Resurrection, a group of people will come forward with dazzling light and call out in the loudest of their voices: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ وَ أَوْرَثَنَا أَرْضَهُ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الجَنَّةِ حَیْثُ نَشاءُ [Praise be to Allah, who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us inherit His land; we may abide in the Garden wherever we please]. The creatures will say: "These are the group of the Prophets." Then suddenly a call will come from Allah the Mighty and Majestic: "These are the Shia of Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). They are My chosen ones from among My servants, and My select ones from among My good creatures." The creatures will say: "O our Allah and our Master! By what means have they attained this rank?" A call will come from Allah the Exalted: "Because they wore the ring on the right hand, prayed fifty-one rak'ahs [during the day and night], fed the poor, placed their foreheads on the earth (prostrated on the earth), and recited بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحیمِ [In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful] aloud [in prayer]."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): Sahl ibn Ziyad said: When the time of Imam Sajjad's (peace be upon him) death arrived, he lost consciousness, and after a while he regained consciousness. They lifted the cloth from over him and he said: "Praise be to Allah, who made the Garden our inheritance, that we may choose whichever part of it we wish; how excellent is the reward of those who act!" Then he said: "Dig a grave for me and dig it deep until it reaches water." Then they drew the cloth over him and he passed away.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Isma'il ibn Hammam narrated from Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) that he said: When the time of Imam Sajjad's (peace be upon him) death arrived, he lost consciousness three times, and on the last time he said: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنَا وَعْدَهُ وَأَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الجَنَّةِ حَیْثُ نَشَاء فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِینَ [Praise be to Allah, who has fulfilled His promise to us and made us inherit the earth; we may abide in the Garden wherever we please; how excellent is the reward of those who act], and then he passed away.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): [During the Mi'raj] I was taken up to the seventh heaven. I heard the angels [saying]: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ [Praise be to Allah who has been true to His promise to us]. I said: "What did He promise you?" They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! When Allah created you as apparitions of light from the light of Allah the Exalted, your wilayah (guardianship) was presented to us. We accepted it, and we complained to Allah the Exalted of [the intensity of] our love for you [we loved you so much that we did not want to be far from you]. Allah promised that He would show you to us with us in the heavens, and He did so. And we complained of our love for Ali (peace be upon him) to Allah, so Allah created for us an angel in his form and seated it (that angel) on the right side of His Throne, upon a throne of gold that was [that throne] adorned with pearls and jewels, and upon it (the throne) is a dome of white pearl whose inside is visible from its outside and whose outside is visible from its inside, without any pillar beneath it and without any support from above it [it was suspended in the air]. The Master of the Throne (Allah) said to it: 'Rise by My power!' It rose and stood. And whenever we long for Ali (peace be upon him), we look at that angel in the heavens. Convey our salam to Ali (peace be upon him)."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal said: "[The Awaited Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance)] — from where does he appear and how does he become manifest?" He said: "O Mufaddal! He appears alone, and comes alone to the House of Allah, and enters the Ka'bah alone, and when night falls he is still alone. When eyes have gone to sleep and the night has grown completely dark, Jibra'il and Mika'il and the angels in ranks descend upon him, and among them Jibra'il says to him: 'O my master, whatever you command is accepted and your order is executed.' He (al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance)) then wipes his hand over his face and says: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ وَ أَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الجَنَّةِ حَیْثُ نَشاءُ فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعامِلِینَ [Praise be to Allah who has been true to His promise to us and has made us inherit the earth; we may dwell in the Garden wherever we wish; how excellent is the reward of those who work]. Then he stands between the Rukn and the Maqam and calls out in a loud voice: 'O nuqaba (chiefs) and people who are close to me, and O those whom Allah has stored up before my appearance on the face of the earth for my assistance, come to me by your own choice and to obey me.'"

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Mufaddal asked: "My master! After that, what will Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) do?" He said: "He will send an army to Damascus to seize Sufyani; they will capture him and behead him upon a rock. Then Husayn (peace be upon him) will appear with twelve thousand devoted ones and the seventy-two who were among his companions at Karbala and were martyred with him. How blessed is that luminous return... O Mufaddal! It is as though I see us — the Imams (peace be upon them) — at that time gathered before the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), complaining to him about what the ummah did to us after him. We will say: 'The ummah rejected us, showed us contempt, cursed and reviled us, threatened us with death; their tyrannical rulers drove us out of our homeland and took us to their capitals, and killed a group of us by poison and imprisonment.' At this the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) will weep bitterly and say: 'O my sons! Whatever befell you, more befell your grandfather before you.' Then Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon her) will come forward and speak of the injustice done to her... Then Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) — namesake of my grandfather the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) — will come wearing the shirt of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family), stained with the blood of his forehead and his noble tooth, with the angels surrounding him, and will stand before the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and say: 'O noble grandfather! You described me with qualities by which people would know me, and you mentioned my name, lineage and kunya. Even so, this ummah denied my existence and rebelled.' And they said: 'Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) has not been born and never existed. If he exists, where is he and when will he come? His father died leaving no offspring, and if he truly existed and were alive, Allah would not have delayed his coming until this time. O my grandfather! I entrusted the matter to Allah and endured patiently until now, and I have now appeared by the command of Allah.' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) will say: الحَمْدُ لِلهِ الَّذِی صَدَقَنا وَعْدَهُ وَ أَوْرَثَنَا الْأَرْضَ نَتَبَوَّأُ مِنَ الجَنَّةِ حَیْثُ نَشاءُ فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعامِلِینَ [Praise be to Allah, Who has made good to us His promise, and has made us inherit the land; we may abide in the garden wherever we please; so goodly is the reward of the workers]."

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): I and my Shia, on the Day of Resurrection, will be upon pulpits of light. The angels will pass by us and greet us. [The angels] will say: "Who is this man, and who are these?" They will be told: "This is Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him), the cousin of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family)." It will be said: "Who are these [who are with him upon the pulpits of light]?" They will be told: "These are the Shia of Ali (peace be upon him)." They say to the angels: "Where are the Arab Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and his cousin?" They say: "The two of them are by the Throne." He said: "A caller from the heaven, from the Lord of Might, calls out: 'O Ali (peace be upon him)! Enter Paradise, you and your Shia, for neither you nor they have any reckoning.' They enter Paradise and enjoy its fruits therein, and they wear fine and thick silk and things which no eye has seen. They say: 'الْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ الَّذِی أَذْهَبَ عَنَّا الْحَزَنَ إِنَّ رَبَّنا لَغَفُورٌ شَکُورٌ [Praise be to Allah who has removed sorrow from us; indeed our Lord is Forgiving, appreciative of gratitude] (Fatir 34), the very Allah who bestowed His favour upon us through His Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him and his family) and through his successor, Ali ibn Abi Talib (peace be upon him). And praise be to Allah who, out of His grace, bestowed His favour upon us through the two of them and admitted us into Paradise, فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعامِلِینَ [so goodly is the reward of the workers].'"

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): It has been narrated from Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): On the Day of Resurrection, when the first and the last of the creation are gathered, a caller from Allah the Exalted will call out: "Where are the patient ones, that they may enter Paradise together without reckoning?" A people and a group will rise up, and the angels will meet them and ask them: "Where are you going?" They will say: "To Paradise." The angels will ask: "Before the reckoning?" They will say: "Yes!" They will ask them: "Who are you that you enter Paradise without reckoning?" They will say: "We are the patient ones." They will say: "What was your patience?" They will reply: "We were patient in the obedience of Allah and patient [in refraining] from disobeying Him, until our death arrived and Allah transferred us to this world [the next]." The angels will say: "You have spoken the truth, enter Paradise. فَنِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعامِلِینَ [so goodly is the reward of the workers]."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): When Allah gathers the first and the last of the creation [on the Day of Resurrection in the plain of gathering], a caller will rise and call out so that all the people hear him; he says: "Where are those who loved one another for the sake of Allah?" The Imam said: "A group of people will rise up." They will be told: "Go towards Paradise without reckoning." The Imam said: (Other) angels will meet them and say: "Where are you going?" They will say: "We are going towards Paradise without reckoning." The angels will say: "Which group of people are you from?" They will say: "We are those who loved one another for the sake of Allah." The angels will say: "What was your deed and work [in the world, that has caused such favour with Allah]?" They will say: "We loved for the sake of Allah and we hated for the sake of Allah." The angels will say: "نِعْمَ أَجْرُ الْعَامِلِینَ [Goodly is the reward of the workers]."