سورة الحديد

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): O son of Mas'ud! Islam began as a stranger, and it will return in the future to being a stranger as it began, so Paradise and felicity are for the strangers. So whoever of your descendants reaches that time, let him not greet those people, nor attend their funerals, nor visit their sick, for they will make a show of your ways, your beliefs and your sayings, but they will oppose you in their actions, and they will die on a religion other than yours. They are not of me, nor am I of them. O son of Mas'ud! Fear no one except Allah, for Allah the Exalted says: "Wherever you are, death will overtake you, even if you are in lofty, fortified towers" (al-Nisa/78), and He says: یَوْمَ یَقُولُ الْمُنافِقُونَ وَ الْمُنافِقاتُ لِلَّذِینَ آمَنُوا انْظُرُونا [On the day when the hypocritical men and the hypocritical women will say to those who believe: Wait for us].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): On the Day of Resurrection, light is distributed among people according to the measure of their faith. The hypocrite's share of light is the size of the big toe of his left foot. Then his light is trampled out, and he says: "Stay in your place so that I may take from your light." It is said to him: ارْجِعُوا وَراءَکُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُوراً [Turn back and seek a light] — meaning to the place where the fire is distributed. He said: "So they return, and a wall is set up between them."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) say: My community will be gathered on the Day of Resurrection under five banners. The first banner to come before me is the banner of the Pharaoh of this age, Mu'awiya. The second is the banner of the Samiri of this age, Amr ibn al-As. The third is the banner of the Jathliq (head of the bishops) of this age, Abu Musa al-Ash'ari. The fourth is the banner of Abu al-A'war al-Sulami. And the fifth is your banner, O Ali! Under that banner are the believers, and you are their leader. Allah the Blessed and Exalted will say to these four groups: ارْجِعُوا وَراءَکُمْ فَالْتَمِسُوا نُوراً فَضُرِبَ بَیْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بابٌ باطِنُهُ فِیهِ الرَّحْمَةُ... [Turn back and seek a light. Then a wall with a door will be set up between them; the inside of it will have mercy...]. They (the fifth group) are my followers and those who love me. The transgressing group who deviated from the straight path fought against me, and the door of mercy is my followers.

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): قِیلَ means it is said to the hypocrites: ارْجِعُوا وَراءَکُمْ [Turn back], meaning return to the [plain of] the Gathering, the very place where the light was given to us. فَالْتَمِسُوا نُوراً [and seek a light] — they too return to the [plain of] the Gathering, but they find no light.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The questions of Abdullah ibn Salam — whose name was "Isma'il", and the Prophet named him Abdullah. It is from Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him). He said: ... Ibn Salam said: "Tell me! Who is the first to pass over the Sirat?" He said: "The believers." He said: "You have spoken the truth, O Muhammad! Describe it for me." He said: "Among the believers there are those who pass over the Sirat for twenty years, and when the foremost of them reaches Paradise, the disbelievers step onto the Sirat; when they reach its middle, Allah extinguishes their light and they are left without light. Then they call out to the believers: 'Look at us, so that we may take from your light.' They are told: 'Were there not among you the Prophets (peace be upon them) and companions and brothers?' [They say:] 'Were we not with you in the world?'"

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): انْظُرُونا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِکُمْ [Wait for us, that we may take from your light] means [look at us so that] we may walk in the glow of your light.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): [Concerning] انْظُرُونا نَقْتَبِسْ مِنْ نُورِکُمْ — on the Day of Resurrection Allah apportions the light according to the measure of people's deeds; He also gives to the hypocrite, and it is placed on the thumb of his left foot, and then his light is extinguished.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Sa'id ibn Jubayr said: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) was asked about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: فَضُرِبَ بَیْنَهُم بِسُورٍ لهُ بَابٌ بَاطِنُهُ فِیهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وظَاهِرُهُ مِن قِبَلهِ العَذَاب [Then a wall shall be set up between them, having a door; within it there is mercy, and outside of it, facing it, is the punishment]. He said: "I am the wall and Ali is the door, and the wall cannot be entered except through the door."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Sallam ibn Mustanir said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the interpretation of this verse: فَضُرِبَ بَیْنَهُمْ بِسُورٍ لَهُ بابٌ باطِنُهُ فِیهِ الرَّحْمَةُ وَ ظاهِرُهُ مِنْ قِبَلِهِ الْعَذابُ یُنادُونَهُمْ أَ لَمْ نَکُنْ مَعَکُمْ [Then a wall shall be set up between them, with a gate in it; on its inside is mercy and on its outside, in front of it, is punishment. They shall call out to them: Were we not with you?]. He said: "This verse was revealed concerning us and our Shia, and concerning the disbelievers. When the Day of Resurrection comes, Allah will hold the people of the world on the way to the gathering-place, and He will set up a wall of darkness which has a gate in it; its inside is mercy, meaning light, and its outside, in front of it, is punishment — that is, darkness and gloom. Allah will place our Shia inside the wall of darkness, where mercy and light are, and He will place our enemies and the disbelievers in front of the wall in which is the darkness. Our enemies and yours will then call out from that very gate that is in the wall of darkness."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): On the Day of Resurrection, light will be distributed among the people according to the measure of their faith. The hypocrite's share of light is the size of the thumb of his left foot. He looks at his light and then says to the believers: Stay in your place, so that I may take some light from you. The believers say to the hypocrites: Turn back, and seek light from behind you. So they turn back, and a wall is set up between them which has a gate. They call out from behind the wall.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): Race towards the forgiveness of your Lord before a wall is set up between you whose inside is Allah's mercy and whose outside is Allah's punishment. Then however much you cry out, no one will listen to your cry, and however much you wail and lament, no one will gather at your wailing and lamenting.