Juz’ 19 – SŪRAT AL-SHU‘ARĀ’ (CHAPTER OF THE POETS)

Purifying Soul And Heart

﴿ وَلَا تُخْزِنِى يَوْمَ يُبْعَثُونَ ۝   يَوْمَ لَا يَنفَعُ مَالٌ وَّلَا بَنُونَ ۝   إِلَّا مَنْ أَتَى اللَّهَ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ ﴾

And do not disgrace me on the Day they are resurrected, The Day wealth and sons will not benefit, Except he who comes to Allah with a sound heart. [26: 87-89]

Ibrāhīm n, in his du‘ā’ to Allah f, stated,

“Do not disgrace me when the people are resurrected on the Day of Judgement, the day when neither wealth nor children will be of any benefit except for the one who comes to Allah f with a pure heart.”

We are told in the Qur’ān that even if the disbelievers presented everything in the earth and the like of it in the hope of protection from the punishment of the Fire of Hell, Allah f will not accept it.

﴿ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا لَوْ أَنَّ لَهُمْ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ جَمِيعًا وَمِثْلَهُ مَعَهُ لِيَفْتَدُوا بِهِ
مِنْ عَذَابِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ مَا تُقُبِّلَ مِنْهُمْ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ ﴾

Indeed, those who disbelieve, if they have whatever is in the earth and the like of
it again by which to ransom themselves from the punishment of the
Day of Resurrection, it will not be accepted from them;
and for them is a painful punishment. [5:36]

One matter we need to understand is that where Allah f mentions that one’s children will not be of any benefit; this refers to disbelievers. Those children that were God-fearing, Ḥuffāẓ (Memorisers of the Qur’ān) and followed in the footsteps of the Prophet Muḥammad g will be beneficial to their parents.

It is therefore imperative for parents to make sure that they look after their children from the worldly perspective, and more importantly, nurture their spiritual needs, for this is what will benefit them in the Hereafter. Allah f says:

﴿ يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ ٱلْمَرْءُ مِنْ أَخِيهِ  وَأُمِّهِۦ وَأَبِيهِ  وَصَـٰحِبَتِهِ وَبَنِيهِ ﴾

The Day a man will flee from his brother, and his mother and
his father, and his wife and his children. [80:34-36]

These verses refer to the disbelievers not the believers.

Allah f in the earlier verses mentions those people who will come to Allah f with a sound heart. The heart is one of the most important parts of our body.

Since ancient times, communities have taught the importance of the heart. Statements such as ‘he is hard-hearted’, ‘he is cold hearted,’ ‘he is warm-hearted’ are used in different cultures, and all are in relation to different aspects of human traits and character.

In order to protect our physical heart, we take precautions. We maintain a healthy diet, we exercise, we pay for a gym membership, we forgo food we love, and this is particularly true for those who have suffered a heart attack, for example.

The question we need to ask ourselves is: what do we do to protect the spiritual aspect of our hearts? Is it not our duty to protect this too? Allah f says:

﴿ قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّىٰهَا ۝   وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّىٰهَا ﴾

Indeed, he succeeds who purifies it (the soul);
And indeed, he fails who buries it. [91-9-10]

We must endeavour to do right by our spiritual heart. The reward promised for the person who purifies himself is that he will have rivers flowing beneath him in the Gardens of Paradise, in which he will live forever. Allah f states:

﴿ جَنَّـٰتُ عَدْنٍ تَجْرِی مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَـٰرُ خَـٰلِدِینَ فِیهَا  ۚ وَذَٰلِكَ جَزَآءُ مَنْ تَزَكَّىٰ ﴾

Gardens of Eden underneath which rivers flow, abiding forever in it.
And that is the reward for he who purifies himself. [20:76]

May Allah f give us the ability to purify our souls and hearts. Āmīn.