تَحِيَّتُهُمْ يَوْمَ يَلْقَوْنَهُۥ سَلَٰمٌۭ ۚ وَأَعَدَّ لَهُمْ أَجْرًۭا كَرِيمًۭا
Their greeting the Day they meet Him will be, "Peace." And He has prepared for them a noble reward.
Introduction
This is āyah 44 of Sūrat Al-Ahzaab (The Combined Forces), the 90th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 22. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 90 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Ahzaab (33)
Their greeting on the day they encounter Him will be “Peace.” Wait until this poor man reaches the house of good fortune in the Endless. Delay and lingering will let loose the foot of compassion. The clouds of gentleness will rain down generosity, the sun of union will shine from the rising place of finding, and the eyes, heart, and spirit, all three, will gaze upon the Friend. In the report has come, “The eyes will be filled with gazing on His face and He will speak to them as a man speaks to his sitting companion.” When an eye has seen Him, how will it busy itself with glancing at others? When a spirit has found companionship with Him, how will it make do with water and dust? When someone has become accustomed to the Exalted Presence, how will he put up with the abasement of the veil? How will the ruler of his own city spend his life in exile? In this world of exile, you become weary because you must say, “Give us ease, O Bilāl,” for the crowd. [DS 34] Their greeting on the day they encounter Him will be “Peace.” Tomorrow this caress and rank, this endless good fortune, will be suited for someone who today is separate from the attributes of his own being. All attributes of selfhood are bonds, every bond is a color, and the chevaliers disdain every color. He who painted a thousand worlds with color- why would He buy my color or yours, O bankrupt man! Why do you paint yourself, poor wretch! Self-painting has no worth. Why do you adorn yourself? Self-adornment has no value. Let it go, so that He adorned it in your hearts [49:7] may adorn you without you. Let it go, and then He loves them, and they love Him [5:54] will approve of you without you. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “Look from Him to Him, not from self to Him, for the eyes belong to what they saw at first and the heart to the first Friend. Everyone with a chamber in this street knows that this is so. Seeing the Friend is the spirit's law and throwing away life in the Shariah of Friendship is its religion.”
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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