'Pleased with Their Striving' in Surat al-Ghashiyah

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on July 24, 2026 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The description that our Lord, glorified and exalted, gave to the people of Paradise in Sūrat al-Ghāshiyah is striking. It makes you reflect long on this divine offering: Allah, mighty and majestic, gives you what has never happened before. Merely repeating these words on your tongue is already a paradise, so what of living the scene itself on the Day of Resurrection, when the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, grants you this?

Faces Full of Bliss

﴿وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ نَّاعِمَةٌ﴾ (Faces on that Day will be full of bliss).^[1] In our world, the faces of bliss are the faces of children of comfort, children of the upper class whose faces are never touched by the sun, who do not toil in the dust, who do not strive much on the earth; their whole life is air-conditioned from beginning to end, and they never know hardship. These faces of luxury have never seen misery or fatigue. It is as though the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, lifts from a person the traces of the abode of hardship from the very first moment, simply upon entering Paradise.

And what is the cause of this softness, which is a sign of refinement and happiness? It is that they are faces ﴿لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ﴾ (well pleased with their striving). He did not say "approved of," but "pleased." Here we have a person who wearied and toiled in this world, who bore the burdens of obedience, who paid the price of belonging to this religion, and it is a very great price. He paid it throughout his life, so the natural thing is that on the Day of Resurrection he would be content, given in full the reward that was promised him in his worldly life, his prize handed to him as the fruit of his work. But the verse says that he is pleased and delighted.

Imagine, quite simply, a young student in the second year, meaning it is not a certificate year, who passed and earned high marks. You find him very happy even though no practical consequence follows from this success. But he is pleased with the effort he exerted. And another person who wearied himself greatly during his studies, and in the days of the exams was not granted success for particular reasons, an illness or some problem that befell him, so the result did not come as he wished and did not match the measure of the toil he had spent. Yet you find him very pleased with what he exerted, happy with the effort he put in whatever the results; he studied for the sake of studying, attended for the sake of attending, and learned for the sake of learning.

So too are the people of faith as they move about the earth and strive in it, setting the world in motion, managing the affairs of life, and wearying themselves in conveying the message of Allah: they do that for the sake of that alone, and what comes after it does not concern them. Imagine a person who went to a ceremony of honor for an effort he had made, and they gave him a certificate, and he greeted the people and did not look at the certificate. You say to him: look at it, and he says: this was expected as far as I am concerned, leave it aside; I am happy that I did this, glad that I reached this station. ﴿لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ﴾ (well pleased with their striving).

A Lofty Garden, Free of Idle Talk

Since people like these were objects of suspicion in this world, objects of persecution and surveillance, the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He, does not place them among everyone else; rather, they are ﴿فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ﴾ (in a lofty Garden), free of the nonsense that goes on in this world. Imagine what the people of obedience hear in our world from those who are not like them, from the other side.

Someone wrote a post on Facebook objecting to how the Muslim community could be present in such numbers in this country that they would create this Islamic project in this area; brothers there bought land and are building a mosque, and this is natural to us, while he objects. His objection is not the problem, but when you look at the comments as you scroll down, you find very bad comments, and I apologize for this expression, as if people's hands were aching and so they wrote very strange things. So imagine that your presence there involves a great deal of noise being forced upon your ear. And beyond that, even in the midst of the community that holds on to its religion like one clutching a burning coal, people do not like it that you should be truthful, that you should be clear, that you should be frank. The Egyptians have a saying they use about a person of extreme clarity and frankness. So you are accused, and accused, and accused, and all of that accumulates upon your ear in this world. Then the Lord of the worlds rewards them in the Hereafter: ﴿لَّا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَاغِيَةً﴾ (You will hear no idle talk therein).

Sensory Bliss and What Has Been Prepared

Then come the stages of sensory bliss: ﴿فِيهَا عَيْنٌ جَارِيَةٌ﴾ (Therein is a flowing spring). Imagine the scene: you have a house made entirely of glass, you have nothing to hide, so you would need curtains, but here it is on a flowing river of water, with trees around you, and the bliss is bliss indeed. ﴿فِيهَا سُرُرٌ مَّرْفُوعَةٌ وَأَكْوَابٌ مَّوْضُوعَةٌ وَنَمَارِقُ مَصْفُوفَةٌ وَزَرَابِيُّ مَبْثُوثَةٌ﴾ (Therein are raised couches, and cups set in place, and cushions arranged in rows, and carpets spread out). You are entering a seven-star room, or a twelve-star one, count the stars as you wish, prepared for you. When we travel somewhere and the trip comes with a great deal of work, we do not prefer to stay in a separate place whose affairs we manage ourselves; we find the hotel, and we find someone who comes in to clean up after you and put things back in their places, because you have no time, so he arranges things for you. Picturing this feeble, small, simple scene lets you imagine what happens in Paradise: everything is ready.

﴿أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ﴾

Then: ﴿أَفَلَا يَنظُرُونَ إِلَى الْإِبِلِ كَيْفَ خُلِقَتْ﴾ (Do they not look at the camels, how they were created?). It is as though this divine making for the people of Paradise, and the crafting by the Lord of the worlds, glorified and exalted be He, of the bliss they are in at that time, is merely a reflection of what Allah does with the camels. We spoke earlier about the making of the camel; so make reflection upon it part of your homework, and look at what Allah has made in the camel, and the secrets of Allah, mighty and majestic, within it. You will find thousands of articles telling you about the miracle of this great, dazzling creation.

﴿وَإِلَى السَّمَاءِ كَيْفَ رُفِعَتْ﴾ (and at the sky, how it was raised): He who raised the sky without pillars is able to raise the standing of His servants if they are sincere. ﴿وَإِلَى الْجِبَالِ كَيْفَ نُصِبَتْ﴾ (and at the mountains, how they were set up), with this structure, their extension into the earth just like their extension and height in the air, their steadfastness, their strength and their defiance of the winds, and their age from the time Allah created the earth and what is upon it until the Day of Resurrection; this makes you look at the wisdom of the Lord of the worlds, glorified be He.

So Remind, You Are Not a Warden Over Them

And just as these mountains shelter both the disbeliever and the believer, do they not? If a disbeliever enters a cave in this mountain, the mountain does not say to him: get out, you are not a Muslim. Rather, it takes him in. And just as these mountains are this all-encompassing, and the sky still shades both the believer and the disbeliever among people, and likewise the rivers, seas, trees and fruits, all of it is general, so too are you, emulating your Prophet ﷺ: ﴿فَذَكِّرْ إِنَّمَا أَنتَ مُذَكِّرٌ ۝ لَّسْتَ عَلَيْهِم بِمُصَيْطِرٍ ۝ إِلَّا مَن تَوَلَّىٰ وَكَفَرَ ۝ فَيُعَذِّبُهُ اللَّهُ﴾ (So remind; you are only a reminder. You are not over them a warden. But he who turns away and disbelieves, then Allah will punish him).^[2] It does not say "and you shall punish him," but "Allah will punish him"; this matter belongs to our Lord alone. Your only role in human existence is to bring forth the sweet word, to say the good word, to speak to people with kindness.

By Allah the Almighty, consciences are not ours; the consciences of people and the hearts of creation belong to our Lord. So do not try to thrust yourself into an area where you have no business; get out of it, this is not your place of work. Stay within the frame of exhortation, the good word, the beautiful tongue, and the useful sentence. Whoever does right does so for his own soul, and whoever goes astray does so against it, and that is not your concern.

Ask Allah for Paradise, ask Allah for Paradise, ask Allah for Paradise, and for what He has prepared in it for His righteous servants. O Allah, amen, O Lord of the worlds. May Allah grant you a safe day, and bless it.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: al-Ghāshiyah: 8, and ﴿لِّسَعْيِهَا رَاضِيَةٌ﴾ in it: 9, and ﴿فِي جَنَّةٍ عَالِيَةٍ﴾: 10, and ﴿لَّا تَسْمَعُ فِيهَا لَاغِيَةً﴾: 11, then 12–16 for the sensory bliss, then 17–20 for the verses of the camels, the sky and the mountains. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: al-Ghāshiyah: 21–24; the speaker cited it in parts, with his comment on "so Allah will punish him."