COMMENTARY:
(Verses 40-41-42-43)- A/ A man who may have suffered or been disappointed may have lurking sense of injury at the back of his mind, which may spoil his enjoyment on account of past memory intruding in the midst of felicity. In such cases memory itself is pain. Even sorrow is intensified by memory; as Tennyson says:- “A sorrow’s crown of sorrows is remembering happier things”. But that is in this our imperfect life. In the perfect felicity of the righteous, all such feelings will be blotted out. No “heartaches” then and no memories of them. The clouds of the past will have dissolved in glorious light, and no past happiness will be comparable with the perfect happiness which will have then been attained. Nor will any sense of envy or shortcoming be possible in that perfect bliss. B/Jesus said: ”Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth- Matt.v.5”. here we are told: ‘blessed are the righteous, for they shall inherit the kingdom of heaven’. The stress here is on actual practical deeds of righteousness; whether they find their rewards on earth or not, is immaterial: their attention is directed to an infinitely greater reward, the kingdom of heaven. In the Sermon on the Mount this is promised to the: “Poor in spirit- Matt. V.3.”
(Verse 44)- The Companions of the Fire can only answer a single word, ‘yes’ such is their state of misery. Even so, their voice is drowned in the voice of the Crier, who explains their state: they are in a state of a curse, that is, deprivation of the grace and mercy of God. Such deprivation is the highest misery that souls can suffer.
(Verse 45)- The unrighteous reflect their own crooked minds when the path of God is before them. Instead of going straight, they try to find something in it that suits their own crooked ideas. Frankly they have no faith in the final Goal, the Hereafter.
(Verse 46)- This is a difficult passage, and the Commentators have interpreted it in different ways. Three distinct of schools of thought may be discerned in the interpretation: (1) One school thinks that the men on the Heights are angels, or such men of exalted spiritual dignity (e.g. the great apostles), as will be able to know the souls at sight as regards their spiritual worth; the Heights will be their exalted stations, from which they will welcome the righteous with a salutation of peace even before the righteous have entered heaven; the salutation of peace being itself an assurance of salvation to those whom they salute. (2) Another school of thought thinks that the men on the Heights are such souls as are not decidedly on the side of merit or decidedly on the side of sin, but evenly balanced on a partition between heaven and hell. Their case is yet to be decided, but their salutation to the righteous is a wistful salutation, because they hope for God’s Mercy. (3) The third line of interpretation –with which I agree- is close to the first, with the exception that the partition and the Heights are figurative. The higher souls will rejoice at the approaching salvation of the righteous.
(Verse 47)- Their Eyes: according to interpretation (2) of the last note ‘their’ would refer to the people whose fate has not yet been decided, and the speech would be theirs; according to interpretations (1) and (3) in that note ‘their’ would refer to the companions of the Garden-Paradise, who would realize that terrible nature of hell, and express their horror of it. I prefer the latter. Then the mention of the “Men on the Heights” and their speech in verse 48 comes in naturally as a different kind of speech from a different kind of men.
(Verses 48-49)- This speech is in three parts: (1) the last lines of this verse are addressed to the Companions of the Fire, reminding them (as a bench of judges speak to a prisoner of the futility of their wealth and riches and arrogance in their earthly life: (2) the second part –in the first part of verse 49- recalls to their minds how false was their contempt of the good, but lowly men who are now to be the inheritors of heaven; and (3) the latter part of verse 49, “Enter the Garden/Paradise” is addressed to the Blessed, to give them welcome to their state of felicity.
(Verse 50)- The companions of Fire will thirst for water and not get it, and for sustenance which will not be theirs, while the Companions of the Garden-Paradise will have the refreshing rain of God’s Mercy and the crystal waters of the springs and rivers of God’s pleasure, and they will enjoy the bliss of God’s Countenance, which will be their supreme nourishment and the fruit of their life or probation and seeking. These things will not be transferable. See Surat Al-Saffat 37 verses 41-47+ 62-67.
(Verses 51-52)- “Forgetfulness” may be involuntary, from a defect of memory, or figuratively, a deliberate turning away from, or ignoring of, something we do not want, as when we say in an argument “you conveniently forget that so-and-so”. Here the latter kind is meant. If men deliberately ignored the Hereafter -in spite of the warnings- can they expect to be received by God. When they themselves rejected?!
(Verse 53)- If those without Faith want to wait and see what happens in the Hereafter, they will indeed learn the truth, but it will be too late for them to profit by it then. All the false ideals and false gods which they put their trust upon will leave them in the lurch. If they thought that the goodness or greatness of others would help them, they will be undeceived on the day when their personal responsibility will be enforced. There will be no salvation except on their own record. How they will then wish that they had another chance! But their chance will be gone.
(Verse 54)- A/ A sublime verse, comparable to the Throne Verse 255 Surat Al-Bagara 2. The Creation in six Days is of course metaphorical. In Surat Al-Jathia 45 verse 14, the “Days of God” refer not so much to time as to the growth in us of spiritual sense, a sense of God’s Mercy. In Surat Al-Hajj verse 47, we are told that a Day in the sight of God is like a thousand years of our reckoning, and in Surat Al-Ma’arij 70 verse 4, the comparison is with 50,000 of our years. In the history of our material earth, we may reckon six great epochs of evolution. The significance of the figure six will be discussed in connection with Surat Fussilat 41 verses 9-12, where the matter is referred to in more detail. B/Throne=Arsh, is of course metaphorical, a symbol of authority, power, and vigilance, as Kursi =(chair) seat/throne) in Surat Al-Bagara 2 verse 255. Kursi perhaps refers to majesty, while ‘Arsh’ to power; and the slightly different shades of meaning throw light on the two passages. Here, we are told of the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days. But lest we should be obsessed with the Jewish idea that God rested on the seventh day, we are told that the Creation was but a prelude of God’s work; for His authority is exercised constantly by the laws which He establishes and enforces in all parts of His Creation. The beautiful imagery of night and day seeking out each other in rapid succession is still further enforced in the Arabic by the double accusative of the verb Yughshi, showing the mutual interactions of the day and the night, each covering the other in turn. The heavenly bodies show an order  which is evidence of His constant care and  government. Not only that, but it is only He Who creates, maintains, and governs, and no one else.
(Verse 55)- in prayer, we must avoid any arrogance or show of loudness, or vanity of requests or words. If excess is condemned in all things, it is specially worthy of condemnation when we go humbly before our Lord;- we poor creatures before the Omnipotent Who Knows-All.
(Verse 56)- A/ The man who pray with humility and earnestness finds the ground prepared by God for his spiritual advancement. It is all set in order, and cleared of weeds. He does not –like the wicked- upset that order, to introduce evil or mischief into it. B/ Fear and Longing: the fear of God is really a fear lest we should diverge from His Will, or do anything which would not be pleasing to Him; unlike ordinary fear, it therefore brings us nearer to God, and in fact nourishes our longing and desire for Him.