سُوْرَةُ الْوَاقِعَةِ
Surah Al-Waaqia (56) — Ayah 14
وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ ﴿14﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And a few of those (foremost) will be from the later generations.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَقَلِيلٌۭ
waqalīlun
And a few
مِّنَ
mina
of
ٱلْـَٔاخِرِينَ
l-ākhirīna
the later (people)
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan — Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf
Tafsir Ahsan al-Bayan is a well-known Quran commentary by Hafiz Salahuddin Yusuf, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. This tafsir explains the meanings of the Quran in accordance with the methodology of the Salaf (early righteous generations), relying on authentic sources and straightforward language. Due to its reliability and adherence to sound Islamic scholarship, the Saudi government publishes and distributes this tafsir among the Hujjaj (pilgrims) visiting the Haramain. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
14. 1. It is said that by "the first ones" is meant the people of the communities from Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him) up to the Prophet ﷺ, and by "the last ones" the individuals of the Ummah of Muhammad. The meaning is that among the previous communities, there is a large group of the foremost, because their era is very long, in which the foremost of thousands of prophets are included. In comparison, the era of the Ummah of Muhammad (until the Day of Judgment) is short, so among them, the foremost will also be fewer than those of the previous communities. And in a hadith it is mentioned in which the Prophet ﷺ said, "I hope that you will be half of the people of Paradise." So this verse is not contrary to the mentioned meaning, because the foremost and the general believers of the Ummah of Muhammad, combined, will become half of the people of Paradise. Therefore, merely the abundance of the foremost (in previous communities) does not negate the number stated in the hadith. However, this statement is questionable, and some have taken the first and the last to mean only the individuals of the Ummah of Muhammad. That is, among its earlier people, the number of the foremost will be more, and among the later people, it will be fewer. Imam Ibn Kathir has preferred this second opinion. And this seems to be more correct. This is a parenthetical sentence, between "فی جنت النعیم" and "علی سرر موضونۃ".
