Who say when assailed by adversity: "Surely we are for God, and to Him we shall return."
156
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : but then he said: (but give) o muhammad (glad tidings to the steadfast, who say, when a misfortune) like the ones i have mentioned (striketh them: lo! we are allah's) we are the slaves of allah (and lo! unto him we are returning) after we die; and if we are not pleased with his decree, he will not be pleased with our works.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : those who, when they are struck by an affliction, a calamity, say, ‘surely we belong to god, we are his possession and servants, with whom he does as he pleases; and to him we will return’, in the hereafter, whereupon he will requite us: in one hadīth [it is said that], ‘whoever pronounces the istirjā‘ [sc. the formula ‘surely we belong to god and to him we will return’] when an affliction befalls him, god will reward him and compensate him with what is better’. similarly, it is said that on one occasion when his lamp blew out, the prophet (s) uttered the istirjā‘, whereupon ‘Ā’isha said to him, saying: ‘but, it is just a lamp’, to which he replied, ‘whatever bothers a believer is an affliction [of sorts]’: this is reported by abū dāwūd in his [section on] mursal reports.
