"And between them," between Paradise and the Fire, "is a partition," and it is al-A'raf.
"And on [its] elevations are men who recognize all by their mark." Qatada's interpretation: They recognize the people of Paradise by the whiteness of their faces, and the people of the Fire by the blackness of their faces.
"And they call to the companions of Paradise, 'Peace be upon you.'" "Allah says," "they have not [yet] entered it," meaning the companions of al-A'raf, "while they are longing [to enter it]," and this is the longing of certainty.
Qatada said:
It was mentioned to us that Ibn Abbas said: The companions of al-A'raf are people whose good deeds and evil deeds are equal; their good deeds did not outweigh their evil deeds, nor did their evil deeds outweigh their good deeds, so they were detained there.
Yahya, from Ibrahim ibn Muhammad, from Muhammad ibn al-Munkadir, who said:
The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "The companions of al-A'raf are people who went out to fight [in battle] without the permission of their parents and were martyred; they were detained from Paradise because of their disobedience to their parents, and [detained] from the Fire because of their martyrdom."
﴿وَبَينهمَا﴾ بَين الْجنَّة وَالنَّار ﴿حجابٌ﴾ وَهُوَ الْأَعْرَافُ.
﴿وَعَلَى الأَعْرَافِ رجالٌ يعْرفُونَ كلا بِسِيمَاهُمْ﴾ تَفْسِيرُ قَتَادَةَ: يَعْرِفُونَ أَهْلَ الْجَنَّةِ بِبَيَاضِ وُجُوهِهِمْ، وَأَهْلَ النَّارِ بِسَوَادِ وُجُوهِهِمْ.
﴿وَنَادَوْا أَصْحَابَ الْجَنَّةِ أَنْ سَلام عَلَيْكُم﴾ ﴿قَالَ الله﴾ (لم يدخلوها﴾ يَعْنِي: أَصْحَابَ الْأَعْرَافِ ﴿وَهُمْ يَطْمَعُونَ﴾ فِي دُخُولِهَا، وَهَذَا طَمَعُ يَقِينٍ.
قَالَ قَتَادَة:
ذكر لنا أَن ابْنَ عباسٍ قَالَ: أَصْحَابُ الْأَعْرَافِ قومٌ اسْتَوَتْ حَسَنَاتُهُمْ وَسَيِّئَاتُهُمْ؛ فَلَمْ تَفْضُلْ حَسَنَاتُهُمْ عَلَى سَيِّئَاتِهِمْ، وَلَا سَيِّئَاتُهُمْ عَلَى حَسَنَاتِهِمْ، فَحُبِسُوا هُنَالِكَ.
يَحْيَى: عَنْ إِبْرَاهِيمَ بْنِ مُحَمَّدٍ، عَنْ مُحَمَّدِ بْنِ الْمُنْكَدِرِ قَالَ:
قَالَ رَسُولُ اللَّهِ ﷺ: " أَصْحَابُ الْأَعْرَافِ هُمْ قومٌ غَزَوْا بِغَيْرِ إِذْنِ آبَائِهِمْ فَاسْتُشْهِدُوا، فَحُبِسُوا عَنِ الْجَنَّةِ؛ لِمَعْصِيَتِهِمْ آبَاءَهُمْ، وَعَنِ النَّارِ بِشَهَادَتِهِمْ ".
