Verse 46 about Al A'raf

wa alaykum as salaam wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuhu!

Thank you for your question! In the tafseer of Sayyid Badrudeen al-Houthi (ra), he says regarding the verse that the "them" in the part {between them} refers to the people of Paradise and the people of the Hellfire. That is, between the people of Paradise and the people of Hellfire there shall be a {covering (hijaab)}. And {Upon the Heights} that is the heights of the aforementioned covering {are men}. These men can refer to believers or Angels as stated by Imam al-Hadi (as) in one of his letters. Similarly, Imam Zayd (as) said: "The hijaab refers to a wall/barrier between Paradise and Hell. And {Heights} refer to any place that is raised and elevated."

As for the marks that they are known by, it is said that this refers to the marks of the people of Paradise and Hell. The people of Paradise are known by the light on their faces and the people of Hell are known by the darkness on their faces.

The people of Paradise will be called out or it will be said to the people of Paradise {Peace be unto you}; that is, no fear shall be upon you. They (i.e. the People of Paradise) will not enter Paradise with just a hope. They will not be delayed in entering it.

And Allah knows best!

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Followup from previous question:

As for the “men of the heights,” there are two statements from Zaydi sources. The first statement is that it refers to Ali, Hamza and Ja’far, may Allah’s pleasure and peace be upon them. The second statement is that it refers to Angels as we previously mentioned. As for the proof of the first statement, Haafiz Muhammad b. Suleiman al-Kufi narrated in his Manaaqib Ameer al-Mumineen with his chain of narrators to Ibn Abbas that the verse {And upon the heights are men} refers to Ali, Hamza and Ja’far because one will know the love of them by faces that are lightened and the hatred of them by faces that are darkened. These are the {marks} to which the verse refers. Sunni exegete ath-Thalabi narrated similar on the authority of Ibn Abbas according to Tafseer al-Qurtubi. The same is also narrated by al-Haakim al-Hasakani al-Hanafi in his Shawaahid at-Tanzeel on the authority of Ibn Abbas as well as al-Haakim al-Jashmi in his Tanbeeh al-Ghaafileen. As for the second statement, it is narrated as the opinion of Imam al-Haadi, upon him be peace.

And Allah knows best!

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