Surah Al-Waqi'ah, Verse 21

Tafsir of 56:21

The Reward of the Foremost in Faith Allah states that the foremost of the close believers are a multitude, a crowd among the earlier generations and a few from the latter generations. There is a difference over the meaning of the first generations and the later generations. Some said that the former means earlier (believing) nations, while the later refers to this Ummah. This was reported from Mujahid and Al-Hasan Al-Basri, in the collection of Ibn Abi Hatim, and this is the preference of Ibn Jarir. He considered it supported by the saying of Allah's Messenger ﷺ: «نَحْنُ الْاخِرُونَ السَّابِقُونَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَة» (We are the later nation, but the foremost on the Day of Resurrection.) Ibn Jarir did not mention any other interpretation, nor did he attribute this view to anyone else. There is another Hadith that could support this meaning. Imam Abu Muhammad bin Abi Hatim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that when these Ayat were revealed, ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ الاٌّوَّلِينَ - وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ الاٌّخِرِينَ (A multitude of those (foremost) will be from the first ones. And a few of those will be from the later ones.) This news became hard for the Companions of the Prophet.…

Source: Ibn Kathir (Abridged)