The good word is Sadaqah and the bad word drags man to the lowest of the low:

 The Ayah we are discussing today is the following:

﴾See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high)* Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember* And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth having no stability* Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else), and in the Hereafter. And Allah will cause to go astray those who are Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.), and Allah does what He wills.﴿

[Ibrahim, 24-27]

 In a Prophetic Hadith, the Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((…and the good word is Sadaqah))

[Muslim and Ibn Khuzaimah in his Sahih by Abi Hurairah]

((Abu Hurairah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "A man utters a word pleasing to Allah without considering it of any significance for which Allah exalts his ranks (in Jannah); another one speaks a word displeasing to Allah without considering it of any importance, and for this reason he will sink down into Hell."))

[Mentioned in the relic]

 Success lies in considering your words part of your deeds. Thus, the good word is Sadaqah, whereas the bad word drags man to the lowest of the low in Hellfire.

Success lies in considering man's words part of his deeds:

  Some people might disdain a house for being very small, and while the wife of the owner of that house has a good relation with her husband, and there is affection, love and harmony between the couple, this comment will disturb the wife. Moreover, she may argue with her husband when he is back. As a result, the happy household will turn into a troubled one because of that comment. The good word is Sadaqh with which one might exalt to the highest rank, whereas the bad word is a great offence with which man might fall to the lowest of the low.

((…another one speaks a word displeasing to Allah without considering it of any importance, and for this reason he will sink down into Hell."))

 The Prophet, peace be upon him, said:

((The people who sit in a remembrance assembly and disperse without remembering Allah are like a dead donkey and this assembly will lament on them on the Day of Resurrection.))

[At-Tirmizi, Abu Dawod and Ahmad by Abi Hurairah]

 People may sit together talking about the prices and how the prices of houses have raised increasingly, about the problems in the society and about many other things, so the one who is listening to their conversations will be burdened with blues to such an extent that he cannot even stand up. On the other hand, sitting in an assembly, where Allah, Glorified and Sublime be He, is remembered, will fill the person with confidence, tranquility and rejoice of getting acquainted with Allah and of pleasing Him. There is a big difference between an assembly where the name of Allah is mentioned and another one where Allah's name is not mentioned at all.

The believer is pleased with Allah in all his conditions:

  I hope that you will respond to Allah when He asks you in the following Ayah to remember Him:

﴾Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying, etc.). I will remember you﴿

[Al-Baqarah, 152]

 Thus, remember Him abundantly. Allah says:

﴾and perform As-Salat (Iqamat-as-Salat) for My Remembrance.﴿

[Ta-Ha, 14]

 Salah is remembrance of Allah.

﴾Verily, As-Salat (the prayer) prevents from Al-Fahsha' (i.e. great sins of every kind, unlawful sexual intercourse, etc.) and Al-Munkar (i.e. disbelief, polytheism, and every kind of evil wicked deed, etc.) ﴿

[Al-Ankabut, 45]

 Scholars said, "Remembering Allah is the greatest thing in Salah", and this is one meaning of this Ayah. The companion Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "Allah's Remembrance of you is greater than yours of Him, because when you remember Him, you fulfill your duty towards Him by performing an obligatory act of worship, but when He remembers you, He will make you pleased" The believer is pleased with Allah.

 While a man was circumambulating round the Ka'bah, he said,"O Lord, are you pleased with me?" Imam Ash-Shafi'i was behind him, so he said to him, "O man, are you pleased with Allâh, so that He is pleased with you?" He said, "Glory be to Allâh, who are you, may Allâh be gracious to you?" He said, "I am Muhammad bin Idrîs". Then the man said, "How can I be pleased with Allâh whereas I am wishful for Him to be pleased with me?" Ash-Shafi'i said, "If your happiness with the calamity is the same as your happiness with the grace, then you are pleased with Allâh." Scholars said with regard to this point, "Satisfaction towards calamities is the highest degree of believing with certainty."

Faith is but mercy:

  How great it is to have the believer pleased with Allah saying, "O Lord, to You belongs all praise, I am pleased", whenever he is afflicted with a calamity. A resident doctor in a hospital told me about a patient who was admitted to that hospital. He said that the patient had intestinal cancer and suffered from an unbearable pain. Nevertheless, whenever someone entered his room, he would smile and say, "Be my witness that I am satisfied with Allah. O My Lord! All praise be to You." His equanimity was amazing.

 The doctor told me that whenever that patient rang the bell, nurses and doctors rushed to serve him willingly. There was spiritual light, attraction and satisfaction in his room and although he was suffering from a malignant tumor, he would constantly repeat, "O My Lord! All praise be to You." After seven days he died. The doctor continued, "According to Allah's Deep Wisdom, another man who suffered from the same illness was admitted to that room after that patient had died. He uttered words of Kufr, he shouted, and cursed whoever he saw. Allah, Glorified and Sublime He be, wanted to show the staff of the hospital the difference between the reaction of the believer and the one of the disbeliever to the same intractable and unbearable disease.

 After a while, I came across a precise research entitled "The Gates of Pain". The author said, "Pain starts from skin all the way to the nerves which surround the spinal cord, and it moves on to the cerebellum. Then, it moves to the brain cortex. There are many gates on this way, and when they are open, man suffers severe pain, but when they are closed, he has a slight ache." Sometimes, the dentist has to pull off a tooth without anesthesia for a reason or another, so when the nerve of the tooth is pulled the patient will experience an unbearable pain. Glory be to Allah, the author of that research is non-Muslim. Nevertheless, he said that the psychological state of the patient has control over these gates; if the patient believes in Allah, these gates are closed, so the pain will be less acute and bearable, but if he is away from Allah the Almighty, displeased with Him and refuses Qada' and Qadar (Divine Decree and Preordainment), these gates will be wide open (and the pain will be unbearable accordingly). Thus, faith brings mercy upon the one who believes.

The good word strengthens ties between people and soothes hearts:

  This Ayah is about our assemblies:

﴾See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word﴿

[Ibrahim, 24]

 When you enter your sister's house, praise her husband in front of her if he is religious but poor. You can mention his good conducts and explain to her that the morals of a person are what counts and that her husband is a great person. You will leave her house after you make your sister pleased with her husband. If the brother instead of that inauthors his sister against her husband by saying, "Did he not bring you any present on Eid?", this comment is enough to make her displeased with her husband.

 With the good word one might be elevated high, whereas the bad word is but a great offence with which man might fall to the lowest of the low. Acustome yourself to say the good word, the word which strengthens ties, the word of forgiveness, the word of encouragement and the word which draws other's attention to the Hereafter.

 Once I entered a house, and believe me the guestroom was the smallest one I have ever seen in my life, for it was the same size of table that was in the middle. The owner of the house was very embarrassed, so I said to him, "The Noble Prophet, peace be upon him, who is the beloved of Al-Haqq (Allah the Truth) and the Master of mankind used to live in a room with his wife Mrs. Aishah, may Allah be pleased with her, where there is not enough space for him to pray while his wife was asleep, so he had to wake her up to leave him a space to prostrate." I went on saying, "Just think about it, did Allah honor or humiliate Muhammad, peace be upon him, when He kept the worldly life from him? If we say that He humiliated him, we are mistaken, and if we say that He honored him, this indicates that He humiliates the people whom are granted the bounties of the worldly life." A good word will lift the self-esteem of the poor person or the patient who is under the pressure of his illness, so when you tell him that the believer's illness is his means to get closer to Allah the Almighty, he will feel better:

﴾And certainly, We shall test you with something of fear, hunger, loss of wealth, lives and fruits, but give glad tidings to As-Sabirin (the patient ones, etc.)* Who, when afflicted with calamity, say: "Truly! To Allah we belong and truly, to Him we shall return."* They are those on whom are the Salawat (i.e. blessings, etc.) (i.e. who are blessed and will be forgiven) from their Lord, and (they are those who) receive His Mercy, and it is they who are the guided-ones.﴿

[Al-Baqarah, 155-157]

 Your good words will sooth hearts, lift people's self-esteem and strengthen the ties of the married couple. Not to mention that the good word makes sh3er' spirit in its best shape.

The good word is deeply rooted and it is related to the purpose of man's existence:

 Hence:

﴾Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying, etc.). I will remember you﴿

[Al-Baqarah, 152]

 You are supposed to remember Allah in every assembly you attend, and beware of the assemblies where the name of Allah is not mentioned as it is recommended in the following Hadith:

((…are like a dead donkey))

 An assembly of backbiting, calumny, criticizing comments, tracing sh3er' errors and slandering is but an assembly of the people of the worldly life. The believer never attends such assemblies, and for that reason he rejoices being with his brother in Islam. Hanzala Usayyidi, may Allah be pleased with him, reported: "I met Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him. He said, "Who are you?" He (Hanzala) said, "Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite." He (Abu Bakr) said, "Hallowed be Allah, what are you saying?" Thereupon he said, "I say that when we are in the company of Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) we ponder over Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our very eyes and when we are away from Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) we attend to our wives, our children, our business; most of these things (pertaining to After-life) slip out of our minds." Abu Bakr said, "By Allah, I also experience the same." This is but humbleness form Abu Bakr's side.

 Sometimes a man might complain in front of you about his disobedient son, so you should not in return praise yours by saying, "May Allah be pleased with my son he is very dutiful", because such a comment will deepen his pain, so instead say to him, "We are living a time of hardship, and the general situation is very bad since we are in the end of days". Therefore, you should sooth his pain instead of deepening it.

((Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said, "By Allah, I also experience the same." So I and Abu Bakr went to Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) and said to him, "Allah's Messenger, Hanzala has turned to be a hypocrite." Thereupon Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "What has happened to you?" I said, "Allah's Messenger, when we are in your company, we are reminded of Hell-Fire and Paradise as if we are seeing them with our own eyes, but whenever we go away from you and attend to our wives, children and business, much of these things go out of our minds." Thereupon Allah's Messenger (peace be upon him) said, "By Him in Whose Hand is my life, if your state of mind remains the same as it is in my presence and you are always busy in remembrance (of Allah), the Angels will shake hands with you in your beds and in your paths but, Hanzala, time should be devoted (to the worldly affairs) and time (should be devoted to prayer and meditation)." He (the Noble Prophet, peace be upon him) said this thrice.))

[Sunan At-Tirmizi by Hanzala Al-Usaidi]

((The Prophet, peace be upon him, said, "This is the case with the Prophets, peace be upon them: their eyes sleep while their hearts do not sleep."))

[Muwatta' Ibn Malik]

 The good word soothes the heart, relieves the mind, lifts the spirits, strengthens the ties and makes people optimistic, whereas the bad word is full of discontent, bitter feelings and painful comments, and it is bad in all levels. Not to mention, the Almighty Allah detests it:

﴾See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed﴿

[Ibrahim, 24]

 The good word is deeply rooted, for it is related to the Divine Method, the purpose behind your existence and the Hereafter. Also, it is based on values, principles, morals, perfection and connection with The Almighty Allah:

﴾ Whose root is firmly fixed, and its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high)* Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord﴿

[Ibrahim, 24-25]

 A good word might be the reason of guiding someone to the Right Path of Allah, and when he is guided, he might guide his wife and his children. This is how powerful the good word is.

The effects of the good word extend to the Day of Resurrection:

  When we say that the good word is but Sadaqah, this means that its effects will be continuous till the Day of Resurrection, and it will be registered in the record of the one who says it:

﴾See you not how Allah sets forth a parable? - A goodly word as a goodly tree, whose root is firmly fixed﴿

[Ibrahim, 24]

 The roots of some trees go 30 meters deep in the ground, and the good word is just like these trees, for it is deeply rooted:

﴾ And its branches (reach) to the sky (i.e. very high).﴿

[Ibrahim, 24]

 It is fruitful:

﴾ Giving its fruit at all times, by the Leave of its Lord and Allah sets forth parables for mankind in order that they may remember.﴿

[Ibrahim, 25]

The god word brings man to religion and the bad word drives him away from it:

 Pay attention to the following Ayah:

﴾And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth having no stability.﴿

[Ibrahim, 26]

 Among all my readings, the most malicious word I have ever read is, "You have morals because you are weak, and you are weak because you have morals". This statement destroys principles and values, and it is a devilish statement. The good word in this respect should be, "You have morals because you are a believer, because you know the purpose of your existence, because you are striving for the Hereafter and because you love Allah and He loves you". Whereas the malicious word is, "You have morals, because you are weak, and you are weak because you have morals". People utter lots of bad words. In fact, a thousand outstanding, wise, successful and moral manners will attract someone to Islam, whereas one bad word, one cynical comment, one mocking behavior or one disdaining word might drive someone far away from religion:

﴾ And the parable of an evil word is that of an evil tree uprooted from the surface of earth having no stability* Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else)﴿

[Ibrahim, 26-27]

Quran is the word that stands firm:

  The Noble Quran is the word that stands firm, for the Ayat in the Quran give glad tidings to the believers, like the one in which Allah says:

﴾Verily, those who say: "Our Lord is Allah (Alone)," and then they Istaqamu, on them the angels will descend (at the time of their death) (saying): "Fear not, nor grieve! But receive the glad tidings of Paradise which you have been promised!* "We have been your friends in the life of this world and are (so) in the Hereafter. Therein you shall have (all) that your inner-selves desire, and therein you shall have (all) for which you ask for."* An entertainment from (Allah), the Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful."﴿

[Fussilat, 30-32]

 The following is another Ayah:

﴾Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else),﴿

[Ibrahim, 27]

The earthy ranks are temporary ones:

  When someone travels abroad to the western world and sees their beautiful counties, where he can enjoy the green mountains, the hefty income and the luxurious life, he will think to himself, "Why are we not like them?" "Why are our countries different from theirs?" The answer is:

﴾Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else), and in the Hereafter.﴿

[Ibrahim, 27]

 Allah also says:

﴾So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo!﴿

[Al-An'am, 44]

 When man is taken with the western world, the following Ayat will be a reminder to him, and his confusion will go away:

﴾So, when they forgot (the warning) with which they had been reminded, We opened to them the gates of every (pleasant) thing, until in the midst of their enjoyment in that which they were given, all of a sudden, We took them to punishment, and lo! They were plunged into destruction with deep regrets and sorrows.﴿

[Al-An'am, 44]

﴾Allah will keep firm those who believe, with the word that stands firm in this world (i.e. they will keep on worshipping Allah Alone and none else), and in the Hereafter. And Allah will cause to go astray those who are Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.), and Allah does what He wills.﴿

[Ibrahim, 27]