Verses 52 – 58 A scene from the Day of Resurrection: The people will ask who has raised us from our sleeping place (generally agreed to be the grave) and they will be told that this is the promise made to you by the Most Merciful (God) and what the messengers warned about. It will be but one single blast and lo and behold, all of humankind will be brought before God. On that Day no one will be wronged, everyone will be recompensed for what they did; all will be repaid for their deeds. The people of Paradise will be rewarded handsomely; they will be with their spouses seated on couches in the shade. They will have therein all kinds of fruits and whatever they wish for. And in addition to this their Lord will greet them with "peace".
وَنُفِخَ فِى الصُّوۡرِ فَاِذَا هُمۡ مِّنَ الۡاَجۡدَاثِ اِلٰى رَبِّهِمۡ يَنۡسِلُوۡنَ
( 51 ) And the Horn will be blown; and at once from the graves to their Lord they will hasten.
Blowing of the "Trumpet":
As regards to the nature of the blowing of the Trumpet on the Day of Resurrection, it may be likened to the blowing of the bugle in the army to muster or disperse the soldiers. It is obvious that these words and terms have been used because these are known to the people. Therefore it will be wrong to consider the Trumpet to be exactly like the bugles and trumpets of this world.
As for the length of the interval between the first blowing of the Trumpet and its second blowing, we have no information. The interval maybe of hundreds and thousands of years. Hadrat Abu Hurairah has related that the Holy Prophet said: "Israfil has put the Trumpet to his mouth and is looking up to the Divine Throne, awaiting orders for blowing it. The Trumpet will be blown thrice:
On the first blowing (called nafakhat al-faza ) everything in the earth and heavens will be struck with terror. On the second blowing (nafakhat as-Sa'q) everyone will fall down dead. Then, when none shall remain except Allah, the One, the Everlasting, the earth will be changed altogether and will be spread flat and smooth without a crease or wrinkle in it. Then Allah will administer a rebuke to His Creation, whereupon everyone will rise at the spot where he had fallen dead, on the changed earth, and this will happen on the third blowing of the Trumpet (nafakhat al qiyam li-Rabbil- `Alamin). This is supported by several allusions in the Qur'an also.
For more, see explanation of:
Surah Ibrahim:(14:48) (Do warn them of the) Day when the heavens and the earth shall be altogether changed;57 when all will appear fully exposed before Allah, the One, the Irresistible!
Surah Ta Ha: 105-108: (20:105) They ask you concerning the mountains: "Where will they go?" Say: "My Lord will scatter them like dust, (20:106) and leave the earth a levelled plain (20:107) in which you shall find no crookedness or curvature. (20:108) On that Day people shall follow straight on to the call of the summoner, no one daring to show any haughtiness. Their voices shall be hushed before the Most Compassionate Lord, so that you will hear nothing but a whispering murmur.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Traditionally, the angel who will sound the Trumpet is Israfil, but the name does not occur in the Qur'an. The Trumpet is mentioned in many places: e.g., vi. 73; lxxviii. 18, etc.
قَالُوۡا يٰوَيۡلَنَا مَنۡۢ بَعَثَنَا مِنۡ مَّرۡقَدِنَاۘهٰذَا مَا وَعَدَ الرَّحۡمٰنُ وَصَدَقَ الۡمُرۡسَلُوۡنَ
( 52 ) They will say, "O woe to us! Who has raised us up from our sleeping place?" [The reply will be], "This is what the Most Merciful had promised, and the messengers told the truth."
That is, "At that time they will not realize that they had been dead and had been raised back to life after a long period, but they will be thinking that they had fallen asleep, and had been woken up suddenly by some terrible catastrophe, and were running away from it." (For further explanation, sec Ta Ha: 103, AI-Hajj: 1-2).
(Surah 20 Ta Ha :103) يَّتَخَافَـتُوۡنَ بَيۡنَهُمۡ اِنۡ لَّبِثۡتُمۡ اِلَّا عَشۡرًا They shall whisper among themselves: "You stayed on the earth barely ten days."
(Surah 22. Al Hajj: 1): يٰۤـاَيُّهَا النَّاسُ اتَّقُوۡا رَبَّكُمۡۚ اِنَّ زَلۡزَلَةَ السَّاعَةِ شَىۡءٌ عَظِيۡمٌ O mankind, fear the (wrath of) your Lord! Indeed, the earthquake of the Hour (of Judgement) will be an awesome thing.
(Surah 22 AI-Hajj:2) يَوۡمَ تَرَوۡنَهَا تَذۡهَلُ كُلُّ مُرۡضِعَةٍ عَمَّاۤ اَرۡضَعَتۡ وَتَضَعُ كُلُّ ذَاتِ حَمۡلٍ حَمۡلَهَا وَتَرَى النَّاسَ سُكٰرٰى وَمَا هُمۡ بِسُكٰرٰى وَلٰـكِنَّ عَذَابَ اللّٰهِ شَدِيۡدٌ On the Day when you witness it, the suckling woman shall utterly neglect the infant she suckles, and every pregnant woman shall cast her burden, and you will see people as though they are drunk, when they are not drunk; but dreadful shall be Allah's chastisement.
Here, it is not clear as to who will give this answer. It may be that they themselves would realize after some time to their horror that it was the same thing of which the Messengers of God used to inform them and they used to belie them. It may also be that the believers will remove their misunderstanding and tell them that it was not waking up from sleep but the second life after death. And it may also be that they will understand this from the general conditions prevailing on the Day of Resurrection and the angels might tell them this.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: The dead will rise as in a stupor, and they will be confused in the new conditions! They will gradually regain their memory and their personality. They will be reminded that Allah in His grace and mercy had already announced the Hereafter in their probationary lives, and the word of Allah's messengers, which then seemed so strange and remote, was true and was now being fulfilled!
اِنۡ كَانَتۡ اِلَّا صَيۡحَةً وَّاحِدَةً فَاِذَا هُمۡ جَمِيۡعٌ لَّدَيۡنَا مُحۡضَرُوۡنَ
( 53 ) It will not be but one blast, and at once they are all brought present before Us.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Time and Space, as we know them here, will be no more. The whole gathering will be as in the twinkling of an eye. Cf. xxxvi. 49 above.
فَالۡيَوۡمَ لَا تُظۡلَمُ نَفۡسٌ شَيۡـئًا وَّلَا تُجۡزَوۡنَ اِلَّا مَا كُنۡتُمۡ تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ
( 54 ) So today no soul will be wronged at all, and you will not be recompensed except for what you used to do.
This is what Allah will tell the disbelievers and the polytheists, the sinners and the culprits, when they will be presented before Him.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: The Judgment will be on the highest standard of Justice and Grace. Not the least merit will go unrewarded, though the reward will be for the righteous far more than their deserts. No penalty will be exacted but that which the doer himself by his past deeds brought on himself. Cf. xxviii. 84.
اِنَّ اَصۡحٰبَ الۡجَـنَّةِ الۡيَوۡمَ فِىۡ شُغُلٍ فٰكِهُوۡنَۚ
( 55 ) Indeed the companions of Paradise, that Day, will be amused in [joyful] occupation -
To understand this one should remember that the righteous believers will not be withheld in the Plain of Resurrection, but in the very beginning they will be sent to Paradise without accountability, or after a mild reckoning, because their record will be clean. There will be no need to keep them waiting during the hearing by the Court. Therefore, Allah will tell the culprits, who will be required to render their accounts, in the Plain of Resurrection: "Look! the righteous people whom you used to mock and regard as foolish in the world, are today enjoying the pleasures of Paradise because of their wisdom, and you, who in your own judgment were very prudent and sagacious, are being condemned to accountability for your misdeeds."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Notice the subtle gradation in the description. First, in this verse, we have the nature of the mise en scene and the nature of the joy therein. It will be a Garden i.e., everything agreeable to see and hear and feel and taste and smell; delightfully green lawns and meadows, trees and shrubs; the murmur of streams and the songs of birds: the delicate texture of flowers and leaves and the shapes of beauty in clouds and mist; the flavours of fruits; and the perfumes of flowers and scents. The joy in the Garden will be an active joy, without fatigue: whatever we do in it, every employment in which we engage there, will be a source of joy without alloy.
هُمۡ وَاَزۡوَاجُهُمۡ فِىۡ ظِلٰلٍ عَلَى الۡاَرَآئِكِ مُتَّكِـُٔوۡنَ
( 56 ) They and their spouses - in shade, reclining on adorned couches.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Secondly, the joy or happiness is figured to be, not solitary, but shared by associates.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: In the Qur'anic descriptions of paradise, the term zill ("shade") and its plural zilal is often used as a metaphor for "happiness" - thus, for instance, in 4:57 , where zill zalil signifies "happiness abounding"
The primary meaning of zill is "shade", and so the expression zill zalil could be rendered as "most shading shade" - i.e., "dense shade". However, in ancient Arabic usage, the word zill denotes also "a covering" or "a shelter" and, figuratively, "protection" (Raghib); and, finally, "a state of ease, pleasure and plenty" (cf. Lane V, 1915 f.), or simply "happiness" - and in the combination of zill zalil, "abundant happiness" (Razi) - which seems to agree best with the allegorical implications of the term "paradise".
The "couches" on which the blessed are to recline are obviously a symbol of inner fulfilment and peace of mind, as pointed out by Razi in his comments on 18:31 and 55:54 .
لَهُمۡ فِيۡهَا فَاكِهَةٌ وَّلَهُمۡ مَّا يَدَّعُوۡنَ ۖۚ
( 57 ) For them therein is fruit, and for them is whatever they request [or wish]
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Thirdly, besides any external conditions of Bliss, the Bliss in the Hereafter has an inner quality.
سَلٰمٌ قَوۡلًا مِّنۡ رَّبٍّ رَّحِيۡمٍ
( 58 ) [And] "Peace," a word from a Merciful Lord.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Fourthly, we reach the highest grade of bliss, the salutation "Peace!" from Allah Most Merciful. Cf. x. 10. That Word sums up the attainment of the final Goal. For it explains the nature of the Most High;-He is not only a Lord and Cherisher, but a Lord Whose supreme glory is Mercy, Peace, and Harmony!
Muhammad Asad Explanation: This composite expression is, I believe, the nearest approach in English to the concept of salam in the above context. For a further explanation of this term, see explanation on 5:16 , where salam is rendered as "salvation" - reproduced herein under:
The word salam, here rendered as "salvation", has no proper equivalent in the English language. It denotes inner peace, soundness and security from evil of any kind, both physical and spiritual, and the achievement of what, in Christian terminology, is described as "salvation": with the difference, however, that the Christian concept of salvation presupposes the existence of an a-priori state of sinfulness, which is justified in Christianity by the doctrine of "original sin", but is not justified in Islam, which does not subscribe to this doctrine. Consequently, the term "salvation" - which I am using here for want of a better word - does not adequately convey the full meaning of salam. Its nearest equivalents in Western languages would be the German Heil or the French salut, both of which express the idea of spiritual peace and fulfilment without being necessarily (i.e., linguistically) connected with the Christian doctrine of salvation.
Verses 59 – 65 God addresses the disbelievers: Then God will say, stand apart you criminals. Remove yourselves from the ranks of the believers so that you are distinguishable from them. God says, "Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan – for he is a clear enemy to you. And that you worship [only] Me?" This is a straight path, says God and he (Satan) has led great numbers of you astray, could you not use your reason to see this? The disbelievers are told to enter Hellfire because of what they denied and refused to believe and because they refused to heed God’s commands. God will seal their mouths but their hands and feet will speak and bear witness to all.
وَامۡتَازُوا الۡيَوۡمَ اَيُّهَا الۡمُجۡرِمُوۡنَ
( 59 ) [Then He will say], "But stand apart today, you criminals.
This can have two meanings:
(1) "Get you apart from the righteous believer:, for in the world even if you belonged to the same community and the same clan and the same brotherhood, here you have no connection and relationship left with them;" and
(2) "get you apart from one another: now you can no longer remain a group: all your parties have been disbanded: all your relations and connections have been severed. Now each of you will be held answerable in your personal capacity for your actions and deeds."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Notice how this finely balanced passage, after reaching the summit of sublimity in describing the state of the Blessed, in the word Salam, gradually takes us down to contemplate the state of the Sinners in a graduated descent. In the first place, it refers to their negative state, their state of isolation. From this Day of Judgment, they will no longer have the chance of being with the Blessed and perhaps of profiting spiritually by that proximity. The first feature of the Day of Judgment is that it is a Day of Separation-of sorting out. Each soul now finds its own true level, as the period of probation is over.
اَلَمۡ اَعۡهَدۡ اِلَيۡكُمۡ يٰبَنِىۡۤ اٰدَمَ اَنۡ لَّا تَعۡبُدُوا الشَّيۡطٰنَۚ اِنَّهٗ لَـكُمۡ عَدُوٌّ مُّبِيۡنٌ ۙ
( 60 ) Did I not enjoin upon you, O children of Adam, that you not worship Satan - [for] indeed, he is to you a clear enemy -
For the meaning of what the Qur'an describes as "worship of Satan", see explanation on 19:44 - reproduced herein under:
The absurdity inherent in the attribution of divine qualities to anything or anyone but God is here declared, by implication, to be equivalent to "worshipping" the epitome of unreason and ingratitude symbolized in Satan's rebellion against his Creator. In this connection it should be noted that the term shaytan is derived from the verb shatana, signifying "he was [or "became"] remote [from the truth];' (Lisan al-'Arab, Taj al-'Arus); hence, the Qur'an describes every impulse that inherently offends against truth, reason and morality as "satanic", and every conscious act of submission to such satanic influences as a "worship of Satan".
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Secondly, there is a gentle reproach to the wrong-doers, more in sorrow than in anger. They are addressed as "children of Adam", to emphasise two facts, (1) that they have disgraced their ancestry, for Adam after his Fall repented and was forgiven, and the high Destiny of mankind has been the prize open to all his descendants, and (2) that Allah Most Merciful has throughout the ages continued to warn mankind against the snares laid by Satan, the avowed enemy of man, and that Allah's Grace was ever on the watch to help all to freedom from those snares.
وَّاَنِ اعۡبُدُوۡنِىۡ ؕ هٰذَا صِرَاطٌ مُّسۡتَقِيۡمٌ
( 61 ) And that you worship [only] Me? This is a straight path.
Here again Allah has used `ibadat in the sense of ita'at (obedience). This subject has already been explained above in Al-Baqarah: 172, An-Nisa': 117, AI-An'am: 121, 137, At-Taubah; 31, Ibrahim: 22, Al-Kahf: 52, Maryam: 42, Al Qasas: 63 Surah Saba: 42.
In this connection, the fine explanation given of it by Imam Razi in his Tafsir Kabir is also noteworthy. He writes: "Do not worship Satan means: Do not obey him, the reason being that only falling prostrate before him is not forbidden, but following him and obeying his commands also is forbidden; therefore, ita et (obedience) is ibadat (worship). " After this, the Imam raises the question: If `ibadat means ita'at, then have the Muslims been commanded to worship the Prophet and the rulers in the verse: Ati `ullaha wa ati '-ur-rasula wa ulil--amr-i min-kum? He himself answers it thus: "If obedience to theta is in accordance with the Commands of Allah, it will be Allah's worship ('ibadat) and His obedience (ita`at. Did not the angels fall prostrate before Adam in obedience to Allah's Command? This was nothing but worship of Allah. Obedience of the rulers will be their worship only in cases where they are obeyed in matters in which Allah has not given leave to obey them." Then he writes: "If a person comes to you and commands you to do something, you should see whether his command is in accordance with the Command of Allah or not. If it is not, Satan is with him; and if you obeyed him in this, you worshiped him and his Satan. Likewise, if your self urges you to do something, you should see whether it is permissible to do it according to the Sahari'ah or not. If it is not permissible, your self is Satan itself, or Satan is with it. If you obeyed him, you in fact became guilty of worshiping him." Further on, he writes: "But there are different degrees of the worship of Satan. Sometimes it so happens that a man does a work and his limbs and his tongue also join him in this, and his heart also cooperates. At another time it so happens that a man uses his limbs to do a work but his heart and tongue do trot cooperate in this. Some people commit a sin while their heart is disagreeable and their tongue is invoking Allah for forgiveness, and they confess that they are committing an evil. This is Satan's worship with external limbs. There are other people who commit a crime with a cool mind and express pleasure and satisfaction with the tongue also. ..........Such people are the worshipers of Satan from outside as well as from inside. (Tafsir Kabir, vol. VII, pp. 103-104).
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Thirdly, besides the negative warning, a positive Way was shown to them-the Straight Way, the Way of those who receive Allah's Grace and attain to Bliss, the Rope which would save them from shipwreck, the Shield which would save them from assault, the key to the door of proximity to Allah.
وَلَقَدۡ اَضَلَّ مِنۡكُمۡ جِبِلًّا كَثِيۡرًا ؕ اَفَلَمۡ تَكُوۡنُوۡا تَعۡقِلُوۡنَ
( 62 ) And he had already led astray from among you much of creation, so did you not use reason?
That is, "If you had been deprived of reason and you had served your enemy instead of your Lord, you could have the reason to offer an excuse. But you, in fact, had been blessed with reason by Allah and you were using it to advantage in all the affairs of the world, and you had been warned by Allah through the Prophets as well, yet, when you were deceived by your enemy and he succeeded in leading you astray, you could not be excused from the responsibility of your folly."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Fourthly, it is pointed out that they were given Understanding ('aql), so that by their own faculties they could have judged their own best interests, and yet they betrayed or misused those faculties, and deliberately threw away their chance! And not only a few, but so many! They went gregariously to ruin in spite of the individual care which their Lord and Cherisher bestowed on them!
هٰذِهٖ جَهَنَّمُ الَّتِىۡ كُنۡتُمۡ تُوۡعَدُوۡنَ
( 63 ) This is the Hellfire which you were promised.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Fifthly, the naked fact is now placed before them,-the Hell,-the state of damnation, which they could so easily have avoided!
Muhammad Asad Explanation: The phrase "This, then, is the hell" points to the fact that the sinners' realization of their having gone astray despite repeated warnings by the prophets will, in itself, be a source of intense suffering ('adhab) in the life to come. The element of repetition or persistence is implied in the use of the auxiliary verb kuntum both here and in the next verse.
اِصۡلَوۡهَا الۡيَوۡمَ بِمَا كُنۡتُمۡ تَكۡفُرُوۡنَ
( 64 ) [Enter to] burn therein today for what you used to deny."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: As they deliberately and persistently rejected all teaching, guidance, and warnings, they are now told to experience the Fire of Punishment, for it is but the consequence of their own acts.
اَلۡيَوۡمَ نَخۡتِمُ عَلٰٓى اَفۡوَاهِهِمۡ وَتُكَلِّمُنَاۤ اَيۡدِيۡهِمۡ وَتَشۡهَدُ اَرۡجُلُهُمۡ بِمَا كَانُوۡا يَكۡسِبُوۡنَ
( 65 ) That Day, We will seal over their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify about what they used to earn.
This command will be given in respect of the stubborn culprits, who will refuse to confess their crimes, will belie the witnesses, and will also not acknowledge the genuineness of their conduct-book. Then will Allah Almighty command: "Well, stop your babbling. Just see what your own limbs say about your misdeeds. " In this connection, here only the evidence to be given by the hands and the feet has been mentioned. But at other places it has been said that their eyes and their ears and their tongues, and the very skins of their body, will tell how they had been employed in the world. "They should not forget the Day when their own tongues and their own hands and feet will bear testimony to their misdeeds.' (An-Nur: 24) "Then, when all will have reached there, their ears and their eyes and their very skins will bear witness against them concerning what they had been doing in the world." (Ha Mim Sajdah: 20). The question arises: On the one hand, Allah says: "We shall seal their mouths," and on the other, in the verse of Surah An-Nur, He says: "Their tongues will bear testimony against them." How can these two things be reconciled ? The answer is: "To seal the mouths means to deprive them of their power of speech. That is, after this they will not be able to say whatever they like with their tongue. The testimony of their tongues mans that their tongues themselves will tell how the wicked people had used them, what blasphemies and lies they had been made to utter, what mischiefs they had invented and what falsehoods they had been made to say on different occasions.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: The ungodly will now be dumbfounded. They will be unable to speak or offer any defence. (The consequences of all acts, which follow according to Allah's Law, are, in Quranic language, attributed to Allah). But their silence will not matter. Their own hands and feet will speak against them. "Hands and feet" in this connection are symbolical of all the instruments for action which they were given in this life. The same extended meaning is to be understood for "eyes" in the following verse. Cf. also xli. 20- 21, where eyes, ears, and skins are all mentioned as bearing witness against such as misused them.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: A metaphor for their being unable really to excuse or defend their past actions and attitudes.
Verses 66 – 76 The Quran is a warning, a gauge between right and wrong:
God could have left humankind without guidance but because of His mercy he did not. They could have been left blind without the means to see, or deformed without the means to move either forward or backward but He did not. Prophet Muhammad is not a poet; he was not given mere poetry; rather, he was given a clear book of guidance, the Quran. It is a warning, so that God’s judgment can be passed according to it. God then informs us of one of the many blessings He has bestowed upon us: livestock. He created it for our general use, to be used as a means of transportation, for food and milk, and for other benefits. Instead of giving thanks to God for this blessing, the disbelievers have taken other deities besides God for worship and even call upon them for help but they cannot help! Even an entire army of false gods combined cannot help in the least. God tells Prophet Muhammad not to be distressed at what they say because He (God) knows what they reveal and what they conceal.
وَلَوۡ نَشَآءُ لَـطَمَسۡنَا عَلٰٓى اَعۡيُنِهِمۡ فَاسۡتَبَقُوا الصِّرَاطَ فَاَنّٰى يُبۡصِرُوۡنَ
( 66 ) And if We willed, We could have obliterated their eyes, and they would race to [find] the path, and how could they see?
Yusuf Ali Explanation: "If it had been Our Will": i.e., if such had been the Will and Plan of Allah. If Allah had not intended to give man his limited free-will, or power of choice, the case would have been different: there would have been no moral responsibility which could have been enforced. They could have had no sight or intelligence, and they could not have been blamed for not seeing or understanding. But such is not the case.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Lit., "We could surely have effaced their eyes": a metaphor for "We could have created them morally blind" and, thus, devoid of all sense of moral responsibility - which, in its turn, would constitute a negation of all spiritual value in human life as such. (Cf. 2:20 - "if God so willed, He could indeed take away their hearing and their sight".)
In this instance - as, e.g., in 20:96 - the verb basura ("he became seeing" or "he saw") is obviously used in its tropical sense of "perceiving [something] mentally". According to Ibn 'Abbas, as quoted by Tabari, the phrase anna yubsirun signifies "how could they perceive the truth".
وَلَوۡ نَشَآءُ لَمَسَخۡنٰهُمۡ عَلٰى مَكَانَتِهِمۡ فَمَا اسۡتَطَاعُوۡا مُضِيًّا وَّلَا يَرۡجِعُوۡنَ
( 67 ) And if We willed, We could have deformed them, [paralyzing them] in their places so they would not be able to proceed, nor could they return.
After depicting the scene of Resurrection, the people are being warned to this effect: "The Resurrection may seem yet far off to you, but even if you consider seriously your life in this world of which you are so proud, you will see how helpless you are in the powerful grip of Allah. Your eyes by virtue of whose sight you are carrying out all your obligations in the world can be blinded at one command of Allah. Your legs on whose strength you are showing All this activity can become paralyzed as and when Allah wills. As long as the powers and capabilities granted by Allah continue to function, you remain lost in the arrogance of your self, but as soon as one of them fails to function, you come to understand how helpless you are!"
Yusuf Ali Explanation: If Allah's Plan had been to grant no limited freedom of choice or will to men, He could have created them quite different, or could have transformed them into stationary creatures, either in physical form as in the case of trees, or in moral or spiritual qualities, where there was no possibility either of progress or deterioration. Man would then have been unable to reach the heights of grandeur which are now open to him, or, if he goes wrong, to return through the door of repentance and mercy, and still pursue his path of ascent. But it was Allah's Plan to give man all these privileges, and man must shoulder all the responsibilities that go with them.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: I.e., if it had been God's will that men should have no freedom of will or moral choice, He would have endowed them from the very beginning with a spiritually and morally stationary nature, entirely rooted in their instincts ("in their places"), devoid of all urge to advance, and incapable either of positive development or of retreat from a wrong course.
Ruku Five (Verses 68-83)
وَمَنۡ نُّعَمِّرۡهُ نُـنَكِّسۡهُ فِى الۡخَـلۡقِؕ اَفَلَا يَعۡقِلُوۡنَ
( 68 ) And he to whom We grant long life We reverse in creation; so will they not understand?
"Reverse him in nature," means that in old age Allah turns him back to the state of childhood. He becomes unable to stand and walk without the help and support of others; he is fed by others; he urinates and defecates in bed; talks childishly and is laughed at by others. In short, towards the end of life he returns to the same state of weakness with which he had started lift in this world."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: This connects on with the last verse. Everything is possible with Allah. If you doubt how man can be transformed from his present nature, contemplate the transformations he already undergoes in his present nature at different ages. As a child powers of mind and body are still undeveloped. As he grows, they grow, and certain moral qualities, such as courage, daring, the will to conquer, unfold themselves. In extreme old age these are again obscured, and a second childhood supervenes. The back of the man who walked proudly straight and erect is now bent. If these transformations take place even in his present nature and constitution, how much easier was it for Allah to cast him in an immobile mould? But Allah granted him instead the high possibilities and responsibilities referred to in the last note.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: I.e., man should never postpone his exercise of moral choice - for if human beings are superior creatures inasmuch as they have been endowed with the faculty of discernment and a wide measure of free will, let them also remember that "man has been created weak" ( 4:28 ) and liable to decline still further in old age, so that the time at his disposal is short.
وَمَا عَلَّمۡنٰهُ الشِّعۡرَ وَمَا يَنۡۢبَغِىۡ لَهٗؕ اِنۡ هُوَ اِلَّا ذِكۡرٌ وَّقُرۡاٰنٌ مُّبِيۡنٌۙ
( 69 ) And We did not give Prophet Muhammad, knowledge of poetry, nor is it befitting for him. It is not but a message and a clear Qur'an
This is a rejoinder to the disbelievers, who slighted the Holy Prophet and his message by branding him a poet when he preached Tauhid and talked of the Hereafter, life-after-death, and Hell and Heaven. (For further explanation, see Ash-Shu'ara: 224-227).
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Cf. xxvi. 224 and explanation Reproduced herein under:
( And the Poets it is those straying in Evil who follow them ) The Poets: to be read along with the exceptions mentioned in verse 227 - reproduced below:
(Except those who believe work righteousness engage much in the remembrance of Allah and defend themselves only after they are unjustly attacked. And soon will the unjust assailants know what vicissitudes their affairs will take!) - Poetry and the fine arts which are to be commended are those which emanate from minds steeped in Faith, which try to carry out in life the fine sentiments they express in their artistic work, aim at the glory of Allah rather than at self-glorification or the fulsome praise of men with feet of clay, and do not (as in Jihad) attack anything except aggressive evil. In this sense a perfect artist should be a perfect man. Perfection may not be attainable in this life, but it should be the aim of every man, and especially of one who wishes to become a supreme artist, not only in technique but in spirit and essentials. Among the commendable poets contemporary with the holy Prophet may be mentioned Hassan and Labid: the latter had the honour of being one of the seven whose poems were selected for "hanging" (the Mu'allaqat) in the Days of Ignorance.
These were the scurrilous rhymesters, who were doomed to come to an evil end.
Poetry and other arts are not in themselves evil, but may on the contrary be used in the service of religion and righteousness. But there is a danger that they may be prostituted for base purposes. If they are insincere ("they say what they do not") or are divorced from actual life or its goodness or its serious purpose, they may become instruments of evil or futility. They then wander about without any set purpose, and seek the depths (valleys) of human folly rather than the heights of divine light.
Here "Poetry" is used as connoting fairy tales, imaginary descriptions, things futile, false, or obscure, such as decadent Poetry is, whereas the Qur-an is a practical guide, true and clear.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: This passage resumes the theme enunciated in the opening verses of this surah, namely, the revelation of the Qur'an. As in 26:224 , we have here an allusion to the allegation of Muhammad's opponents, in his own as well as in later times, that what he described as divine revelation was in reality an outcome of his own poetic invention. This the Qur'an refutes by alluding to the fundamental difference between poetry - especially Arabic poetry - and divine revelation as exemplified by the Qur'an: whereas in the former the meaning is often subordinated to the rhythm and the melody of language, in the Qur'an the exact opposite is the case, inasmuch as here the choice of words, their sound and their position in the sentence - and, hence, its rhythm and melody - are always subordinated to the meaning intended. (Cf. also 26:225 and explanation)
For this composite rendering of the adjective mubin " مُّبِيۡنٌۙ ", see explanation surah {12:1}explained herein under:
The participial adjective mabin may denote an attribute of the noun which it qualifies ("clear", "manifest", "obvious", etc.) as well as its function ("making clear" or "manifesting", i.e. the truth), either of which meanings is dictated by its context. In the consensus of authoritative opinion, both these meanings are comprised in the above instance; consequently, a compound phrase is necessary in order to render the term appropriately.
Literally, the above phrase reads, "a reminder and a [divine] discourse...". etc., with the conjunctive particle wa ("and") being used here, as in 15:1 , to point out that the Qur'an is an integral element in the process of divine revelation.
لِّيُنۡذِرَ مَنۡ كَانَ حَيًّا وَّيَحِقَّ الۡقَوۡلُ عَلَى الۡكٰفِرِيۡنَ
( 70 ) To warn whoever is alive and justify the word against the disbelievers.
"Every living person" : Every person who is capable of thinking and understanding, who is not like a stone, which neither hears nor understands nor moves from its place* however rationally and sympathetically one may explain the distinction between the truth and falsehood and give admonition before him.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: "Alive", both in English and Arabic, means not only "having physical life", but having all the active qualities which we associate with life. In religious language, those who are not responsive to the realities of the spiritual world are no better than those who are dead. The Message of Allah penetrates the hearts of those who are alive in the spiritual sense.
Cf. xxviii. 63. If people reject Truth and Faith after they have been admonished and warned, the charge against them, of willful rebellion, is proved. They cannot then plead either ignorance or inadvertence.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Lit., "may come [or "be proved"] true", i.e., on the Day of Judgment (cf. verse {7} of this surah ).
اَوَلَمۡ يَرَوۡا اَنَّا خَلَقۡنَا لَهُمۡ مِّمَّا عَمِلَتۡ اَيۡدِيۡنَاۤ اَنۡعَامًا فَهُمۡ لَهَا مٰلِكُوۡنَ
( 71 ) Do they not see that We have created for them from what Our hands have made, grazing livestock, and [then] they are their owners?
The word "hands" has been used metaphorically for Allah. This does not mean that, God forbid, Allah has a body and He works with the hands like human beings, but it means to impress that Allah has made these things Himself, and none else has any share in the matter of their creation.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: If they are blind to other Signs of Allah, they can at least see the simple homely things of life in which they receive so many benefits from Allah's mercy. How is it that wild animals can be domesticated, and in domestication can be so useful to man? Man can use them for riding or for drought; he can use their flesh for food and drink their milk; he can use their hair or wool. Cf. xvi. 66, 80: and xxiii. 21-22.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: I.e., "which We alone have or could have created" (Zamakhshari and Razl). The above metaphorical expression is based on the concept of "handiwork" in its widest sense, abstract as well as concrete.
وَذَلَّـلۡنٰهَا لَهُمۡ فَمِنۡهَا رَكُوۡبُهُمۡ وَمِنۡهَا يَاۡكُلُوۡنَ
( 72 ) And We have tamed them for them, so some of them they ride, and some of them they eat.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Lit., "made them submissive (dhallalnaha " ذَلَّـلۡنٰهَا ") to them": implying also that man is morally responsible for the manner in which he uses or misuses them.
وَلَهُمۡ فِيۡهَا مَنَافِعُ وَمَشَارِبُؕ اَفَلَا يَشۡكُرُوۡنَ
( 73 ) And for them therein are [other] benefits and drinks, so will they not be grateful?
It is ingratitude to regard a blessing as a gift of someone outer than the donor, to be grateful to another for it, and to cherish the hope of receiving it or to seek it from another than the donor. Likewise, it is also ingratitude that one should use a blessing against the will of the donor. Therefore, a mushrik or a disbeliever or a hypocrite or a sinful person cannot be regarded as a grateful servant of God when he utters words of thankfulness only with the tongue. The disbelievers of Makkah did not deny that the cattle had been created by Allah; none of them said that the other deities had any hand in their creation. Hut despite knowing All this when they paid homage to their deities for the blessings granted by Allah, presented offerings before them and prayed to them for more blessings and offered sacrifices for their sake, their verbal gratitude became meaningless. That is why Allah has regarded them as guilty of ingratitude and thanklessness.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Such as skins for leather, furs for warmth, sheep's wool or camel's hair for blankets or textiles, musk for perfume, and so on.
The whole argument turns on this. 'Our teaching is for your own benefit. We confer all these blessings on you, and yet ye turn away from the Giver of all, and run after your own vain imaginations!
وَاتَّخَذُوۡا مِنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰهِ اٰلِهَةً لَّعَلَّهُمۡ يُنۡصَرُوۡنَؕ
( 74 ) But they have taken besides Allah [false] deities that perhaps they would be helped.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Or: "other deities beside God" - alluding, in either case, to objects of worship consciously conceived as such - i.e., idols, imaginary deities, deified persons, saints, etc. - as well as to abstract concepts like power, wealth or "luck", which may not be consciously "worshipped" but are nevertheless often revered in an almost idolatrous fashion. The verb ittakhadhu " اتَّخَذُوۡ " (lit., "they took [or "have taken"] for themselves"), used in the Qur'an in this and in similar contexts, is particularly suited for the wide range of meanings alluded to inasmuch as it bears the connotation of adopting something - whether it be concrete or abstract - for one's own use or adoration.
لَا يَسۡتَطِيۡعُوۡنَ نَصۡرَهُمۡۙ وَهُمۡ لَهُمۡ جُنۡدٌ مُّحۡضَرُوۡنَ
( 75 ) They are not able to help them, and they [themselves] are for them soldiers in attendance.
That is, the poor false gods themselves are dependent upon their worshipers for their survival and their safety and their needs. But for their multitudes they could not survive as gods even for a day. These people are behaving as their humble servants. They are setting up and decorating their shrines; they carry out propaganda for them; they fight and quarrel with others for their sake. Then only arc they recognized as gods. They are not the teal God, Who, whether someone recognizes Him or not, is ruling over the whole universe by His own might and authority.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: There is some difference of opinion among Commentators as to the exact meaning to be attached to this clause. As I understand it, the meaning seems to be this. Man is apt to forget or turn away from the true God, the source of all the good which he enjoys, and to go after imaginary powers in the shape of gods, heroes, men, or abstract things like Science or Nature or Philosophy, or superstitious things like Magic, or Good-Fortune or Ill-Fortune, or embodiments of his own selfish desires. He thinks that they might help him in this Life or in the Hereafter (if he believes in a Hereafter). But they cannot help him: on the contrary all things that are false will be brought up and condemned before Allah's Judgment-seat, and the worshippers of the Falsehoods will also be treated as a troop favouring the Falsehoods and therefore worthy of condemnation. The Falsehoods, therefore, instead of helping them, will contribute to their condemnation.
فَلَا يَحۡزُنۡكَ قَوۡلُهُمۡۘ اِنَّا نَـعۡلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّوۡنَ وَمَا يُعۡلِنُوۡنَ
( 76 ) So let not their speech grieve you. Indeed, We know what they conceal and what they declare.
The address is to the Holy Prophet. Here the allusion is to the campaign of vilification which the chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah were carrying on against him. They knew in their hearts and acknowledged in their private assemblies that the charges they brought against him were absolutely baseless. In order to create suspicions against him in the minds of the people, they branded him a poet, sorcerer, magician, madman, etc. But their consciences recognized, and they also acknowledged before one another, that whatever they were uttering Was false, which they were forging only to frustrate his mission. That is why Allah says to His Prophet: "Do not grieve at their absurd and meaningless talk. Those who are opposing and resisting the Truth with falsehood shall ultimately meet with failure in this world and see their evil end in the Hereafter, too.”
Yusuf Ali Explanation: If men are so foolish as to reject Allah, let not the men of Allah grieve over it. They should do their duty, and leave the rest to Allah. Allah knows all the open and secret motives that sway the wicked, and His Plan must ultimately prevail, however much appearances may be against it at any given time.
Verses 77 – 83 The Creator is the Only One to bring back to life:
Humankind seems to forget their origin so God reminds us that we were created from a drop of fluid. Yet even then they dispute openly asking who could give life back to bones after they have decayed? God says that the One who gave them life in the first place will bring them back; it is only He who has knowledge of every act of creation. It is He who produced fire so that humankind can benefit from it; it is He who created the heavens and the earth so is it not then easy for Him to bring back the people? Of course it is! When God wills something to be, He says "Be" and it is. All glory belongs to God, who controls everything and it is to Him that humankind will be resurrected.
اَوَلَمۡ يَرَ الۡاِنۡسَانُ اَنَّا خَلَقۡنٰهُ مِنۡ نُّطۡفَةٍ فَاِذَا هُوَ خَصِيۡمٌ مُّبِيۡنٌ
( 77 ) Does man not consider that We created him from a [mere] sperm-drop - then at once he is a clear adversary?
Here the disbelievers' question cited in verse 48 above, is being answered by reason and argument. The question, "When will the threat of Resurrection be carried out?" had not been asked with a view to find out the exact date of the coming of the Hereafter. But they asked it because they thought it was impossible, rather irrational, that human beings would be raised back to life after death. That is why, in reply to their question, arguments are being given for the possibility of the Hereafter.
According to the traditions related by Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah and Said bin Jubair, one of the chiefs of Makkah, on this occasion, came up with a rotten bone of a dead person, from the graveyard. He broke and crushed it into pieces before the Holy Prophet and scattering its particles in the air, said.-"O Muhammad, you say that the dead will be raised back to life. Tell us who will give life to these decayed and rotten bones?" The answer was given immediately in the form of these verses.
"We caused the sperm-drop which contained nothing but the basic germ of life to develop to an extent that it started moving and eating like the animals. Furthermore, it has developed such powers of intellect and reasoning and disputation and speech, which arc not possessed by any animal; so much so that now he dares stand up as an adversary before his Creator !"
: Man's disobedience and folly are all the more surprising, seeing that-apart from Allah's greatness and mercy-man is himself such a puny creature, created out of something that is less than a drop in the vast ocean of Existence. Yet man has the hardihood to stand out and dispute with his Maker, and institute idle comparisons as in the next verse!
Muhammad Asad Explanation: See similar passage in 16:4 , as well as the explanation - reproduced below:
(He creates man out of a [mere] drop of sperm: and lo! this same being shows himself endowed with the power to think and to argue!)
Lit., "he becomes an open contender in argument (khasim)". According to Zamakhshari and Razi, the above phrase is liable to two interpretations. In the words of Zamakhshari, "one interpretation is that after having been a [mere] drop of sperm, a particle of matter without consciousness or motion, man becomes highly articulate (mintiq), able to argue on his own [for or against a proposition], courageously facing disputes, and clearly formulating his arguments: [and herein lies] an indication of God's creative power. The other [interpretation] is that man is [prone to become] a contender in argument against his Sustainer, refusing to acknowledge his [very] Creator." Razi, on his part, gives his unqualified support to the first of these two interpretations, "because the above verses are meant to stress the evidence of the existence of a wise Creator, and not the fact of men's insolence and their proneness to blasphemy and ingratitude". However, in view of {36:77-78} (revealed at a considerably earlier period), I am of the opinion that the above two interpretations are not mutually exclusive but, rather, complementary, inasmuch as this passage is meant to bring out man's unique quality as a rational being - a quality that may lead him to great heights of achievement, but may equally well lead him utterly astray: hence my free rendering of this profound, elliptic phrase.
Completing the interpretation advanced in his (and Zamakhshari's) commentary on the above-mentioned verse, Razi equates here the term khasim (lit., "contender in argument") with the highest manifestation of what is described as natiq ("articulate [or "rational"] being").
وَضَرَبَ لَـنَا مَثَلًا وَّ نَسِىَ خَلۡقَهٗ ؕ قَالَ مَنۡ يُّحۡىِ الۡعِظَامَ وَهِىَ رَمِيۡمٌ
( 78 ) And he presents for Us an example and forgets his [own] creation. He says, "Who will give life to bones while they are disintegrated?"
That is, "He regards Us powerless and weak like the creation, and flunks that just as man cannot raise the dead back to life, so also can't We."
"Forgets his own creation": "Forgets that We created the basic germ of life from dead matter, which became the means of his creation; then We caused the germ to develop to such an extent that now he stands before Us as a disputant."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: That is, man thinks that Allah is like His creatures, who at best have very limited powers, or man draws idle parallels like that mentioned at the end of this verse. 'Who can give life to dry bones, and decomposed ones at that?' Man certainly cannot, and no power in nature can do that. But why compare the powers and capacities of Allah's creatures with the powers and capacities of the Creator? The first creation-out of nothing-is far more difficult for us to imagine than a second or subsequent process for which there is already a basis. And Allah has power over all things.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Lit., "he coins for Us a simile (mathal)" - an elliptic allusion to the unwillingness of "those who deny the truth" to conceive of a transcendental Being, fundamentally different from all that is graspable by man's senses or imagination, and having powers beyond all comparison with those which are available to any of the created beings. (Cf. 42:11 , "there is nothing like unto Him", and 112:4 , "there is nothing that could be compared with Him".) Since they are enmeshed in a materialistic outlook on life, such people deny - as the sequence shows - all possibility of resurrection, which amounts to a denial of God's creative powers and, in the final analysis, of His existence.
قُلۡ يُحۡيِيۡهَا الَّذِىۡۤ اَنۡشَاَهَاۤ اَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ ؕ وَهُوَ بِكُلِّ خَلۡقٍ عَلِيۡمُ ۙ
( 79 ) Say, "He will give them life who produced them the first time; and He is, of all creation, Knowing."
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Allah's creative artistry is evident in every phase of nature, and it works every minute or second. The more man understands himself and the things within his reach, the more he realizes this. How foolish, then, for any one to set imaginary limits to Allah's powers? There are more ways of creation than are dreamt of in man's imagination!
اۨلَّذِىۡ جَعَلَ لَـكُمۡ مِّنَ الشَّجَرِ الۡاَخۡضَرِ نَارًا فَاِذَاۤ اَنۡـتُمۡ مِّنۡهُ تُوۡقِدُوۡنَ
( 80 ) [It is] He who made for you from the green tree, fire, and then from it you ignite.
It either means that He has placed the inflammable matter in the green trees due to which people kindle fire from the pieces of wood. Or, it is an allusion to the markh and 'afar trees, whose green branches the Arabs struck against each other to produce the sparks. In ancient times the Bedouins used this method of kindling the fire and might even be using the same today.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Even older and more primitive than the method of striking fire against steel and flint is the method of using twigs of trees for the purpose. In the E.B., 14th edition. ix. 262, will be found a picture of British Guiana boys making a fire by rotating a stick in a round hole in a piece of wood lying on the ground. The Arab method was to use a wooden instrument called the Zinad. It consisted of two pieces to be rubbed together. The upper one was called the 'Afar or Zand, and the lower the Markh. The markh is a twig from a kind of spreading tree, the Cynanchuin viminale, of which the branches are bare, without leaves or thorns. When they are tangled together, and a wind blows, they get ignited and strike fire (Lane's Arabic Lexicon). In modern Arabic Zand is by analogy applied to the flint pierce used for striking fire with steel.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: Cf. the ancient Arabian proverb, "In every tree there is a fire" (Zamakhshari): evidently an allusion to the metamorphosis of green - i e., water-containing - plants into fuel, be it through desiccation or man-made carbonization (charcoal), or by a millenial, subterranean process of decomposition into oil or coal. In a spiritual sense, this "fire" seems also to symbolize the God-given warmth and light of human reason spoken of in verse {77} above.
اَوَلَيۡسَ الَّذِىۡ خَلَقَ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضَ بِقٰدِرٍ عَلٰٓى اَنۡ يَّخۡلُقَ مِثۡلَهُمۡؕ بَلٰی وَهُوَ الۡخَـلّٰقُ الۡعَلِيۡمُ
( 81 ) Is not He who created the heavens and the earth Able to create the likes of them? Yes, [it is so]; and He is the Knowing Creator.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: Cf. lxxix. 27. Which is the more difficult to create,-man, or the heavens and the earth, with all creatures? Allah created the heavens and the earth, with all creatures, and He can create worlds and worlds like these in infinity. To Him it is small matter to raise you up for the Hereafter.
اِنَّمَاۤ اَمۡرُهٗۤ اِذَاۤ اَرَادَ شَیْـئًـا اَنۡ يَّقُوۡلَ لَهٗ كُنۡ فَيَكُوۡنُ
( 82 ) His command is only when He intends a thing that He says to it, "Be," and it is.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: And His creation is not dependent on time, or instruments or means, or any conditions whatsoever. Existence waits on His Will, or Plan, or Intention. The moment He wills a thing, it becomes His Word or Command, and the thing forthwith comes into existence. Cf. ii. 117; xvi. 40, n. 2066; etc.
Muhammad Asad Explanation: This is the meaning of the phrase innama amruhu " اِنَّمَاۤ اَمۡرُهٗۤ " - the term amr being synonymous, in this instance, with sha'n ("state [or "manner"] of being"). The exclusiveness of God's creative Being is stressed by the restrictive particle innama.
فَسُبۡحٰنَ الَّذِىۡ بِيَدِهٖ مَلَـكُوۡتُ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ وَّاِلَيۡهِ تُرۡجَعُوۡنَ
( 83 ) So exalted is He in whose hand is the realm of all things, and to Him you will be returned.
Yusuf Ali Explanation: All things were created by Allah; are maintained by Him; and will go back to Him. But the point of special interest to man is that man will also be brought back to Allah and is answerable to Him, and to Him alone. This Message is the core of Revelation; it explains the meaning of the Hereafter; and it fitly closes a Sura specially connected with the name (Ya-Sin) of the Holy Prophet.
