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Showing posts with label Meccan Surah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Meccan Surah. Show all posts

Friday 6 November 2020

Surah Al Inshiqaq - The Splitting Asunder: Exegesis 84th Chapter of Quran


Sūrah Al Inshiqaq "  الانشقاق " is the eighty-fourth sürah with 25 āyāt with one sajdah e talawat (prostration of recitation, verse 21), part of the 30th Juzʼ  of the Holy Qur'ān. The name of the surah is derived from the word inshaqqat in the first verse. Inshaqqat is infinitive which means to split asunder, thereby implying that it is the Surah in which mention has been made of the splitting asunder of the heavens.

This was most likely revealed after the 82nd chapter Al-Infitar, and was chronologically one of the last of the Meccan sūrahs revealed before  migration of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ to Medina.

This sūrah is a combination of a small cluster of surahs because of a similar style and content, and is similar to these surahs'; Sūrahs .81 Takweer, Sūrah. 82 Infitar, and Sūrah 83. Mutafiffeen.   

Sūrah Inshiqaq has a Theme of: Inevitability. A lot of the things in this surah seem going through stages and reaching a final conclusion. Allah expects us to fill in the blanks ourselves, so He will give some description and then expect us to know what was not mentioned. This keeps the hearer of the Qur'an alert and affirm the reality. The obedience of the universe is contrasted with the disobedience of the unbelievers.  The connection between behaviour in this world and life in the hereafter is described in short but in-depth detail.

We have already presented the overview / summary of the sürah. Let us now read the verse by verse translation and exegesis / tafseer in English. Besides, please listen to eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan in a video at the end of the post in which he explains the first five ayat of Surah Al-Inshiqaq in which Allah paints one of the most powerful pictures of nature in the entire Quran:

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ 
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

The verses 1-19 are about the doomsday when heaven will split asunder and earth will be spread out, and Books of deeds will be distributed, righteous will be happy while disbelievers will be calling for death:

إِذَا السَّمَاءُ انشَقَّتْ 
( 1 )   When the sky has split [open]

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The passing away of this world of sense to make way for a new World of Reality is here indicated by two Facts, which are themselves signs for a complete revolution in our whole knowledge and experience. At the beginning of S. lxxxii. and S. lxxxi, other Signs were used, to lead up to the arguments there advanced. Here the two Signs are: (1) the Sky being rent asunder and giving up its secrets, and (2) the Earth being flattened out from the globe it is, and giving up its secrets. See the following notes.

Nouman Ali Khan Explanation:
inshaqat - to be torn completely is from Shaq - something cut/ripping that you don't usually imagine being torn/cut. i.e. rocks, sky, the earth, etc. shaq - is irreversible. Once the sky is torn/ripped - it cannot be back to normal again like before its tearing. The inevitable - the point of no return - the conclusion of the sky we have above us is that it will be torn and will never return to its normal state after that.

 وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ 
( 2 )   And has responded to its Lord and was obligated [to do so]
Literally: And listens its Lord’s command. However, according to Arabic usage adhina lahu does not only mean: He heard the command but it means: Hearing the command he carried it out promptly like an obedient servant.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(And listens to and obeys its Lord) meaning, it listens to its Lord and obeys His command to split apart. This will occur on the Day of Judgement. (and it must do so.) meaning, it is right for it to obey the command of its Lord, because it is great and cannot be rejected, nor overcome. Rather it overpowers everything and everything is submissive to it. 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
We may think that the heavens we see above us-high and sacred, seemingly vast and limitless, eternal and timeless-are not created matter. But they are. And they remain just so long as Allah wills it so, and not a moment longer. As soon as His Command issues for their dissolution, they will obey and vanish, and all their mystery will be emptied out. And it must necessarily be so; their very nature as created beings requires that they must hearken to the voice of their Creator, even to the extent of their own extinction.

 وَإِذَا الْأَرْضُ مُدَّتْ 
( 3 )   And when the earth has been extended
When the earth is stretched out: when the oceans and rivers are filled up, the mountains are crushed to pieces and scattered away, and the earth is leveled and turned into a smooth plain. In Surah Ta Ha, the same thing has been expressed, thus: He will turn the earth into an empty level plain, wherein you will neither see any curve nor crease. (verses 106-107). Hakim in Mustadrak has related through authentic channels on the authority of Jabir bin Abdullah a saying of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to the effect: On the Resurrection Day the earth will be flattened out and spread out like the table-cloth; then there will hardly be room on it for men to place their feet. To understand this saying one should keep in mind the fact that on that Day all men who will have been born from the first day of creation till Resurrection, will be resurrected simultaneously and produced in the divine court. For gathering together such a great multitude of the people it is inevitable that the oceans, rivers, mountains, jungles, ravines and all high and low areas be leveled and the entire globe of the earth be turned into a vast plain so that all individuals of human race may have room on it to stand on their feet.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The Earth is a globe, enclosing within it many secrets and mysteries-gold and diamonds in its mines, heat and magnetic forces in its entrails, and the bodies of countless generations of men buried within its soil. At its dissolution all these contents will be disgorged: it will lose its shape as a globe, and cease to exist.

 وَأَلْقَتْ مَا فِيهَا وَتَخَلَّتْ 
( 4 )   And has cast out that within it and relinquished [it]
That is, it will throw out all dead bodies of men and also the traces and evidences of their deeds lying within it, so that nothing remains hidden and buried in it.

 وَأَذِنَتْ لِرَبِّهَا وَحُقَّتْ 
( 5 )   And has responded to its Lord and was obligated [to do so] -
Here, it has not been expressly told what will happen when such and such an event takes place, for the subsequent theme by itself explains this, as if to say: O man, you are moving towards your Lord and are about to meet Him; you will be given your conduct book; and rewarded or punished according to your deeds."

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
We think the earth so solid and real. All our perishable things dissolve into the earth. But the earth itself will dissolve into a truer Reality. The substantive clause, to follow the two conditional clauses preceding, may be filled up from the suggestion contained in lxxxii. 5.

يَا أَيُّهَا الْإِنسَانُ إِنَّكَ كَادِحٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ كَدْحًا فَمُلَاقِيهِ 
( 6 )   O mankind, indeed you are laboring toward your Lord with [great] exertion and will meet it.
That is, "You may if you so like think that all your efforts and endeavors in the world are confined to worldly life and motivated by worldly desires, yet the truth is that you are moving, consciously or unconsciously, towards your Lord and you have ultimately to appear before Him in any case.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(O man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your deeds and actions, a sure returning,) meaning, `verily you are hastening to your Lord and working deeds.' (and you will meet.) `Then you will meet that which you did of good or evil.' 

A proof for this is what Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded from Jabir, that the Messenger of Allah said, (Jibril said, "O Muhammad! Live how you wish, for verily you will die; love what you wish, for verily you will part with it; and do what you wish, for verily you will meet it (your deed).) There are some people who refer the pronoun back to the statement "your Lord.'' Thus, they hold the Ayah to mean, "and you will meet your Lord.'' This means that He will reward you for your work, and pay you for your efforts. Therefore, both of these two views are connected. 

Al-`Awfi recorded from Ibn `Abbas that he said explaining, (O man! Verily, you are returning towards your Lord with your deeds and actions, a sure returning,) "Whatever deed you do, you will meet Allah with it, whether it is good or bad.''

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
An allusion to the fact that in man's earthly life - irrespective of whether one is consciously aware of it or not - sorrow, pain, drudgery and worry by far outweigh the rare moments of true happiness and satisfaction. Thus, the human condition is described as "painful toiling towards the Sustainer" - i.e., towards the moment when one meets Him on resurrection.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
This life is ever full of toil and misery, if looked at as empty of the Eternal Hope which Revelation gives us. Hence the literature of pessimism in poetry and philosophy which thinking minds have poured forth in all ages, when that Hope was obscured to them. "Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought." "To each his suffering ; all are men condemned alike a groan!" It is the noblest men that have to "scorn delights and live laborious days" in this life. The good suffer on account of their very goodness: the evil on account of their Evil. But the balance will be set right in the end. Those that wept shall be made to rejoice, and those that went about thoughtlessly rejoicing, shall be made to weep for their folly. They will all go to their account with Allah and meet Him before His Throne of Judgment.

 فَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ بِيَمِينِهِ 
( 7 )   Then as for he who is given his record in his right hand,

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Right Hand. Cf. xvii 71. Then will be the fortunate ones, who spent their lives in goodness and truth: for them the account will be made easy; for even after the balancing, they will receive more than their merits deserve, on account of the infinite grace, and mercy of Allah.

 فَسَوْفَ يُحَاسَبُ حِسَابًا يَسِيرًا 
( 8 )   He will be judged with an easy account
That is, his reckoning will be less severe. He will not be asked why he had done such and such a thing and what excuses he had to offer for it. Though his evil deeds will also be there along with his good deeds in his records, his errors will be overlooked and pardoned in view of his outweighing good deeds. In the Quran, for the severe reckoning of the wicked people the words su-al-hisab (heavy reckoning) have been used (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayat 181), and concerning the righteous it has been said: From such people, We accept the best of their deeds and overlook their evils. (Surah Al- Ahqaf, Ayat 16). The explanation of it given by the Prophet (peace be upon him) has been related in different words by lmam Ahmad Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Abu Daud, Hakim, Ibn Jarir, Abd bin Humaid, and Ibn Marduyah on the authority of Aishah. According to one of these traditions the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Doomed will be he who is called to account for his deeds. Aishah said: O Messenger of Allah, has not Allah said: He whose record is given in his right hand shall have an easy reckoning? The Prophet (peace be upon him) replied: That is only about the presentation of the deeds, but the one who is questioned would be doomed. In another tradition Aishah has related: I once heard the Prophet (peace be upon him) supplicate during the prayer, thus: O God, call me to a light reckoning. When he brought his Prayer to conclusion, I asked what he meant by that supplication. He replied: Light reckoning means that one’s conduct book will be seen and one’s errors will be overlooked. O Aishah, the one who is called to account for his deeds on that Day, would be doomed.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(Then as for him who will be given his Record in his right hand, he surely, will receive an easy reckoning,) (84:7-8) meaning, easy without any difficulty. This means that he will not be investigated for all the minute details of his deeds. For verily, whoever is reckoned like that, he will certainly be destroyed. 

Imam Ahmad recorded from `A'ishah that the Messenger of Allah said, (Whoever is interrogated during the reckoning, then he will be punished.) `A'ishah then said, "But didn't Allah say, (He surely will receive an easy reckoning,)'' 

The Prophet replied, (That is not during to the Reckoning, rather it is referring to the presentation. Whoever is interrogated during the Reckoning on the Day of Judgement, then he will be punished.) This Hadith has also been recorded by Al-Bukhari, Muslim, At-Tirmidhi, An-Nasa'i and Ibn Jarir.

 وَيَنقَلِبُ إِلَىٰ أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا 
( 9 )   And return to his people in happiness.
His kinsfolk: his family and relatives and companions who will have been pardoned even like himself.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(And will return to his family Masrur!) This means that he will return to his family in Paradise. This was said by Qatadah and Ad-Dahhak. They also said, "Masrur means happy and delighted by what Allah has given him.''

 وَأَمَّا مَنْ أُوتِيَ كِتَابَهُ وَرَاءَ ظَهْرِهِ 
( 10 )   But as for he who is given his record behind his back,
 In( Surah Al-Haaqqah, Ayat 25), it was said that his record will be given to him in his left hand but here behind his back. This will probably be for the reason that he would already have lost all hopes that he would be given his record in his right hand, for he would be well aware of his misdeeds and sure to receive his record in his left hand. However, in order to avoid the humiliation of receiving it in the left hand, in front of all mankind, he will withdraw his hand behind and so would receive it behind his back.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
At first glance, this seems to contrast with 69:25 where it is stated that the record of the unrighteous "shall be placed in his left hand". In reality, however, the present formulation alludes to the sinner's horror at his record, and his wish that he had never been shown it ({69:25-26}): in other words, his not wanting to see it is symbolized by its appearance "behind his back".

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
In lxix. 24, the wicked are given the Record in their left hand. But their hands will not be free. Sin will tie their hands behind their back: and thus they can only receive their Records in their left hand, behind their back.

 فَسَوْفَ يَدْعُو ثُبُورًا 
( 11 )   He will cry out for destruction

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The wicked will cry for death and annihilation: but they will neither live nor die: xx. 74.

 وَيَصْلَىٰ سَعِيرًا 
( 12 )   And [enter to] burn in a Blaze.

 إِنَّهُ كَانَ فِي أَهْلِهِ مَسْرُورًا 
( 13 )   Indeed, he had [once] been among his people in happiness;
That is, his way of life was different from that of God’s righteous men, about whom in(Surah At-Toor, Ayat 26), it has been said that they lived among their kinsfolk in fear and dread of God, i.e. they fear lest they should ruin their own Hereafter on account of their absorption in the love of children and endeavors for the sake of their well-being and prosperity in the world. On the contrary, this man lived a life free from every care and worry and also helped his children and kinsfolk to enjoy life fully, no matter what wicked and immoral methods he had to use to procure the means of enjoyment, how he had to usurp the rights of others and transgress the bounds set by Allah for the sake of the worldly pleasures.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The tables are now turned. His self-complacence and self-conceit in his lower life will now give place to weeping and gnashing of teeth!

 إِنَّهُ ظَنَّ أَن لَّن يَحُورَ 
( 14 )   Indeed, he had thought he would never return [to Allah].

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Most of the Evil in this world is due to the false idea that man is irresponsible, or to a mad and thoughtless indulgence of self. Man is not irresponsible. He is responsible for every deed, word, and thought of his, to his Maker, to Whom he has to return, to give an account of himself. To remember this and act accordingly is to achieve salvation; to forget or flout that responsibility is to get into Hell.

 بَلَىٰ إِنَّ رَبَّهُ كَانَ بِهِ بَصِيرًا 
( 15 )   But yes! Indeed, his Lord was ever of him, Seeing.
That is, it was against God’s justice and His wisdom that He should overlook the misdeeds that he was committing and should not summon him before Himself to render his account of the deeds.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(Yes! Verily, his Lord has been ever beholding him!) meaning, certainly Allah will repeat his creation just as he began his creation, and He will reward him based upon his deeds, whether they were good or bad. He was ever watchful of him, meaning All-Knowing and All-Aware [Al-Basir (البصير)].

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِالشَّفَقِ 
( 16 )   So I swear by the twilight glow

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Swearing by the Various Stages of Man's Journey: It has been reported from `Ali, Ibn `Abbas, `Ubadah bin As-Samit, Abu Hurayrah, Shaddad bin Aws, Ibn `Umar, Muhammad bin `Ali bin Al-Husayn, Makhul, Bakr bin `Abdullah Al-Muzani, Bukayr bin Al-Ashaj, Malik, Ibn Abi Dhi'b, and `Abdul-`Aziz bin Abi Salamah Al-Majishun, they all said, "Ash-Shafaq is the redness (in the sky).`Abdur-Razzaq recorded from Abu Hurayrah that he said, "Ash-Shafaq is the whiteness.'' So Ash-Shafaq is the redness of the horizon, either before sunset, as Mujahid said or after sunset, as is well known with the scholars of the Arabic Language. Al-Khalil bin Ahmad said, "Ash-Shafaq is the redness that appears from the setting of sun until the time of the last `Isha' (when it is completely dark). When that redness goes away, it is said, `Ash-Shafaq has disappeared.''' Al-Jawhari said, "Ash-Shafaq is the remaining light of the sun and its redness at the beginning of the night until it is close to actual nighttime (darkness).'' `Ikrimah made a similar statement when he said, "Ash-Shafaq is that what is between Al-Maghrib and Al-`Isha'.'' 

In the Sahih of Muslim, it is recorded from `Abdullah bin `Amr that the Messenger of Allah said, (The time of Al-Maghrib is as long as Ash-Shafaq has not disappeared.)'' In all of this, there is a proof that Ash-Shafaq is as Al-Jawhari and Al-Khalil have said. 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The same form of adjuration as in lxix. 37. The substantive statement is in verse 19 below: 'Ye shall surely travel from stage to stage". Nothing in this life is fixed, or will last. Three things are mentioned which on the one hand have remained from age to age for as far back as the memory of man can go, and yet each of them is but a short phase, gone as it were in the twinkling of an eye.  So our life here is but a fleeting show. Its completion is to be looked for elsewhere.

(1) The sun seems such a great reality that people worshipped him as a divinity. The beautiful glow it leaves when it sets is but momentary: it changes every moment and vanishes with the twilight.

 وَاللَّيْلِ وَمَا وَسَقَ 
( 17 )   And [by] the night and what it envelops

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
(2) The Night is a phenomenon you see during almost half every twenty-four hours in ordinary latitudes. At nightfall, all the wandering flocks and herds come home. The men scattered abroad for their livelihood return home to rest and sleep. The Night collects them in their homes, and yet this phase of Homing lasts but a little while. Presently all is silent and still. So will it be with our souls when this life is ended with our death. We shall be collected in a newer and larger Homing.

 وَالْقَمَرِ إِذَا اتَّسَقَ 
( 18 )   And [by] the moon when it becomes full

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(And by the moon when it Ittasaqa.) Ibn `Abbas said, "When it comes together and becomes complete.'' Al-Hasan said, "When it comes together and becomes full.'' Qatadah said, "When it completes its cycle.'' These statements refer to its light when it is completed and becomes full, as the idea was initiated with "The night and what it gathers.'' 

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Thus God "calls to witness" the fact that nothing in His creation is ever at a standstill, since everything moves unceasingly from one state of being into another, at every moment changing its aspect and its condition: a phenomenon aptly described by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus by the phrase panta rhei ("everything is in flux").

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
(3) The astronomical Full Moon does not last a moment. The moment the moon is full, she begins to decline, and the moment she is in her "inter-lunar swoon", she begins her career anew as a growing New Moon. So is man's life here below. It is not fixed or permanent, either in its physical phases, or even more strikingly, in its finer phases, intellectual, emotional, or spiritual.

 لَتَرْكَبُنَّ طَبَقًا عَن طَبَقٍ
( 19 )   [That] you will surely experience state after state.
That is, you will not remain in one and the same state, but will have to pass through countless stages gradually, from youth to old age, from old age to death, from death to barzakh (the intermediary state between death and Resurrection), from barzakh to Resurrection, from Resurrection to the Plain of Assembly, then to the Reckoning, and then to the meting out of rewards and punishments. An oath has been sworn by three things to confine this:

(1) By the twilight.

(2) By the darkness of night and the gathering together in it of all those human beings and animals who remain scattered in the day time.

(3) By the moon’s passing through different phases to become full. These are some of those things which testify that rest and stillness is unknown in the universe in which man lives. There is a continuous and gradual change taking place everywhere. Therefore, the disbelievers are wrong in thinking that life comes to an end after man has breathed his last.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Or: "from one state to another state" (Zamakhshari): i.e., in an unceasing progression - conception, birth, growth, decline, death and, finally, resurrection.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Man travels and ascends stage by stage. In lxvii. 3 the same word in the form tibaqan was used of the heavens, as if they were in layers one above another. Man's spiritual life may similarly be compared to an ascent from one heaven to another.

 In the concluding six verses (20-25) People are asked to believe while they have time.:

فَمَا لَهُمْ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ 
( 20 )   So what is [the matter] with them [that] they do not believe,

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Considering man's high destiny, and the fact that this life is but a stage or a sojourn for him, it might be expected that he would eagerly embrace every opportunity of welcoming Allah's Revelation and ascending by Faith to heights of spiritual wisdom. There is something wrong with his will if he does not do so. Notice the transition from the second person in verse 19, where there is a direct appeal to Allah's votaries, to the third person in verses 20-21, where men who are rebels against Allah's Kingdom are spoken of as if they were aliens.

۩ وَإِذَا قُرِئَ عَلَيْهِمُ الْقُرْآنُ لَا يَسْجُدُونَ  
( 21 )   And when the Qur'an is recited to them, they do not prostrate [to Allah]? ۩
They do not fall prostrate: they do not bow down to God out of fear of Him. To perform a sajdah (prostration) here is confirmed by the practice of the Prophet (peace be upon him). lmam Malik, Muslim and Nasai have related a tradition concerning Abu Huraira saying that he recited this Surah in the Prayer and performing a sajdah here and said: The Prophet (peace be upon him) performed a sajdah at this point. Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud and Nasai have cited this statement of Abu Rafi: Abu Huraira recited this Surah in the Isha Prayer and performed a sajdah. When I asked why he had done so, he replied: I prayed under the leadership of Abul Qasim (peace be upon him) and he performed a sajdah here. Therefore, I will continue to perform this sajdah likewise as long as I live. Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi, Nasai, Ibn Majah and others have related another tradition saying that Abu Huraira said: We performed sajdah behind the Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah in this Surah and in Iqra bi-ismi Rabbikalladhi khalaq.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(What is the matter with them, that they believe not And when the Qur'an is recited to them, they fall not prostrate.) meaning, what prevents them from believing in Allah, His Messenger and the Last Day, and what is wrong with them that when Allah's Ayat and His Words are recited to them they do not prostrate due to awe, respect and reverence

 بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا يُكَذِّبُونَ 
( 22 )   But those who have disbelieved deny,

 وَاللَّـهُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يُوعُونَ 
( 23 )   And Allah is most knowing of what they keep within themselves.
Another meaning can also be: Allah knows best what disbelief, malice, hostility to the truth and evil intentions and designs they keep in their breasts.

 فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ 
( 24 )   So give them tidings of a painful punishment,

 إِلَّا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ 
( 25 )   Except for those who believe and do righteous deeds. For them is a reward uninterrupted.
Cf. xli. 8. [As to those who have faith and do good works, surely theirs shall be a never-ending reward.]

The words ajrun ghaira mamnun " أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ " in the original have two other meanings also: (1) That it will be a reward which will never decrease and diminish. (2) That this reward will not be given with reminders of good done, like the gift made by a miserly person, who keeps on reminding the beneficiary of his favor if at all he gives away anything.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(Save those who believe and do righteous good deeds,) This is a clear exception meaning, `but those who believe.' This refers to those who believe in their hearts. Then the statement, "and do righteous good deeds,'' is referring to that which they do with their limbs.

(that will never come to an end.) Ibn `Abbas said, "Without being decreased.'' Mujahid and Ad-Dahhak both said, "Without measure.'' The result of their statements is that it (the reward) is without end. 

This is as Allah says, (A gift without an end.) (11:108) As-Suddi said, "Some of them have said that this means without end and without decrease.'' This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Inshiqaq. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and He is the giver of success and freedom from error.

In the first five ayat of Surah Al-Inshiqaq Allah paints one of the most powerful pictures of nature in the entire Quran. Please listen to eminent Muslim scholar Nouman who explains in depth the scene on the Day of Judgment when the sky tears open and the earth can no longer bear the burden of everything inside it. The idea that nature is this wild beast that Allah has held back is a recurring theme in the Quran and here, Allah describes how nature will react once He it hears Allah's permission.:

You may refer to our Reference Page "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, explanation and exegesis of other chapters of the Qur'an.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 45 | 67 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  [2]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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Monday 2 November 2020

Surah Al Buruj - The Constellations: Exegesis 85th Chapter of Quran


Sūrah Al-Burūj " البروج " (pronounced Al Burooj) is the eighty fifth sürah with 22 āyāt , part of the 30th Juzʼ  of the Holy Qur'ān. The Surah is so designated after the word al buruj appearing in the first verse.

This one of the earliest Makkan sūrahs, chronologically cognate with S. xci. The subject  matter is the persecution of Allah's votaries. Allah watches over His own, and will deal with enemies of Truth as He dealt with them in the past.

Its theme is to warn the disbelievers of the evil consequences of the persecution and tyranny that they were perpetrating on the converts to Islam, and to console the believers, so as to say: "If you remain firm and steadfast against tyranny and coercion, you will be rewarded richly for it, and Allah will certainly avenge Himself on your persecutors on your behalf."

In this connection, first of all the story of the people of the ditch (ashab al-ukhdudأَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ ") had been related, who had burnt the believers to death by casting them into pits full of fire. By means of this story the believers and the disbelievers have been taught a few lessons. 
  • First, that just as the people of the ditch became worthy of Allah's curse and punishment, so are the chiefs of Makkah also becoming worthy of it. 
  • Second, that just as the believers at that time had willingly accepted to sacrifice their lives by being burnt to death in the pits of fire instead of turning away from the faith, so also the believers now should endure every persecution but should never give up the faith. 
  • Third, that Gods acknowledging Whom displeases the disbelievers and is urged on by the believers, is Dominant and Master of the Kingdom of the earth and heavens; He is self-praiseworthy and is watching what the two groups are striving for. 
Therefore, it is certain that the disbelievers will not only be punished in Hell for their disbelief but, more than that, they too will suffer punishment by fire as a fit recompense for their tyranny and cruelties. Likewise, this also is certain that those, who believe and follow up their belief with good deeds, should go to Paradise and this indeed is the supreme success. Then the disbelievers have been warned, so as to say: "God's grip is very severe. If you are proud of the strength of your hosts, you should know that the hosts of Pharaoh and Thamud were even stronger and more numerous. Therefore, you should learn a lesson from the fate they met. God's power has so encompassed you that you cannot escape His encirclement, and the Qur'an that you are bent upon belying, is unchangeable: it is inscribed in the Preserved Tablet, which cannot be corrupted in any way."

We have already presented the overview / summary of the sürah. Let us now read the verse by verse translation and exegesis / tafseer in English. You may also listen to its Tafsir / exegesis by eminent Muslim scholar, exegete and linguist Nouman Ali Khan at the end of the post:

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ 
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"

وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْبُرُوجِ 
( 1 )   By the sky containing great stars

Literally: By the heaven having constellations. Some of the commentators have interpreted it to mean the twelve signs of the zodiac in the heavens according to ancient astronomy, However, according to Ibn Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah, Hasan Basri, Dahhak and Suddi it implies the glorious stars and planets of the sky.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
The Buruj are the giant stars, as Allah says, (Blessed is He Who has placed in the heaven Buruj, and has placed therein a great lamp (the sun), and a moon giving light.) (Surah 25. Al-Furqan: 61) Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan, Qatadah and As-Suddi, all said, "Al-Buruj are the stars.'' 

Al-Minhal bin `Amr said, (By the heaven holding the Buruj.) "The beautiful creation.'' Ibn Jarir chose the view that it means the positions of the sun and the moon, which are twelve Buruj. The sun travels through each one of these "Burj'' (singular of Buruj) in one month. The moon travels through each one of these Burj in two-and-a-third days, which makes a total of twenty-eight positions, and it is hidden for two nights.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Here is an appeal to three Signs in verses 1-3, and the substantive proposition is in verses 4-8, a denunciation of wicked persecutors of the votaries of Allah, persecutors who burnt righteous men for their Faith. The three Signs are: (1) the Glorious Sky, with the broad belt of the Constellations marking the twelve Signs of the Zodiac; (2) the Day of Judgment, when all evil will be punished; and (3) certain Persons that will be witnesses, and certain Persons or things that will be the subjects of the witness. 

See Surah 15. Al-Hijr: 16 (We have indeed set constellations in the heavens and have beautified them for the beholders) The Stars of the Zodiac as well as of other Constellations are like the eyes of the Night. It may be that crimes are committed in the darkness of the night. But countless eyes are watching all the time, and every author of evil will be brought to book.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
The word بُرْج means forts and castles. Here, it refers to the forts and observation posts in which angels of God are always stationed to protect the universe. Their evidence is presented to warn the arrogant leaders of Makkah and Ta’if that soon they will be held accountable for the wave of oppression they have let loose on the Muslims. The forts of the heavens bear witness that everything is in God’s sight and His angels sitting in them guard every part of this universe. This arrangement has been made because the purpose is to make this world culminate in a Day of Judgement.

 وَالْيَوْمِ الْمَوْعُودِ 
( 2 )   And [by] the promised Day (That is, the Day of Resurrection)

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(And by the Promised Day. And by the Witness, and by the Witnessed. 85:2-3) Ibn Abi Hatim recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said, (And by the Promised Day.)( This refers to the Day of Judgement. (And by the Witness.) This refers to Friday, and the sun does not rise or set on a day that is better than Friday. During it there is an hour that no Muslim servant catches while asking Allah from some good except that Allah will give it to him. He does not seek refuge from any evil in it except that Allah will protect him. (And by the Witnessed.)( This refers to the day of `Arafah (in Hajj).) Ibn Khuzaymah also recorded the same Hadith. It has also been recorded as a statement of Abu Hurayrah and it is similar (to this Hadith).

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The Day of Judgment, when the Sinner will have to give an account of every deed, open or hidden, is not merely a matter of speculation. It is definitely promised in revelation, and will inevitably come to pass. Woe then to the Sinners for their crimes.

 وَشَاهِدٍ وَمَشْهُودٍ 
( 3 )   And [by] the witness and what is witnessed,

The commentators have expressed many different views about “the witness” and “that which is witnessed”. In our opinion what fits in well with the context is that it is every such person who will witness the Day of Resurrection, and that which is witnessed is the Resurrection itself, the dreadful scenes of which will be seen by all. This is the view of Mujahid. Ikrimah, Dahhak, lbn Nujaih and some other commentators.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The literal meaning is clear, but its metaphorical application has been explained in a variety of ways by different Commentators. The words are fairly comprehensive, and should, I think, be understood in connection with Judgment. There the Witnesses may be: (1) the Prophets (iii. 81); Allah Himself (iii. 81, and x. 61); the Recording Angels (I. 21); the Sinner's own misused limbs (xxiv. 24); his record of deeds (xvii. 14); or the Sinner himself (xvii. 14). The subject of the witness may be the deed or crime, or the Sinner against whom the testimony cries out. The appeal to these things means that the Sinner cannot possibly escape the consequences of his crime. He should repent, seek Allah's Mercy, and amend his life.

 قُتِلَ أَصْحَابُ الْأُخْدُودِ 
( 4 )   Cursed were the companions of the trench

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Who were the makers of the pit of fire in which they burn people for their Faith? The words are perfectly general, and we need not search for particular names, except by way of illustration. In ancient history, and in Medieval Europe, many lives were sacrificed at the stake because the victims did not conform to the established religion. In Arab tradition there is the story of Abraham: Nimrud tries to burn him to death, but on account of Abraham's Faith, the fire became "a means of safety for Abraham": xxi. 69. Another case cited is that of Zu-Nuwas, the last Himyarite King of Yemen, by religion a Jew, who persecuted the Christians of Najran and is said to have burnt them to death. He seems to have lived in the latter half of the sixth Christian century, in the generation immediately preceding the Prophet's birth in 570 A.D. While the words are perfectly general, a reference is suggested to the persecution to which the early Muslims were subjected by the Pagan Quraish. Among other cruelties, they were stripped, and their skins were exposed to the burning rays of the Arabian summer sun.

 النَّارِ ذَاتِ الْوَقُودِ 
( 5 )   [Containing] the fire full of fuel,

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "those responsible (ashab) for the pit of fire abounding in fuel". In order to explain this parabolic passage, the commentators interpret it - quite unnecessarily - in the past tense, and advance the most contradictory legends meant to "identify", those evildoers in historical terms. The result is a medley of stories ranging from Abraham's experiences with his idolatrous contemporaries (cf. {21:68-70}) to the Biblical legend of Nebuchadnezzar's attempt to burn three pious Israelites in a fiery furnace (The Book of Daniel iii, 19 ff.), or the persecution, in the sixth century, of the Christians of Najran by the King of Yemen, Dhu Nawas (who was a Jew by religion), or the entirely apocryphal story of a Zoroastrian king who burnt to death those of his subjects who refused to accept his dictum that a marriage of brother and sister was "permitted by God"; and so forth. None of these legends needs, of course, to be seriously considered in this context. As a matter of fact, the very anonymity of the evildoers referred to in the above Qur'anic passage shows that we have here a parable and not an allusion to "historical" or even legendary events. The persecutors are people who having no faith whatsoever, hate to see faith in others (see verse {8} below); the "pit of fire" is a metaphor for the persecution of the latter by the former a phenomenon not restricted to any particular time or to a particular people but recurring in many forms and in varying degrees of intensity throughout recorded history.

 إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْهَا قُعُودٌ 
( 6 )   When they were sitting near it

 وَهُمْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَفْعَلُونَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌ  
( 7 )   And they, to what they were doing against the believers, were witnesses.

The people of the ditch were those who had burnt the believers at stake and witnessed their burning themselves. Destroyed were: Cursed were they by God and they became worthy of Hell torment. On this an oath has been sworn by three things:

(1) By the heaven having constellations.

(2) By the Day of Resurrection which has been promised.

(3) By the dreadful scenes of the Day of Resurrection and all those creatures who will witness those scenes.

The first of these testifies to the truth that the Sovereign, Absolute Being Who is ruling over the glorious stars and planets of the universe, cannot allow this contemptible, insignificant creature called man to escape His grip. The second thing has been sworn by on the basis that the wicked people committed whatever tyranny they wanted to commit, but the Day of which men have been fore-warned is sure to come when the grievances of every wronged person will be redressed and every wrongdoer will be brought to book and punished. The third thing has been sworn by for the reason that just as these wicked people enjoyed witnessing the burning of the helpless believers, so will all human beings on the Day of Resurrection witness how they are taken to task and burnt in Hell.

Several events have been mentioned in the traditions of the believers having been thrown into pits of blazing fire, which show that such tyrannies have been inflicted many a time in history.

One of the events has been reported by Suhaib Rumi from the Prophet (peace be upon him), saying that a king had a magician at his court who on becoming old requested the king to appoint a boy who should learn magic from him. Accordingly, the king appointed a boy. But the boy while going to the magician's place and coming back home also started visiting on the way a monk, who was probably a follower of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him), and being influenced by his teaching turned to a believer. So much so that by his training he acquired miraculous powers. He would heal the blind and cure the lepers. When the king came to know that the boy had believed in the Unity of God, he first put the monk to the sword; then wanted to kill the boy, but no instrument and no device had any effect on him. At last, the boy said to the king: If you are bent upon killing me, shoot an arrow at me with the word: Bi-ismi Rabbil-ghulam (in the name of this boy’s Lord) in front of the assembled people, and I shall die. The king did as he was told and the boy died. There upon the people cried out that they affirmed faith in the Lord of the boy. The courtiers told the king that the same precisely had happened which he wanted to avoid: the people had forsaken his religion and adopted the boy’s religion. At this the king was filled with rage. Consequently, he got pits dug out along the roads, got them filled with fire and ordered all those who refused to renounce the new faith to be thrown into the fire. (Ahmad, Muslim. Nasai, Tirmidhi, Ibn Jarir. Abdur Razzaq. Ibn Abi Shaibah, Tabarani. Abd bin Humaid).

The second event has been reported from Ali. He says that a king of lran drank wine and committed adultery with his sister resulting in illicit relations between the two. When the secret became known, the king got the announcement made that God had permitted marriage with the sister. When the people refused to believe in it, he started coercing them into accepting by different kinds of punishment; so much so that he began to cast into the pits of fire every such person who refused to concede it. According to Ali, marriage with the prohibited relations among the fire-worshippers has begun since then. (Ibn Jarir).

The third event has been related by lbn Abbas, probably on the basis of the Israelite traditions, saying that the people of Babylon had compelled the children of Israel to give up the religion of the Prophet Moses (peace he upon him), so much so that they cast into pits of fire all those who refused to obey. (Ibn Jarir, Abd bin Humaid).

The best known event, however, relates to Najran, which has been related by Ibn Hisham, Tabari, Ibn Khaldun, the author of Mujam al-Buldan and other Islamic historians. Its resume is as follows: Tuban Asad Abu Karib, king of Himyar (Yaman), went to Yathrib once, where he embraced Judaism under the influence of the Jews, and brought two of the Jewish scholars of Bani Quraizah with him to Yemen. There he propagated Judaism widely. His son Dhu Nuwas succeeded him and he attacked Najran which was a stronghold of the Christians in southern Arabia so as to eliminate Christianity and make the people accept Judaism. Ibn Hisham says that these people were true followers of the Gospel of the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him). In Najran, he invited the people to accept Judaism but they refused to obey. Thereupon he caused a large number of the people to be burnt in the ditches of fire and slew many others with the sword until he had killed nearly twenty thousand of them. Daus Dhu Thalaban an inhabitant of Najran escaped and went, according to one tradition, to the Byzantine emperor, and according to another to the Negus, king of Abyssinia, and told him what had happened.

According to the first tradition, the emperor wrote to the king of Abyssinia, and according to the second, the Negus requested the emperor to provide him with a naval force. In any case; an Abyssinian army consisting of seventy thousand soldiers under a general called Aryat, attacked Yemen, Dhu Nuwas was killed, the Jewish rule came to an end, and Yemen become a part of the Christian kingdom of Abyssinia.

The statements of the Islamic historians are not only confirmed by other historical means but they also give many more details. Yemen first came under the Christian Abyssinian domination in 340 A.D. and this domination continued till 378 A.D. The Christian missionaries started entering Yemen in that period. About the same time, a man named Faymiyun (Phemion), who was a righteous, earnest, ascetic man and possessed miraculous powers, arrived in Yemen and by his preaching against idol-worship converted the people of Najran to Christianity. These people were ruled by three chiefs: Sayyid, who was the principal chief like the tribal elders and responsible for external affairs, political agreements and command of the forces, Aqib, who looked after the internal affairs and Usquf (Bishop), the religious guide. In southern Arabia Najran commanded great importance, being a major trade and industrial center with tussore, leather and the armament industries. The well-known Yemenite wrapper and cloak (hulla Yamani) was also manufactured here. On this very basis, Dhu Nuwas attacked this important place not only for religious but also for political and economic reasons. Dhu Nuwas put to death Harithah (called Arethas by the Syrian historians), killed Sayyid of Najran and also killed his two daughters in front of their mother Romah and compelled her to drink their blood and then put even her to death. He took out the bones of Bishop Paul from the grave and burnt them, and ordered women, men, children, aged people, priests and monks, all to be thrown into the pits of fire. The total number of the people thus killed has been estimated between twenty and forty thousand. This happened in October, 523 A.D. At last, in 525 A.D. the Abyssinians attacked Yaman and put an end to Dhu Nuwas and his Himyarite kingdom. This is confirmed by the Hisn Ghurab inscription which the modern archaeologists have unearthed in Yaman.

In several Christian writings of the 6th century A.D. details of the event relating to the “people of the ditch” have been given, some of which are contemporary and reported from eye-witnesses. Authors of three of these books were contemporaries with the event. They were Procopeus, Cosmos Indicopleustis, who was translating Greek book of Ptolemy under command of the Negus Elesboan at that time and resided at Adolis, a city on the sea-coast of Abyssinia, and Johannes Malala from whom several of the later historians have related this event. After this, Johannes of Ephesus (dated 585 A.D) has related the story of the persecution of the Christians of Najran in his history of the Church from a letter of Bishop Mar Simeon who was a contemporary reporter of this event. Mar Simeon wrote this letter to Abbot von Gabula; in it Simeon has reported this event with reference to the statements of the Yamanite eye-witnesses present on the occasion. This letter was published in 1881 A.D. from Rome and in 1890 A.D. in the memoirs of the martyrs of Christianity Jacobian Patriarch. Dionysius and Zacharia of Mitylene have in their Syriac histories also related this event. Yaqub Saruji also in his book about the Christians of Najran has made mention of it. Bishop Pulus of Edessa’s elegy on those who perished in Najran, is still extant. An English translation of the Syriac kitab al-Himyarin (Book of the Himyarites) was published in 1924 from London, which confirms the statements of the Muslim historians. In the British Museum there are some Abyssinian manuscripts relating to that period or a period close to it, which support this story. Philby in his travelogue entitled Arabian Highlands, writes: Among the people of Najran the place is still well known where the event of the people of the ditch (ashab al-ukhdud) had taken place. Close by Umm Kharaq there can still be seen some pictures carved in the rocks, and the present day people of Najran also know the place where the cathedral of Najran stood.

The Abyssinian Christians after capturing Najran had built a church here resembling the Kabah, by which they wanted to divert pilgrimage from the Kabah at Makkah to it. Its priests and keepers wore turbans and regarded it as a sacred sanctuary. The Roman empire also sent monetary aid for this “kabah”. The priests of this very “kabah” of Najran had visited the Prophet (peace be upon him) under the leadership of their Sayyid, Aqib and Bishop for a discussion with him and the famous event of the mubahala (trial through prayer) took place as referred to in (Surah Al-Imran, Ayat 61). 

وَمَا نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلَّا أَن يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّـهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ 
( 8 )   And they resented them not except because they believed in Allah, the Exalted in Might " الْعَزِيزِ ", the Praiseworthy "  الْحَمِيدِ ",

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
(And they had no fault except that they believed in Allah, the Almighty, Worthy of all praise!) meaning, they did not commit any sin according to these people, except for their faith in Allah the Almighty, Who does not treat unjustly those who desire to be with Him. He is the Most Mighty and Most Praiseworthy in all of His statements, actions, legislation, and decrees. He decreed what happened to these servants of His at the hands of the disbelievers - and He is the Most Mighty, the Most Praiseworthy - even though the reason for this decree is unknown to many people.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
They are being punished merely because they have professed belief in God. For this, the two attributes of the Almighty – الۡعَزِیۡز and الۡحَمِیۡد need our attention. 

Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes: The former depicts His power, honour and majesty while the latter His mercy, providence and being worthy of praise and gratitude. The purpose of mentioning them is that only the being who has such attributes is worthy of being professed faith in. Those who have professed faith in Him have relied on the support of someone whose support is the real support and it is only they who will succeed. The glad tidings for oppressed Muslims and the threat for those disbelievers who were harassing them found in between the lines of these verses do not require any explanation. (Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i Qur’an, vol. 9, 291).

 الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ 
( 9 )   To whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And Allah, over all things, is Witness.

In these verses those of Allah Almighty’s attributes have been mentioned on account of which He alone deserves that one should believe in Him, and the people who feel displeased at one’s believing in Him, are wicked and unjust. 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
It is suggested that the persecutors will richly deserve to be punished in the Fire of Hell. That Punishment will be far more real and lasting than the undeserved cruelty which they inflicted on men for their Faith in the One True God.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
Ie., He is ever watching the storm of persecution the Quraysh have unleashed on the believers and He is also observing the steadfastness of the believers. Hence, not far is the time when He will take revenge and strong revenge from the cruel people for oppressing His innocent people.

Ibn Kathir Explanation: (Re-cap verses 4-9)
(Cursed were the People of the Ditch. Of fire fed with fuel. When they sat by it. And they witnessed what they were doing against the believers. And they had no fault except that they believed in Allah, the Almighty, Worthy of all praise! To Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth! And Allah is Witness over everything.) (85:4-9)'' This is what Muhammad bin Ishaq said in his book of Sirah -- that the one who killed the People of the Ditch was Dhu Nuwas, and his name was Zur`ah. In the time of his kingdom he was called Yusuf. He was the son of Tuban As`ad Abi Karib, who was the Tubba` who invaded Al-Madinah and put the covering over the Ka`bah. He kept two rabbis with him from the Jews of Al-Madinah. After this some of the people of Yemen accepted Judaism at the hands of these two rabbis, as Ibn Ishaq mentions at length. So Dhu Nuwas killed twenty thousand people in one morning in the Ditch. Only one man among them escaped. He was known as Daws Dhu Tha`laban. He escaped on a horse and they set out after him, but they were unable to catch him. He went to Caesar, the emperor of Ash-Sham. So, Caesar wrote to An-Najashi, the King of Abyssinia. So, he sent with him an army of Abyssinian Christians, who were lead by Aryat and Abrahah. They rescued Yemen from the hands of the Jews. Dhu Nuwas tried to flee but eventually fell into the sea and drowned. After this, the kingdom of Abyssinia remained under Christian power for seventy years. Then the power was divested from the Christians by Sayf bin Dhi Yazin Al-Himyari when Kisra, the king of Persia sent an army there (to Yemen). He (the king) sent with him (Sayf Al-Himyari) those people who were in the prisons, and they were close to seven hundred in number. So, he (Sayf Al-Himyari) conquered Yemen with them and returned the kingdom back to the people of Himyar (Yemenis)

ِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابُ الْحَرِيقِ 
( 10 )   Indeed, those who have tortured the believing men and believing women and then have not repented will have the punishment of Hell, and they will have the punishment of the Burning Fire.

Punishment of burning has been mentioned separately from the torment of Hell because they had burnt the oppressed people to death by casting them into the pits of fire. Probably this will be a different and severer kind of fire from the fire of Hell in which those people will be burnt.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The "Chastisement of the Burning Fire" has been mentioned here in addition to the "Penalty of Hell". This assumes a special significance in the background of the cruel burning of the Faithful by the "makers of the pit". These criminals would be duly retributed by being subjected to a similar kind of suffering that they had caused their innocent victims.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
The actual word is فَتَنُوْا. In the Qur’an, this word is used for the oppression and coercion done to a person in order to force him to abandon his faith. The verse mentions women also besides men. They have been particularly mentioned because they were being specially oppressed because of their weakness. Besides other forms of torment, they shall also specially face the torment of fire.

 إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُ 
( 11 )   Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds will have gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
This is almost certainly the earliest Qur'anic reference to "gardens through which running waters flow" as an allegory of the bliss which awaits the righteous in the hereafter.

إِنَّ بَطْشَ رَبِّكَ لَشَدِيدٌ 
( 12 )   Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe.

 إِنَّهُ هُوَ يُبْدِئُ وَيُعِيدُ 
( 13 )   Indeed, it is He who originates [creation] and repeats.

 وَهُوَ الْغَفُورُ الْوَدُودُ 
( 14 )   And He is the Forgiving, the Affectionate,

 ذُو الْعَرْشِ الْمَجِيدُ 
( 15 )   Honorable Owner of the Throne,

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "He of the sublime throne of almightiness (al-'arsh al-majid)". For my rendering of al-'arsh as "the throne of almightiness", see Surah 7. Al-A'raf: 54.

 فَعَّالٌ لِّمَا يُرِيدُ 
( 16 )   Effecter of what He intends.

He is the All-Forgiving: If a person repents and reforms himself, he can hope to be received by Allah in His mercy. All-Loving: He has no enmity with His creatures that He would subject them to torment without any reason, but He loves the creatures He has created and punishes them only when they do not give up the attitude of rebellion against Him. Owner of the Throne, means that He alone is the Ruler of the kingdom of the universe: no one who is a rebel can escape His grip and punishment. The mention of His being Exalted is meant to warn man for his meanness when he adopts an attitude of arrogance against such a Being. Last of all, "He is Doer of whatever He intends: no one in the entire universe has the power to obstruct and resist what Allah wills to do.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Allah's Will is itself the Word and the Deed. There is no interval between them. He does not change His mind. No circumstances whatever can come between His Will and the execution thereof. Such are His Power and His Glory. Compare it with that of men, described in the next two verses.

هَلْ أَتَاكَ حَدِيثُ الْجُنُودِ 
( 17 )   Has there reached you the story of the soldiers -

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
In contrast to the real, all-embracing, and eternal power of Allah, what are the forces of man at their best? Two examples are mentioned. (1) Pharaoh was a proud monarch of a powerful kingdom, with resources and organization, material, moral, and intellectual, as good as any in the world. When he pitted himself against Allah's Prophet, he and his forces were destroyed. See lxxix. 15-26. (2) The Thamud were great builders, and had a high standard of material civilization. But they defied the law of Allah and perished. See Surah 7. Al-A'raf: 73-79.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
“Has there reached you the story of the soldiers – [Those of] Pharaoh and Thamud?” This is a reference to two long stories well-known to the addressees as they have been mentioned several times in the Qur’an. The two nations concerned are described here by the term “the hosts” in reference to their might and equipment. Have you heard their stories and how Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala dealt with them?

Theirs were two stories, different in nature and consequence. Pharaoh and his army were eliminated when the Children of Israel were saved by Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala. He gave them power to rule for a certain period in order to accomplish a certain scheme. As for the Thamud, Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala exterminated them and saved His prophet, Şaleh, along with his few followers. The believers in this instance did not establish a state of their own; they were merely saved from corrupt enemies.

Both stories are manifestations of the divine will. They provide two examples of what may befall advocates of the Islamic faith. They are mentioned along with a third possibility which distinguishes the pit event. The Qur’an explains all three eventualities to the believers in Makkah and to all generations of believers.

 فِرْعَوْنَ وَثَمُودَ 
( 18 )   [Those of] Pharaoh and Thamud?

The address is directed to the people who in their false pride of having powerful hosts, are breaking the law of God on His earth. They are being warned, as if to say: Do you know what evil fate was met before by those who broke the bounds set by Allah on the strength of the power of their hosts.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Sc., "both of which were destroyed because of their sins". The story of Pharaoh and his forces, and their destruction by drowning, is referred to many times in the Qur'an; for the story of the Thamud see, in particular, Surah 7. Al-A'raf: 73.

 بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي تَكْذِيبٍ 
( 19 )   But they who disbelieve are in [persistent] denial,

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
In spite of the great examples of the past, by which human might and skill were shown to have availed nothing when the law of Allah was broken, the unbelievers persist (in all ages) in defying that law. But Allah will know how to deal with them.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
The Surah concludes with two statements of fact and a final verdict: “But they who disbelieve are in (persistent) denial. While Allah encompasses them from behind.” The truth about the disbelievers is that they are in a constant state of disbelief, uttering lies morning and evening, but Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala surrounds them all. They are unaware that Allah’s might and His knowledge engulf them.

 وَاللَّـهُ مِن وَرَائِهِم مُّحِيطٌ 
( 20 )   While Allah encompasses them from behind.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "from behind them", an idiomatic phrase denoting a happening imperceptible to those whom it closely concerns.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Allah encompasses every thing. But the wicked will find themselves defeated not only in conditions that they foresee, but from all sorts of unexpected directions, perhaps from behind them, i.e., from the very people or circumstances which in their blindness they despised or thought of as helping them.

 بَلْ هُوَ قُرْآنٌ مَّجِيدٌ 
( 21 )   But this is an honored Qur'an

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
“But this is an honored Qur’an.” The term honored signifies nobility and sublimity. Indeed, there is nothing nobler or more glorious than Allah’s word. It is inscribed on an imperishable tablet, the nature of which we cannot comprehend because it is part of the knowledge Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala has reserved for Himself. We benefit, however, from the connotations of the statement and the impression it leaves that the Qur’an is well-preserved and well-guarded. It is the final word in every matter it deals with.

 فِي لَوْحٍ مَّحْفُوظٍ 
( 22 )   [Inscribed] in a Preserved Slate.

That is, the writ of the Quran is unchangeable and imperishable. It is inscribed in the guarded tablet of God, which cannot he corrupted in any way. Whatever is written in it has to be fulfilled: even the whole world together cannot avert its fulfillment.

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "upon a well-guarded tablet ( lawh mahfuz لَوْحٍ مَّحْفُوظٍ )" - a description of the Qur'an to be found only in this one instance. Although some commentators take it in its literal sense and understand by it an actual "heavenly tablet" upon which the Qur'an is inscribed since all eternity, to many others the phrase has always had a metaphorical meaning: namely, an allusion to the imperishable quality of this divine writ. This interpretation is pointedly mentioned as justified by, e.g., Tabari, Baghawi, Razi or Ibn Kathir, all of whom agree that the phrase "upon a well-guarded tablet" relates to God's promise that the Qur'an would never be corrupted, and would remain free of all arbitrary additions, diminutions and textual changes. See in this connection also Surah 15. Al-Hijr: 9.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
"Inscribed in a Tablet Preserved", i.e. Allah's Message is not ephemeral. It is eternal. The "Tablet" is "preserved" or guarded from corruption: xv. 9: for Allah's Message must endure for ever. That Message is the "Mother of the book": see iii. 7.

You may now like to listen to listen to its Tafsir / exegesis of Sūrah Al-Burūj by eminent Muslim scholar, exegete and linguist Nouman Ali Khan  :


You may refer to our Reference Page "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, explanation and exegesis of other chapters of the Qur'an.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
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Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  [2]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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Thursday 29 October 2020

Surah Al Tariq -The Night Visitor : Exegesis 86th Chapter of Quran


Sūrah Aṭ-Ṭāriq " الطارق " is the eighty sixth sürah with 17 āyāt, part of the 30th Juzʼ  of the Holy Qur'ān. The Surah taken its name from the word at-tariq  " الطَّارِقِ " in its first verse. 

The style of its subject matter resembles that of the earliest Surahs revealed at Makkah, but this sürah was sent down at a stage when the disbelievers of Makkah were employing all sorts of devices and plans to defeat and frustrate the message of the Qur'an and Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings).

It discuses two themes: first that man has to appear before God after death; second, that the Qur'an is a decisive Word which no plan or device of the disbelievers can defeat or frustrate.

We have already presented the overview / summary of the sürah. Let us now read the verse by verse translation and exegesis / tafseer in English. 

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ 
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ 
( 1 )   By the sky and the night comer 

The Sūrah opens with an oath.  Allah swears by the heaven or the sky.  The Arabic word used generally means everything above us, it is an infinite term.  Thus He swears by everything above us, and by the night visitor.  The word for night visitor, at-Tariq means anything that travels at night.  Just as the reader is pondering what a night visitor might be God is also asking a question.  What will make you understand what the night visitor is? That is, what will explain the night visitor to you? We are given the impression that it is serious, perhaps even beyond explanation.  It is, we are then told, the star of piecing brightness.  A star whose light penetrates or cuts through the darkness.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Qatadah and others have said, "The star has been named Tariq because it is only seen at night and it is hidden during the day.'' His view is supported by what has been mentioned in the authentic Hadith that prohibits a man to come to his family Taruq. This means that he comes to them unexpectedly at nighttime. 

Concerning Allah's statement, (Ath-Thaqib.) Ibn `Abbas said, "The illuminating.'' `Ikrimah said, "It is illuminating and it burns the Shaytan''

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Some commentators assume that what is described here as at-tariq ("that which comes in the night") is the morning-star, because it appears towards the end of the night; others - like Zamakhshari or Raghib - understand by it "the star" in its generic sense. Now if we analyze the origin of this noun, we find that it is derived from the verb taraqa, which primarily means "he beat [something]" or "knocked [at something]"; hence, taraqa 'l-bab, "he knocked at the door". Tropically, the noun signifies "anything [or "anyone"] that comes in the night", because a person who comes to a house by night is expected to knock at the door (Taj al-'Arus). In the Qur'anic mode of expression, at-tariq is evidently a metaphor for the heavenly solace which sometimes comes to a human being lost in the deepest darkness of affliction and distress; or for the sudden, intuitive enlightenment which disperses the darkness of uncertainty; or, finally, for divine revelation, which knocks, as it were, at the doors of man's heart, and thus fulfils the functions of both solace and enlightenment. 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The appeal here is to single Sign, viz.: the Sky with its Night. Visitant; and the substantive proposition is in verse 4: "There is no soul but has a protector over it". In the last Sūrah we considered the persecution of Allah's votaries, and how Allah protects them. Here the same theme is presented in another aspect. In the darkest sky shines out most brilliantly the light of the most brilliant star. So in the night of spiritual darkness- whether through ignorance or distress shines the glorious star of Allah's revelation. By the same token the man of Faith and Truth has nothing to fear. Allah will protect His own.

This is explained in verse 3 below. The "Star of piercing brightness" is understood by some to be the Morning Star, by others to be the planet Saturn, by others again to be Sirius, or the Pleiads or shooting stars. I think it is best to take the "Star" in the collective or generic sense, for stars shine on every night in the year, and their piercing brightness is most noticeable on the darkest night.

 وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ 
( 2 )   And what can make you know what is the night comer?

 النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ 
( 3 )   It is the piercing star

 إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ 
( 4 )   There is no soul but that it has over it a protector.

A Guardian: Allah Almighty Himself, who is looking after and watching over every creature, big or small, in the earth and heavens. He it is who has brought everything into existence, who is maintaining and sustaining everything in its place and position, and who has taken the responsibility to provide for every creature and to protect it from calamities till an appointed time. On this, an oath has been sworn by the heaven and by every star and planet which appears in the darkness of the night. (Although lexically, an-najm ath-thaqib "  النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ  " (verse 3) is singular, it does not imply any one star but the star in the generic sense). The oath signifies that the existence of each star (among the countless stars and planets that shine in the sky at night) testifies to the fact that there is a Being who has created it, illuminated it, suspended it in space, and thus is watching over it in a manner that neither it falls from its place nor collides with any other of the countless stars in their movements, nor does any other star collide with it.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Every soul has a guardian over it from Allah that protects it from the calamities. 

This is as Allah says, " لَهُ مُعَقِّبَـتٌ مِّن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَمِنْ خَلْفِهِ يَحْفَظُونَهُ مِنْ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ " - (For Him, there are angels in succession, before and behind him. They guard him by the command of Allah.) (13:11)

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
If man has a true spiritual understanding, he has nothing to be afraid of. He is protected by Allah in many ways that he does not even know. He may be an insignificant creature as a mere animal, but his soul raises him to a dignity above other creation. And all sorts of divine forces guard and protect him.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
The actual words are: اِنۡ کُلُّ نَفۡسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَیۡہَا حَافِظٌ. Here the letter لَمَّا occurs in instead of ل merely to maintain the beat and rhythm of the verse. The guardians mentioned in the verse are appointed because a Day of Judgement is to come wherein the beliefs and deeds of each person will be presented for accountability. Thus it is said that to understand this, people must look at the sky whose strong network embraces them from all sides. Similarly, the stars should be observed whose eyes are always watching them. Who can dare escape from their protection? They are sentinels of God who never sleep. If man reflects, he will come to see that this great system bears witness that it is not difficult at all for God to appoint a guardian over each soul who observes everything he does. Hence, everyone should understand that this world is not an un-minded lot nor will its inhabitants go scot-free without being held accountable. Hence, a day of accountability is bound to come and no one will be able to escape this accountability.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
After swearing by heaven and its piercing stars Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala says, “There is no soul but that is has over it a protector,” [86:4] meaning every soul has a guardian over it from Allah that protects it from the calamities. Something similar was also said in Surah Ar-Ra’ad Ayah 11, “For each one are successive [angels] before and behind him who protect him by the decree of Allah.” This implies a strong assertion that there is an agent appointed by Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala to watch over every soul and keep a record of its actions and thoughts. People are not left to roam about the earth as they wish.

On the contrary, an accurate and immediate record is kept, on the basis of which reckoning will be made. This inference becomes clear as the soul feels that it is never alone even when without company. There is always the watcher who remains nearby even when one hides from all and is secure against any visitor or intruder. There is still the watcher who penetrates all covers and has access to all things concealed, in the same way as the piercing star tears through the night cover.

فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ 
( 5 )   So let man observe from what he was created.

After inviting man to ponder over the heavens, he is now being invited to consider his own self and see how he has been created, who is it who selects one spermatozoon from among billions of spermatozoa emitted by the father and combines it at some time with one ovum out of a large number of the ova produced by the mother, and thus causes a particular human being to be conceived? Then, who is it who after conception develops it gradually in the mother’s womb until it is delivered in the form of a living child? Then, who is it who in the mother’s womb itself brings about a certain proportion and harmony between its bodily structure and its physical and mental capabilities? Then, who is it who watches over it continuously from birth till death, protects it from disease, accidents and calamities and provides him with countless means of life and opportunities for survival in the world of which he is not even conscious, not to speak of having the power to provide these for himself. Is all this happening without the planning and supervision of One God?

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
How Man is created is a Proof of Allah's Ability to Return Him to Him: Allah says, (So, let man see from what he is created!) This is alerting man to the weakness of his origin from which he was created. The intent of it is to guide man to accept (the reality of) the Hereafter, because whoever is able to begin the creation then he is also able to repeat it in the same way. 

This is as Allah says, (And He it is Who originates the creation, then He will repeat it; and this is easier for Him.) (30:27)

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala then calls our attention towards the early stages of man’s creation, “So let man observe from what he was created,” [86:5]. Let man consider his origins and what has become of him. Who is it Who has been monitoring man’s development from conception till death? Who is it Who has been protecting man from diseases, accidents and calamities and providing him with countless means of life and opportunities for survival in the world? Is it all happening on its own?

The One Who so artistically designed man’s structure and taught each body cell its respective function is capable of resurrecting man for the Final Judgment. The resurrection has been mentioned here because the idolaters denied this final reckoning. Will someone who knows I’ll never be evaluated give his best to whatever he is doing? If there is course exam and we know we won’t be graded on it how much and how will we study?

 خُلِقَ مِن مَّاءٍ دَافِقٍ 
( 6 )   He was created from a fluid, ejected,

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The female ovum has to be fertilized with the male sperm before a new animal can be born. Man as an animal has this humble origin. But he has been given the gift of certain faculties of receiving instruction (typified by Hearing) and of intellectual and spiritual insight (typified by Sight). His life has therefore a meaning: with a certain amount of free-will, he is to be vicegerent on earth (ii. 30). But he must be trained and tried, and that is the whole problem of human life.

 یخْرُجُ مِن بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ 
( 7 )   Emerging from between the backbone and the ribs.

“A fluid gushing forth” means ejaculation of semen (maain) carrying the sperm (nutfa), one of the minute, usually actively motile gametes-a mature male reproductive cell in semen, which serves to fertilize the female ovum. Sperms are produced by testes. Each testes has 800 small tubules and each tube about 2 feet long, semeniferous tubules which produce sperms about 200-300 million every day. There are 2 valves around urethra. Both are tightly closed to hold and store semen before its expulsion. The inner valve stays tightly closed to prevent backward ejaculation into the urinary bladder and the outer valve intermittently contracts and relaxes 3-7 times along with surrounding muscles contraction to generate force for propelling the semen out (dafiqin). (Ref. Spinal Cord Medicine, Demos Medical Publishing Inc. New York USA, Chapter 26, Page 354).

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
the sexual fluid that comes out bursting forth from the man and the woman. Thus, the child is produced from both of them by the permission of Allah. 

Due to this Allah says, (Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs.) meaning, the backbone (or loins) of the man and the ribs of the woman, which is referring to her chest. Shabib bin Bishr reported from `Ikrimah who narrated from Ibn `Abbas that he said, "The backbone of the man and the ribs of the woman. It (the fluid) is yellow and fine in texture. The child will not be born except from both of them (i.e., their sexual fluids).''

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
The plural noun tara'ib, rendered by me as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Qur'anic expressions, this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
A man's seed is the quintessence of his body. It proceeds from his loins, i.e., from his back between the hip-bones and his ribs. His back-bone is the source and symbol of his strength and personality. In the spinal cord and in the brain is the directive energy of the central nervous system, and this directs all action, organic and psychic. The spinal cord is continuous with the Medulla Oblongata in the brain.

 إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ
( 8 )   Indeed, Allah, to return him [to life], is Able.

Sulb is the backbone (vertebral column) and taraib the ribs. There are 12 pairs of ribs. Of them, 7 pairs are called true ribs as each of them is attached between the vertebra (backbone) and the sternum (breast bone), and the remaining 5 are called false ribs as they are also attached to the vertebral column but not to sternum. Ejaculation is a highly complex process which requires smooth coordination of multiple sections of the nervous system. Mechanism of emission and propulsions is caused by 2 spinal cord centers. The spinal cord is 43-45 cm long and is continuation of brain tissue and occupies its place in the center of upper spinal bony vertebral column. It is the proper functioning, integrity and continuity of these 2 spinal cord centers located between vertebrae (sulb) and ribs (taraib) connecting spinal cord and sex organs along with the valves around urethra by the nerves which are responsible for ejaculation. (Ref. Spinal Cord Medicine, Demos Medical Publishing Inc. New York USA, Chapter 2, Page 16).

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
This means that He is able to return this man that is created from fluid gushed forth. In other words, He is able to repeat his creation and resurrect him to the final abode. This is clearly possible, because whoever is able to begin the creation then he surely is able to repeat it. Indeed Allah has mentioned this proof in more than one place in the Qur'an.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
Ie., if He can create man with such an ordinary drop of fluid, then surely He can create Him again as well. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:

… This fluid is not a rarity nor does it originate from a place which is beyond the jurisdiction of God; it bursts forth from between the spine and chest and later providence fashions it into whatever form and structure it wants to and then brings it from the womb of the mother. (Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i Qur’an, vol. 9, 303)

يَوْمَ تُبْلَى السَّرَائِرُ 
( 9 )   The Day when secrets will be put on trial,

That is, His bringing man into existence and watching over him from the time conception takes place until death, is a clear proof that He can create him once again after death. If He had the power to create him in the first instance and man stays alive in the world by His power alone, what rational arguments can be presented for the conjecture that He does not have the power to do the same thing a second time? To deny this power man will even have to deny that God has brought him into existence, and the one who denies this may well come out one day with the claim that all books in the world have been printed accidentally, all cities of the world have been built accidentally, and there has occurred on the earth an explosion by chance which made all the factories start functioning automatically. The fact is that the creation of man, the structure of his body, the existence of the powers and capabilities working within him, and his survival as a living being all this is a much more complex process than all those works that have come to be accomplished through man, or are still in the process of being accomplished. If such a complex work with such wisdom, proportion and order could be accomplished just through a chance accident, what else could not be regarded as accidental by a mentally deranged person?

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
On the Day of Judgement the secrets will be tested. This means that they will be exposed and made manifest. Thus, the secret will be made open and that which is concealed will be well known. 

It is confirmed in the Two Sahihs on the authority of Ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allah said, (Every betrayer will have a flag raised for him behind his back, and it will be said, `This is the betrayal of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so.') 

 فَمَا لَهُ مِن قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ 
( 10 )   Then man will have no power or any helper.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Meaning, from other than himself. This statement means that he will not be able to save himself from the torment of Allah, and nor will anyone else be able to save him.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
In that new world, all our actions, motives, thoughts, and imaginings of this life, however secret, will be brought into the open, and tested by the standards of absolute Truth, and not by false standards of custom, prejudice, or partiality. In that severe test, any adventitious advantages of this life will have no strength or force whatever, and cannot help in any way.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
on the Day of Judgment the secrets will be exposed and made manifest. Thus, that which is concealed will be well known. It is confirmed in the two Saheehs on the authority of Ibn ‘Umar radhiAllahu ‘anhu that the Messenger of Allah salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said, “Every betrayer will have a flag raised for him behind his back, and it will be said, ‘This is the betrayal of so-and-so, the son of so-and-so.’”

What man does is evident to the people but the intentions, aims and secret motives working behind them remained hidden from the people. On the Resurrection Day all this will be laid bare and not only will the acts and deeds of every person be examined but it will also be seen what was his motive and intention and object of so acting. Likewise, it also remained hidden from the world, even from the doer of the act himself, what effects and influences of his act appeared in the world, to what extent they spread and for how long they continued to work. This secret too will be revealed on the Resurrection Day and it will be fully examined as to what were the consequences of the seed that a person sowed in the world, what fruit it bore and for how long it affected the later generations for better or for worse.

Man shall be helpless, with no supporter. Standing bare without cover and strength adds to the strains and hardships of the situation. This has a deep effect on the reader’s perception, as it moves from talking of the universe and the human soul to man’s creation and his remarkable journey, until he reaches the end when his secrets are exposed and he stands alone, powerless, without support.

وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ 
( 11 )   By the sky which returns [rain]

The hidden secrets: the acts of every person which remained a secret to the world as well as those affairs which came before the world only in their apparent form, but the intentions, aims and secret motives working behind them remained hidden from the people. On the Resurrection Day all this will be laid bare and not only will the acts and deeds of every person be examined but it will also be seen what was his motive and intention and object of so acting. Likewise, it also remained hidden from the world, even from the doer of the act himself, what effects and influences of his act appeared in the world, to what extent they spread and for how long they continued to work. This secret will also be revealed on the Resurrection Day and it will be fully examined as to what were the consequences of the seed that a person sowed in the world, what fruit it bore and for how long it affected the later generations for better or for worse.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Ibn `Abbas said, "Ar-raj` means rain.'' It has also been narrated from him that he said, "It means the clouds that contain rain.'' He also said, (By the sky (having rain clouds) which gives rain, again and again.) "This means that it rains and then it rains (again).'' Qatadah said, "It returns the sustenance of the servants (creatures) every year. Were it not for this, they would all be destroyed and so would their cattle.''

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The Firmament above is always the same, and yet it performs its diurnal round, smoothly and punctually. So does Allah's Revelation show forth the Truth, which like a circle is ever true to its centre,-which is ever the same, though it revolves through the changing circumstances of our present life.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
Ibn ‘Abbas radhiAllahu ‘anhu explains the word “Ar-raj’i” as rain. Raj’i literally means “to return” like we say in the statement inna lilahi wa inna ilahe rajeoun. In the context, it has been used metaphorically because rain does not fall just once but returns over and over again in the season as well as off season. Qatadah added, “It returns the sustenance of the servants (creatures) every year. Were it not for this, they would all be destroyed and so would their cattle.”

The rain which comes from the sky again and again and the vegetation which splits the earth and springs forth are two images describing one of the many manifestations of life, the life of plants and their origins.

The image of rain and verdure is not dissimilar to that of the night visitor, the piercing star as it splits covers and curtains. It is also similar to the scene depicting souls being searched and all that is concealed being thrown open. It is again the same sort of structure which tells of the Maker. Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala swears by these two creations and their two events, the returning rains and the earth splitting to bring out vegetation. The impact of the scene portrayed combines with the rhythm to strike a strong note of finality and decisiveness.

 وَالْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ 
( 12 )   And [by] the earth which cracks open,

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The earth seems hard, but springs can gush forth and vegetables sprout through it and make it green and soft. So is Truth: hard perhaps to mortals, but through the fertilizing agency of Revelation, it allows our inner personality to sprout and blossom forth.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
The actual words are: وَ الۡاَرۡضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدۡعِ. The word صَدْع means “to split asunder.” It refers to the situation when rain opens the pores of the earth and by absorbing water, it becomes lush and verdant.

 إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ 
( 13 )   Indeed, the Qur'an is a decisive statement,

Muhammad Asad Explanation:
Lit., "a decisive word", or "word of distinction", i.e., between the true and the false - in this case, belief in a continuation of life after "death", on the one hand, and a denial of its possibility, on the other. (Cf. 37:21, 44:40, 77:13 and {38}, and 78:17, where Resurrection Day is spoken of as "the Day of Distinction"; see also note [6] on 77:13.) [This is chronologically the earliest occurrence of the expression yawm al-fasl, which invariably relates to the Day of Resurrection (cf. 37:21, 44:40, 78:17, as well as verse {38} of the present surah): an allusion to the oft-repeated Qur'anic statement that on resurrection man will gain a perfect, unfailing insight into himself and the innermost motivation of his past attitudes and doings (cf. 69:1]

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
See the last two notes. Revelation-Allah's Truth-can pierce through the hardest crusts, and ever lead us back to the centre and goal of our life: for it separates Good from Evil definitely. It is not mere play or amusement, any more than the Sky or the Earth is. It helps us in the highest issues of our life.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
Earlier, the Day of Judgement was substantiated through man’s creation; now a universal argument is cited in its support: just as a dead piece of land is brought to life by rain when new plants and vegetation sprout from it, so shall the dead remains of each person be brought to life at the behest of the Almighty on the Day of Judgement. This phenomenon of life after death is observed everyday. This is evidence to the Qur’anic claim about the Day of Judgement being a decisive word that is certainly no joke. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:

Just as in the previous surah, the rejecters of the Day of Judgement are warned not to make fun of the admonition sounded to them by the Qur’an and that the Qur’an is an exalted discourse revealed from the guarded tablet, similarly, at the end of this surah also a new style is adopted to inform its addressees of the fact that the day of accountability which the Qur’an is informing them of is an indubitable reality; one day, they shall have to face it come what may; hence they should not make fun of it; prudence demands that they should listen to it carefully and understand it and prepare for the advent of that day. (Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i Qur’an, vol. 9, 305)

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
The oath is that this word, or the Qur’an, which states that people will return to life so as to face a trial, is the decisive word which admits of no frivolity. “Indeed, the Qur’an is a decisive statement. And it is not amusement,” [86:13-14]. Just as the falling of rain from the sky and the splitting of the earth is not jest but a serious reality, so is the news which the Qur’an gives that man has to return to his Creator. It is not an amusing statement but a definite and decisive reality; an unchangeable truth which has to be fulfilled. It puts an end to all arguments, doubts and uncertainties.

When this final statement of return and trial is made, there follows an address to the Messenger salAllahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. At the time of revelation he had only a few believers who supported him in Makkah. They were suffering the brunt of the idolaters’ hostility and their plots against the Islamic message. The idolaters were tirelessly trying to smother the call. The address is made to the Prophet so as to encourage and reassure him, and to disparage what the schemers devise. It states that their scheming is only temporary; the battle is in Allah’s hands and under His command.

 وَمَا هُوَ بِالْهَزْلِ
( 14 )   And it is not amusement.

The words dhat ar-raje have been used for the sky. Literally raje means to return, but metaphorically this word is used for the rain in Arabic, for rain does not fall just once, but returns over and over again in the season and sometimes out of season as well. Another reason for calling the rain raje is that water rises as vapor from the oceans of the earth and then falls back as rain on the same earth.

إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا 
( 15 )   Indeed, they are planning a plan,

That is, just as the falling of rain from the sky and the splitting of the earth to put out shoots is no jest but a serious reality, so also the news which the Qur'an gives that man has to return to his God is no jest but a definite and decisive reality and an unchangeable truth which has to be fulfilled.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Though Allah in His Mercy has provided a piercing light to penetrate our spiritual darkness, and made our beings responsive to the growth of spiritual understanding, just as the hard earth is responsive to the sprouting of a seed or the gushing of a stream, yet there are evil, unregenerate men who plot and scheme against the beneficent purpose of Allah. But their plots will be of no avail, and Allah's Purpose will prevail. It happened so with the Quraish who wanted to thwart the growth of Islam. It will be so in all ages.

Verse By Verse Quran Study Circle Explanation:
So, let the Prophet persevere and be patient, and let him and the believers be reassured, “Indeed, they are planning a plan. But I am planning a plan,” [86: 15-16].

The One Who created man from a drop and then guided, preserved and direction him without any strength, ability or will of his own; the One Who made the sky, the night visitor; the One Who sends rainfall from above and splits the earth for vegetation is All-Powerful over the enemies of the Prophet and the believers. If the disbelievers are making a plan to defeat the Prophet then Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala is devising a plan of His own. So, do not be impatient. “… allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile,” [86:17]. There is wisdom behind this respite and delay which is short even though it may take up the whole length of this first life; for how short this life appears when compared with a life of limitless duration?

Allah’s benevolent and compassionate attitude towards His Messenger is noticeable here. It is Divine kindness which suggests Allah subhanahu wa ta`ala is not unaware of what’s happening to him and has not left him alone.

“And upon Allah let the believers rely.” [Surah Ibraheem:11]

 وَأَكِيدُ كَيْدًا 
( 16 )   But I am planning a plan.

That is, these disbelievers are devising every kind of plan to defeat the invitation of the Qur'an; they wish to blow out this candle; they are creating all sorts of doubts In the people’s minds; they are inventing false accusations against the Prophet (peace be upon him) who has brought it, so as to frustrate his mission in the world and perpetuate the darkness of ignorance and unbelief which he is struggling so hard to remove.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The enemies of Allah are constantly doing that. But Allah-in whose hands is all good-has His plans also, against which the evil ones will have no chance whatever.

 فَمَهِّلِ الْكَافِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًا 
( 17 )   So allow time for the disbelievers. Leave them awhile.

That is, I am planning that none of their devices should succeed so that they are utterly defeated in their designs, and the light which they are trying their utmost to put out, spreads far and wide.

Ibn Kathir Explanation:
Meaning, a little while. This means that you will see what befalls them of torment, punishment and destruction. This is as Allah says, (We let them enjoy for a little while, then in the end We shall oblige them to (enter) a great torment.) (31:24) 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Gentle forbearance with Evil shows our trust in Allah and Allah's Plan: for it can never be frustrated. This does not mean that we should assist or compromise with evil, or fail to put it down where we have the power. It means patience and humility where we have no visible power to prevent Evil.

You may now like to listen to tafsir of the surah in two audio parts by Nouman Ali Khan by clicking Here:

You may refer to our Reference Page "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, explanation and exegesis of other chapters of the Qur'an.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
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Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  [2]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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