Most of us live in a state of ignorance, for we are not aware of the immense mercy of Allah. And in this state of ignorance, we commit crimes, mostly knowingly and some unknowingly and still think that we may would get escort free. The concept of confession to priests is a misnomer as a priest or any religious entity may relieve the burden of one's sins from the time being for one feels lightened after confessing to someone, but this does not cleanse the slate of one's heart as the sole authority to forgive one's sins remains with Allah alone, the Master and the Creator of this universe and no on else.
There are many a people who have drowned in the quagmire of a sinful life, those who have committed smaller to heinous crimes and sins. While some continue to do so till death reaches them, many feel ashamed of their misdeed but do not know how to repent and to whom. No matter what wordily gods, saints and priests profess, none has the authority to waive off one's sins. Even if one makes confession, the sins continue to haunt them for repentance lies with none other than Allah. Sincere tawba (repentance with a firm promise not to repeat a sin) is always accepted by Allah. Allah says: Verily, He is One Who forgives (accepts repentance), the Most Merciful. In the Holy Qur'an Allah promises:
“Allah accepts only the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and foolishness and repent soon afterwards” [an-Nisa’ 4:17]
Islam is the only religion where one can converse to Allah without any intermediary. No priest or saint or a religious entity is required to represent a sinner's case to Allah. It is the sinner all by himself who must make an earnest confession and seek repentance for his past sins, no matter how grave, and can have hope of being forgiven.
Since committing sins is something that can lead one to the burning fire of hell, Allah has on a numerous occasions in the Holy Qur'an warned the sinners to repent for that is the only way to utter salvation:
“And those who, when they commit an immorality or wrong themselves [by transgression], remember Allah and seek forgiveness for their sins - and who can forgive sins except Allah ? - and [who] do not persist in what they have done while they know.” [Aal ‘Imraan Chapter 3:135]
So why not repent when one still has time to, for no one knows for sure when the angel of death would knocks one's door. And when the angel of death is around, the transition from life to death is so swift that one doesn't even get a second to repent. So why not repent while one has still time and embark upon a new life of the enlightened path and to paradise !! I came across this video I am sharing below and thought I must do it for those who do not find a ray of hope out of their sinful life and do not find guidance from anyone as how to repent and begin a new life. Listen this short video for it may it may change your life. Remember, Islam is the only trusted light at the end of the tunnel and one must seek it before it is too late. Watch this enlightening video that guides even the worst of the sinners to repent and come into the fold of Islam and be rest assured that your past will be washed away and you start your day and future with a clean slate:
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Alhamdolillah, the month of Ramadan, the month of fasting has come to an end and in some prats of the world the Eid ul Fitr is being observed today, while others will celebrate it tomorrow. A very Happy Eid to all our readers around the world.
The first thing on the Eid Day is to get ready for the Eid prayers which are generally held at large open spaces around small towns and villages or in many mosques in big cities and town. to begin this day of happiness and festivities, let us begin it the way the Prophet of Allah did so as to add to more spice to our preparations and follow the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). The five most favoured sunnah of the Prophet of Allah include:
Recite Takbir
Taking Ghusl / full bath
Eat something, preferably a few dates as the Prophet of Allah used to
Attend the Eid prayers and greet as many Muslims as possible after the Eid Prayers by embracing known or even unknown Muslims
Take a different route home
These simple five Sunnahs are best described in the video below. Scroll down to see the video:
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook. You may also refer to our Facebook Group Islam: The Ultimate Truth for more on Islam and Da'wah.
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Surah Saba is the thirty fourth surah with 54 ayahs with six rukus, part of the 22nd Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an. The name of the chapter refers to Saba / Sheba, a kingdom mentioned in the Quran and the Bible. Sheba is the subject of the verses 15 to 21 of the chapter, although this passage likely does not refer to the kingdom under the famous Queen of Sheba, but rather about a group of people in the same region in a later period. This surah was revealed in Makkah and like all Makkan surahs, this surah too concentrates on the fundamentals of faith and pay particular attention to belief in the Day of Judgement and the Hereafter. From Surah Saba, the 34th Chapter, there begins a series of six Surahs, Surah. xxxiv. to Surah. xxxix, which recapitulate some of the features of the spiritual world. Surah Saba (xxxiv, this surah) leads off with emphasis on Allah's Mercy and Power and Truth. Then (in Surah Surah Fāṭir. xxxv) we are told how angels manifest the Power of Allah, and how different is Good from Evil and Truth from Falsehood. Surah Ya Seen (xxxvi) is devoted to the holy Prophet and the Quran that came through him. In Surah Saffat (xxxvii) the emphasis is on the snares of Satan, in Surah Saad (xxxviii) on the conquest of evil by wisdom and power as in the case of David and Solomon, and by Patience and Constancy as in the case of Job; and in Surah Zumar (xxix - last of the six surahs) emphasis is on the Final Judgment, which will sort out Faith fromUnfaithful and give to each its due. As for the period of revelation of this surah, the style shows that it is either the middle or the early Makkan period. If it is the middle period, it was probably its initial stage when the persecution of the newly reverted Muslims had not yet become tyrannical and the Islamic movement was being suppressed only by resorting to derision and ridicule, rumor mongering, false allegations and casting of evil suggestions in the people's minds. The subject matter of the surah mainly hinges on objections of the disbelievers, which they were raising against the Holy Prophet's message of Tauhid and the Hereafter, and about his Prophethood itself, mostly in the form of absurd allegations and taunts and mockery. These objections have been answered, sometimes by citing them and sometimes without citing them, and the discourse itself shows which objection is being answered at a particular place. The answers mostly take the form of instruction and admonition and argument, but at some places the disbelievers have been warned also of the evil consequences, of their stubbornness. In this connection, the stories of the Sabaeans and the Prophets David and Solomon have been related to impress this lesson: "You have both these historical precedents before you. On the one hand, there were the Prophets David and Solomon, who had been blessed by Allah with great powers and such grandeur and glory as had been granted to hardly any people before them. In spite of this, they were not proud and arrogant, but remained grateful servants of their Lord. They were never rebellious. On the other hand, there were the people of Saba, who, when blessed by Allah, became proud, and were consequently so thoroughly destroyed and dispersed as to be remembered only in myths and legends. With these precedents in view, you may see and judge for yourselves as to which bind of the life is better: that which is built on belief in Tauhid and the Hereafter and the attitude of gratefulness to Allah, or that which is based on disbelief and shirk and denial of the Hereafter and the worship of the world."
Let us now read the translation and exegesis / tafseer in English of the Surah segmented into portions as per the subject matter. For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given at the end and may also listen to its recitation in Arabic with English subtitles:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful"
Rukhu 1 [Verses 1-11] Verses 1-5 warn that the Hour is surely going to come and the Day of Judgement shall be established to reward the believers and punish those who discredit Allah's revelations. In that the first two verses assert Allah's praiseworthiness and omnipotence. The surah begins with the phrase Alhamdulillah ("Praise be to Allah"), one of the five chapters where to do so. The others four surahs are Al Fātiḥah, Al-An'am, Al-Kahf and Fatir.
1. All the praises and thanks be to Allah, to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth. His is all the praises and thanks in the Hereafter, and He is the All-Wise, the All-Aware.
In the above verse, two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: Al Hakeem and Al Khabeer. For details on these and other attributes of Allah, go to 99 Attributes of Allah.
2. He knows that which goes into the earth and that which comes forth from it, and that which descend from the heaven and that which ascends to it. And He is the Most Merciful, the Oft-Forgiving.
That is, “If a person (or persons) is not being seized in spite of rebellion against Him in His Kingdom, it is not because this world is a lawless kingdom, but because Allah is All-Merciful and All-Forbearing. Although it is in His power to seize the sinner and the wrongdoer immediately on the commission of sin, to withhold his sustenance, to paralyze his body, and to put him to death suddenly, yet He does not do it so. It is the demand of His Beneficence that in spite of being All-Powerful, He gives the disobedient servant plenty of time and enough respite to mend his ways and as soon as he desists from his evil ways, He pardons and forgives him.”
3. Those who disbelieve say: "The Hour will not come to us." Say: "Yes, by my Lord, it will come to you." (Allah, He is) the All-Knower of the unseen, not even the weight of an atom (or a small ant) or less than that or greater, escapes from His Knowledge in the heavens or in the earth, but it is in a Clear Book (Al-Lauh Al-Mahfuz).
This they said satirically and mockingly. What they meant was: “This Prophet (peace be upon him) has been giving us the news of his coming of Resurrection for along time now, but Resurrection has not overtaken us so far although we have openly denied and rejected him as a Prophet, have been insolent to him and have ridiculed him in every way.
The use of the attribute “Knower of the unseen” for Allah while swearing by him by itself points to the fact that the coming of Resurrection is certain, but no one knows except Allah, Knower of the unseen, when exactly it will come. This same theme has been explained at different places in the Quran in various ways. For details, see (Surah Al-Aaraf: Ayat 187), (Surah TaHa: Ayat 15), (Surah Luqman: Ayat 34), (Surah Al-Ahzab: Ayat 63), (Surah Al-Mulk: Ayats 25-26), (Surah An-Naziyat: Ayats 42-44).
Here is one of the arguments for the possibility of the Hereafter as is being stated in (verse 7) below. One of the reasons why the deniers of the Hereafter regarded the life after- death as irrational was; They said that when all human beings will have become dust after death, and scattered away in particles, how it will be possible to bring all the countless particles together and combine them to be re-created as the same human bodies once again. This doubt has been dispelled, saying, “Every particle wherever it is, is recorded in God’s register, and God knows where a particle is. Therefore, when He wills to recreate, He will not face any difficulty in gathering together all the particles of the body of each and every man.”
4. That He may recompense those who believe (in the Oneness of Allah Islamic Monotheism) and do righteous good deeds. Those, theirs is forgiveness and Rizqun Karim (generous provision, i.e. Paradise).
5. But those who strive against Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.) to frustrate them, those, for them will be a severe painful torment.
The above was an argument for the possibility of the Hereafter: this is an argument for its need and necessity. It means: A time must come when the wicked should be requited for their wickedness and the righteous rewarded for their righteousness. Reason wants and justice demands that a worker of goodness should be rewarded and a worker of evil punished. Now when you see that in the present worldly life neither is an evildoer fully requited for his evil nor a worker of goodness for his goodness, rather there are opposite results of evil and goodness in most cases, you should admit that this necessary demand of both reason and justice must be fulfilled at some time in the future. Resurrection and the Hereafter will be the same time. It is not its coming but its not coming which is contrary to reason and against justice.
In this connection, another point becomes evident from the preceding verses. They tell that the result of faith and righteous acts is forgiveness and a bounteous provision, and for those who strive and act antagonistically in order to discredit and defeat Allah’s religion, there will be a torment of the worst kind. This makes it manifest that he who believes sincerely will not be deprived of forgiveness even though he may not get a bounteous provision owing to some flaw or weakness in his deeds. And the one who is a disbeliever but who does not adopt an attitude of enmity and antagonism towards the true faith, will not be able to avoid the torment but he will be saved from the worst torment.
Verses 6-9 then go to warn specially warn those who do not believe in the Hereafter are surely to be doomed:
6. And those who have been given knowledge see that what is revealed to you (O Muhammad ) from your Lord is the truth, and guides to the Path of the Exalted in Might, Owner of all praise.
That is, “These antagonists cannot succeed in their object to prove the truth presented by you false, however hard they may try, for they can only delude and misguide the ignorant people by their designs. Those possessed of knowledge cannot be deceived by them.”
In the above verse, two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: Al Aziz and Al Hameed. For details on these and other attributes of Allah, go to 99 Attributes of Allah.
7. Those who disbelieve say: "Shall we direct you to a man (Muhammad ) who will tell you (that) when you have become fully disintegrated into dust with full dispersion, then, you will be created (again) anew?"
8. Has he (Muhammad ) invented a lie against Allah, or is there a madness in him? Nay, but those who disbelieve in the Hereafter are (themselves) in a torment, and in far error.
The chiefs of the Quraish knew well that it was extremely difficult for the common people to accuse Muhammad (peace be upon him) of being a liar, for the entire nation knew that he was completely a truthful person, and no one had ever heard a lie from him all his life. Therefore, they presented their charge against him before the people like this: “When this person utters an impossible thing like the life-after-death from his mouth, he is either uttering (God forbid) a falsehood deliberately, or he is mad.” But this accusation of madness also was as absurd as of falsehood, for a stupid person only could admit that such a wise and intelligent man as the prophet (peace be upon him) could be mad. That is why Allah did not feel it was necessary to refute their absurd charge by an argument, and only made mention of their wonder which they expressed at the possibility of the life-after-death.
This is the first answer to their charge. It means: “O foolish people, it is you who have lost your reason. For you do not listen to the one who is informing you of the truth and are recklessly galloping on the way that leads to Hell. But the height of your stupidity is that you are calling the one who is anxious for your salvation, a mad peron.”
The ninth verse mentions the orderliness of the universe as evidence of Allah's omnipotence.
9. See they not what is before them and what is behind them, of the heaven and the earth? If We will, We shall sink the earth with them, or cause a piece of the heaven to fall upon them. Verily, in this is a sign for every faithful believer that [believes in the Oneness of Allah], and turns to Allah (in all affairs with humility and in repentance).
This is the second answer to their charge. To understand it well one should bear in mind the fact that three things were most prominent among the reasons for which the disbelieving Quraish denied the life-after-death: (1) They did not want to believe in any kind of accountability before God, for after believing in such a thing they would be left with no freedom whatsoever to behave and act as they pleased in the world. (2) They thought it was inconceivable that Resurrection would take place and the present material order of the universe would be destroyed and replaced by a new order. (3) They thought it was impossible that the people who had died hundreds of thousands of years in the past and whose bones even had decayed and disintegrated, would be raised back to life. With the same body and soul.
The answer given above covers all these three aspects, and contains a severe warning as well. The details of the theme contained in these brief sentences are given below:
(1) If you ever had observed this earth and the heavens with clear sightedness, you would have seen that it is not a plaything nor has its creation come into being by accident. Everything in this universe points to the fact that it has been created by an All-Powerful Being with great wisdom. In such a wise system it would be highly absurd to think that somebody could be left to live an irresponsible and unaccountable life after he had been given the faculties of intellect and discrimination and authority.
(2) Anyone who sees the natural order with discerning eyes will realize that the occurrence of Resurrection is not at all difficult. It can take place suddenly as soon as the system in which the earth and the heavens are bound together is disturbed. And the same system testifies that the One who has made and is running this world today can create another world again. If it were difficult for Him to do so, this world would not have existed as it does today.
(3) Your opinion and judgment about the Creator of the universe that it will be impossible for Him to resurrect the dead, is strange. The bodies of the men who die may utterly decay and disintegrate and be scattered but nevertheless remain within the bounds of this very universe and do not go anywhere outside its bounds. Then it is not at all difficult for the God Who has created this earth and the heavens to gather together everything from the earth and water and air wherever it happens to be. Whatever makes up your body today was collected and combined by Him, and brought out from this very earth, water and air. When the collecting and assembling of these elements together is possible today, how will it be impossible tomorrow?
Besides these three arguments, the discourse also contains a subtle warning to the effect: You arc surrounded by God's Kingdom on all sides. Wherever you may go, you would be covered and surrounded by the same universe. You cannot find any place of refuge against God, and God’s power is such that He can afflict you whenever He likes with a calamity from under your feet or from above your heads. You do not know what forces might be working under the very surface of the earth which you find as an abode of perfect peace and safety for yourselves, and when they would cause an earthquake to take place and turn the same earth into your grave. You do not know when a disaster might befall you, a lightning or a devastating rain, or some other calamity from the same sky under which you walk about with full peace and satisfaction of the heart as if it were the ceiling of your own house. In a state like this, your fearlessness of God, your heedlessness of any thought of the Hereafter and your vain and nonsensical talk against the admonition of a well-wisher has no other meaning than that you are only inviting your own doom.
That is, the person who is neither prejudiced nor obstinate and stubborn, but is a sincere seeker of guidance from his God, can learn many lessons from the observation of the earth and heavens; but the one whose heart is turned away from God, will see everything in the universe, but will never perceive any sign pointing to the truth.”
Verses10-14 mention that mountains and birds use to sing Allah's Rhymes with Prophet Dawood and Allah subjected the winds and Jinns to Prophet Sulaiman and Claim of people that Jinns know the unseen is wrong:
10. And indeed We bestowed grace on David from Us (saying): "O you mountains. Glorify (Allah) with him! And you birds (also)! And We made the iron soft for him."
This is an allusion to the countless favors with which Allah had blessed the Prophet David (peace be upon him). He was an ordinary young man of the tribe of Judah, living at Bethlehem. In a campaign against the Philistines he slew the giant Goliath, the great enemy of Israel, and suddenly grew in esteem of the Israelites. With this event began his rise to prominence; so much so that after the death of Saul he was first elected king of Judah in Hebron, and then a few years later he was made king over all the tribes of Israel. He took Jerusalem and made it the capital of the kingdom of Israel. It was under his leadership that for the first time in history a God-worshipping kingdom was established, with boundaries extended from the Gulf of Aqabah to the western banks of the River Euphrates. In addition to these favors, he was further graced with Divine bounties in the form of knowledge and wisdom, and the qualities of justice and mercy and devotion to the truth.
For details refer to (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 79).
11. Saying: "Make you perfect coats of mail, balancing well the rings of chain armour, and work you (men) righteousness. Truly, I am All-Seer of what you do."
For details refer to Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 80.
Rukhu 2 [Verses 12-21] Continuing with the mention of Prophets, now discourse relate to Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon, peace be upon him):
12. And to Solomon (We subjected) the wind, its morning (stride from sunrise till midnoon) was a month's (journey), and its afternoon (stride from the midday decline of the sun to sunset) was a month's (journey i.e. in one day he could travel two months' journey). And We caused a fount of (molten) brass to flow for him, and there were jinns that worked in front of him, by the Leave of his Lord, and whosoever of them turned aside from Our Command, We shall cause him to taste of the torment of the blazing Fire.
For details refer to( Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 81).
Some former commentators have taken this to mean that a spring from the earth had erupted for the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) from which molten copper flowed out instead of water. But another interpretation of this verse can be that in the time of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) the work of melting and molding copper for different uses was done on a very large scale and the same has been referred to here as the flowing of a spring of molten copper for him. (See (E.N. 74 of Surah Al- Anbiya).
The question whether the jinns who had been subdued to the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) were human beings of the mountain tribes or really the jinns who are well known by this name as the hidden creation has been discussed in detail in our commentary of Surah Al-Anbiya and Surah An-Naml.
13. They worked for him what he desired, (making) high rooms, images, basins as large as reservoirs, and (cooking) cauldrons fixed (in their places). "Work you, O family of Dawud (David), with thanks!" But few of My slaves are grateful.
14. Then when We decreed death for him [Sulaiman (Solomon)], nothing informed them (jinns) of his death except a little worm of the earth, which kept (slowly) gnawing away at his stick, so when he fell down, the jinns saw clearly that if they had known the unseen, they would not have stayed in the humiliating torment.
Another meaning of the sentence can be: "The true state and condition of the jinns became clear and exposed. "According to the first meaning, it will mean: “The jinns realized that their claim to have the knowledge of the unseen was wrong.” According to the second, it will mean: “The people who thought that the jinns possessed the knowledge of the unseen, came to know that they had no such knowledge.”
Some modern commentators have interpreted it as follows: As the Prophet Solomon’s (peace be upon him) son, Rehoboam, was unworthy and given to luxurious living and surrounded by flatterers, he could not sustain the heavy burden of responsibility that fell on his shoulders after the death of his great father. A short time after his succession, the kingdom collapsed, and the frontier tribes (i.e. of the jinns), whom the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) had subdued by his mighty power, rebelled and broke away. But this interpretation does not at all conform to the words of the Quran. The scene depicted by the words of the Quran is somewhat like this: Death came to the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) in a state when he was standing or sitting with the support of a staff. His body stood in place due to the staff, and the jinns continued to perform their duties and services, thinking that he was living. At last, when the wood louse started eating away the staff and it became hollow from within, the Prophet Solomon’s (peace be upon him) body fell down; then the jinns realized that he had died. After all, why should this clear and unambiguous description of the event be construed to mean that the wood louse implied the unworthiness of the Prophet Solomon’s son, and the staff implied his power and authority and the falling down of his body implied the disintegration of his kingdom? Had Allah meant to say all this, there was no shortage of the words in the vast Arabic language. The Quran, in fact, has nowhere used such enigmatic language. How could the common Arabs, who were its first addressees, have solved this riddle?
Then, the most absurd part of this interpretation is that according to it the jinns imply the people of the frontier tribes whom the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) had subdued to perform certain services under him. The question is, which of these tribes had claimed to have the knowledge of the unseen, and whom did the mushriks regard as the knower of the unseen? A person who reads the last words of the verse with open eyes can himself see that jinn here necessarily implies a group of beings who either had themselves made a claim to have the knowledge of the unseen, or who, the people believed, had the knowledge of the unseen; and the secret of this group’s being ignorant and unaware of the unseen became disclosed when they continued to serve the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him) under the impression that he was living, whereas he had died. This statement of the Quran was enough to induce an honest person to revise his this opinion that the jinn imply the frontier tribes, but the people who feel shy of admitting the existence of the hidden creation called the jinn before the materialistic world still insist on this interpretation of theirs in spite of the plain meaning of the Quran.
At several places in the Quran Allah tells that the mushriks of Arabia regarded the jinns as the associates of Allah, and as His children, and used to seek their refuge:
“They set up the jinns as partners with Allah. whereas He has created them.” (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 100). “And they have invented a blood-relationship between Allah and the jinns.” (Surah As-Saffat, Ayat 158). “And that, some people from among the men used to seek refuge with some people from among the jinns.” (Surah Al-Jinn, Ayat: 6).
One of their beliefs was that they regarded the jinns as the knower of the unseen and hidden. and used to turn to them to obtain knowledge of the hidden things. Allah has related this event here in order to repudiate this belief and to make the Arabs realize that they are following the false creeds of ignorance without any valid reason, whereas the fact is that these beliefs are absolutely baseless. (
Verses 15-21 explain the fate of the people of Saba who rejected Allah's blessings and disbelieved in the Hereafter so Allah made them merely a tale of the past
15. Indeed there was for Saba' (Sheba) a sign in their dwelling place, - two gardens on the right hand and on the left (and it was said to them) "Eat of the provision of your Lord, and be grateful to Him, a fair land and an Oft-Forgiving Lord.
To understand the continuity of the subject matter one should keep in view the theme as expressed in( Ayats 1-9). There it has been pointed out that the pagans of Arabia regarded the coming of the Hereafter as irrational, and declared openly that the Messenger (peace be upon him) who was presenting this doctrine was either a mad man or deliberately was fabricating falsehood. In reply to this, Allah first gave some rational arguments, which we have elaborated in verses 3,5 and 9 above. Then in (Ayats 10-21) the story of the Prophets David and Solomon and of Saba has been related as an historical argument, which is meant to impress the reality that the history of the human species on the earth itself testifies to the law of retribution. If man studies his own history carefully, he will see that this world is not a lawless kingdom, which might be functioning blindly, but it is being ruled by an All-Hearing and All- Seeing Being, Who treats and deals with His grateful servants in one way and with the ungrateful and thankless people in quite another way. If one wants one can learn this lesson from the same history that in the Kingdom of God which has such a character, goodness and evil cannot have one and the same result. The necessary demand of its justice is that a time must come when goodness should be fully rewarded and evil fully punished.
That is, a sign of this that whatever they have is the gift of someone else and not of their own creation, and a sign of this that the one worthy of their service and worship and gratitude is that God who has blessed them with these favors and not those who have no share in bestowing these, and a sign of this that their wealth is not imperishable but can perish even as it has been amassed.
This does not mean that there were only two gardens in the whole country, but that the entire land of Saba was like a garden. Wherever a man stood, he could see a garden on his right and a garden on his left.
16. But they turned away (from the obedience of Allah), so We sent against them Sail Al-'Arim (flood released from the dam), and We converted their two gardens into gardens producing bitter bad fruit, and tamarisks, and some few lote-trees.
The word arim as used in sayl al-arim in the text is derived from the South Arabic word ariman, which stands for a dam. In the ancient inscriptions that have been unearthed in the ruins of the Yaman, this word has been commonly used in this meaning. For example, in an inscription dated 542 or 543 A.D. which Abraha, the Abyssinian governor of the Yaman, had gotten installed after the repairs to the great dam of Maarib, this word has been used repeatedly in the meaning of a dam. Therefore, sayl al- arim implies a flood that comes when a dam breaks.
So when the Sabaeans adopted the way of disobedience and ingratitude instead of obedience and gratefulness, a flood was let loose as a result after the dam burst, the whole land was laid waste. The canals which the Sabaeans had dug out by building dams between the mountains were ruined and the irrigation system destroyed. Then the same land which had been like a garden before became a jungle of wild growth and no eatable plants were left in it except the small plume like fruit of the lote bushes.
17. Thus did We retribute them for their ingratitude. And none do We retribute in this manner except the utterly ungrateful.
18. And We placed between them and the towns which We had blessed, towns easy to be seen, and We made the stages (of journey) between them easy (saying): "Travel in them safely both by night and day."
“Towns which We had blessed”: The lands of Syria and Palestine, which have been generally mentioned in the Quran by this title. For instance, in (Surah Al-Aaraf, Atyat 137), (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 1), (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayats 71, 81).
“Visible towns”: Habitations situated on the highway and not inside the country. It may also mean that the habitations were not very far apart but contiguous so that as the outlying areas of one habitation came to an end those of the other started coming into view.
“And We made the stages (of journey) between them easy” implies that from the Yemen to the borders of Syria the whole journey passed through inhabited lands, and the distances between one station and another were known and determined. That makes the distinction between the journey through inhabited land and the journey through uninhabited desert area. In the desert the traveler continues to travel as long as he wills and halts when tired. Contrary to this, in settled areas as the distance between one habitation and the other is well known, the traveler can plan beforehand when he would break his journey, where he would have his midday rest and when he would stay for the night.
19. But they said: “Lord, make the stages of our journeys longer.” They wronged their own selves so We reduced them to bygone tales, and utterly tore them to pieces. Verily there are Signs in this for everyone who is steadfast and thankful.
They may not have prayed thus in so many words. As a matter of fact, whoever is ungrateful to Allah for His blessings, tells Allah, as if to say that he is not worthy of those blessings. Likewise, the nation which abuses the bounties of Allah, in fact, prays to Him, as if to say, “Our Lord, withdraw Your blessings from us, we are not worthy of these.” Moreover, the words in the text also seem to suggest that the Sabaeans perhaps regarded their large population as a calamity for themselves, and they also wanted like the other foolish people that their population should fall.
The people of Saba were so dispersed in all directions that their dispersion became proverbial. Even today when the Arabs have to mention the complete dispersion of any people they refer to the people of Saba as an example. When Allah caused His blessings to be withdrawn from them, the different tribes of the Sabaeans started leaving their homes and migrating to other parts of Arabia. The Banu Ghassan went to settle in Jordan and Syria, the Aus and Khazraj in Yathrib, and the Khuzaah in Tihamah near Jeddah. The Azd left for Uman and the Bani Lakhm and Judham and Kindah were also forced to give up their homes for other places. Thus, the Sabaeans ceased to exist as a nation and became a mere legend.
In this context the “steadfast and grateful” implies every such person (or persons) who does not lose his balance after he has received blessings from Allah, nor exults at prosperity, nor becomes heedless of God Who has blessed him with these. Such a person can learn great lessons from the history of those people who adopted the way of disobedience after attaining opportunities for progress and prosperity and ultimately met with their doom.
20. And indeed Iblis (Satan) did prove true his thought about them, and they followed him, all except a group of true believers (in the Oneness of Allah).
History shows that in ancient times there lived among the Sabaeans a small group of the people, who believed in one God, apart from all other gods. The inscriptions that have been discovered in the ruins of Yemen as a result of modern archaeological research point to the existence of this small element. Some inscriptions of the period about 650 B.C. indicate that at several places in the kingdom of Saba there existed such houses of worship as were exclusively meant for the worship of dhu-samavi or dhusamaavi (i.e. Rabb as-samaa: Lord of the heavens). In some places this Deity has been mentioned as Malikan dhusamavi (the King who is the Owner of the heavens). This remnant of the Sabaeans continued to live in Yemen for centuries afterwards. Thus, in an inscription of 378 A.D. there is also mention of a house of worship built in the name of Ilah dhu-semevi. Then, in an inscription dated 465 A.D. the words are; Bi-nasr wa rida ilah-in baal samin wa ardin (i.e. with the help and support of that God who is the Owner of the heavens and the earth). In another inscription of the period dated 458 A.D., the word Rahman has been used for the same God, the actual words being bi-rida Rahmanan (i. e. with the help of Rahman.
21. And he (Iblis - Satan) had no authority over them, except that We might test him, who believes in the Hereafter from him who is in doubt about it. And your Lord is a Hafiz over everything. (All-Knower of everything i.e. He keeps record of each and every person as regards deeds, and then He will reward them accordingly).
That is, Iblis did not have the power to have forcibly misled these people to the way of Allah’s disobedience although they had wanted to adopt His obedience. Allah had only given him the power that he may seduce and mislead them and make all such people his followers, who may like to follow him of their own accord. And Iblis was provided these opportunities for seduction so that the believers of the Hereafter were distinguished from those who entertained doubts about its coming.
Rukhu 3 [Verses 22-30] Verses 22-30 explain that no intercession before Allah can avail any one except for whom He permits it and Prophet Muhammad is sent for the entire mankind
22. Say: (O Muhammad to those polytheists, pagans, etc.) "Call upon those whom you assert (to be associate gods) besides Allah, they possess not even the weight of an atom (or a small ant), either in the heavens or on the earth, nor have they any share in either, nor there is for Him any supporter from among them.
Until now the mushriks’ wrong notions about the Hereafter have been dealt with. From here the discourse turns to the refutation of shirk itself.
That is, Allah makes and un-makes the destinies of individuals and nations and kingdoms in ways as you have seen from the stories of the Prophets David and Solomon (peace be upon them) and the people of Saba. Now, you may invoke, if you so like, these self-made gods of yours to see whether they also possess the power to change someone’s good fortune into misfortune and misfortune into good fortune.
23. Intercession with Him profits not, except for him whom He permits. Until when fear is banished from their (angels') hearts, they (angels) say: "What is it that your Lord has said?" They say: "The truth. And He is the Most High, the Most Great."
That is there exists no one in the universe, who of his own accord, may intercede for someone before Allah. It is being said: You are involved in the misunderstanding that there are some beloved ones of God, or some such powerful personalities, who can force and press Allah to accept their intercession, whereas the fact is that no one will dare utter a word of recommendation there without Allah’s permission. Only such a one will be able to make his submissions who is permitted by Allah to do so, and will intercede for him alone for whom permission for intercession is granted. (To understand the distinction between the Islamic concept of intercession and the polytheistic concept, see (Surah Yunus, Ayats 3, 18); (Surah Hud, Ayats 76, 105); (Surah TaHa, Ayat 109); (Surah Al- Anbiya, Ayat 28); (Surah Al-Hajj, Ayat 76).”
Here a graphic picture has been drawn of the time when, on the Day of Resurrection, an intercessor will be seeking permission to intercede on behalf of someone. It presents this scene: “After submitting the application for permission, both the intercessor and the person for whom intercession is being provided are awaiting the reply in a state of restlessness and awe. At last, when the permission is granted and the person perceives satisfaction in the face of the intercessor, he feels a little comforted and asks the intercessor: “What has your Lord said?” The intercessor says, “The truth”: permission has been granted. What is meant to be impressed is this: “O foolish people! Such will be the awe of the great court of Allah! How dare you entertain the notion that anybody will have you forgiven by his own power, or dare behave stubbornly and tell Allah: These are my favorites: they will have to be forgiven!”
24. Say (O Muhammad to these polytheists, pagans, etc.) "Who gives you provision from the heavens and the earth?" Say: "Allah, And verily, (either) we or you are rightly guided or in a plain error."
This verse contains an important point of the wisdom of preaching. The logical conclusion of the question and answer cited above would be that the one who serves and worships Allah should be on right guidance and the one who worships others beside Him should be misguided. Therefore, apparently, the conclusion should have been: “Then, we are rightly guided and you are misguided.” But such a plain and straight reply, although correct and true, would not have been a wise thing from the point of view of preaching. For when a person is addressed and told plainly that he is misguided and the speaker claims to be rightly guided himself, he will become obdurate and will never be inclined to accept and acknowledge the truth. As the Messengers of Allah are not sent only for the sake of speaking the plain truth, but are also entrusted with the duty of reforming the wrongdoers as tactfully as possible. Allah has not asked His Prophet (peace be upon him) to tell them plainly, after the question and answer, that they are all misguided and that he alone is rightly-guided. Instead of this, it was said: Tell them: it has become clear that we regard as our Deity only Him Who is the Sustainer, and you have taken as deities those who are not sustainers. Now, it is not possible that both you and we should be on right guidance simultaneously. Only one of us can be rightly-guided, and the other inevitably will be misguided. Now it is for you to consider and judge who is being proved by reason to be in the right and who in the wrong.
25. Say (O Muhammad to these polytheists, pagans, etc.) "You will not be asked about our sins, nor shall we be asked of what you do."
The about question had already made the listeners to think seriously, This additional verse was meant to make them think even more seriously, as if to say, “It is in our own interest individually that we should consider and decide the question of guidance and misguidance rightly. For if we are misguided, we shall ourselves bear the consequences of our error; you will not be held answerable for it. Therefore, it is in our own interest that we should consider seriously, before adopting a creed, that we are not following a wrong way. Likewise, you also should think seriously for your own sake, not for our sake in any way, and make sure that you are not investing your life’s capital in a false creed. For if you committed an error in this regard, you would be harming only your own selves and not us.
26. Say: "Our Lord will assemble us all together (on the Day of Resurrection), then He will judge between us with truth. And He is the (Most Trustworthy) All-Knowing Judge."
This is the last and the strongest motive for the consideration of which the listeners’ attention has been invited. It means to impress: The thing is not only that there is the difference of the truth and the falsehood between you and us, but that both we and you have to be presented before our Lord, the Being who knows the truth and is also fully aware of the affairs of each of us. There before Him not only will this thing be decided who, between you and us, was in the right and who in the wrong, but this issue also will be settled how we made every possible effort to make the truth plain to you, and how you opposed and resisted us in your antagonism to the truth.
27. Say (O Muhammad to these polytheists and pagans): "Show me those whom you have joined to Him as partners. Nay (there are not at all any partners with Him)! But He is Allah (Alone), the All-Mighty, the All-Wise."
28. And We have not sent you (O Muhammad ) except as a giver of glad tidings and a warner to all mankind, but most of men know not.
The fact that the Prophet (peace be upon him) has not been appointed a Prophet only for his own country or for his own age but for all mankind till Resurrection, has been stated at several places in the Quran. For instance:
“And this Quran has been revealed to me that I should thereby warn you and all those whom it may reach.” (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 19).
“O Prophet, say: O mankind, I am a Messenger to all of you from Allah.” (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayat 158).
“O Prophet, We have sent you to be a real blessing for all the people of the world.” (Surah Al-Anbiya, Ayat 107).
“Highly blessed is He Who has sent down Al-Furqan to His servant so that he may be a warner to all mankind.” (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 1).
The same thing has been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a number of Ahadith in different ways. For example:
“I have been sent to all mankind, the black as well as the white.” (Musnad Ahmad: Marwiyat Abu Musa Ashari).
“I have been sent to the mankind all together, whereas every Prophet before me was sent only to his own people.” (Musnad Ahmad: Marwiyat Abdullah bin Amr bin Aas).
For those professing to be prophets after Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him), they must clearly understand the hadith of the Prophet of Allah: “My appointment as a Prophet and Resurrection are like this. Saying this the Prophet (peace be upon him) raised his two fingers.” (Bukhari and Muslim). What he meant by this was: “Just as no third finger intervenes between these two fingers, so there is no prophethood between me the and Resurrection. After me there will be Resurrection only, and I shall be the Prophet till Resurrection.”
29. And they say: "When is this promise (i.e. the Day of Resurrection will be fulfilled) if you are truthful?" 30. Say (O Muhammad ): "The appointment to you is for a Day, which you cannot put back for an hour (or a moment) nor put forward."
In reply to the question asked from the Prophet of Allah in the verse 29, the reply is given in verse 30: Allah’s judgments are not subject to your whims that He should be bound to do a thing at the time which you have fixed for it. He carries out His designs only according to His own discretion. You cannot understand how long is mankind to be allowed to function in this world in the scheme of Allah, how many individuals and how many nations are to be put to the test in different ways, and what will be the right time for the Day of Judgment and summoning mankind of all ages for rendering their accounts. All this will be accomplished only at the time which Allah has fixed for it in His scheme of things. Your demands can neither hasten it on by a second nor your supplications can withhold it by a second.
Rukhu 4 [Verses 31-36] Verses 31-36 are about those who disbelieve in Al-Quran and prior scriptures will be subjected to yokes around their necks before tossing them into Hell and Wealth and children are not the indications of Allah's pleasure
31. And those who disbelieve say: "We believe not in this Qur'an nor in that which was before it," but if you could see when the Zalimun (polytheists and wrong-doers, etc.) will be made to stand before their Lord, how they will cast the (blaming) word one to another! Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant: "Had it not been for you, we should certainly have been believers!"
That is, the common people who are following their leaders, chiefs, saints and rulers blindly, and are not prepared to listen to any word of advice from a well-wisher against them. When the same people will sec the actual reality and will also remember how their religious leaders used to misrepresent things, and when they will realize what doom they are going to meet on account of following their leaders, they will turn on them, and say, “O wretched people, you led us astray: you are responsible for all our afflictions. Had you not misguided us, we would have listened to the Messengers of Allah and believed in what they said.
32. And those who were arrogant will say to those who were deemed weak: "Did we keep you back from guidance after it had come to you? Nay, but you were Mujrimun (polytheists, sinners, criminals, disobedient to Allah, etc.).
That is, they will say: We had no power by which a few of us could have compelled hundreds of thousands of the people like you to follow us. If you had the will to believe, you could have deposed us from leadership. Had you not sworn allegiance to us, we could not have flourished as saints even for a day. You were heedless of the lawful and the unlawful and craved for the luxuries of life, which we only could provide you. You wanted to follow such leaders who could help you become prosperous in this world, no matter how you fared in the Hereafter. Thus, you and we were equal partners in the bargain. Now you cannot delude anyone by saying that you were absolutely innocent and that we had spoiled and corrupted you against your will.
33. Those who were deemed weak will say to those who were arrogant: "Nay, but it was your plotting by night and day, when you ordered us to disbelieve in Allah and set up rivals to Him!" And each of them (parties) will conceal their own regrets (for disobeying Allah during this worldly life), when they behold the torment. And We shall put iron collars round the necks of those who disbelieved. Are they requited aught except what they used to do?
In other words, the common people’s reply will be: “How can you hold us as equal partners in this responsibility? Do you also remember what sort of trickeries and deceptions and false propaganda you practiced and what efforts you used to make to tempt and entice the people day and night. It is not just that you presented the world before us and we were allured, but this is also a fact that you used to befool us by your frauds and deceptions and each one of you brought a new bait every day to tempt and lure the simple people.”
The Quran has made mention of the dispute between the religious guides and their followers at different places in different ways. For details, see Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 38- 39; (Surah Ibrahim, Ayat 21); (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayat 63); (Surah Al-Ahzab, Ayats 66-68); (Surah Al-Mumin, Ayats 47- 48); (Surah HaMim Sajdah, Ayat 29).
34. And We did not send a warner to a township, but those who were given the worldly wealth and luxuries among them said: "We believe not in the (Message) with which you have been sent."
That the message of the Prophets was first of all opposed and resisted by the well-to-do people who possessed wealth and influence and authority. This has been stated at many places in the Quran. For instance, see (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 123); (Surah Al-Aaraf, Ayats 60, 66, 75, 88, 90); (Surah Hud, Ayat 27); (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 16); (Surah Al-Muminun, Ayats 24, 33 to 38, 46, 47); (Surah Az- Zukhruf, Ayat 23).
35. And they say: "We are more in wealth and in children, and we are not going to be punished."
This misunderstanding of the world-worshippers has been mentioned at several places in the Quran and refuted. For instance, see (Surah Al-Baqarah, Ayats 126, 212); (Surah At-Taubah, Ayats 55, 69); (Surah Hud, Ayats 3, 27); (Surah Ar-Raad, Ayats 26); (Surah Al-Kahf, Ayats 34 to 43); (Surah Maryam, Ayats 73 to 77); (Surah TaHa, Ayat 131); (Surah Al- Muminun, Ayats 55 to 61); (Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat 111); (Surah Al-Qasas, Ayats 76 to 83); (Surah Ar-Rum, Ayat 9); (Surah Al-Muddaththir, Ayats 11-26): (Surah Al-Fajr, Ayats 15 to 20).
36. Say (O Muhammad ): "Verily, my Lord enlarges and restricts the provision to whom He pleases, but most men know not."
They do not understand the wisdom on which the system of the distribution of provisions is based in the world, and are thus involved in the misunderstanding that whoever is being given abundantly is a beloved of Allah and whoever is being given sparingly is under His wrath. The fact, however, is that if a person looks around with open eyes he will see that in most cases the people with filthy and repulsive character are prosperous, and many good and noble people, who are known and recognized as morally pure, are found living in poverty. Now, how can a sensible person say that Allah dislikes the people of pure character and favors the wicked wrongdoers?
Rukhu 5 [Verses 37-45] Verses 37-45 stress that it is belief that brings you close to Allah not the wealth or children and Whatever you spend in charity, Allah will pay you back and Unbeliever's statements about the Prophet and Al-Quran
37. And it is not your wealth, nor your children that bring you nearer to Us (i.e. pleases Allah), but only he (will please Us) who believes (in the Islamic Monotheism), and does righteous deeds; as for such, there will be twofold reward for what they did, and they will reside in the high dwellings (Paradise) in peace and security.
This can have two meanings and both are correct: (1) That which brings the people nearer to Allah is not wealth and children but faith and righteous deeds; and, (2) wealth and children can become a means of nearness to Allah only for that believing, righteous person, who spends his wealth in the way of Allah and tries to make his children God-conscious and righteous by good education and training.
Here also is a subtle allusion that their blessing shall be imperishable, and their reward endless. For one cannot enjoy with full satisfaction of the heart a reward which is likely to perish or withdrawn suddenly at any time.
38. And those who strive against Our Ayat (proofs, evidences, verses, lessons, signs, revelations, etc.), to frustrate them, will be brought to the torment.
39. Say: "Truly, my Lord enlarges the provision for whom He wills of His slaves, and (also) restricts (it) for him, and whatsoever you spend of anything (in Allah's Cause), He will replace it. And He is the Best of providers."
The repetition of this theme is meant to impress this: The abundance or restriction of the provisions is connected with Allah’s will,. Under the will of Allah every good or evil person is receiving his provision. The abundance of the provisions is not a proof that one is Allah’s favorite servant nor is its restriction a sign that one is under His wrath. Under His will a wicked and dishonest person prospers, although wickedness and dishonesty are disliked by Allah. On the contrary, under the same divine will a truthful and honest man suffers losses and undergoes hardships although these qualities are liked by Allah. Hence, the person who regards the material gains and benefits as the criterion for the good and evil is grossly mistaken. The real criterion is Allah’s pleasure and approval which is attained through the moral qualities liked and approved by Him. With these qualities if a person gets the worldly blessings as well, it will certainly be Allah’s bounty for which he should be grateful to Him. But if from the moral point of view a person is Allah’s rebel and is disobedient to Him and in spite of that is being favored with worldly blessings, it would mean that he is preparing himself for a strict accountability and a most severe punishment.
Sustainer, Creator, Inventor, Donor and many other such attributes are in fact the attributes of Allah, but are metaphorically applied to men also. For example, about a person we may say, He provided a job for so-and-so, or he made or invented such and such a thing, or he made a gift to so-and-so. Accordingly, Allah has used the word Khair ar Raziqin (the Best of Providers) for Himself. It means to impress the fact that Allah is the best of providers among all those about whom you think that they are in any way connected with arranging the provisions.
40. And (remember) the Day when He will gather them all together, and then will say to the angels: "Was it you that these people used to worship?"
Since the earliest times the polytheists in every age have been looking upon the angels as gods and goddesses and carving their idols and worshipping them. One has been regarded as the god of rain, another of lightning and another of wind; one is the goddess of wealth, another of knowledge and another of life and death. About this Allah says that on the Day of Resurrection the angels will be asked: Were you being worshipped as deities by these people? This question is not meant merely to find out the truth, but to ask: Did you approve of their worship? Did you tell the people that you were their deities, so they should worship you? Or, did you wish that the people should do obeisance to you? This question will not only be asked of the angels but of all those beings who have been worshipped as gods in the world. In Surah Al-Furqan it has been said: “On that Day (Allah) will gather all these people together as well as their deities, whom they worship beside Allah. Then he will ask them: Did you mislead these servants of Mine, or did they themselves go astray? (Ayat 17).
41. They (angels) will say: "Glorified be You! You are our Wali (Lord) instead of them. Nay, but they used to worship the jinns; most of them were believers in them."
In this sentence, jinn implies the satans among the jinns. The answer means: Apparently these people worshipped us, by mentioning our names and by making our images according to their imaginations. But, in fact, they did not worship us but worshipped the satans, for the satans only had shown them the way that they should regard others than Allah as fulfillers of their needs, and should make offerings before them.
42. So Today (i.e. the Day of Resurrection), none of you can profit or harm one another. And We shall say to those who did wrong [i.e. worshipped others (like angels, jinns, prophets, saints, righteous persons, etc.) along with Allah]: "Taste the torment of the Fire which you used to belie.
This verse clearly brings out the error of the view of those people who take the word jinn to mean the dwellers of the mountains and deserts and rural areas. Can a sensible person imagine, on the basis of this verse, that the people used to worship the dwellers of the mountains and the deserts and the villages and believed in them? This verse also throws light on another meaning of ibadat. It shows that ibadat is not mere worship and service, but it also implies carrying out somebody’s orders and obeying him without question. Even if one curses another (as one curses Satan) but at the time follows his way, one would be performing his ibadat. For other examples, see (Surah An- Nisa, Ayats 117-119); (Surah Al-Maidah, Ayat 60); (Surah At- Taubah, Ayat 31); (Surah Maryam, Ayat 42); (Surah Al- Qasas, Ayat 63).
43. When Our Clear Signs are rehearsed to them they say: “This is a person who wants to turn you away from the deities whom your ancestors worshipped.” They say: “This is nothing but an invented falsehood.” And when the Truth came to the unbelievers they declared: “This is nothing but plain sorcery,”
44. And We had not given them Scriptures which they could study, nor sent to them before you (O Muhammad ) any warner (Messenger).
That is, neither a book from God has come to them before this nor a messenger, who might have taught them to worship and serve others than God. Therefore, they are denying the invitation to Tauhid given by the Quran and Muhammad (peace be upon him) due to sheer ignorance, and not on the basis of any knowledge. They have in fact no authority for this.
45. Those who went before them also denounced (Allah's Messengers) as liars. They have not attained even a tenth of what We had given them. But when they rejected My Messengers, calling them liars, how terrible was My chastisement!
That is, the people of Makkah have not attained even one-tenth of the power and grandeur and prosperity that was possessed by those people. But just see how they went to their doom ultimately and their power and wealth could not avail them anything, when they refused to believe in the realities presented before them by the Prophets, and founded their system of life on falsehood.
Rukhu 6 [Verses 46-54] In 46-50 the unbelievers are asked to ponder upon their wrong statements and Truth has come, falsehood neither originates nor restores anything
46. Say (to them O Muhammad ): "I exhort you on one (thing) only: that you stand up for Allah's sake in pairs and singly, and reflect (within yourselves the life history of the Prophet ): there is no madness in your companion (Muhammad ), he is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment."
That is, free yourselves of selfish interests and whims and prejudices and consider this sincerely for the sake of Allah: consider this singly as well as jointly in two and three and four in an objective manner and consider it well and deeply. What after all can be the reason that the person whom you call a madman today was, until yesterday, being looked upon as a very wise man among you? The incident that happened a little before his appointment to Prophethood is well known among you. When after the reconstruction of the Kabah the different clans of the Quraish were going to clash among themselves on the question as to who should place the Black Stone in the wall, you yourselves had unanimously agreed to accept Muhammad (peace be upon him) as the arbitrator, and he had settled the question amicably to the entire satisfaction of all concerned. Now, how is it that you have started calling the same person mad, whose wisdom and sagacity has been thus tested and experienced by your whole nation? What is it if not stubbornness? Do you really mean the same that you say with your tongues?
47. Say (O Muhammad ): "Whatever wage I might have asked of you is yours. My wage is from Allah only. and He is Witness over all things."
Another meaning of this can be: “I do not ask anything but your well-being: My only recompense is that you should be reformed.” This thing has been expressed at another place thus; “O Prophet, say to them: I do not ask of you any recompense for this: I only ask of the one, who will, to adopt the way of his Lord.” (Surah Al-Furqan, Ayat 57).
48. Say (O Muhammad ): "Verily! My Lord sends down Inspiration and makes apparent the truth (i.e. this Revelation that had come to me), the All-Knower of the Ghaib (unseen).
The words yaqdhifu bil-haqq give two meanings: (1) He inspires me with the knowledge of the truth by revelation. and, (2) He is making the truth to prevail. He is crushing falsehood by means of the truth.
49. Say (O Muhammad ): "The truth (the Qur'an and Allah's Inspiration) has come, and Al-Batil [falsehood - Iblis (Satan)] can neither create anything nor resurrect (anything)."
Verse 50 below needs to be understood correctly keeping in view its context in order not to draw any unintended meaning which this verse may apparently convey:
50. Say: "If (even) I go astray, I shall stray only to my own loss. But if I remain guided, it is because of the Inspiration of my Lord to me. Truly, He is All-Hearer, Ever Near (to all things)."
From this verse some people of the modern age have argued thus: According to it the Prophet (peace be upon him) also could go astray: rather used to go astray. That is why Allah has made the Prophet (peace be upon him) himself say: “If I have gone astray, I am myself responsible for this. And I am on right guidance only when my Lord sends down revelation (i.e. verses of the Quran) to me.” By this wrong interpretation these unjust people in fact want to prove that the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) life was, God forbid, a combination of guidance and error, and Allah had made him confess this before the disbelievers lest one should adopt his obedience completely, taking him to be wholly on right guidance.
The fact however is that whoever considers the theme in its correct context will know that here the words, if I have gone astray, are not meant to give the meaning that the Prophet (peace be upon him) actually used to go astray, but it means: “If I have gone astray, as you accuse that I have, and my claim to Prophethood and my this invitation to Tauhid are the result of the same deviation, as you seem to imagine, then the burden of my going astray, will be on me alone; you will not be held responsible for it. But if I am on right guidance, as in fact I am, it is because I receive revelation from my Lord, by virtue of which I have obtained the knowledge of the guidance. My Lord is near at hand and is hearing everything. He knows whether I have gone astray or I am on right guidance from Him.”
Verses 51-54 finally warn the unbelievers that on the Day of Judgement they would like to believe but it will be of no avail to them:
51. And if you could but see, when they will be terrified with no escape (for them), and they will be seized from a near place. 52. And they will say (in the Hereafter): "We do believe (now);" but how could they receive (Faith and the acceptance of their repentance by Allah) from a place so far off (i.e. to return to the worldly life again).
53. Indeed they did disbelieve (in the Oneness of Allah, Islam, the Qur'an and Muhammad ) before (in this world), and they (used to) conjecture about the unseen [i.e. the Hereafter, Hell, Paradise, Resurrection and the Promise of Allah, etc. (by saying) all that is untrue], from a far place.
That is, they used to charge the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the believers with false accusations and used to taunt and mock his message. Sometimes they said he was a sorcerer or a madman; sometimes they ridiculed Tauhid and the concept of the Hereafter; sometimes they invented the story that someone has taught him everything; and sometimes they said that the believers had started following him only on account of folly and ignorance.
54. And a barrier will be set between them and that which they desire [i.e. At-Taubah (turning to Allah in repentance) and the accepting of Faith etc.], as was done in the past with the people of their kind. Verily, they have been in grave doubt.
As a matter of fact, no one adopts shirk and atheism and denial of the Hereafter by conviction, nor can he, for conviction comes from knowledge. And no one has the knowledge that there is no God, or that many others have a share in divine authority, or that there should be no Hereafter. Thus, whoever has adopted these beliefs in the world, has raised a structure on mere conjecture, which has no basis except doubt and suspicion, and this suspicion has led him to sheer error. Consequently, they doubted God’s existence, they doubted the truth of Tauhid, they doubted the coming of the Hereafter; so much so that they made this doubt their faith and did not listen to the Prophets and expended and wasted their entire lifetime indulging in a wrong creed and wrong way of life.
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Surah Saba with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Juzʼ / Part backwards for chapters in 30th Juzʼ / Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 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. However, the exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran are basically 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. 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.
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook Follow @IslamUltimate
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
Surah Fāṭir is the thirty fifth surah with 45 ayahs with five rukus, part of the 22nd Juzʼ of the Holy Qur'an. The surah takes its name from the word Fatir used in the very first verse, which simply means that it is a Surah in which the word Fatir has occurred. The other name is Sūrat al-Malāʼikah (The Angels), which also occurs in the first verse. From Surah Saba, the 34th Chapter, there begins a series of six Surahs, Surah. xxxiv. to Surah. xxxix, which recapitulate some of the features of the spiritual world. Surah Saba (xxxiv) leads off with emphasis on Allah's Mercy and Power and Truth. Then (in Surah Surah Fāṭir. xxxv, this surah) we are told how angels manifest the Power of Allah, and how different is Good from Evil and Truth from Falsehood. Surah Ya Seen (xxxvi) is devoted to the holy Prophet and the Quran that came through him. In Surah Saffat (xxxvii) the emphasis is on the snares of Satan, in Surah Saad (xxxviii) on the conquest of evil by wisdom and power as in the case of David and Solomon, and by Patience and Constancy as in the case of Job; and in Surah Zumar (xxix - last of the six surahs) emphasis is on the Final Judgment, which will sort out Faith fromUnfaithful and give to each its due. The discourse is meant to warn and reprove the people of Makkah and their chiefs for their antagonistic attitude that they had then adopted towards the Holy Prophet's message of Tauhid, like a well wisher, and also to admonish them like a teacher, as if to say: "O foolish people, the way to which this Prophet is calling you is to your own advantage. Your anger, your tricks and machinations against it and your conspiracies and designs to frustrate it are not directed against him but against your own selves. If you do not listen to him, you will be harming your own selves, not him. Just consider and ponder over what he says : there is nothing wrong in it. He repudiates shirk. If you look around carefully, you will yourself realize that there is no basis for shirk in the world. He presents the doctrine of Tauhid. If you use your common sense, you will come to the conclusion that there is no being, beside Allah, Creator of the Universe. He tells you that you have not been created to be irresponsible in this world, but you have to render an account of your deeds before your God, and that there is life after the life of this world when everyone will meet the consequences of what he has done here. If you thing a little you will see that your doubts and your astonishment about it are absolutely baseless. Don't you see the phenomenon of the reproduction of creation day and night. How can then your own recreation be impossible for that Allah Who created you from an insignificant sperm drop? Doesn't your own intellect testify that the good and the evil cannot be alike? Then think and judge for yourselves as to what is reasonable, should the good and the evil meet with the same fate and end up in the dust, or should the good be requited with good and the evil with evil? Now, if you do not admit and acknowledge these rational and reasonable things and do not abandon your false gods, and wish to continue living only as irresponsible people in the world, the Prophet will not lose anything. It is you yourselves only who will suffer the consequences. The Prophet's only responsibility was to make the truth plain to you, which be has done." In this connection, the Holy Prophet has been consoled again and again, as if to say :"When you are doing full justice to the preaching of your mission, you do not incur any responsibility for those who persist in their error and do not accept and follow the right way." Furthermore, he has also been consoled to the effect "You should neither grieve on account of those who do not want to believe, nor consume yourself with the thought of how to bring them to the rights path. Instead of this, you should pay your full attention to those who are inclined to listen to you."
The believers also, in this connection, have been given the good news so that they may feel strengthened and encouraged and remain steadfast on the path of the truth with full faith in the promises made by Allah.
Let us now read the translation and exegesis / tafseer in English of the Surah segmented into portions as per the subject matter. For Arabic Text, please refer to the references given at the end and may also listen to its recitation in Arabic with English subtitles:
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ
"In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful" اَ لۡحَمۡدُ لِلّٰهِ فَاطِرِ السَّمٰوٰتِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ جَاعِلِ الۡمَلٰٓـئِكَةِ رُسُلًا اُولِىۡۤ اَجۡنِحَةٍ مَّثۡنٰى وَثُلٰثَ وَرُبٰعَ ؕ يَزِيۡدُ فِى الۡخَـلۡقِ مَا يَشَآءُ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ عَلٰى كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ قَدِيۡرٌ
Rukhu 1 [Verses 1-7] In Rukhu 1, it has been emphasised that none can withhold or award blessings besides Allah and Shaitan is your enemy, so take him as your enemy
( 1 ) [All] praise is [due] to Allah, Creator of the heavens and the earth, [who] made the angels messengers having wings, two or three or four. He increases in creation what He wills. Indeed, Allah is over all things competent.
The mention of angels messengers can have two meanings: (1) That these angels perform the service of communicating messages between Allah and His Prophets, and (or) (2) That it is the duty of these angels to convey and enforce the commands of Allah Almighty throughout the universe.
The object is to impress this truth: The position of the angels whom the polytheists have made their gods and goddesses is no more than of obedient servants of Allah, the One. Just as the servants of a king run about for the implementation of his orders, so do these angels fly about in the service of the real Sovereign of the Universe. These servants have no authority of their own; All powers rest with Allah, Who is the real Sovereign.
( 2 ) Whatever Allah grants to people of mercy - none can withhold it; and whatever He withholds - none can release it thereafter. And He is the Exalted in Might, the Wise.
Understanding some of the verses of this surah can dispel many misconceptions that reside in the minds of Muslims who still cling to beliefs that are tangent to the teachings of Islam. Here in this verse it is also meant to remove the misunderstanding of the polytheists, who believed that from among the servants of Allah, someone gave them the provision, someone the children and someone health to their patients. All these superstitions of shirk are baseless, and the pure truth is just that whatever of mercy reaches the people, reaches to them only through Allah Almighty’s bounty and grace. No one else has the power either to bestow it or to withhold it. This theme has been expressed at many places in the Quran and the Ahadith in different ways so that man may avoid the humiliation of begging at every door and at every shrine and may realize that making or marring of his destiny is in the power of One Allah alone and of none else.
Also read explanation of verse 22 below for it will also make many a conception of a faction of Muslims who visit graves and offer supplications in a hope that the dead of the grave may become a medium to communicate to Allah.
( 3 ) O people, remember Allah's favour upon you. Is there any creator, apart from Allah, who provides you your sustenance out of the heavens and earth? There is no god but He. Whither are you, then, being misdirected?
There is a subtle gap between the first and the second verses, which is being filled by the context itself. To understand this, one may visualize the scene like this: The polytheists are being addressed. The speaker asks the audience: “Is there another creator beside Allah, who might have created you, and might be arranging provisions for you from the earth and heavens?” After this question the speaker waits for the answer. But there is no reply from anywhere. No one replies that there is another one beside Allah, who is their creator and sustainer. This by itself shows that the audience also believe that there is none beside Allah, who could be their creator and sustainer. Then the speaker says: “If so, then He alone can also be the Deity and no one else. How have you been so deceived? Why have you taken these others as your deities, when Allah alone is your Creator and Sustainer?”
( 4 ) And if they deny you, [O Muhammad] - already were messengers denied before you. And to Allah are returned [all] matters.( 5 ) O mankind, indeed the promise of Allah is truth, so let not the worldly life delude you and be not deceived about Allah by the Deceiver.
“The promise” in verse 5 implies the promise of the Hereafter to which allusion was made in the preceding sentence, saying: “And to Allah return all matters.” In the verse “Let not deceive you”: Deceive you means that the world is an end in itself: that there is no Hereafter when one will have to render an account of one’s deeds: or that even if there is the Hereafter, the one who is enjoying life here will enjoy life there, too.
By “Great deceiver” is meant the Satan, as is evident from the next sentence. And “deceive you concerning Allah” means:
(1) That he should make some people believe that Allah does not exist at all.
(2) Involve others in the misunderstanding that Allah after having once created the world, has retired and has now practically nothing to do with the universe any more.
(3) Delude others into believing that Allah no doubt is running the universe, but He has taken no responsibility of providing guidance to man: therefore, revelation and prophethood are a mere deception.
(4) Give still others the false hope that since Allah is All- Forgiving and All-Merciful. He will forgive one whatever sins one might have committed, and that He has some beloved ones too: if one remains attached to them, success and salvation are assured.
( 6 ) Indeed, Satan is an enemy to you; so take him as an enemy. He only invites his party to be among the companions of the Blaze.( 7 ) Those who disbelieve will have a severe punishment, and those who believe and do righteous deeds will have forgiveness and great reward.
Ruku 2 [Verses 8-14] In verses 8-9 It is said that the person who considers his evil deeds to be good cannot be guided to the Right Path:
( 8 ) Then is one to whom the evil of his deed has been made attractive so he considers it good [like one rightly guided]? For indeed, Allah sends astray whom He wills and guides whom He wills. So do not let yourself perish over them in regret. Indeed, Allah is Knowing of what they do.
Verses 3-7 were addressed to the common people. In this paragraph mention has been made of the standard bearers of error and deviation, who were exerting their utmost to frustrate and defeat the mission of the Prophet (peace be upon him). Thus this verse needs to be understood carefully for we may find many people around us who fall into the category being spoken of.
There is one kind of perverted person is he who commits evil but knows and understands that he is committing evil. Such a person can be reformed by counsel and advice, and sometimes his own conscience also pricks and brings him to the right path, for his habits only are perverted, not his mind. But there is another kind of a person whose mentality has been perverted, who has lost the discrimination between good and evil, for whom the life of sin has become alluring and lustrous, who abhors good and takes evil for civilization and culture, who regards goodness and piety as things of the past, and sinfulness and wickedness as progressiveness, and for whom guidance becomes error and error becomes guidance. Such a person is not amenable to any advice and any admonition. He neither takes warning from his own follies nor listens to a well wisher. It is useless to waste one's time and energy for his reformation. Instead, the inviter to the truth should turn his attention towards those whose consciences may still be alive and who may still be inclined to listen to the truth.
The insertion of the words “Then indeed, Allah sends astray whom He wills, and guides whom He wills” between the preceding and this verse, clearly gives the meaning that Allah deprives, of the grace of guidance, those who become so perverted mentally, and leaves them to wander aimlessly in the ways in which they themselves wish to remain lost. After making the Prophet (peace be upon him) realize this fact Allah exhorts him to the effect: It is not within your power to bring such people to the right path; therefore, have patience in their regard. Just as Allah is indifferent about them, so should you also avoid being unduly anxious about their reformation.
Here, one should bear in mind two things very clearly. First, the people being mentioned here were not the common people, but the chiefs of Makkah, who were employing every falsehood, every fraud and every trick to defeat the mission of the Prophet (peace be upon him). These people were, in fact, not involved in any misunderstanding about the Prophet (peace be upon him). They knew well what he was calling them to and what were the evils and moral weaknesses which they themselves were striving to maintain. After knowing and understanding all this, they had firmly resolved not to let him succeed in his object. And for this purpose they did not feel any hesitation in using any mean or petty device. Now, evidently the people who deliberately and after annual consultation invent a new falsehood every next day and spread it against a person, can deceive the whole world but as for themselves they know that they are the liars and that the person whom they have accused is free of every blame. Then, if the person against whom the false propaganda is being made also does not react and respond in a way opposed to truth and righteousness, the unjust people also cannot help realizing that their opponent is a truthful and honest man. If in spite of this the people do not feel ashamed of their misconduct and continue to oppose and resist the truth with falsehood, their conduct itself testifies that they are under Allah’s curse and they can no longer discriminate between good and evil.
Secondly, if Allah had only meant to make Prophet (peace be upon him) understand the supreme truth, He could have secretly made him aware of this. There was no need to proclaim it openly in the revelation. To mention it in the Quran and to proclaim it to the world was in fact meant to warn the common people that the leaders and the religious guides whom they were following blindly were the people of perverted mentality, whose mean conduct was itself an evidence that they were under the curse of Allah.
This verse in itself contains the threat that a time is coming when Allah will punish them for their misdeeds. When a ruler says that he is fully aware of the misdeeds of a culprit, it does not only mean that the ruler has the knowledge of his misconduct, but it necessarily contains the warning that he will certainly punish him for this.
( 9 ) And it is Allah who sends the winds, and they stir the clouds, and We drive them to a dead land and give life thereby to the earth after its lifelessness. Thus is the resurrection.
That is, these ignorant people think that the Hereafter is impossible. That is why they are living under the delusion that they may do whatever they like in the world, the time will never come when they will have to appear before their God and render an account of their deeds. But this is no more than a delusion. On the Day of Resurrection, the dead men of all ages will suddenly rise back to life at one call of Allah just as the dead earth comes back to life at one shower of the rain and the roots, lying dead for ages, become green and start sprouting up from the layers of the earth.
Verses 10-11 warn that let all those who are seeking honor know that real honor is in the obedience of Allah:
( 10 ) Whoever desires honor [through power] - then to Allah belongs all honor. To Him ascends good speech, and righteous work raises it. But they who plot evil deeds will have a severe punishment, and the plotting of those - it will perish.
It should be noted that whatever the chiefs of the Quraish were doing against the Prophet (peace be upon him), they were doing it for the sake of their honor and dignity. They thought that if the Prophet (peace be upon him) succeeded in his mission, their greatness and glory would fade away, their influence would die out and their honor among the Arabs would be ruined. At this it is being said: The honor that you have attained for yourselves by your disbelief and rebellion against Allah is a false honor, which is destined to be ruined. The real and enduring honor, which can never suffer debasement, can be attained only through service of Allah. If you turn sincerely and faithfully to Him, you will attain it. And if you turn away from Him, you are bound to live an abject and wretched life.
In the sight of Allah, the false, vicious and mischievous can never rise and flourish. In His sight only such a word can rise and flourish which is honest and based on the truth, and in which a righteous creed and a correct point of view may have been expressed and presented. Then the thing which makes the pure word to rise and prosper is the action which conforms to it. Wherever the word is pure but the action is opposed to it, the purity of the word suffers a blemish. The mere extravagant rise of the tongue does not exalt a word: the power of the righteous action is needed to exalt and raise it high. Here, one should also note that the Quran presents the righteous word and the righteous action as interdependent. No action can be righteous merely on the basis of its external and apparent form unless it has a righteous creed behind it. And no righteous creed can be reliable unless it is supported and confirmed by a person’s action. For instance, if a person says that he regards Allah, the One, alone as his Deity, but worships others than Allah in practical life, his action belies his word. If a person says that he regards the wine as unlawful but drinks it, his mere word can neither be acceptable to the people nor deserve approval in the sight of Allah.
As for “Those who plot evil”, it means those who propagate false and evil words by means of cunning tricks, deceit and deceptive reasoning, and do not feel any hesitation in employing any device, however mean and depraved, to frustrate and defeat the word of the truth.
( 11 ) And Allah created you from dust, then from a sperm-drop; then He made you mates. And no female conceives nor does she give birth except with His knowledge. And no aged person is granted [additional] life nor is his lifespan lessened but that it is in a register. Indeed, that for Allah is easy.
From here again the discourse is directed to the common people, stressing that man in the first instance was created from the dust directly. Then his race was perpetuated through the sperm-drop.
It is preordained for everyone who is born in this world how long he will live. If a person lives a long life, he does so by Allah’s decree, and if another one lives a short life, he too lives so by Allah’s decree. Some ignorant people give the argument that in the past the death rate of the newly born children used to be high, and now it has been checked by the advancement of the medical science. And the people used to live short lives in the past, now due to better medical facilities the life span has increased. But this argument could be presented in refutation of the Quranic argument only when it could be ascertained that Allah, for instance, had preordained a two year life for a certain person, and the modern medical facilities have enhanced it by a day. If a person has no such knowledge, he cannot refute this Quranic statement on any rational grounds. Only on the basis of the statistics that the death rate among children has fallen, or that the people now are living longer lives, it cannot be argued that man has now become able to change the decrees of Allah. Rationally it is not impossible that Allah might have fixed different life spans for the people born in different periods, and this might also be Allah Almighty’s decree that man in such and such an age would be granted curative power to treat such and such diseases, and in such and such a period man would be given greater means for longevity.
And finally it is not at all difficult for Allah to give commands and pass judgments about each individual of His countless creations when He possesses detailed and perfect knowledge about them.
In Verses 12-14 it is emphasised that Allah has created water, day, night, sun and moon for man's benefit and Deities besides Allah can neither hear, nor response nor yet own even a thread of a date-stone
( 12 ) And not alike are the two bodies of water. One is fresh and sweet, palatable for drinking, and one is salty and bitter. And from each you eat tender meat and extract ornaments which you wear, and you see the ships plowing through [them] that you might seek of His bounty; and perhaps you will be grateful.
Here the fine example of body of water in the oceans, and the body of water in the rivers and springs and lakes is given. The ocean water despite in abundance cannot be taken as drinking water, but it still supplies “Fresh meat” like th fish and many other forms of lobsters and other life forms. And from the same very saltish water one gets pearls and corals and, in some rivers, diamonds and gold to use as ornaments.
( 13 ) He causes the night to enter the day, and He causes the day to enter the night and has subjected the sun and the moon - each running [its course] for a specified term. That is Allah, your Lord; to Him belongs sovereignty. And those whom you invoke other than Him do not possess [as much as] the membrane of a date seed.
That is, the light of the day starts diminishing and the darkness of the night increasing gradually so as to cover up everything completely. Likewise, towards the end of the night, in the beginning, a streak of the light appears on the horizon, and then the bright day dawns. Thus the movement of sun, moon and all celestial objects is “Subjected ” to a law, which we now know as the astronomy.
The word qitmir in the original means the thin skin that covers the stone of the date fruit; but what is meant to be said is that the gods of the mushriks do not own anything whatever.
( 14 ) If you invoke them, they do not hear your supplication; and if they heard, they would not respond to you. And on the Day of Resurrection they will deny your association. And none can inform you like [one] Acquainted [with all matters].
Continuing the mention of the people or deities who cannot even have to ability to make something like the membrane of date seeds, it is said that this does not mean that they cannot tell aloud, in answer to your prayer whether your prayer has been accepted or not, but it means that they cannot take any action on your supplications. And on the Day of Judgement, they will plainly say: We had never told them that we are Allah’s associates and that they should worship us. On the contrary, we were not at all aware that they regarded us as Allah’s associates and were invoking us for help. None of their prayers has reached us, nor has any of their gifts and offerings.
“All-Knower”: Allah Almighty Himself. It means this: The other person can at the most refine shirk and prove the powerlessness of the gods of the polytheists by rational arguments only, but We are directly aware of the absolute truth. We are telling you, on the basis of knowledge, that all those whom the people believe to be possessing some powers in Our Godhead are absolutely powerless. They have no authority whatsoever by which they might do somebody good or harm. And We know this directly that on the Day of Resurrection, these gods of the mushriks will themselves refute their shirk.
Rukhu 3 [Verses 15-26] Verses 15-18 tell that mankind is in need of Allah, while He is not in need of any one:
( 15 ) O mankind, you are those in need of Allah, while Allah is the Free of need, the Praiseworthy.
That is, you should not remain under the delusion that Allah stands in need of your help. If you do not accept Him as God, His Godhead will fail, and if you do not serve and worship Him, He will incur some loss. Nay, but the fact is that you stand in need of Him. You cannot remain alive for a moment if He does not keep you alive, and does not provide you with the means by which you remain alive in the world and function. Therefore, when you are told to adopt His service and obedience, it is not because Allah stands in need of it, but because upon it depends your own success here as well as in the Hereafter. If you do not do so, you will be harming your own selves only, and not Allah in any way.
In this verse, two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: The word Ghani implies that He is the Owner of everything: He is Self-sufficient and Independent of all. He does not stand in need of anyone’s help. The word Hamid implies that He is Self-Praiseworthy: someone may praise Him, or may not, but He alone is worthy of hamd (praise and gratitude). These two attributes have been used together because one would be ghani even if one did not do any good to anyone by one’s wealth. In such a case one would be ghani but not hamid One will be hamid only in case one does not draw any benefit for oneself but benefits others in every way from the treasures of his wealth and resources. Since Allah is perfect in these two attributes, it has been said: “He is not just Ghani (self-sufficient) but such Ghani as is worthy of every kind of praise and gratitude, for He is fulfilling your needs as well as the needs of all other creatures.
( 16 ) If He wills, He can do away with you and bring forth a new creation.( 17 ) And that is for Allah not difficult.
That is, you are not enjoying life on Allah’s earth solely by dint of your own power and might. He has the power to remove you from here in no time and raise another people to take your place. Therefore, you should understand your true worth, and should desist from adopting the conduct which has been causing the downfall of the nations. When Allah wills to send someone to his doom, there is no one in the universe, who can stop Him and withhold His decree from being enforced.
( 18 ) And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And if a heavily laden soul calls [another] to [carry some of] its load, nothing of it will be carried, even if he should be a close relative. You can only warn those who fear their Lord unseen and have established prayer. And whoever purifies himself only purifies himself for [the benefit of] his soul. And to Allah is the [final] destination.
The sharing of burden has been said here because the polytheist kinsmen and relatives of the people who were embracing Islam in Makkah, used to urge them, saying, Give up Islam and return to your ancestral faith. We take the responsibility of any punishment etc. on ourselves.
In the preceding sentence, Allah’s law of justice has been enunciated, according to which He will not seize any person for the sin committed by another, but will hold everyone responsible for his own sin. In this sentence the Muslims have been told: Those who urge you to give up faith and commit evil on the assurance that they will take on themselves the burden of your sins on the Day of Resurrection, are in fact giving you a false hope. When Resurrection comes and the people see what fate they are going to meet in consequence of their misdeed, everyone will be concerned only about himself. Brother will turn away from brother and father from son, and no one will be prepared to take even an atom’s weight of another’s burden on himself.
In other words, your warnings cannot have any effect on obstinate and stubborn people. Your admonitions can bring only such people to the right path who have fear of God in their hearts and who are inclined to bow before their real Master.
Verses 19-26 explain that the living and the dead are not alike. You cannot make those who are buried in the grave hear you:
( 19 ) Not equal are the blind and the seeing,( 20 ) Nor are the darknesses and the light,( 21 ) Nor are the shade and the heat,
( 22 ) And not equal are the living and the dead. Indeed, Allah causes to hear whom He wills, but you cannot make hear those in the graves.
In these comparisons the present and the future of a believer and a disbeliever have been contrasted. There is a person who has closed his eyes to the realities and does not care to see as to what truth the whole system of the universe and his own existence itself are pointing. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who clearly sees that everything outside and inside himself bears evidence to the Unity of God and to man’s answerability before him. There is a person, who is wandering blindly in the superstitions of ignorance and the darkness of presumptions and speculations, and is not inclined to benefit by the light of the candle lit by the Prophet. There is the other person, whose eyes are open and who, as soon as the light spread by the Prophet appears before him, comes to realize that all the ways being followed by the polytheists and the disbelievers and the atheists lead to destruction, and the way to success is only that which has been shown by the Messenger of God. Now how can it be possible that the attitude of the two persons be the same in the world and the two may follow one and the same path together? And how can this also be possible, either that the two should meet the same end and should both end up in the dust after death? Neither should one be punished for his wrongdoings, nor the other be rewarded for his righteous conduct. The sentence, “the cool shade and the heat of the sun are not alike” points to the same fate. The one will be provided shelter under the shade of Allah’s mercy and the other will burn in the fire of Hell. Thus, the notions that the two will ultimately meet the same end, is utterly false. In the end, the believer has been likened to the living and the stubborn disbeliever to the dead. That is, the believer is he whose feeling, understanding and perception are alive and whose conscience is making him aware of the distinction between the good and the evil every moment. Contrary to this, the person who has been, wholly lost in the prejudices of disbelief is even worse than the blind person who is wandering about in darkness. Nay, he is like a dead person who has no sense or feeling left in him.
That is, as for the powers of Allah, they are unlimited. He can even make the stones to hear. But it is not within the power of the Messenger to make those people to listen to him whose consciences have become dead and whose ears deaf to every call to the truth. He can only make those people to hear him, who are inclined to listen to every reasonable thing.
( 23 ) You, [O Muhammad], are not but a warner.
That is, your only duty is to warn the people and nothing else. If even after this a person does not come to his senses, and remains lost in his deviations, you are not to blame for that, for you have not been entrusted with the duty of making the blind to see and the deaf to hear.
( 24 ) Indeed, We have sent you with the truth as a bringer of good tidings and a warner. And there was no nation but that there had passed within it a warner.
That there has been no community in the world for whose guidance Allah did not appoint the Prophets. This has been stated at several places in the Quran. In (Surah Ar- Raad, Ayat 7), it was said: “Every people has its guide”. In (Surah Al-Hijr, Ayat 10): “O Prophet, We have already sent Messengers before you among many of the ancient peoples”. In (Surah An-Nahl, Ayat 36): “We sent to every community a Messenger” and in (Surah Ash-Shuara, Ayat: 208): “We have never destroyed a habitation unless it had its warners to administer admonition”.
Here one should note two things so that there remains no misunderstanding. First, one and the same Prophet is enough for the lands to which his message may reach. It is not necessary that Prophets be sent to every separate habitation and to every separate community. Second, no new Prophet needs to be sent as long as the message and teaching and guidance given by a previous Prophet remains safe and intact. It is not necessary that a separate Prophet be sent for every race and every generation.
( 25 ) And if they deny you - then already have those before them denied. Their messengers came to them with clear proofs and written ordinances and with the enlightening Scripture.( 26 ) Then I seized the ones who disbelieved, and how [terrible] was My reproach.
Rukhu 4 [Verses 27-37] Verses 27-37 give glad tidings to those who recite Al-Quran, establish Salah and give charity, thus may hope for Allah's blessings and rewards and Those who disbelieve shall have a painful punishment in the Hell-Fire forever:
( 27 ) Do you not see that Allah sends down rain from the sky, and We produce thereby fruits of varying colors? And in the mountains are tracts, white and red of varying shades and [some] extremely black.
( 28 ) And among people and moving creatures and grazing livestock are various colors similarly. Only those fear Allah, from among His servants, who have knowledge. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Forgiving.
The more a person is unaware of the attributes of Allah, the more he will be fearless of Him. Contrary to this, the more a person is aware and conscious of Allah’s powers, His knowledge, His wisdom, His vengeance and His omnipotence and His other attributes, the more he will fear His disobedience. Thus, in fact, knowledge in this verse does not imply knowledge of academic subjects like philosophy and science and history and mathematics, etc. but the knowledge of divine attributes, no matter whether one is literate or illiterate. The one who is fearless of God is illiterate merely as regards to this knowledge even if he has all the knowledge of the world. And the one who knows the attributes of God and fears Him in his heart, is learned even if he is illiterate. In the same connection, one should also know that in this verse the ulama does not imply the scholars in the technical sense, who are termed as religious scholars because of their knowledge of the Quran and Hadith and Fiqh and philosophy. They will prove true to this verse only when they possess fear of God in their hearts. The same thing has been said by Abdullah bin Masud, thus: Knowledge is not due to much narration of Hadith but due to much fear of Allah. And also by Hassan Basri, thus: The scholar is he who fears Allah though he has not seen Him, and turns to what is approved by Him and keeps away from what makes Him angry.
( 29 ) Indeed, those who recite the Book of Allah and establish prayer and spend [in His cause] out of what We have provided them, secretly and publicly, [can] expect a profit that will never perish
( 30 ) (a trade in which they have invested their all) so that Allah may pay them their wages in full and may add to them out of His Bounty. He is Most Forgiving, Most Appreciative.
Allah’s relation with the sincere believers is not that of a miserly master who checks his servant on trivialities and brings all his services and loyalties to naught on account of a minor error. But Allah is the Most Beneficent and Generous Master. He overlooks the errors of His obedient servant and appreciates whatever service he might be able to render.
( 31 ) And that which We have revealed to you, [O Muhammad], of the Book is the truth, confirming what was before it. Indeed, Allah, of His servants, is Acquainted and Seeing.
It means: This Book is not presenting anything new which might be opposed to the teaching brought by the former Prophets, but it is presenting the same eternal truth which all the Prophets have been presenting from the very beginning.
The object of mentioning these attributes of Allah here is to arouse the people to the aims and ideals in which their true well being lies, to the principles which alone can afford the right guidance and to the rules and regulations which are precisely in accordance with them. None can know these except Allah, because He alone is aware of the nature of His servants and its demands, and He alone watches over their well-being and affairs. The people do not know their own selves as much as their Creator knows them. Therefore, the truth is that, and can only be that, which He has taught by revelation.
( 32 ) Then we caused to inherit the Book those We have chosen of Our servants; and among them is he who wrongs himself, and among them is he who is moderate, and among them is he who is foremost in good deeds by permission of Allah. That [inheritance] is what is the great bounty.
This implies the Muslims, who have been sorted out from all mankind so that they may become heirs to the Book of Allah, and convey its message to others after the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Though this Book has been presented before all human beings, those who accepted it in the first instance, were chosen for the honor to become heirs to a great Book like the Quran and the trustees of the teaching and guidance imparted by a great Messenger like the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
It is stressed here that all Muslims are not alike but are divided into three classes:
(1) Those who believe sincerely and honestly that the Quran is the Book of Allah and Muhammad (peace be upon him) the Messenger of Allah, but in practical life they do not fully follow the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. They are believers but sinful; weak of faith but not hypocritical and unbelieving at heart. They still have been included among the chosen servants of Allah and among the heirs to the Book; otherwise, obviously the rebels and the hypocrites and the unbelieving people could not be so treated and honored. This class of the believers has been mentioned first of All because they are most numerous among the Muslims.
(2) Those following the middle course are those who fulfill the obligations of this inheritance to some extent but not fully. They are obedient as well as erring. They have not left their self altogether free but try as best as they can to turn it to Allah’s obedience. However, at times they give it undue freedom and become involved in sin. Thus, their life becomes a combination of both the good and the evil actions. They are less numerous than the first group but more than the third; that is why they have been mentioned second.
(3) Those excelling in good deeds: They are the people of the first rank among the heirs to the Book, and they are the ones who are doing full justice to the inheritance. They are in the forefront in following and adhering to the Book and the Sunnah; in conveying the message of God to His servants, in offering the sacrifices for the sake of the true faith, and in every pious and good work. They are not the ones who would commit a sin deliberately, but if they happened to commit a sin inadvertently, they would be filled with remorse as soon as they became conscious of it. They are less numerous than the people of the first two groups, and therefore, have been mentioned last, although they merit the first place in the matter of doing justice to the heritage of the Book of Allah.
If “the great bounty” is related with the last sentence, it would mean that to excel in good deeds is the great bounty, and the people who excel in good deeds are the best of the Muslim community. And if it is taken to be related with the first sentence, it would mean that to be a heir to the Book of Allah and to be chosen for this heritage is the great bounty, and the people who have been so chosen on account of their faith in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) are the best among the human beings created by Allah.
( 33 ) [For them are] gardens of perpetual residence which they will enter. They will be adorned therein with bracelets of gold and pearls, and their garments therein will be silk.
This shows that there is Paradise for all those who have believed in the Book, and Hell for all those who have refused to believe in it. The same has been supported by the Hadith of the Prophet (peace be upon him), which Imam Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim, Tabarani, Baihaqi and some other traditionalists have related on the authority of Abu ad- Darda. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said:
"Those who have excelled in good works shall enter Paradise without accountability; and those who are following the middle course, shall be subjected to accountability; but their accountability shall be light. As for those who have been unjust to themselves, they shall be detained throughout the long period of Resurrection and accountability (mahshar). Then Allah shall cover them also with His mercy. And they are the ones who will say: Thanks to Allah Who has removed sorrow from us. "
But from this one should not form the impression that those who have been unjust to themselves from among the Muslims will only be sentenced to be detained till the rising of the court, and none of them will go to Hell at all. Several crimes have been mentioned in the Quran and Hadith, whose perpetrator will go to Hell in spite of his faith. For instance, Allah Himself has declared that the believer who kills another believer willfully shall go to Hell. Likewise, Hell has been mentioned as the punishment of those people also who violate the provisions of the divine law of inheritance. Those who devour interest even after its prohibition have been declared to be the dwellers of Hell. Besides these, some other major sins have also been mentioned in Hadith, whose perpetrator shall go to Hell.
( 34 ) And they will say, "Praise to Allah, who has removed from us [all] sorrow. Indeed, our Lord is Forgiving and Appreciative -( 35 ) He who has settled us in the home of duration out of His bounty. There touches us not in it any fatigue, and there touches us not in it weariness [of mind]."
( 36 ) And for those who disbelieve will be the fire of Hell. [Death] is not decreed for them so they may die, nor will its torment be lightened for them. Thus do we recompense every ungrateful one.
“Who disbelieved”: Who have refused to believe in the Book which Allah has sent down on Muhammad (peace be upon him).
( 37 ) And they will cry out therein, "Our Lord, remove us; we will do righteousness - other than what we were doing!" But did We not grant you life enough for whoever would remember therein to remember, and the warner had come to you? So taste [the punishment], for there is not for the wrongdoers any helper.
This implies every such age of life in which a person may be able to distinguish between good and evil, truth and falsehood, if he likes to, and turn to right guidance instead of deviation, if he wishes. If a person has died before attaining such an age, he will not be called to any account according to this verse. However, the one who has attained this age will certainly be held answerable for his actions. Then, as long as he lives after attaining this age and gets more and more opportunities for choosing and adopting the right path, his responsibility also will increase accordingly; so much so that the one who does not adopt right guidance even in old age will have no chance left for making any excuse. This same thing has been reported by Abu Hurairah and Sahl bin Saad as-Saidi in a Hadith, saying: The one who lives a short life has an excuse to offer, but there is no room for making an excuse for him who lives for 60 years or more.” (Bukhari Ahmad, Nasai, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim).
Rukhu 5 [Verses 38-45] Verses 38-41 negate Shirk and emphasis that Allah has not sent any Book which has a provision of Shirk (worshiping any one else besides Allah):
( 38 ) Surely Allah knows the Unseen in the heavens and the earth. He even knows the secrets hidden in people's breasts.
( 39 ) It is He who has made you successors upon the earth. And whoever disbelieves - upon him will be [the consequence of] his disbelief. And the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them in the sight of their Lord except in hatred; and the disbelief of the disbelievers does not increase them except in loss.
The powers and authority that He has given to you over different things in the earth are not meant to make you the owners of these things but are meant to enable you to function as the representatives of their real Owner. And while Allah has delegated to you powers and authority as His vicegerents in the earth, if someone forgets this position of vicegerency and becomes independent, or he who adopts service of someone else, apart from his real Master, would see the evil end of his rebellious conduct himself.
( 40 ) Say, "Have you considered your 'partners' whom you invoke besides Allah? Show me what they have created from the earth, or have they partnership [with Him] in the heavens? Or have We given them a book so they are [standing] on evidence therefrom? [No], rather, the wrongdoers do not promise each other except delusion."
In essence this verse means that the religious guides, saints, priests, sorcerers, preachers and attendants of shrines and their agents are fooling the people for selfish motives, and are concocting stories to give them false hopes that if they became the followers of such and such personalities, apart from Allah, they would have all their wishes and needs fulfilled in the world, and all their sins, no matter-how grave and numerous, forgiven by Allah in the Hereafter.
( 41 ) Indeed, Allah holds the heavens and the earth, lest they cease. And if they should cease, no one could hold them [in place] after Him. Indeed, He is Forbearing and Forgiving.
That is, this limitless universe is being sustained by Allah alone. No angel, or jinn, or prophet, or saint can sustain it. Not to speak of sustaining the universe these helpless creatures do not even have the power to sustain their own selves. Each one of them is entirely dependent on Allah Almighty for his birth and survival every moment. To think that any one of them has any share in the attributes and powers of divinity is sheer folly and deception.
In the end of the verse, two attributes of Allah have been mentioned: Haleem and Ghafoor. These mean Allah’s Clemency and Forbearance that He is not seizing the culprits immediately in punishment in spite of All kinds of disobedience which are being shown towards Him.
The last verses 42-45 wrn that plotting evil recoil none but the author of it and If Allah was to punish people for their wrong doings, He would have not left even and animal around:
( 42 ) And they swore by Allah their strongest oaths that if a warner came to them, they would be more guided than [any] one of the [previous] nations. But when a warner came to them, it did not increase them except in aversion.
Before the advent of the Prophet (peace be upon him), the same thing used to be said by the Arabs, in general, and by the Quraish, in particular, when they witnessed the moral degeneration of the Jews and the Christians. Mention of this saying of theirs has also been made in( Surah Al-Anaam, Ayats 156-157) and in (Surah As-Saffat, Ayats 167-169).
( 43 ) [Due to] arrogance in the land and plotting of evil; but the evil plot does not encompass except its own people. Then do they await except the way of the former peoples? But you will never find in the way of Allah any change, and you will never find in the way of Allah any alteration.
It is the Law of Allah that the nation which repudiates its Prophet, is destroyed should be applied in their case as well.
In the final verse, three of Allah's attributes have been mentioned: Aleem, Qadeer and Baseer:
( 44 ) Have they not traveled through the land and observed how was the end of those before them? And they were greater than them in power. But Allah is not to be caused failure by anything in the heavens or on the earth. Indeed, He is ever Knowing and Competent.
( 45 ) And if Allah were to impose blame on the people for what they have earned, He would not leave upon the earth any creature. But He defers them for a specified term. And when their time comes, then indeed Allah has ever been, of His servants, Seeing.
For details on attributes of Allah used in this surah, please refer to our compilation of 99 Attributes of Allah.
You may now like to listen to Arabic recitation of Surah Fāṭir with English subtitles:
You may refer to our post "114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of other chapters (Though not complete but building up from 30th Juzʼ / Part backwards for chapters in 30th Juzʼ / Part are shorter and easier to understand).
Photo | References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 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. However, the exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran are basically 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. 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.
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook Follow @IslamUltimate
Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.
