لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Part 51
Sura Inshiqaq 84:16-25
16. "But nay! I swear by the glow of
the sunset,"
17. "And by the night and that which
it gathers together (in one herd)".
18. "And the moon when it grows
full,"
19. "That you shall most certainly
enter one stage after another."
20. "What then is the matter with
them that they do not believe?"
21. "And when the Qur'an is recited
to them they do not fail prostrate"
22. "Nay, those who disbelieve reject
(it)."
23. "And Allah knows best what they
keep secret (in their breasts)."
24. "So announce to them a painful
punishment,"
25. "Except those who believe and
work righteous deeds: for them is a reward unending."
Commentary:
You
Are Continuously Changing.
After the
description of Man's development, stage by stage, unto his Lord that we had
discussed in the former verses, we will see a conformation of the same fact,
with more details, in the following verses. It says: "But Nay! I swear
by the glow of the sunset," "And by the night, and that which it gathers
together (in one herd)". "And the moon when it grows full," "That you
shall most certainly enter one stage after another."
The word /
la / in the term /fa-la-uqsimu/ is expletive and is used for emphasis, here.
The term
/ŝafaq/, here, as Raqib cites in Mufradat, means 'redness' of the
sky after sunset which mixes with the darkness of nightfall.
Fakhr - i -
Razi believes that the term /ŝafaq/ originally means 'thinness',
and therefore, a very thin dress is called /ŝafaq/ and /ŝafaqat/ is
used in the case of one having a 'thin' heart. (But, Raqib's statement
seems to be more appropriate).
In any case,
Allah swears by it to make everyone think about this beautiful natural
phenomenon, because 'sunset' announces a deep revelation in the world,
that is, the day ends and the night begins, and also, it is the time of the
sunset prayer; 'Maghrib'.
To swear by
the night is for the reason that night is a hiding place for secrets and
mysteries.
The term
/wasaq/, conveying the meaning of 'to gather together (in one herd)',
points to one of the great secrets of the night. At nightfall all the wandering
flocks and herds come home. The men that had scattered abroad, for their
livelihood, return home to rest and sleep. The night collects them in their
homes. This idea is also carried in Sura Mo'min. No. 40, verse 61 when
it says: "It is Allah who has made the Night for you, that you may rest
therein...".
The moon and
its glorious silver light, especially when it is full at night, is one of
Allah's signs and that is why He swears by it.
It is
interesting to note that these four parts point to the cases and varieties that
continually occur in the created world: the sun sets, its redness appears in
the sky, living creatures rush to their home, and the moon rises in full. It
should be noted that on the night before the fourteenth day of the month, the
moon rises from the beginning of the night, by which these oaths are said, and
that is a basis for the verse: "That you shall most certainly enter one stage
after another", which illustrates the different states in the life of
Man.
There are
various commentaries for this sentence. Some of them are as follows:
1. Man travels and ascends, stage by stage,
towards the Absolute perfection. He strives hard; first in this world, then in
the partition and then in Resurrection, with the different states that
they have.
2. Man has different stages of development,
from the time he is the sperm form, until death. They are considered about
thirty seven stages by some people.
3. Man bears various opposites in his life: health and sickness,
chess and happiness, hardship and ease, war and peace.
4. Man will face many different hard
situations in the Hereafter until he receives the consequence of his
reckoning; Heaven or Hell.
5. In ancient times people had many varieties
of pleasant and unpleasant adventures; or that the unbelieving people among the
Muslim community displayed various denials and rejections of Islam. This idea
is said to be narrated from Imam Sadiq (p.b.u.h.).
All the
above commentaries are possible, of course, and the verse may refer to all of
them together.
In any
event, the occurrence of these states to Man and the lack of constancy in his
position, on the one hand, is an evidence to the fact at he is 'a created
thing' and necessarily has a Creator, because every changeable thing is a
creature and all creatures have a Creator; and on the other hand, it is an
evidence to the lack of immortality for this world; also it is a sign for Man's
constant movement and development toward his Lord, to the Resurrection; as was
mentioned in verse 6: "0 man! Surely you are ever toiling on towards
your Lord; painfully toiling, until you meet Him." Then, as a general
consequence it inquires: "What then is the matter with them that they do not
believe?" How can they ignore the immense gifts and benefits they have from
Allah? They have clear evidences and signs for theism, theology and Resurrection,
both in outer nature like day and night, sun and moon, light and darkness,
sunrise and sunset with its redness; and inner nature from the mother's womb in
the form of sperm; to other stages one after another until death, but they do
not believe. Why do they not accept of Allah's grace instead of disputing about
it?
Then it
turns from the creation to the revelation and says: "And when the Qur'an is
recited to them they do not fall prostrate." The Holy Qur'an is so bright
and clear that it is a good evidence for itself and that its content is from
the Divine source. ' Prostrate ', here, means ' humble gratitude to
Allah ', and ' to fall prostrate ' which is the act of putting the
forehead on the ground for the prayer, is one of the examples of this general
sense. Perhaps for the same reason, as it is narrated, when the Prophet (p.b.u.h.)
recited these verses he fell prostrate.
"Nay, those
who disbelieve reject (it)." The verb form used in the Arabic text, which is usually applied
in a continuous case, shows their constant rejection. That constancy was not because
of the revelation being inadequate, but it was based on their blind imitation
of their father's behaviour and following their own interests and their lusts.
"And Allah
knows best what they keep secret (in their breasts)". Allah is aware of their thoughts and
aims, and, also, of the motives causing those constant rejections. Then,
whatever more they keep secret, finally He will punish them.
The term /
yu'un/ is derived from / wi'a'/ 'container'. The very word is used in a
statement narrated from Hazrat Ali (p.b.u.h.) in Nahj-ul-Balagha which
says: "Verily these hearts are containers. The best of them is that which
has a better ability to preserve its contents and a bigger capacity to hold
more".
"So give
them tiding of a painful punishment".
The term
/baŝŝir/ is usually used for 'announcing good news' but,
sometimes, it is used ironically. The believers are informed of the immense
blessings of Heaven while blame is put on the unbelievers and causes them to be
regretful and begrudging.
In the last
verse of this Sura, the fate of those good-doers from among the believers is
again mentioned as an exception where it says: "Except those who believe and
work righteous deeds: for them is a reward unending."
The term /
mamnun / is derived from / mann / which means both 'cease' and 'decline'
and also 'indebtedness'. The word /manun/ 'death' is, also,
based on it. All these senses may be understood from the term, in this verse,
because, inspite of the blessings in this human world, which are diminishable
and ever changing and often mixed with undesired consequences or indebtedness
given by this person or that person, the blessings of that spiritual world are
followed by no indebtedness, declension or undesired consequences.
This
exception is apparently joined to the earlier descriptions, about the
unbelievers in the former verses, in order to give a way to the disbelievers
and to say that certainly that painful punishment will be removed from those
who repent and believe and do good and they will given a Reward that will never
fail.
Explanation:
The late '
Tabarsi ' in 'MaJma'-al-Bayan' has rendered the last verses of this Sura to
mean 'free-will', since it is not praiseworthy for Allah, the Wisest, to
blame those who do not fall prostrate and believe, when they are forced to.
And, when it says: "What then is the matter with them that they do not
believe?", "And when the Qur'an is recited to them they do not fall prostrate",
is a clear evidence for 'free-will'
. Again, blame for leaving the prostration is a reason for the fact that
the disbelievers should not only follow the primary Principles of religion,
but, also should perform the secondary precepts of religion, as well.
Supplication:
O Lord! Take
our reckoning easy on the Day when all attend at Your Judgment.
O Lord! Help
us to go the Right Path when all human beings are ever toiling on towards You
until they meet You.
O Lord! We
have obeyed Your Message, the Holy Qur'an, bestow on us the grace to act
accordingly.
The End
Sura lnshiqaq
(The Rending Asunder)
