لطفا منتظر باشید ...
Part 30
Sura 'Abasa 80:11-23
11. "Nay surely it is an
admonishment,"
12. "So let him who pleases
mind it,"
13. "(It is) in Books held
(greatly) in honor,"
14. "Exalted (in dignity)
kept pure and holy,"
15. "In the hand of
scribes,"
16. "Honorable and pious and
just,"
17. "Cursed be man! How
ungrateful is he"
18. "Of what thing did He
create him?"
19. "Of a sperm-drop
He created him, then molded him in due proportions;"
20. "Then He made the way
easy for him,"
21. "Then He caused him to
die, then assigned to him a grave,"
22. "Then, when it is His
will, He will raise him to life again,"
23. "Nay, but (man) has not
done what He commanded him".
Commentary:
Only
the Purified Ones Can Touch the Qur'an.
In
connection with the aforementioned verses, which spoke about admonishing the
one who was unmindful of a truth-seeking blind man, these verses are
about the importance of the Qur'an, its pure origin, and the efficient effect
it has on individuals.
Advising
the one who was unmindful not to repeat this action again, it says: "Nay,
surely it is an admonishment."
'You'
do not need to pay attention to those who are, apparently, gifted and self-sufficient
and are, subsequently, proud, while neglecting the purified oppressed.
It,
is, also probable that the verse: "Nay, surely it is an admonishment"
could be an answer to all accusations the pagans and the enemies of Islam
uttered about the Qur'an. They called it 'a poetry', 'a magic',
and sometimes 'a kind of soothsaying'. The Qur'an demands that none of
them are right, but that these verses of Qur'an are reminders for
acknowledgment, awareness and faith. It contains the proofs and documents in
itself. The people who approach it can get the facts, themselves, except its
enemies.
"So
let him who pleases, mind it".
This
points to both the lack of obligation, and an evidence to exercise of free-will
for everyone - that is, no one can obtain its merits unless one wishes to
and makes the decision to follow its guidance.
"(It
is) in Books held (greatly) in honor,"
The
term /suhuf/ is the plural form of / sahifah / which means 'tablet' or 'sheet'
or 'anything on which something can be written'. This shows that the
verses of Qur'an had been written on some tablets before they were revealed to
the Prophet (p.b.u.h), and the angels of revelation possessed them, therefore,
it means that the tablets were in a very high position.
Some
views have held that /suhuf/ means 'the Books of earlier prophets
(p.b.u.th.),' which does not seem agreeable with its pre and post verses.
Some have also said that it means 'the Preserved Tablet', but this idea
does not seem suitable, either, because /suhuf/ is in a plural form and has not
been used in the form of 'the Preserved Tablet'.
"Exalted
(in dignify) kept pure and holy".
It
is beyond the reach of the aberrant ones; they cannot distort it; it is pure
and kept far from tainted hands. Finally, it is pure from any contradiction,
discrepancy and doubt.
Moreover,
they are: "In the hand of scribes," who are: "Honorable and pious and
just." The term /safarah/ is the plural form of / safir / based on /safar/,
which originally means 'to unveil a matter or a thing', so, one who
comes unto people with a special mission; to remove their difficulties and
uncover the ambiguous matters for them is called /safir/ 'an ambassador'.
A writer is also called /safir/ since he or she uncovers the meaning of a
matter.
Therefore,
/safarah/ means 'the Divine angels who reveal Messages or write them down'.
A
narration from Imam Sadiq (p.b.u.h.) says: "One who learns the whole Qur'an
by heart and acts accordingly is with the scribes, honorable and pious and
just".
This
clearly shows that those who know the Qur'an by heart, commentators, and those
who act according to its instructions are in the same rank as the scribes. And
it is a fact that when scholars and those who learn the Qur'an by heart, or
preserve it, do something similar to what the angels and bringers of revelation
do, then, they should be counted among them.
It
is understood that, on the whole, any Muslim who tries to protect and keep the
Holy Qur'an alive deserves a position as high as that of the 'honorable and
pious angels'.
The
term / kiram / is the plural form of / karim / which means 'honorable, or
beneficent' and refers to the greatness of the angels of revelation. It is
sometimes said that it refers to their pureness of any sin, as Sura
Anbiya, No. 21,
verses 26-27 say about the angels: "...Nay, they are honored
servants, "They do not precede Him in speech and (only) according to His
commandment do they act".
The
term /bararah/ is the plural form of /bar/ based on /bar/ which originally
means 'vastness', then, 'a vast land' is called /barr/, and since
good people's generosity is vast and benefits many others, they are called
/bar/.
The
term 'pious' used in this verse, of course, means 'obedient to His
Command' and 'sinlessness'. Thus Allah characterizes the angels in three ways: first, they
are His agents for His revelations, second, they are naturally pious and
honorable; and third, they are pure, obedient and sinless.
Though
there are so many signs of guidance from Allah in His 'Books held (greatly) in honor' containing
all kinds of reminders revealed by the angels, the ungrateful Man does not
resign himself to Him, hence, it says: "Cursed
be man! how ungrateful is he!"
The
term /kufr/, may mean 'disbelief' or 'ingratitude' or 'any
covering and denial of Allah', which can be suitable,
here, because, in the last verses it refers to the signs of guidance and
faithfulness, and in the next verses it mentions the different kinds of
blessings from Allah.
In
any case, the objective point of "Cursed be man!" is to
express an intensive hatred toward the ungrateful ones.
Since
the origin of disobedience and ungratefulness is generally pride, then to break
it, the next verse says:
"Of what
thing did He create him?"
"Of a sperm-drop
He created him, then molded him in due
proportions".
Why
does Man not think about the origin of his creation? Why does he forget his
main source? Moreover, why does he not take note of Allah's ability in the creation of this strange creature
from a sperm-drop? If he contemplated on his creation from a sperm-drop
and, then, about the formation of his body and its limbs, and his faculties and
abilities and even his necessities of
life being in a suitable proportion, it could be the best guidance for his theological and divine knowledge.
The
term / qaddarahu/, 'He molded him in due proportions' is based on
/taqdir/ which means 'the act of measuring and well-balancing'.
We
know that there are more than twenty metals and metalloids in the human body,
each of which is at a determined level from the point of quantity and quality.
If these levels change to a lower or a higher degree, the regularity of the
body's chemistry will be disturbed. Besides this, the condition of the body's structure
and the relations between its organs, have exact limits. The intellect and instincts hidden in an
individual, alone, and in human beings, all together, must be in a special
arrangement to provide for Man's happiness.
Allah is He Who fulfilled all the
above proportions for the worthless life-germ in the form of a sperm-drop.
The life-germ is so small that if we gathered, together, as many of them
as the number of human beings, which exists today, they would not amount to a
thimbleful. Yes, He designed so many colorful characteristics and
embellishments on and in such a slight, tiny particle, and from this created a
creature such as Man.
The
term / taqdir / has been defined as: 'to make ready' by some
commentators. It is also probable that the meaning of / taqdir / is 'to make
the unworthy life-germ powerful'. How great is the Creator Who makes
this feeble substance so powerful; Who puts the sky, the earth and the seas at
his disposal, and enables him to conquer all the forces of his surroundings.
Of
course, all three of the above comments can be considered, together, also.
"Then
He made the way easy for him"
.
Allah made the way for the fetus
to develop in its mother's womb, and then made the way for moving to this
world, easy for Man.
One
of the wonders of Man's birth is that a few moments before the time of nativity
the child is so located in the mother's womb that usually its head is right side up, its face is to the
mother's back and its feet are toward
the down side of the womb; but when the time of birth comes, the
child turns upside down so that its
head is downwards, and this very position
makes the birth easier for both the child and its mother. There are, of
course, exceptions where some children are born under various complications
and, therefore, their mothers encounter many difficulties.
Allah has made everything easy
for him: after his birth he grows during his childhood, then his human
instincts grow, and after that he grows along the path of faith and spiritual
perfection by way of guidance from the prophets (p.b.u.th.) and by his own
reasoning.
"Then
He made the way easy for him". What a completely meaningful and interesting
sentence this is! It is very short, but it alludes to so many facts!
Another
point which is noteworthy is that it says: "Then He made the way easy
for him". It does not say: 'Then He forced him to go the way'. This is an emphasis, again, on Man's free-will.
Further,
it declares the end of Man's life and says: "Then He caused him to die,
then assigned to him a grave".
Surely,
the act of 'putting to death' belongs to Allah, but the act of covering the corpse, in a grave,
apparently belongs to Man, however, the required intelligence, for this action
and, also, the other necessary means for it have been supplied by Allah, and that is why the
assigning of a grave has been attributed to Allah too.
Some
commentators have also said that the objective point of attributing the action
to Allah is that He has created a
grave for Man which is under the ground, while some others have thought of it
as a religious instruction, from Allah, about the burial of
corpses.
One
of the graces of Allah to human beings is the very
burial of corpses. If they did not know what to do with their corpses or if
there were not any instructions issued about the burial of corpses, the corpses
would humiliatingly remain putrid on the ground, and the beasts and birds would
feast on them, which would be a horrible debasement. Therefore, Allah's graces are bestowed on Man;
not only during his lifetime, but even after his death.
Moreover,
the instruction for burying the corpses of people (after the ceremonial bath,
shroud, and prayer) is an inspirational one, because it is to say that the dead bodies of human beings
must be purified and respected, even
more than their live ones, because live people have the responsibility of keeping themselves pure.
Another
noteworthy point is that the situation of death, in this verse, is counted
among the blessings of Allah. This is really true if we
care to understand, because, first, death is a release from the troubles and
imperfections of this world and a close to the probationary period. After which
will dawn the full Reality in a world so much broader than this
world. Secondly, the death of the
present generations makes room for the later generations, and causes Mankind to
continue to live and to improve, or else
the human population would reach such extremes that would be impossible
for them to live on Earth.
It
is interesting that this very idea is delicately mentioned in Sura Rahman, No. 55, verse 26-28 thus: "Everything on earth will pass away;"
"And there will endure the Face of your
Lord, the Lord of Glory and Honor." "Then which of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?".
There,
again, according to these verses, death is one of the great gifts from Allah.
Yes,
the world, with all its blessings, is a prison for a believer. Moving from this
world to the next world is a release from this prison. Besides, the abundance
of blessings, in this world, sometimes causes people to neglect their position,
then, the remembrance of death may awaken them, therefore, from this point of
view, too, it is a blessing. If all of the past events of life were always
alive, it would certainly be tiresome to continue it, but the immortal life, on
the contrary, will be thoroughly full of joy and happiness.
Then,
our attention is turned to the Resurrection of the human race, and, it says: "Then
when it is His will, He will raise him to life again."
The
term / inŝaraha / is based on / inŝar / which means 'to spread
abroad after gathering'. It is an interesting point which shows that the
life of Man is totally gathered up by death, but it will be spread out, again,
through Resurrection in a higher and greater environment.
It
is worthy to note that for 'death' and for 'burial' it says: "Then
He caused him to die, then assigned to him a grave", but for
Resurrection it says: "When it is His will, He will raise him to life
again" and this makes it clear that no one knows the time of the Great
Event (The Resurrection), but, it is only Allah, Who knows it, and death is an inevitable event
where everyone, after living a willy-nilly natural life, will die.
The
last verse of this group says that although these blessings and stages have
been provided by Allah's grace, for the good of Man,
(from the time he was a lowly sperm-drop to the time he arrived in this
world and went on the path of growth and, finally, passed away and was covered
with dust in the grave), unregenerate Man fails in carrying out the purpose of
his creation and life:
"Nay,
but (man) has not done what He commanded him".
The
term / lamma / is usually used with a negative meaning when something is still
expected. It touches on this sense that Man, having these divine gifts and the
means of guidance, is expected to be earnest m obeying Allah and acting on His commands,
but surprisingly he has not done it yet.
The
following are two different ideas about the meaning of the term 'man' used in this verse:
The
first idea says that it alludes to the persons who go the path of
ungratefulness, denial, and injustice and corresponds with Sura
Ibrahim, No. 14, verse 34 which says: "... most
surely man is very unjust, very ungrateful."
The
second idea says that it refers to all of Mankind, because no one (irrespective of believers and unbelievers)
has accurately carried out what Allah has commanded him to do, to
the extent that it deserves the greatness of His glory and dignity; as a
Persian poem says:
Servants of Allah should ask Him to excuse them
for their
short comings.
Else, no one
is able to do according to his Lordship.
