🕋 تفسير سورة الصافات
(As-Saffat) • المصدر: EN-AL-JALALAYN
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَالصَّافَّاتِ صَفًّا
📘 By those who are ranged in ranks — by the angels who range their souls in worship or their wings in the air awaiting their orders;
إِلَّا مَنْ خَطِفَ الْخَطْفَةَ فَأَتْبَعَهُ شِهَابٌ ثَاقِبٌ
📘 except him who snatches a fragment al-khatfa is the verbal noun that is to say ‘that one time’; the exceptive clause refers to the subject of the verb yasma‘ūna in other words ‘the only devil that is able to listen is the one that hears a word from the angels and snatches it away quickly’ and who is then pursued by a piercing flame shihāb is a meteor that pierces him or burns him or robs him of his senses.
رَبِّ هَبْ لِي مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
📘 My Lord! Grant me a child of the righteous’.
فَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِغُلَامٍ حَلِيمٍ
📘 So We gave him the good tidings of a forbearing son.
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَىٰ فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانْظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَىٰ ۚ قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ ۖ سَتَجِدُنِي إِنْ شَاءَ اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ
📘 And when he was old enough to walk with him that is to go about with him and help him out — this is said to have been either at the age of seven or at the age of thirteen — he said ‘O my dear son I see that is I have seen in a dream that I shall sacrifice you — and the visions of prophets are always true and their actions are inspired by the command of God exalted be He. So see what you think’ of this dream. He consulted him so that he his son might accept the idea of being sacrificed and comply with the command for it. He said ‘O my father the final tā’ in abati replaces the yā’ of the genitive possessive annexation yā abī do whatever you have been commanded to do. You shall find me God willing of the steadfast’ in this affair.
فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ
📘 And when they had both submitted when they had submitted to and were prepared to comply with God’s command exalted be He and he had laid him down on his forehead when he had pushed him down to the ground thereon — every human being has two brows jabīn between which is the forehead jabha; this was at Minā. Abraham passed the knife across his son’s throat but it did not do anything by some impediment of the Divine Power
وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ
📘 We called to him ‘O Abraham!
قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا ۚ إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
📘 Verily you have fulfilled the vision’ by what you have done in that you were able to go through with the act of sacrifice. In other words that which you have done suffices for you as redemption the statement nādaynāhu ‘We called to him’ is the response to the lammā ‘when’ so that the wāw in wa-nādaynāhu ‘We called to him’ is extra. So in the same way that We have rewarded you do We reward those who are virtuous to their own souls in obeying the Command of God by removing from them their distress.
إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلَاءُ الْمُبِينُ
📘 Truly this sacrifice to which he was commanded was indeed a clear test’ that is to say the ultimate test of faith.
وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ
📘 Then We ransomed him the one whom he had been commanded to sacrifice namely Ishmael or Isaac — two different opinions — with a mighty sacrifice a mighty ram from Paradise the same one that Abel had offered as as sacrifice Gabriel peace be upon him brought it and the lord Abraham sacrificed it as he cried Allāhu akbar ‘God is Great’.
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ
📘 And We left We preserved for him among posterity fair praise namely
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ إِبْرَاهِيمَ
📘 ‘Peace from Us be to Abraham!’
فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَهُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمْ مَنْ خَلَقْنَا ۚ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاهُمْ مِنْ طِينٍ لَازِبٍ
📘 So ask them in other words inquire of the people of Mecca for affirmation or by way of rebuke Are they stronger as a creation or those others whom We created? of angels heavens the two earths and all that is in them the use of man ‘those whom’ in man khalaqnā indicates that the reference is predominantly to other rational creatures. Indeed We created them that is their origin Adam from a viscous clay that sticks to the hand. The intended meaning is that their physical make-up is fragile so let them not behave arrogantly by rejecting the Prophet and the Qur’ān a fact which will result in their — easily accomplished — destruction.
كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
📘 So in way that We rewarded him do We reward those who are virtuous to their own souls.
إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 Indeed he is one of Our faithful servants.
وَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِإِسْحَاقَ نَبِيًّا مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
📘 And We gave him the good tidings of the birth of Isaac — some have argued that this proves that the one who was sacrificed was not him Isaac — a prophet nabiyyan is a future circumstantial qualifier that is to say ‘he will come to be with his prophethood decreed one of the righteous.
وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَىٰ إِسْحَاقَ ۚ وَمِنْ ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ
📘 And We blessed him by multiplying his descendants and Isaac his son We also blessed by appointing the majority of prophets from among his progeny. And among their descendants is he who is virtuous he who is a believer and he who plainly wrongs his soul he who is a disbeliever whose disbelief is manifest.
وَلَقَدْ مَنَنَّا عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ
📘 And verily We favoured Moses and Aaron with prophethood
وَنَجَّيْنَاهُمَا وَقَوْمَهُمَا مِنَ الْكَرْبِ الْعَظِيمِ
📘 and We delivered them and their people the Children of Israel from the great distress namely Pharaoh’s enslavement of them.
وَنَصَرْنَاهُمْ فَكَانُوا هُمُ الْغَالِبِينَ
📘 And We helped them against the Egyptians so that they became the victors.
وَآتَيْنَاهُمَا الْكِتَابَ الْمُسْتَبِينَ
📘 And We gave them the enlightening scripture the one whose statements concerning prescribed punishments and rulings and otherwise are excellently expressed — this is the Torah.
وَهَدَيْنَاهُمَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ
📘 And We guided them to the straight path the straight way
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِمَا فِي الْآخِرِينَ
📘 and We left We preserved for them among posterity fair praise namely
بَلْ عَجِبْتَ وَيَسْخَرُونَ
📘 Nay but bal is for effecting a transition from one object to another which in this case is to inform of his state and theirs you marvel ‘ajibta addressing the Prophet s that is you marvel that they deny you while they engage in ridicule at your marvelling
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ مُوسَىٰ وَهَارُونَ
📘 ‘Peace from Us be to Moses and Aaron!’
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
📘 So just as We rewarded them both do We reward the virtuous.
إِنَّهُمَا مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 Indeed both were among Our faithful servants.
وَإِنَّ إِلْيَاسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 And truly Elias read wa-inna Ilyās with the initial hamza or without wa-inna’l-yāsa was also one of the messengers. Some think that this Elias was the son of Aaron’s brother — Aaron the brother of Moses; but some say that this Elias was some other person who was sent to the people living in and around Baalbak.
إِذْ قَالَ لِقَوْمِهِ أَلَا تَتَّقُونَ
📘 When idh is dependent because of an implicit verb udhkur ‘mention’ he said to his people ‘Will you not fear God?
أَتَدْعُونَ بَعْلًا وَتَذَرُونَ أَحْسَنَ الْخَالِقِينَ
📘 Do you call on Baal — this was the name of an idol of theirs which was made of gold from which the name of their city derives with the addition of the suffix bak — that is to say do you worship him and abandon the Best of Creators and not worship Him
اللَّهَ رَبَّكُمْ وَرَبَّ آبَائِكُمُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
📘 God your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers?’ read as predicates allāhu rabbukum and rabbu in the nominative because of the implicit omitted huwa being the subject; or read allāha rabbakum and rabba in the accusative as supplements to ahsana ‘the best of’.
فَكَذَّبُوهُ فَإِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ
📘 But they denied him. So they will indeed be arraigned in the Fire
إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
📘 — all except God’s delivered servants namely the believers who will be saved from it
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ
📘 and We left for him among posterity fair praise namely
وَإِذَا ذُكِّرُوا لَا يَذْكُرُونَ
📘 and even when they are reminded when they are admonished with the Qur’ān they are not mindful they do not heed the admonition
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ إِلْ يَاسِينَ
📘 ‘Peace from Us be to Elias!’. It is said that this ilyāsīn is the same Elias mentioned above; but it is also said that this denotes him together with all those who were believers with him and so they have been coupled under the same term with him being the predominant as when one might say al-Muhallabūn ‘the Muhallabids’ to mean al-Muhallab and his folk; a variant reading has āl yāsīn by which is meant his family as well as Elias himself.
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
📘 Indeed so — just as We rewarded him — do We reward the virtuous.
إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 Truly he is one of Our faithful servants.
وَإِنَّ لُوطًا لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 And indeed Lot was one of the messengers;
إِذْ نَجَّيْنَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ أَجْمَعِينَ
📘 mention when We delivered him together with all his family
إِلَّا عَجُوزًا فِي الْغَابِرِينَ
📘 except an old woman who was among those who stayed behind in other words those who stayed behind in the chastisement.
ثُمَّ دَمَّرْنَا الْآخَرِينَ
📘 Then We destroyed all the others the disbelievers from among his people.
وَإِنَّكُمْ لَتَمُرُّونَ عَلَيْهِمْ مُصْبِحِينَ
📘 And indeed you pass by them by their remains and the remains of their dwellings during your travels both in the morning that is during the daytime
وَبِاللَّيْلِ ۗ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ
📘 and at night will you O people of Mecca not then understand? what befell them and so take heed therefrom?
وَإِنَّ يُونُسَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 And indeed Jonah was one of the messengers;
وَإِذَا رَأَوْا آيَةً يَسْتَسْخِرُونَ
📘 and when they see a sign such as the splitting of the moon cf. Q. 541 they make it an object of ridicule they deride it.
إِذْ أَبَقَ إِلَى الْفُلْكِ الْمَشْحُونِ
📘 when he fled to the laden ship — after he became furious with his people as the chastisement which he had promised them did not come down on them; so he boarded the ship which then stopped out in the deep sea. The seamen said ‘There is a runaway slave here upon this ship who has fled from his master a casting of lots should expose him!’
فَسَاهَمَ فَكَانَ مِنَ الْمُدْحَضِينَ
📘 Then he drew lots with the passengers on the ship and was of those rejected of the losers in the draw and so they threw him into the sea.
فَالْتَقَمَهُ الْحُوتُ وَهُوَ مُلِيمٌ
📘 Then the whale swallowed him while he was blameworthy that is while he was guilty of a blameworthy thing having gone to sea and embarked the ship without his Lord’s permission.
فَلَوْلَا أَنَّهُ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُسَبِّحِينَ
📘 And had he not been one of those who glorify God that is to say those who make remembrance of God for inside the whale’s belly he was repeatedly saying the words ‘There is no god except You. Glory be to You! I have indeed been one of the wrongdoers’ Q. 2187
لَلَبِثَ فِي بَطْنِهِ إِلَىٰ يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ
📘 he would have tarried in its belly until the day when they are raised in other words the whale’s belly would have been his tomb until the Day of Resurrection.
۞ فَنَبَذْنَاهُ بِالْعَرَاءِ وَهُوَ سَقِيمٌ
📘 Then We cast him We flung him out of the belly of the whale onto the barren land onto the face of the earth that is onto the shore on that same day — or three or seven or twenty or forty days later — and he was sick ailing like a newly-born featherless chick.
وَأَنْبَتْنَا عَلَيْهِ شَجَرَةً مِنْ يَقْطِينٍ
📘 And We made a gourd plant to grow above him to provide shade for him with its stem which is not the case usually with gourds as a miracle for him; a mountain goat would come to him in the morning and in the evening and he would drink its milk until he finally regained his strength.
وَأَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ مِائَةِ أَلْفٍ أَوْ يَزِيدُونَ
📘 And We sent him afterwards — as We had done before to a people in Nineveh in the region of Mosul — to a community of a hundred thousand or in fact more — a community of twenty thirty or seventy thousand.
فَآمَنُوا فَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ
📘 And they believed after they saw with their own eyes the chastisement which they had been promised. So We gave them comfort We kept them alive to enjoy their wealth for a while until their terms of life would be concluded while they took comfort therein.
فَاسْتَفْتِهِمْ أَلِرَبِّكَ الْبَنَاتُ وَلَهُمُ الْبَنُونَ
📘 So ask them inquire of the Meccan disbelievers by way of reproach are daughters to be for your Lord after their claim that the angels were God’s daughters while sons are to be for them? so that the best becomes exclusively theirs?
وَقَالُوا إِنْ هَٰذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ
📘 And they say regarding it ‘This is nothing but manifest sorcery — and they say in denial of the Resurrection —
أَمْ خَلَقْنَا الْمَلَائِكَةَ إِنَاثًا وَهُمْ شَاهِدُونَ
📘 Or did We create the angels females while they were witnesses? to Our act of creation that they might then say such a thing?
أَلَا إِنَّهُمْ مِنْ إِفْكِهِمْ لَيَقُولُونَ
📘 Lo! it is indeed out of their own mendacity their own lies that they say
وَلَدَ اللَّهُ وَإِنَّهُمْ لَكَاذِبُونَ
📘 ‘God has begotten’ when they say that the angels are God’s daughters. And verily they are liars in this respect.
أَصْطَفَى الْبَنَاتِ عَلَى الْبَنِينَ
📘 Has He preferred daughters to sons? read a’stafā ‘has He preferred’ indicating an interrogative hamza which stands in place of the omitted conjunctive hamza.
مَا لَكُمْ كَيْفَ تَحْكُمُونَ
📘 What is wrong with you? How do you judge? how do you make such a depraved judgement?
أَفَلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ
📘 Will you not then remember? tadhakkarūna the tā’ of tatadhakkarūna has been assimilated with the dhāl that He glory be to Him is exalted above having a child?
أَمْ لَكُمْ سُلْطَانٌ مُبِينٌ
📘 Or do you have a clear warrant? plain definitive proof that God has a child?
فَأْتُوا بِكِتَابِكُمْ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ
📘 Then produce your scripture the Torah and show Me this as it is mentioned in it if you are being truthful about this statement of yours.
وَجَعَلُوا بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَ الْجِنَّةِ نَسَبًا ۚ وَلَقَدْ عَلِمَتِ الْجِنَّةُ إِنَّهُمْ لَمُحْضَرُونَ
📘 And they namely the idolaters have set up between Him exalted be He and the jinn namely the angels jinna they are so called because they are hidden ijtinān from vision a kinship by saying that they are God’s daughters while the jinn certainly know that they that is those who say this shall indeed be arraigned into the Fire to be chastised therein.
سُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
📘 Glory be to God affirming that He is exalted above what they attribute to Him in the way of His having a child
أَإِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَإِنَّا لَمَبْعُوثُونَ
📘 When we are dead and have become dust and bones shall we indeed be resurrected? In both places sc. a-idhā and a-innā either pronounce both hamzas or read without pronouncing the second one and inserting an alif between them in both cases.
إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
📘 — all except God’s devoted servants namely believers the exceptive clause here is discontinuous in other words that is because they declare that God transcends what such individuals attribute to Him.
فَإِنَّكُمْ وَمَا تَعْبُدُونَ
📘 For indeed you and what you worship of idols
مَا أَنْتُمْ عَلَيْهِ بِفَاتِنِينَ
📘 — you cannot tempt anyone thereto that is to incline to your worshipped idols ‘alayhi ‘thereto’ is semantically connected to His saying bi-fātinīna ‘you cannot tempt’
إِلَّا مَنْ هُوَ صَالِ الْجَحِيمِ
📘 except him who will burn in Hell in God’s knowledge exalted be He.
وَمَا مِنَّا إِلَّا لَهُ مَقَامٌ مَعْلُومٌ
📘 Gabriel said to the Prophet s And there is not one of us us the company of angels but has a known station in the heavens in which he worships God and which he does not transgress.
وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الصَّافُّونَ
📘 And indeed it is we who are the rangers of our feet in prayer.
وَإِنَّا لَنَحْنُ الْمُسَبِّحُونَ
📘 And indeed it is we who give glory it is we who declare that God transcends what does not befit Him.
وَإِنْ كَانُوا لَيَقُولُونَ
📘 And indeed in is softened in place of the hardened one they the Meccan disbelievers used to say
لَوْ أَنَّ عِنْدَنَا ذِكْرًا مِنَ الْأَوَّلِينَ
📘 ‘If we had but a reminder a scripture from the ancients that is from among the scriptures of past communities
لَكُنَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
📘 we would have surely been God’s devoted servants’ devoting worship purely to Him.
أَوَآبَاؤُنَا الْأَوَّلُونَ
📘 And our forefathers too?’ read aw ābā’unā indicating a supplement; or read a-wa-ābā’unā as an interrogative effecting the supplement with the wāw; so that what is being supplemented is either the inna together with its subject sc. a-inna la-mab‘ūthūna or the subject of the verb la-mab‘ūthūna in which case the interrogative hamza is a separator.
فَكَفَرُوا بِهِ ۖ فَسَوْفَ يَعْلَمُونَ
📘 God exalted be He says Yet they disbelieved in it in other words in the Book that came to them namely the Qur’ān more glorious than all those other scriptures; but they will come to know the consequences of their disbelief.
وَلَقَدْ سَبَقَتْ كَلِمَتُنَا لِعِبَادِنَا الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 And verily Our Word containing the promise of victory has gone beforehand in favour of Our servants the messengers and that Word is I shall assuredly prevail I and My messengers Q. 5821 —
إِنَّهُمْ لَهُمُ الْمَنْصُورُونَ
📘 or it is His following saying — assuredly they shall be helped
وَإِنَّ جُنْدَنَا لَهُمُ الْغَالِبُونَ
📘 and assuredly Our hosts namely the believers they will indeed be the victors over the disbelievers by their being given the definitive proofs and assistance against them in this world. And if some of these believers are not victorious over them in this world then assuredly in the Hereafter they will be so.
فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍ
📘 So leave them in other words shun the Meccan disbelievers for a while until such time as you are commanded to fight them;
وَأَبْصِرْهُمْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ
📘 and watch them when the chastisement is sent down on them; for they will soon see the consequences of their disbelief.
أَفَبِعَذَابِنَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونَ
📘 They then said in mockery ‘When will this chastisement be sent down?’ God exalted be He threatens them by saying Do they seek to hasten Our chastisement?
فَإِذَا نَزَلَ بِسَاحَتِهِمْ فَسَاءَ صَبَاحُ الْمُنْذَرِينَ
📘 But when it descends in their courtyard — al-Farrā’ said that the Arabs find it sufficient to refer to a people by referring to ‘their courtyard’ — how awful how terrible a morning will be the morning for those who were warned the overt noun al-mundharīn has replaced the third person pronominalisation in sāhatihim.
وَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ حِينٍ
📘 So leave them for a while
وَأَبْصِرْ فَسَوْفَ يُبْصِرُونَ
📘 and watch; for they will soon see — this statement is repeated in order to emphasise the threat made to them and to reassure the Prophet s.
قُلْ نَعَمْ وَأَنْتُمْ دَاخِرُونَ
📘 Say ‘Yes you will be resurrected and you will be utterly humiliated!’
سُبْحَانَ رَبِّكَ رَبِّ الْعِزَّةِ عَمَّا يَصِفُونَ
📘 Glory be to your Lord the Lord of Might of Triumph exalted is He above what they allege! in the way of His having a child.
وَسَلَامٌ عَلَى الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 And peace be to the messengers who convey from God the Message of the Oneness of God and His Laws.
وَالْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
📘 And praise be to God Lord of the Worlds for granting these messengers victory and destroying the disbelievers.
فَإِنَّمَا هِيَ زَجْرَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ فَإِذَا هُمْ يَنْظُرُونَ
📘 For it will be only innamā hiya this hiya is a demonstrative pronoun explained by the following zajratun a single cry and lo! they all creatures will be alive watching to see what will be done with them.
فَالزَّاجِرَاتِ زَجْرًا
📘 and the drivers who drive away the angels who drive the clouds;
وَقَالُوا يَا وَيْلَنَا هَٰذَا يَوْمُ الدِّينِ
📘 And they the disbelievers will say ‘O yā is for calling attention woe to us!’ O our destruction is here waylanā is a verbal noun without any regular verbal conjugation. And the angels will say to them ‘This is the Day of Retribution’ the Day of Reckoning and Requital.
هَٰذَا يَوْمُ الْفَصْلِ الَّذِي كُنْتُمْ بِهِ تُكَذِّبُونَ
📘 ‘This is the Day of Judgement between all creatures that you used to deny!’
۞ احْشُرُوا الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا وَأَزْوَاجَهُمْ وَمَا كَانُوا يَعْبُدُونَ
📘 It is then said to the angels ‘Gather those who did wrong to their own souls through idolatry together with their mates their associates from among the devils and what they used to worship
مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَاهْدُوهُمْ إِلَىٰ صِرَاطِ الْجَحِيمِ
📘 besides God in other words other than Him in the way of graven images and lead them direct them and drive them to the path of Hell the way to the Fire.
وَقِفُوهُمْ ۖ إِنَّهُمْ مَسْئُولُونَ
📘 But first stop them detain them on the path for they must be questioned about all their sayings and deeds and it will be said to them in rebuke
مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَنَاصَرُونَ
📘 “What is wrong with you that you do not help one another?” as was the case with you in this world. And it will be said to them
بَلْ هُمُ الْيَوْمَ مُسْتَسْلِمُونَ
📘 Nay but today they offer complete submission they are compliant abased.
وَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ
📘 And some of them will turn to others questioning each other blaming one another and disputing.
قَالُوا إِنَّكُمْ كُنْتُمْ تَأْتُونَنَا عَنِ الْيَمِينِ
📘 They that is the followers among them will say to those whom they followed ‘Indeed you used to approach us from the right’ in other words from that aspect in which we used to trust you for you used to swear that you followed the truth and so we believed you and we followed you — in other words ‘Indeed you have led us astray!’
قَالُوا بَلْ لَمْ تَكُونُوا مُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 They the ones who were followed say to them the followers ‘On the contrary! You were simply not believers for it would only be true that we led you astray if you had actually been believers in the first place and then rejected faith and followed us.
فَالتَّالِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا
📘 and those who recite that is to say the readers of the Qur’ān they recite it by way remembrance dhikran is a verbal noun referring to the action of al-tāliyāt ‘those who recite’.
وَمَا كَانَ لَنَا عَلَيْكُمْ مِنْ سُلْطَانٍ ۖ بَلْ كُنْتُمْ قَوْمًا طَاغِينَ
📘 And we did not have any warrant any sway or power over you to compel you to follow us. Nay but you yourselves were a rebellious folk astray like us.
فَحَقَّ عَلَيْنَا قَوْلُ رَبِّنَا ۖ إِنَّا لَذَائِقُونَ
📘 So our Lord’s Words of chastisement — namely His Words ‘Verily I shall fill Hell with jinn and mankind together’ Q. 11119 — have become due against us both. Indeed we shall both taste the chastisement with these Words — which prompts them to say
فَأَغْوَيْنَاكُمْ إِنَّا كُنَّا غَاوِينَ
📘 So we led you astray — the reason for which is given by their saying — indeed we ourselves were astray’.
فَإِنَّهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ فِي الْعَذَابِ مُشْتَرِكُونَ
📘 God exalted be He says So they on that day the Day of Resurrection will share in the chastisement for they shared in the error.
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَفْعَلُ بِالْمُجْرِمِينَ
📘 Indeed so in the same way that We deal with these We deal with sinners other than these in other words We chastise both of them the followers and those who were followed.
إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا اللَّهُ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ
📘 For truly it was they who in other words it was these sinners who — given the context that follows — when it was said to them ‘There is no god except God’ used to be scornful
وَيَقُولُونَ أَئِنَّا لَتَارِكُو آلِهَتِنَا لِشَاعِرٍ مَجْنُونٍ
📘 and would say ‘Are we to abandon our gods for a mad poet?’ that is for the sake of what Muhammad (s) says? as regards the hamzas in a-innā ‘are we’ the same applies as mentioned above.
بَلْ جَاءَ بِالْحَقِّ وَصَدَّقَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ
📘 God exalted be He says Nay but he has brought them the truth and confirmed the earlier messengers namely those who had also brought this truth which is that there is no god except God.
إِنَّكُمْ لَذَائِقُو الْعَذَابِ الْأَلِيمِ
📘 ‘You shall certainly there is a shift from the third person address to the second here taste the painful chastisement
وَمَا تُجْزَوْنَ إِلَّا مَا كُنْتُمْ تَعْمَلُونَ
📘 and you will only be requited the requital for what you used to do’.
إِنَّ إِلَٰهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ
📘 Indeed your God O people of Mecca is certainly One
إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
📘 Except for God’s sincere servants namely the believers the exception clause here is a discontinuous one
أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ رِزْقٌ مَعْلُومٌ
📘 whose requital is mentioned in His saying For them there will be in Paradise a distinct provision morning and evening —
فَوَاكِهُ ۖ وَهُمْ مُكْرَمُونَ
📘 fruits fawākihu either substitutes for rizqun or is an explication thereof here these fruits represent what is eaten for delight and not for the sake of preserving one’s health as in this world for the inhabitants of Paradise are in no need of preserving it given that their bodies will be created to be everlasting — and they will be honoured with God’s reward glory be to Him exalted be He
فِي جَنَّاتِ النَّعِيمِ
📘 in the Gardens of Bliss
عَلَىٰ سُرُرٍ مُتَقَابِلِينَ
📘 reclining upon couches facing one another so that they do not see the back of one another;
يُطَافُ عَلَيْهِمْ بِكَأْسٍ مِنْ مَعِينٍ
📘 they are served from all round each one of them is so served with a cup ka’san this denotes the vessel with the drink in it from a spring of wine that flows along the ground like streams of water
بَيْضَاءَ لَذَّةٍ لِلشَّارِبِينَ
📘 white whiter than milk delicious to the drinkers in contrast to the wine of this world which is distasteful to drink
لَا فِيهَا غَوْلٌ وَلَا هُمْ عَنْهَا يُنْزَفُونَ
📘 wherein there is neither madness nothing to snatch away their minds nor will they be spent by it read yunzafūna or yunzifūna from 1st form nazafa or 4th form anzafa said of one drinking in other words they are not inebriated by it in contrast to the wine of this world
وَعِنْدَهُمْ قَاصِرَاتُ الطَّرْفِ عِينٌ
📘 and with them will be maidens of restrained glances who reserved their glances exclusively for their spouses and do not look upon any other — because of the beauty they the maidens see in them — with beautiful eyes ‘īn means with large and beautiful eyes
كَأَنَّهُنَّ بَيْضٌ مَكْنُونٌ
📘 as if they were in terms of the starkness of their white colour hidden eggs of ostriches sheltered by their feathers from dust the colour being that whiteness with a hint of pallor which is the most beautiful of female complexions.
رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ
📘 Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them and Lord of the sun’s risings that is as well as the sun’s settings — each day it the sun has a rising and a setting.
فَأَقْبَلَ بَعْضُهُمْ عَلَىٰ بَعْضٍ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ
📘 Some of them some of the inhabitants of Paradise will turn to others questioning each other regarding what they experienced in the life of the world.
قَالَ قَائِلٌ مِنْهُمْ إِنِّي كَانَ لِي قَرِينٌ
📘 One of them will say ‘Indeed I had a comrade a companion who used to reject the idea of resurrection
يَقُولُ أَإِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُصَدِّقِينَ
📘 who used to say to me in reproach “Are you really among those who affirm as truth the Resurrection and
أَإِذَا مِتْنَا وَكُنَّا تُرَابًا وَعِظَامًا أَإِنَّا لَمَدِينُونَ
📘 that when we are dead and have become dust and bones we shall actually be called to account?” ’ that we shall be requited and reckoned with — he rejects the truth of this as well as regards all three instances of the hamzas sc. a-innaka a-idhā and a-innā what has been mentioned above applies.
قَالَ هَلْ أَنْتُمْ مُطَّلِعُونَ
📘 He the one speaking says to his brethren in Paradise ‘Will you have a look?’ together with me into the Fire to see his condition — but they will say ‘No’.
فَاطَّلَعَ فَرَآهُ فِي سَوَاءِ الْجَحِيمِ
📘 Then he that speaker will take a look through one of the apertures in Paradise and he will catch sight of him that is he will see his comrade in the centre of Hell in the middle of the Fire.
قَالَ تَاللَّهِ إِنْ كِدْتَ لَتُرْدِينِ
📘 He will say to him acknowledging that he the latter deserves his fate ‘By God! You very nearly destroyed me you almost ruined me through your misguidance in this has been softened from the hardened form inna.
وَلَوْلَا نِعْمَةُ رَبِّي لَكُنْتُ مِنَ الْمُحْضَرِينَ
📘 And had it not been for the favour of my Lord His grace to me in giving me faith I too would have been of those arraigned’ with you in the Fire. The inhabitants of Paradise will say
أَفَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَيِّتِينَ
📘 Do we then not die anymore
إِلَّا مَوْتَتَنَا الْأُولَىٰ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمُعَذَّبِينَ
📘 aside from our first death that is the one which we suffered in this world and are we not to be chastised?’ — this interrogative statement is one made out of sheer delight and in order to speak at length of the graces of God exalted be He in His granting of everlasting life and refraining from inflicting any punishment.
إِنَّا زَيَّنَّا السَّمَاءَ الدُّنْيَا بِزِينَةٍ الْكَوَاكِبِ
📘 We have indeed adorned the lowest heaven with an adornment the stars that is to say adorned with their light or with them the stars the genitive annexation bi-zīnati’l-kawākib is for explication; similarly explicative is the reading of bi-zīnatin ‘with an adornment’ with nunation the adornment explained as being ‘the stars’;
إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ الْفَوْزُ الْعَظِيمُ
📘 Truly this that has mentioned as being the reward for the inhabitants of Paradise is indeed the mighty success.
لِمِثْلِ هَٰذَا فَلْيَعْمَلِ الْعَامِلُونَ
📘 For the like of this let all the workers work — it is said that this is said to them or it is what they say themselves.
أَذَٰلِكَ خَيْرٌ نُزُلًا أَمْ شَجَرَةُ الزَّقُّومِ
📘 Is that which is mentioned to them a better hospitality nuzul denotes what is prepared for one who is being received as a guest and so forth or the Zaqqūm tree that is prepared for the inhabitants of the Fire — it is the vilest and most bitter tree of the Tihāma region which God causes to grow in the Fire as will be stated shortly.
إِنَّا جَعَلْنَاهَا فِتْنَةً لِلظَّالِمِينَ
📘 We have indeed made it for that reason sc. its being a tree in the Fire a trial for the wrongdoers? namely for the disbelievers of Mecca for they said ‘Fire consumes trees so how can it make them grow forth?’
إِنَّهَا شَجَرَةٌ تَخْرُجُ فِي أَصْلِ الْجَحِيمِ
📘 Indeed it is a tree that comes forth from the very source of Hell in other words from the depths of Hell with its branches extending up through all its different levels.
طَلْعُهَا كَأَنَّهُ رُءُوسُ الشَّيَاطِينِ
📘 Its spathes likened to the spathes of a date-palm are like the heads of devils as vile-looking snakes.
فَإِنَّهُمْ لَآكِلُونَ مِنْهَا فَمَالِئُونَ مِنْهَا الْبُطُونَ
📘 And indeed they the disbelievers will eat of it despite its vileness because of the severity of their hunger and will fill their bellies from it.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ لَهُمْ عَلَيْهَا لَشَوْبًا مِنْ حَمِيمٍ
📘 Then lo! on top of it they will have a brew of boiling water which they drink and which mixes with what they have eaten and becomes a brew thereof.
ثُمَّ إِنَّ مَرْجِعَهُمْ لَإِلَى الْجَحِيمِ
📘 Then indeed their return shall be to Hell-fire — this suggests that they exit from it only to drink the boiling water which is located outside it.
إِنَّهُمْ أَلْفَوْا آبَاءَهُمْ ضَالِّينَ
📘 Lo! they found their fathers to be astray
وَحِفْظًا مِنْ كُلِّ شَيْطَانٍ مَارِدٍ
📘 and to guard wa-hifzan is in the accusative because of an implied verb that is to say ‘We have guarded it with meteors’ from every min kulli is semantically connected to the implied verb any rebellious devil who is a transgressor in rebellion against obedience.
فَهُمْ عَلَىٰ آثَارِهِمْ يُهْرَعُونَ
📘 and so they are also now hurrying in their footsteps they shall be prodded to follow them and they end up hurrying towards it Hell-fire.
وَلَقَدْ ضَلَّ قَبْلَهُمْ أَكْثَرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ
📘 And verily most of the ancients of past communities went astray before them
وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا فِيهِمْ مُنْذِرِينَ
📘 and We certainly had sent among them warners in the way of messengers to threaten them.
فَانْظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُنْذَرِينَ
📘 So behold how was the consequence for them who were warned namely the disbelievers in other words the sequel for them was that they ended up in the chastisement;
إِلَّا عِبَادَ اللَّهِ الْمُخْلَصِينَ
📘 all except God’s sincere servants namely the believers who are saved from chastisement because they were sincere in their worship mukhlisīna; or if one reads mukhlasīna because God has made them sincerely devoted to such worship.
وَلَقَدْ نَادَانَا نُوحٌ فَلَنِعْمَ الْمُجِيبُونَ
📘 And verily Noah called to Us when he said ‘My Lord I have been overcome so help me Q. 5410 and how excellent were the Hearers of the prayer for him were We in other words he invoked Us against his people so We destroyed them by drowning them.
وَنَجَّيْنَاهُ وَأَهْلَهُ مِنَ الْكَرْبِ الْعَظِيمِ
📘 And We delivered him and his family from the great distress which was the drowning
وَجَعَلْنَا ذُرِّيَّتَهُ هُمُ الْبَاقِينَ
📘 and made his descendants the survivors thus all human beings are descended from him peace be upon him. He had three sons Shem Sām the ancestor of the Arabs the Persians and the Byzantines; Ham Hām the ancestor of the Negroes; and Japheth Yāfith the ancestor of the Turks the Khazar and the peoples of Gog and Magog and the inhabitants of such regions.
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ
📘 And We left We preserved for him fair praise among posterity among the prophets and communities after him until the Day of Resurrection which is
سَلَامٌ عَلَىٰ نُوحٍ فِي الْعَالَمِينَ
📘 ‘Peace from Us be to Noah among the worlds!’
لَا يَسَّمَّعُونَ إِلَى الْمَلَإِ الْأَعْلَىٰ وَيُقْذَفُونَ مِنْ كُلِّ جَانِبٍ
📘 They namely the devils lā yasma‘ūna this is the beginning of a new sentence cannot listen in — this ‘listening’ of theirs represents that faculty with which they memorise what they hear — on the High Council the angels in the heavens the normally transitive verb al-samā‘ is complemented with the preposition ilā ‘to’ here ‘in on’ because it includes the additional sense of ‘paying attention’ while listening; a variant reading has yassamma‘una which is actually yatasamma‘ūna the tā’ have been assimilated with the sīn for they the devils are pelted with flames from every side from the remotest regions of the heavens
إِنَّا كَذَٰلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
📘 Thus indeed in the way that We requited them We requite the virtuous.
إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
📘 He was indeed one of Our faithful servants.
ثُمَّ أَغْرَقْنَا الْآخَرِينَ
📘 Then We did drown the others the disbelievers from among his folk.
۞ وَإِنَّ مِنْ شِيعَتِهِ لَإِبْرَاهِيمَ
📘 And truly of his adherents that is of those who agreed with him on the fundaments of religion was Abraham despite the fact that there was a long interval between them 2640 years and between them came the prophets Hūd and Sālih.
إِذْ جَاءَ رَبَّهُ بِقَلْبٍ سَلِيمٍ
📘 When he came to his Lord in other words he continued to follow Him upon coming to Him with a heart that was pure of any doubt or the like
إِذْ قَالَ لِأَبِيهِ وَقَوْمِهِ مَاذَا تَعْبُدُونَ
📘 when he said while still in this continuous state of his to his father and his folk in reproach ‘What do — what is it that — you worship?
أَئِفْكًا آلِهَةً دُونَ اللَّهِ تُرِيدُونَ
📘 Is it a calumny a-ifkan as regards the two hamzas the same applies as mentioned before — gods other than God — that you desire? ifkan is an object denoting reason; ālihatan is the direct object of turīdūna ‘you desire’; ifk denotes the worst kind of lie. In other words do you worship any other than God?
فَمَا ظَنُّكُمْ بِرَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ
📘 What then is your supposition regarding the Lord of the Worlds?’ having worshipped other than Him do you think that He will leave you without punishment? No! They were a people of astrologers. On one occasion they went out to celebrate a festival of theirs and left their food behind with their idols claiming that they were securing thereby blessings for it and that they would eat it upon their return. They had said to the lord Abraham ‘Come out with us’.
فَنَظَرَ نَظْرَةً فِي النُّجُومِ
📘 And he cast a glance at the stars — to delude them into thinking that he relies on them so that they would then trust him —
فَقَالَ إِنِّي سَقِيمٌ
📘 and said ‘Indeed I feel I will be sick’ that is I will fall ill.
دُحُورًا ۖ وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ وَاصِبٌ
📘 to repel them duhūran is a verbal noun from daharahu meaning ‘he repelled him driving him away’; it is an object denoting reason and theirs in the Hereafter is an everlasting chastisement;
فَتَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ مُدْبِرِينَ
📘 So they went away to their festival leaving him behind.
فَرَاغَ إِلَىٰ آلِهَتِهِمْ فَقَالَ أَلَا تَأْكُلُونَ
📘 Then he turned he stole away to their gods the idols in front of which the food had been placed and said mockingly ‘Will you not eat? — but they failed to utter a word.
مَا لَكُمْ لَا تَنْطِقُونَ
📘 He then said What is wrong with you that you do not speak?’ — but still he received no response.
فَرَاغَ عَلَيْهِمْ ضَرْبًا بِالْيَمِينِ
📘 He then turned on them striking them with his right hand with might smashing them. Those who saw him reported this to the rest of his people.
فَأَقْبَلُوا إِلَيْهِ يَزِفُّونَ
📘 So they came running towards him walking hurriedly and they said to him ‘We worship them while you smash them?!’
قَالَ أَتَعْبُدُونَ مَا تَنْحِتُونَ
📘 He said to them in reproach ‘Do you worship what you yourselves have carved out of stone and other materials idols
وَاللَّهُ خَلَقَكُمْ وَمَا تَعْمَلُونَ
📘 when God created you and whatever you make?’ whether it be your act of carving and that which you have carved? So worship Him alone! the mā in wa-mā ta‘malūna ‘and whatever you make’ is that of the verbal noun; but it is also said to introduce a relative clause or it is adjectivally qualified.
قَالُوا ابْنُوا لَهُ بُنْيَانًا فَأَلْقُوهُ فِي الْجَحِيمِ
📘 They said amongst themselves ‘Build for him a structure then fill it with firewood and set it on fire and when it is ablaze then cast him into the fierce fire’.
فَأَرَادُوا بِهِ كَيْدًا فَجَعَلْنَاهُمُ الْأَسْفَلِينَ
📘 So they sought to outwit him by flinging him into the fire so that it may destroy him but We made them the lowermost the vanquished as he came out of the fire unharmed.
وَقَالَ إِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ إِلَىٰ رَبِّي سَيَهْدِينِ
📘 And he said ‘I shall indeed depart to my Lord I shall emigrating to Him from the abode of disbelief — He will guide me to the place to which My Lord has commanded that I end up in and this was Syria. When he reached the Holy Land he said
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