Haazaa basaaa'iru linnaasi wa hudanw wa rahmatul liqawminy yooqinoon
Am hasibal lazeenaj tarahus saiyiaati an naj'alahum kallazeena aamanoo
wa 'amilu saalihaati sawaaa'am mahyaahum wa mamaatuhum; saaa'a maa yahkumoon
(section 2)
Wa khalaqal laahus samaawaati wal arda bilhaqqi wa litujzaa kullu nafsim
bimaa kasabat wa hum laa yuzlamoon
Afara'ayta manit takhaza ilaahahoo hawaahu wa adal lahul laahu 'alaa 'ilminw
wa khatama 'alaa sam'ihee wa qalbihee wa ja'ala 'alaa basarihee ghishaawatan
famany yahdeehi mim ba'dil laah; afalaa tazakkaroon
Wa qaaloo maa hiya illaa hayaatunad dunyaa namootu wa nahyaa wa maa
yuhlikunaaa illad dahr; wa maa lahum bizaalika min 'ilmin in hum
illaayazunnoon
Wa izaa tutlaa 'alaihim aayaatuna baiyinaatim maa kaana hujjatahum
illaaa an qaalu'too bi aabaaa'inaaa in kuntum saadiqeen
Qulil laahu yuhyeekum summa yumeetukum summa yajma'ukum ilaa Yawmil
Qiyaamati laa raiba feehi wa laakinna aksaran naasi laa ya'lamoon
(section 3)
Wa lillaahi mulkus samaawaati wal ard; wa Yawma taqoomus Saa'atu Yawma 'iziny
yakhsarul mubtiloon
Wa taraa kulla ummatin jaasiyah; kullu ummatin tud'aaa ilaa kitaabihaa
al Yawma tujzawna maa kuntum ta'maloon
2. The revelation of the Book is from Allah the Exalted in
Power, Full of Wisdom.
3. Verily in the heavens and the earth, are Signs
for those who believe.
4. And in the creation of yourselves and the fact
that animals are scattered (through the earth), are Signs for those of assured
Faith.
5. And in the alternation of Night and Day, and the fact that
Allah sends down Sustenance from the sky, and revives therewith the earth after
its death, and in the change of the winds,- are Signs for those that are wise.
6. Such are the Signs of Allah, which We rehearse to thee in Truth; then in
what exposition will they believe after (rejecting) Allah and His Signs?
7. Woe to each sinful dealer in Falsehoods:
8. He hears the Signs of
Allah rehearsed to him, yet is obstinate and lofty, as if he had not heard them:
then announce to him a Penalty Grievous!
9. And when he learns something
of Our Signs, he takes them in jest: for such there will be a humiliating
Penalty.
10. In front of them is Hell: and of no profit to them is
anything they may have earned, nor any protectors they may have taken to
themselves besides Allah. for them is a tremendous Penalty.
11. This is
(true) Guidance and for those who reject the Signs of their Lord, is a grievous
Penalty of abomination.
12. It is Allah Who has subjected the sea to you,
that ships may sail through it by His command, that ye may seek of his Bounty,
and that ye may be grateful.
13. And He has subjected to you, as from
Him, all that is in the heavens and on earth: Behold, in that are Signs indeed
for those who reflect.
14. Tell those who believe, to forgive those who
do not look forward to the Days of Allah. It is for Him to recompense (for good
or ill) each People according to what they have earned.
15. If any one
does a righteous deed, it ensures to the benefit of his own soul; if he does
evil, it works against (his own soul). In the end will ye (all) be brought back
to your Lord.
16. We did aforetime grant to the Children of Israel the
Book the Power of Command, and Prophethood; We gave them, for Sustenance, things
good and pure; and We favoured them above the nations.
17. And We granted
them Clear Signs in affairs (of Religion): it was only after knowledge had been
granted to them that they fell into schisms, through insolent envy among
themselves. Verily thy Lord will judge between them on the Day of Judgment as to
those matters in which they set up differences.
18. Then We put thee on
the (right) Way of Religion: so follow thou that (Way), and follow not the
desires of those who know not.
19. They will be of no use to thee in the
sight of Allah. it is only Wrong-doers (that stand as) protectors, one to
another: but Allah is the Protector of the Righteous.
20. These are clear
evidences to men and a Guidance and Mercy to those of assured Faith.
21.
What! Do those who seek after evil ways think that We shall hold them equal with
those who believe and do righteous deeds,- that equal will be their life and
their death? Ill is the judgment that they make.
22. Allah created the
heavens and the earth for just ends, and in order that each soul may find the
recompense of what it has earned, and none of them be wronged.
23. Then
seest thou such a one as takes as his god his own vain desire? Allah has,
knowing (him as such), left him astray, and sealed his hearing and his heart
(and understanding), and put a cover on his sight. Who, then, will guide him
after Allah (has withdrawn Guidance)? Will ye not then receive admonition?
24. And they say: "What is there but our life in this world? We shall die
and we live, and nothing but time can destroy us." But of that they have no
knowledge: they merely conjecture:
25. And when Our Clear Signs are
rehearsed to them their argument is nothing but this: They say, "Bring (back)
our forefathers, if what ye say is true!"
26. Say: "It is Allah Who gives
you life, then gives you death; then He will gather you together for the Day of
Judgment about which there is no doubt": But most men do not understand.
27. To Allah belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, and the Day that
the Hour of Judgment is established,- that Day will the dealers in Falsehood
perish!
28. And thou wilt see every sect bowing the knee: Every sect will
be called to its Record: "This Day shall ye be recompensed for all that ye did!
29. "This Our Record speaks about you with truth: For We were wont to put on
Record all that ye did."
30. Then, as to those who believed and did
righteous deeds, their Lord will admit them to His Mercy that will be the
achievement for all to see.
31. But as to those who rejected Allah, (to
them will be said): "Were not Our Signs rehearsed to you? But ye were arrogant,
and were a people given to sin!
32. "And when it was said that the
promise of Allah was true, and that the Hour- there was no doubt about its
(coming), ye used to say, 'We know not what is the hour: we only think it is an
idea, and we have no firm assurance.'"
33. Then will appear to them the
evil (fruits) of what they did, and they will be completely encircled by that
which they used to mock at!
34. It will also be said: "This Day We will
forget you as ye forgot the meeting of this Day of yours! and your abode is the
Fire, and no helpers have ye!
35. "This, because ye used to take the
Signs of Allah in jest, and the life of the world deceived you:" (From) that
Day, therefore, they shall not be taken out thence, nor shall they be received
into Grace.
36. Then Praise be to Allah, Lord of the heavens and Lord of
the earth,- Lord and Cherisher of all the Worlds!
37. To Him be glory
throughout the heavens and the earth: and He is Exalted in Power, Full of
Wisdom!
It is derived from the sentence wa tartt kullu ummat- in jathiyat-un of verse
28, implying thereby that it is the Surah in which the word jathiyah has
occurred.
Period of Revelation The period of the
revelation of this Surah also has not been mentioned in any authentic tradition,
but its subject matter clearly shows that it was revealed consecutively after
Surah Ad Dukhan. The close resemblance between the contents of the two Surahs
makes them look like the twin Surahs.
Subject Matter and Topics
It answers the doubts and objections of the disbelievers of Makkah about Tauhid
and the Hereafter and warns them for their attitude that they had adopted
against the message of the Qur'an.
The discourse begins with the
arguments for Tauhid. In this connection, reference has been made to the count-
less Signs that are found in the world, from man's own body to the earth and
heavens, and it is pointed out that everywhere around him man finds things which
testify to Tauhid which he refuses to acknowledge. If man sees carefully the
variety of animals, the day and night, the rainfall and the vegetation thereby,
the winds and his own creation, and ponders over them intelligently, without
prejudice, he will find these Signs sufficiently convincing of the truth that
this universe is not Godless, nor under the control of many gods, but it has
been created by One God, and He alone is its Controller and Ruler. However, the
case of the person who is determined not to acknowledge and wants to remain
involved in doubts and suspicions is different. He cannot be blessed with the
faith and conviction from anywhere in the world.
A little below, in the
beginning of the second section, it has been reiterated that the things man is
exploiting in the world, and the countless forces and agencies that are serving
his interests in the universe, did not come into being just accidentally, nor
have they been provided by the gods and goddesses, but it is One God alone, Who
has supplied and subjected these to him from Himself. If only a person uses his
mind properly and rightly, his own intellect will proclaim that God alone is
man's real Benefactor and He alone deserves that man should pay obeisance to
Him.
After this, the disbelievers of Makkah have been taken to task and
reproved for their stubbornness, arrogance, mockery and insistence on disbelief
with which they were resisting the invitation of the Qur'an they have been
warned that this Qur'an has brought the same blessing which had been granted to
the children of Israel before, by virtue of which they became distinguished
above all the people of the world. Then, when they failed to recognize the true
worth of this blessing and disputed their religion and lost it, this blessing
now has been sent to them. This is such a code of guidance which shows the clear
highway of Religion to man. The people who would turn it down by their own
folly, would only prepare for their own doom, and only such people would become
worthy of God's succour and mercy who would adopt obedience to it and lead a
life of piety and righteousness.
In this connection, the followers of the
Holy Prophet have been instructed that they should forbear and pardon the absurd
and foolish behavior towards them of the people fearless of God, for if they
showed patience God Himself would deal with their opponents and would reward
them for their fortitude.
Then, there is a criticism of the erroneous
ideas that the disbelievers hold about the Hereafter. They said that life was
only this worldly life there was no life hereafter. Man dies in the course of
time just as a watch stops functioning suddenly. The body is not survived by any
soul, which might be seized and then breathed again into the human body some
time in the future. In this regard, they challenged the Holy Prophet, saying:
"If you lay a claim to this, then raise our dead forefathers back to life." In
answer to this, Allah has given the following arguments:
"You do not say
this on the basis of any knowledge but are uttering this grave thing on the
basis of conjecture. Do you really have the knowledge that there is no other
life after death, and the souls are not seized but are annihilated?"
"Your this claim rests mainly on this that you have not seen any dead person
rising back to life and returning to the world. Is this basis strong enough for
a person to make a claim that the dead people will never rise to life? When you
do not experience and observe a thing, does it mean that you have the knowledge
that it does not exist at all?
It is utterly against reason and justice
that the good and the bad, the obedient and the disobedient, the oppressor and
the oppressed, should be made equal ultimately. Neither a good act should bear a
good result nor an evil act an evil result; neither the grievances of the
oppressed be redressed nor the oppressor be punished, but everyone should meet
with the same fate ultimately. Whoever has formed this view about the universe
of God, has formed a patently wrong view. The unjust and wicked people adopt
this view because they do not want to face the evil results of their deeds, but
this world of God is not a lawless kingdom; it is rather a system based on the
Truth, in which there can be no question of the injustice of regarding the good
and the bad as equal.
That the creed of the denial of the Hereafter is
highly destructive of morals. This is adopted only by such people as are the
slaves of their lusts, and for the reason that they should have full freedom to
serve their lusts. Then, when they have adopted this creed, it goes on making
them more and more perverse till at last their moral sense becomes dead and all
avenues of guidance are closed against them.
After giving these arguments
Allah says most emphatically: "Just as you did not become living of your own
accord, but became living by Our power, so you do not die of your own accord,
but die when We send death on you. And a time is certainly coming when you will
all be gathered together. If you do not believe in this because of your
ignorance and folly today, you may not; when the time arrives, you will see for
yourself that you are present before your God and your whole book of conduct is
ready accurately, which bears evidence against each of your misdeeds. Then you
will come to know how dearly has your denial of the Hereafter and your mockery
of it cost you."