Note: If you are seeing English words in the Transliteration, please turn off auto translate on your device.
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
Verse by Verse
Side by Side View
Stacked View
Print
Make PDF
Email This Surah
Translators: Ahmed Ali ● Amatul Rahman Omar ● Daryabadi ● Faridul Haque ● Hamid S. Aziz ● Maulana Mohammad Ali ● Pickthall ● Sarwar ● Shakir ● Yusuf Ali
Recitation by Mishary Al-Alfasy
Name
The word Fatir of the first very verse is the
title given to this Surah, which simply means that it is a Surah in which the
word Fatir has occurred. The other name is Al Malaika, which also occurs in the
first verse.
Period of Revelation
The internal
evidence of the style shows that the period of the revelation of this Sarah is
probably the middle Makkan period, and especially that part of it, when
antagonism had grown quite strong and every sort of mischief was being adopted
to frustrate the mission of the Holy Prophet.
Subject Matter and
Theme
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, which might possess divine attributes and
powers and authority. 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
God 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.
This can have two meanings:
(1) "That these angels perform the service
of communicating messages between Allah and His Prophets :" and
(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.
2We have no means to know what is the nature of the
wings of these angels. But when Allah has used this word, which in human
language is used for the wings of birds, instead of any other words, to express
and depict the truth, one can certainly conclude that this very word of our
language is nearest to the actual meaning. The mention of two and three and four
pairs of the wings shows that different angels have been granted different
degrees of powers by Allah. They have been equipped with different powers of
speed and efficiency as demanded by the nature of service for which they arc
employed.
3These words show that the number of the wings of the angels
is restricted to four, but Allah has provided some angels with more wings than
four. According to a Hadith related by Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, the Holy
Prophet once saw the Angel Gabriel (peace be upon hits) with six hundred wings.
(Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi). Hadrat 'A'ishah relates that the Holy Prophet had
seen Gabriel twice in his real shape: he had six hundred wings and had covered
the whole horizon. (Tirmidhi)
4This also is meant to remove the
misunderstanding of the polytheists, who believed that from among the servants
of Allah some one gave them the jobs, some one the children and some one 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 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
Qur'an 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 .n the power of One Allah alone and of none else.
5He is the All-Mighty": He is dominant and the owner of Sovereignty: none
can stop His judgments from being enforced. Also "He is All-Wise": every of His
is based on wisdom. When He gives somebody something He because it is demanded
by wisdom, and when He withholds something judgment gives it from somebody He
withholds it because it would be against wisdom to give it.
6"Remember.... you": "Do not be ungrateful: do not forget that whatever you have
has been given by Allah". In other words, this sentence is meant to warn that
whoever worships another than Allah, or regards a blessing as a favor done by
another than Allah, or thanks another than Allah for a favor received, or prays
to another than Allah for the grant of a blessing, is ungrateful".
7There is a subtle gap between the first and the second sentence, 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 be the Deity also 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?"
8"If they ...liar": `If they do
not believe that there is no one worthy of worship but Allah, and accuse you of
having made a false claim to Prophethood."
9That is, "It is not for the
people to give the verdict that whomsoever they call a liar should in actual
fact become a liar. The judgment rests with Allah. He shall in the end decide
who was the liar, and shall bring the real liars to their evil end."
10"The promise" implies the promise of the Hereafter to which allusion was made
in the preceding sentence, saying: 'All affairs shall ultimately be presented
before Allah.
11"Let not...deceive you": "Deceive you 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."
12"Great deceiver":
Satan, as is evident from the next sentence. And "deceive you concerning Allah"
means:
(1) That he should stake 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; and
(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.
13Those who disbelieve : those
who will refuse to believe in this invitation of Allah's Book and His Messenger.
14That is, Allah will overlook their errors and will reward them for their
good deeds not merely with what they will just deserve but much more richly and
generously.
15Verses 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 Holy
Prophet.
16That 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, far 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 guidance. Such a person is not amenable to any advice, any
admonition. He neither takes warning from his own follies, nor listens to a
well-wisher. It is useless to waste ones tube and energy for the reformation of
such a person 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.
17The insertion of the words "Allah lends astray
whomsoever He pleases and shows the Right Way to whomsoever He pleases", between
the preceding and this sentence, 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 Holy Prophet 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 Holy Prophet. These people were in fact not involved in any
misunderstanding about the Holy Prophet. They knew full well what he was calling
theta 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 His Prophet 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 Qur'an 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.
18This sentence 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 also punish him for this certainly.
19That 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."
20It should be noted that whatever the
chiefs of the Quraish were doing against the Holy Prophet, they were doing it
for the sake of their honor and dignity. They thought that if the Holy Prophet
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 in and rebellion against Allah. is a false honor, which is destined to
be mined. The taste 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, wretched life. "
21This is the real means of attaining the
honor. 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
taste and pure 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 rise and prosper is the action which conforms to it.
Wherever the word is pure but the action 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 Qur'an presents the righteous word and
the righteous action as inter-dependent. 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, his mere word can neither be acceptable to the people nor
deserve approval in the sight of Allah.
22Those who plot evil": 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. "
23From here again the discourse is directed to the common people.
24That is, man in the first instance was created from the dust directly, then
his race was perpetuated through the sperm-drop.
25That is, "It is
pre-ordained 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 Qur'anic argument only when it could be ascertained that
Allah, for instance, had pre-ordained 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 refine this Qur'anic 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.
26That is, "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."
27That is,
the body of water in the oceans, and the body of water in the rivers and springs
and lakes.
28"Fresh flesh": Flesh of water animals.
29That is
pearls and corals and, in some rivers, diamonds and gold.
30That 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."
31"Subjected .." : subjected to
a law.
32The word qitmira 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. That is why we have
translated it "a blade of grass", which is an insignificant thing.
33This
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. If a person sends his application to someone who is not a
ruler. his application miscarries. For the person to whom it has been sent, has
no authority whatever: he can neither reject it nor accept it. However, if the
same application is sent to the one who is really a ruler, one or the other
action will certainly be taken on it.
34That is, "They will plainly say:
We had never told theta 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" .
35"All-Aware":
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 whatever 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. "
36That 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."
37The 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 one's 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.
38That
is, You are not enjoying life on Allah's earth solely by dim 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.
39"Burden": the burden of the responsibilities of actions. It means: In the
sight of Allah every one is responsible for his own actions and for no one
else's. There is no possibility that Allah will place the burden of one man's
responsibility upon the other, nor is there the possibility that a person will
take the burden of another's responsibility upon himself and get himself seized
for the crime committed by the other. This thing 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."
40In 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."
41In 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."
42In 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 darknesses 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 tinder the shade of Allah's mercy and the other
will bum 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.
43That 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.
44That 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.
45That there has been no community in the world
for whose guidance Allah did not appoint the Prophets, has been stated at
several places in the Qur'an. In Surah Ar-Ra'd: 7, it was said: "Every people
has its guide ;" in Surah Al-Hijr: 10: "O Prophet, We have already sent
Messengers before you among many of the ancient peoples;" in Surah An-Nahl: 36:
"We sent to every community a Messenger;" and in Surah Ash-Shu'ara: 208: "We
have never destroyed a habitation unless it had its warners to administer
admonition. " But, in this connection, 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.
46Clear
proofs": Proofs which clearly testified that they were Allah's Messengers.
47"Scriptures" probably consisted of good counsels and moral precepts and
"the Book" comprised a complete code of the law.
48This is meant to
impress that in the universe created by Allah nowhere is there homogeneity and
uniformity; there is variety everywhere. From the same earth and by the same
water different kinds of trees are appearing. Even the two pieces of the fruit
of the same tree are not uniform in color and size and taste. In the same
mountain one will see a variety of colors and a great difference in the material
composition of its different parts. Even among human beings and animals one will
not see two offspring of the same parents exactly alike. If a person seeks
uniformity of the temperaments and dispositions and mentalities in this universe
and is bewildered at the differences which have been alluded to in vv. 19-22
above, it will be his own perception and understanding to blame. This same
variety and difference, in fact, point to the reality that this universe has
been created by a Wise Being with great wisdom; its Maker is a Unique Creator
and a Matchless Fashioner, Who does not have the same model of everything before
Him, but has a variety of countless and limitless designs of everything. Then if
one ponders over the differences in human temperaments and minds, in particular.
one will see that it is not a mere accident, but in fact the masterpiece of the
wisdom of creation. If all human beings had been created with the uniform
temperaments and desires and feelings and inclinations and ways of thinking, and
no room had been left for any difference, it would have been absolutely useless
to bring about a new creation like man in the world. When the Creator decided to
bring into existence a responsible creation, a creation having power and
authority, the necessary inevitable demand of the nature of the decision was
that room for all sorts of differences should be provided in its nature and
structure. This is the main proof of the fact that the creation of man is not
the result of an accident, but the result of a wonderful and wise plan and
design. And obviously, wherever there is a wise plan and design, there must
necessarily be a Wise Being working behind it, for the existence of wisdom
without a Wise Being would be un-imaginable.
49That is, 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 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 Qur'an 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 Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, thus:
"knowledge is not due to much narration of Hadith but due to much fear of
Allah." And also by Hadrat 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."
50That is, He is All-Mighty, and
therefore, can seize the disobedient as and when He likes: no one can escape His
grasp. But He is All-Forgiving alsa and is, therefore, giving respite to the
wrongdoers.
51This kind of conduct and practice of the believers has been
likened to a trade bargain because in trade a man invests his money and labor
and capabilities in the hope that he will not only get his capital back and his
wages for the time and energy spent but in addition some profit as well.
Likewise, a believer also invests his wealth and his time and his labor and
capabilities in carrying out Allah's Commands and in His service and worship and
in the struggle to promote the cause of His Religion in the hope that he will
not only get his full rewards for it but Allah will bless him with much more
from His bounty as well. But there is a great difference between the two kinds
of bargains. In the worldly trade bargains there is the risk of loss also along
with the hope of profits. Contrary to this, in the bargain that a sincere
servant makes with his God there is : no risk of any loss whatever.
52That is, "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."
53It 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.
54The 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.
55This 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 Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings).
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 Qur'an and the trustees of the teaching and guidance imparted by a
great Messenger like the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and
blessings).
56That is, "All these Muslims are not alike but are divided
into three classes:
(1) Those unjust to themselves: They are those who
believe sincerely and honestly that the Qur'an is the . Book of Allah and
Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace) the Messenger of Allah, but in practical
life do not fully follow the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of His Messenger. They
are believers but sinful; culprits but not rebellious; weak of faith but not
hypocritical and unbelieving at heart. Therefore, although they are ¦unjust to
themselves," they have been included among the chosen servants of God 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 have been mentioned first of All because they are most numerous among
the Muslims.
(2) Those following the middle course: They are the people
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 God'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 arc 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
As for the sentence, "this
is the supreme bounty', if it is related with the last sentence, it would mean
that to excel in good deeds is the supreme 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 supreme bounty, and the people
who have been so chosen on account of their faith in the Qur'an and the Holy
Prophet Muhammad arc the best among the human beings created by Allah.
57One section of the commentators has held the view that this sentence is
related with the two sentences immediately preceding it. That is, the ones who
excel in good duds are the best of the people and they alone will enter the
Gardens. As for the first two groups, nothing has been stated about them so that
they became worried concerning their fate and try to improve their lot. This
view has been presented by `Allama Zamakhshari forcefully and supported by Imam
Razi.
But the majority of the commentators opine that it is related with
the whole preceding discourse, which means that all the three classes of the
Ummah shall eventually enter Paradise, whether without accountability, or afar
the accountability, whether remaining secure from every punishment, or after
receiving some punishment. This commentary is supported by the Qur'anic context,
for a little below about those who are contrasted with the heirs of the Book, it
has been said: "And for those who have disbelieved, there is the fire of Hell. "
This shows that there is Paradise for all those who have believed in the Hook,
and Hell for all those who have refused to believe in it. The same has been
supported by the Hadith of the Holy Prophet, which Imam Ahmad, Ibn Jarir, Ibn
Abi Hatim, Tabarani, Baihaqi and some other traditionalists have related on the
authority of Hadrat Abu ad-Darda'. The Holy Prophet said:
Those who have
excelled in good works shall enter Paradise without; and those who arc 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!'"
In this Hadith the Holy Prophet has himself given a complete
commentary of the verse under discussion, and stated separately the end to be
met by each of the three groups of the believers. The "light accountability" for
the ones following the middle course means this: The disbelievers will be
punished for their disbelief as well as for each single crime and sin of theirs
separately, but, contrary to this, the good and bad deeds of the believers who
come with both the good and evil deeds will be judged on the whole: they will
not be rewarded for each good deed and punished for each evil deed separately.
As for those "who will be detained throughout the period of Resurrection and
accountability because they had been unjust to themselves," it means: They will
not be thrown into Hell, but will be sentenced to be detained "till the rising
of the Court." In other words, they will be exposed to all the severities and
rigors of the lengthy Day of Resurrection (and God alone knows how lengthy it
will be !) till Allah Almighty will turn to them in His mercy and command at the
rising of the Court that they too be admitted into Paradise. The traditionists
have cited several sayings to the same effect from many Companions like Hadrat
'Umar, Hadrat `Uthman, Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Hadrat 'Abdullah bin `Abbas,
Hadrat `A`ishah, Hadrat Abu Said Khudri and Hadrat Bara bin 'Azib. And
obviously, the Companions could not have said any such thing in such matters
unless they had heard it from the Holy Prophet himself.
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 Qur'an 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 also have been mentioned in Hadith, whose perpetrator shall go
to Hell.
58"Sorrow": Sorrow of every kind: sorrows and Briefs and
worries of the world and of the Hereafter with regard to the final end. It means
: "Now we have nothing to worry about: now there can be no question of any
sorrow and trouble afflicting us here. "
59That is "He has forgiven us
our errors, has appreciated whatever little provision of deeds we had brought
and blessed us with His Paradise as a reward."
60That is, "The world was
a stage in our journey of life, which we have crossed, and the plain of
Resurrection also is a stage of the same journey, which we have also crossed.
Now we have reached a place which is our eternal abode: we have not to go
elsewhere from here."
61In other words, "All our toils and afflictions
have come to an end. Now we do not have to perform any work here in carrying out
which we might have to experience any rigor or hardship and after carrying out
which we might be fatigued."
62"Who have disbelieved": Who have refused
to believe in the Book which Allah has sent down on Muhammad (upon whom be His
peace and blessings).
63This 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
Hadrat Abu Hurairah and Hadrat Sahl bin Sa'd as-Sa'idi 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,
Nasa'i, Ibn Jarir, Ibn Abi Hatim).
64This can have two meanings:
(1) "Now He has settled you on His earth after the passing away of the previous
generations and nations;" and
(2) "the powers and authority that He has
given 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. "
65If the previous sentence is
taken to mean that you have been made successors to the previous nations, this
sentence would mean this: "The one who did not learn any lesson from the fate of
the previous nations and adopted the conduct of disbelief due to which those
nations have gone to their doom, will himself see the evil end of his folly."
And if the sentence is taken to mean this that Allah has delegated to you powers
and authority as His vicegerents in the earth, this sentence would mean: `He who
forgot this position of vicegerency and became independent, or he who adopted
service of someone else, apart from his real Master, would see the evil end of
his rebellious conduct himself."
66"Associates of yours", because they
are not in fact the associates of Allah, but the ones whom the polytheists
themselves have made associates of Allah.
67That is, "Do they possess a
written sanction from Us in which We might have indicated that We have given
such and such persons the powers to heal the sick, or to get jobs for the
jobless, or to fulfill needs of the needy, or that We have made such and such
beings Our representatives in such and such parts of the earth and now it is in
their hands to make or mar the destinies of the people of those parts;
therefore, Our servants now should pray to them and present gifts and offerings
before them, and for whatever blessings they receive they should thank those
"demigods" only? If you possess any such sanction, produce it. And if you have
no such sanction, you should consider on what grounds you have invented these
polytheistic creeds and practices. When you are asked as to what sign is there
in the heavens and the earth that may point to your self invented gods as being
God's associates, you cannot point out any. When you arc asked to product any
Divine sanction from any Book of Allah, or from your own possession, or from the
possession of your self-invented gods, which may testify to God s having Himself
delegated to them those powers which you assign to them, you do not produce any.
What then is the basis of your these creeds and concepts? Are you the owners of
the Divine rights and powers that you may assign and distribute them to
whomsoever you please?"
68That is, "These 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 God, 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."
69That 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. "
70That is, "It is 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 "
71Before the advent of
the Holy Prophet, 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-An'am :156-157 above, and in Surah AsSaffat: 167-169 below.
72That is, this Law of Allah that the nation which repudiates its Prophet, is
destroyed should be applied in their case as well.