025- AL-FURQAN

THE CRITERION 

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

# Blessed is He Who sent down the Criterion upon His servant that he may be a warner unto the worlds, # He unto Whom belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and Who took not a child, and Who has no partner in sovereignty, and Who created everything, then measured it out with due measure. # But they have taken gods apart from Him, who create naught and are themselves created, and who have no power over what harm or benefit may come to themselves, and who have no power over death, or life, or resurrection. # And the disbelievers say, “This is naught but a lie that he has fabricated, and another people have helped him in it.” They have indeed produced a wrongdoing and a calumny. # And they say, “They are fables of those of old which he has had written down, and they are recited to him morning and evening.” # Say, “He has sent it down Who knows what is secret in the heavens and on the earth. Truly He is Forgiving, Merciful.” # And they say, “What ails this Messenger, who eats food and walks in the markets? Why is there not an angel sent down unto him to be a warner with him, # or no treasure cast unto him, or no garden for him from which to eat?” And the wrongdoers say, “You follow naught but a man bewitched.” # Look how they set forth descriptions of thee, and then go astray and cannot find a way. # Blessed is He Who, if He will, shall appoint for thee what is better than that—Gardens with rivers running below, and He will appoint for thee palaces. # Nay, but they deny the Hour, and We have prepared a Blaze for those who deny the Hour. # When it sees them from a place far off, they will hear its raging and roaring. # And when they are cast bound together into a narrow place thereof, they will, there and then, call to be destroyed. # “Call not this Day for one destruction, but call for many destructions!” # Say, “Is that better, or the Garden of everlastingness which is promised to the reverent?” It is for them a reward and a journey’s end. # Therein they shall have whatsoever they will, abiding. It is a binding promise upon your Lord. # And on the Day He gathers them and that which they worship apart from God, He will say, “Was it you who caused these servants of Mine to go astray, or did they [themselves] go astray from the way?” # They will say, “Glory be to Thee! It does not befit us to take protectors apart from Thee! But Thou didst grant them and their fathers enjoyment until they forgot the Reminder. And they were a people ruined. # They have denied you in what you say; so you cannot avert [it] or [find] help.” And whosoever among you does wrong, We shall make him taste a great punishment. # And We sent not any messengers before thee but that they ate food and walked in the markets. And We made some of you a trial for others; will you be patient? And thy Lord is Seeing. # And those who hope not to meet Us say, “Why have not the angels been sent down unto us, or why have we not seen our Lord?” Indeed, they have waxed arrogant in their souls and were greatly insolent. # On the Day they see the angels, there shall be no glad tidings for the guilty that Day. And they will say, “A barrier, forbidden!” # And We shall turn to whatever work they have done, and make it scattered dust. # That Day the inhabitants of the Garden shall have the best dwelling place and the most beautiful rest. # And the Day when the heavens are split open with clouds and the angels are sent down in a descent, # that Day the true sovereignty will belong to the Compassionate, and that will be a difficult Day for the disbelievers. ‘ And that Day the wrongdoer will bite his hands, saying, “Would that I had taken a way with the Messenger! # Oh, woe unto me! Would that I had not taken so-and so for a friend! # He did indeed cause me to go astray from the Reminder after its having come to me, and Satan is a forsaker of man.” # And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! Truly my people have taken this Quran for foolishness.” # Thus did We make for every prophet an enemy from among the guilty, and thy Lord suffices as a Guide and a Helper. # And the disbelievers say, “Why was the Quran not sent down upon him as a single whole?” It is so, that We may make firm thine heart thereby. And We have recited it unto thee in a measured pace. # And they come not to thee with any parable, but that We bring to thee the truth and a better explanation. # [As for] those who are gathered upon their faces to Hell, their place is worse and they are further astray from the way. # And indeed We gave unto Moses the Book and placed with him his brother as a helper. # Then We said, “Go to the people who have denied Our signs.” Then We destroyed them completely. # And Noah’s people: when they denied the messengers, We drowned them and made of them a sign for mankind. And We have prepared for the wrongdoers a painful punishment. # And ʿĀd and Thamūd and the inhabitants of al-Rass, and many generations between them, # for each We set forth parables, and each We ruined utterly. # And indeed they passed by the town upon which fell the evil rain. Have they not seen it? Nay, but they hope not for a resurrection. # And when they see thee they do naught but take thee in mockery: “Is this the one whom God sent as a messenger? # He would indeed have nearly led us astray from our gods, had we not been steadfast to them.” They will know, when they see the punishment, who is further astray from the way. # Hast thou considered the one who takes his caprice as his god? Wouldst thou be a guardian over him? # Or do you suppose that most of them hear or understand? Truly they are but as cattle. Nay, they are further astray from the way. # Hast thou not considered thy Lord, how He spreads out the shade—and had He willed, He could have made it still—and then We make the sun an indicator of it; # then We withdraw it unto Ourselves, a gentle withdrawal. # And He it is Who made the night a garment for you, and made sleep repose, and made day a resurrection. # And He it is Who sends the winds as glad tidings ahead of His Mercy. And We send down from Heaven pure water, # that We may revive a dead land thereby and give drink to many cattle and men We created. # And indeed We have distributed it among them, that they may reflect. But most of mankind refuse to be aught but ungrateful. # And had We willed, We would have sent a warner to every town. # So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them by means of it with a great striving. # And He it is Who mixed the two seas, one sweet, satisfying, the other salty, bitter, and set between them a divide and a barrier, forbidden. # And He it is Who created a human being from water, and made of him lineages and [kinships through] marriages. And thy Lord is Powerful. # And they worship apart from God that which neither benefits them nor harms them. And the disbeliever is a partisan against his Lord. # And We sent thee not, save as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner. # Say, “I ask not of you any reward for it, save that whosoever will may take a way unto his Lord.” # And trust in the Living, Who dies not, and hymn His praise. And God suffices as One Aware of the sins of His servants, # He Who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them in six days, then mounted the Throne, the Compassionate [is He]. So ask, regarding Him, One Who is aware. # And when it is said unto them, “Prostrate before the Compassionate,” they say, “And what is the Compassionate? Shall we prostrate before that [to] which you command us?” And it increases them in aversion. # Blessed is He Who placed constellations in the sky and placed therein a lamp and a shining moon. # And He it is Who made the night and the day successive, for whosoever desires to reflect or desires to be thankful. # The servants of the Compassionate are those who walk humbly upon the earth, and when the ignorant address them, say, “Peace,” # and who pass the night before their Lord, prostrating and standing [in prayer], # and who say, “Our Lord! Avert the punishment of Hell from us! Truly its punishment is inescapable. # What an evil dwelling place and station!” # and who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor miserly—and between them is a just mean— # and who call not upon another god along with God, and slay not the soul that God has made inviolable, save by right, and who fornicate not—for whosoever does that shall meet requital, # and the punishment shall be multiplied for him on the Day of Resurrection. He shall abide therein, humiliated, # save for those who repent and believe and perform righteous deeds. For them, God will replace their evil deeds with good deeds, and God is Forgiving, Merciful. # And whosoever has repented and works righteousness does indeed repent to God with true repentance. # As for those who do not bear false witness, and who, when they pass by some idle talk, pass by with dignity, # and who, when they are reminded of the signs of their Lord, fall not deaf and blind against them, # and who say, “Our Lord! Grant us comfort in our spouses and our progeny, and make us imams for the reverent,” # it is they who shall be rewarded with the lofty abode for having been patient, and they will be met therein with salutations and [greetings of] peace, # abiding therein. What a beautiful dwelling place and station! # Say, “What weight would my Lord give you, were it not for your supplication? But you have denied, and it will be inevitable.”

Commentary

# Blessed is He Who sent down the Criterion upon His servant that he may be a warner unto the worlds,

1 The root from which blessed derives carries the sense of the growth and increase of what is good (IK, Q). Therefore, some commentators prefer to understand blessed to mean “holy” or “transcendent” in order to avoid the theological problem of associating God Himself with the change implied in the concept of growth or increase (Q).

On Criterion (Furqān), a word that appears also in 2:53, 185; 3:4; 8:29, 41;

21:48, see 3:3–4c and 8:29c. Criterion could also be rendered “divide” or “boundary” in the sense that it can mean both “that which distinguishes” and “that by which things are distinguished.” It is referred to in this way because it separates the believers from the disbelievers and truth from falsehood, and teaches believers how to live by delineating what is lawful and what is prohibited (Q). In this verse, al-Furqān is another name for the Quran; see also 21:48, where Moses and Aaron are also given a furqān, or a revelation in a more universal sense.

On warner, see 35:23c; 4:165c. See also 21:107, where the Prophet is described as a mercy unto the worlds. Worlds (ʿālamīn) can also mean more specifically human worlds or “nations,” that is, various human collectivities (see 2:47c). Here it is understood by some to refer to the human beings and jinn to whom the Prophet was sent (Q); see the introduction to Sūrah 72 for a discussion of the jinn and their reception of the Prophet’s message. For some, warner unto the worlds means that the Prophet was sent to all creatures until the Day of Judgment (R). Certain Muʿtazilite theologians have argued that this verse means that God desires all creatures to have faith and to do good and avoid evil, while Ashʿarite theologians countered this argument by citing 7:179: Certainly We have created for Hell many among jinn and men (R).

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# He unto Whom belongs sovereignty over the heavens and the earth, and Who took not a child, and Who has no partner in sovereignty, and Who created everything, then measured it out with due measure.

2. For God’s sovereignty, see Sūrah 67, “Sovereignty”; see also 67:1c;

36:83c. For a discussion of the Quran’s rejection of the notion of God having a child, which includes both Arab pagan beliefs concerning “daughters of God” and the Christian doctrine of Jesus as son of God, see 2:116c; 6:101–2c. Measured it out with due measure (cf. 76:16) renders a phrase composed of a verb (qaddara) and the verb’s corresponding verbal noun (taqdīr). It is a word that encompasses both knowing the measure of a thing and bestowing a measure upon a thing and thus also has within its range of meaning the sense of “estimation” and also “ordainment.” This range of meaning has implications for the theological questions surrounding the order found in creation as well as both God’s Knowledge of things and His Power over them, which is to say that it has bearing on questions of God’s Omniscience and Omnipotence. Al-Rāzī notes that, as it concerns human beings, taqdīr is an act of estimation or assessment, but because God’s Knowledge is eternal and unchanging, the Divine taqdīr refers to God’s Knowledge of a creature’s entire existence from beginning to end. Other commentators emphasize the sense of taqdīr as ordainment or “predestination,” referring to the bestowal and ordainment of everything a creature was, is now, or ever will be (IK, Q). In this latter sense taqdīr is similar to qadar, or one’s “lot” or “measuring out,” a concept that in the theological tradition often refers to the doctrine of Divine predestination; see 54:47–49; 6:60c; 17:13–14c; 17:30c; 65:3c; 68:1c; 91:8c, and the essay “The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy.”

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# But they have taken gods apart from Him, who create naught and are themselves created, and who have no power over what harm or benefit may come to themselves, and who have no power over death, or life, or resurrection.

3. This verse is widely thought to refer to idolaters in particular, and would not necessarily include Christians, as the assertion in the previous verse might (R). The dismissal of false objects of worship as things that are created, but cannot themselves create, is also found in 7:191 and 16:20, and the criticism that they have no power over harm or benefit appears in 5:76; 10:18, 106; 13:16; 21:66. The Quran points out frequently that idols are incapable of numerous things, including granting provision (16:73; 29:17), speech (78:37), and intercession (30:13; 39:43; 43:86), indicating that they are unworthy of worship.

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# And the disbelievers say, “This is naught but a lie that he has fabricated, and another people have helped him in it.” They have indeed produced a wrongdoing and a calumny.

# And they say, “They are fables of those of old which he has had written down, and they are recited to him morning and evening.”

4–5 These verses describe the accusation leveled against the Prophet that he was taught what to say by certain Jews and Christians (Q, Ṭ), and was merely rehearsing old stories; see also 16:103: He has merely been taught by a human being. Some commentators name specific people who were learned in the Torah, but then became followers of the Prophet, and it was alleged that he took stories from them (R). Many commentators connect these verses with a certain Naḍr ibn al-Ḥārith of the Quraysh, a storyteller who would recite stories from Persian history and myth; the disbelievers would compare his stories with the Quran and announce in the Prophet’s presence that al-Ḥārith’s stories were better (Ṭ). Fables of those of old are also mentioned in 6:25; 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 27:68; 46:17; 68:15; 83:13.

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j Say, “He has sent it down Who knows what is secret in the heavens and on the earth. Truly He is Forgiving, Merciful.”

6 According to this verse, God knows all that is hidden in the heavens and on the earth, and so the Prophet does not need to be taught by another (Q). Also, the implicit threat in the idea that God knows all secret things would mean that He is aware of the thoughts and plots of those who oppose the Prophet (R).

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# And they say, “What ails this Messenger, who eats food and walks in the markets? Why is there not an angel sent down unto him to be a warner with him,

7. A major theme of the Quran is the incredulity of the disbelievers that God would send an ordinary human being to be His messenger. On the disbelievers’ desire to see an angel appear as a messenger, see 6:8–9c; also see 11:12; 15:7; 17:92–95; 21:3; 25:21; 43:53. Some note that the disbelievers employed this kind of insult against the Prophet because they knew that the great kings, rulers, and notables considered themselves above walking with ordinary people in the markets (Q). A response to this question comes in v. 20: And We sent not any messengers before thee but that they ate food and walked in the markets.

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# or no treasure cast unto him, or no garden for him from which to eat?” And the wrongdoers say, “You follow naught but a man bewitched.”

8. Similar questions are posed by the disbelievers about the Prophet in 11:12 and about Moses in 43:53: Why, then, have armlets of gold not been cast upon him, and why do angels not accompany him? They believed that a messenger who was not wealthy and did not have lands from which to sustain himself could not be superior to them; so they felt no imperative to follow him (R). Similar arguments were made by the Israelites against Saul in 2:247.

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# Look how they set forth descriptions of thee, and then go astray and cannot find a way.

9. For al-Rāzī, since it is not necessarily a problem that miraculous or extraordinary phenomena—such as those mentioned in v. 8—are not associated with prophets, perhaps this is meant to express astonishment that the wrongdoers would waste time making such useless comparisons or descriptions. For alQurṭubī, they offer such comparisons for the purposes of denying the Prophet. They then go astray and cannot find a way to accomplish their denial of the Prophet, meaning their parables or descriptions are of no avail (Q), which some interpret to mean that they can find no way out of the comparative descriptions they have given of the Prophet (Ṭ), presumably because this traps them, in a sense, in their state of rejection.

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# Blessed is He Who, if He will, shall appoint for thee what is better than that—Gardens with rivers running below, and He will appoint for thee palaces.

10. This verse states that the rewards of the Hereafter are greater than the treasure and garden that the disbelievers mention in v. 8 (Ṭ). For some this means that if God willed, He could bestow both gardens in the Hereafter and palaces in this world (R). On the meaning of Gardens with rivers running below, see 2:25c. Palaces renders quṣūr, which according to some commentators meant for the Quraysh any dwelling that was made of stone, regardless of size (IK, Q, Ṭ). See also 7:74, which mentions the castles (quṣūr) built by the Thamūd, the people of Ṣāliḥ, and also 22:45.

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# Nay, but they deny the Hour, and We have prepared a Blaze for those who deny the Hour.

11. The Hour refers to the end of the world and the Day of Resurrection (Q). Blaze renders saʿīr, which means a flame or kindled fire and is in this sense a rough synonym for nār, usually rendered “fire.” Some consider it one of the names of Hell (R). For saʿīr (Blaze or blazing flame), see also 4:10, 55; 17:97; 22:4; 31:21; 33:64; 34:12; 35:6; 42:7; 48:13; 67:5, 10, 11; 76:4; 84:12. Because of the term prepared, some theologians understand this verse to support the idea that one’s ultimate end is predestined and that “those who are saved were saved in their mother’s womb” (R), though the verse can also be read as saying that Hell is prepared as a destination for those people who choose freely to deny the Hour.

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# When it sees them from a place far off, they will hear its raging and roaring.

12. When it sees them means when Hell sees them (Q) or when the custodians of Hell see them; here Hell is a metonym, as when one says, “Ask the town,” meaning, “Ask the people of the town” (R). Al-Qurṭubī glosses this verse with a ḥadīth describing the Fire that will come upon the disbelievers on the Day of Resurrection as having a neck sprouting out of it with two eyes that see, two ears that hear, and a tongue that speaks, declaring that it has been entrusted with those who associated others with God and that it will swallow them as a bird swallows a sesame seed. Some theologians (such as the Muʿtazilites) disallow the notion of such attributes, but others see no problem with God’s granting the Fire such faculties (R).

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# And when they are cast bound together into a narrow place thereof, they will, there and then, call to be destroyed.

# “Call not this Day for one destruction, but call for many destructions!”

13–14 In a saying attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās, the constriction of the narrow place is described using the metaphor of a spearhead forced into the shaft of a spear (Q). Bound together is interpreted by some to mean that people will be chained to their individual satans; for others, their hands will be chained to their necks (Q, Z). To be destroyed renders thubūr, which is also thought of as a kind of lamentation (Ṭ). According to this understanding, these verses would be rendered, “They will, there and then, call out ‘Woe!’ ‘Do not call out “Woe!” once, but call out “Woe!” many times!’” Call for many destructions refers to the fact that the punishment will not be a solitary event; it will be enduring and come in many forms, and there will be no relief from it, so that those experiencing it will call out to be destroyed (or call out “Woe!”) over and over again (R, Z). Other verses that mention the unremitting punishment include 4:56: As often as their skins are consumed, We shall replace them with other skins; and 20:74: His shall be Hell, wherein he neither dies nor lives.

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# Say, “Is that better, or the Garden of everlastingness which is promised to the reverent?” It is for them a reward and a journey’s end.

# Therein they shall have whatsoever they will, abiding. It is a binding promise upon your Lord.

           15–16 Everlastingness renders khuld, from the same root as abiding (khālid) in v. 16, which is often used in the Quran to describe the denizens of Paradise and Hell as abiding therein (e.g., v. 76) and which means literally “to stay” or “to remain,” by implication in an everlasting manner. When understood in relation to the Hereafter, to “stay” or “remain” in a place can be interpreted as tantamount to being there forever, or as it is said here everlastingly. That this Garden is promised to the reverent and that this promise is characterized as binding (masʾūl) raises theological issues related to whether human beings deserve Paradise and whether God is in any sense obligated to bestow it as a gift from Him. Some understand the word masʾūl in a more literal way to mean

“something asked for” by human beings rather than “what one is obligated to do” (Ṭ), while others see in this a reference to the angels’ supplication to God in 40:8: Our Lord, make them enter Gardens of Eden that Thou hast promised them (R). Binding (masʾūl) is interpreted to signify obligation in the sense of a promise that one keeps rather than a debt that one owes (Q). Although binding reflects idiomatic Arabic, such notions of God’s being “obligated” often fall outside of what is theologically acceptable for many commentators, especially those who subscribe to the Ashʿarite school, for whom God’s absolute Will and Omnipotence are always paramount. This extends to questions of how Paradise and Hell constitute a promise or threat that He will carry out. Some theologians maintain that God is not “obligated” to fulfill a promise or act upon a threat, since His Will is supreme. For other theologians, such as the Muʿtazilites and many others, these verses indicate that those who receive Paradise are indeed those who deserve it (R). Receiving and having free access to what one desires in Paradise or with God is also mentioned in 16:31; 39:34; 42:22; 50:35.

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# And on the Day He gathers them and that which they worship apart from God, He will say, “Was it you who caused these servants of Mine to go astray, or did they [themselves] go astray from the way?”

# They will say, “Glory be to Thee! It does not befit us to take protectors apart from Thee! But Thou didst grant them and their fathers enjoyment until they forgot the Reminder. And they were a people ruined.

17–18 The Day refers to the Day of Judgment, while that which they worship refers to other beings who become objects of worship such as the angels, jinn, idols, or even Jesus (Q); the idols will be made to speak just as the parts of the human body will be made to speak, as in 36:65 (Q, R). This question posed by God to the objects of worship is similar to that posed to Jesus in 5:116: And when God said, “O Jesus, son of Mary! Didst thou say unto mankind, ‘Take me and my mother as gods apart from God?’” he said, “Glory be to Thee! It is not for me to utter that to which I have no right.” Protectors renders awliyāʾ, which can also mean “friends,” “allies,” or “saints” (see 3:28c; 4:88–90c; 5:55c). To be granted enjoyment refers to being given the opportunity to indulge in the goods of the world. Forgetting of the reminder (or remembrance) of God is described in similar terms in 23:110: But you took them in mockery, till it made you forget My remembrance. The forgetting of God is also mentioned in 7:51; 23:110; 45:34; 58:19; 59:19; see 9:67c; 45:34c.

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# They have denied you in what you say; so you cannot avert [it] or [find] help.” And whosoever among you does wrong, We shall make him taste a great punishment.

19. They have denied you is spoken to those who worship things apart from God in v. 17; it is they who cannot avert the Punishment of God or find any help against God (Q). Another opinion is that these words are spoken to the Prophet and refer to the disbelievers’ rejection of him and the truths about which he and his followers speak (Q); in keeping with this understanding, so you cannot avert [it] is read by some in the third person, “so they cannot avert [it],” where the “they” refers to the idolaters (Q, Z). Avert is also read without an implied object, so that it would mean “to turn oneself,” that is, to turn in repentance; or it means that they will be unable to engage in any kind of ruse or trick to escape the situation (R).

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# And We sent not any messengers before thee but that they ate food and walked in the markets. And We made some of you a trial for others; will you be patient? And thy Lord is Seeing.

20. This verse is understood as a response to the questions posed in v. 7 regarding the humanity and natural limitations of the Prophet. The trial is understood by some to refer to the scorn exhibited by the haughty Quraysh toward the impoverished Companions, as described in 46:11: Had it been good, they would not have outstripped us in [attaining] it; that is, the low social status and poverty of some of the Companions kept the socially superior Quraysh from embracing the faith (R); see commentary on 6:52–53. It can also be extended to refer to human beings in general with respect to their being given different physical, intellectual, and spiritual gifts. Will you be patient? is understood to be addressed to the believers, encouraging them to bear the taunts of the disbelievers and to endure the poverty and weakness they suffer; it is also understood implicitly as the command “Be patient” (Q).

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# And those who hope not to meet Us say, “Why have not the angels been sent down unto us, or why have we not seen our Lord?” Indeed, they have waxed arrogant in their souls and were greatly insolent.

21. Similar questions are posed to Moses in 2:55: O Moses, we will not believe thee till we see God openly. In other passages, including 6:8 and 17:90–93, the Quraysh demand that the Prophet produce marvels before they will believe in him; see also 25:7c.

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# On the Day they see the angels, there shall be no glad tidings for the guilty that Day. And they will say, “A barrier, forbidden!”

22. No glad tidings for the guilty refers to the fact that the guilty will only see the angels upon death or on the Day of Resurrection (Q, R), which are two possible meanings for the word Day. The phrase A barrier, forbidden! renders an idiomatic Arabic exclamation used when one encounters an enemy or attacker and wants the attack to be stopped or hindered (R). According to one interpretation, these words are spoken by the disbelievers who, upon seeing the fearsome sight of angels, desire to be protected from them, while others understand these to be the words of the angels keeping the disbelievers out of the gates of the Garden (R). The warning to the “guilty” about meeting the angels is expressed in a different way in 2:210: Do they wait for naught less than that God should come in the shadows of clouds, with the angels, and that the matter should have been decreed?; see also 6:158 and 16:33.

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# And We shall turn to whatever work they have done, and make it scattered dust.

23. The works of filial piety that the guilty believed to constitute good deeds will come to naught because of their disbelief (Q), though work may also be understood to refer to any action of theirs (R). Dust renders habāʾ, which is typically thought to refer to the particles floating in the air that are made visible by a shaft of light. Regarding the broader Quranic discussion of deeds coming to naught, see 2:217; 3:21–22; 5:5, 53; 6:88; 7:147; 9:17; 11:16; 18:105; 33:19; 39:65; 47:9, 28, 32.

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# That Day the inhabitants of the Garden shall have the best dwelling place and the most beautiful rest.

24. Some read this verse as a response to the question in v. 15: Is that better (khayr), or the Garden of everlastingness? In this verse best (also khayr) can be read as the superlative (“best”) or the comparative (“better”). Rest (maqīl) is understood to refer specifically to a place where one takes the midday sleep (qaylūlah; see also 24:58), raising questions for some commentators about whether one sleeps in the Garden or whether there will be a kind of intermission during the Day of Judgment (occurring in the middle of the “Day” like the ordinary midday sleep) when the reckoning of deeds will be suspended (Q, R, Z).

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# And the Day when the heavens are split open with clouds and the angels are sent down in a descent,

25. The splitting or opening of the heavens when the world is destroyed is also mentioned in 42:5; 55:37; 69:16; 78:19; 82:1; 84:1. The descent or coming of the angels at the end of the world is also mentioned in 2:210; 6:158; 89:22.

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# that Day the true sovereignty will belong to the Compassionate, and that will be a difficult Day for the disbelievers.

26. Some take true sovereignty to mean that on that Day there will be no illusion of any sovereignty other than God’s, even though true sovereignty was always God’s, and all other claims to sovereignty over anything will disappear (Q, R). On the concept of sovereignty (mulk), see 67:1c; 36:83c.

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# And that Day the wrongdoer will bite his hands, saying, “Would that I had taken a way with the Messenger!

# Oh, woe unto me! Would that I had not taken so-and-so for a friend!

# He did indeed cause me to go astray from the Reminder after its having come to me, and Satan is a forsaker of man.”

27–29 Although some commentators tie these verses to a specific person who was said to have been misled by his friend away from Islam and from following the Prophet (IK, Q), others do not consider it to be specific at all (R), as such expressions of regret over one’s conduct in the world also appear in 6:27; 33:66; 68:29–31; 78:40; 89:24.

The Reminder can be a reference to the Quran itself (one of whose names is the Reminder) or the remembrance of God, as the latter is also part of the lexical meaning of dhikr (R). Satan can refer to Iblīs himself, but the Quran also uses the word shayṭān in a more extended sense to refer to the helpers of Satan and to certain human beings (see 2:14c; 6:112c), so that this phrase could also be read as referring to that false friend (“the satan” rather than “Satan”) who misleads one away from the truth (R).

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Ð And the Messenger will say, “O my Lord! Truly my people have taken this Quran for foolishness.”

30. These words are understood to be spoken by the Prophet in the Hereafter, but they also can have occurred during his earthly life (R). The people took it for foolishness when they either thought it was sorcery (cf. 37:15) or simply called it a lie (Ṭ).

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# Thus did We make for every prophet an enemy from among the guilty, and thy Lord suffices as a Guide and a Helper.

31. That the Prophet Muhammad had obstacles in common with previous prophets is a major theme of the Quran, as in 6:112: Thus have We made for every prophet an enemy—satans from among mankind and jinn, who inspire each other with flowery discourse in order to deceive. Elsewhere it is mentioned that all the prophets were in some way mocked by their peoples or opposed by the affluent and powerful among those to whom they were sent; see the stories of the prophets Noah, Hūd, Ṣāliḥ, Lot, Shuʿayb, and Moses in 7:59–136. On the concept of God’s Sufficiency, see 2:137c; 3:173c. For some commentators the subsequent mention of several prophets and their enemies in vv. 31–39 is a direct continuation of the message of this verse.

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# And the disbelievers say, “Why was the Quran not sent down upon him as a single whole?” It is so, that We may make firm thine heart thereby. And We have recited it unto thee in a measured pace.

32. The Quran was revealed over the course of the Prophet’s entire mission of twenty-two or twenty-three years; see the essay “The Islamic View of the Quran.” The message of this verse is connected with 11:120: All that We recount unto thee of the stories of the messengers is that whereby We make firm thine heart. Some understand We have recited it unto thee in a measured pace to mean, “We have explained to thee its interpretation” (IK, Ṭ). Many commentators highlight the relationship of the Quran to the events of the life of the Prophet, the gradual legislation of commands and prohibitions, and the manner in which successive revelations were both necessary for the establishment of the Islamic community and a source of support and help for the Prophet during his struggles with his enemies (IK, Q, R). Al-Rāzī understands the gradual application of the commands and prohibitions, the memorization and understanding of one part at a time, and the responsiveness of the revelation to the questions and states of the believers to be among the benefits of the successive revelation of the Quran; see also commentary on 17:106: And [We sent it down] as a recitation We have divided in parts, that thou mayest recite it unto men in intervals, and We sent it down in successive revelations. At the same time, some commentators describe how the Quran descended all at once from the Preserved Tablet (85:22) or Mother of the Book (13:39) into the highest state of the cosmos (“the heaven of this world”) and, once established there, descended gradually over time to the Prophet (IK).

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# And they come not to thee with any parable, but that We bring to thee the truth and a better explanation.

33. Parable renders mathal, which also means “symbol” and which can in this context also convey the meaning of “comparison” or “description”; here the term refers to arguments or challenges the disbelievers used in order to try to discredit the Prophet and the Quran (IK). Explanation renders tafsīr, a word that in its later technical usage refers to the genre of the exegesis of the Quran, but that here refers to an explanation or clarification of the truth that is always better than the challenges presented by the Prophet’s opponents (IK, Q).

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# [As for] those who are gathered upon their faces to Hell, their place is worse and they are further astray from the way.

34. That those who are astray are gathered upon their faces in the Hereafter, as a consequence of disbelief and evil actions, is also mentioned in 17:97 and 54:48. The significance of punishment in connection with the human face is discussed in 33:66c, which also refers to such verses as 8:50; 14:50; 23:104; 27:90.

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# And indeed We gave unto Moses the Book and placed with him his brother as a helper.

# Then We said, “Go to the people who have denied Our signs.” Then We destroyed them completely.

35–36 Sometimes the command to go to Pharaoh is addressed to Moses in the singular (20:24), while in other verses, such as v. 36, the command, in the dual form, is addressed to Moses and Aaron. Al-Qurṭubī points out that the dual can be used even though the command was directed at Moses only, or it means that Moses was commanded first and then, as described in 20:29–32, Moses asked God to make Aaron his helper, after which they were both commanded to go to Pharaoh. Destroy renders dammara, also used in 7:137; 17:16; 26:172; 27:51; 37:136; 47:10.

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# And Noah’s people: when they denied the messengers, We drowned them and made of them a sign for mankind. And We have prepared for the wrongdoers a painful punishment.

# And ʿĀd and Thamūd and the inhabitants of al-Rass, and many generations between them,

37–38 These various peoples are also mentioned together in 50:12–13. For the Quranic account of Noah and the destruction of his people, see 7:59–64; 11:25–48; 23:23–30; 26:105–22; and Sūrah 71. For the account of the ʿĀd, see

7:65–72; 11:50–60; 41:15–16; 54:18–21. For that of the Thamūd, see 7:73–79; 11:61–68; 26:141–58; 54:23–31. There is no agreement as to the identity of the people of al-Rass or even if the term is a proper name, since the word can also mean “the well” or “the pit” (Ṭ). Al-Rāzī lists several possibilities for the geographical location of these people and the prophets who were sent to them, including one that says the people of al-Rass were descended from or were part of the people of the Thamūd and another that says the name comes from the fact that these people threw their prophet into a well or pit; on al-Rass, also see 50:12– 14c. Al-Rāzī prefers the opinion that none of these details are ascertainable and the significance of the story lies in the fact that these were people who, like the ʿĀd and the Thamūd, were destroyed because of their disbelief.

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# for each We set forth parables, and each We ruined utterly.

39. Set forth parables means that God provided them with exhortations and proofs (R, Ṭ). Parable renders mathal, a form of descriptive comparison used to convey a message that can encompass forms of address broader than metaphor or allegory; on mathal, also see 16:60c; 25:33c. The verb phrase rendered by ruined utterly also connotes the sense of something crumbling.

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# And indeed they passed by the town upon which fell the evil rain. Have they not seen it? Nay, but they hope not for a resurrection.

40. This verse is understood to refer to the people of Lot (Ṭ). The evil rain (cf. 27:58) is a rain of stones (R, Ṭ), causing destruction of the town. This verse is alluding to the fact that the Quraysh, in their journeys for purposes of trade, would have passed by such ruins (R). This is also connected to another Quranic theme repeated in the question, Have they not journeyed upon the earth and observed how those before them fared in the end? (e.g., 12:109; 30:9, 42; 35:44; 40:21, 82; 47:10). They hope not for a resurrection, referring to the Quraysh, can mean both that they are not hopeful for such a reality and that it is something they do not believe will happen (“hope” in the sense of “anticipate”; R). Such language of “not hoping” to meet God or be resurrected also appears in 4:104; 10:7, 11, 15; 25:21; 45:14; 71:13; 78:27.

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# And when they see thee they do naught but take thee in mockery:“Is this the one whom God sent as a messenger?

41. On the disbelievers’ incredulity regarding God’s choice of Muhammad and his followers instead of them, see 46:11c; 6:53c. Cf. 43:6–7: How many a prophet did We send to those of old? Yet never did a prophet come unto them, but that they mocked him. The mockery carried out by the disbelievers is a common trait ascribed to them (see, e.g., 2:14–15; 4:140; 5:57–58; 6:5; 31:6; 45:9, 35).

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# He would indeed have nearly led us astray from our gods, had wenot been steadfast to them.” They will know, when they see the punishment, who is further astray from the way.

42. For al-Rāzī, this verse alludes to the seriousness and diligence with which the Prophet continually presented proofs and evidence, but the disbelievers were steadfast to their gods, kept themselves loyal to them (Q), and remained firm (R).

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# Hast thou considered the one who takes his caprice as his god?Wouldst thou be a guardian over him?

43. The idolaters obey their passions to the point of worshipping them (Aj, Z). In this context some commentators relate that some were so fickle that, upon seeing a better or more beautiful idol than the one they were worshipping, they would quickly abandon the first and begin worshipping the second (Aj, Q, R). This verse suggests to the Prophet that those who act on impulse and respond to their passions cannot be persuaded to worship the One God (Aj, Q). See also 88:22: Thou art not a warder over them.

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# Or do you suppose that most of them hear or understand? Trulythey are but as cattle. Nay, they are further astray from the way.

44. The disbelievers are like cattle in that they do not think and restrict their concerns to eating and drinking; they are even further astray, because cattle are not condemned for acting like this, but human beings are (Q). Also, cattle follow their natures, know how to obey their herders, and can hear and understand insofar as they are animals, but disbelievers disobey God and have neither eyes nor ears for the truth (IK, Ṭ). For some, this verse means that, although cattle do not possess knowledge, they are not guilty of the compound ignorance of both not knowing and not knowing that they do not know. Cattle, moreover, know what is good and bad for them, whereas some human beings do not understand how good God has been to them and that Satan is their enemy (Z), and thus they do not know how to seek the greater good of the Hereafter and avoid its punishments (Aj). Other verses that compare human beings to animals include 2:65; 7:176; 29:41; 31:19; 62:5; see 2:65c.

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# Hast thou not considered thy Lord, how He spreads out the shade—and had He willed, He could have made it still—and then We make the sun an indicator of it;

45. Here the shade refers to the time from the break of dawn until sunrise (Ṭ), a state between total illumination and total darkness (R). According to this interpretation, shade (ẓill) could also be rendered “twilight.” On ẓill, also see 56:30c, where shade is discussed in connection with the Garden. He could have made it still refers to the fact that God could cause the twilight to last without the sun overtaking it and causing it to disappear (IK). We make the sun an indicator of it is interpreted to mean that it is through opposites that things are known, and thus the shade is known and understood in contrast to the shining of the sun (IK, R). In a sense, it is through knowing the sun’s shining state that one knows the twilight (Z). Just as the sun moves gradually through the sky, so too does the shade or twilight gradually change (Ṭb).

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# then We withdraw it unto Ourselves, a gentle withdrawal.

46. It refers to the shade (ẓill) or twilight from the previous verse. The twilight is withdrawn as the sun rises and the light erases the shade (Ṭb). Some interpret gentle (yasīr) to mean “quickly” or “in a hidden way” (Ṭ), while others take it to mean that the withdrawal is gradual (Z). This verse also has connotations of the coming of the Hour (the end of the world and the Resurrection), which is spoken of as being easy (also yasīr) for God to accomplish, as in 29:19 and 50:44 (R). As a spiritual allegory, vv. 45–46 are understood to mean that the human soul (and indeed every created thing) is a shadow cast from the Unseen; the sun of sacred knowledge points to its ultimate nature, and God draws it gradually to Himself until the soul is annihilated (fanāʾ) in Him (Aj).

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# And He it is Who made the night a garment for you, and madesleep repose, and made day a resurrection.

47. In connection with waking as a resurrection (nushūr), some mention the proverb, “Sleep is the brother of death” (Ṭ). Sleep is also associated with death in 6:60: He it is Who takes your souls by night, and also 39:42: God takes souls at the moment of their death, and those who die not during their sleep; see commentary on these two verses. The night, sleep, and day are described using similar language in 78:9–11.

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# And He it is Who sends the winds as glad tidings ahead of HisMercy. And We send down from Heaven pure water,

48. For sends the winds as glad tidings ahead of His Mercy, referring to the gathering of a rainstorm before the water starts to fall, see 7:57c. Winds as signs of God and blessings are also mentioned in 2:164; 7:57; 15:22; 27:63; 30:46; 45:5. Pure can mean both something that is pure and something by which other things are purified; hence the phrase could also be rendered “purifying water” (IK, R), an idea found in 8:11: He . . . sent down upon you water from the sky to purify you thereby. This latter verse is generally connected with an incident where an unexpected rain allowed the Muslims to perform their ritual ablutions with water before a battle, and several commentators use the present verse to discuss the details of the purifying properties of water and whether other substances share those properties.

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# that We may revive a dead land thereby and give drink to manycattle and men We created.

49. The revival of a dead land is also mentioned in 43:11 and 50:11.

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# And indeed We have distributed it among them, that they may reflect. But most of mankind refuse to be aught but ungrateful.

50. Distributed it means that the rain does not always fall in the same place, coming down on different lands at different times (IK, R); even though rain falls every year, God chooses to bless certain lands with it some years and other lands with it in other years (Aj). As in many verses that mention water in its various forms, water also symbolizes spiritual blessings that provide life to the soul through knowledge and wisdom (Aj). The lack of gratitude in the face of beneficent rain is interpreted to refer specifically to human beings attributing blessings like rain to astrological events such as the setting of a star, rather than to the Mercy and Power of God (IK, Q).

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# And had We willed, We would have sent a warner to every town.

51. This verse is understood as a magnification and praise of the Prophet Muhammad, implying that God singled him out and deemed him to be worthy to carry out the task of establishing God’s final religion alone (IK, R). Al-Ṭabarī reads it to mean that God is telling the Prophet that it may have been easier on him if more messengers were sent to other towns, but now Muhammad has to bear a greater burden himself, and v. 51 reminds him not to obey the desires of the disbelievers. According to al-Qurṭubī, it implies that, unlike the rain that descends upon all lands (v. 50), the Prophet is sent to one land, and Ibn ʿAjībah notes that the Prophet was necessarily possessed of exceptional wisdom and insight to be able to convey a message that would give the different people of the world all that they needed. The plain sense of the verse also allows an interpretation that singles out the town of Makkah.

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# So obey not the disbelievers, but strive against them by means of itwith a great striving.

52. Strive against them by means of it is understood to mean striving (jihād) with the help of the Quran (IK, Ṭ) or of Islam (Q, Ṭ). Al-Qurṭubī and others dismiss the opinion that this refers to the use of force, since this is a Makkan sūrah and the permission to use force had not been granted yet. See the essay “Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran.”

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# And He it is Who mixed the two seas, one sweet, satisfying, theother salty, bitter, and set between them a divide and a barrier, forbidden.

53. That God mixed the two seas means that one flows into the other (Ṭ), though some understand the verb to mean “to allow to flow” (Q), so that the phrase would then be translated, “God caused the two seas to flow.” By sweet is understood the water of rivers and streams, and by salty the water of the oceans (Ṭ), although these terms also have symbolic meanings. The idea of the two seas is also mentioned in 18:60; 27:61; 35:12; 55:19. For the range of interpretation of the two seas, see 35:12c; 55:19–20c. Symbolically, some interpret the sweet water to be a reference to the Law (Sharīʿah), because it is easy to attain, while the salty water is ultimate truth (ḥaqīqah), which can only come through spiritual effort and courage (Aj); alternately, in the heart of a believer there is both hope and fear of God, corresponding to the sweet and salty water, respectively, and neither should overpower the other in one’s soul (Qu).

Barrier renders barzakh, which also appears in 23:100 and 55:20 and which connotes a barrier or an isthmus between two things as well as purgatory when considered eschatologically; see 3:169–71c and also the essay “Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran.” Here it is coupled with forbidden, forming a phrase identical to the exclamation spoken by either the angels or the disbelievers in the Fire in v. 22 (A barrier, forbidden!), though in the present verse it is descriptive rather than imperative.

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# And He it is Who created a human being from water, and made ofhim lineages and [kinships through] marriages. And thy Lord is Powerful.

54. Lineages and marriages refer to kinship by blood and kinship through marriage, respectively (Q, R, Ṭ). The creation of every living thing from water is mentioned in 21:30 and 24:45. On the nature of all human beings’ common origin, see commentary on 4:1: Reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from the two has spread abroad a multitude of men and women.

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# And they worship apart from God that which neither benefits themnor harms them. And the disbeliever is a partisan against his Lord.

55. The common motif of disbelievers worshipping what neither harms nor benefits them is also found in 6:71; 7:192, 197; 10:18, 106; 13:16; 22:12. Partisan (ẓahīr) is understood to mean that they help or support Satan against God (R, Ṭ). Some understand ẓahīr to connote the sense of being “left behind” or “disregarded,” in which case the verse would mean, “And the disbeliever deems his Lord unimportant” (Q, R).

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# And We sent thee not, save as a bearer of glad tidings and as awarner.

56. This is one of several passages to refer to the Prophet as a bearer of glad tidings and as a warner (5:19; 7:188; 11:2; 17:105; 33:45; 34:28; 35:24; 48:8); in other verses these functions are attributed to all prophets (2:213; 4:165; 6:48; 18:56).

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# Say, “I ask not of you any reward for it, save that whosoever willmay take a way unto his Lord.”

57. The Prophet is asking people to believe for their own sake, not his (R); all the Prophet desires is for them to receive what he is giving them (Z). Alternately, he does not ask them for any reward, but rather is asking them to spend their wealth in the way of God (R). For some, to take a way unto God means to do so through charitable giving (R). According to some, the word rendered by save (illā) forms a grammatical break, such that the verse would read, “I ask not of you any reward for it, but [let] whosoever wills take a way unto his Lord [by giving in the way of God]” (Q). References to messengers of God not asking for a reward from people, but only expecting their reward from God can also be found in 26:109, 127, 145, 164, 180; 34:47; 36:21; 38:86; 42:23.

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# And trust in the Living, Who dies not, and hymn His praise. AndGod suffices as One Aware of the sins of His servants,

58. On God as the Living, see 2:255c. On the concept of God’s

“sufficiency,” see 2:137c.

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# He Who created the heavens and the earth and whatsoever is between them in six days, then mounted the Throne, the Compassionate [is He]. So ask, regarding Him, One Who is aware.

59. On the creation of the heavens and the earth in six days (cf. 7:54; 10:3; 11:7; 32:4; 50:38; 57:4) and God’s “mounting” the Throne (cf. 7:54; 10:3; 32:4), see 7:54c; 11:7c; 32:4c. Some commentators, such as al-Rāzī, prefer to interpret the days here literally and not to delve into symbolic interpretations, considering superfluous those interpretations that understand these days as like the days mentioned in 22:47: Truly a day with your Lord is as a thousand years of that which you reckon. They consider questions like the nature of these six days to be among the inquiries that are essentially imponderable and unknowable, since God could just as easily have created the heavens and the earth in an instant; other such questions include why there are specifically five daily prayers (R).

The final part of this verse is read in several ways. As translated, the Compassionate is read as the subject of the sentence, and the predicate is everything that precedes it. Others read the Compassionate as an appositive following the Living from the previous verse. Still others read the Compassionate as the start of a new sentence, so that it would read, “[As for] the Compassionate, ask, regarding Him, One Who is aware” (R).

Some read the final phrase as, “So ask, regarding it”; that is, ask about the creation of the heavens and the earth; in this case the One Who is aware is thought to refer to God Himself and the Prophet is being commanded to rely on God for knowledge of such matters (R). Others say One Who is aware refers to Gabriel (Bḍ) or to a person who is wise in such matters, though the latter seems unlikely if this command is addressed to the Prophet.

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# And when it is said unto them, “Prostrate before the Compassionate,” they say, “And what is the Compassionate? Shall we prostrate before that [to] which you command us?” And it increases them in aversion.

60 It is said that the idolatrous Arabs were unfamiliar with using the Compassionate (al-Raḥmān) as a way of referring to God. For example, at the signing of the Treaty of ḥudaybiyyah (see 2:190–94c; and the introduction to Sūrah 48), the Prophet instructed that it be written, “In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful,” but the Qurayshī negotiators objected and said they did not know of either name; they wanted it to read, “In Thy Name, O God” (bi’smika Allāhumma; IK). Some note that the idolaters said that they only knew of one raḥmān, namely, Musaylimah, a contemporary of Muhammad who also claimed to be a prophet, who had taken on the title Raḥmān al-Yamāmah, or “the Compassionate One of [the region of] Yamāmah” (Q, Z). Most commentators believe this meant that the idolaters were questioning the name al-Raḥmān, not the existence of that to which it referred (R). Some read command in the third person, so that it would be translated, “Shall we prostrate before that [to] which he commands us?” (Q, Z). According to some reports, upon the revelation of this verse the Prophet and other Companions prostrated, and the idolaters imitated them in mockery, which is what is meant by and it increases them in aversion (R).

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# Blessed is He Who placed constellations in the sky and placed therein a lamp and a shining moon.

61. Constellations (burūj; see also 15:16; 85:1) is usually considered to refer to the twelve constellations of the zodiac, which are found in that band of the sky through which the sun, moon, and planets move. Burūj is connected by some to tabarruj, meaning a “display of adornments,” because of the radiance of the constellations (Z). Burūj can also mean “towers” (cf. 4:78), and in this sense burūj refers to the “houses” where the seven astrological planets (the five visible planets plus the sun and moon) “reside” (IK, Z). The planets are mentioned or alluded to, according to some commentators, in 23:17; 51:3; 70:40; 79:5; 81:15–16; see commentary on those verses, and also 2:102, in which some have seen a reference to the origins of the astrological tradition. However, although the cosmological sciences, of which astrology is a part, were common in Islamic civilization, and the practice of astrology in its descriptive and predictive aspects is practiced by some people throughout the Islamic world, Islamic Law forbids predictive (but not symbolic) astrology and astrological magic. The zodiacal signs and constellations, which are associated with different cosmological qualities (and have both a macrocosmic and a microcosmic significance), are sometimes interpreted to symbolize the states of being and stations of the soul, including the attainment of various kinds of virtue and wisdom (Aj).

Most commentators interpret the lamp to be the sun, which is what it is called in 71:16 and 78:13 (Q), although some read lamp (sirāj) in the plural as “lamps” (suruj) and understand it to mean the stars (Q). Lamp can also be understood as an allusion to the Prophet Muhammad, who is called a luminous lamp in 33:46.

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# And He it is Who made the night and the day successive, for whosoever desires to reflect or desires to be thankful.

62. For some, this means that whatever one could not accomplish (by way of worship or good deeds) in the day one could accomplish at night, and vice versa (R, Ṭ). In this vein, Ibn Kathīr mentions the ḥadīth: “God, glorified and resplendent is He, extends His Hand by night so that He might forgive the one who sinned during the day, and He extends His Hand by day so that He might forgive the one who sinned during the night.” Succesive renders khilfah, which some understand to mean “opposed,” so that this verse would mean, “He it is who made the night and the day opposites,” that is, one dark and the other light (Q, Ṭ). The alternation of the night and day is cited in the Quran as a sign of God (see 3:190; 10:6, 23:80; 45:5), as is the passing of the day into the night and of the night into the day (see 3:27; 22:61; 31:29; 35:13; 57:6); see 36:40c. One desires to reflect on or desires to be thankful for the blessings of the day and night (Ṭ).

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# The servants of the Compassionate are those who walk humblyupon the earth, and when the ignorant address them, say, “Peace,”

63. To walk humbly is interpreted to mean with dignity, tranquility, and forbearance (IK, Ṭ) and refers not only to walking, but also to the general conduct of one’s life (Q); see 17:37c, which discusses the manner in which the Prophet walked. Ibn Kathīr mentions an incident in which ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb encountered a younger man walking meekly and leisurely and asked him if he was ill, to which the man replied no. ʿUmar then commanded him to walk with strength, indicating that humbly does not mean weakly. Ibn Kathīr also mentions a ḥadīth in which the Prophet said, “When you come to the prayer, do not do so in a state of haste. Come to it with tranquility and pray whatever you can of it, and whatever you miss, make it up.” On saying, Peace, see also 43:89, where the believers are instructed to respond with “Peace.” Here it is interpreted to mean that, though they are subjected to ignorant behavior, they should not respond in kind (Ṭ). Some interpret it to mean that they should speak appropriately and correctly (sadād; Q, Ṭ). The saying of “Peace” is associated with the paradisal state in 10:10; 13:24; 14:23; 19:62; 33:44; 36:58; 56:26.

Some commentators point out that this “peace” (salām) is not a greeting or declaration of peace, but must mean something like “to be free of” (tasallama min), so that the believers are being commanded to say, “I am free of or disassociated from you,” meaning, “There is neither good nor bad between us” (Q). This interpretation is associated with the opinion that this verse (and other verses similar in their peaceful message) are abrogated (i.e., have had their binding effect overturned) by later verses that command the believers to fight the disbelievers. This interpretation would, if applied to identical uses of salām throughout the Quran, entail unacceptable meanings; for example, it would mean that God, instead of saying Peace! to believers in the Garden, would be saying, “I am free of you” (36:58), or that the believers would say this to God (33:44), or Abraham would be declaring himself “free of” the angelic visitors (51:25). Elsewhere other words related to “peace” (salām; such as silm in 2:208) are understood by some to mean something other than their plain sense by citing the meaning of a word that also derives from the root s-l-m in order to understand such verses as abrogating those verses that command peace or reconciliation with nonbelievers. Al-Qurṭubī, after mentioning the opinion regarding abrogation, states, however, that no question of abrogation need arise in this case, since the verse is commanding one to have a certain attitude of restraint and forbearance, which is not a legal command or prohibition and hence not subject to abrogation according to any mainstream understanding of that concept; regarding the issue of abrogation see 2:106c.

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# and who pass the night before their Lord, prostrating and standing[in prayer],

64. Praying at night is an important supererogatory practice in Islam. The Prophet would rise to pray most nights before dawn (to the point where some authorities considered it a prescribed act of worship specific to him), and many pious Muslims continue to do so to this day; see 17:79c; 73:1–2c.

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# and who say, “Our Lord! Avert the punishment of Hell from us!Truly its punishment is inescapable.

# What an evil dwelling place and station!”

65–66 Inescapable renders gharām, a word that is etymologically related to being infatuated or enamored with something, which the commentators connect to the sense that one cannot free oneself from the object of one’s infatuation (Z) and also to the notion of a debt or penalty, since a gharīm is a debtor. Some understand it to mean a lasting evil (Ṭ).

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# and who, when they spend, are neither prodigal nor miserly—and between them is a just mean—

67 This verse is similar in message to 17:29: And let not thine hand be shackled to thy neck; nor let it be entirely open. There are different conceptions of what prodigality or waste (isrāf) means in Islamic thought. For some any expenditure in disobedience to God is waste (R, Ṭ), and they sometimes cite a proverb: “There is no doing good in waste, and no waste in doing good” (lā khayr fī’l-isrāf wa lā isrāf fī’l-khayr; Z). Opinions on what constitutes “waste” range from expenditure on what is bad to being excessive when it comes to even what is good (R). See also 3:147c; 7:80–81c; 10:12c.

Just mean renders qawām, which carries the sense of a normal state or of uprightness. More than one commentator cites the ethical tradition that a virtue lies between two vices or two extremes or that a good lies between two evils (Ṭ, Z). The idea that the best part of a thing is its “middlemost” or center is common in Islamic thought; see 2:143c (regarding middle community, ummah wasaṭah); 23:10–11c.

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# and who call not upon another god along with God, and slay notthe soul that God has made inviolable, save by right, and who fornicate not—for whosoever does that shall meet requital,

68 Requital renders athām, which some say is the name of a valley in Hell, similar to the way in which woe (wayl) in 2:79 is interpreted as a valley in Hell (see 2:79c), even though both words have idiomatic Arabic meanings as reflected in the translation. The prohibition on slaying any soul save by right—that is, when it is warranted as a punishment for a capital transgression according to the Law —is also mentioned in 4:29, 92–93; 5:32; 6:151; 17:33.

***

# and the punishment shall be multiplied for him on the Day of Resurrection. He shall abide therein, humiliated,

69 The multiplication or doubling of the punishment in the Fire is also mentioned in 11:20 and 33:30. Some understand this to mean that the idolaters are guilty of the compound sin of disobedience and rejection of faith, leading to multiplication of punishment (R), or it is interpreted to mean that the punishment will be unremitting and intense (IK). The doubling of punishment can also be intended for those who do evil themselves and lead others toward evil as well.

***

# save for those who repent and believe and perform righteous deeds. For them, God will replace their evil deeds with good deeds, and God is Forgiving, Merciful.

70. It is reported that some idolaters were inclined to embrace Islam, but they felt they could never escape the weight of previous sins, such as those enumerated in v. 68, and wanted to know if there were some kind of expiation for them; this verse was then revealed (Ṭ). In one account, Abū Hurayrah, a prominent transmitter of aḥādīth, was approached by a woman who asked if there was any chance of repentance for her: she had committed adultery, given birth, and killed the child. Abū Hurayrah replied emphatically in the negative. When he told the Prophet, the Prophet rebuked him and asked him whether he knew vv. 68–71. Abū Hurayrah then sought out the woman to convey what the Prophet had said (Ṭ).

For some this verse is abrogated by 4:93: Whosoever slays a believer willfully, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein (R, Ṭ). Some have said that a person who enters Islam, learns its commands, and then purposefully kills another believer has no chance at repentance, although even those who hold this opinion make an exception for those who truly regret it and repent (Ṭ). This latter opinion would be in keeping with the universal principle that no sin is unforgivable in an absolute sense. According to most Muslim theologians, God accepts all sincere repentance and can forgive all sin even without repentance except in the case of idolatry (shirk), for which one must repent; see 4:48c.

Replace their evil deeds with good deeds is understood to mean, not that evil can become good (Ṭ), but that through repentance one’s evil deeds are wiped away and one has a good deed recorded for one’s soul (R), or that one’s evil deeds will be transformed into good ones in the Hereafter (Ṭ). Others hold that it means that punishment will be replaced by reward (R). For still others, it means that after one’s repentance, God will lead one from idolatry to faith, from adultery to wholesome marriage, and from bad actions to good ones in this life and one will then be granted the reward of those righteous deeds (R).

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# And whosoever has repented and works righteousness does indeed repent to God with true repentance.

71. This verse can be interpreted to mean that the first mention of repentance, has repented, refers to “turning away” (the literal sense of “repentance,” or tawbah) from idolatry, while the second, does repent, refers to turning toward God (R). The verse could also be rendered, “Whosoever repents and performs righteous deeds, truly repents to God with [real] repentance,” indicating a present or future action. On repentance (tawbah), also see 2:37c; 2:128c; 9:14–15c.

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# As for those who do not bear false witness, and who, when theypass by some idle talk, pass by with dignity,

72. Bear false witness (cf. 22:30, false speech), meaning to testify to a lie (IK), is interpreted by some to mean “to witness what is false (zūr),” which would include such things as idolatry, lewd talk, and lascivious song; that is, one should not look at or listen to such false things (R, Ṭ). Praise for those who turn away from idle talk (laghw) is also mentioned in 23:3 and 28:55. Dignity renders kirām, a word that also carries the sense of nobility, generosity, and highmindedness.

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# and who, when they are reminded of the signs of their Lord, fallnot deaf and blind against them,

73. Spiritual deafness and blindness are mentioned throughout the Quran, as in 22:46, Truly it is not the eyes that go blind, but it is hearts within breasts that go blind; see also 2:7c; 2:18c; 5:71c.

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# and who say, “Our Lord! Grant us comfort in our spouses and ourprogeny, and make us imams for the reverent,”

74. Comfort (lit. “coolness of the eyes”) is understood to be of a spiritual nature, not mere worldly enjoyment of children and spouses, regarding which the Quran warns the believers (R; e.g., 64:14); that is, they pray that their families will join them in worship and obedience to God. Moreover, the “coolness of the eyes” will be perfected when they join their families in the Garden in the Hereafter (R); also, they experience joy in seeing them worship God and perform acts of obedience (Ṭ).

Desiring to be imams for the reverent means that they desire to achieve a level of devotion that will become a standard for others, and in this respect some understand imām to mean something like “proof” or “example” (R). Here al-Rāzī cites the words of Abraham in 26:84, And make for me faithful renown among later generations, and notes that some consider a desire to be exalted in matters of religion to be a positive thing, since such leadership or renown comes through both true knowledge and righteous action.

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# it is they who shall be rewarded with the lofty abode for havingbeen patient, and they will be met therein with salutations and [greetings of] peace, 

# abiding therein. What a beautiful dwelling place and station!

75–76 Lofty abode renders ghurfah (cf. 29:58; 34:37; 39:20), which means the uppermost part of a dwelling and here refers to the Garden (R); see 39:20c. ***

# Say, “What weight would my Lord give you, were it not for your supplication? But you have denied, and it will be inevitable.”

 The first part of the question is an idiom that, when used declaratively, indicates that one considers another of no consequence or importance; so the whole question asks, “Of what consequence or importance would you be, were it not for your supplication?” Commentators understand this verse to mean that a human being’s purpose is to worship God (R), in keeping with other verses such as 51:56: I did not create jinn and mankind, save to worship Me. Here supplication (duʿāʾ) is also understood to refer to one’s worship, prayer, and gratitude to God (R) or one’s faith (IK).

The it in it will be inevitable is understood to refer to death; to battle in general; to the Battle of Badr, where the idolaters suffered a major defeat at the hands of the Muslims (see the introduction to Sūrah 8; Ṭ); or to punishment in the Hereafter (R). Inevitable renders lizām, which also means something that adheres, and some read this to mean, “But you have denied, and that [denial] will cl ing to you,” in the form of punishment in the Hereafter (IK).

Source: The Study Quran, by Sayyed Hossein Nasr and 4 Others

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John Doe

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23/3/2019

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23/3/2019

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