068- AL-QALAM
THE PEN
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# Nūn. By the pen and that which they inscribe, # thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, possessed. # Truly thine shall be a reward unceasing. # And truly thou art of an exalted character. # So thou wilt see and they will see j which of you is afflicted. # Truly thy Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best those who are rightly guided; # so obey not the deniers. # They wish that thou might compromise and that they might compromise. # So obey not any vile oath-monger— # slanderer spreading calumny, # hinderer of good, a transgressing sinner, # churlish, surly, and ignoble withal— # simply because he possesses wealth and children. # When Our signs are recited unto him he says, “Fables of those of old.” # We shall brand him on the snout. # Truly We tried them, just as We tried the owners of the garden who vowed that they would harvest its fruit in the morning. # And they made no exception. # Whereupon a visitation from your Lord came upon it while they slept, # such that it became like a garden plucked. # Then they called to one another in the morning, # “Go early to your tillage if you would harvest.” # So they set forth while whispering to one another, # “Surely no indigent shall come to you therein today.” # And they set out early, strong in their purpose. # Then when they saw it, they said, “Surely, we are astray! # Nay! we are deprived!” # The most moderate of them said, “Did I not say to you, why do you not glorify?” # They said, “Glory be to our Lord! Truly we were wrongdoers.” # Then they turned to one another, reproaching each other, # saying, “Oh, woe unto us! Truly we were rebellious. # Perhaps our Lord will give us something better in its stead. Truly we beseech our Lord.” # Such is the punishment; yet the punishment of the Hereafter is surely greater, if they but knew. # Truly for the reverent there shall be Gardens of bliss in the presence of their Lord. # Are We then to treat the submitters like the guilty? # What ails you? How do you judge? # Or do you have a book wherein you learn # that you shall have therein whatsoever you choose? # Or do you have oaths binding upon Us until the Day of Resurrection that you shall have whatever you ordain? # Ask them which of them shall vouch for that. # Or do they have partners? Then let them bring their partners if they are truthful. # On the Day when the shank is laid bare and they are called to prostrate, yet are not able, # their eyes humbled, abasement shall overcome them; for they had indeed been called to prostrate while they were yet sound. # So leave Me with those who deny this discourse. We shall lead them on little by little, whence they know not. # And I shall grant them respite; truly My scheme is firm. # Or dost thou ask a reward of them, such that they are burdened with debt? # Or do they possess the Unseen, such that they write it down? # So be patient with thy Lord’s Judgment and be not like the companion of the fish, who cried out while choking with anguish. # Had not the blessing from his Lord reached him, he would surely have been cast upon the barren shore still blameworthy. # But his Lord chose him and made him among the righteous. # Indeed, those who disbelieve would well-nigh smite thee down with their glances when they hear the Reminder, saying, “Surely, he is possessed.” # Yet it is naught but a reminder for the worlds
Commentary
# Nūn. By the pen and that which they inscribe,
1 Nūn is the Arabic letter n and is among the separated letters (almuqaṭṭaʿāt) at the beginning of several sūrahs, whose meaning is not specified outwardly and, according to many, is known only to God (IK). This is the earliest sūrah in the chronological order of revelation in which the separated letters appear. Nūn is also an Arabic word for “fish”; some commentators thus relate it to an old Arab myth that holds that the earth is upon the back of a mythical fish (Bg, Q, Ṭ, Z).
In light of its cup-shaped form in Arabic script (ة ,(others say it refers to the “inkwell” from which the pen draws the ink with which it inscribes (Bg, Z). In Islamic metaphysics, the Pen is often taken as a symbol for the Divine Intellect or Logos, through which God brought all things into being. What is “written” by the Pen then means existiation of beings in the created order, and the nūn is seen to symbolize the reservoir that contains all the possibilities that are manifested in creation. In this regard, a famous ḥadīth qudsī states, “The first thing God created was the Pen. Then he said to it, ‘Write!’ It responded, ‘What shall I write?’ He said, ‘Write the decree (al-qadar) of what will be until the Hour is come’” (AH, Bg, IK, Q, Ṭ).
Here the nūn is also seen as an allusion to one of the Divine Names, because it points to the n (nūn) at the end of al-Raḥmān (“the Compassionate”) or at the beginning of al-Nūr (“the Light”) or al-Nāṣir (“the Helper”; Bg, Q). Others see it as a reference to God’s helping the believers (naṣr al-muʾminīn; Bg, Q), a phrase that occurs in 30:47. Some attribute to the Prophet the saying: “Nūn is a tablet of light” (Āl, IK, Q).
The pronoun they in that which they inscribe may be seen as a reference to the angels who record all human deeds (Bg, IK, JJ, Q); see 43:80; 50:17–18c; 80:15–16; 82:10–12; 86:4. According to al-Qurṭubī, pens are of three principal types: the one that God commanded to write all that would be until the Day of Resurrection; those with which the angels record the deeds of human beings (see 18:49c); and those with which human beings write (Q on 96:4–5).
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# thou art not, by the blessing of thy Lord, possessed.
2 The blessing of thy Lord may be a reference to prophethood (Bg), and the verse’s assertion that the Prophet is not possessed can be seen as a direct response to the derogatory statement of the disbelievers in 15:6–7: O you unto whom the Reminder has been sent down, truly you are possessed. Why do you not bring us the angels, if you are among the truthful? (Bg, Q).
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# Truly thine shall be a reward unceasing.
3 A reward unceasing (cf. 41:8; 84:25; 95:6) indicates a reward that comes directly from God and is never cut off, as opposed to the rewards of this world, whose fleeting nature is discussed in the parable in vv. 17–34. In this context, it is understood as a reference to the reward the Prophet receives for carrying the burden of prophethood (Q).
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# And truly thou art of an exalted character.
4 This is among the most famous verses of the Quran. Some interpret exalted character as a descriptor of the religion of Islam (IK, Ṭ), but most associate it with the Prophet himself; his character is said to be exalted because he had no aspiration other than God (Q). The Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah was once asked about the Prophet’s character and responded, “Do you not read the Quran? . . . His character was the Quran” (Āl, Bg, IK, Q, Z). Character translates khuluq, which is closely related to the primary Quranic word for “creation” (khalq). In this vein, it is reported that the Prophet used to pray, “O God you have beautified my created form (khalqī), beautify my character (khuluqī).” Another ḥadīth states, “I was only sent to perfect the noble traits of character” (Bg, Q). The Prophet is also reported to have enjoined good character traits upon his followers, saying, “The best of you are those who are best in character traits” (Bg), and, “Reverence God wherever you may be; follow a bad deed with a good deed that will efface it; and comport with the people with good character” (Q). Regarding the importance of good character for the Hereafter, he is reported to have said, “What admits people most into Paradise is beauty of character” (Bg, Q), and “Nothing is placed on the scales of a believer that is weightier than beauty of character; and one who has beauty of character will reach thereby the degree of one who prays and fasts” (Bg, Q). More generally, this verse can be understood to mean that those with beautiful character traits are far from the state of being possessed referred to in verse 2 (Āl).
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# So thou wilt see and they will see
# which of you is afflicted.
5–6 When the punishment comes upon the disbelievers, they will see which of the two parties, the believers or the disbelievers, has been tried with possession or madness (Bg, JJ, Z) or which of the two is to be tried (Bg, Z).
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# Truly thy Lord knows best those who stray from His way, and He knows best those who are rightly guided;
7 This verse is repeated with minor variation in 6:117 and 53:30 (see also 28:85). Here it indicates that God knows best which of the two parties is astray and af licted and which is guided, as both parties claimed.
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# so obey not the deniers.
8 The deniers refers to the Makkan disbelievers who were bidding the Prophet and his followers to follow the religion of their forefathers rather than the religion revealed to the Prophet.
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# They wish that thou might compromise and that they might compromise.
9 Compromise translates the verb dahana, which can mean both “to demean” and “to deny” or “to take something lightly.” This verse can be read to mean either that the disbelievers will compromise when the Prophet and his followers compromise or that the disbelievers are already compromising; so they want the believers to compromise too (Z). According to the first reading, it means they want believers to be willing to give up part of their religion, so that they might then give up part of theirs, or that the believers worship their gods for a while and then they worship the believers’ God for a while (Bg). According to the second reading, it means that they are disbelievers; so they wish for believers to become disbelievers as well (Bg).
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# So obey not any vile oath-monger—
10–16 Most commentators agree that these verses refer to al-Walīd ibn alMughīrah, a leader among the Quraysh and one of the Prophet’s staunchest opponents (Z). Others propose that it may refer to his detractors in general, such as Abū Jahl, al-Aswad ibn ʿAbd al-Yahūth, and al-Akhnas ibn Sharīq (Z). 10 Vile oath-monger refers to one given to frequent swearing by falsehood (JJ) or one who swears falsely by God’s Name (IK). Even in pre-Islamic Arabia it was considered a vice to be immoderate in taking oaths. Regarding the Quranic position on taking oaths, see 5:89c.
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# slanderer spreading calumny,
11 This verse is said to refer to one who spreads gossip in order to create discord and turn people against one another (Z). Several aḥādīth state that those who spread calumny (namīmah), which can also mean “gossip,” will not enter Paradise (IK); regarding the vices of calumny and backbiting, see 49:12c.
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# hinderer of good, a transgressing sinner,
12 Hinderer of good refers either to one who is miserly and encourages miserliness or to one who bars the way to Islam (Z).
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# churlish, surly, and ignoble withal—
13 Ignoble translates zanīm, which indicates one who is born illegitimately (Z). It may also be related to the word zanamah, which denotes the fleshy skin hanging below the ears of a goat. As these protuberances serve no apparent function, the word zanīm came to signify something that serves no positive function (Tāj al-ʿarūs).
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# simply because he possesses wealth and children.
14 This verse alludes to the Quranic teaching that one should not put stock in worldly wealth and outward appearances, but in those things that reflect the nature of the heart, for the Day of Judgment is the Day when neither wealth nor children avail, save for him who comes to God with a sound heart (26:88–89). For other references to this broad Quranic theme, see 3:10, 14, 116; 8:28; 9:24, 55, 69, 85; 18:39–40, 46; 23:55–56; 34:35–37; 60:3; 63:9; 64:14–15; 71:21. Alternately, vv. 14–15 can be read, “Is it because he possesses wealth and children that when Our signs are read to him he says, ‘Fables of those of old’?” (JJ, Z).
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# When Our signs are recited unto him he says, “Fables of those of old.”
15 Cf. 83:13. Referring to the Prophet’s revelations as fables of those of old was a common way for the disbelievers to dismiss the message and is repeated in eight other verses (6:25; 8:31; 16:24; 23:83; 25:5; 27:68; 46:17; 83:13).
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# We shall brand him on the snout.
16 Most commentators take this to be an idiomatic expression meaning, “We will stigmatize him with indelible disgrace” (Iṣ). Some believe that this promise was fulfilled when al-Walīd ibn al-Mughīrah’s nose was cut off at the Battle of Badr (JJ). It could also mean that God will make his true nature apparent to all, so that he cannot hide it, as if he had been branded on the nose (IK, Ṭ), an interpretation that accords with 55:41, the guilty shall be known by their marks.
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# Truly We tried them, just as We tried the owners of the garden who vowed that they would harvest its fruit in the morning.
17–34 Most commentators maintain that these verses were revealed in Madinah and that the story refers to three either Christian or Jewish brothers in Yemen who had inherited a fertile garden from their father. Their father’s custom had been to leave some produce behind for the poor whenever he harvested. But when he died, his sons felt that, given the demands of their large family, it would no longer be prudent to leave the produce for the poor and thus set out to harvest the land when no one would know.
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# And they made no exception.
18 Made no exception is taken to indicate that they did not say, “If God wills” (Bg, IK, Z) and thus trusted in themselves rather than in God (R). It could also be a reference to the harvest, indicating that they left no portion for the poor (R).
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# Whereupon a visitation from your Lord came upon it while they slept,
19 Visitation here indicates some form of scourge sent by God.
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# such that it became like a garden plucked.
20 Like a garden plucked translates kaʾl-ṣarīm, which can also mean “like the blackness of night” (IK, JJ). The Prophet reportedly said, “Avoid sins of disobedience. Verily, the servant commits sins, and the sustenance which he has is taken from him,” and then he recited, Such that it became like a garden plucked (AH, IK).
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# Then they called to one another in the morning,
# “Go early to your tillage if you would harvest.”
# So they set forth while whispering to one another,
# “Surely no indigent shall come to you therein today.”
21–24 These verses represent a violation of ancient Near Eastern custom in which the poor are allowed to glean a share of the harvest and of the Quranic injunction to pay the poor the portion of a harvest that is due immediately: Eat of their fruit when they grow, and pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest (6:141).
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# And they set out early, strong in their purpose.
25 Strong in their purpose indicates that the brothers were determined or that they overestimated their own abilities, thinking that they could control who would get this produce, though in fact only God determines (JJ).
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# Then when they saw it, they said, “Surely, we are astray!
26 Here we are astray indicates that they thought they had arrived at the wrong place (IK, JJ) or that they recognized the error of their ways. It can also be seen as an allusion to the distinction between the believers and the disbelievers mentioned in vv. 5–7, as those who oppose the Prophet Muhammad believe they are guided, but will eventually come to realize that they were astray. Like the owners of the garden mentioned here, the disbelievers will initially think that there has been some mistake, but will then realize that the recompense they receive on the Day of Judgment is what they had earned.
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# Nay! we are deprived!”
27 This verse is similar to 56:67; it reflects the broader application of this story to all manner of harvesting, as in 56:63–66: Have you considered what you reap? Is it you who sow it or are We the sowers? Had We willed, We would have turned it to chaf , such that you would remain bitterly jesting, [saying] “Truly we have suf ered loss.” In both instances, the verse could also be rendered, “Nay! We are rendered destitute.”
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# The most moderate of them said, “Did I not say to you, why do you not glorify?”
28 The most moderate could also be taken to indicate the most equitable or most just among them (IK). Why do you not glorify? means, “Why do you not thank God and attribute these blessings to Him rather than to yourselves?”
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# They said, “Glory be to our Lord! Truly we were wrongdoers.”
29 They were wrongdoers for preventing the poor from receiving their due (JJ).
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# Then they turned to one another, reproaching each other,
30 The owners of the garden reproached one another for their failure to help the poor (IK). Such mutual recriminations are part of the torment that afflicts wrongdoers in both this life and the next. In several Quranic passages, wrongdoers attempt to blame Satan, their forefathers, and even God for their ignorance or misguidance.
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# saying, “Oh, woe unto us! Truly we were rebellious.
# Perhaps our Lord will give us something better in its stead. Truly we beseech our Lord.”
31–32 Woe unto us translates waylanā. Wayl is an exclamation of spiritual regret found elsewhere in the Quran (see 2:79c; 18:49; 21:14, 47, 97; 25:28; 36:52; 37:20), often when the certainty of Divine Punishment is realized. Having realized the error of their ways and repented, they then became aware that God is able to provide them with something better than anything they could have produced with their own hands. It is reported that they were indeed given a better garden in place of the one that they had lost (Bg, IK, JJ), which can be understood as a reference to a garden in this world or as an allusion to the Garden in the Hereafter.
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# Such is the punishment; yet the punishment of the Hereafter is surely greater, if they but knew.
33 Just as the owners of the garden were punished for failing to give some portion of their harvest to the poor, so too will the disbelievers be punished for their miserliness. That the punishment of the Hereafter is surely greater (cf. 39:26) is a reminder to the disbelievers that what befalls them in the Hereafter is greater than the disgrace they will encounter in this life.
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# Truly for the reverent there shall be Gardens of bliss in the presence of their Lord.
34 Gardens of bliss (naʿīm) indicates that the blessing (tanaʿʿum) is pure and unadulterated unlike the blessings garnered from the gardens of this world (Q, R). It is reported that when v. 34 was revealed, the disbelievers boasted to the Muslims that the favors they enjoyed in this world would continue in the next (Q, R). V. 35 was then revealed as a direct response.
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# Are We then to treat the submitters like the guilty?
# What ails you? How do you judge?
35–36 Submitters translates muslimīn (“Muslims”) and is most likely the first use of the word “Muslim” in the chronological order of revelation. This verse is similar to 38:28: Or shall We make those who believe and perform righteous deeds like those who work corruption upon the earth? Or shall We make the reverent like the profligate? The rhetorical question in both verses reflects the one posed and answered in 32:18: Is one who believes like one who is iniquitous? They are not equal. Like v. 14, such verses reflect a broader Quranic theme regarding the differences between outward appearances and inward realities, which many human beings are unable to discern, as they judge by human standards instead of Divine principles. Other verses speak of the differences between the blind and those who see, as in 35:19: Not equal are the blind and the seeing; and 40:58: And the blind and the seer are not equal; nor are those who believe and perform righteous deeds and the evildoer. And in other verses, the comparison is related to knowledge: Are those who know and those who do not know equal? Only possessors of intellect reflect (39:9).
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# Or do you have a book wherein you learn
# that you shall have therein whatsoever you choose?
37–38 This verse asks, “Do they have a revealed scripture that they are able to study and use as a source of judgment?” (IK). This challenge is similar to that posed in 37:156–57, where the disbelievers are challenged regarding their belief in deities as the offspring of God: Or have you a manifest authority? Bring your Book, then, if you are truthful (cf. 34:44; 35:40; 43:21; 46:4). V. 37 could be read with a stop before v. 38. In which case the text would read, “Or do you have a book wherein you learn? Truly in it you find whatsoever you choose.” (Q). Therein means in the Hereafter or, more specifically, Paradise. This is an indication that, even among those who have a book from God, there are some who read it to find whatever judgment they wish to find rather than the rulings of God, as in 2:78: And among them are the illiterate who know nothing of the Book but hearsay, and they only conjecture (see also 5:13c). It also implies that in choosing to judge by their laws rather than God’s laws, they have chosen the punishment of the Hereafter, as in 2:85: Do you, then, believe in part of the Book and disbelieve in part? And what is the recompense of those who do so but disgrace in the life of this world? And on the Day of Resurrection they shall be consigned to the most terrible punishment. And God is not heedless of what you do.
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# Or do you have oaths binding upon Us until the Day of Resurrection that you shall have whatever you ordain?
39 This verse asks, “Do you have a promise from God that things shall be as you wish and desire, so that you can reject the revelation of the Quran and the prophethood of Muhammad?” (see also 54:43).
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# Ask them which of them shall vouch for that.
40 Vouch for means “say they have received,” and what the disbelievers say they have received is thought to be either a revelation as implied in vv. 37–38, a promise from God as implied in v. 39, or a reward better than that of the believers (JJ).
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# Or do they have partners? Then let them bring their partners if they are truthful.
41 Partners may imply idols and other deities that they ascribe as partners to God or partners who will guarantee their claim (JJ). It may also indicate wise people (ʿuqalāʾ) among them who they believe are able to substantiate their claims (R, Z). In 7:195, which was most likely revealed after this verse, the Prophet is enjoined to make a more direct challenge to the disbelievers: Say, “Call upon your partners, then scheme against me, and grant me no respite.” In this same vein, 28:64 says, It will be said, “Call upon your partners.” So they will call upon them, but they will not answer them. And they will see the punishment—if only they had been rightly guided!
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# On the Day when the shank is laid bare and they are called to prostrate, yet are not able,
42 The shank is laid bare is an idiomatic expression indicating something very serious and severe (Q, Sh). When a person wearing traditional Arab clothing engages in a strenuous endeavor (and sometimes in battle), he begins by rolling up his garment in such a fashion that his shank is exposed; hence the idiomatic Arabic phrase, “The war broke out upon the shank,” meaning “The war broke out with vehemence” (JJ, Sh). Some exegetes say that in this verse it is God Who exposes His own Shank to signal the beginning of the judgment process. In this vein, a variant reading is “We lay bare the shank” (nukshitū ʿan sāq), meaning God (Q). Others say the shank is laid bare refers to the secrets that will be unveiled. In relation to this verse, a ḥadīth states, “God will lay bare His Shank and then the believers, men and women, will prostrate before Him; and there will remain those who in this world used to prostrate themselves only in order to be seen and heard by others. Such a one will try to prostrate, but his back will be transformed into a stiff plate” (Āl, IK). In a third variant, this verse is read, “It lays bared the shank” (takshitū ʿan sāq), meaning that the Resurrection exposes great severities (Q).
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# their eyes humbled, abasement shall overcome them; for they had indeed been called to prostrate while they were yet sound.
43 Cf. 70:44. Some Arabs had objected that the position required for prostration, on one’s knees with one’s forehead on the ground, was humiliating, but in the Hereafter the disbelievers will find much greater humiliation and be unable to prostrate, as mentioned in v. 42. Some interpret the references to prostration in both vv. 42–43 as references to prostrating for prayer in this world, while others understand v. 42 as a reference to prostration on the Day of Judgment and v. 43 as a reference to those who did not heed the call to prostration, meaning to prayer, in this world (Q, Sh). According to the latter interpretation the disbelievers are not able to prostrate when they are called on the Day of Judgment (v. 42) because they did not prostrate when called during the life of this world (v. 43; Sh).
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# So leave Me with those who deny this discourse. We shall lead them on little by little, whence they know not.
44 This discourse indicates the Quran (JJ, Q). The implication is that the deniers’ punishment should be left to God. We shall lead them on little by little, whence they know not (cf. 7:182–83) indicates that they fall gradually into deception and delusion, continuing to commit even greater sins because they think their worldly success is an indication of favor with God. This theme is found in several other passages, most notably 23:54–56: So leave them in their heedlessness for a time. Do they reckon that, [on account of] the wealth and the children that We have provided them, We hasten unto good for them? Nay, but they are unaware! (see also 6:44). According to a ḥadīth, the Prophet said, “God grants the wrongdoer respite, but when He seizes him, there is no escape.” Then he recited: Such is the seizing of thy Lord when He seizes the towns while they are doing wrong. Surely His seizing is painful, severe (11:102; IK).
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# And I shall grant them respite; truly My scheme is firm.
45 Cf. 7:183. From a Quranic perspective, God grants respite to the disbelievers and thus they suppose that they have avoided or forestalled Divine Punishment; yet in fact they are moving little by little toward a gruesome fate, and if they do not repent, they will commit more sins for which they will be taken to account. This is stated most directly in 3:178: And let not those who disbelieve suppose that the respite We grant them is good for them. We only grant them respite that they may increase in sin, and theirs shall be a humiliating punishment (see 71:4c; 35:45c).
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# Or dost thou ask a reward of them, such that they are burdened with debt?
# Or do they possess the Unseen, such that they write it down?
46–47 These verses are repeated in 52:40–41. See also 23:72: Dost thou ask any recompense of them? For thy Lord’s recompense is better, and He is the best of providers. The rhetorical question in v. 46 is answered by the Quran itself in 12:104: And thou askest of them no reward for it; it is naught but a reminder for the worlds. V. 47 is most likely the first mention of the Unseen in the chronological order of revelation; regarding the Unseen, see 2:3c. Here the disbelievers are asked whether they have direct access to the Preserved Tablet (85:22), which would make what they say of equal status to the revelation of the Quran (JJ, Sh). This line of questioning is similar to that in 52:37–38: Do they possess the treasuries of your Lord? Or are they in control? Or do they have a ladder whereby they listen? Then let their listener bring a clear warrant. This verse reflects the broader Quranic theme of humanity’s illusions of selfsufficiency vis-à-vis the Divine, as in 96:6–7: Nay, truly man is rebellious in that he considers himself beyond need.
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# So be patient with thy Lord’s Judgment and be not like the companion of the fish, who cried out while choking with anguish.
# Had not the blessing from his Lord reached him, he would surely have been cast upon the barren shore still blameworthy.
# But his Lord chose him and made him among the righteous.
48–50 These verses refer to the prophet Jonah, who is said to have fled from the task entrusted to him by God (37:140), but to have repented and been forgiven (cf. 21:87–88; 37:139–48). Still blameworthy indicates that, had not the blessing from his Lord reached him, he would have died in a state of sin. His Lord chose him for prophethood and made him among the righteous, meaning the prophets (JJ). For the Quranic account of Jonah, see 37:139–48.
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# Indeed, those who disbelieve would well-nigh smite thee down with their glances when they hear the Reminder, saying, “Surely, he is possessed.”
51 It is said that the Quraysh were trying to attack the Prophet through the use of the evil eye, but that this verse was revealed as a means of protection (Q). According to one report, “There was a man among the Arabs who used to abstain from food for two or three days and then raise part of his tent as the cattle passed by and say, ‘There are no grazing camels or sheep today better than these,’ and the cattle would not proceed far before some of them would fall dead. The disbelievers asked this man to give the evil eye to the Messenger of God, but God protected His Prophet and revealed this verse” (Q, W). Although some attribute the evil eye, which afflicts people with misfortune through envy and jealousy, to legend, the Prophet is reported to have said, “Seek refuge in God, for the [evil] eye is real” (IK). In this vein, he enjoined his Companions, “If one of you sees something of his brother, or himself, or his wealth that he admires, then glorify God, for the [evil] eye is real” (IK). In general the last two sūrahs of the Quran, known as “The Two Protectors” (al-muʿawwidhatān), are used by Muslims to this day for protection from many evils, including the evil eye and the casting of spells.
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# Yet it is naught but a reminder for the worlds.
52 A reminder refers to the Quran, as in 16:44: And We have sent down the Reminder unto thee that thou mightiest clarify for mankind that which has been sent down unto them, that haply they may reflect (see also 15:9). To remind people of God is considered a primary function of all revelation; hence the Torah is also referred to as a reminder in 40:54. Alternately, this verse could be interpreted as a reference to the Prophet and translated, “He is naught but a reminder for the worlds.” The Prophet is referred to directly as a reminder in 65:10–11.
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