080- ABASA
HE FROWNED
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# He frowned and turned away, # because the blind man came to him. # And what would apprise thee? Perhaps he would purify himself, # or be reminded, such that the reminder might benefit him. # As for him who deems himself beyond need, # to him dost thou attend, # though thou art not answerable, should he not be purified. # But as for him who came to thee striving earnestly # while fearful, # from him thou art diverted. # Nay! Truly it is a reminder — # so let whomsoever will, remember it— # on pages honored, # exalted and purified, # in the hands of scribes, # noble and pious. # May man perish! How ungrateful is he! # From what thing did He create him? # From a drop He created him, then proportioned him, # then He made the way easy for him. # Then He caused him to die and buried him. # Then, when He willed, He resurrected him. # Nay! But he has not accomplished what He commanded him. # So let man consider his food, # that We pour down water in abundance; # then We split the earth in fissures, # and cause grains to grow therein, # and vines and herbs, # and olives and date palms, # and gardens densely planted, # and fruit and pastures, # as sustenance for you and for your flocks. # So when the Piercing Cry does come, # that Day when a man will flee from his brother, # and his mother and his father, # and his spouse and his children. # For every man that Day his affair shall suffice him. # Faces that Day shall be shining, radiant, # laughing, joyous. # And faces that Day shall be covered with dust, # overspread with darkness. # Those, they are the disbelievers, the profligates.
Commentary
# He frowned and turned away,
# because the blind man came to him.
# And what would apprise thee? Perhaps he would purify himself,
# or be reminded, such that the reminder might benefit him.
# As for him who deems himself beyond need,
# to him dost thou attend,
# though thou art not answerable, should he not be purified.
# But as for him who came to thee striving earnestly
# while fearful,
# from him thou art diverted
1–10 For the occasion of revelation, see the introduction to the sūrah. The Prophet is here admonished for turning away from one who sought guidance to others whom he hoped to attract to Islam, since he was not responsible for making people accept religion, only for conveying God’s message and guiding those who accepted it, as in 28:56: Surely thou dost not guide whomsoever thou lovest, but God guides whomsoever He will. And He knows best those who are rightly guided. Other verses tell the Prophet to be patient and to not turn away from those who seek religion, such as 6:52: And drive not away those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face; and 18:28: Make thy soul patient with those who call upon their Lord morning and evening, desiring His Face. Turn not thine eyes away from them, desiring the adornment of the life of this world, nor obeying one whose heart We have made heedless of the remembrance of Us and who follows his caprice and whose affair exceeds the bounds. Beyond need (v. 5) translates man istaghnā, which literally means “is self-sufficient” and connotes a view of oneself as “self-sufficient” vis-à-vis God. The fear mentioned in v. 9 is fear of God and the Day of Judgment.
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# Nay! Truly it is a reminder—
11 Cf. 74:54. It can be taken as a reference to the Quran, this particular sūrah, or the exhortation to treat people equitably (IK, Ṭ). The verse also indicates that it is only incumbent upon the Prophet to convey God’s message and remind others, not to sway those who oppose the message (see 88:21–24). For the Quran as Reminder, see 36:69c.
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# so let whomsoever will, remember it—
12 This verse could also be translated, “So let whomsoever He wills remember it,” meaning that only those whom God wills will be receptive to the revelation and thus remember (Q), for as 11:114 says of the Quran, This is a reminder for those who remember. In either reading, remember it could also be rendered “remember Him,” meaning “remember God” (IK). This latter reading may be more accurate, as the pronoun taken as a reference to the Quran or the sūrah in v. 11 is feminine, while the pronoun rendered “it” or “Him” in v. 12 is masculine.
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# on pages honored,
13 According to some, pages refers only to the Quran. According to others, it refers to the books of all the prophets (Q) or to the Preserved Tablet (85:22; Ṭ), which is said to be the source of all revelation. Pages translates ṣuḥuf in accordance with the first interpretation. Ṣuḥuf is also rendered scriptures in 53:36 and 87:18–19, where it refers to the revelations given to Abraham and Moses. They are honored or “ennobled” because of what they contain.
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# exalted and purified,
14 Exalted means “elevated” in the Eyes of God (Aj) and beyond all obscurity and contradiction (Q). Purified means free from any additions or deficiencies (IK) and protected from being assailed by disbelievers (Q), such that None touch it, save those made pure (56:79).
***
# in the hands of scribes,
# noble and pious.
15–16 Scribes translates safarah, which can be understood as a reference to the attendant angels who “inscribe” (safara) the deeds of God’s servants in books (asfār; see 43:80; 50:17–18; 82:10–12), or as a reference to the angels whom God has appointed as “mediators” (sufarāʾ) between Himself and His messengers (Q, Ṭ). A famous ḥadīth states, “One who recites the Quran proficiently and has memorized it is with the scribes, noble and pious” (IK). Some argue that here scribes should be “mediators” to indicate the function of mediating God’s message that human beings can fulfill for other human beings (Q). Safara can also mean “to unveil”; thus some take it as an allusion to the Quran’s making matters clear (Q). Others say that the hands of scribes refers to the reciters of the Quran (Ṭ).
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# May man perish! How ungrateful is he!
17 May man perish translates qutila al-insān, which could also be rendered, “May man be cursed” (IK, Q). Here the phrase is said to refer to those who deny the truth without any supporting argument, but only because they lack knowledge of it and think it is far-fetched (IK). Ungrateful translates afkara, which indicates both ingratitude toward and disbelief in God (for the broader meaning of kufr, or “disbelief,” see 2:85–86c). Thus this verse could also be read, “Man is accursed for what he disbelieves,” or “Mankind is accursed; for what does he disbelieve?” (Q). According to some, this verse relates to a specific individual who had accepted Islam, but apostatized when Sūrah 53 was revealed; so God revealed this verse, meaning that he was accursed for disbelieving in the Quran after first believing (Q).
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# From what thing did He create him?
# From a drop He created him, then proportioned him,
18–19 This is one of several passages in which the creation of the human being from a drop is cited as evidence of God’s Omnipotence, as in 18:37: Do you disbelieve in the One Who created you from dust, then from a drop, then fashioned you as a man? See also 16:4; 40:67; 86:6–8.
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# then He made the way easy for him.
20 From one perspective, this verse refers to the ease with which a baby comes forth from the mother’s womb (IK, Q); from another, it refers to God’s providing all people with guidance, as in 76:3: Truly We guided him upon the way, be he grateful or ungrateful (IK). Some interpret it as an indication that God has made it easy for everything to perform the function for which it was created, as in a famous ḥadīth, “Work, for that for which each person was created has been made easy for him” (Q).
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# Then He caused him to die and buried him.
# Then, when He willed, He resurrected him.
21–22 These verses are related to several passages that speak of all the phases of human existence to rebuke those who do not believe in God; e.g., 2:28: How can you disbelieve in God, seeing that you were dead and He gave you life; then He causes you to die; then He gives you life; then unto Him shall you be returned?
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# Nay! But he has not accomplished what He commanded him.
23 Nay! is a rebuke to the disbelievers, who, when informed of the Resurrection, will say, . . . “If I am returned unto my Lord, surely with Him shall I have that which is most beautiful” (41:50; Q); or it is a rebuke to those who believe that they have accomplished what they were commanded, but, as they disbelieve in God and His Messenger, have not done so (Q). The emphatic particle kallā (nay) can also be read in the affirmative, in which case the verse would begin, “Truly, he has not . . .” (Q), and would not convey the same sense of rebuke.
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# So let man consider his food,
24 Consider his food is taken by some to indicate another of the many signs upon which human beings should reflect in order to appreciate fully God’s Power and Mercy (Q). Others say that it relates to reflecting upon the consumption and elimination of food, for that is an example of what becomes of the world (Q).
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# that We pour down water in abundance;
25 Water is mentioned as a symbol of God’s Mercy in several verses and can also be taken as an allusion to all living things, for God made every living thing from water (21:30; see also 24:45; 25:54).
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# then We split the earth in fissures,
26 Vegetation comes through the fissures, splitting the earth. For other verses describing the manner in which God brings forth vegetation and revives the earth with water, see, e.g., 6:99; 29:63; 30:24; 31:10; 35:27; 39:21; 41:39.
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# and cause grains to grow therein,
# and vines and herbs,
# and olives and date palms,
# and gardens densely planted,
# and fruit and pastures,
# as sustenance for you and for your flocks.
27–32 These verses reflect the continuous Quranic emphasis on the benefits that God has provided through the natural world and the fact that reflecting upon them leads to a deeper understanding of God’s wisdom, since God created the heavens and the earth in truth (14:19; see also 6:73), and whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth glorifies God (59:1; 61:1; 62:1; 64:1; cf. 57:1; 59:24); for the importance of the natural environment and the connection between creation and revelation, see 3:191c; 45:3c. As sustenance for you and for your flocks also appears in 79:33.
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# So when the Piercing Cry does come,
33 The Piercing Cry refers to the second blast from the trumpet of the Archangel Seraphiel, at which all human beings will be resurrected (Q; see 39:68c). It is said that it will almost deafen those who hear it (Bg, IK). Others say that al-ṣākhkhah, translated the Piercing Cry, is a proper name for the Day of Judgment (IK).
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# that Day when a man will flee from his brother,
# and his mother and his father,
# and his spouse and his children.
# For every man that Day his affair shall suffice him.
34–37 The terror of the Day of Judgment will be so severe that people will not be concerned with anything other than themselves. In 70:11–14 it is said that a man would go so far as to ransom himself from the punishment of that Day at the price of his children, his spouse and his brother, his kin who had sheltered him, and all who are on the earth, that it might save him. In a famous ḥadīth, the Prophet said, “People will be gathered barefoot, naked, and uncircumcised.” To which a woman responded, “Will we look upon each other’s nakedness?” He responded, “For every man that Day his af air shall suf ice him” (IK, Q).
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# Faces that Day shall be shining, radiant,
# laughing, joyous.
38–39 Cf. 75:22. These verses describe the hearts of believers, for “the face is the mirror of the heart” (Ṭb), which are then contrasted with the hearts of disbelievers in vv. 40–41. The faces of believers are shining, radiant from the joy they experience in their hearts and the glad tidings manifest on their faces (IK), because of the ablutions they performed in this life (Q, R), their performance of night vigil (Q, R), or their relief from the burdens and attachments of this world (R). The believers are joyous when they receive their reward from God (Q). Related to the event that is said to have occasioned the revelation of this sūrah (see the introduction to the sūrah), these verses can be seen as a reference to the state of Ibn Umm Maktūm, while vv. 40–42 refer to the state of him who deems himself beyond need (v. 5).
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# And faces that Day shall be covered with dust,
# overspread with darkness.
# Those, they are the disbelievers, the profligates.
40–42 Covered with dust indicates complete and utter humiliation. According to some, the disbelievers, the profligates indicates the same group; disbelief defines their thoughts, and profligacy their actions (Āl, Ṭb); the punishment for disbelief is faces covered with dust, and the punishment for profligacy is being overspread with darkness (Āl); cf. 75:24.
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