086- AL-TARIQ
IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL
# By the sky and that which comes by night. # And what will apprise thee of that which comes by night? # It is the piercing star. # Over every soul there is a guardian. # So let man consider that from which he was created. # He was created from a gushing fluid, # issuing from between the loins and the pelvic arch. # Truly He is able to bring him back, # on the Day when secrets are tested, # whereat man has neither strength nor helper. # By the resurgent sky, # and by the furrowed earth, # truly it is indeed a decisive Word. # And it is not for amusement. # Truly they are devising a scheme, # and I, too, am devising a scheme. # So be gentle with the disbelievers; grant them respite for a while.
Commentary
# By the sky and that which comes by night.
# And what will apprise thee of that which comes by night?
1–2 That which comes by night refers to either a specific star or all heavenly bodies that appear at night and disappear during the day (Bq).
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# It is the piercing star.
3 Most say the piercing star refers to the Pleiades. Others say that it is Saturn, Venus, or a meteor. A minority say that it can be any star that glitters (Āl). In each interpretation the star is called upon because it pierces the dark (Āl) and in this sense can be seen as an allusion to overcoming ignorance (Bq).
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# Over every soul there is a guardian.
4 A guardian refers to the angels who are said to be tasked with recording the deeds of individual human beings (cf. 40:80; 50:18; 82:10–12) or to the angels who protect human beings at all times (cf. 6:61; 13:11), though the protection here may be specifically against the whispers of Satan and jinn referred to in 114:4–6.
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# So let man consider that from which he was created.
5 Let those who deny the Resurrection reflect upon the manner in which God created them (Ṭ). This verse can also be understood as a call to recognize that for which the human being was created, as in 51:56: I did not create jinn and mankind, save to worship Me. In this vein, Maybudī writes: “God created a face fit for prostration, eyes fit for taking heed, a body fit for service, a heart fit for knowledge (ʿirfān), and a secret core fit for love. So remember God’s Blessing upon you [2:231], for He adorned your tongues with the shahādah, your hearts with knowledge (ʿirfān) and joy, and your bodies with service and worship.”
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# He was created from a gushing fluid,
# issuing from between the loins and the pelvic arch.
6–7 Loins (ṣulb) and pelvic arch (tarāʾib) are understood by some to refer to the respective parts of the man and the woman, whose sperm and egg form the fetus (Ṭ); others restrict them to the male (Ṭ, Ṭs), saying that loins and pelvic arch refer to the area from which a man’s fluid gushes.
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# Truly He is able to bring him back,
8 As in 19:67 and 22:5, here the Quran argues that if God is able to create human beings from dust, then from a drop (35:11), then He can surely resurrect them, as in 30:27: He it is Who originates creation, then brings it back, and that is most easy for Him. Many pre-Islamic Arabs accepted that God was the Creator, but did not accept that He could resurrect the dead (see 18:37; 19:67–73; 22:5–6c; 23:13–16; 35:11; 40:67; 76:2; 80:18–22). *** | on the Day when secrets are tested, 9 Secrets refers to all that is hidden in the heart and mind and to all of one’s deeds (Z). People’s mouths, feet, hands (36:65), and even their skin (41:19–24) will bear witness to what they have done. It is related that Muʿādh ibn Jabal asked the Prophet, “What are these secrets for which the servants [i.e., human beings] will be tested in the Hereafter?” To which he replied, “Your secrets are your deeds, such as prayer, fasting, the alms, the minor ablution, the major ablution, and all other obligatory acts. All deeds are hidden secrets. For if a person wills, he says, ‘I have prayed,’ though he has not prayed. And if he wills, he says, ‘I have made my ablution,’ though he has not made his ablution. And this is God’s Word (qawl), on the Day when secrets are tested” (Ṭs).
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# whereat man has neither strength nor helper.
10 This verse echoes others in which God is spoken of as the sole helper or protector (see, e.g., 2:107, 120; 9:74, 116; 33:18, 65; 42:31; 48:22), and none shall avail another against God’s Punishment (2:48, 123; 3:10, 116; 26:88; 31:33; 44:41).
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# By the resurgent sky,
# and by the furrowed earth,
11–12 These verses refer to the cycles of the seasons and the growing of vegetation as signs that God can resurrect as He wills, just as vv. 6–8 cited human beings’ emergence from a base fluid. In reference to heaven, “resurgent” (rajʿ) refers to the rains that return periodically. Thus most interpret the resurgent sky as a reference to rain or to the clouds that bring rain (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs). Others interpret it as a reference to the continual return of the sun, the moon, and other celestial bodies (Ṭ). The furrowed earth is where the vegetation emerges.
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# truly it is indeed a decisive Word.
13 A decisive Word refers to either the Quran or the Day of Judgment, both of which separate good from evil in a decisive manner. The Prophet said of the Quran, “It is a statement that separates right from wrong” (Āl). See 37:21; 44:40; 77:13, 38; 78:17, where the Day of Judgment is referred to as the Day of Division between truth and falsehood, right and wrong, light and dark.
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# And it is not for amusement.
# Truly they are devising a scheme,
# and I, too, am devising a scheme.
15–16 Here the disbelievers among the Quraysh are likened to those who schemed against previous prophets, such as Joseph, Moses, and Hūd. But as 8:18 says, God makes feeble the scheming of the disbelievers, since God is swifter in plotting (10:21). And although God’s scheme is firm (7:183; 68:45), those who are guilty only plot against themselves, though they are unaware (6:123). Thus 16:127 counsels the Prophet, Grieve not on their account, nor be distressed by what they plot (see also 52:46; 77:39).
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# So be gentle with the disbelievers; grant them respite for a while.
17 Grant them respite indicates that one should not seek to hasten the Hour, as do the disbelievers (see 8:32; 42:18c), because God will deal with them in due time (see 31:24). Some say that the implication that God will deal with them refers to the Battle of Badr in 2/624, when the Makkans were defeated by the Muslims; others say that it refers to the Day of Resurrection, on which all will be judged (Ṭs). The verse can be seen as alluding to punishment in both this world and the Hereafter, but also to mercy insofar as God allows people time to repent.
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