Central Theme and Relationship with Previous Sūrah
This sūrah is the counterpart of Sūrah Tīn, the previous
sūrah. There is no basic difference between the central themes of both sūrahs.
In the previous sūrah, it was shown through historical facts and through the
perfection found in the way man has been created that the real path of salvation
is that man should profess faith and do righteous deeds. People who do not adopt
this path are destined to be doomed and they themselves are responsible for this
fate. In the light of this premise, the Quraysh and its leaders are warned in
this sūrah that instead of adopting the right path they have chosen to go on the
opposite path. The Almighty has revealed His book as a favour and blessing to
guide them but such is the extent of their arrogance and haughtiness that they
are after the life of the very person who is trying to lead them to faith and
righteous deeds. So much so, if this person offers the prayer to His God, these
wretched people do not even tolerate this and try to stop him by force.
Analysis of the Sequence of Discourse
Verses (1-5): The Prophet (sws) has been directed to
read out the Qur’ān to these people in the name of His Lord Who is the Creator
of the whole world. Such is the exalted nature of this Book that it is incumbent
upon them to follow it. The Almighty has created man from a clot of congealed
blood and He also has full power to re-create him. He should read out this Book
to them and remind them of the favour of the Almighty whereby He made
arrangements for the education and instruction of these unlettered people
through the pen and the written word and instructed them about things they did
not know.
Verses (6-8): The leaders of the Quraysh are rebuked
on their haughtiness that their conceit in their wealth and status have made
them indifferent to God even though one day everyone shall be called to account
before Him.
Verses (9-13): The haughty who would stop the
Prophet (sws) from praying are especially warned and threatened. In a very angry
tone, they are asked that if this servant of God is rightly guided or is telling
something related to piety and these rebellious people are rejecting him and
showing indifference to him, then …! The implication is that such people should
fully contemplate what their fate would be.
Verses (14-18): More rage and fury is
expressed at the attitude of these rebellious people. They are rebuked on this
behavior. Are they not in their senses that the Almighty is observing all their
impertinent activities? If they would not refrain from their insolence, a Day is
fast approaching when He shall drag these wretched and errant people by their
forelocks.
Verse (19): The Prophet (sws) is urged to show
perseverance and forbearance and to disregard the pranks of these rebellious
people. He should prostrate and become close to the Almighty.
Text and Translation
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ
الرَّحْمَاَن الرَحِيِم
اقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ
رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ (١)
خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ (٢)
اقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ (٣)الَّذِي
عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ (٤)
عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ (٥)
كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ لَيَطْغَى (٦)
أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنَى (٧)
إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى (٨)
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يَنْهَى (٩)
عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّى (١٠)
أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَى (١١)
أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَى (١٢)
أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (١٣)
أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى (١٤)
كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعَ بِالنَّاصِيَةِ (١٥)
نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ (١٦)
فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَه (١٧)
سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ (١٨)كَلَّا
لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ وَاقْتَرِبْ (١٩)
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Ever Merciful.
Read in the name of your Lord who created – created man
from a clot of congealed blood. Read and your Lord is the most Bounteous who
taught by the pen. He taught man what he knew not. (1-5)
Certainly not! Indeed, man is being rebellious considering
himself to be self-sufficient. Indeed, to His Lord is the return. (7-8)
Just look at him who forbids a servants when he prays. Just
consider if this person is rightly guided or urges [others] to virtue … ! Just
see if this person denied and turned away ... ! Does he not know that Allah is
observing [him]? (9-14)
Certainly not! if he does not desist, We shall drag him by
the forelock, a lying, sinful forelock. Then let him call his party. We shall
summon Our guards. (15-18)
Certainly not! do not obey him and bow down in prostration
and draw near. (19)
Explanation
(١)
ِاقْرَأْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
(Read in the name of your Lord who created.)
The word ِاقْرَأْ (read) is not
merely used to convey what a teacher would say to a student in order to ask him
to read. It is also used to ask others to read the way it is in
إقرأ على الناس (read it out to people and أُتْلُ
عَلَى الناس (recite it out to people). This usage is found at many places
in the Qur’ān. For example, while addressing the disbelievers who would cause a
hindrance at the Qur’ān being read out to them, it is said:
وَإِذَا
قُرِىءَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُواْ لَهُ وَأَنصِتُواْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
(٢٠٤:٧)
And when the Qur’ān is recited out, listen to it in silence so that you may
be shown mercy. (7:204)
At another place, the words are:
وَإِذَا قَرَأْتَ الْقُرآنَ جَعَلْنَا بَيْنَكَ وَبَيْنَ الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ
بِالآخِرَةِ حِجَابًا مَّسْتُورًا (٤٥:١٧)
And when you recite out the Qur’ān, We place between you and those who deny
the life to come a hidden barrier. (17:45)
The indication to this usage is present within the verses.
The expression بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِي خَلَقَ
directs the Prophet (sws) to read out the Qur’ān in the name of his Lord who is
the creator of all the world. This is a very important warning. The Prophet (sws)
should present this Qur’ān as a directive from God which must necessarily be
followed so that they know that what is being recited out to them is directly
from God. These are not the words of some preacher nor of any other person. It
is also not a request which can be turned down. It is in fact the word of the
God Who has the right to give orders to His creation and it is the obligation of
the people to obey it without the slightest of hesitation. They should not dare
evade it or make fun of it or oppose it while considering it to be something
trivial.
It should be kept in consideration that the Qur’ān is the word of God. No
other Book before it has the honour to be entirely composed of the words
revealed by God. For this reason, the Prophet (sws) has been directed to present
it in the name of His Lord so that people are able to gauge its real exaltedness
and they should not let themselves become a target of God’s wrath by opposing
it. It has been mentioned in the predictions recorded in previous divine
scriptures about the advent of Muhammad (sws) that whatever he will say, he
will say in the name of God and the Almighty will take revenge from those people
who will reject what is said to them in His name. It is as if these words not
only convey the exaltedness of the Qur’ān, they also warn the Quraysh that if
they want to oppose it they must deeply contemplate the fate of this attitude of
theirs.
(٢) خَلَقَ الْإِنسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ
(Created man from a clot of congealed blood.)
This is an expression of the specific after the general. The first verse
mentions the creation of all the world and this verse emphatically mentions the
creation of man.
The word عَلَق means a clot of congealed blood. At
many places in the Qur’ān, a reminder is sounded about the early stages of a
child’s development in the womb. Thus among others, Sūrahs Hajj, Mu’minūn,
Sajdah, Qiyāmah and Dahr mention these stages. At all these places, we have
already explained the important words of the respective verses and also the
special aspect which is intended through this reminder. In general, attention is
meant to be focused on three issues:
Firstly, if the extent of power and wisdom of God is such that it fashions
out a living being having such faculties as sight, hearing and intellect, how
can it be difficult for Him to re-create such a living being?
Secondly, the powers and wisdom of God which are evident in man shows that he
has not been created without a purpose: there shall come a day of accountability
wherein he shall be rewarded or punished for his deeds.
Thirdly, it is not befitting for man who has been created from such a trivial
and inconsequential stuff to show conceit and pride by indulging in
self-glorification and self-veneration.
At some places in the Qur’ān, man is reminded of all these three issues and
at some places just one or two of them are meant to be reminded of. It is
evident from the context and nature of the discourse that here the first two
issues are meant to be reminded of. The objective is that the Prophet (sws)
should present the Book of God specifically in His name and should remind them
that the God Who has created man from a clot of congealed blood is fully capable
of re-creating him and then calling him to account.
اقْرَأْ
وَرَبُّكَ الْأَكْرَمُ ،
الَّذِي عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَم (٣-٤)
(Read and your Lord is the most Bounteous who taught by the pen.)
The word اقْرَأْ mentioned in this verse is a
permutative (بدل) of the one mentioned in the first
and emphasizes the directive mentioned there. However, in this verse there also
exists an expression of divine favour: the Quraysh should value the great
blessing of the Almighty whereby He guided them through the pen. One should know
that before the revelation of the Qur’ān, whatever teachings of the Prophets
Abraham (sws) and Ishmael survived with the Ishmaelites were in the form of oral
traditions. With the passage of time alterations had crept in them. As far as
the teachings of other prophets of God are concerned, they too were given in
oral form. Though Moses (sws) was given the Ten Commandments in written form,
however the Torah we have today is only a written record of tradition: it is
impossible to distinguish what section of it is in the words of God and what is
in the words of unknown narrators. However, for the Qur’ān the Almighty made
elaborate arrangements that all of it be composed of His words; moreover, it was
not left to mere oral tradition: it was preserved in writing in the very words
of God. As has already been explained in the tafsīr of Sūrah Qalam and Sūrah
Qiyāmah, this task was accomplished under the scrutiny of God Almighty so that
everything is preserved word for word.
This particular aspect of preservation is mentioned by the words
عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَم. There is no doubt that this was a
great favour for the Arabs. In the first place, as indicated earlier, this form
of preservation of divine revelation had not been adopted previously and
secondly, since the Arabs were unlettered they were not fully aware of the use
of the pen but because of the Qur’ān they preserved through it this treasure of
divine revelation which was not merely an asset for them: it was meant for all
mankind.
(٥) عَلَّمَ الْإِنسَانَ مَا لَمْ
يَعْلَمْ
(He taught man what he knew not.)
Mentioned in this verse is another aspect of the divine favour alluded to in
the previous verse: the unlettered Arabs were not only bestowed with divine
guidance in written form, they were further blessed with teachings they were not
aware of. Though a general word الْإِنسَانَ (man) is
used in this verse; however, since the first addressees of the Qur’ān were the
unlettered Arabs, therefore, this word is primarily spoken for them. It was the
special favour of the Almighty that He led them out of the darkness of ignorance
by revealing to them this complete guidance. It is now their obligation to value
and honour it. In Sūrah Jumu‘ah, this aspect is discussed in the following
words:
هُوَ الَّذِي
بَعَثَ فِي الْأُمِّيِّينَ رَسُولًا مِّنْهُمْ يَتْلُو عَلَيْهِمْ آيَاتِهِ
وَيُزَكِّيهِمْ وَيُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَإِن كَانُوا مِن قَبْلُ
لَفِي ضَلَالٍ مُّبِينٍ (٢:٦٢)
It is He that has sent forth among the unlettered a prophet from among
themselves. He recites to them His revelations and purifies them, and instructs
them in the Book and in wisdom, though before this they had been in manifest
error. (62:2)
With slight difference in style, this aspect is also discussed in 2:151,
2:198 and 3:164 and we have already fully explained it.
Just as this verse bestows a favour on the Quraysh, it also warns them: if
they do not value and respect this greatest favour of God, they should then
contemplate what fate they will meet for their ingratitude and arrogance.
كَلَّا إِنَّ الْإِنسَانَ
لَيَطْغَى أَنْ رَآهُ اسْتَغْنَى (٦-٧)
(Certainly not! Indeed man is being rebellious considering himself to be
self-sufficient.)
This verse depicts the behaviour of the Arabs which they adopted with this
guidance of God: instead of duly honouring it, they are rejecting it out of
sheer arrogance; the reason for this is that their wealth and resources have
made them indifferent to God.
This verse begins with the emphatic negative particle
كَلَّا (certainly not). It is meant to negate the excuses the Quraysh
would make in rejecting the Qur’ān and the Prophet (sws). These excuses
fabricated by them are meant to cover up the reality. The real reason of their
rejection was considering themselves self-sufficient from God and their love for
this world. However, they would pretend as if they had certain objections for
which they were not receiving satisfactory answers.
(٨)
إِنَّ إِلَى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعَى
(Indeed, to His Lord is the return.)
The word رُجْعَى is a verbal noun similar to
بُشْرى and means “to return”. The implication is that
the Prophet (sws) should let them do what they are doing. Finally, they will
have to return to their Lord to whom they have become indifferent and fearless.
At that time, they will come to know the fate of their arrogance. If they think
that their alleged deities will be their saviours and Lords, then they will come
to know how baseless their view is. On that Day, only God will reign supreme and
no one else will be able to save a person from His grasp.
أَرَأَيْتَ
الَّذِي يَنْهَى ، عَبْدًا
إِذَا صَلَّى (٩-١٠)
(Just see him who forbids a person when he prays.)
Mentioned in this verse is an example of their rebellious attitude referred
to earlier. The heard-hearts among the Quraysh are alluded to here who would
stop the Prophet (sws) and other Muslims from praying. The foremost obligation
of a person towards his Lord is serving and worshipping Him and the foremost
manifestation of worship is the prayer. Thus a person in praying is discharging
his foremost obligation towards his Lord and is worthy of being shown respect
for this deed. He should be regarded as someone worth following in this matter.
If someone is audacious enough to stop him in this regard, then this would mean
that he is stopping someone from discharging his foremost obligation towards
God.
We have explained at various places in this tafsīr that the style
أَرَأَيْتَ is used to direct the attention of people
to something very inappropriate or to criticize someone. Expressions such as
“just look at him”, “have you seen him” and “take a look at what he is doing”
are its equivalents in the English language.
It is not necessary that a specific person be considered to be implied by the
word الَّذِي. It can be used to portray people who
indulge in such unworthy activity. We have already explained this style in this
tafsīr. It was not Abū Jahl only who would stop the Prophet (sws) from praying;
there were other ruffians besides him too who would do so and these ruffians
would not stop the Prophet (sws) only from praying; they would stop other
servants of God also from praying.
أَرَأَيْتَ
إِنْ كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدَى ، أَوْ أَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوَى (١١-١٢)
(Just consider if this person is rightly guided or urges [others] to virtue …
!)
The implication is that before taking this foolish step, the person should
have thought that in his frenzy against Islam, he should not have become so
overcome as to not even contemplate the fate that he will meet. Is not there a
chance that this servant of God is on the right path and with his words and
deeds calls others to piety and virtue? Will disregarding this possibility, this
person would then be merely inviting the wrath of God. In other words, on what
basis does he regard this frenzied step of his to be correct – a step which can
only be taken by Satan.
(١٣) أَرَأَيْتَ إِنْ كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى
(Just see if this person denied and turned away ... !)
This is a reference to the second possibility we have referred to above: what
if this person was the one who denied and who turned away, then …! The
implication is that in this case it would be he who would be responsible for
opening the door to Hell. Here, an ellipsis of the overall apodosis has occurred
to point to the fact that its severity is beyond words – a common style of
classical Arabic. An example of such an ellipsis can also be seen in Sūrah Yūnus.
The fate of the people who reject the Prophet (sws) and turn away from his
call is mentioned thus in Sūrah Layl:
لَا يَصْلَاهَا
إِلَّا الْأَشْقَى الَّذِي كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّى (٩٢:
١٥-١٦)
Only those wretched creatures shall enter Hell who denied and turned away.
(92:15-16)
(١٤)
أَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِأَنَّ اللَّهَ يَرَى
(Does he not know that Allah is observing [him]?)
The implication of this verse is that does such a person not realize that the
Almighty is watching all his unrestrained behaviour. Now if He is and surely He
is, then He will definitely take its revenge. He is just, merciful, powerful and
has a great sense of honour. If His servants are stopped from worshipping Him,
how can he tolerate this as a bystander.
(١٥)
كَلَّا لَئِنْ لَمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعَ بِالنَّاصِيَةِ
(Certainly not! if he does not desist, We shall drag him by the forelock)
This verse sounds a severe warning to such arrogant people. The word
نَاصِيَة refers to the forehead and the hair scattered
over it. The word سَفْعٌ means to drag something by
grabbing it in the fist. In Sūrah Rahmān, the fate of such people is mentioned
thus: فَيُؤْخَذُ بِالنَّوَاصِي وَ الأَقْدَام (٥٥:
٤١)
(Then they shall be grasped by their forelocks and legs and thrown in Hell.
(55:41).
(١٦)
نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ
(a lying, sinful forehead.)
The word نَاصِيَة is a permutative (بدل)
of the النَّاصِيَة of the previous verse. Though the
former is not defined by the article alif lām and the latter is, yet such a
grammatical interpretation is possible because the نَاصِيَة
of this verse is defined by an adjective and such a noun can technically
be regarded as a permutative (بدل) of a noun defined
by the article alif lām.
The anger and rage which seems to be exuding from every word of this verse is
worth noting. The forelocks of such ruffians are mentioned in very harsh words.
The face and forehead is the most honourable part of body and for this reason,
at times, signifies the whole personality of a person as is the case here. Also
the greatest honour for a forehead is the mark of prostration that becomes
stamped on it. If a person is so callous that not only he himself does not
prostrate before God, but also stops others from prostrating before Him, then
such a wretched person is worthy of being grabbed by the forelock and thrown in
Hell.
فَلْيَدْعُ
نَادِيَه ، سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَة (١٧-١٨)
(Then let him call his party. We shall summon Our guards.)
This is a challenge thrown to these arrogant people. If they are bigheaded
about their power, then they should call all their allies and the Almighty will
call His guards and see how much power they have. The first practical test of
this challenge in the later period was in the battlefield of Badr and the world
witnessed that the whole power and collectivity of the Quraysh was humiliated at
the hands of the Almighty’s guards.
The real meaning of the word نَادِيَ is “a
gathering”, “a society”. Here, in this verse, it refers to individuals who are
associated together in some communal relationship. Keeping in view the context,
it can be translated as “group” and “party”.
The word زَبَانِيَة is the plural of
زَبْنِيَةٌ and its real meaning is “defender”;
however, it is also used for policemen and law enforcing personnel. It has been
translated as “guards” keeping in view the context. In other words, this is a
divine task force of angels which are sent for special missions which are
temporary in nature.
(١٩) كَلَّا لَا تُطِعْهُ وَاسْجُدْ
وَاقْتَرِبْ
(Certainly not! do not obey him and bow down in prostration and draw near.)
These words sound assurance to the Prophet (sws): if someone is stopping him
from prostrating before God, just ignore him and draw nearer the Almighty by
prostrating before Him. It should be kept in mind that at many places the Qur’ān
has regarded the prayer as the key to perseverance and resolve and to earning
His help. The most grand component of the prayer is prostration. This is an
allusion to the fact that who would dare stop the Prophet (sws) from something
which is the objective of his life and the sole means of his relationship with
God. If any one does dare to do such a thing, he should seek refuge with the
Almighty. The only way to do this is to prostrate before Him.
Period of Revelation of the Sūrah
This brings us to the end of the explanation of this sūrah. Let us now
deliberate on its period of revelation by analyzing its contents. The most
helpful thing in determining the period of revelation of a sūrah is to
deliberate on its tone, address and style of address. For this very reason, I
have raised this question at the end of the explanation instead of discussing it
in the introductory part of the sūrah. Readers can form an opinion for
themselves on this issue about which our exegetes have different opinions.
The most famous opinion on the period of revelation of this sūrah is that it
is the first revealed sūrah of the Qur’ān. Some people regard the whole sūrah as
the first revelation of the Qur’ān, but the majority regards its first five
verses to be the first revelation of the Qur’ān. This latter opinion is based on
a narrative in Bukhārī and Muslim.
The second opinion is that of Zamakhsharī. He has recorded in his tafsīr:
وأكثر المفسرين على أن الفاتحة أول ما نزل ثم سورة القلم
(And most exegetes are of the view that Sūrah Fātihah was revealed the foremost
and then Sūrah Qalam).
Some exegetes have differed with this opinion and some have accepted it.
A third opinion on this issue is that Sūrah Muddaththir was revealed the
foremost. The proponents of this view most probably regard its initial verses
only as the first revelation because the tone of the rest of the sūrah and its
style of address is so stern and severe like Sūrah ‘Alaq that it is very
difficult to regard the whole sūrah as the first revelation.
In my opinion, Sūrah ‘Alaq is a harmonious whole and a single well-knit unit.
The tone of its first five verses is no different from that of the rest of the
sūrah. Such is the severity in its style of address that one fails to understand
that why should such a sūrah be regarded as the first revelation. Moreover,
there is no indication within the sūrah to regard it to have been revealed in
two episodes. God knows best. This is my opinion and gratitude be to Him.
Lahore,
4th March, 1980 AD
16th Rabī al-Thānī, 1400 AH
(Translated from Tadabbur-i-Qur’ān by Shehzad Saleem)
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