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In REAL time, it’s April 7th, 2012.
Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan. I've missed you.
Their commentaries can only be read
in verse by verse view.
سورة ق
‘Qaaf’
From the Introduction of Yusuf Ali:
“We
now come to group of seven Makkan Surahs (50-56), dealing with Allah's
revelation through nature, through history, and through the mouths of the
Prophets, and pointing to the Hereafter. We saw that the last group of three
(47-49) dealt with the external and internal relations of the Ummah when
formed. In the present group our attention is more particularly directed to
aspect eschatological-the Future before us when this life is done.
This
particular Surah belongs to the early Makkan period. After an appeal to nature
and to the fate of wicked peoples in history, it removes as it were the will
(verse 22) from the Future after death.”
From the Introduction of Muhammad Asad:
“KNOWN only by the letter-symbol q (qaf) preceding the first verse, this
surah appears to have
been revealed in the fourth year of the Prophet's mission. Commencing and
ending with a
reference to the Qur'an, it is devoted in its entirety to the twin
problems of death and
resurrection.”
COMMENTS:
This Chapter contains one of the most graphic scenes
depicting the process of ‘dying’ and the departure from this life, to the next.
It begins by addressing the Deniers’ skepticism with
regard to their resurrection from the dust of the earth, asserting that their every
single degenerated part has been
recorded in God’s compilation. Then it goes on, giving other details about life
on earth… telling them/us to seek evidence (about resurrection) from the earth
itself; its land, vegetation, and especially the reviving power of rain. It tells of previous peoples who belied this
truth, and then it unveils a few awesome scenes to us!
1.
The first
verse begins with the letter/sound ‘qaaf’ followed by a ‘vow’ about the Qur’an (similar
to HQ 36 and 38). We already know that
the object of an oath is of utmost importance.
New Readers: Put ‘disjointed
letters’ in ‘Search this Site.’
“Qaaf, and BY the Supreme Qur’an…”
The word ‘majeed’ مجيدdescribes the Qur’an
here, and means ‘ultimate/ supreme/ paramount’ ([i])
an attribute given to it again in HQ 25:21, and as we see here in Tanzil, is one of God’s ‘beautiful attributes/ names ([ii])’
.
Then Verses 2-3 show us the Deniers’ disbelief
at being resurrected from the dust of the earth, as Verse 4 responds to that
skepticism, asserting that every degenerated
part of theirs (not just their bodies) is recorded in God’s compilation (the
compilation of creation)!
Verses 5- 11 ask them to
look around and learn the truth of their existence from life on earth: How God had
‘erected’ and ‘decorated’ the Exalted Expanse above them, and how it has no
flaws. Speaking in the ‘first person We,’
He tells us of the earth which He spread out, and into which He cast ‘anchors’
(referring to mountains), and what He produced from it ‘of every resplendent
pair…’ an observation/ an insight (Ali/Asad), a visible evidence and a Reminder to every ‘muneeb’ worshipper. Regular Readers will remember that ‘muneeb’
are those who return to a place they love and are accustomed to (to Our Lord
Himself).
Then the abiding benefit
-‘baraka’- of rain is mentioned, and how it raises grain and palm, provides
sustenance to all worshippers, resurrects a dead land…. such is ‘The Coming Out.’
Indeed, that is what the verses had been leading to:
For any who do not
believe in life after death (such as the idol-worshippers of Qureish), the
Qur’an repeatedly invites to observe evidence of revival, of evolution, taking
place constantly in Life.
SUCH is ‘the Coming
out!’
Note, dear Reader, that
the ‘muneeb’ worshippers hardly need to be reminded: They know where they came from and are eager
to return in love and longing; their own feelings and observation serve as a
constant reminder. May we be among them!
New Readers: Put ‘muneeb’ – ‘baraka’ in ‘Search this
Site.’
2. After that
in Verses 12- 15, disbelieving listeners are reminded of eight different populations
who had similarly disbelieved/ belied (read here),
and upon whom God’s warning had become an implemented reality.
A rhetorical question is then eloquently asked, still in the ‘first
person,’ whether (they think) ‘We were wearied’ by the initial creation? Such
an assumption casts them into disbelief in new creation!
3. After
the eloquence of the previous verses describing creation in general, Verse 16 shows
us, Cognizant Humans, the closeness of God Himself to us:
Still
speaking in the ‘first person We,’ God first asserts that He did create the ‘insaan’/ the
Cognizant Human (who, according to the 1000 year old definition of the word,
is active in finding and offering
comfort and companionship. Remember the
grammatical distinction of nouns in accordance with ‘fa’laan’).
New Readers: Put
‘insaan’ in Search this Site.’ ([iii])
Then He says that He knows what each person’s own Self
inaudibly communicates ([iv] ‘wasswassah/
وسوسة)… and that He, God Himself, is
closer to us than our jugular vein!!
Wow.
Knowing
that, dear Reader … understanding what this means… how can you or I ever feel
alone again?
We
are not talking about our conscious thoughts here. We are talking about the subconscious, the subtle
inner prodding that stimulates us to taking action. This piece of information reminds us of a
statement we read earlier in HQ 35:44
which asserts that nothing on this earth or in the exalted expanse…. ever
escapes God.
NOTHING.
So
it is He Alone who knows and takes account of our innermost thoughts and
proddings. As for our words, well, these
are different; they are out there, so there shall be witnesses:
As
Verses 17- 18 assert, each one of us has two ‘Observant Recipients’ who are
‘present and close/ ‘ateed’ ([v]),
stationed ‘left and right,’ whose role it is to receive every single utterance we make.
See
also HQ 6:61.
4. And then,
quite suddenly, from every utterance being witnessed, we are transported to our
death-scene in Verses 19- 22. Because
these verses describe the ‘unseen/ gheyb,’ we cannot elaborate upon them. All we can do is attempt to understand what
they tell us:
They tell us that the throes of death, which
‘you’ (each of us!) were attempting to evade, have now come upon us. Then we learn of the quickening of events which
lead up to the promised ‘day/ term’ of which we were warned (‘blowing of
trumpets’ is wrong. Put ‘quickening
trumpet’ in ‘Search this Site’). Then we
learn of the ‘coming forth’ of each Self, led by a Conductor and accompanied by
a Witness.
Verse 23 still speaks directly to each of us in the singular ‘you,’ telling
us that, at that point in time, our ‘blanket/ cover/ veil’ is lifted away from
us, and our vision is ‘iron-sharp’ (we see Truth/ Reality!).
Then, Verses 23-30 allow us to witness an argument
taking place between a stubborn, denying person and his/her ‘qareen,’ who now,
after having spent life in denial, both find that they had indeed been leading
themselves and each other towards the bottom of an
abyss. That is what ‘Jahannam/ Hell’
quite literally means, in Arabic.
A ‘qareen’ is a person’s
‘comrade’
or peer, someone of the same generation who had influence over him/her.
‘Qareen’ is mentioned 6 times in the
Qur’an, and we discussed in
depth when we read HQ 41:25.
Yusuf Ali
and Muhammad Asad give
us their explanation of how they understand the word ‘qareen’ to relate to a
person’s ‘other self,’ and we do know that some ‘Muslims’ understand it as
‘jinns,’ which goes against Qur’anic context as we mentioned earlier:
“In
HQ 37: 50- 53 we find the Purified Worshippers of
God asking each other about their earlier life on earth. One of them mentions a close contact
he had, a ‘qareen,’ one of his generation, peers, or comrades (see ‘qarn below[iv] قرن-)
This ‘comrade’ had argued about the ‘unlikelihood’ of being resurrected to face
accountability after having died and become dry bone and dust, which shows us that
he was obviously human!”
Let us not add to what the Qur’an says here, other than noting that each
Self eventually gets what it has worked for and earned: The Aware are raised by their Awareness in
Life to evolve furthermore in the Afterlife, returning back to the Divine
Source of their existence, whereas the Deniers sink to the lowest of the
low. Although they’ve done so by choice,
they still pile blame on each other, eventually having to succumb to the
inevitable.
That’s it for them,
in these verses of Dissuasion.
5.
Verses 31- 35 offer beautiful Persuasion, speaking of the Garden which
shall be brought forth to the Aware, as promised to each person who turns to
God and is guardian (of His gifts to us, and of our own precious Selves)… Those
who stood in awe of Al Rahmaan/ the Creator, in the unseen, and came forth with
a heart/mind that returned to the place it loves and is accustomed to (Muneeb).
Here
we encounter the beautiful word ‘Al Rahmaan’ again, and FEEL the relationship
between ‘Rahmaan and Insaan,’ brought into cognizant interaction on our part by
way of the ‘Qur’aan!’
Then
we hear the heart-melting invitation to enter the Garden in Peace, as the Aware
are told that this is their time of abiding comfort, where they shall have whatever they desire, and God
has yet more.
May
we be among them!
6. Verse 36 returns to challenge those who were guilty of heavy-handed methods
of dealing with people (forceful seizure/ baTtsh), telling them to seek
evidence of what had happened to earlier generations who had found no place to
maneuver (so as to escape the consequences).
Verse
37 states that in all that is a Reminder to someone who has a heart/mind, or
who cast an ear AND was witness (employing one’s senses to be truly ‘present’
and gain most benefit!).
Then, Verse 38 reminds listeners of the rhetorical
question in Verse 15, having now answered it fully.
7. Verses 39 -40 commands the Messenger to patiently persevere in the face
of what they (the idolaters) are saying, and to maintain ‘tasbeeh’ (constant
motion in devotion) before sunrise, before sunset, during parts of the night,
and after prostrating.
This is something we should all be doing!
Some people think that Tasbeeh is ‘praising’ or
mentioning God (by mouth), which so reduces this great act which should be undertaken
by our entire body and mind, encompassing every cell of our being!
(Put ‘tasbeeh’ in ‘Search this Site,’ and see this
descriptive poem.)
8. Verses
41- 43 return to the topic of resurrection. Still addressing the Messenger, these strong
verses also serve to reassure him, in that he can ‘hearken to/ listen for the
time when the ‘Summoner/ Caller’ is summoning/ calling, from a situation nearby. That is when they (who now speak against him)
shall hear the long scream in Truth, that is the time/day of ‘coming out’ (of earthly
graves), indeed it is ‘We’ (God) Who grants Life and Death, and to Us (Him) is
the destination. Verse 44 describes the
earth rapidly cracking and splitting upon them, exposing them (after which comes the stage of gathering to meet the
consequences of their actions), an easy gathering for God.
I
found it interesting to note that, at that exact time when the Messenger shall
listen to/ hear the ‘Summoner/ Caller,’ the idolaters shall be hearing the long
scream! It seems that each shall hear
what he deserves: A welcoming summons
heralding the best stage of life, or a frightful scream, heralding the worst!
Verse
45 closes by consoling the Messenger and reassuring him as to the limits of his
responsibility (put ‘limits responsibility’ in ‘Search this Site’).
Aside:
When
will we all realize that no one can force people into what they do not choose
for themselves? Even a Messenger of God
cannot be an ‘enforcer/ jabbaar!’
In
this final verse, God tells him that He knows best what they are saying, ‘You’
are not upon them an ‘enforcer,’ therefore (your role is to) remind, by way of
the Qur’an, those who fear ‘My’ warning.
What
a chapter, dear Readers!
Enough said, after a long period of silence.
I shall not be apologetic. I
shall be thankful and ask you, dear Reader, to pray for me.
Our next Reading is from HQ 51: 1-
60.
Peace unto all!
[i] مجد: يدلُّ على بلوغ
النِّهاية، ولا يكون إلاّ في محمود. منه المَجْد: بلوغ النِّهاية في الكَرَم.
والله الماجد والمجيد، لا كَرَمَ فوق كرَمه. وتقول العرب: ماجَدَ فلانٌ فلاناً:
فاخَرَه. ويقولون مثلاً:
"في كلِّ شَجرٍ نارٌ، واستَمْجَدَ المَرْخُ والعَفَار"، أي استكثَرَا من
النار وأخذا منها ما هو حَسبُهما، فهما قد تناهَيَا في ذلك، حتَّى إنَّه يُقْبَس
منهم
[ii] Note that ‘majed’ ماجد -commonly believed to be
one of ‘God’s beautiful Attributes’- is NOT in the Qur’an and therefore should
be off that list. Indeed, many ‘names’
should be off the common list; a few of them are quite deplorable and should
never be used to describe God!
[iii] كما ذكرنا سابقاً عن
لفظ "رحمن" أنّه على وزن "فعلان"، وأن فعلان هي "وصفٍ
فعليٍّ فيه معنى المبالغة للصفات الطارئة"(من كتاب "إعراب القرآن وبيانه") وأسمّيناها
بلغتنا الدارجة: "صيغة
تفاعلية"- Interactive. وأدركنا خاصيّة ذلك الأمر وعرفنا أنّ الرحمن هو ربنا الذي خلق الإنسان- وأن
"إنسان" هو الآخر لفظ على وزن فعلان... فإن للإنسان مع ربِّه الخالق علاقة
تفاعلية من جهته- وفاعلية من جهة الخالق- لا تنتهي، لا بالموت ولا حتى بقيام
الساعة.
[iv] (أنس) هو ظهورُ الشيء، وكلُّ شيءٍ
خالَفَ طريقة التوحُّش. يقال آنسْتُ الشيء إذا رأيتَه. قال الله تعالى:
{فَإنْ آنَسْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ رُشْداً} [النساء 6]. ويقال: آنَسْتُ الشيءَ إذا
سمعتَه. وهذا مستعارٌ من الأوّل. والأَنْس:
أنْسُ الإنسانِ بالشيء إذا لم يسْتَوْحِشْ منه
[v] ’Insaan’ is the
human after arriving at the communicative, intelligent
stage. Prior to that, in the initial stages of human creation, the Qur’an
refers to the human species as ‘Bashar.’
(وس) الواو والسين: كلمةٌ تدلُّ على صوتٍ غير رفيع. يقال
لصوت الحَلْي: وَسْوَاسٌ. وهَمْسُ الصَّائِد وَسواسٌ. وإغواء الشّيطان ابنَ آدم
وسواس.
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