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Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Muhammad Asad’s Translation of this Chapter.
Their commentaries can only be read in verse by verse view.
COMMENTS:
1. Today’s Reading begins with Verse 31- 32, and the ‘Glad Tidings’ delivered to Prophet Abraham granting him a child, and telling him of the destruction of Lot’s people, to which he shows grave concern (put بشرناه in Tanzil). When questioned about Prophet Lot, the Angels assured Abraham of Lot’s safety.
Important Flashback:
Previously (in HQ 11:74), we learnt that Abraham began to argue يجادل in Lot’s favor, peace upon both God’s Messengers.
The word ‘jadal’ was explained as ‘Dialectic.’ Indeed, among all God’s creatures, the Cognizant Human is the most ‘dialectic/ investigatively argumentative.’ We discussed this trait -which is inherent in Cognizant Humans- on July 12th, and said that only humans use logical analysis and argument to explain and understand things.
2. Verses 33- 35 briefly tell of Prophet Lot and his people. Here we note the word ‘rijz رجز-’ which many commentators consider ‘identical in meaning’ to ‘rijsرجس- .’ We disagree: No two words are identical!
After checking our 1,000 year old Lexicon[i] and putting both words in Tanzil I believe I am much closer to understanding the distinction:
The first seems to be a PHYSICAL affliction (such as a Plague), while the second would be a MENTAL affliction (such as Doubt). This seems further validated by the ‘meaning of ‘Z’ in Arabic sounds’ (Z: protrusion- which indicates something ‘out there’ and obvious).
Anyway, this issue is not yet settled, and does deserve further research.
Verses 36- 37 mention the tribe of Madyan (and their Prophet Shu’ayb, peace upon him), while Verses 38 mentions the tribes of ‘Aad and Thamood.
3. Verse 39 tells us that although Moses, peace upon him, had come to Qaaroon, Pharaoh, and Haamaan with Evidence, they treated the earth (and all upon it) ARROGANTLY.
Verse 40 tells us that each of them was ‘seized by his violation,’ each begetting the consequence for their actions (we see 4 different calamities here); God would not wrong them, but it is they who had wronged their own Selves.
4. After mentioning all these communities/ persons who denied God, Verse 41 offers the parable of The Spider: Whoever takes Protectors other than God is similar to a spider who has taken a dwelling. No dwelling is as fragile as a spider’s, if only they knew.
From Yusuf Ali’s comments:
“Most of the facts in the last note can be read into the Parable. For their thickness the spider’s threads are very strong from the point of view of relativity, but in our actual world they are flimsy, especially the threads of the gossamer spider floating in the air. So is the house and strength of the man who relies on material resources however fine or beautiful relatively; before the eternal Reality they are as nothing. The spider’s most cunning architecture cannot stand against a wave of a man’s hand.”
It is also interesting to note that the Qur’an mentions the dwelling itself being fragile, despite the ‘silken’ material of which it is composed- which as we know is one of the strongest substances on earth. Actually, studying the entire parable is quite enlightening (click image).
To share with our kids (from Sciencescore):
“Spider silk is incredible stuff. If you make a wire out of steel as thin as a strand of spider silk, the spider silk is stronger. The steel would snap under pressure, but the spider silk can stretch up to 1 ½ times its size, and it’s so light that if you stretched spider silk into a strand long enough to wrap around the whole Earth, it would only weigh 450 grams!”
5. Verses 42- 43 follow up, stating that God indeed knows whom/ what they call out to, for He is The Almighty, The Wise…and that none can ‘secure full comprehension of’ (لا يعقِلها) such Examples/ Parables, except the Knowledgeable إلا العالِمون.
Aside:
I feel certain that Asad’s explanation of the last word as ‘aware’ must have been a slip. I beg of you, dear Readers to tell me whenever you think I may have written something in error; I often correct myself, but I know that there will always remain something I may not have noticed.
Verse 44 ascertains that God created the Heavens and the Earth in all Truth /Justice, in which is a Sign to the Faithful.
I am not comfortable with diminishing the word ‘Al Haqq’ The Truth, as both Ali and Asad have done to some extent, so that it indicates ‘true proportions’ (Ali) or ‘inner Truth’ (Asad).
6. Verse 45 consists of 4 issues which are VERY IMPORTANT!
§ Meaning of ‘yatluيتلو-’.
§ Its relationship with ‘kitaab’ and ‘quraan.’
§ The meaning of ‘yanhaaينهى- ’.
§ ‘Prayer’ versus ‘Remembrance of God.’
FIRSTLY, we need to understand the meaning of the root-verb ‘talawa تلو- [ii]’.
Yusuf Ali translates it as ‘Recite (publish, read to oneself, study, meditate),’ and Muhammad Asad as ‘Convey (unto others).’
‘Yatluيتلو- ’ denotes ‘to follow in succession.’ It also means ‘to recite in sequence’ (‘al taali’ التالي means ‘the next’).
SECONDLY, we need to see how it relates to ‘Compilation/ kitaab’ and ‘quraan.’
Actually, this verse seems to validate our findings (of Sept 5th) regarding the fact that the Messenger Muhammad’s ‘recital in sequence- tilaawah,’ is mentioned with regard to the specific Information (wahi) revealed to him (ما أوحي إليك) OF the Compilation (من الكتاب), as we see here, and NOT the Compilation itself.
(In other words, he is mentioned as reciting the Qur’an itself, or the Reminder (Thikr), or the Signs (Aayaat), but never THE Compilation.)
Q. What does that indicate?
A. It indicates that he is commanded to ‘follow in succession’ or ‘recite in sequence’ what was revealed to him, and NOTHING else.
Let us first remember that:
· The Compilation in its entirety is everything ever revealed to God’s Messengers.
· The Qur’an calls those who believe in earlier Compilation (Torah/ Evangel): ‘People of the Compilation.’
· Those who ‘recite the Compilation’ are Jews/ Christians (put following altogether in Tanzil: تلو الكتاب -قتل -قاتل –حكمة). The (-) minus sign narrows the search.
· The Messenger Muhammad ‘recited in sequence’:
¨ A Reminder (HQ 18:83).
¨ News regarding past events/ persons (HQ 5:27; 7:175; 10:71; 26:69).
¨ God’s Signs (Put رسول تلو آيات in Tanzil, see all 6 verses).
¨ The Qur’an (HQ 27:92).
Back to our verse:
After commanding the Messenger to recite in sequence the specific Information (wahi) revealed to him as part of the Compilation, he is also commanded to establish his connection/ relationship with God/ Regular Prayer.
That is our FOURTH important issue:
This Relationship/ Prayer FORBIDS both ‘pervasive atrocities -fahshaa’ and ‘mutually objectionable deeds- munkar.’
Note that Prayer doesn’t physically prevent us from committing such deeds; it only ‘forbids’ us, and it is up to us to comply or not.
To speakers of Arabic: We misunderstand this verse because we do not realize the difference between ‘tanhaa’ and ‘tunhee’: الصلاة تَنْهى... ولا تُنْهي ...عن الفحشاء والمنكر) (
Our FIFTH important issue:
The Remembrance of God is greater, and God knows what you all (plural!) formulate/ fabricate/ devise.
Regular Readers will notice the warning in the final part of this verse, which seems to indicate that our Prayer –if it truly included the Remembrance of God- would be successful at forbidding us from such deeds!
God Alone knows when we first shiver, and then when our hearts/ minds soften to the BEST of Hadeeth.. ie: this Compilation (HQ 39:23). Who else would know how we approach His Remembrance (our Prayers- HQ 62:9)?
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ 29:46- 69.
Peace unto all!
[i] رجز: يدلُّ على اضطرابٍ.
من ذلك الرَّجَزُ: داءٌ يصيبُ الإبلَ في أعجازِها... ومن هذا اشتقاق الرَّجَزِ من الشِّعر؛ لأنه مقطوع مضطرب. والرِّجازة: كِساءٌ يُجْعَل فيه أحجارٌ تعلّق بأحد جانِبَي الهَودج إذا مالَ؛ وهو يَضطَرِبُ. والرِّجَازة أيضاً: صوفٌ يعلّق على الهَودج يُزَيَّن به. فأما الرِّجْز الذي هو العذاب، والذي هو الصَّنَم، في قوله جلّ ثناؤه: {والرِّجْزَ فاهْجُرْ} [المدثر 5]، فذاك من باب الإبدال؛ لأن أصلَه السّينُ؛ وقد ذُكِر.
رجس: يدلُّ على اختلاطٍ.
يقال هُمْ في مَرْجُوسَةٍ مِن أمرِهم، أي اختِلاط. والرَّجْس: صوت الرَّعد، وذلك أنه يتردَّد. وكذلك هَدِيرُ البعيرِ رَجْسٌ. وسَحابٌ رَجّاسٌ، وبعيرٌ رَجّاس. وحكى ابنُ الأعرابيِّ: هذا رَاجِسٌ حَسَنٌ، أي راعِدٌ حَسن. ومن الباب الرِّجْس: القَذَر؛ لأنّه لَطْخٌ وخَلْط.
· RijZ: Points to instability (or what causes it), such as a disease infecting camels, the sack which holds ballasts (weights) to stabilize a ‘Howdah’ upon the camels’ backs, and a certain type of ‘irregular’ or ‘freeform’ poetry. It also indicates ‘suffering.’
· RijS: Points to inner turmoil and confusion, also the sound of thunder as it reverberates.
[ii] تلو: أصلٌ واحد، وهو الاتِّباع. يقال: تَلَوْتُه إذا تَبِعْتَه. ومنه تلاوةُ القُرآن، لأنّه يُتْبِع آيةً بعد آية.
ومن الباب التّلِيَّة والتُّلاَوَة وهي البقيّة، لأنها تتلو ما تقدَّم منها.
ومما يصحّ [في] هذا ما حكاه الأصمعيّ. بقِيَتْ لي حاجةٌ فأنا أَتَتَلاّهَا. والتَّلاَءُ الذّمّة، لأنها تُتَّبَع وتُطْلَب، يقال أتْلَيْتُه ذِمّة.
والمُتالي الذي يُرَادُّ صاحبَه الغِناءَ، سُمّيا بذلك لأنّ كلّ واحدٍ منهما [يتلو] صاحبه.
