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Welcome
Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Yusuf
Ali’s explanation of this
Chapter.
Muhammad
Asad’s explanation of this
Chapter.
NEW:
Laleh Bakhtiar’s explanation of this
Chapter.
سورة نوح
‘Noah’
From Introduction of Yusuf Ali:
“This is an
early Makkan Surah… The theme is that while Good must uphold the standard of
Truth and Righteousness, a stage is reached when it must definitely part
company with Evil, lest Evil should spread its corruption.
The story of Noah's agony
is almost a Parable for the Holy Prophet's persecution in the Makkan period.”
From Introduction of Muhammad Asad:
“DEVOTED in its entirety to Noah's preaching to his erring
fellow-men, this surah depicts symbolically every conscious believer's struggle
against blind materialism and the resulting lack of all spiritual values.
The story of Noah as such is mentioned in several places in the
Qur'an, and particularly in 11:25.”
COMMENTS:
Notable for its refrain and rhythm, this Chapter is almost a
soliloquy, with most of the statements we hear being ‘voiced’ by Noah who seems
to be giving his Lord his final assessment regarding his progress – or lack of
it- with his people.
This narrative is retold for the benefit of its recipients,
strengthening Prophet Muhammad as it persuades and dissuades listeners.
We shan’t spend much time explaining these verses; Readers
can see the full explanation by any of our three Commentators above. We shall only highlight the important facts
interspersed within.
1. Verses 1-4 relate a part of Prophet Noah’s story
with his people; we did encounter similar verses in HQ 11: 25. It is interesting to note that God’s
Messengers, peace upon them, bear the same message which asks people mainly to be aware of God, and obey the
Messenger. The promise is that,
should people comply, they would earn forgiveness for part OF their wrongdoing
(‘min’) and be granted respite. But in
the case of Noah, his people chose not to.
2. In Verses 5- 9 Noah shows his Lord his own dedication
in calling his people to Him, day and night, loudly and softly, in public and
in private; he laments that they would try to bar their senses from seeing or
hearing him, and that his calls only made them flee further away, in stubborn
arrogance.
3. In Verses 10- 12 Noah’s
monologue gives us a few important facts (they ARE facts or else they would not
have been mentioned). One such fact is
that Our Lord is ‘Ghaffaar/ Oft-Forgiving,’
and that when we ask His Forgiveness, we not only get it, but we ALSO get much
bounty from Him.
4. In Verses 13- 14 Noah asks his
people, what the matter with them is, that they do not reflect highly on God/
realize His magnitude…. while it is He Who created them in stages?
It is
important to remember this verse, which mentions our creation taking place in
stages ‘aTwaar,’ and what it indicates, that
this should lead us Cognizant Humans to recognize God’s ‘waqaar;’ the weighty,
immense, significance of God being The
CreatOR (‘waqaar’ literally means ‘weightiness’). We’ve already encountered verses which
speak, more generally, of people who do not hold God in rightful ‘esteem/ qadr.’
Dear
Reader:
Can we
ever truly realize God’s esteem? I don’t
think we can know it, but I think that
we can feel it. I think that, while we are always attempting
to know more, all that is required of us is feeling
it.
To
know more about the Creator, look to His Creation. Life.
He is The Source, The Origin, Al RaHmaan.
Look
at the facts. It is scientifically
indisputable, that all Life, including human, is an evolution. However, what IS now scientifically disputed,
is the 150 years old Darwinian theory of natural selection! In the 19th century, scientists
were expecting that future studies on complex living organisms will only reveal
the simplicity of their structure. What
has happened is the exact opposite: The
closer they were able to look at living organisms, the more detail they saw,
and the greater complexity. One highly
complex organism is the bacterium, which contains the most efficient machine in the entire universe, the ‘Bacterial
Flagellum’ (see pic below) with
an RPM of 10,000! ([i]) No wonder some say that 'bacteria rule the world!'
Watch
this 7 min. video ‘What
Darwin Didn’t Know.’ How did this microscopic
machine come about? How did everything
else come about?
God.
He is
The Creator of Everything, and He is, over everything, Guardian and Disposer (HQ 39:62)
Such
information has spurred the ongoing debate
between Evolutionism, Creationism, and Intelligent Design, behind which lurks
the timeless question: Does ‘The Creator’
exist?
My
answer to that, dear Reader, is:
I am
more certain of The Creator’s Existence than I am of my own.
5. Then Verses 15-16 continue to speak
directly to listeners (in the first person plural, showing them the magnitude
of the Creator), asking them of the creation of the seven ‘mantled/ layered’
Exalted Expanses, in which the moon is a shining light, while the sun is a
burning torch. This description (more
detailed than HQ 10:5) is considered a scientific ‘marvel,’ seeing that its
accuracy is beyond what was ‘common knowledge’ at the time of Revelation.
Verses
17-18 continue, referring to the wonder which is their own beginning, and also
referring to their end on this earth; how humans ‘sprouted out’ from this earth
and propagated in a manner similar to all Life upon it, only to return back to
the earth and be brought out of it ‘in an expelling’ ([ii]).
Dear
Reader:
Do
check out the following links; they are worth your while.
The
Qur’an uses the word ‘nabaata’ ([iii]) which
seems to refer to a process of ‘sprouting and propagating’ FROM
earth-matter. It is very interesting to
see this taking place in the ongoing cycle which sustains all Life, called Mytosis.
Seeing
Mytosis in action is
quite an experience (more
detail here -6 min.).
Meiosis, on the other
hand, is a special type of cell-division necessary for reproduction. Check this out too; it is just as remarkable.
Verses
19-20 continue, mentioning how God rendered the Earth a ‘spread’ for them to
course through its passage-ways (gullies).
6. Then, in Verses 21- 24, Prophet Noah
turns to his Lord, telling Him how his people disobeyed him (with regard to
worshipping God Alone and being Aware of Him) and followed someone whose wealth
and offspring only took him deeper into loss/ruin, and they misconstrued an
enormous ‘misconstruction/ makr,’ discouraging others from leaving their
‘deities’ (naming 5 specific ones). He
then states a fact as to the many people they have misguided, and asks God to
increase them in nothing but Misguidance.
Then Verse
25 tells us that, because of their Wrongs, they were drowned and made to enter
Fire, finding none to save them other than God.
7. In Verses 26- 27 we find Prophet
Noah asking God not to leave a single Denier on Earth, because they would mislead
His worshippers and only breed blatant Deniers.
We may
wonder at this, and see it as ‘pessimistic and cold-hearted,’ but it may simply
be an assessment of Noah’s, based on God’s telling him (HQ 11:36) that after his extensive efforts
and dedication, he has reached a dead-end:
He shall not win another person over; no one else shall believe in him, other
than those whom he had already won over.
The
last verse in this Chapter has Noah asking God to forgive him and his parents
and any who enters his house in faith, and to all Men and Women of Faith, and
to only increase the Wrong-doers in ruination.
At the end of this
chapter, let us pause for a moment and reflect on our Creator’s magnificence
and magnitude. I don’t know about you,
dear Reader.... but today’s post made me desire, from the deeeeeeeepest recesses
of my being… it made me desire and hope and wish and yearn and look forward to… meeting Him!
Let us hold that thought as we
leave these pages.
Peace unto all!
The Rotation
Per Minute of a car is around 6,000.
Only ‘Formula One’ cars can surpass this in speed- but NOTHING can
surpass it in efficiency!
نبت: يدلُّ
على نماءٍ في مزروع، ثم يستعار. فالنَّبت معروفٌ، يقال نَبَت. وأنْبَتَتِ الأرض.
ونَبَّتُّ الشَّجرَ: غَرستُه. ويقال: إنَّ في بني فلانٍ لنابِتَةَ شرّ. ونبَتَتْ
لبني فلانٍ نابتةٌ، إذا نشَأ لهم نَشْءٌ صِغار من الوَلَد.
