Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Yusuf Ali’s Translation of this Chapter.
Muhammad Asad’s Translation of this Chapter.
COMMENTS:
1. Before we begin, let us reflect on the last verse before this, where we heard Prophet Moses’ severe, heartfelt, prayer against Pharaoh and his chieftains.
Today’s Reading (Verse 89) begins with God asserting that their prayer has been answered (it seems that not only Prophet Moses had been praying, but Prophet Aaron as well), commanding them both to ‘straighten/rectify’ (themselves), and not to follow the path of Those Who do not Know/ Those Who do not Distinguish (Truth).
The imperative/command, ‘You must straighten/rectify’ (literally ‘must seek rectification,’ which follows the grammatical pattern of istaf’il/استفعل ) appears five times in the Qur’an, twice in the singular استقم; twice in the plural استقيموا; and as you see in this verse, once in the dual استقيما- speaking to two persons.
One might ask: Toward WHAT or WHOM ( إلى مَن / إلى ماذا) should we ‘rectify’ ourselves/our direction?
The answer is in HQ. 41:6.[1] Towards God, of course!
This shows us the importance of ‘istiqaamah/ seeking the straight course/ rectifying ourselves’ because life is ever-changing, moving, twisting, TRYING us, and as soon as we overcome one hurdle, we tend to encounter another. If we do not rectify ourselves by refocusing on our objective and choosing the best route, we will lose ourselves in its maze.
The next verses (90– 91 –92) tell us of Pharaoh following Bani Isra’eel into the parted sea, and of his being overcome by drowning, where we note that, in his dying-breath, he finally uttered words of faith and surrender, saying that he has attained Eman AND become of the Muslimeen. Needless to say, both assertions were not accepted:
Aaaal’aana? What… Now? After you had already rejected/[2] عَصَيت (God and His Messengers) and had been one of the Corruptors?
Actually, Pharoah is THE archetype of arrogant corruption on this earth!
Note how each of Pharoah’s two allegations was responded to and refused in the verse; his allegation of Eman was refused because he had already rejected God, and his allegation of being Muslim was refused because all he had been doing was corrupting and committing wrongs against people.
As we know after all, a Muslim is one from whose tongue and hands people are safe!
We note in Verse 92 that his remains were salvaged to serve as a Sign to those behind him, although many Cognizant Humans are heedless to God’s Signs.
Note about adding details to the Qur’an that are nowhere in it:
I prefer neither to specify which ‘miSr’ or ‘territory’ the Qur’an is referring to, nor which Pharoah these verses are about. We are learning a multitude of valuable lessons here, in faith and denial, in humility and arrogance, in deference and defiance, lessons that serve us best when we take them as is from the Qur’an, which calls its narratives in HQ.12:3, ‘aHssan al qiSaS/ the best of narratives/أحسن القصص.
Adding detail to God’s own ‘best and most beautiful’ narrative can never make it better!
Quite the opposite. Would we, in all faith, want to do that?
I prefer to say: God knows best..الله أعلم..
2. Verse 93 discusses how Bani Isra-eel were assigned a ‘goodly abode;’ well-explained by Muhammad Asad. It is interesting to note that their differing came AFTER they had received the Knowledge, having till then, been in ignorant accord.
In the next two verses 94– 95 , the ‘voice of God’ is distinct in His direct advice and warning to the listener. These verses are also well-explained by Muhammad Asad, who finds it implausible that these verses would be addressed to the Messenger.
It does seem that these verses are addressed to the Cognizant Human, and they speak of what has ‘been sent down to you,’ in the singular, similar to the plural we see in these verses addressing people in general.
Verses 96 97 assure us regarding certain people upon whom the word of our Lord-Sustainer duly transpired/was realized, that they shall never have faith and trust, even were every Sign to come to them. Nothing will persuade them to have faith in God except the kind of evidence and painful suffering offered by death and the Hereafter, just like Pharoah. This seems similar to an earlier verse, Verse 33:
“Thus duly transpired/was realized the word of your Lord-Sustainer against Those who Deserted, that they do not Have Faith/Trust.”
There we noted what ‘the word of our Lord-Sustainer duly transpired/ Huqqat/حقَّت كلمة ربك ’ means. It is about people who deserted, duly ending up never attaining faith; about people who denied clear evidence, duly ending up as Deniers; about all such people duly ending up as companions of the fire: His Word duly transpiring, due to the choices people made.
3. And now we arrive at the reason for the title of this Chapter- the story of Jonas, peace upon him. Verse 98 tells us that Jonas’ people were the only ones whose impending suffering was lifted, having heeded their Prophet before it was too late. This was an indirect message to Qureish, as the following verses will show.
Read Asad’s excellent notes, which he ends by saying:
“…the mention of Jonah’s people -who alone among the communities of the past heeded their prophet before it was too late– is meant to warn the hearers and readers of the Qur’ān that a deliberate rejection of its message by “those against whom God’s word [of judgment] has come true” (see verse 96) is bound to result in their spiritual doom and, consequently, in grievous suffering in the life to come.”
4. In Verses 99– 100 we encounter the two concepts ‘mashee’ah/مشيئة and ithn/إذن ’ which can never be understood fully because they relate to God and what He ‘wills’ in Himself. We can only observe and study His Signs to come close to understanding His actions, SubHaanahu. We look to the ‘Arabi tongue to come close to how our predecessors understood it, which is all we can do. But we must differentiate between these three different words rather than lump them all into the word ‘will’ and leave it at that.
These verses tell Prophet Muhammad/each of us that, had your Lord willed/implemented/shaa’/شاء ,[3] then everyone on Earth, would have attained faith and trust all together (but since He has indeed willed/implemented free choice), so how could you compel nonaccepting/tukrih/تُكرِه’[4] people to become ‘Faithful?’
Note the most eloquent words ‘kulluhum/all of them’ plus ‘jamee’an/combined,’ showing how humanity -in its entirety throughout its history- would have been unanimously faithful and trusting in God, had He so implemented.
Then we learn that it is not for each Self to attain Faith except by God’s permission/predication, His leave/ithn/إذن ’…. Here we note that Verse 99 speaks of God as Rabbuka/your Lord-Sustainer, telling the listener that it is YOUR LORD Who could have done what you are hoping to compel them to do, and God renders turmoil ‘rijs-رجس’ upon Those who do not apprehend/ comprehend.[5]
All these are distinctions help us understand better, while all we only say is الله أعلم… God knows best.
5. Verses 101–102 address listeners, as the Messenger tells them to BEHOLD what is in the Exalted Expanses and the Earth, reminding them of The Creator, warning them that whatever Signs or Warners come to them, nothing and no one would benefit them if they remained without faith.
He was also told to indicate that, if (after all they had heard) they were still waiting for what is to come (from God), then he too is one of the Waiting.
6. Verse 103 concludes most beautifully!
“Thereafter We deliver/save Our Messengers and Those Who Attained Faith: Thus is it is rightful/incumbent upon Us that We deliver/save The Faithful!” (103)
Don’t you love it that God has made it rightful/ incumbent ‘upon Himself’ to deliver the Faithful from their trials and tribulations?!
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ 10: 104-109
Peace unto all!
قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَنَا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَىٰ إِلَيَّ أَنَّمَا إِلَـٰهُكُمْ إِلَـٰهٌ وَاحِدٌ فَاسْتَقِيمُوا إِلَيْهِ وَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُشْرِكِينَ ﴿فصلت: ٦﴾
[2] Ma’Siyah/معصية is one kind of wrongdoing, which is about rejecting/refusing to follow something or someone, the word here related to a young animal that refuses to follow its mother. I find this analogy as the meaning of the root-verb quite interesting, actually!
وَالْأَصْلُ الْآخَرُ: الْعِصْيَانُ وَالْمَعْصِيَةُ. يُقَالُ: عَصَى، وَهُوَ عَاصٍ، وَالْجَمْعُ عُصَاةُ وَعَاصُونَ. وَالْعَاصِي: الْفَصِيلُ إِذَا عَصَى أُمَّهُ فِي اتِّبَاعِهَا.
[3] “لو شاء ربك” Had your Lord ‘shaa’/so implemented, appears 4 times in the Qur’an.
[4] The root-verb ‘karaha’ (variations of which appear 35 times in the Qur’an) is commonly understood to only mean ‘hate,’ but it is primarily about the nonacceptance of something, disliking it and feeling hardship because of it.
كَرِهَ: يَدُلُّ عَلَى خِلَافِ الرِّضَا وَالْمَحَبَّةِ. يُقَالُ: كَرِهْتُ الشَّيْءَ أَكْرَهُهُ كَرْهًا. وَالْكُرْهُ الِاسْمُ. وَيُقَالُ: بَلِ الْكُرْهُ: الْمَشَقَّةُ، وَالْكَرْهُ: أَنْ تُكَلَّفَ الشَّيْءَ فَتَعْمَلَهُ كَارِهًا. وَيُقَالُ مِنَ الْكُرْهِ الْكَرَاهِيَةُ وَالْكَرَاهِيَّةُ.
[5] We previously explained the root-verb ‘aqala’ to be about tying something (like tying a camel to a post). Today we shall go deeper into the meaning of ‘aqala/ عَقَلَ: ‘Aqala is about apprehending something, hence the ‘aql, the mind, which apprehends a person from averse words or deeds, and a fortress is a ‘ma’qil.’
Also, in current usage is the verb ‘itaqala/ اعتَقَل ’ meaning to apprehend or arrest, and a ‘mu’taqal’ is a prison.
In English, the difference between ‘Apprehend’ and ‘Comprehend’ is that the first is about getting hold of something mentally, so as to understand as much of it as we can, while the latter is about understanding it fully, which I think is almost impossible: We may apprehend many things but might not comprehend them.
عَقَلَ: يَدُلُّ عُظْمُهُ عَلَى حُبْسَةٍ فِي الشَّيْءِ أَوْ مَا يُقَارِبُ الْحُبْسَةَ. مِنْ ذَلِكَ الْعَقْلِ، وَهُوَ الْحَابِسُ عَنْ ذَمِيمِ الْقَوْلِ وَالْفِعْلِ…. وَمِنَ الْبَابِ الْمَعْقِلُ وَالْعَقْلُ، وَهُوَ الْحِصْنُ، وَمِنَ الْبَابِ الْعَقْلُ، وَهِيَ الدِّيَةُ. يُقَالُ: عَقَلْتُ الْقَتِيلَ أَعْقِلُهُ عَقْلًا، إِذَا أَدَّيْتُ دِيَتَهُ… وَسُمِّيَتِ الدِّيَةُ عَقْلًا لِأَنَّ الْإِبِلَ الَّتِي كَانَتْ تُؤْخَذُ فِي الدِّيَاتِ كَانَتْ تُجْمَعُ فَتُعْقَلُ بِفَنَاءِ الْمَقْتُولِ، فَسُمِّيَتِ الدِّيَةُ عَقْلًا وَإِنْ كَانَتْ دَرَاهِمَ وَدَنَانِيرَ. وَقِيلَ سُمِّيَتْ عَقْلًا لِأَنَّهَا تُمْسِكُ الدَّمَ.