Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Yusuf Ali’s Translation of this Chapter.
Muhammad Asad’s Translation of this Chapter.
COMMENTS:
1. Verse 11 shows us the value of time and the reason behind delaying the full consequence to our actions; we are given ample time throughout life to learn from our mistakes, to rethink our decisions, and to make amends. But time flies! The less time we have remaining for us to live, the less the chance that we can adjust ourselves to the right course. This is why it is so important for us to find our way sooner, rather than later, in life.
No regret will ever burn more deeply than the regret of a Chance wasted, and a Time lost.
Regret is what suffering in the afterlife is all about (Q.25:27)!
Notice that this verse (similar to Verse 7) speaks of those who do not aspire to meeting God.
2. Verse 12 shows us extravagant Human Nature; when people are touched by hardship they call urgently upon God, wherever they are and in whichever position they may find themselves. When hardship is cleared, they pass by as if no hardship had ever touched them. This is typical in extravagant people who not only feel entitled, but also feel that whatever they choose to do is the best choice; in other words: Their deeds are ‘embellished’ for them, as the Qur’an says!
Here we are reminded of what we had discussed on Blog Post Day 65.
“How wonderful is it, that (as a search through the entire Qur’an will show) God never harms, hurts, or distresses us: The words يضركم– are never mentioned, but rather He ‘touches us with…”
Verse 13 reminds us of this being a Meccan Surah/Chapter; Qureish/listeners are told here about earlier populations who did not have Faith and Trust in the clear messages delivered by their Messengers. The verse ends on a note of warning to the ‘Mujrimeen.’[1] Those literally ‘cut off’ by their criminal acts. Here they’ve cut themselves off from Islam itself (in HQ68:35 ‘Mujrim’ stands in opposition to ‘Muslim’)!
3. Verse 14 tells Qureish/listeners that they are the ‘successors’ on earth to departed populations, and it is their turn to prove themselves.
Here we note the term ‘khala’ef’ on earth (literally in the earth)- خلائف في الأرض and a little research (خليفة – خلفاء –خلائف) will show us clearly that human ‘succession’ is always about us succeeding the earth or each other – never succeeding God:[2]
The Qur’an NEVER mentions anyone as successor or vicegerent to God because a ‘khaleefah/successor’ is one who arrives after the departure of a predecessor:[3]
God is omnipresent and is not to be succeeded!!
We now know the importance of words, and what happens when they are misapplied. This matter should not be taken lightly, no matter which scholar we may be quoting; we can always guard our own tongues.
Let us think before we say that something is ‘just figurative’ or that it is alright because so-and-so said it, especially when it is about God.
Let us ask ourselves: Do we want to fall into the category of people who do not give God His rightful esteem/qadr?
Nevertheless, we should see ourselves as cultivators, tending the earth and protecting all upon it -taking care of our larger global family just as we would our own. Words being of paramount importance, when we do so, would not call ourselves by any attributes indicating succession to God but rather, we’d use a word indicating caretaking and guardianship: We’d say we are ‘Ru3aat/رعاة’ as in the Hadeeth.[4]
4. In Verses 15 and 16 the Messenger is commanded to ‘Say….’ responding to those who ‘do not anticipate meeting God.’
Verse 15 mentions two of their irrational demands, bringing them another Qur’an or changing it.
Even though they made those demands without any intention of ever conceding -even if these demands were met- the Messenger was commanded to respond to them by stating that he was following what was revealed to him, peace upon him, and that he would not disobey his Lord, fearing the ‘suffering of a great day’ which also serves as an indirect warning to them.
This is similar to 6:15; 39:13 where our beloved Messenger mentions HIS fear. God knows best, but both his sense of responsibility and his humility come to the fore in these instances, peace upon him.
Verse 16 presents them with an even more detailed argument, and reminds them of the upright life he had led in their midst (he became a Messenger when he was 40 years of age). The end of the verse asks them how is it that they do not reason (3aqala: Use one’s mind to secure knowledge).
5. Verse 17 in Ali’s translation is a little better because I don’t agree with Asad’s ‘happy state.’ Note the ‘interactive’ question and remember what we said earlier; a question always gets its response, silent or otherwise!
The theme of belying God’s signs is a recurrent one (see here).
Verse 18 is clearer in Ali’s explanation.
Qureish believed in an omnipotent God, but they also believed in the intercession/‘shafaa3ah’ of their idols, as do most people who venerate anyone besides God. Even today, intercession is very important to some who might -unknowingly- seem more reliant upon intercession than upon God’s Mercy in His accepting our sound hearts and good deeds, but as we saw, it is a natural human trait to want someone to petition on one’s behalf.
Make sure to read Asad’s comments, where he speaks of “God’s symbolic grant of permission to His prophets to ‘intercede’ for their followers on the Day of Judgment.”
As we said earlier on Day 105, intercession is a matter of ‘gheyb,’ mentioned several times in the Qur’an mostly to say that there is no intercessor, and when there might be, it is with God’s authorization. Since God in His Mercy is The One Who authorizes it, then it is an honorary intercession granted to someone held in high honor. To the followers of our beloved Prophet Muhammad, peace upon him, that honor is his.
Notice how the verse ends by questioning Qureish whether it is they who are informing God – what He does not know, and then saying they are committing ‘shirk’ by thinking that their idols or will intercede.
6. Verse 19 should be read with its commentary. Another verse which speaks of people once being of one mind before they differed is HQ 2:213. Here we should return the word ‘ummah’ to its definition and understand it to be referring to ‘umm,’ one’s preceding ‘original’ state.[5]
In Verse 20 Qureish asks the Messenger for a sign from ‘his Lord,’ by which they meant sign or ‘miracle’ from the unseen. The response he is told to give them is most eloquent, in that the Unseen/Gheyb pertains to God Alone, and that they could wait for a sign from God if they so wished, and he would wait with them. This was a warning to them in that such a sign -when it arrives- would not be to their advantage seeing that they didn’t have faith in God to start with.
7. Verse 21 begins with a general statement indicating that people who taste mercy (and ease) after their erstwhile distress has passed tend to distort and misconstrue the truths they had witnessed, truths which were at the time ‘God’s signs’ to them. The expression is ‘they have ‘makr’ in our Signs.’[6]
We all know this to be true: How many times were we in the middle of a distressing situation that teaches us a valuable lesson, only to rethink the issue and justify for ourselves when the difficulty had passed?
The verse goes on to say that God is swifter in construing (than they could ever be in misconstruing); His (angelic) Messengers are compiling against them a record of everything they had misconstrued.
Another word for ‘makr’ is to devise. We should not ask “How does God construe or devise?” as that is Gheyb, and we can only repeat what He says WITHOUT ELABORATION. We try to understand what the Qur’an tells us about God in general, leaving the specifics to Him. But as Lexicons tell us, ‘makr’ is of two kinds, the positive and the negative, and is related to what people misconstrue/devise of Falsehood, versus what God construes/devises of Truths.
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ 10: 22-33.
Peace unto all!
[1] The root verb ‘jarama’ always appears in the Qur’an in a highly negative context; the root-verb ‘jarama’ denoting something which is cut,[1] or has dropped like flawed fruit off the tree!
[2] May God forgive us for any familiar words we might have said or arguments we might have repeated that deviated from His Word which is Al-Haqq. May we always beware of shirk, whether in words or deeds.
[3] In condolences we say to the bereaved: You are the best ‘khalaf’ to the best ‘salaf’ (the deceased).
[4] The Prophet ﷺ is reported to have said:
“Each of you is a caretaker/guardian and is responsible for his dependents. The leader of people is a guardian and is responsible for his subjects. A man is the guardian of his family and is responsible for them. A woman is the ardian of her marital home and children and is responsible for them. The servant is guardian of the property of his master and is responsible for it. Surely, every one of you is a guardian and is responsible for his dependents.” [Sahih Bukhari 6719, Sahih Muslim 1829] Narrated by Abdullah ibn Umar.
عن عبد الله بن عمر رضي الله عنهما عن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم قال: {أَلَا كُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ، وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، فَالْأَمِيرُ الَّذِي عَلَى النَّاسِ رَاعٍ، وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ، وَالرَّجُلُ رَاعٍ عَلَى أَهْلِ بَيْتِهِ، وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُمْ، وَالْمَرْأَةُ رَاعِيَةٌ عَلَى بَيْتِ بَعْلِهَا وَوَلَدِهِ، وَهِيَ مَسْئُولَةٌ عَنْهُمْ، وَالْعَبْدُ رَاعٍ عَلَى مَالِ سَيِّدِهِ وَهُوَ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْهُ، أَلَا فَكُلُّكُمْ رَاعٍ، وَكُلُّكُمْ مَسْئُولٌ عَنْ رَعِيَّتِهِ} (متفق عليه).
رابط المادة: http://iswy.co/e28u40
[5] أمّ: أصلٌ واحدٌ، يتفرّع منه أربع أبواب، وهي الأصل، والمرجِع، والجماعة، والدِّين..
قال الخليل: كلُّ شيءٍ يُضّمُّ إليه ما سواه مما يليه فإنّ العربَ تسمّي ذلك الشيءَ أُمّاً. ومن ذلك أُمُّ الرأس وهو الدّماغ. وأُمُّ القرى: مكّة؛ وكلُّ مدينةٍ هي أمُّ ما حولها من القُرى.. قال الخليل: الأمَّة: الدِّين، قال الله تعالى: {إنّا وَجَدْنا آبَاءَنَا عَلَى أُمَّةٍ} [الزخرف 22.. فأمّا قولـه تعالى: {كانَ النّاسُ أمّةً واحِدَةً} [البقرة 213]، فقيل كانوا كفّاراً فبعثَ اللهُ النبيّين مبشّرين ومنذرين. وقيل: بل كان جميعُ مَنْ مع نوحٍ عليه السلام في السفينة مؤمناً ثمّ تفرقوا. وقيل: {إنَّ إبراهيمَ كانَ أُمَّةً} [النحل 120]، أي إماماً يُهتدَى به، وهو سبب الاجتماع. م…..قال الخليل: الأمَم: القصد. ..وقال الله تعالى: {ولاَ آمِّينَ البَيْتَ الحَرَامَ} [المائدة 2]، جمع آمٍّ يؤمُّون بيتَ الله أي يقصدونه. قال الخليل: التيمُّم يجري مجرى التوخّي، يقال له تيمّمْ أمراً حسَناً وتيمّموا أطيب ما عندكم تَصدّقُوا به([82]). والتيمُّم بالصَّعيد من هذا المعنى، أي توخَّوْا أَطيبَه وأَنظَفَه وتعمّدوه. فصار التيمُّم في أفواه العامة فعلاً للتمسُّح بالصعيد، حتى يقولوا قد تَيمَّم فلان بالتُّراب. وقال الله تعالى: {فَتيَمَّمُوا صَعِيداً طَيِّباً} [النساء 43، المائدة 6]، أي تعمَّدوا.
[6] المكر: صرف الغير عما يقصده بحيلة، وذلك ضربان: مكر محمود، وذلك أن يتحرى بذلك فعل جميل، وعلى ذلك قال: }والله خير الماكرين{ [آل عمران/54]. ومذموم، وهو أن يتحرى به فعل قبيح، قال تعالى: }ولا يحيق المكر السيء إلا بأهله{ [فاطر/43]، }وإذ يمكر بك الذين كفروا{ [الأنفال/ 30]، }فانظر كيف كان عاقبة مكرهم{[النمل/51]. وقال في الأمرين: }ومكروا مكرا ومكرنا مكرا{ [النمل/50] وقال بعضهم: من مكر الله إمهال العبد وتمكينه من أعراض الدنيا، ولذلك قال أمير المؤمنين رضي الله عنه: من وسع عليه دنياه ولم يعلم أنه مكر به فهو مخدوع عن عقله (انظر: البصائر 4/516؛ وتفسير الراغب ورقة 139).