Welcome Friends: Ahlan wa sahlan!
Yusuf Ali’s Translation of this Chapter
Muhammad Asad’s Translation of this Chapter
COMMENTS:
1. Verses 17-18 relate to the decisive Battle of Badr and God’s promise to the Messenger and his companions that He shall make feeble the plans and stratagem of the Deniers’ (we spoke earlier of ‘kayd/كيد’; here God promises to enfeeble/weaken the Deniers’ handling of affairs); well-explained by both Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad.
Some might be familiar with the statement: “….. and it was not you who threw when you did throw, but rather it was God who threw…/… wa ma rameyta ith rameyta walaakin Allaha ramaa../ ….وَمَا رَمَيْتَ إِذْ رَمَيْتَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ رَمَى…. ” You might have heard people say this when speaking of a tactic someone did which ended up being highly efficient, having ‘miraculous’ results. They’ll be referring to a Seerah (Prophet’s Biography) account of what the Prophet ﷺ did at Badr.
Did you notice Asad’s take on this? He rarely prescribes to the supernatural.
I like using both explanations of Yusuf Ali and Muhammad Asad combined with deep linguistic research so as to get as rounded as possible an understanding, keeping in mind that the Message itself is miraculous indeed, and its Messenger would have been aided in ways we would never comprehend!
Verse 19 is understood as a warning addressed to Qureish; explained as such by both Ali and Asad.
2. In today’s Reading we encounter the address, ‘O You Who Have Attained Faith..!’ four times, and we listen carefully each time since we do (hopefully) consider ourselves among them!
In Verse 20-21, Those Who Attained Faith are told to obey God and His Messenger, and not to turn away even as they hear him. They are told NOT to be like those who said that they heard, when in fact they did not; Asad says this is both general and specific, it does refer to certain people who heard God’s commands yet disobeyed.
3. Verse 22 tells us that the worst of creatures that crawl/walk the earth are those who are virtually ‘deaf and dumb’ due to their not securing knowledge! We’ve already encountered that concept several times (HQ 2:18; 2:171). Read below HQ 6:39 in Ali’s interpretation- with his commentary regarding man’s stubborn refusal to listen:
Those who reject our signs are deaf and dumb,- in the midst of darkness profound: whom God willeth, He leaveth to wander: whom He willeth, He placeth on the way that is straight (HQ 6:39).
It is interesting to note that, as humans we are free, both to listen to sound advice, and to follow through. Following through IS the crucial part. Following through is proof that we have fully UNDERSTOOD what is best for us. Verse 23 tells us that, even if God had made them hear, they would still have turned away in refusal!
4. On that basis, the basis of human FREEDOM to listen to advice and to follow through, Verse 24 calls on Those Who Attained Faith once again, telling them/us very clearly (all in plural), to respond to God and the Messenger when invited to THAT WHICH GIVES US LIFE.
‘That which gives us life’ is this Qur’an, the Message of the Creator and Sustainer of Life.
O you Who have Attained Faith! Respond to God and to the Messenger when He/he calls you to that which gives you life; and know/ realize that God intervenes[1] between a person and his heart/mind, and that unto Him you shall be gathered.
Notice the cautionary words that precede and highlight the crucial information which follows ‘…and know/ realize (mark it out) that…’ –واعلموا-/wa’عlamoo.
The Qur’an is drawing our attention to the fact that, when we first hear and understand the admonition, THAT is the time to follow through. If we don’t, our hearts/minds are in danger of hardening with time. Some hearts/minds who are unwilling to listen, to believe, or even to know/ remark will end up ‘sealing themselves,’ as in HQ 7:101; 10:74; 30:59. Asad explained this earlier. They will neither be open to Life in this world, nor will they enjoy it in the Hereafter.
A Cognizant Human’s best life is not mere existence and attaining physical desires! A Cognizant Human’s best life is attained by fulfilling oneself on ALL levels, achieving the higher potential that gratifies us physically, spiritually, mentally, benefits our society, AND is carried through to our everlasting Life. Without first opening our hearts/minds to receive the direction contained in this Message, we cannot even begin to live our best Life!
Readers should remember this verse; it is very important:
‘That which gives us life’ is this Qur’an, the Message of the RaHmaan, sent to benefit the Inssaan!
Dear Reader:
Before we decide we are not among those who do not listen: ‘This is NOT me!’ let us reflect on what the Qur’an tells us, that we may have so far ignored or understood differently. Our forefathers gave us their outlook on Life and matters of faith, and we grew up, dismissing parts of that outlook and adopting parts. Now we discover for the first time what the Qur’an truly says. How ready are we to let go of what we have become accustomed to? How ready are we to leave what is indeed our ‘comfort zone?’[2]
Some say the last section of the verse shows us how close to us God is- He is in between a person and his own heart/ mind, similar to Q50:16 where He is closer to us than our jugular vein.
5. Verse 25 tells us to be aware of a Fitnah/trial by fire, defined on Blog Post Day 15 as general hardship which could befall us all, brought about by the misdeeds of a few (and its warning rings so true today, as the entire world still suffers from the greed of such persons!):
“And beware a Trial by Fire which indeed affects not in particular those amongst you who committed wrongdoing: and know/realize/ mark out (through the evidence you see) that God is severe in meting out consequence.”
6. Verses 26-28 are well explained by both Ali and Asad. Verse 28 is an eye-opener to those of us who have a one-sided view of our assets in life… according to Asad:
“..and know that your worldly goods and your children are but a trial and a temptation, and that with God there is a tremendous reward.”
See Asad’s commentary as well.
7. Verse 29 highlights the value of being Aware of God: He will render for us a CRITERION by which we can clearly discern or differentiate (put فرقان in Tanzil), and cover for us/compensate /yukaffir our misdeeds (against others) and forgive us, and God is limitless in his Great Bounty.
7. Verses 30-32 are well-explained by both Ali and Asad.
Note that in verse 32 the Deniers addressed God sarcastically saying, ‘Allahumma-اللهم.’ According to Asad:
“And, lo, they would say, “O God! If this be indeed the truth from Thee, then rain down upon us stones from the skies, or inflict [some other] grievous suffering on us!”
They did NOT acknowledge Him as their Lord-Sustainer, hence there is no mention of ‘Rabbana-ربنا’ here.
It is important to know that, in the entire Qur’an, whenever anyone beseeches God, asking Him for something, the address is ‘my/our Lord-Sustainer!’ However, we do find that He might be addressed by His name alone in praise, as in (HQ 3:26; 10:10; 39:46).
Why is that?
When we need something of Him, we call unto Him BY OUR RELATIONSHIP TO HIM (this comes naturally in times of need, as in calling one’s sister ‘Sis,’ or mother ‘Mama,’ rather than using her proper name).
Nowhere in the Qur’an does anyone call unto God solely by His proper name ‘Allah’ or ‘Allahumma’ …. except here, in sarcasm.
Put اللهم in Tanzil– you’ll notice that Jesus, peace upon him, when beseeching God for the Repast/Table-Spread, used BOTH together: “O Allah, Our Lord-Sustainer!’
See Blog Post Day 64 Posting March 19th.
Enough said!
Our next Reading is from HQ 8: 33-44.
Peace unto all!
[1]الطبري: “قال آخرون: معنى ذلك أنه قريب من قلبه لا يخفـى علـيه شيء أظهره أو أسرّه. ذكر من قال ذلك: حدثنا مـحمد بن عبد الأعلـى، قال: ثنا مـحمد بن ثور، قال: ثنا معمر، عن قتادة، فـي قوله: { يَحُولُ بـينَ الـمَرْءِ وَقَلْبِهِ } قال: هي كقوله أقْرَبُ إلَـيْهِ مِنْ حَبْلِ الوَرِيدِ.”
“حَوَلَ: تَحَرُّكٌ فِي دَوْرٍ. فَالْحَوْلُ الْعَامُ، وَذَلِكَ أَنَّهُ يَحُولُ، أَيْ يَدُورُ. وَيُقَالُ حَالَتِ الدَّارُ وَأَحَالَتْ وَأَحْوَلَتْ: أَتَى عَلَيْهَا الْحَوْلُ. وَأَحْوَلْتُ أَنَا بِالْمَكَانِ وَأَحَلْتُ، أَيْ أَقَمْتُ بِهِ حَوْلًا. يُقَالُ حَالَ الرَّجُلُ فِي مَتْنِ فَرَسِهِ يَحُولُ حَوْلًا وَحُؤُولًا، إِذَا وَثَبَ عَلَيْهِ، وَأَحَالَ أَيْضًا. وَحَالَ الشَّخْصُ يَحُولُ، إِذَا تَحَرَّكَ، وَكَذَلِكَ كُلُّ مُتَحَوِّلٍ عَنْ حَالَةٍ. ..وَالْحِيلَةُ وَالْحَوِيلُ وَالْمُحَاوَلَةُ مِنْ طَرِيقٍ وَاحِدٍ، وَهُوَ الْقِيَاسُ الَّذِي ذَكَرْنَاهُ; لِأَنَّهُ يَدُورُ حَوَالَيِ الشَّيْءِ لِيُدْرِكَهُ.”
[2] A point brought up by one of our dear Sisters, from ‘The Undiscovered Self’ by Carl Jung.
‘Most people confuse “self-knowledge” with knowledge of their conscious ego personalities. Anyone who has ego-consciousness at all takes it for granted that he knows himself. But the ego knows only its own contents, not the unconscious and its contents. People measure their self-knowledge by what the average person in their social environment knows of himself, but not by the real psychic facts which are for the most part hidden from them. In this respect the psyche behaves like the body with its physiological and anatomical structure, of which the average person knows very little too. Although he lives in it and with it, most of it is totally unknown to the layman, and special scientific knowledge is needed to acquaint consciousness with what is known of the body, not to speak of all that is not known, which also exists.
What is commonly called “self-knowledge” is therefore a very limited knowledge, most of it dependent on social factors, of what goes on in the human psyche. Hence one is always coming up against the prejudice that such and such a thing does not happen “with us” or “in our family” or among our friends and acquaintances, and on the other hand, one meets with equally illusory assumptions about the alleged presence of qualities which merely serve to cover up the true facts of the case.’