Bismi Allahi arrahmani arraheem
tafseer
Its theme is to affirm the Resurrection and Hereafter and to warn the people of the consequences which will ultimately follow the denial and the affirmation of these truths.
In
the first seven verses, the system of winds has been presented as an
evidence of the truth that the Resurrection which is being foretold by
the Qur'an and the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and
blessings) must come to pass. The reasoning is that the power of
All-Mighty Allah Who established this wonderful system on the earth,
cannot be helpless in bringing about the Resurrection, and the express
wisdom which underlies this system bears full evidence that the
Hereafter must appear, for no act of an All-Wise Creator can be vain and
purposeless, and if there was no Hereafter, it would mean that the
whole of one's life was useless and absurd.
The
people of Makkah repeatedly asked, "Bring about the Resurrection with
which you threaten us; only then shall we believe in it."In vv. 8-l5,
their demand has been answered, saying:"Resurrection is no sport or fun
so that whenever a jester should ask for it, it should be brought forth
immediately. It is indeed the Day of Judgment to settle the account of
all mankind and of all its individuals. For it Allah has fixed a
specific time it will take place at its own time, and when it takes
place with all its dreads and horrors, it will confound those who are
demanding it for fun today. Then their cases will be decided only on the
evidence of those Messengers whom these deniers of the truth are
repudiating with impunity. Then they will themselves realize how they
themselves are responsible for their dooms
In
vv. 16-28 arguments have been given continuously for the occurrence and
necessity of the Resurrection and Hereafter. In these it has been
stated that man's own history, his own birth, and the structure of the
earth on which he lives, bear the testimony that the coming of
Resurrection and the establishment of the Hereafter are possible as well
as the demand of Allah Almighty's wisdom. History tells us that the
nations which denied the Hereafter ultimately became corrupted and met
with destruction. This means that the Hereafter is a truth which if
denied and contradicted by a nation by its conduct and attitude, will
cause it to meet the same doom, which is met by a blind man who bushes
headlong into an approaching train. And it also means that in the
kingdom of the universe only physical laws are not at work but a moral
law also is working in it
, under which in this very world the process of retribution is operating. But since in the present life of the world retribution is not taking place in its complete and perfect form, the moral law of the universe necessarily demands that there should come a time when it should take its full course and all those good works and evil deeds, which could not be rewarded here, or which escaped their due punishment should be fully rewarded and punished. For this it is inevitable that there should be a second life after death. If man only considers how he takes his birth in the world, his intellect, provided it is sound intellect, cannot deny that for the God Who began his creation from an insignificant sperm drop and developed him into a perfect man, it certainly possible to create the same man once again. After death the particles of man's body do not disappear but continue to exist on the same earth on which he lived his whole life. It is from the resources and treasures of this very earth that he is made and nourished and then into the same treasures of the earth he is deposited.
The
God who caused him to emerge from the treasures of the earth, in the
first instance, can also cause him to re-emerge from the same treasures
after he has been restored to them at death. If one only considers the
powers of Allah, one cannot deny that He can do this; and if one
considers the wisdom of Allah, one also cannot deny that it is certainly
the very demand of His wisdom to call man to account for the right and
wrong use of the powers that He has granted him on the earth; it would
rather be against wisdom to let him off without rendering an account.
Then,
in vv. 28-40, the fate of the deniers of the Hereafter has been
depicted, and in vv. 41-45 of those who affirming faith in it in their
worldly life, endeavored to improve their Hereafter, and abstained from
the evils of disbelief and thought, morality and deed, conduct and
character which might be helpful in man's worldly life, but are
certainly ruinous for his life hereafter.
In
the end, the deniers of the Hereafter and those who turn away from
God-worship, have been warned as if to say: "Enjoy your short-lived
worldly pleasure as you may, but your end will ultimately be
disastrous." The discourse concludes with the assertion that the one who
fails to obtain guidance from Book like the Qur'an, can have no ether
source in the world to afford him Guidance.
1That
is, sometimes the failure of winds causes the people to be alarmed at
the prospect of a famine, and they turn to Allah to repent of their
sins: sometimes they bring a lot of rain and the people turn to Allah in
gratitude; and sometimes their blowing violently causes dread in the
hearts and the people turn to Allah from fear of destruction.
In
these verses initially the order of rain-bringing winds has been
stated, which is thus: first, winds start blowing in succession; then
they assume the proportions of a storm; then they raise the clouds and
spread them; then they split and separate them. After this, instead of
making mention of the rainfall, it is said that the winds infuse the
hearts with the remembrance of Allah, as an excuse or as a warning. That
is, it is an occasion when either because of fear man is compelled to
remember Allah, or else he confesses his errors and invokes Allah to
protect and save him from ruin and bless him with rain. If it has not
rained for a long time, and the people are thirsty for rain, even the
most hardened disbeliever sometimes begins to remember God when he. sees
the winds blowing and the clouds advancing. The drought's being mild
and severe makes the difference.
In case the drought is mild, the common man who is not far from Allah, will remember Him, but others will offer scientific explanations, saying that there was no cause for anxiety: it did not rain because of such and such a cause and it would be weak-mindedness to start praying to God on such an ordinary thing. However, if the drought is unusually prolonged, and the whole country is faced with a calamitous situation, even the confirmed disbelievers begin to remember God. If they feel shy to use their tongue, in their hearts they feel penitent on their wrongdoing and ingratitude and pray to God to cause rain throughout the country from the winds which are raising the clouds. This is infusion of God's remembrance in the hearts as an excuse. As for its infusion as a warning, it happens when the wind develops into a cyclone and destroys settlement after settlement or it rains so heavily as to cause a deluge,
In
such a state even a confirmed atheist starts imploring God out of awe
for Him, and then all scientific explanations of the cyclone or deluge
evaporate from his mind. Thus, after describing the blowing of winds in
their succession to say that they infuse the hearts with Allah's
remembrance as an excuse or as a warning, is meant to impress the truth
that the system working in the world keeps on reminding man that
everything on the earth has not been placed under his control but there
is a Supreme Power above him, which rules his destiny. That Power is so
supreme and mighty that it can use the elements for the sustenance and
nourishment of man when it so wills and can use the same elements for
his destruction when it so wills.
After
this the same system of winds has been proffered as an argument to
prove that the Resurrection which is being promised to man, must come to
pass. Now, let us see how this system testifies to this truth.
Man
generally is perplexed in the case of Resurrection and the Hereafter at
two questions. First: is the occurrence of Resurrection possible?
Second: what is its need and necessity? And then being perplexed at
these questions, he starts entertaining doubts whether it will at all
occur or not, or whether it was only a figment of the imagination. In
this connection, the Qur'an has at some places reasoned out and proved
its possibility, its necessity and occurrence from the system of the
universe, and at others adopted another mode of reasoning: oaths have
been sworn by some of the countless signs of God's Kingdom and it has
been asserted that it shall surely come to pass. This mode of reasoning
contains arguments for its possibility as well as arguments for its
necessity and arguments for its occurrence.
Here,
adopting the same mode of reasoning only the system of the circulation
of winds and rainfall has been presented as a sign of the truth that it
is a regular system, which has been established by the design of an
All-Wise, All-Mighty Sovereign; it is not a chance occurrence, as a
result of which a system might have been generated in the atmosphere of
the earth that vapors should arise from the seas, winds should carry
them and gather them into clouds, then split and separate them into
pieces and transport them to different parts of the earth and then
should cause them to fall as rain. This system has not been devised
accidentally by some blind and deaf Nature, but it is a well-considered
and well-designed plan, which is functioning regularly according to a
law
.
That is why it never so happens that the heat of the sun should produce
ice on the surface of the sea instead of vapors, but the sun always
raises only vapors from the sea. It never so happens that the monsoons
should blow in the reverse order and suppress vapors into the sea but
they always raise them up into the atmosphere. It never so happens that
the formation of clouds should cease, or the winds should stop to carry
them to dry lands or the falling of rain on the earth should
discontinue. The same law has been at work since millions and millions
of years under which this system is functioning. Had it not been so our
coming into existence on the earth and survival here would not be
possible.
In
this system one fords a clear purpose and the working of regular law.
One can clearly see that on the earth the life of man, animal and
vegetation deeply relates to the winds and rainfall, and this
arrangement testifies that water has been provided to bring animate life
into existence and keep it alive precisely according to their
requirements and a law. This purpose and regularity is not found only in
this aspect but in the entire system of the universe, and man's whole
scientific progress is based on it. About every thing man tries to find
out what is its purpose and on what principle it works Then as he goes
on gaining insight into the purposes of the creation of different things
and the principles on which they work, he goes on devising new and ever
new methods of their use and making new inventions for the progress of
his civilization. Had there been no such concept in the mind of man
naturally that the world is a meaningful world and everything in it is
working on a principle, he would never have entertained the question
about anything as to what was its purpose and how it could be put to
use.
Now,
when this world and everything in it has meaning, and if there is a law
working in this world and in everything it contains, and if it has been
functioning with the same purpose and regularity since millions and
millions of years, then a stubborn person only could refuse to accept
that an all-knowing, All-Mighty God has made it, and about that God it
would be foolish to assume that although He could make and cause it to
function but cannot break it, and after breaking it, cannot reconstruct
it in any other form if He so wills, The concept about matter that it is
imperishable was the chief support of the ignorant atheist of the past,
but the progress of knowledge has proved it also false. Now it is an
acknowledged scientific fact that matter can change into energy and
energy into matter. Therefore, it is perfectly according to knowledge
and reason that this material world will last only as long as the Living
and Eternal God sustains it. As soon as He wills to change it into
energy, He can change it by a simple Command and His one Command is
enough to re-create it into any other material form and shape He wills.
This
much then about the possibility of the Resurrection, which cannot now
be rejected by any scientific and rational argument. As for the question
that it must take place so that man is rewarded for his good works and
punished for his evil deeds, the person who acknowledges man's moral
responsibility and also believes that rewarding the good services and
punishing the crimes is the necessary demand of this moral
responsibility, cannot but admit that there must be the Hereafter. There
is no law or government in the world, which can punish every crime and
reward every good act. To say that the prick of the conscience is a
sufficient punishment for the culprit and the satisfaction of the
conscience is sufficient reward for the doer of good is no more than
meaningless philosophizing.
The
question is: How and when did the conscience of the person who killed
an innocent man and then himself died in an accident immediately after
it reprove him? And when did the conscience of the man who went to fight
for the sake of truth and justice and fell a victim to a bomb blast
suddenly, have the satisfaction that he had laid down his life for a
good cause? Thus, the truth is that the pretenses invented to avoid the
belief in the Hereafter are all meaningless. Man's intellect wants, his
nature requires, that there should be justice, but in the present life
of the world it is not possible to have full and perfect justice.
Justice can be had only in the Hereafter and only under the judgment and
command of the All-Knowing, Omnipotent God. Denial of the necessity of
the Hereafter is, in fact, denial of the necessity of justice.
Intellect
can go only so far as to convince man that the Hereafter is possible
and it should come about. As for the truth that it will surely come
about, the "knowledge" of it can be obtained only through Revelation,
and Revelation has given us the news that "that which you are being
promised must happen". We cannot attain this knowledge by intellectual
reasoning; however, we can attain the certainty of its being true on the
basis that the thing of which we are being informed by Revelation is
both possible and necessary.
2Another meaning can be; "That which you are being threatened with," i. e. the Resurrection and Hereafter.
3Here an oath has been sworn by five things on the inevitability of the Resurrection:
(1) "Those which are sent forth in succession, or for a good cause;"
(2) "those which blow violently and tempestuously
(3) "those which disperse and scatter;"
(4) "those which split and separate;" and
(5)
"those which inspire the remembrance." As these words only describe the
characteristics and it has not been specified what thing or things they
qualify, this has given rise to a difference of opinion among the
commentators as to whether these are the qualities of one particular
thing or of different things and what the thing or things are. One group
of them says that all the five qualify the winds; the second group says
that all the five imply the angels; the third group says that the first
three imply the winds and the remaining two the angels; the fourth says
that the first two imply the winds and the other three the angels;
another group has opined that the first quality implies the angels of
mercy, the second the angels of punishment and the remaining three imply
the verses of the Qur'an.
In
our opinion, the first thing worthy of consideration is that when five
characteristic have been mentioned continuously in one and the same
context and there is no indication to show as to what has been qualified
up to a certain point and where from has the qualification of another
thing begun, it cannot be correct, on the basis of a baseless
conjecture, to understand that in these verses oaths have been sworn by
two or three different things. Rather in this case the continuity of the
subject by itself requires that the whole passage be regarded as
related to the characteristics of one and the same thing. Secondly,
wherever in the Qur'an an oath bas been sworn by a certain thing or,
things
in order to convince the doubters or deniers of an unseen truth, there
the oath stands for an argument or reasoning which is meant to tell that
the thing or things point to the truth's being right and correct. For
this purpose obviously it cannot be correct to present one imperceptible
thing as an argument for another imperceptible thing; for, only a
perceptible thing can be presented as an argument for an imperceptible
thing. Hence in our opinion the correct explanation is that it implies
the winds and the explanation of the people who interpret the five
things to mean the angels cannot; be acceptable, for the angels are as
imperceptible as is the occurrence of the Resurrection.
Now,
let us consider as to how these different states of winds point to the
occurrence of the Resurrection. One of the most important factor which
has made animal and vegetable life possible on the earth is the air. The
relationship its qualities bear with every kind of life testify that
there is an all-powerful, All-Wise Creator, Who willed to create life on
this earth and for this purpose created here a thing whose qualities
exactly and precisely correspond to the requirements of the existence of
living beings. Then, He did not only wrap up the earth in the air and
left it alone, but by His power and wisdom characterized this air with
countless different states, which are being regulated since millions and
millions of years in such a way that they cause the change of seasons
and weather sometimes it is close and sometimes a soft breeze blows
sometimes it is hot and sometimes cold; sometimes it brings clouds and
sometimes it drives away clouds; sometimes it causes pleasant gusts to
blow and sometimes disastrous windstorms; sometimes it brings beneficial
rains and sometimes there is drought; in short, there are different
'kinds of winds which blow in their own time, and every kind serves one
or the other purpose
.
This arrangement is the proof of a dominant Power, for which neither it
can be impossible to bring life into existence, nor to obliterate it,
nor to re-create it after having annihilated it. Likewise, this
arrangement is also a proof of a supreme wisdom about which only a
foolish man could think that all this was being done for fun, without
any higher object in view. As against this wonderful system man is so
helpless that he can neither cause a favorable wind to blow for himself,
nor can prevent a disastrous cyclone from blowing on himself. However
shameless, obstinate and stubborn he may be, the wind does at one time
or another remind him that a Mighty Sovereign is ruling over him, Who
can turn this principal means of his life into a cause of blessing for
him or into a cause of ruin for him whenever He so likes, and man does
not have the power to prevent or avert any of His decisions. (For
further explanation, see E.N. 7 of Al-Jathiyah, E.N.'s 1 to 4 of
Adh-Dhariyat).
- Transliteration: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
- Wal mursalaati'urfaa
- Fal'aasifaati 'asfaa
- Wannaashiraati nashraa
- Falfaariqaati farqaa
- Falmulqiyaati zikra
- 'Uzran aw nuzraa
- Innamaa too'adoona lawaaqi'
- Fa izam nujoomu tumisat
- Wa izas samaaa'u furijat
- Wa izal jibaalu nusifat
- Wa izar Rusulu uqqitat
- Li ayyi yawmin ujjilat
- Li yawmil Fasl
- Wa maaa adraaka maa yawmul fasl
- Wailuny yawma 'izillilmukazzibeen
- Alam nuhlikil awwaleen
- Summa nutbi'uhumul aakhireen
- Kazzalika naf'alu bilmujrimeen
- Wailunw yawma 'izil lil mukazzibeen
- Alam nakhlukkum mimmaaa'im maheen
- Faja'alnaahu fee qaraarim makeen
- Illaa qadrim ma'loom
- Faqadarnaa fani'mal qaadiroon
- Wailuny yawma 'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Alam naj'alil arda kifaataa
- Ahyaaa'anw wa amwaataa
- Wa ja'alnaa feehaa rawaasiya shaamikhaatinw wa asqainaakum maaa'an furaataa
- Wailuny yawma 'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Intaliqooo ilaa maa kuntum bihee tukazziboon
- Intaliqooo ilaa zillin zee salaasi shu'ab
- Laa zaleelinw wa laa yughnee minal lahab
- Innahaa tarmee bishararin kalqasr
- Ka annahoo jimaalatun sufr
- Wailuny yawma 'izil lilmukazibeen
- Haazaa yawmu laa yantiqoon
- Wa laa yu'zanu lahum fa ya'taziroon
- Wailunw yawma 'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Haaza yawmul fasli jama 'naakum wal awwaleen
- Fa in kaana lakum kaidun fakeedoon
- Wailuny yawma'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Innal muttaqeena fee zilaalinw wa 'uyoon
- Wa fawaakiha mimmaa yashtahoon
- Kuloo washraboo haneee 'am bimaa kuntum ta'maloon
- Innaa kazaalika najzil muhsineen
- Wailuny yawma 'izil lilmuzkazzibeen
- Kuloo wa tamatta'oo qaleelan innakum mujrimoon
- Wailunny yawma 'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Wa izaa qeela lahumur ka'oo laa yarka'oon
- Wailunny yawma 'izil lilmukazzibeen
- Fabi ayyi hadeesim ba'dahoo yu'minoon (End Juz 29)
- Transliteration: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
- By the (Winds) sent forth one after another (to man´s profit);
- Which then blow violently in tempestuous Gusts,
- And scatter (things) far and wide;
- Then separate them, one from another,
- Then spread abroad a Message,
- Whether of Justification or of Warning;-
- Assuredly, what ye are promised must come to pass.
- Then when the stars become dim;
- When the heaven is cleft asunder;
- When the mountains are scattered (to the winds) as dust;
- And when the messengers are (all) appointed a time (to collect);-
- For what Day are these (portents) deferred?
- For the Day of Sorting out.
- And what will explain to thee what is the Day of Sorting out?
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- Did We not destroy the men of old (for their evil)?
- So shall We make later (generations) follow them.
- Thus do We deal with men of sin.
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- Have We not created you from a fluid (held) despicable?-
- The which We placed in a place of rest, firmly fixed,
- For a period (of gestation), determined (according to need)?
- For We do determine (according to need); for We are the best to determine (things).
- Ah woe, that Day! to the Rejecters of Truth!
- Have We not made the earth (as a place) to draw together.
- The living and the dead,
- And made therein mountains standing firm, lofty (in stature); and provided for you water sweet (and wholesome)?
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- (It will be said:) "Depart ye to that which ye used to reject as false!
- "Depart ye to a Shadow (of smoke ascending) in three columns,
- "(Which yields) no shade of coolness, and is of no use against the fierce Blaze.
- "Indeed it throws about sparks (huge) as Forts,
- "As if there were (a string of) yellow camels (marching swiftly)."
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- That will be a Day when they shall not be able to speak.
- Nor will it be open to them to put forth pleas.
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- That will be a Day of Sorting out! We shall gather you together and those before (you)!
- Now, if ye have a trick (or plot), use it against Me!
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- As to the Righteous, they shall be amidst (cool) shades and springs (of water).
- And (they shall have) fruits,- all they desire.
- "Eat ye and drink ye to your heart´s content: for that ye worked (Righteousness).
- Thus do We certainly reward the Doers of Good.
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- (O ye unjust!) Eat ye and enjoy yourselves (but) a little while, for that ye are Sinners.
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- And when it is said to them, "Prostrate yourselves!" they do not so.
- Ah woe, that Day, to the Rejecters of Truth!
- Then what Message, after that, will they believe in?
- Transliteration: Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim.
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