| This Surah (Revealed) Meccan, except for verses 10,15 and 35, which are Medinese; it consists of 34 or
35 verses.(Al-Ahqâf)
|
| بِسْم ِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ | |
|
Tafseer
Hā mīm: God knows best what He means by these [letters].
|
|
Tafseer
The revelation of the Book, the Qurâān (tanzīluâl-kitābi, the subject) is from
God (minaâLlāhi, the predicate thereof), the Mighty, in His kingdom, the Wise, in His actions. 589
|
|
Tafseer
We have not created the heavens and the earth and all that is between them
except, as a creation, in truth, so that it may be an indication of Our power and Our Oneness, and for an
appointed term, until [the point of] their annihilation on the Day of Resurrection. Yet those who disbelieve are
disregardful of what they are warned, [of what] they are threatened with in the way of [impending]
chastisement.
|
|
Tafseer
Say: âHave you considered, [say] Inform me [about], what you invoke, [what] you
worship, besides God?, namely, the idols (min dūniâLlāhi, constitutes the first object [of the verb]).
Show me â inform me â (arūnī, [repeated] for emphasis), what they have created (mādhā khalaqū, the second
object) of the earth (minaâlardi, the explication of mā, âwhat [part]â). Or do they have any share, any
partnership, in, the creation of, the heavens?, with God? (am, âorâ, has the significance of the [rhetorical
interrogative] hamza of denial). Bring me a scripture, [that has been] revealed, before this, Qurâān, or some
vestige, some remnant, of knowledge, transmitted from the ancients confirming the soundness of your claim
that your worship of the idols brings you closer to God, if you are truthfulâ, in your claim.
|
|
Tafseer
And who is (man here is interrogative but meant [rhetorically] as a negation: in
other words, âno one isâ) further astray than him who invokes, [him who] worships, besides God, that is to
say, other than Him, such as would not respond to him [even] until the Day of Resurrection â these are the
idols, who never answer those who worship them in anything that they ask for â and who are heedless of
their supplication?, their worship, because they are inanimates that possess no [faculty of] comprehension.
|
|
Tafseer
And when mankind are gathered, they, the idols, will be enemies to them, to
those who had worshipped them, and they will deny, they will disavow, their worship, the worship of those
who had worshipped them.
|
|
Tafseer
And when Our signs, the Qurâān, are recited to them, namely, [to] the people of
Mecca, being clear signs, manifest [signs] (bayyinātin is a circumstantial qualifier), those who
disbelieve, from among them, say of the truth, that is, the Qurâān, when it comes to them, âThis is plain sorcery!â,
clear and evident [sorcery].
|
|
Tafseer
Or (am has the significance of bal, ânay, but ââ and the [rhetorical
interrogative] hamza of denial) do they say, âHe has invented it?â, that is, the Qurâān. Say: âIf I have invented it,
hypothetically [speaking], still you would have no power to avail me against God, that is to say, against His
chastisement, in any way, in other words, you would not be able to ward it off from me if God chooses to chastise
me. He knows best what you delve into [of gossip] concerning it, what you say about the Qurâān. He, exalted
be He, suffices as a witness between me and you. And He is the Forgiving, to the one who repents, the
Mercifulâ, to him, and so He does not hasten to punish you.
|
|
Tafseer
Say: âI am not a novelty, unprecedented, among the messengers, that is to say,
[I am not] the first to be sent [by God as His Messenger]. Already many of them have come before me, so how
can you deny me? Nor do I know what will be done with me or with you, in this world: will I be
made to leave my [native] land, or will I be slain as was done with [some] prophets before me, or will you
stone me to death, or will the earth be made to swallow you as [it did] deniers before you? I only follow
what is revealed to me, that is, the Qurâān, and I do not invent anything myself. And I am only a plain
warnerâ, one whose warning is 590 plain.
|
|
Tafseer
Say: âHave you considered?, [say:] inform me, what will be your predicament, if
it, the Qurâān, is from God and you disbelieve in it (wa-kafartum bihi, the sentence is a circumstantial
qualifier), and a witness from the Children of Israel has [already] testified, this was âAbd Allāh b. Salām, to the
like of it, that is to say, to it [the Qurâān], that it is from God, and he, the witness, has believed [in it],
while you act with arrogance ââ, you are disdainful of faith (the response to the conditional [âif ââ] is given
[by implication] in what has been supplemented to it, in other words: âWould you not then be [considered]
wrongdoers?â; this [understanding of the response] is indicated by [what follows]). Truly God does not guide
wrongdoing folkâ.
|
|
Tafseer
And those who disbelieve say of those who believe, that is, [they say] with
regards to them: âHad it, faith, been [anything] good, they would not have attained it before usâ. And since
they, the ones [now] speaking, will not be guided by it, that is, [by] the Qurâān, they say, âThis, that is,
the Qurâān, is an ancient lie!â
|
|
Tafseer
Yet before it, that is, [before] the Qurâān, [there was] the Book of Moses, that
is, the Torah, as a guidepost and a mercy, for those who believed in it (imāman wa-rahmatan are two
circumstantial qualifiers) and this, Qurâān, is a Book that confirms, scriptures before it, in the Arabic tongue
(lisānan âarabiyyan is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of musaddiqun, âthat
confirmsâ) to warn those who do wrong, the idolaters of Mecca, and, it is, good tidings for the virtuous, the
believers.
|
|
Tafseer
Assuredly those who say, âOur Lord is Godâ and then remain upright, in [their
adherence to] obedience, no fear will befall them, nor will they grieve.
|
|
Tafseer
Those will be the inhabitants of Paradise, abiding therein (khālidīna fīhā is a
circumstantial qualifier) as a reward (jazāâan is in the accusative as a verbal noun, because of the implied
verbal action, that is to say, yujzawna, âthey will be rewardedâ) for what they used to do.
|
|
Tafseer
And We have enjoined man to be kind (husnan: a variant reading has ihsānan),
that is to say, We have commanded him to act kindly towards both of them (thus ihsānan is in the
accusative as a verbal noun, because of the implied verbal action; the same applies to husnan) to his
parents. His mother carries him in travail, and gives birth to him in travail, that is to say, with suffering; and
his gestation and his weaning, from suckling, take thirty months, six months being the minimum period for
gestation, the remainder being the maximum period of suckling; it is also said that, regardless of whether she
bore him for six or nine months, she should suckle him for the remainder. So that (hattā is a [particle
of] purpose for an implied sentence, that is to say, wa-âāsha hattā, âand he lived on so that ââ) when he
is mature, namely, at his prime in terms of his strength, intellect and reasoning, the minimum [age] for
which is thirty or thirty three years, and reaches forty years, that is, exactly [forty years], which is the
maximum for [attaining] maturity, he says, âMy Lord!, [this] to the end [of this verse] was revealed regarding Abū
Bakr al-Siddīq, when he had reached forty years of age, two years after the [beginning of the] Prophetâs
Mission (s). He [Abū Bakr] believed in him, whereafter his parents believed [in the Prophet], followed by
his son âAbd al-Rahmān, then âAbd al-Rahmānâs son Abū âAtīq [Muhammad b. âAbd al-Rahmān]. Inspire me to give
thanks for Your favour with which You have favoured me and my parents, namely, [the grace of] affirming
[Godâs] Oneness, and that I may act righteously in a way that will please You, thus he [Abū Bakr]
emancipated nine believers who had been enduring torture [at the hands of the idolaters] for [their belief in]
God, and invest my seed with 591 righteousness, all of them were believers. Indeed I repent to You and I am truly
of those who submit [to You]â.
|
|
Tafseer
Those, that is, those who say such words, Abū Bakr and others, are they from
whom We accept the best of what they do, and overlook their misdeeds, [as they stand] among the inhabitants
of Paradise (fī ashābiâlljannati, a circumstantial qualifier, in other words, âbeing among themâ) â [this is] the
true promise which they were promised, by His words, God has promised the believers, both men and
women, Gardens â [Q. 9:72].
|
|
Tafseer
As for him who says to his parents (li-wālidayhi: a variant reading has
li-wālidihi, âhis parentâ, denoting the generic noun): âFie (read uffin or uffan, as a verbal noun, meaning:
â[something] putrid and disgustingâ) on you both: I am exasperated at both of you. Do you threaten me (a-taâidāninī: a
variant reading has ataâidānnī) that I shall be raised, from the grave, when already generations, communities,
have passed away before me?â, and they have not been raised from their graves. And they call on
God for succour, that he [their child] repent, saying [to him]: if you do not repent, âWoe to you
(waylaka, that is to say, halākaka, âyou are ruined!â). Believe!, in resurrection. Surely Godâs promise is trueâ.
But he says, âThis, belief in resurrection, is nothing but the fables of the ancientsâ, lies of theirs.
|
|
Tafseer
Such are the ones against whom the Word, of chastisement, is due, is necessary,
concerning communities of jinn and humans that have passed away before them. Truly they are losers.
|
|
Tafseer
And for each one, of both categories, believer and disbeliever, there will be
degrees [of status] , thus the degrees of the believers in Paradise are high, while the degrees of disbelievers
in the Fire are despicable, according to what they have done, that is to say, [according to what] believers
[have done] in the way of acts of obedience, and disbelievers, in the way of acts of disobedience, and
that He may recompense them fully, namely, God (li-yuwaffiyahum: a variant reading has li-nuwaffiyahum,
âthat We may recompense them fullyâ) for their deeds, that is, [pay them] their deserts, and they will not be
wronged, [not even] in a single thing that may be diminished for believers or increased for disbelievers.
|
|
Tafseer
And on the day when those who disbelieve are exposed to the Fire, by its being
revealed for them, it will be said to them: âYou squandered (read with one hamza, adhhabtum, or with two
hamzas [as an interrogative], a-adhhabtum, âhave you sqaundered â?â; or with one hamza, adhhabtum, or with an
initial long âaâ, ādhhabtum, with both of these [pronounced fully] or without pronouncing the
second [hamza]) your good things during your life of the world, by preoccupying yourselves with sensual
delights, and enjoyed them. So today you will be requited with the chastisement of humiliation in return for
acting arrogantly in the earth without right and in return for that regarding which you used to act immorallyâ,
and [for] the torture you used to inflict [upon others] therein.
|
|
Tafseer
And mention the brother of âĀd, namely, Hūd, peace be upon him, when (idh â
[from here] to the end [of the verse] constitutes an inclusive substitution) he warned his people, he
threatened them, at Ahqāf, [âthe Sand dunesâ is the name of] a valley in Yemen, where their dwellings were
located â and already warners, messengers, had passed away before him and after him, that is to say, before Hūd
[came to them] and after him, to their peoples â saying, âDo not worship anyone but God (the statement
[beginning with] wa-qad khalat, âand already [warners] had passed awayâ, is a parenthetical one). Truly
I fear for you â should you 592 worship other than God â the chastisement of a dreadful dayâ.
|
|
Tafseer
They said, âHave you come to divert us from our gods?, to turn us away from
worship of them. Then bring us what you threaten us with, of chastisement for worshipping them, if you are
of the truthfulâ, in [saying] that it will befall us.
|
|
Tafseer
He, Hūd, said, âThe knowledge is with God only, He is the One Who knows when
chastisement will befall you, and I am [merely] conveying to you what I have been sent with, to you. But
I see that you are an ignorant lotâ, given your hastening on of the chastisement.
|
|
Tafseer
Then, when they saw it, that is, [when they saw] what chastisement [really] was,
as a sudden cloud, a cloud that appeared [out of nowhere] on the horizon, heading towards their valleys,
they said, âThis is a cloud that will bring us rain!â. God, exalted be He, says: Nay, but it is what you sought
to hasten, of the chastisement â a hurricane (rīhun substitutes for mā, âwhatâ) containing a painful
chastisement,
|
|
Tafseer
destroying, ruining, everything, it passes through, by the command of its Lord,
by His will, that is to say, [destroying] everything that He wants to destroy with it. And so it destroyed
their men, women, children and properties by flinging them up into the air high above the ground and
tearing them to pieces. Only Hūd and those who believed with him remained [unscathed]. So they became such that
nothing could be seen except their dwellings. Thus, in the way that We requited them, do We requite
guilty folk, besides them.
|
|
Tafseer
And verily We had empowered them in ways in which We have not (in is either for
negation or extra) empowered you, O people of Mecca, in the way of strength and means, and We had
vested them with ears and eyes and hearts. But their ears and their eyes and their hearts did not
avail them in any way (min shayâin: min is extra) since (idh, is operated by aghnā, âavailâ, and imbued
with the sense of [a particle introducing a] reason) they used to deny the signs of God, His clear proofs, and
they were besieged by, there befell them, what they used to deride, of chastisement.
|
|
Tafseer
And We certainly destroyed the towns [that were] around you, that is, [We
destroyed] their inhabitants, the likes of Thamūd, âĀd and the people of Lot, and We dispensed the signs, We
repeated the clear proofs, so that perhaps they might return.
|
|
Tafseer
So why did they not help them, by averting from them the chastisement, those
whom they had chosen besides God, that is to say, other than Him, as [a means of] nearness, through
whom they may secure nearness to God, to be gods?, alongside Him, and these are the idols (the first
object of ittakhadhū, âthey had chosenâ, is the omitted pronoun referred to by the relative clause
[alladhīna, âthose who ââ], and it is hum, âtheyâ; qurbānan, ânearnessâ, is the second [object], with ālihatan,
âgodsâ, as its substitution). Nay, but they forsook them, when the chastisement came down [on them], and that, that is
to say, [that] choosing of theirs of idols as gods as a means of nearness [to God], was their lie and what
they used to invent â the lies they used to speak (mā, âwhatâ, either relates to the verbal action [âtheir
lyingâ], or it indicates a relative clause with the referential pronoun omitted, this being fīhi, âaboutâ). 593
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|