Verses 39–45
The conclusion of this sūrah instructs the Prophet to patiently bear the defamation he was suffering from his opponents who accused him of being a magician, madman or poet, as well as their obstinate mockery of the Resurrection and Return. God instructs him to be patient and worship his Lord by praising Him, to expect the Resurrection by awaiting the Cry (ṣayḥah) and to admonish those who fear God in the unseen with the Qur’an.
Commentary
فَاصْبِرْ عَلَىٰ مَا يَقُولُونَ وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَبِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُوبِ ٣٩
(50:39) So be patient over what they say, and glorify the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before the sunset….
This verse follows logically from everything that has been said so far in the sūrah, both about the polytheists’ denial of the Resurrection, the detailed description of the Resurrection and arguments for it, and the warning to those who deny it and reject the Prophet that they will suffer the same fate as those who denied in nations past.
And glorify (sabbiḥ) the praise of your Lord—tasbīḥ means to declare God as free from whatever they ascribe to him, accompanied by praise (ḥamd). In short, this means to ascribe beautiful acts to God and negate all shortcoming and deficiency from Him. Glorifying Him before the rising of the Sun could refer to the morning prayer (ṣalāt al-subḥ), while glorifying Him before its setting could refer to the afternoon prayer (ṣalāt al-ʿaṣr), or to both the afternoon prayer and the noon prayer (ṣalāt al-ẓuhr).
وَمِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَسَبِّحْهُ وَأَدْبَارَ السُّجُودِ ٤٠
(50:40) …and glorify Him through part of the night and after the prostrations
This means to spend some part of the night glorifying Him, which could refer to the prayers of sunset (maghrib) and evening (ʿīshāʾ). And after the prostrations (adbār al-sujūd)—adbār is the plural of dubr which means the end of something and after it; after the prostrations means after the prayers are finished, as the prostration is the last part of the prayer. So this can refer to the supplications recited immediately after praying (taʿqībāt al-ṣalāt). It is said that this refers to offering the supererogatory (nawāfil) prayers after the obligatory ones (farāʾiḍ), or that it refers to the two or more units of prayer (rakʿah) after sunset prayer, or that it refers to the unit of witr prayer offered at the end of the night.
وَاسْتَمِعْ يَوْمَ يُنَادِ الْمُنَادِ مِنْ مَكَانٍ قَرِيبٍ ٤١
(50:41) And hearken for the day when the caller calls from a close quarter….
Commentators have interpreted hearken (istamiʿ) in a number of ways, the most appropriate of which is something akin to “expect” (intiẓār); the day when the caller calls is the object of this verb. This renders the meaning: “Expect a day when the caller calls, giving ear to his call.” The caller calls means when the angel of the trumpet blows into it, as indicated by the following verse.
The fact that this call is from a closer quarter (makān qarīb) is because the call encompasses all mankind; everyone will hear it equally well, so it makes no difference whether one is near or far. This is the call of the Resurrection and the word of life.
يَوْمَ يَسْمَعُونَ الصَّيْحَةَ بِالْحَقِّ ۚ ذَٰلِكَ يَوْمُ الْخُرُوجِ ٤٢
(50:42) …the day when they hear the Cry in truth. That is the day of rising.
This is an exposition (bayān) of the day when the caller calls. The Cry is in truth (bi al-ḥaqq) because it is the result of God’s definitive decree (qaḍāʾ), as we saw in the above verse: Then the drunkenness of death brings the truth ().
That is the day of rising—meaning the day when the dead will rise from their graves: the day when they emerge from the graves, hastening, as if racing toward a target ().
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نُحْيِي وَنُمِيتُ وَإِلَيْنَا الْمَصِيرُ ٤٣
(50:43) Indeed it is We who give life and bring death, and toward Us is the destination.
“Giving life” (iḥyāʾ) means to imbue bodies with life in this world, and “bringing death” (imātah) means causing the living to die in this world and move to the world of the grave; based on the context, toward Us is the destination alludes to giving life at the Resurrection.
يَوْمَ تَشَقَّقُ الْأَرْضُ عَنْهُمْ سِرَاعًا ۚ ذَٰلِكَ حَشْرٌ عَلَيْنَا يَسِيرٌ ٤٤
(50:44) The day the earth is split open (tashaqqaq) from them, hastening. That mustering is easy for Us.
Tashaqqaq means it will crack apart around them and they will come out hastening towards the caller. That mustering is easy for Us means that everything We mentioned—splitting open the earth, bringing the people hastening from the graves and gathering them together—is easy for Us.
نَحْنُ أَعْلَمُ بِمَا يَقُولُونَ ۖ وَمَا أَنْتَ عَلَيْهِمْ بِجَبَّارٍ ۖ فَذَكِّرْ بِالْقُرْآنِ مَنْ يَخَافُ وَعِيدِ ٤٥
(50:45) We know best what they say, and you are not to be a tyrant (jabbār) over them. So admonish by the Qur’an him who fears My threat.
A jabbār is a dictator who forces (yajbur) people to do what he wants. So this means: Patiently endure what they say, glorify the praise of your Lord and expect the Resurrection. After all, We know best what they say and We will recompense them for what they do; you are not there as a tyrant to force them to believe in God and the Last Day. And if this is their condition, then admonish those who fear My threat with the Qur’an.
Examining Narrations
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, it is narrated by Ṭabarānī in his Awsaṭ and Ibn ʿAsākir from Jarīr b. ʿAbd Allāh from the Prophet:
And celebrate the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before the sunset ()—before the rising of the sun is the morning prayer, and before the sunset is the afternoon prayer.
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is narrated that someone asked Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] about the verse: and celebrate the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before the sunset. He said:
Say in the morning and the evening ten times each: “There is no god except God, alone no partner hath He. His is the kingdom and His is the praise. And He hath power over all things.” (Lā ilāha illā Allāh waḥdahu lā sharīka lahu, lahu al-mulk wa lahu al-ḥamd, wa huwwa ʿalā kulli shayʾ qadīr.)
Author’s comments: This is based on the use of the word tasbīḥ (“glorification”) in the verse, and even if it is being used specifically for the prayers there is no contradiction here.
- In al-Kāfī it is narrated from Ḥarīz from Zurārah:
I asked Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir] about the verse: and after the prostrations (adbār al-sujūd) ().
He said: “Units of prayer after sunset [prayer].”
Author’s comments: Qummī narrates a similar tradition in his Tafsīr from Ibn Abī Naṣr, from al-Riḍā. It reads: “Four units of prayer after sunset [prayer].”
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, it is narrated by Musaddid in his Musnad, Ibn Mundhir and Ibn Mardawayh from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib:
I asked God’s Messenger about the adbār of prostrations and stars.
He said: “Adbār al-sujūd means two units of prayer after sunset prayer, while adbār al-nujūm means the two units of prayer before morning.”
Author’s comments: Something similar has been narrated by Ibn ʿAbbās and ʿUmar from him, and in Majmaʿ it is ascribed to al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī from the Prophet.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, about the verse So admonish by the Qur’an him who fears My threat, we read:
Admonish them, O Muḥammad, with the punishment We have promised.