Verses 57–96
Now that God Almighty has explained different the fates that await each of the three classes of people—the Foremost, the People of the Right Hand, and the People of the Left Hand—on the Day of Judgement, He provides a detailed account of the condition of the People of the Left Hand (aṣḥāb al-shimāl). In the course of this, He explains that what consigned them to this fate was that they broke their pledge of divine servanthood (ʿubūdiyya) and denied both the Resurrection and the divine recompense for their deeds. God then bids His Prophet to respond to them by affirming the Resurrection and the recompense in general, before telling them about the recompense that awaits them on the Day of Judgement.
God rebukes the idolaters for denying the Resurrection even though the one who is telling them about it is none other than their Creator, who looks after their affairs and has ordained that they should die and then be created anew. Therefore, He knows best what will become of them during the course of their existence and what fate awaits them in the Hereafter. Moreover, the scripture through which their Creator is informing them of all of this is the Qurʾan, which is divinely protected from interference or interpolation at the hands of the devils and their human confederates.
After this, the discourse turns back to the condition of the three groups of people and shows that the differences in their states begin from their time of death. With this, God draws the chapter to a close.
Commentary
نَحْنُ خَلَقْنَاكُمْ فَلَوْلَا تُصَدِّقُونَ ٥٧
(56:57) We created you. Then why do you not acknowledge it?
Note that this statement occurs within the context of a discussion about the Resurrection and the recompensing of deeds, and it is these things that they have denied and rejected. Therefore, the question, ‘why do you not acknowledge it?’, admonishes them to believe in the Resurrection and give up their denial of it. The reason they are given for why they should cease denying it is: We created you.
Why does the fact that God created them mean that they should believe what He tells them? There are two reasons for this:
First of all, because if God created them once, He can create them again, as per the verse: Say, ‘He will revive them who produced them the first time, and He has knowledge of all creation’ ().
Secondly, because if God is their creator, then He is also the one who looks after their affairs and the one who has endowed them with their qualities as created beings. As a result, He knows best what He will do with them and what will become of them. Therefore, when He informs them that after they die they will be brought back to life and recompensed for their deeds—good and evil—in this world, there is no recourse for them except to believe what He tells them and they have no valid excuse for denying the knowledge about the Resurrection and Final Recompense that He imparts to them through His scripture. For example, see the verses: Would He who has created not know? And He is the All-attentive, the All-aware (); We will bring it back as We began the first creation—a promise upon Us. Indeed, We will do that (); … a true promise of Allah, and who is truer in speech than Allah? ().
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘We created you and We know what We did with you and what We will do with you, so We are informing you that We will resurrect you and recompense you for your actions. So, why will you not believe what We tell you in the scripture We have sent down to you?’
Note that in this verse and those that follow it, there is a shift from speaking about the deniers in the third-person (‘they’) to addressing them directly in the second-person (‘you’), as the verses are intended to be heard as a rebuke and condemnation, and the effect of this is more powerful when spoken directly to its intended recipients.
أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تُمْنُونَ ٥٨
(56:58) Have you considered the sperm that you emit (tumnūn)?
The verb tumnūn means to emit or discharge semen, meaning into the wombs. Therefore, the meaning is: ‘Have you considered the semen that you discharge into womens’ wombs?’
أَأَنْتُمْ تَخْلُقُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْخَالِقُونَ ٥٩
(56:59) Is it you who create it, or are We the creator?
In other words, ‘Do you turn it into a human being like yourselves, or do we accomplish this transformation?’
نَحْنُ قَدَّرْنَا بَيْنَكُمُ الْمَوْتَ وَمَا نَحْنُ بِمَسْبُوقِينَ ٦٠
(56:60) We have ordained death among you, and We are not to be outmaneuvered
The governance of the creation and all of its affairs and features goes hand-in-hand with the act of creation, where ‘creation’ (khalq) denotes the outpouring of existence (ifāḍat al-wujūd). The limited existence of the human being, from the first moment of his being until the last moment of his worldly life, with all of its features and complexities, is entirely the result of the determination of his Creator, God Almighty. Therefore, death, like the life that comes before it, is also the result of His determination. The human being is not subject to death because of any deficiency on the part of his Creator or because He could not have made him in such a way that he would not die, or because he falls prey to extraneous agents that cause him to die and deprive him of the life his Creator bestowed upon him. After all, this would entail some limitation or flaw in God’s power and render Him constrained by the system of cause and effect that He created—in other words, His will would be constrained by His own will, which is obviously impossible, for we know that God’s power is absolute and untrammeled by anything else.
From this, it becomes evident that when God says, We have ordained death among you, this means that death is truly part of His plan, rather than an unintended but inevitable consequence of the existence of living things. On the contrary, God ordained that the human being should live, and He ordained that this life should be followed by death.
Furthermore, it is clear that when God says, and We are not to be outmaneuvered, this means that the fact of death does not mean He is in any way constrained or limited in His power. It is not the case that He bestows life on human beings and intends for them to live forever, but then other external factors snatch this life away and cause human beings to die. On the contrary, death is as much a part of the divine plan as life.
عَلَىٰ أَنْ نُبَدِّلَ أَمْثَالَكُمْ وَنُنْشِئَكُمْ فِي مَا لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ٦١
(56:61) in order to (ʿalā an) replace you with your likes (amthāl) and recreate you in that which you do not know.
The prepositional phrase, ‘in order to…’, follows on from the sentence, We have ordained… in the previous verse and qualifies it as an adverb. In other words: ‘We have ordained death amongst you in order to replace you with your likes and recreate you in that which you do not know.’
Amthāl is the plural of mithl, and when we speak of something’s mithl (or ‘like’), this denotes something that is of the same species. Therefore one human being is the mithl of another. Therefore, when God says, to replace you with your likes, this means to replace other human beings like you with you or to replace you with other human beings like you. In both cases, this refers to replacing one group of humans with another and putting the subsequent generation in the place of the previous one.
… and recreate you in that which you do not know: The phrase, ‘that which you do not know’ refers to ‘a creation which you do not know.’ In other words, ‘In order to recreate you and bring you into being in a new creation that you do not know, and this is the existence of the world that is to come, which is utterly different from the transient existence of this world.’
Therefore, the meaning of the last two verses taken together is as follows: ‘Death has only been ordained amongst you by Our decree, not because of any deficiency in Our power, because We could not prolong your lives if We wished, or because We have been constrained by some external force that snatched your life away and that we could not protect you from. On the contrary, We ordained death amongst you in order that you be replaced by others like you, so that one people might be replaced by another, and that you might experience a new creation that befits the life that awaits you in the Hereafter that lies beyond this evanescent worldly creation. Therefore, death is nothing more than moving from one abode to another, and replacing one kind of creation with another, it is neither the end of a thing, nor is it a return to nothingness.’
Some have suggested that the word mithl should in fact be read as mathal, which means ‘likeness’ in the sense of one’s form. This reading would render the meaning: ‘We have ordained death amongst you in order to change your form and create you in a guise with which you are as yet unfamiliar or which is as yet still unknown to you. For example, we might resurrect you in the form of a dog, a pig, or some other animal, while in this world you had the appearance of a human being.’ However, the interpretation we have given on the basis of it being mithl is both more comprehensive and more insightful.
وَلَقَدْ عَلِمْتُمُ النَّشْأَةَ الْأُولَىٰ فَلَوْلَا تَذَكَّرُونَ ٦٢
(56:62) Certainly you have known the first genesis, then why do you not take admonition?
By the first genesis, the Qurʾan means the creation of this world. The idolaters are familiar with its features and qualities, and this knowledge means that they should accept the existence of a subsequent and everlasting creation where they will be recompensed for their deeds. After all, when one considers the cosmic order that governs this world, it is evident that it was not created blindly or without purpose. Therefore, this transient worldly existence must have an enduring goal. It is also evident, looking at the order of the cosmos, that everything must be guided to the form of felicity natural to its species. Now, the guidance of human beings necessitates that God sends prophets to them to promulgate religions and deliver moral commands and prohibitions and that He recompense for their good and evil deeds. However, the latter does not take place in this world. Therefore, it must take place somewhere else—and that is in the creation of the Hereafter (see verses ).
The idolaters have seen this world first-hand and know it well. They also know that the one who spoke it into existence from the silence of nothingness was God Almighty. Therefore, if He was able to do this the first time, He is able to do it again: Say, ‘He will revive them who produced them the first time’ (). Therefore, this logical demonstration of the possibility of God repeating the act of creation a second time negates their argument that the Resurrection is something improbable or absurd.
In short, the idolaters’ knowledge of the first creation supplies them with the premises necessary to construct a logical demonstration of the possibility of the Resurrection. Therefore, they cannot claim that it is something absurd or unlikely, as one cannot dismiss as absurd what is logically possible.
Readers will note that this also suggests a logical argument for the possibility of a physical resurrection. In short, a person’s body at their time of resurrection is akin to the body they possessed while this world. Therefore, if it is possible for God to create a human body and endow it with life in this world, it is certainly possible for him to create a human body and endow it with life in the Hereafter, because the two are alike, and when two things are alike in their features, they are also alike in the possibility of their existence.
It is strange, then, to see al-Zamakhsharī argue in al-Kashshāf that this verse demonstrates the validity of analogical juristic reasoning (qiyās) because the idolaters are condemned for not understanding the creation of the Resurrection by analogy with the creation of this world. This is an error on his part, because the verse is actually providing a logical argument (qiyās burhānī manṭiqī), which yields definitive knowledge, whereas the kind of analogical juristic reasoning he is referring to yields only speculative knowledge (ẓann), so there is no relation between the two.
Al-Alūsī writes about this verse in Rūḥ al-maʿānī:
‘Then why do you not take admonition that the One able to bring about the first creation is even better able to bring about the second one, for even less effort is required, as the materials and components for it are already present, and there is a previous example to work from. This, therefore, demonstrates the validity of analogical juristic reasoning (qiyās), although some have said that it only demonstrates the validity of a fortiori analogy (qiyās bi al-awlā, that is ‘argument from the stronger reason’), as this is the argument used in the verse.’
Comment: Al-Alūsī’s argument suffers from the same flaw as al-Zamakhsharī’s. Furthermore, the verse does not present any a fortiori analogy whatsoever, as the common element between the creation of this world and the creation of the Hereafter is that they are both alike, and the foundation of all logical deduction is that when two things are alike in their features, they are also alike in their possibility or impossibility.
As for al-Alūsī’s argument that the creation of the hereafter is even easier than the creation of this world because the required materials and components are already present, this is invalid. After all, these materials and components need God for their continued existence no less than they needed Him to come into existence in the first place. Therefore, the second creation is no different from the first one.
As for his claim that God has a ‘previous example’ (sabaq al-mithāl) to work from, this is a confusion of likeness (mithl) and pattern (mithāl). The body of the Resurrection is like the body of this world, but it does not share its form or follow its pattern, or else the Resurrection would be no different to this world, in which case it would not be the Resurrection.
Now, if one were to argue: If the body of the Resurrection is like the body of this world, but the likeness of a thing is not the same as it, this would mean that the human being that inhabits this body in the Resurrection is not the same as the human being who inhabited the body in this world, because he is like him but not the same as him.
Reply: We have already discussed on multiple occasions that a person’s individuality resides in his spirit, not in his body. It is the spirit that survives death while the body decomposes and crumbles. Therefore, when a new body is made for the Hereafter that is like the one that existed in this world and the spirit becomes attached to it, this is the same person that existed in this world. This is no different to saying that the old man Zayd is the same person as he was when he was a youth, this is because his spirit has endured—and with it, his individual identity—even while his body has been in a state of constant change from one moment to the next for the duration of his life.
أَفَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا تَحْرُثُونَ ٦٣ أَأَنْتُمْ تَزْرَعُونَهُ أَمْ نَحْنُ الزَّارِعُونَ ٦٤ لَوْ نَشَاءُ لَجَعَلْنَاهُ حُطَامًا فَظَلْتُمْ تَفَكَّهُونَ ٦٥ إِنَّا لَمُغْرَمُونَ ٦٦ بَلْ نَحْنُ مَحْرُومُونَ٦٧
(56:63–67) Have you considered what you sow? Is it you who make it grow, or are We the grower? If We wish, We surely turn it into chaff, whereat you are left stunned ‘Indeed we have suffered loss! Rather we are deprived!’
In the previous set of verses, the Qurʾan called the idolaters’ attention to the way in which they were created and the fact that God had ordained death amongst them as a stepping-stone towards the Resurrection and the divine recompense for their deeds—all of which falls within the purview of God’s lordship (rubūbiyya). Following on from this, the present verses enumerate three of the most important facts of their worldly lives: First is agriculture, from which they obtain sustenance for themselves; second is water, which they drink; and third is fire, which they use to keep warm and to meet many of their needs. All of this demonstrates God’s lordship over them, for lordship is nothing less than the governance of the material realm.
Have you considered what you sow (taḥruthūn)?—The verb taḥruthūn means to plough the earth and scatter seeds in it—Is it you who make it grow—Do you bring forth the plants from the seeds and nurture them until they reach their fullest, where ‘it’ refers to the seeds that are sown—or are We the grower?—or are We the ones who bring it forth and nurture it until it is ready to harvest?—If We wish, We surely turn it into chaff—in other words, We will turn it into broken and desiccated pieces—whereat you are left stunned—astonished by what has happened to your crops, speaking to one another about what has happened, saying—‘Indeed we have suffered loss!’—because your crops have failed, your wealth is lost, your time is squandered, and your efforts are wasted—‘Rather we are deprived!’—because you will not have provisions or any other benefits from your crops.
There is no contradiction between negating the act of growing these crops from them and ascribing this to God and the role of natural causes play in fostering the growth of the crops, as these causes do play a role but are ultimately dependent upon God in this—they do not exist separately or operate independently of Him. In fact, they are manifestations of His blessings to humankind. The same is true of the causes that lie beyond these causes—the entire chain of cause and effect is dependent upon God, for He is the Lord, the Ultimate.
أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ الْمَاءَ الَّذِي تَشْرَبُونَ ٦٨ أَأَنْتُمْ أَنْزَلْتُمُوهُ مِنَ الْمُزْنِ أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنْزِلُونَ ٦٩ لَوْ نَشَاءُ جَعَلْنَاهُ أُجَاجًا فَلَوْلَا تَشْكُرُونَ ٧٠
(56:68–70) Have you considered the water that you drink? Is it you who bring it down from the rain cloud, or is it We who bring it down? If We wish We can make it bitter. Then why do you not give thanks?
Note that these verses single out thanksgiving (shukr), which means to remember God and His blessings beautifully by making a show of servanthood in one’s words and deeds. The remainder of the meaning of these verses is clear.
أَفَرَأَيْتُمُ النَّارَ الَّتِي تُورُونَ ٧١ أَأَنْتُمْ أَنْشَأْتُمْ شَجَرَتَهَا أَمْ نَحْنُ الْمُنْشِئُونَ٧٢ نَحْنُ جَعَلْنَاهَا تَذْكِرَةً وَمَتَاعًا لِلْمُقْوِينَ ٧٣
(56:71–73) Have you considered the fire that you kindle (tūrūn)? Was it you who caused its tree to grow, or were We the grower? It was We who made it a reminder and a boon for the desert-dwellers (muqwīn).
In Majmaʿ al-bayān, al-Ṭabrisī writes: ‘Īrāʾ (‘to kindle’, from which tūrūn is derived) means to light a fire by striking a flint. In Arabic, one says qadaḥa fa ūrā (“he struck the flint and kindled a fire”) if it lights, or qadaḥa fa akbā (“he struck the flint but did not produce a spark”) if it does not. Muqwī (“desert-dwellers”, the singular of muqwīn) refers to someone who lives in an empty desert (qiwāʾ) where no one else is to be found. One says aqwat al-dār (‘the house was deserted’) if its inhabitants forsake it.’ The meaning of the remainder is clear.
فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ ٧٤
(56:74) So celebrate the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme
This command is addressed to the Prophet. Having recounted the signs of His lordship to the idolaters and said that it is He who creates them and governs their affairs, and that part of this governance is that they will be brought back to life and requited for their deeds, even though they continue to obstinately deny this, God turns His attention away from them and towards His Prophet. This is as if to show that the idolaters do not comprehend what is being said, so instead God tells His Prophet to glorify Him and declare Him above their idolatry and denials of the Resurrection and Final Judgement.
Looking in more detail at the command, So celebrate with the Name (fa sabbiḥ bi ism), the fa (‘So’) shows that this celebration of God’s Name follows from the exposition that has just been given above, while the bi (‘with’) shows that God is to be glorified using His Name. Therefore, the meaning is: ‘When this is the reality of the matter, then glorify God using the remembrance of His name!’ Alternatively, the Name here might refer directly to the remembrance of God, because—as some scholars have pointed out—to pronounce the name of a thing is to remember it. On the other hand, the preposition bi might be used to mark the object of the verb, ‘celebrate’, in which case it means ‘celebrate the Name of your Lord’, as to glorify the name of something is to glorify the thing itself.
In any case, the verse means: ‘Glorify the name of your Lord and declare Him transcendent above the suggestion of any partner for Him and any denial of the Resurrection and divine recompense that follows it.’
The All-supreme (al-ʿAẓīm) at the end of this verse can be an adjective for either ‘the Name’ or ‘your Lord.’
فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِعِ النُّجُومِ ٧٥
(56:75) So I swear not (fa lā uqsim) by the places where the stars set (mawāqiʿ al–nujūm)!
The phrase, ‘I swear not’, is actually the formula for an oath (i.e. ‘I swear…’). Some have said that the lā (‘not’) is superfluous or that it is a negation and that the oath is the verb uqsim.
Mawāqiʿ is the plural of mawqiʿ, meaning ‘place.’ Therefore, the meaning is: ‘I swear by the places of the stars in the heavens.’ Others have said that mawāqiʿ is the plural of the m-infinitive (maṣdar mīmī) mawqiʿ, which means ‘to fall.’ Therefore the oath is being sworn by the stars as they fall on the Day of Resurrection, or by shooting stars as they fall from heaven and strike the devils, or on the places where the stars set on the western horizon. However, the interpretation we have offered here of ‘place’ is what first comes to mind in this context.
وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ ٧٦
(56:76) And indeed it is a great oath, should you know
This magnifies the importance of the oath and emphasizes it once again.
إِنَّهُ لَقُرْآنٌ كَرِيمٌ ٧٧ فِي كِتَابٍ مَكْنُونٍ ٧٨ لَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ ٧٩
(56:77–79) This is indeed a noble Qur’an, in a guarded Book, no one touches it except the pure ones
The idolaters denied God’s oneness in lordship and divinity, and they likewise denied the Resurrection and Final Judgement, but they followed this by denying the Qurʾan, which was sent down to the Prophet with the teachings of monotheism and the Resurrection. Therefore, they began by denying the fundamental truths of monotheism and the Hereafter, and this led them to deny the Qurʾan because it affirmed these truths to them. Hence, God begins by expounding the truths of monotheism and Resurrection by presenting evidence for them from His signs in the cosmos—from the verse, We created you ... (), until the verse, … a boon for the desert-dwellers ()—and then He expounds the truth of the Qurʾan as His speech, preserved with Him and sent down from Him, and describes it in terms of its most beautiful qualities.
Therefore, when God says, This is indeed a noble Qur’an, this is the object of the aforementioned oath, So I swear not by the places where the stars set (). Moreover, the fact that He praises the Qurʾan for being ‘noble’ (karīm), without qualifying this in any way, shows that this Qurʾan is important and dear to Him, praiseworthy in its attributes, and extremely beneficial and useful to humankind, insofar as it contains the fundamental realities that are the key to happiness in this life and in the Hereafter.
And when He says, in a guarded book, this is another description of the Qurʾan. Guarded means that it is protected and kept safe from any change or alteration, and this is a reference to the Guarded Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ), as per the verse, Rather it is a glorious Qur’an, in a preserved tablet ().
As for, no one touches (mass) it except the purified ones (muṭahharūn), this is either a description of the guarded Book, or a third description of the Qurʾan. The implications of both readings are the same, however.
The meaning is: ‘None can touch the guarded book which contains the Qurʾan except the purified ones’ or ‘None can touch the Qurʾan which is in the guarded book except the purified ones.’
In any case, this verse is intended to magnify and aggrandize the Qurʾan. To ‘touch’ (mass) it means to know it while it is in the guarded book, as per the verse, We have made it an Arabic Qur’an so that you may apply reason, and indeed it is with Us in the Mother Book, surely sublime and wise ().
‘The purified ones’ (al-Muṭahharūn, which is the passive participle of the verb purify or taṭhīr) are those whose souls God has cleansed of the pollution of disobedience and the impurity of sin, or whom He has purified even more fully than this, meaning that He has cleansed their hearts of all attachment to anything besides Him. This is the meaning of purification that best accords with the interpretation of ‘touching’ as knowledge, rather than purity in the sense of ritual cleanliness and being free from physical pollutants or ritual impurities, as is obvious.
Therefore, the purified ones are those whom God has ennobled by purifying their souls, such as the righteous angels and those human beings whom God has cleansed. God says, Indeed Allah desires to repel all impurity from you, O People of the Household, and purify you with a thorough purification (). There is no basis for restricting the meaning of the purified ones to the angels alone, which is a position espoused by a large number of commentators on the Qurʾan, as this is an arbitrary restriction without any evidence to support it.
Perhaps we could read no one touches it as a prohibitive injunction (nahī), in which case this means that no one may touch the text of the Qurʾan save those who are ritually pure and free from both physical pollutants and ritual impurities. Muṭahharūn can also be read with a doubled ṭ—that is muṭṭahharūn—in which case, this is a contraction of mutaṭahharūn, which would again render the meaning of the verse a prohibition on touching the Qurʾan without being in a state of ritual purity.
It is also possible to read no one touches it as a statement of fact that is intended to be understood as a prohibition, because this is a more eloquent and powerful way of conveying such a prohibition.
In al-Kashshāf, al-Zamakhsharī writes: ‘If the sentence, no one touches it except the purified ones, is taken to refer to the Qurʾan, then it means that no person should touch its written text without being in a state of ritual purity.’ However, the reader will recall that ‘touch’ (mass) can also refer to knowledge or awareness of something. Therefore, this sentence can be a description of the Qurʾan or a description of the guarded book.
تَنْزِيلٌ مِنْ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ٨٠
(56:80) gradually sent down (tanzīl) from the Lord of all the worlds
This is another description of the Qurʾan. Tanzīl is a verbal noun (maṣdar, meaning literally ‘a gradual sending down’) used here in the sense of a passive participle, meaning: ‘Something that has been gradually sent down from God to you so that you all might comprehend and understand it, whereas when it was in the guarded book, only the purified ones could access it.’
The fact that God refers to Himself here as Lord of all the worlds is a reference to the fact that God’s lordship extends to all of the worlds, of which the human world is one. Therefore, God is their Lord, and if He is their Lord, then they must believe in His scripture, harken to His words, and believe in it without denying it.
أَفَبِهَٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنْتُمْ مُدْهِنُونَ ٨١
(56:81) What! Do you take lightly this discourse (mudhinūn)?
‘This discourse’ refers to the Qurʾan.
Idhān (from which mudhinūn is derived) means to treat something as unimportant; its original meaning is to soften something with oil (dahn), but is used figuratively to mean ‘to take lightly’ or ‘to treat as unimportant.’ The question in this verse is rhetorical, with the force of a rebuke. God criticizes them for treating the Qurʾan as something unimportant to which they do not need to pay attention.
وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ ٨٢
(56:82) And make your denial of it your provision (rizq)?
It is said that the meaning of their rizq here is their share of goodness. In other words: ‘You make your share of the goodness you are supposed to receive from the Qurʾan that you deny it.’ In other words, you replace the provision you were supposed to receive with your own denials.
Others have said that rizq here refers to the Qurʾan, which is God’s spiritual provision to them. In other words: ‘You have replaced the spiritual provision you have been given with your own denials of it.’
Still others have said that there are implicit components to this sentence, namely: ‘Instead of giving thanks for your provision, you deny it.’ In other words: ‘You have substituted gratitude with denial.’
فَلَوْلَا إِذَا بَلَغَتِ الْحُلْقُومَ ٨٣ وَأَنْتُمْ حِينَئِذٍ تَنْظُرُونَ ٨٤ وَنَحْنُ أَقْرَبُ إِلَيْهِ مِنْكُمْ وَلَٰكِنْ لَا تُبْصِرُونَ ٨٥ فَلَوْلَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ غَيْرَ مَدِينِينَ ٨٦ تَرْجِعُونَهَا إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ ٨٧
(56:83–87) So, why do you not, when it reaches the throat and at that moment you are looking on—and We are nearer to him than you are, though you do not perceive—then why do you not, if you are not subject, restore it, should you be truthful?
The discourse now returns to its original subject after highlighting their ungrateful denials by saying: ‘If you are truthful in your denial of the Resurrection and correct in your rejection of this Qur’an which informs you of the Afterlife, then return the soul of the dying person to him when it is leaving his body through his throat. After all, if death is not part of God’s decree, then it is purely a matter of chance, and perhaps you can find some way to repel it. Now, if you cannot return his soul to him and return him to life thereby, then know that death is indeed a reality ordained by God to bring your souls forth for the Resurrection and Final Judgement.’
So, why do you not, when it reaches the throat …: This follows on from their denial of the Qurʾan and its teachings about the Resurrection and divine recompense that follows it. The purpose of the challenge delivered to the idolaters in this section of verses is to call attention to their incapacity and powerlessness. The pronoun ‘it’ in when it reaches the throat refers to the soul (nafs), and the soul reaching the throat is a figure of speech signifying the moment that death fully takes hold of a person as they are drawing their final breath.
… and at that moment you are looking on: Meaning: ‘You are looking at the person at the moment of death’ or ‘as they die in front of you.’
… and We are nearer to him than you are, though you do not perceive: In other words: ‘While We are nearer to him than you are because We encompass the totality of his being and Our angelic emissaries who have come to take his spirit away are closer to him than you are, but you do not see Us or Our emissaries.’
Elsewhere, God says: Allah takes the souls at the time of their death (); Say, ‘You will be taken away by the angel of death, who has been charged with you …’ (); When death approaches anyone of you, Our messengers take him away ().
When God says, then why do you not, if you are not subject (madīnīn)—Note the repetition of the phrase, ‘why do you not’ in this verse in order to emphasise the meaning of the previous one. Madīnīn (‘subject’) means ‘subject to recompense’ (jazāʾ). Therefore, the meaning is: ‘If you are not going to be recompensed with reward or punishment at the Resurrection…’
… restore it, should you be truthful? In other words: ‘If you are truthful in your claim that there is no Resurrection and no divine recompense awaiting you after death…’—restore it is the object of why do you not in the previous verses.
Therefore, the meaning of the above verses is: ‘If you are truthful in your claim that you will not be recompensed, then why do you not prevent the soul leaving a dying person’s body as they are drawing their last breath?’
فَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُقَرَّبِينَ ٨٨ فَرَوْحٌ وَرَيْحَانٌ وَجَنَّتُ نَعِيمٍ ٨٩
(56:88–89) Then, if he be of those brought near, then ease (rūḥ), abundance (rayḥān), and a garden of bliss.
The discourse now returns to depicting the states of the three groups mentioned at the beginning of this chapter—the Foremost, the People of the Right Hand, and the People of the Left Hand—at their time of death and afterward. As should be clear from the context, the pronoun ‘he’ here refers to the dying person. Those brought near refers to the Foremost Ones, who are brought near to God, mentioned previously. The word rūḥ means ‘rest’, while rayḥān means an abundance of provision. Some have said that it refers to basil, whose scent is the scent of paradise, which the dying person smells as they draw their last breath.
Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘If the deceased is one of those brought near, he shall have—as a recompense—relief from every form of grief and pain, provisions from paradise, and a garden of bliss.’
وَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ ٩٠ فَسَلَامٌ لَكَ مِنْ أَصْحَابِ الْيَمِينِ٩١
(56:90–91) And if he be of the People of the Right Hand, then peace for you (salāmun laka) from the People of the Right Hand!
It is possible that the preposition ‘to’ (la) in ‘Peace to you’ denotes possession, in which case the phrase means: ‘You will be singled out for peace from the People of the Right Hand who are your peers and friends, so you will not see anything from them except goodness and peace.’
Some have said that ‘peace to you’ has the same meaning as ‘peace be upon you’ (salāmun ʿalayka)—in other words, the People of the Right Hand will send greetings of peace upon you. Scholars have suggested other interpretations besides this as well.
Note that in this pair of verses, there is a shift from speaking about the deceased in the third-person (‘he’) to addressing him directly (‘you’), to show that he will be told, ‘Peace for you from the People of the Right Hand!’
وَأَمَّا إِنْ كَانَ مِنَ الْمُكَذِّبِينَ الضَّالِّينَ ٩٢ فَنُزُلٌ مِنْ حَمِيمٍ ٩٣ وَتَصْلِيَةُ جَحِيمٍ ٩٤
(56:92–94) But if he be of the impugners, the astray ones, then a treat of boiling water and entry into hell.
This means that if the deceased was one of those who denied the truth and went astray, then they will be received with boiling water and the torment of Hellfire.
God describes them as ‘impugners, the astray ones’ (mukadhdhibīn ḍāllīn), placing the fact of their denial before the fact of their going astray, because they are only subject to punishment as a result of their obstinate denial of the truth. If they were merely astray without having obstinately and wilfully rejected the truth, then they would have been classed as ‘abased ones’ (mustaḍʿafīn), and they would not have reached this position.
But what about the earlier verse, then indeed, you, astray deniers (), why is it that here their being astray is mentioned before their being deniers? The answer is that this was in response to their statement, ‘What! When we are dead and become dust and bones, shall we be resurrected?’ (). Therefore, it was more fitting to describe them as being astray first of all, and then deniers.
إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَهُوَ حَقُّ الْيَقِينِ ٩٥
(56:95) Indeed this is certain truth (ḥaqq al–yaqīn)
Ḥaqq (‘truth’) signifies knowledge that corresponds to objective reality, while yaqīn (‘certain’) refers to knowledge that contains neither ambiguity nor doubt. The addition of ḥaqq to yaqīn in a possessive construct (iḍāfa) in the above verse is an expository construct (iḍāfa bayāniyya) that emphasizes the meaning of the words.
Therefore, the meaning of this verse is: ‘What we have mentioned above about the state of these three groups of people on the Day of Judgement is the truth about which there can be no hesitation and knowledge about which there can be no doubt.’
فَسَبِّحْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الْعَظِيمِ ٩٦
(56:96) So celebrate the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme!
We have already explained the meaning of this command previously. It follows on from everything said above about the Qurʾan and the condition of the three groups of people when they die and when they are Resurrected. Therefore, the meaning of the verse is: ‘If the Qurʾan has these qualities and is truthful in what it conveys to you about the state of humankind after they die, then exalt your Lord the All-Supreme by invoking His Name, and reject the spurious opinions and arguments of those deniers who have gone astray!’
Examining Narrations
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, about the verse, Is it you who make it grow, or are We the grower? (), we read: ‘Let none of you say, “I have grown this.” Rather, let him say, “I have sown this.”’
Author’s comments: This is also narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr from a number of compilers of ḥadīth collections, from Abū Hurayra, from the Prophet.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, about the verse, Is it you who bring it down from the rain cloud (muzun)…? (), he says: ‘Muzun means cloud (siḥāb).’ It was We who made it a reminder ()—‘Of the fire that awaits in the Day of Judgement’—and a boon for the desert-dwellers—‘for the needy.’
- In Majmaʿ al-bayān, concerning the verse, So celebrate with the Name of your Lord, the All-supreme (), al-Ṭabrisī writes: ‘And authentic tradition from the Prophet says that when this verse was revealed, he said, “Insert this into your bowing in prayer (rukūʿ).”’
Author’s comments: This is also narrated by al-Ṣadūq in his Faqīh, with an incomplete chain of transmission, and in al-Durr al-manthūr, from al-Juhanī, from the Prophet.
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī cites al-Nasāʾī, Ibn Jarīr, Muḥammad b. Naṣr, al-Ḥākim (who also authenticated the tradition), Ibn Mardawayh, and al-Bayhaqī in Shuʿub al-īmān, all of whom narrate from Ibn ʿAbbās: ‘On the Night of Determination, God sent down the entirety of the Qurʾan from the highest of the heavens to the lowest of them, then He separated it in time and in words, sending it down from the lowest of the heavens to the earth in installments (nujūman).’ Then he recited the verse, So I swear not by the places where the stars set! () (mawāqiʿ al-nujūm—where, according to this tradition, nujūm is not the plural of najm (‘star’), but the verbal noun of najama, which means ‘to pay in installments.’)
Author’s comments: This renders the meaning of mawāqiʿ al-nujūm ‘the times when the installments of the Qurʾan were sent down.’
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, concerning the verse, So I swear not by the places where the stars set!, we read: ‘It means: “I swear by the places where the stars set!”’
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī cites Ibn Madawayh, who narrates via a chain going back to Ibn ʿAbbās, from the Prophet: ‘This is indeed a noble Qur’an, in a guarded book—It is with God in purified scrolls—no one touches it except the purified ones—meaning those brought near (al-muqarrabūn).’
Author’s comments: Interpreting the purified ones as referring to those brought near (al-muqarrabūn) supports what we have said above in our commentary on the verse. And we have cited a tradition from Imām al-Ṣādiq concerning the guarded book in our commentary on the verse, This is Our book, which speaks truly against you ().
- In Majmaʿ al-bayān, concerning the verse no one touches it except the purified ones, al-Ṭabrisī says: ‘They say that it is not permitted for one who is in a major state of ritual impurity (junub), a minor state of ritual impurity (muḥdath), or one who is menstruating to touch the codex (muṣḥaf) of the Qurʾan. This is narrated from Muḥammad b. ʿAlī.’
Author’s comments: Touching the codex of the Qurʾan means to touch its written text, as is evident from other narrations on this topic.
- In al-Kāfī, al-Kulaynī narrates via a chain of narrators going back to Dāwud b. Farqad, that he asked Imām al-Ṣādiq about hanging an amulet (taʿwīdh) on someone who is menstruating. He replied, ‘Yes, there is no problem with that.’ He said, ‘She may read it and write it, but her hand should not touch it.’
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī cites ʿAbd al-Razzāq, Ibn Abī Dāwud, and Ibn Mundhir, who narrate from ʿAbd Allāh b. Abī Bakr, from his father that the Prophet’s letter to ʿAmr b. Ḥazam contained the following: ‘And do not touch the Qurʾan unless you are in a state of ritual purity.’
Author’s comments: There are many traditions on this topic from both Sunnī and Shīʿī sources.
- In the same source, Muslim, Ibn Mundhir, and Ibn Mardawayh narrate from Ibn ʿAbbās that during the time of the Messenger of God, the people experienced some rain, and the Prophet said: ‘There are some people who are grateful and others who are ungrateful. The grateful say, “This is a mercy God has granted us.” The ungrateful say, “This rain is a favour that such and such a setting star bestowed upon us.”’ Then the verses were revealed, So I swear not by the places where the stars set … And make your denial of it your provision? ().
Author’s comments: Copious traditions have come down via Sunnī sources that these verses were revealed concerning setting stars, which would suggest they were of Medinan provenance. However, this chapter of the Qurʾan was revealed in Mecca and, as the reader will note, this interpretation does not fit with the context and tone of the verses.
- In Majmaʿ al-bayān, al-Ṭabrisī says that ʿAlī and Ibn ʿAbbās’s recitation of the verse, And make your denial of it your provision (rizqakum)? was actually And make your denial of it your thanks (shukrakum)? And this meaning is also narrated from the Prophet.
Author’s comments: This is narrated in al-Durr al-manthūr, from the Prophet and ʿAlī.
- In Tafsīr al-Qummī, we read: ‘If you are not subject ()—he says, “Meaning if you are not going to be recompensed for your deeds”—restore it—”meaning return the spirit to a person’s body once it reaches their throat”—should you be truthful ().’
- In the same source, it is narrated via a chain from Abū Baṣīr: ‘I heard Abū ʿAbd Allāh say, “Then, if he be of those brought near, then ease, abundance—in the grave—and a garden of bliss—in the Hereafter.”’
- In al-Durr al-manthūr, al-Suyūṭī cites Qāsim b. Manda in his al-Aḥwāl wa al-imān bi al-suʾāl, where he narrates from Salmān: ‘The Messenger of God said, “The first thing that a believer will be given glad tidings of when he dies is of ease, abundance, and a garden of bliss. The first thing he will be given glad tidings of in his grave will be that someone will say to him, “I give you good tidings of God’s satisfaction (riḍā) and paradise, you are most welcome, for God has forgiven the sins of all of those who joined the funeral procession to your grave, and declared truthful those who testified to your righteousness, and answered the supplications of those who pleaded for forgiveness for your sins.”’
- In the same source, al-Suyūṭī cites Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Mundhir, who narrate from Ibn ʿAbbās about the verse, then peace for you from the People of the Right Hand! (): ‘The angels will come with greetings of peace from God, they will invoke peace upon him and inform him that he belongs to the People of the Right Hand.’
Author’s comments: This tradition and others like it are based on the assumption that it is the angels are the ones who are speaking in the verse, which would render the meaning: ‘The angels say, peace for you, because you are from the People of the Right Hand!’ Therefore, this would both be a greeting of peace and a glad tiding for the believer after his death.