Verses 32–48

Chapter 74: Al-Muddaththir (The Cloak) · Printed edition: Volume 39, pp. 144–152

كَلاَّ وَ الْقَمَرِ ٣٢ وَ اللَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ ٣٣ وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا أَسْفَرَ ٣٤ إِنَّها لَإِحْدَى الْكُبَرِ ٣٥ نَذِيراً لِلْبَشَرِ ٣٦ لِمَنْ شاءَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ ٣٧ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِما كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ ٣٨ إِلاَّ أَصْحابَ الْيَمِينِ ٣٩ فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَساءَلُونَ ٤٠ عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ٤١ ما سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ ٤٢ قالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ ٤٣ وَ لَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ ٤٤ وَ كُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخائِضِينَ ٤٥ وَ كُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ ٤٦ حَتَّى أَتانَا الْيَقِينُ ٤٧ فَما تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ ٤٨

32. Nay, by the Moon.
33. And by the night when it recedes.
34. And by the dawn when it shines forth.
35. Indeed it is one of the greatest [signs]
36. —a warning to all humans,
37. [alike] for anyone among you who may wish to advance or to retreat.
38. Every soul is a pledge for what it has earned,
39. except the People of the Right Hand.
40. [They will be] in gardens, questioning one another
41. concerning the guilty:
42. “What drew you into Saqar?”
43. They will answer, “We were not among those who prayed.
44. Nor did we feed the poor.
45. We used to plunge [in vanity] with the plungers,
46. And we used to deny the Day of Judgment,
47. Until the inevitable came to us.”
48. So the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them.

Introduction & Commentary

These verses exonerate the Qur’an from the abovementioned allegations. Contrary to their remarks, it is one of the greatest miracles and communications of God, which is sent to warn all humankind. Adhering to it is sufficient to liberate one’s soul from the bondage of one’s deeds, which lead one toward hell.

كَلاَّ وَ الْقَمَرِ ٣٢

(74:32) Nay, by the Moon.

The exclamation kallā (nay, never, no way) rejects the preceding statements. Al-Kashshāf says:

There are two possible interpretations for the rejection conveyed by kallā: (1) After saying that the Qur’an is an admonition for all humans (), it qualifies the Qur’an’s admonishing capacity for the disbelievers since they refuse to take heed. (2) It states that the Qur’an is indeed a warning (), despite those who are not willing to admit that it is one of the greatest [signs] ().

According to the first interpretation, kallā pertains to the previous verse. According to the second interpretation, it pertains to what is stated later. There is yet another view which we shall present below [under verse ].

وَ اللَّيْلِ إِذْ أَدْبَرَ ٣٣ وَ الصُّبْحِ إِذا أَسْفَرَ ٣٤

(74:33-34) And by the night when it recedes (adbara, from idbār). And by the dawn when it shines forth (asfara, from isfār).

These verses list a series of vows. Idbār (receding, withdrawing, going away) is the opposite of iqbāl (approaching, arriving, coming up). Isfār means “appearing, becoming bright, lighting up.”

إِنَّها لَإِحْدَى الْكُبَرِ ٣٥

(74:35) Indeed it (innahā) is one of the greatest (al-kubar) [signs]

This verse is the complement of the vows in the last three verses. Kubar is the plural of kubrá (greater, greatest). The antecedent of the pronoun “it” is Saqar (). The verse is saying that hell is one of the greatest torments and calamities, unmatched by any other form of suffering. This is a common expression; for instance, a man who is unrivalled by other men is called “one of the men” (aḥad al-rijāl). The meaning is: “I swear by these things that Saqar is indeed one of the greatest calamities—or rather, the greatest—which is meant to warn all humans.”

The above is how the verse has been interpreted by many exegetes. Yet, it is more plausible to say that the negation kallā (nay, never, no way) rejects Walīd’s claims about the Qur’an: “This is nothing but magic handed down. This is only the speech of a mortal” (). Accordingly, the antecedent of the pronoun “it” would be the Qur’an. The meaning is: “The matter is not as he said. Rather, I swear by these things that the Qur’an—that is, the verses of the Qur’an—are among the greatest of divine signs, sent to warn all humans.”

Some exegetes have suggested that this verse serves to justify and explain the negation implied by kallā (). The previous vows do not have a complement since they are stated to emphasize the negation. Alternatively, their complement is understood and implied by kallā.

نَذِيراً لِلْبَشَرِ ٣٦

(74:36) —a warning (nadhīran) to all humans,

Nadhīr here is a maṣdar (infinitive noun, gerund), synonymous with indhār (warning). The meaning is: “It [the Qur’an, or Saqar] is great and tremendous while it is a warning.”

There are some other suggested interpretations here, which are not worthy of discussion. Two of them are: (1) The verse describes the Prophet and connects to the beginning of the chapter. The implied meaning is: “Rise up and warn () as a warner to all humans.” (2) The verse describes God.

لِمَنْ شاءَ مِنْكُمْ أَنْ يَتَقَدَّمَ أَوْ يَتَأَخَّرَ ٣٧

(74:37) [alike] for anyone among you who may wish to advance (yataqaddama, from taqaddum) or to retreat (yataʾakhkhara, from taʾakhkhur).

This verse shows the universality and breadth of the warning mentioned in the last verse. The clause, Those of you is a badal (apposition, replacement, interpretation) for all humans (). To advance or to retreat is the object of “wishing” [in who may wish]. What is meant by taqaddum (stepping forward) is to follow the truth, which would manifest in the form of faith and obedience. Taʾakhkhur (withdrawing, postponing, deviating) means refusing to follow the truth, which would manifest in the form of disbelief and disobedience. The meaning is: “The Qur’an is a warner to everyone without exception, including those of you who wish to follow the truth, and those of you refrain from doing so.”

Another suggested interpretation is:

Taqaddum means hastening toward good deeds, while taʾakhkhur means opting out of it. The verse’s subject and predicate are stated in the opposite order. The subject is the clause, to advance or to retreat, which is marfūʿ in terms of its role. The predicate is for anyone among you who may wish. This is like the statement “It is up to one who makes ablution to pray.” The meaning is: “It is up to anyone who wishes to advance or to retreat, to do so.” This makes the verse comparable to the verse: let anyone who wills believe it, and let anyone who wills disbelieve it ().

كُلُّ نَفْسٍ بِما كَسَبَتْ رَهِينَةٌ ٣٨

(74:38) Every soul is a pledge for what (bi-mā) it has earned (rahīnah),

There are three possible interpretations for the letter bāʾ (in bi-mā): (1) It means maʿa (with). (2) It indicates causality. (3) It indicates reciprocity. Rahīnah is synonymous with rahn (hostage, pledge). This is based on what al-Zamakhsharī says in al-Kashshāf:

The Qur’an says elsewhere: Every man is a hostage (rahīn) to what he has earned (). One may imagine that the word rahīnah in the current verse is the feminine of rahīn in verse , which is made feminine since the word nafs (soul) is feminine. But that is not true, because rahīn is equally applicable to the masculine and the feminine. That is the case when the verbal pattern faʿīl [as in rahīn] conveys the meaning of the accusative case mafʿūl [in this case marhūn, meaning “that which is pledged and held hostage”]. Instead, rahīnah is a noun [not an adjective], which is synonymous with rahn (hostage, pledge). It can be compared with shatīmah, which is synonymous with the noun shatm (abuse, vilification). The effective meaning is: “Every soul is a rahn (hostage, pledge) for what it has done.”

Every soul is a pledge in the sense that God has a right over every soul, where everyone must fulfill their duty to God through faith and righteous deeds. Therefore, every soul is pledged, held and confined with God until they pay their due to Him. If they believe and act righteously, then they will be released and freed. If they disbelieve and sin—and die in such a state—then they will remain confined as a hostage forever. This is a different sense from what is mentioned in the verse: Every man is a hostage to what he has earned (). In that verse, hostage means being tied to one’s deeds, in the sense that one’s actions—whether good or evil—are inseparable from the actor.

This verse serves to explain the reason behind the universal meaning of the last two verses: a warning to all humans, [alike] for anyone among you who may wish to advance or to retreat (). It is because every soul is a pledge to its deeds that everyone must guard themselves against the fire—which is where they shall be confined in case they sin and do not follow the truth.

إِلاَّ أَصْحابَ الْيَمِينِ ٣٩

(74:39) except the People of the Right Hand.

These are the people who receive their records of deeds from the right side. They consist of the average believers who hold true beliefs and do righteous deeds. They are mentioned and described in a number of verses in the Qur’an with this epithet. Hence, the exception in the verse is a connected one.

The exception and the excepted clause together convey that the souls which have earned something can be classified into two groups: (1) those who are held hostage to their deeds, which would be the souls of wrongdoers; (2) those who are freed and released from their pledge, which would be the souls of the People of the Right Hand. There remains a third group, called al-sābiqūn (the foremost ones) and al-muqarrabūn (those who are brought very near to God), whom are mentioned in some places in the Qur’an, such as: you will be three groups… And the foremost ones are the foremost ones: they are the ones brought near [to Allah] (). They have reached the station of servitude, where they do not possess anything: neither their souls, nor the actions of their souls. Their souls and their actions belong to God. That is why they will not be summoned for the reckoning of deeds. God says: So, they will indeed be arraigned [before God]—[all] except Allah’s exclusive servants (). Accordingly, the third category is not part of the excepted clause to begin with.

Here are some other suggested interpretations for the People of the Right Hand:

1. They are the angels.
2. They are Muslim children [who die prematurely].
3. They are those who stood on the right side of Adam on the Day of the Covenant [].
4. They are those to whom there has gone beforehand [the promise of] the best reward from Us ().

Comment: These are clearly implausible views.

فِي جَنَّاتٍ يَتَساءَلُونَ ٤٠ عَنِ الْمُجْرِمِينَ ٤١

(74:40-41) [They will be] in gardens, questioning one another concerning the guilty:

in gardens (jannātin)…: This is a predicate for an omitted subject. The indeterminate form of jannātin indicates greatness and glorification. The implied meaning is: “They will be in gardens that are beyond description.”

… questioning one another concerning the guilty: Those in the gardens, as a whole, will be questioning the guilty, as a whole.

ما سَلَكَكُمْ فِي سَقَرَ ٤٢

(74:42) “What drew you (salakakum) into Saqar?”

What is meant by salakakum is: “What caused you to enter hell?” There are two possible interpretations for the function of this verse: (1) It is an interpretation of what their questioning []. (2) There is an implied verb “say” that is omitted here. The meaning is: “They will say: What drew you into Saqar?”

قالُوا لَمْ نَكُ مِنَ الْمُصَلِّينَ ٤٣

(74:43) They will answer, “We were not among those who prayed.

The antecedent of the pronoun “they” is the guilty (). What is meant by “prayer” (ṣalāh) here is any specific ritual for turning one’s attention to God in worship. This embraces all forms of prayer prescribed in different divine codes of law.

وَ لَمْ نَكُ نُطْعِمُ الْمِسْكِينَ ٤٤

(74:44) Nor did we feed the poor.

Feeding the poor means spending money on the needy members of the society to help them stand on their feet and meet their needs. Feeding the poor represents the fulfillment of people’s right (ḥaqq al-nās), while prayer in the last verse represents fulfilling the rights of God (ḥaqq Allāh).

وَ كُنَّا نَخُوضُ مَعَ الْخائِضِينَ ٤٥

(74:45) We used to plunge (nakhūḍū, from khawḍ) [in vanity] with the plungers,

Khawḍ means “engagement and immersion in any inappropriate act or speech.”

وَ كُنَّا نُكَذِّبُ بِيَوْمِ الدِّينِ ٤٦

(74:46) And we used to deny the Day of Judgment,

This verse refers to the Day of Retribution. A guilty soul is one who is prone to one or more of the four vices enumerated in these verses. Since the verses are a collective response by all the guilty, it is correct to attribute all of these four qualities to them as a group, even though not every individual among them may suffer from all four.

حَتَّى أَتانَا الْيَقِينُ ٤٧

(74:47) Until the inevitable (al-yaqīn) came to us.”

This verse qualifies the denial mentioned in the last verse. Al-yaqīn (the inevitable, the certainty) has been interpreted as death, since it will undoubtedly occur. The meaning would be: “We continually denied the Day of Judgment until death overtook us and terminated our life in the world.” In other words: “We denied the Day of Judgment throughout our lifetime.”

Al-yaqīn has also been interpreted as the certitude that one attains by observing the signs of the hereafter and the realm of barzakh (the intermediate realm between this life and the resurrection) at the time of death and after that. This is a plausible interpretation.

فَما تَنْفَعُهُمْ شَفاعَةُ الشَّافِعِينَ ٤٨

(74:48) So the intercession of the intercessors will not avail them.

In our previous discussion on intercession (shafāʿah), we stated that according to this verse, there will be some intercessors who will intercede for others [on the Day of Resurrection], but the guilty will not benefit from their intercession since they fall short of its conditions. We also presented numerous narrations about intercession in the first volume of this book.

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1. The pronoun “it” (the ending hā in innahā) is feminine on the account that the Qur’an consists of verses (āyāt). It could also be in accordance with the predicate of the verse. (Auth.)

   Āyāt is the plural of āyah, which is feminine. The predicate of the sentence—is one of the greatest (la-iḥdá al-kubar)—is also feminine. (Trans.) ↩︎

2. The ambiguity about Saqar—Ah, and what do you know of Saqar ()—is already clarified in verses . The author’s interpretation is more plausible since the Qur’an is the very theme and focal point in Walīd’s story above, and the ending verses of the chapter below. (Trans.) ↩︎

3. The meaning would be: “Since these verses are among the greatest signs of God, it follows that the case is not, by any means whatsoever, as they have imagined.” (Trans.) ↩︎

4. Nadhīran (warning) is manṣūb in terms of inflection since it functions as a tamyīz (specification, discrimination, clarification). According to some exegetes, it functions as a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier, participial phrase) for the subject of the last verse, as understood from the context. (Auth.)

   The meaning above is based on nadhīran being a ḥāl. If it is a tamyīz, the meaning would be: “The Qur’an is one of the greatest—that is, greatest warnings—to all humans.” (Trans.) ↩︎

5. The meaning would be: “God is a warner to all humans,” where “God” is implied. (Trans.) ↩︎

6. The order is reversed because the implied meaning is: “Praying is up to anyone who has made ablution.” (Trans.) ↩︎

7. The two meanings are similar, and both can be confirmed by verses below. (Trans.) ↩︎

8. The meanings would accordingly be: (1) “Every soul will be held hostage next to its deeds.” (2) “Every soul will be hold hostage because of its deeds.” (3) “Every soul will be hold hostage in return for its deeds.” (Trans.) ↩︎

9. In other words, shatīmah does not mean “abusive” but “abuse.” Similarly, rahīnah does not mean “pledging” but “pledge.” Gender would make a difference if the terms are interpreted as adjectives (like abusive and pledging), but not if they are interpreted as nouns (like abuse and pledge). (Trans.) ↩︎

10. A “connected exception” (istithnāʾ muttaṣil) is an ordinary exception, where what is excepted is a member of the original group. Its opposite is an “unconnected exception” (istithnāʾ munqaṭiʿ, istithnāʾ munfaṣil), where what is excepted is not a member of the original group. Such exceptions effectively convey two independent statements. (Trans.) ↩︎

11. Another possibility is that this phrase serves as a ḥāl (circumstantial qualifier, participial phrase) for the People of the Right Hand (). (Auth.)

    The meaning would be: “Every soul will be held hostage except for the People of the Right Hand, who will instead be in gardens.” (Trans.) ↩︎

12. See volume 1, of the English translation, under verses . (Trans.) ↩︎

13. See volume 1, of the English translation, under verses . (Trans.) ↩︎