Verses 23–31
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ تَنْزِيلاً ٢٣ فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَ لا تُطِعْ مِنْهُمْ آثِماً أَوْ كَفُوراً ٢٤ وَ اذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَ أَصِيلاً ٢٥ وَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَاسْجُدْ لَهُ وَ سَبِّحْهُ لَيْلاً طَوِيلاً ٢٦ إِنَّ هؤُلاءِ يُحِبُّونَ الْعاجِلَةَ وَ يَذَرُونَ وَراءَهُمْ يَوْماً ثَقِيلاً ٢٧ نَحْنُ خَلَقْناهُمْ وَ شَدَدْنا أَسْرَهُمْ وَ إِذا شِئْنا بَدَّلْنا أَمْثالَهُمْ تَبْدِيلاً ٢٨ إِنَّ هذِهِ تَذْكِرَةٌ فَمَنْ شاءَ اتَّخَذَ إِلى رَبِّهِ سَبِيلاً ٢٩ وَ ما تَشاؤُنَ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كانَ عَلِيماً حَكِيماً ٣٠ يُدْخِلُ مَنْ يَشاءُ فِي رَحْمَتِهِ وَ الظَّالِمِينَ أَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذاباً أَلِيماً ٣١
- Indeed We, We have gradually sent down to you the Qur’an, a gradual descent.
- So submit patiently to your Lord’s command, and do not obey any sinner or disbeliever among them,
- And remember the name of your Lord morning and evening,
- and prostrate to Him for a watch of the night and glorify Him the night long.
- Indeed they love the immediate, and neglect a weighty day behind them.
- We created them and tautened their joints, and whenever We will, We shall replace them with others like them.
- This is indeed a reminder. So let anyone who wills take the way toward his Lord.
- But you do not will unless it is willed by Allah. Indeed Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
- He admits whomever He wills into His mercy, and as for the wrongdoers, He has prepared for them a painful punishment.
Introduction & Commentary
The previous verses discussed the reward of the righteous, including the eternal bliss and the grand estate that is assigned to them for their patience in the way of God. These verses address the Prophet and order him to wait for God’s command, and not obey the sinners and disbelievers who are fascinated with the transitory life, who cling to this world, and who are neglectful of the hereafter. That would include the polytheists, as well as other unbelievers, hypocrites, and those who pursue their base desires. The verses also command the Prophet to remember his Lord, to prostrate before Him, and to glorify Him at all times. The verses then generalizes the address to all of his nation by saying: This is indeed a reminder. So let anyone who wills take the way toward his Lord ().
This is how the second part of the chapter [] can be connected to the first group of the verses and its theme. Nevertheless, the current set of verses resemble Meccan verses in terms of their overall message and context. Granted that they are Meccan, it means that the first section of the chapter [] was revealed in Medina, and the rest in Mecca.
إِنَّا نَحْنُ نَزَّلْنا عَلَيْكَ الْقُرْآنَ تَنْزِيلاً ٢٣
(76:23) Indeed We (innā), We (naḥnu) have gradually sent down (nazzalnā) to you the Qur’an, a gradual descent (tanzīlan).
The gradual revelations of the Qur’an are entirely from God alone. They are neither what Satan inspires, nor based on personal desires. The verse emphasizes this message in three ways: (1) It begins by innā (indeed We). (2) Even though the word innā includes the pronoun “We,” the pronoun is repeated once again as naḥnu (We). (3) The verb nazzalnā (We have gradually sent down) is confirmed by the word tanzīlan (a gradual descent) at the end, which serves as an an absolute object (mafʿūl muṭlaq).
فَاصْبِرْ لِحُكْمِ رَبِّكَ وَ لا تُطِعْ مِنْهُمْ آثِماً أَوْ كَفُوراً ٢٤
(76:24) So submit patiently to your Lord’s command, and do not obey any sinner or disbeliever among them,
The letter fāʾ (so, then, therefore) at the beginning of this verse indicates that this statement is drawn as a conclusion to the message of the last verse. Given that God is the One Who has sent down the Qur’an upon the Prophet, it follows that any command in the Qur’an is God’s command, which means something that must be followed. The meaning is: Since its revelation is from Us, any command in it is your Lord’s command. Therefore you must patiently obey it: So submit patiently to your Lord’s command.”
… and do not obey any sinner or disbeliever (kafūran) among them: Since the conjunction “or” is used in a prohibitive statement here, it serves to expand the prohibition. Whether the person is only a sinner or a disbeliever, or both, the Prophet should not obey them. Apparently, what is meant by ‘sinner’ is one who is accustomed to sinning, and kafūr is one who is deeply rooted in kufr (disbelief, ungratefulness). Therefore, the verse includes not only disbelievers, but also the sinners [among believers].
The verse first orders the Prophet to submit patiently to God’s command, and then forbids him from obeying the sinners and the disbelievers. This order of expression suggests that the subsequent prohibition explains what is meant by the initial command. The meaning is: “Do not obey the sinners and disbelievers among them when they invite you to their sin and disbelief, because their sin and disbelief are against the command of your Lord.”
Instead of saying, “do not obey them” [using a pronoun or a proper noun], the verse refers to them using their attributes of sinning and disbelief. This style of expression implies justification. That is, the Prophet is prohibited from obeying them because of their sin and disbelief. The two qualities serve to justify an absolute prohibition, not a qualified one. It does not mean that the Prophet should not obey them only when they call him to their sin and disbelief, but he should strictly abstain from obeying them whatsoever.
وَ اذْكُرِ اسْمَ رَبِّكَ بُكْرَةً وَ أَصِيلاً ٢٥
(76:25) And remember the name of your Lord morning (bukrah) and evening (aṣīlan),
The verse means: “Remember your Lord persistently,” where what is meant by remembrance is the prayer (ṣalāh). Bukrah is synonymous with ghduww (morning), and aṣīl is synonymous with ʿashī (evening, afternoon).
وَ مِنَ اللَّيْلِ فَاسْجُدْ لَهُ وَ سَبِّحْهُ لَيْلاً طَوِيلاً ٢٦
(76:26) and prostrate to Him for a watch of (min) the night and glorify Him the night long.
The preposition min (of, from) is partitive. What is meant by prostration here is the prayer (ṣalāh). It is possible to say that this verse and the last one—about remembering God in the morning and the afternoon and prostrating to Him during some part of the night—correspond to the Morning (fajr), the Afternoon (ʿasr), the Sunset (maghrib) and the Evening (ʿishāʾ) obligatory prayers. This can confirm the view that these verses were revealed in Mecca, before the five daily prayers were legislated with the revelation of the verse: Maintain the prayer from the sun’s decline till the darkness of the night, and [observe particularly] the dawn recital (). Hence, this verse and the last one can be compared to the verses: Maintain the prayer at the two ends of the day, and during the early hours of the night (); and celebrate the praise of your Lord before the rising of the sun and before the sunset, and glorify Him in watches of the night and at the day’s ends (). According to some exegetes, assuming that the word aṣīl () is applicable to the entire afternoon, it would include both the Noon (ẓuhr) and the Afternoon prayers. This is an acceptable possibility.
… and glorify Him the night long: What is meant by glorification here is the Night Prayer (ṣalāt al-layl). There are two possible interpretations for the linguistic construction of this phrase: (1) The preposition fī (in, during) is implied, and “long” is a descriptive—not restrictive—adjective for night. (2) “Long” is an adjective for an omitted absolute object (mafʿūl muṭlaq). The implied meaning is: “Glorify God at night, a long glorification.”
إِنَّ هؤُلاءِ يُحِبُّونَ الْعاجِلَةَ وَ يَذَرُونَ وَراءَهُمْ يَوْماً ثَقِيلاً ٢٧
(76:27) Indeed they love the immediate, and neglect (yadharūna) a weighty day behind them (warāʾahum).
This verse justifies the abovementioned commands and prohibitions. The pronoun “they” refers to all sinners and disbelievers, who were mentioned indefinitely in a prohibitive statement [in verse ]. The immediate means worldly life. The day is the Day of Resurrection. It is metaphorically described as heavy, indicating its gravity and intensity. It is as though the day is a heavy burden that is difficult to endure.
The Day of Resurrection is ahead of them, but it is called behind them in the sense that it will inevitably overtake them, since the word warāʾ (behind, beyond) implies encompassment (iḥāṭah). Another possibility is that it is behind them in the sense that they have disregarded it, assuming that yadharūna implies iʿrāḍ (turning away, averting).
The meaning is: “Submit patiently to the command of your Lord, establish the prayer, and do not obey the sinners and disbelievers among them, because they love this transitory life. Thus all their work is for this world. They neglect a grievous day that is ahead of them—or they neglectfully throw it behind their backs, while it is an intense day that they will certainly meet.”
نَحْنُ خَلَقْناهُمْ وَ شَدَدْنا أَسْرَهُمْ وَ إِذا شِئْنا بَدَّلْنا أَمْثالَهُمْ تَبْدِيلاً ٢٨
(76:28) We created them and tautened (shadadnā, from shadd) their joints (asrahum), and whenever We will, We shall replace them with others like them.
Shadd (strengthen, make firm, tie) is the antonym of fakk (release, disconnect, untie). Asr is a maṣdar (infinitive noun, gerund) which is originally synonymous with shadd (tightening, firmly connecting). There are two possible interpretations for its usage here: (1) It denotes the means and instruments of connecting and tying. The meaning would be: “We have tautened their joints with sinews, nerves and muscles.” (2) It denotes the object that is connected and tied. The meaning would be: “We have made firm the tie between their various limbs and organs, such that they all work together and constitute a single human body.”
… and whenever We will, We shall replace them with others like them: Whenever We wish, We can substitute them with other people, who are no less human than them. That is, We can take them away and bring another group like them to take their place. That is when God destroys one generation and brings to existence another. Another suggested meaning is: “We can replace their worldly existence with the hereafter.” However, this is not apparent from the theme and context of the verse.
This verse is effectively an answer to an implied question (called a prolepsis). One could imagine that by loving this world and disregarding the hereafter [], these people have rendered God helpless, and have defeated His purpose that they should believe and obey. The verse responds to this impression by saying that these people are all God’s creatures. He has created them and tautened their joints. And He may take them away and bring others instead of them whenever He wills. So how could they outstrip Him when all their creation, affairs, life and death are in His hands?
إِنَّ هذِهِ تَذْكِرَةٌ فَمَنْ شاءَ اتَّخَذَ إِلى رَبِّهِ سَبِيلاً ٢٩
(76:29) This is indeed a reminder. So let anyone who wills take the way toward his Lord.
The demonstrative pronoun “This” refers to the content of the chapter. We interpreted this verse in Sūrah al-Muzzammil above ().
وَ ما تَشاؤُنَ إِلاَّ أَنْ يَشاءَ اللَّهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ كانَ عَلِيماً حَكِيماً ٣٠
(76:30) But you do not will unless it is willed by Allah. Indeed Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
The exception in this verse pertains to anyone who wills (). This is a subtle point: it means that the people’s will—not their action—depends on God’s will. God’s will does not directly affect the people’s actions, but it first affects their will. Hence, His will does not override or cancel the volition of a servant, and does not result in jabr (compulsion, determinism, predestination). This also means that the people are not independent actors and decision makers, to do whatever they wish whether God wills it or not. Their acts are voluntary since they can be legitimately attributed to their volition. However, their volition itself is not voluntary, meaning that they cannot choose to have free will or not. We have repeatedly discussed this in many places.
This verse serves to clarify the audience’s impression that they are independent in their will, regardless of their Lord’s will. Perhaps this is why there is a shift of address from the third person to the second person in this verse: But you do not will unless it is willed by Allah. There is also a shift of person in how the verse refers to God, from the first person plural in the last verse to the third person singular: it is willed by Allah. Indeed Allah is. This transition substantiates the message of the verse, because God is referred to as Allah, Who is the origin and end of all things. Given His position—as Allah—there can be no will or impact in the world unless He wills it.
… Indeed Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise: This is prelude to what is stated in the next verse.
يُدْخِلُ مَنْ يَشاءُ فِي رَحْمَتِهِ وَ الظَّالِمِينَ أَعَدَّ لَهُمْ عَذاباً أَلِيماً ٣١
(76:31) He admits whomever He wills into His mercy, and as for the wrongdoers, He has prepared for them a painful punishment.
The object of He wills is omitted, but it can be inferred from the verse. The implied meaning is: “He admits into His mercy whomever He wills to be admitted into His mercy.” Of course, He wills this only for the believers and the Godwary. The case of others—which are the sinners and the disbelievers—is clarified by the second half of the verse: and as for the wrongdoers, He has prepared for them a painful punishment. This verse describes God’s ongoing and consistent custom in how He deals with His servants in terms of their eternal felicity and wretchedness. The last part of the previous verse justifies this custom of God: Indeed Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. This means that God’s custom is not arbitrary or based on ignorance. Rather, He treats every group of people as they deserve, and He will soon inform all of them about the reality of their deeds.
Examining Narrations
- Concerning and do not obey any sinner or disbeliever among them () Qatādah said: We have been told that this was revealed with reference to God’s enemy Abū Jahl.
Author’s comment: This is apparently an application (taṭbīq) of the verse [not its original cause of revelation, and not its exclusive meaning].
- Concerning and glorify Him the night long () Aḥmad b. Muḥammad inquired from Imam al-Riḍā: “What is meant by glorification here?” The Imam said, “The Night Prayer (ṣalāt al-layl).”
- Part of Imam al-Mahdī’s speech with Kāmil b. Ibrāhīm al-Madanī was: And you have also come to inquire about the view of mufawwiḍah. They have lied. Rather, our hearts are receptacles for the will of the Almighty God. Whenever He wills [and whatever He wills], we shall will as well. He says: But you do not will unless it is willed by Allah ().
- The Messenger of God frequently said in his sermons: Anything that is coming is near; that which shall [inevitably] come is not far. God does not hasten because of anyone’s haste. What God wills [shall occur], not what the people will. There is that which people will, and there is that which God wills: that which God wills shall occur, even if the people dislike it. Nothing can postpone what God has advanced, and nothing can advance what God has postponed. Nothing happens except with God’s leave.
Author’s comment: There are also some narrations from the Ahl al-Bayt which match their wilāyah (divine guardianship, spiritual authority) with the word ḥukm (command, rule, judgment) in the verses, So submit patiently to your Lord’s command (), and the word mercy in the verse, He admits whomever He wills into His mercy (). These should be understood as either extending the verses to another context (called jary), or offering a hidden layer of meaning. They are not an interpretation for the apparent and primary meaning of the verses (called tafsīr).
The word ḥukm (command) could also mean “rule, judgment.” In that case, the verse is ordering the Prophet to remain patient with his people and their persecution until God’s judgment about them comes to pass, either in this world or the next. In other words, li-ḥukm Rabbika (for your Lord’s command) means ḥattá yaḥkuma Rabbuka (until your Lord judges). This can be confirmed by other similar Qur’anic usages of ḥukm, as in verses , , , . (Trans.) ↩︎
These verses (, , ) have been matched with the Meccan period before the legislation of the five daily prayers because they apparently do not include all the five timings. (Trans.) ↩︎
Another plausible view is that these times are not literally or specifically, but they are a way of saying, “at all times.” One must strive to be constantly mindful of the Absolute. This is perhaps what is meant when the Qur’an talks about remembrance (dhikr) or glorification (tasbīḥ) in general, as opposed to prayer (ṣalāh) in particular. (Trans.) ↩︎
The implied meaning is: “Glorify God during the night, which is long.” (Trans.) ↩︎
The use of the indefinite form (nakirah) in a negative or prohibitive statement implies inclusion and universality. (Trans.) ↩︎
See verses and above. Also see vol. 1, pp. 143 and 162ff of the English translation, under verses and ; vol. 2, pp. 209ff and 271-272, under verses and ; vol. 13, pp. 25ff and 81ff, under verses and ; vol. 15, p. 65, under verses . (Trans.) ↩︎
This is inferred from the use of the present tense in the verse, which indicates something ongoing. (Trans.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr and Ibn Abī Ḥātim. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. ↩︎
What is meant here by tafwīḍ (delegation, entrustment, empowerment) is not the opposite of jabr (compulsion, determinism, predestination). Rather, it refers to the belief that God’s power and the affairs of His creation have been delegated and entrusted to the Infallibles. (Trans.) ↩︎
Al-Kharāʾij wa al-jarāʾiḥ. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of Ibn Shihāb, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. ↩︎