Verses 1–22
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of God, the All-Merciful, the Ever-Merciful.
This sūrah was revealed in Mecca and consists of 22 verses. It comprises of warning and glad tiding. It harshly criticizes those who persecuted the believing men and women for their faith in God, which is what the polytheists in Mecca used to do to those who had believed in the Prophet. They persecuted the believers to force them to revert to their former polytheism. Some of those believers persevered patiently and did not turn back on Islam, regardless of what it entailed for them. Others reneged and returned—that was the case of the weak believers, as described elsewhere: Among the people there are those who say, “We have faith in Allah,” but if such a one is tormented in Allah’s cause, he takes persecution by the people for Allah’s punishment (); And among the people are those who worship Allah on the [very] fringe: if good fortune befalls him, he is content with it; but if an ordeal visits him he makes a turnabout ().
As a prelude to this main theme, God first alludes to the story of the People of the Ditch, which itself encourages the believers to be steadfast and patient in God’s way. Later, He makes reference to the story of the hosts—namely, Pharaoh and Thamūd—which gives assurance to the Prophet about God’s promise of support, and threatens the polytheists. The sūrah is Meccan as its content shows.
Commentary
وَ السَّماءِ ذاتِ الْبُرُوجِ ١
(85:1) By the heaven, possessed of constellations (al-burūj)!
Burūj is the plural of burj, which means “that which is visible and apparent.” It is commonly used for castles since they stand out in view. It is also used for watch towers that are built on top of city walls for protection. That is what is meant here, as per the verse: Certainly We have appointed constellations in the heaven and adorned them for the onlookers, and We have guarded them from every outcast Satan (). Accordingly, burūj here means the position of heavenly bodies. Some exegetes have interpreted burūj in its astronomical sense, referring to the twelve signs of the zodiac. However, this is implausible.
The verse vows by the heaven which is protected by constellations. This vow is concordant with the warning and glad tiding that come next, as we shall explain below.
وَ الْيَوْمِ الْمَوْعُودِ ٢
(85:2) By the Promised Day!
The verse vows by the Promised Day, which is the Day of Resurrection. That is when God has promised to judge among His servants.
وَ شاهِدٍ وَ مَشْهُودٍ ٣
(85:3) By the Witness and by the Witnessed!
This verse offers two further oaths, added to the heaven (). Hence, these verses [] offer a series of four vows which serve the purpose of the chapter. As we said, the chapter’s message is a vehement criticism of those who persecute the believing men and women for their faith, and a graceful promise to those who believe and do righteous deeds.
It is as though the verses are saying: “I swear by the heaven which has heavenly stations through which God deflects the devils: God will indeed ward off from believers the stratagems of devils and their companions among the disbelievers. I swear by the Promised Day when everyone will be compensated for their deeds; I swear by the Witness who observes the deeds of the disbelievers and their mistreatment of the believers for their faith; I swear by the Witnessed which shall be observed and seen by everyone: Indeed those who persecute the faithful men and women… ().”
Given our explanation, what is meant by the word shahādah (witnessing, testifying) in this verse—both in shāhid (witness) and in mashḥud (witnessed)—is “being present in a scene,” not “testifying in a court.” This means that the Witness can be matched with the Prophet because he observes the deeds of his nation in this world, and will then testify to that on the Day of Resurrection. Then there are three possible interpretations for the Witnessed: (1) The persecution and torture of the believers by the disbelievers. (2) The disbelievers’ retribution for this act. (3) What will come to pass on the Day of Resurrection, including the punishments of the oppressors and the rewards of the oppressed. In the original Arabic, both shāhid (witness) and mashhūd (witnessed) are mentioned in the indefinite form, which indicates aggrandizement and glorification.
Exegetes have offered many interpretations for, by the Witness and the Witnessed, in some cases reaching thirty views. Here are some of their suggestions:
- The Witnessed is Friday. The Witnessed is the Day of ʿArafah.
- The Witnessed is the Day of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha, Yawm al-Naḥr). The Witnessed is the Day of ʿArafah.
- The Witness is the Day of ʿArafah. The Witnessed is the Day of Resurrection.
- The Witness is the angel which will testify against humankind. The Witnessed is the Day of Resurrection.
- The Witness are those who will testify against the people [on the Day of Judgment]. The Witnessed are those who are testified against.
- The Witness is this nation [of Muslims]. The Witnessed are the other nations.
- The Witness are one’s organs and limbs. The Witnessed is one’s soul.
- The Witness is the Black Stone (al-ḥajar al-aswad, in the southeastern corner of the Kaʿbah). The Witnessed are the pilgrims.
- The Witness are nights and days. The Witnessed is humankind.
- The Witness are the prophets. The Witnessed is Prophet Muḥammad.
- The Witness is God. The Witnessed is lā ilāh illā Allāh (there is no god but God).
- The Witness are the creatures. The Witnessed is the Truth [that is, God].
- The Witness is God. The Witnessed is the Day of Resurrection.
- The Witness is Adam and his descendants. The Witnessed is the Day of Resurrection.
- The Witness is the Day of Tarwiyah (eighth of Dhū al-Ḥijjah). The Witnessed is the Day of ʿArafah (ninth of Dhū al-Ḥijjah).
- The Witness is Monday. The Witnessed is Friday.
- The Witness are al-muqarrabūn (those brought nigh, the near most ones). The Witnessed is ʿIlliyyūn [].
- The Witness is the infant in the story of the People of the Ditch, who said to his mother, “Be patient, for indeed you are on the right path.” The Witnessed is that incident.
- The Witness are the angels which replace one another [every day and night] to record the deeds. The Witnessed is the dawn recital ().
Comment: As one can see, most of these views assume shahādah (witnessing, testifying) to mean “delivering a testimony in the court.” Moreover, some of them have not applied a consistent sense of shahādah to the Witness and the Witnessed. We already explained that shahādah in the sense of testimony is not a plausible meaning here. Rather, it is more congruent with the context to interpret shahādah as “observation, seeing,” though that may entail delivering what one has observed in the court of God on the Day of Resurrection.
The Witness can plausibly be matched with the Prophet. This should be of no surprise because God has called him shāhid (witness) and shahīd (ever-witness) in the Qur’an: O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness (shāhidan), as a bearer of good news and as a warner (); So that the Messenger may be a witness (shahīdan) to you (). We already explained the meaning of witnessing the actions [of people] by the witnesses.
The complement to the vows in these verses [] is omitted, but can be inferred from two verses below: Indeed those who persecute the faithful men and women… (). It can also be inferred from the next verses: Perish the People of the Ditch… (ff). The vows emphasize the underlying message of these verses, which is twofold: (1) threatening the persecutors; and (2) promising the righteous believers [at the time of the Prophet] that if they persevere sincerely like the believers in the story of the People of the Ditch, God will fortify them to patiently preserve their faith from the schemes of those who plot against them.
قُتِلَ أَصْحابُ الْأُخْدُودِ ٤
(85:4) Perish (qutila) the People of the Ditch (al-ukhdūd)!
This verse is not a complement to the oaths in the previous verses []. Rather, it alludes to a story that prepares the ground for a subsequent verse: Indeed those who persecute the faithful men and women… ().
Ukhdūd means “furrow, trench, pit.” The People of the Ditch were oppressors who dug ditches in the ground, filled them with fire, and ordered believers to jump into them. Thus they burnt all of the believers as a price for their faith. Therefore, the verb qutila is meant in its imperative sense (perish, damn, kill), as an imprecation on them. What is meant by qatl (killing) here is being driven away and deprived from God’s mercy.
Some have suggested that the People of the Ditch are the believing men and women who were burnt in those ditches, and the verb qutila is meant in the past tense (killed), asserting their murder through burning. This view is unlikely given the pronouns in three verses below: above which they (); as they were themselves witnesses to what they did (); They were vindictive (). These pronouns refer to the People of the Ditch in the current verse, but they can only be matched with the persecutors, not the victims—especially in the second and third cases [].
النَّارِ ذاتِ الْوَقُودِ ٥
(85:5) The fire, abounding in fuel (al-waqūd),
This verse is a badal (apposition, replacement, interpretation) for the Ditch (). Waqūd is “any substance that produces fire” such as logs and the like. Describing the fire as abounding in fuel indicates its great size, intensity and heat.
إِذْ هُمْ عَلَيْها قُعُودٌ ٦
(85:6) above which they sat
The verse describes the state of the oppressors: they were sitting around the fire, with full view of it.
وَ هُمْ عَلى ما يَفْعَلُونَ بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ شُهُودٌ ٧
(85:7) as they were themselves witnesses to what they did to the faithful.
They were present at the scene, watching how they burnt the believers, and how they were consumed.
وَ ما نَقَمُوا مِنْهُمْ إِلاَّ أَنْ يُؤْمِنُوا بِاللَّهِ الْعَزِيزِ الْحَمِيدِ ٨
(85:8) They were vindictive towards them only because they had faith in Allah, the Ever-Mighty, the Ever-Praiseworthy,
Naqam means “intense dislike.” The meaning is: “They hated the believers simply for their belief in God. The believers were burnt solely on a charge of faith.”
الَّذِي لَهُ مُلْكُ السَّماواتِ وَ الْأَرْضِ وَ اللَّهُ عَلى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ شَهِيدٌ ٩
(85:9) to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is witness to all things.
This verse, as well as the ending of the last verse, present several attributes of God which prove a few points: (i) The believers were rightful in their faith. (ii) The way they were treated was unjust. (iii) God is well aware of what they endured. (iv) He will give them an excellent reward. As corollaries of these points, we can also deduce the following: (v) The oppressors’ beliefs were false. (vi) They were defiant to God. (vii) What they did was unjust. (viii) Soon they will taste the consequence of their deeds.
The divine attributes in these verses can be elaborated as follows:
- The Ever-Mighty: He is an Invincible Lord that can never be defeated whatsoever.
- The Ever-Praiseworthy: All His acts are fair and splendid. These two qualities imply that all majesty (jalāl) and beauty (jamāl) belongs to Him. Thus, it is incumbent on His servants to be humble before Him, and to not incur His wrath.
- To whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth: He is the absolute sovereign of the universe. All command and judgment belongs to Him. This means that He is the Lord of all worlds. Hence, it is incumbent on His servants to worship Him as their God, and to not associate any partners with Him. This means that those who believe in Him have hit the mark, while the disbelievers are lost in the dark.
- And Allah is witness to all things: No part of His creation or the acts they perform is veiled from God, Who is the Creator of all things. The good deeds of the virtuous and the evil deeds of the sinners are all present with Him. Thus, He will requite them all according to their actions.
In short, since God is characterized by these noble attributes, it was incumbent on the believers to believe in Him, and the oppressors had no right to interfere in their affair or persecute them.
Some exegetes have said: The polytheists believed in God, albeit as a retired architect. They persecuted the believers not because of their faith in God, but because of their denial of the other gods. They did not recognize the God that the believers subscribed to [with the attributes that the believers held for Him]. This effectively reduces to denying the true God Who is characterized by the above mentioned attributes of majesty and beauty. That is why the verses state these qualities as the main problem of the polytheists.
Comment: This view suffers from not realizing that the polytheists—or idolaters—only ascribed the initial creation and existence of the world to God. Their problem was denying God of two further attributes, and holding them true only for their idols: (1) rubūbiyyah (lordship, authority, mastership), which means the direction and management of the universe; and (2) ulūhiyyah (divinity, godship), which qualifies one for being served and worshiped. That is why they only worshiped their gods, not their gods along with God. They viewed God only as the Lord of the lords and the Deity of the deities.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ فَتَنُوا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَ الْمُؤْمِناتِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَتُوبُوا فَلَهُمْ عَذابُ جَهَنَّمَ وَ لَهُمْ عَذابُ الْحَرِيقِ ١٠
(85:10) Indeed those who persecute (fatanū, from fitnah) the faithful men and women, and then do not repent, for them there is the punishment of hell, and for them there is the punishment of burning.
Fitnah means “torture, trouble, distress.” Those who persecute are meant in a broad sense, including not only the People of the Ditch, but also the polytheists of Quraysh who persecuted the followers of the Prophet. They would inflict a variety of tortures on these believing men and women in order to make them abandon their faith.
Majmaʿ al-bayān says:
One may inquire: “How come the verse mentions the punishment of hell and the punishment of burning separately? Are they not the same?” The answer is: This is to show that their punishment will not be limited to burning. They will have other forms of pain in hell in addition to the fire, such as Zaqqūm [, , ], pus (ghislīn) [] and clubs [].
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَ عَمِلُوا الصَّالِحاتِ لَهُمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهارُ ذلِكَ الْفَوْزُ الْكَبِيرُ ١١
(85:11) Indeed those who have faith and do righteous deeds—for them will be gardens with streams running in them. That is the supreme success.
This verse gives glad tidings to the believers to comfort their souls, just as the last verse was a strong warning against the disbelievers who persecute and torture the believers.
إِنَّ بَطْشَ رَبِّكَ لَشَدِيدٌ ١٢
(85:12) Indeed your Lord’s seizure (baṭsh) is severe.
These seven verses [] confirm and emphasize the warning and glad tidings in the previous verses. According to al-Rāghib, baṭsh (strike, assault, punishment) means “seizing something forcefully and/or fiercely.” This verse consoles the Prophet’s soul by promising him support and victory. This is reflected in two points: (1) The verse refers to God as Lord. (2) It ascribes Lord to the Prophet: your Lord. It means: “The oppressors in your nation will also have their fair share of the above mentioned castigation.”
إِنَّهُ هُوَ يُبْدِئُ وَ يُعِيدُ ١٣
(85:13) It is indeed He Who originates (yubdiʾu, from ibdāʾ) and brings back again (yuʿīdu, from iʿādah).
Ibdāʾ (to disclose, to display) in this verse is used synonymously with badʾ (to originate, to begin). This can be inferred from its contrast with iʿādah (to return, to restore). Some have said: “There is no such word as ibdāʾ among Arabs, but that is how the verse is recited.” Some rare recitations say: yabdaʾu (He begins, He initiates; from badʾ).
This verse provides two reasons for the message of the last verse, justifying why your Lord’s seizure is severe (): (1) He brings to existence anything that He wills originally, without resorting to assistance from anything or anyone else. (2) He restores any being or state that expires to how it was before it expired. These two qualities prove God’s omnipotence over anything that He wills. No transient being can escape Him. If so, it follows that He can inflict on a servant who transgresses His limits a punishment that is beyond the servant’s capacity, and can maintain the servant in that condition so that they would continue to taste the punishment. God says: As for the faithless there is for them the fire of hell: they will neither be done away with so that they may die, nor shall its punishment be lightened for them (). Likewise, He is capable of bringing anything that is destroyed by punishment back to its original form so that the sinner may suffer the pain endlessly: Indeed those who defy Our signs, We shall soon make them enter a Fire: as often as their skins become scorched, We shall replace them with other skins, so that they may taste the punishment ().
Our explanations should clarify three points: (1) The verse’s expression—It is indeed He Who originates—indicates exclusivity. That is, the origination and return of existence are the jurisdiction of God alone. This is because it is God alone Who creates and gives existence. (2) God is the One Who sets the limits where things end at. If He wills, He can choose to not limit something, or to change its limit. He has set the limit of punishment and torture in this world to be death. But if He chooses to, He can lift that limit, as in the case of punishment in the hereafter. (3) His baṭsh (seizure, assault, strike) is severe [] in the sense that no one can deflect His seizing; no one can overcome anything that He commands. The only possibility is that one divine command may qualify and take precedence over another.
وَ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الْوَدُودُ ١٤
(85:14) And He is the Ever-forgiving, the Ever-Lover,
These two attributes refer to God’s abundant forgiveness and love. They correspond to His good promise to the believers, just as verse (Indeed your Lord’s seizure…) pertains to His warning to the disbelievers.
ذُو الْعَرْشِ الْمَجِيدُ ١٥
(85:15) Lord of the Throne (al-ʿarsh), the Ever-Glorious (al-Majīd),
ʿArsh means “a king’s throne.” Lord of the Throne is used metaphorically, indicating God’s sovereignty. He is a King that can exercise absolute authority over His kingdom, and can rule as He wills. Majīd means possessor of majd, which is “spiritual greatness and magnificence.” This amounts to perfection in terms of essence and attributes.
فَعَّالٌ لِما يُرِيدُ ١٦
(85:16) Doer of what He wills.
No one can impede God from His will and decree. This applies to both internal impediments—such as boredom, sloth, exhaustion and change of mind—as well as external ones.
The last two verses [] prove that God has the right and power to threaten those who persecute the believers with hell, and to promise paradise to those who believe and do righteous deeds. This is because He is Lord of the Throne, the Ever-Glorious (). And He does not break His promise since He is the Doer of what He wills ().
هَلْ أَتاكَ حَدِيثُ الْجُنُودِ ١٧ فِرْعَوْنَ وَ ثَمُودَ ١٨
(85:17-18) Did you receive the story of the hosts of Pharaoh and Thamūd?
These verses reiterate God’s severe seizure [], and His quality of being an Ever-Glorious King [] Who is the Doer of what He wills []. The verses also comfort the Prophet and solace His noble soul through referring to these stories.
بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي تَكْذِيبٍ ١٩
(85:19) Rather (bal), the faithless dwell in denial,
Given the context and flow of the verses, apparently the faithless here are the disbelievers among the Prophet’s tribe. The transitional word bal (rather, nay) indicates that the previous admonitions and arguments are ineffective. The meaning is: “One should not hope that these people would believe in these clear signs and verses, because the faithless insist on their denial. Thus no admonition or argument is beneficial to them.”
وَ اللَّهُ مِنْ وَرائِهِمْ مُحِيطٌ ٢٠
(85:20) and Allah besieges them from all around (warāʾihim).
Warāʾ means “external dimensions that encompass something.” The verse is saying that they cannot defeat or outmaneuver God, because He surrounds and encompasses them from all sides. This verse also comforts the Prophet’s soul
Some exegetes have suggested that the verse alludes to the disbelievers having turned their back to God. This interpretation is based on defining warāʾ as “behind.”
بَلْ هُوَ قُرْآنٌ مَجِيدٌ ٢١ فِي لَوْحٍ مَحْفُوظٍ ٢٢
(85:21-22) Rather (bal), it is a glorious Qur’an, in a preserved tablet.
The word bal (rather, nay) indicates a substitution and correction to their persistent denial of the Qur’an. The meaning is: “The matter is not as they claim. Rather, the Qur’an is a recited book (lit. qurʾān) that is magnificent in terms of meaning, brimming with divine teachings. It is in a tablet which is preserved from falsehood and untruth, and protected from the reach of the devils.”
Examining Narrations
- Once the Prophet was asked about [burūj in] the verse, By the heaven, possessed of burūj (). He said: “It means the stars.” Then he was asked about [burūj in] the verse, He who appointed burūjan in the heaven (). He replied: “It means stars.” Then he was asked about [burūj in] the verse fortified burūj () he said: “It means quṣūr (castles, palaces, mansions).”
- The Messenger of God said: The Promised Day () is the Day of Resurrection. The Witnessed day () is the Day of ʿArafah. The Witness () is Friday.
- [Imam] ʿAlī said: The Promised Day () is the Day of Resurrection. The Witness () is Friday. The Witnessed () is the Day of Sacrifice (Eid al-Adha, Yawm al-Naḥr).
- A man said: Once I entered the Mosque of the Messenger of God, and saw someone narrating hadith from the Messenger of God. I asked him about the Witness and the Witnessed (). He said, “The Witness is Friday, and the Witnessed is the Day of ʿArafah.”
I moved on, and came across another person narrating hadith from the Messenger of God. I asked him the same question. He replied, “The Witness is Friday, and the Witnessed is the Day of Sacrifice.”
I carried on, and met a boy whose face was shining like a gold dinar. He was also narrating hadith from the Messenger of God. I inquired, “Can you tell me about the Witness and the Witnessed ()?” “Sure,” he said. “The Witness is Muḥammad, and the Witnessed is the Day of Resurrection. Haven’t you heard these words of God: O Prophet! Indeed We have sent you as a witness, as a bearer of good news and as a warner (), and: That is a day on which all humankind will be gathered, and it is a day witnessed [by all creatures] ()?”
I inquired about the first man. They said, “That was Ibn ʿAbbās.” I asked about the second. They said, “He was Ibn ʿUmar.” I inquired about the third. They said, “That was al-Ḥasan b. ʿAlī.”
Author’s comment: This account is also reported through other chains of narration with slight variations. As we explained in our exposition of the verse, Imam al-Ḥasan’s interpretation is more congruent with the context of the verses, even though the words witness (shāhid) and witnessed (mashhūd) can also be matched with the other interpretations if we only look at the terms [irrespective of the context].
- Concerning Perish the People of the Ditch () Tafīr al-Qummī says: This relates to Dhū Nuwās, who instigated the Abyssinians to attack Yemen. He was the last Abyssinians ruler of the Ḥimyar dynasty. He converted to Judaism, and the entire tribe Ḥimyar followed suit. He changed his name to Joseph, and that went on for a while.
Then he was informed that there were some Christian remnants in Najrān [in Yemen]. The people there had long believed in Jesus and abided by the rulings of his Gospel. The leader of that religion [in that region] was ʿAbd-Allah b. Baryā. The follow Jews with Dhū Nuwās urged him to advance toward them and force them to convert to Judaism. Thus he mobilized his forces until he reached Najrān. He rallied all the Christians there, and ordered them to convert to Judaism, but they refused. He argued with them and did everything within his means to convince them, yet they did not budge. They preferred to be killed than to convert.
So Dhū Nuwās dug a trench, filled it with firewood, and set it ablaze for them. Some of them were burnt in fire, while others were killed by the sword and mutilated severely. The number of those who were killed or burnt reached 20,000. One of them by the name of Daws Dhū Thaʿlabān fled from them on a racehorse that he had. They went after him, but lost him in the desert. Then Dhū Nuwās returned with his army to what he was doing. That is what God refers to in the verses: Perish the People of the Ditch… the Ever-Mighty, the Ever-Praiseworthy ().
- When the people of Isfandahān—who were Magians (Zoroastrians)—were defeated, ʿUmar b. al-Khaṭṭāb said, “These are neither Jews nor Christians. Nor do they have a scripture.”
“In fact, they had a scripture,” said ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, “but they lost it. The story is that one of their kings once got drunk and slept with his daughter (another version: with his sister). When he recovered his sobriety, he told her: “How should I vindicate myself of what I have done?”
“Assemble your subjects,” she suggested, “and tell them that you consider marriage with one’s daughter to be legal. Make it a new legislation among them.”
So he gathered the people and told them about it, but they refused to follow him. Then the king dug a ditch in the ground, filled it with fire, and exposed them to it. Whoever refused the new law was flung into the flames, and whoever accepted was spared.”
- Once Imam ʿAlī sent an envoy [and/or a letter] to the archbishop of Najrān [in Yemen], asking him about the People of the Ditch, to which the archbishop replied. The Imam said [or wrote]: What you said is not accurate, but I shall tell you their story. They were an Abyssinian people, to whom God sent an Abyssinian prophet. They rejected him, so he fought against them. They killed some of his followers, and captivated the rest along with himself. Then they dug a ditch and filled it with fire. They gathered the people and said to them, “Those who follow our path should step back. But those who believe in the religion of these people must cast themselves into the fire.”
The prophet’s followers started throwing themselves into the fire one after another. Then there came a woman with a one-month-old baby. When she advanced, she trembled and felt pity for her baby. But the baby cried out, “Don’t be afraid, mama! Cast me and yourself into the fire. By God this is indeed little [sacrifice] in God’s cause.” Thus she jumped with her baby into the fire. That baby was one of those who spoke [miraculously] while still in the cradle.”
- [Imam] ʿAlī said: The prophet of the People of the Ditch was Abyssinian.
- Concerning the People of the Ditch () [Imam] ʿAlī said: They were Abyssinians.
Author’s comment: One could arguably infer that the story of the People of the Ditch includes a number of incidents that occurred in Abyssinia, Yemen and Persia; and the verses [ff] refer to all of them. There are also some accounts which mention the story without specifying its location.
- Concerning Rather, it is a glorious Qur’an, in a preserved tablet () Tafsīr al-Qummī says: The Preserved Tablet has two sides: one is on the right side of the Throne, and one is on the forehead of Isrāfīl (Seraphiel). When the Almighty Lord utters a revelation, the Tablet hits Isrāfīl’s forehead. Thus he looks at the Tablet, and conveys what is there to Gabriel.
- The Messenger of God said: God has created a tablet from white pearl. Its two covers are from green zabarjad (chrysolite, emerald, aquamarine), and its text is from light. He looks at it 360 times a day, through which He creates, gives life, causes death, gives sustenance, honors, dishonors, and does whatever He wills.
Author’s comment: There are numerous narrations concerning the qualities of the Tablet with a wide variety. They should be viewed as symbolic representations (tamthīl).
The letter wāw (by, and) at the beginning of the verse adds a second vow to: By the heaven (). (Auth.) ↩︎
If the latter were intended, it should have been used with the preposition ʿalá (against, over, on), because that is how the second meaning of shahādah is used. (Auth.)
These are two sequential stages of witnessing: First one has to be present in the scene when an act is done. Then such a person can testify in a court to what they have seen in the scene. The Qur’an has used shahādah and its derivatives in both meanings. However, when used with reference to the hereafter—such as the current verses, as clearly indicated by verse —it means testimony, not observation. The author’s view is consistent with his approach to tafsīr: he gives a higher priority to the theme of the chapter and the immediate context of a verse over the more universal Qur’anic usage of a term. (Ed.) ↩︎
It means: “By such a witness, and by such a thing that is witnessed.” (Ed.) ↩︎
The same expression is mentioned in verse . (Ed.) ↩︎
See volume 2, pp. 153ff of the English translation, under verse ; and volume 12, pp. 13-15, under verses . (Ed.) ↩︎
For more on God’s Throne, see volume 15 of the English translation, pp. 220-224 and 230-238, under verse . (Ed.) ↩︎
This is a broad sense which includes both before and behind. (Ed.) ↩︎
The meaning would be: “The God—which they have ignored and left behind—encompasses them.” (Ed.) ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of Jābir b. ʿAbd-Allah. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd, al-Tirmidhī, Ibn Abī al-Dunyā’s al-Uṣūl, Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī’s al-Sunan, on the authority of Abū Hurayrah. Al-Durr al-manthūr has also quoted a similar account from the Prophet through other chains of narration, on the authority of Abū Mālik, Saʿīd b. al-Musayyib and Jubayr b. Muṭʿim. The last one [from Jubayr b. Muṭʿim] says: “The Witness () is Friday, and the Witnessed () is the Day of ʿArafah.” It has also narrated the same wording from ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, on the authority ʿAbd al-Razzāq, al-Fāryābī, ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd, Ibn Jarīr and Ibn al-Mundhir. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd and Ibn al-Mundhir. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān. ↩︎
This is also recorded as Baryāmin and Baryās. (Ed.) ↩︎
It is not clear what city this name corresponds to, but the narration is about the Muslim conquest of Persia during ʿUmar’s caliphate. (Ed.) ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān, on the authority of Saʿīd b. Jubayr. The same idea is narrated from the Imam in al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of ʿAbd b. Ḥumayd. ↩︎
Majmaʿ al-bayān, on the authority of Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, on the authority of Jābir, from Imam al-Bāqir. The same idea is narrated from the Imam in al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Mardawayh and ʿAbd-Allah b. Nujayy. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Abī Ḥātim and ʿAbd-Allah b. Nujayy. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Ibn Abī Ḥātim and Ibn Mundhir, and on the authority of al-Ḥasan. ↩︎
Al-Durr al-manthūr, on the authority of Abū al-Shaykh and Ibn Mardawayh, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās. ↩︎