sura insan
(human)
no. 76 (verses 23-26)
23.
"surely we, ourselves, have revealed the holy qur`an to you,
revealing (it) in
stages."
24."therefi!re be patient
and constant to the command of your lord,
and obey not from among them a
guilty or an ungrateful one."
25. "and remember the
name of your lord morning and evening,"
26. "and during the night
prostrate thyself to him; and glorify'
him (a) long (part of the)
night.
commentary:
five great instructions for the
fulfillment of allah`s command.
the aforementioned verses of the sura
are about the creation of
man and then about his rebirth at
the time of resurrection now, the
verses are referring to the
prophet (p.b.u.h.), directly. with some
emphatical instruction about the
guidance of man and his patience and
constancy. in fact, these verses
show the way of how to approach the
incomparable immense blessings.
this task is not possible except
through taking hold of the
qur'an, following the prophet's leadership
and being inspired by his
instructions.
at first it says: "surely we,
ourselves, have revealed the qur'an to
you, revealing (it) in stages."
some commentators have said that the term "tanzila" `revealing in
stages', which has appeared as a
direct object in this verse, denotes the
gradual descent of the holy
qur'an, whose effect on man's training is
clear. some others believe that
it refers to the high position of this
heavenly book and emphasizes the
fact that this book was sent down by
allah, in spite of those who
accused the prophet (p.b.u.h.) of being a
necromancer, sorcerer, magician
and calumniator of allah.
* * * *
then, there are five important
instructions given to the prophet (p.b.u.h.)
the first is for patience and
constancy, and says:
"therefore be patient and
constant to the command of your lord,..."
don't be afraid of the difficulties and the problems that occur in
your way, the great number of
your enemies or their obstinacy.
continue on your way and go
forward.
it is noteworthy that, with regard to "f" in the arabic term "fasbir"
`therefore be patient and
constant', the instruction for patience is
secondary to the revelation of
the qur'an by allah. that is: since
allah is your supporter then do
stay firmly on the way. the term
"rabb" 'lord, cherisher' points to the same idea.
and in the second instruction the prophet (p.b.u.h.) is warned not
to listen to or obey the unjust.
it says: "...and obey not from
among them
a guilty or an ungrateful one."
in fact, the second instruction is an emphasis on the first
instruction, because numerous
enemies tried, in different ways. to make
the prophet (p.b.u.h.) adapt to
their way of thinking. it is said that
`atabat-ibn-i-rabi'ah' and
`walid-ibn-i-muqayyarah' told the prophet (p.b.u.h.)
to leave his prophecy and they
would give him as much wealth
and the most beautiful ladies to
marry as would satisfy him and other
suggestions like this, hut the
prophet (p.b.u.h.) as a true, great leader,
was instructed to he patient and
constant against the evil temptations or
the threats. which were made
against him. he should not yield to either
the allurements or the threats.
it is true hit the prophet (p.b.u.h.) never yielded, and this is a sign
for the greatness of his faith;
an eternal model for other leaders of the way.
although some commentators have said that the term `sinner'
refers to `atabat-ibn-i-rabi'ah'
and the term `ungrateful' refers to
`walid-ibn-i-muqayyarah' or `abu
jahl; each of whom were among the
pagan arabs, it is clear that the
terms have a vast meaning, which
encompasses any sinner and
unbeliever; but these three were the most
vivid evidences of the words.
it is also noteworthy that `sinner' has a general meaning which
includes the ungrateful, too,
then 'ungrateful' is a subdivision of `sinner'.
* * * *
however, sine e
being patient and constant with many great
difficulties is not easy to do
and going on such a road needs two certain
provisions, so, it says in the
next verse: "and remember the
name of your
lord morning and evening."
* * * *
"and
during the night prostrate thyself to him; and glorify him (a)
long (part of the) night".
under the light of `remembering the
name of your lord', and with
`prostration and glorification'
you can build the necessary spiritual
strength and sufficient support
for overcoming the difficulties along the
way.
the term "bukrah" `beginning
of the day' is opposite to the term
"asil" `evening,
sunset', which is followed by praying at night and are
mentioned in these two verses to
show the necessity of continuous
remembrance of allah both day and
night.
some commentators have applied them to the five daily prayers;
morning (fajr), noon (zohr),
afternoon (`asr), sunset (maqrib) and
evening (`isha) prayers, or in
addition to the optional prayers after
midnight. at any rate, it seems
that these prayers are examples for this
`continuous remembrance of the
lord and glorification and prostration
to him.
the last two terms in the verse, "laylan tawila", refer to the
glorification of allah for a long
part of the night. it has been narrated
that imam ali ibn-musa-ar-reza
(p.b.u.h.) was asked what `glorify'
meant and he answered that it
meant `optional night prayer'.1
it is probable !hat the above commentary is one of the clear
evidences of `glorification' because the optional night prayer is very
effective in strengthening ones'
faith and self-will for obeying allah,
and refining spirits.
* * * *
it is worthy to note, here,
that though the five instructions are
addressed to the prophet
(p.b.u.h.), they are, in fact, models for all those
who have a role in spiritual and
humane guidance of societies.
they should know that, after being sure of their strong belief in
their goal and prophetic mission,
it is necessary for them to be patient
and constant and not to be afraid
of mass difficulties in their way; since,
guiding populations has always
been with great difficulties especially
when faced with some unyielding
ignorant enemies. and no prophetic
mission of theirs will survive
unless the leaders are patient.
in the next stage, they must strongly stand against evil temptations
of the sinners and the
ungrateful; those who try to lead astray leaders
with all kinds of deceit and
hypocrisy in order to make their prophetic
mission fruitless. they should
neither be deceived by allurements nor
be afraid of threats.
in any case, every morning and evening, they should prostrate
themselves before him to obtain
spiritual power, strong will and firm
decision, especially when they
get help in their supplications and night
prayers; victory will surely be
their own.
and, if it happens that they have a failure or misfortune at some
point, along the way, it is
possible to compensate for this under the light
of these principles. the
prophet's life and his prophetic mission,
throughout his career of inviting
people to islam, are good examples for
those who wish to follow the
straight path.
1 majma'-al-bayan, vol.10, p.413. |
