- in the name of allah, the beneficent, the
merciful
sura mursalat
(those sent forth)
(no.77 (50 verses)
contents of
the sura:
this sura belongs to the early meccan
period and its name,
mursalat is
taken from the first verse. after making some oaths, the
text refers to the horrors of the
hereafter for those who reject the
truth.the refrain, "ah woe, that day to the rejecters of
truth" is
repeated ten times in the sura
and every time follows a new topic.
in addition to the oaths, the
sura gives some information about
the fervent hereafter and its
grievous events, and then repeats the same
refrain: "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of
truth."
in the second stage, we learn
about the woeful story of the sinners
of past generations.
in the third stage, it lets us
know a little about the creation's
specialties.
in the fourth stage, we are
informed of some divine blessings on
the earth.
in the fifth stage, there are
some messages in which the rejecters
are warned of their painful
penalty.
in every stage there is also a
hint to an enlightening point and
then the refrain follows.
sometimes, the blessings of just men are
mentioned to show that both
rewards and penalties are found, hut the
former is used for justification
and the latter is for warning.
the refrain, in this sura, has an
association with the refrain in
sura rahman, no. 55, but with the
difference that: sura rahman
speaks about the blessings, but
sura mursalat describes the
rejecters' punishments.
* * * *
the virtue of
studying this sura:
it is narrated from the prophet
(p.b.u.h.) that: "one who studies
sura mursalut will be registered
as a non-pagan".1
another narration from imam sadiq (p.b.u.h.)
cites that: "if one
studies this sura, allah makes
him familiar to mohammad (p.b.u.h.)".2
this reward is certainly for a
person who studies it, thinks it over
and acts accordingly. so, we see
by a narration that some of the
prophet's close friends told him:
oh mohammad, how soon you have
grown old!" he answered:
"hud, vaqi`ah, mursalat, and nabaa brought
old age upon me".3
it is worth considering that in
all these suras the circumstances of
the hereafter and the horrors of
the resurrection day and great
judgment are illustrated; and are
the very things that affected the
prophet's (p.b.u.h.) holy soul.
obviously, reading without
thinking and acting cannot be very
fruitful.
