sura
mursalat
(those sent forth)
(no.77 ( verses 41-50)
41.
"the righteous are amidst shades and fountains (of heaven), "
42. "and fruits such as they desire".
43. "eat ye and drink ye pleasantly (until you are
satiated)
in return for what
ye did".
44. "thus do we certainly reward the doers of
goad".
45."ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth".
46. "(o ye unjust!) eat and enjoy yourselves (on
earth)
a little while, (but be warned that an evil end in the
hereafter awaits you) for that ye are sinners
47. "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of
truth".
48. "and when it is said unto them: bow down, they bow
not down". 49. "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth".
50. "(if they do not believe in holy qur`an) then what
statement, after that, will they believe in?"
commentary:
what statement will they believe in,
if they do not believe in holy qur'an?
we know that the qur'anic style
generally couples warning with
glad tidings, threats with
encouragement, and the fate of the righteous with
that of the sinners, so that the
affairs are better understood. on
this basis, after describing
various punishments of the sinners, in the
hereafter, in the aforementioned
verses, there follows a short, but
meaningful verse about the state
of the righteous on that day:
"the righteous are amidst
shades and fountains (of heaven)".
meanwhile, the sinners are in the shade of stifling smoke from
fire, as it was understood from
the previous verses. the arabic word
/zilal/ `shadows' is the plural
form of "zill" `shadow'; whether in the shade
of a tree and the like, during
the day, or in the shadows of the darkness
at night, while "fi" is
`to cast a shadow by only a single
source of light' such
as the shadow of trees which
intercepts the rays of the sun.
* * * *
then it says: "and fruits such as they desire".
it is clear that fruits, shadows, and
fountains are a small part of
the blessings that allah will
bestow on them: a small part, describable
in human language, is in
comparison with all the blessings in heaven,
but so plentiful and beyond the
imagination of the earth's dwellers, that
it is indescribable.
* * * *
it is interesting to note that they will be
entertained so excellentlym
and abundantly at allah's feast
that they are told: "eat
ye and drink ye
pleasantly (until you are satiated) in
return for what you did".
the statement which is said to them directly, whether by allah or
by angels, is full of kindness
and affection; clearly is a sustenance for
their soul.
the phrase, "for what you
did", denotes that these gifts
are not
given to anyone undeserving, and
nothing is obtained by raw claim or
imagination but, is actually
prepared by good deeds.
as raqib cited in mufradat: "hani" means anything that is
wholesome and has no pain
afterward. so, water and the daily meal are
thus called and it is sometimes
used for life, too.
therefore, this shows that the fruits, foods and drinks, in heaven,
are not the same as those in this
world; of which we sometimes suffer
malnutrition, pain and
undesirable effects.
some commentators believe that this imperative sentence denotes
to the allowance of using these
blessings, lawfully, while some others
believe that this is just a
command.
but, on the whole, it should be understood that, at ceremonies,
these commands are a kind of
hospitality and the host's desire is that the
guests would be asked to help
themselves, as a kind of respect and
dignity shown to them, because he
likes that his meal will be eaten
completely, by the guests, and
this shows that they honor him.
* * * *
the next verse emphasizes that these gifts
are not undeservedly given:
"thus do we
certainly reward the doers of good".
* * * *
note that the
first verse insists on `righteousness' and
`devotion',
then another verse is based on
`deed', and this verse emphasizes on
'doing good'.
`righteousness' or `virtuousness' means avoidance of any sin,
corruption, paganism and the
denial of allah and `doing good' is used
for any good action; while `deed'
refers only to the activities which are
piously done. so, the blessings
bestowed by allah are for these groups,
not for the false claimants of
faith and committers of various kinds of
sin, though they appear to he
among the faithful people.
* * * *
at the end of this
part, the refrain is, again, mentioned: "ah woe,
that day, to the rejecters of
truth".
woe to those who are deprived of these blessings and affections.
the pain of the regret of this
deprivation is not minor to the blazing fire
of hell.
* * * *
since being busy
with worldly pleasures and the desire of having
unconditional freedom for
following after carnality, is one of the factors
of the denial of resurrection,
the next verse addresses the sinners and
in a threatening tone says: "(o ye unjust!) eat and enjoy yourselves (on
earth) a little while, (but be
warned that an evil end, in the hereafter,
awaits you) for that ye are
sinners".
the term "qalila" `a
little' can refer either to the
short period of
life in this world, or to the few
blessings of this world in comparison with
the countless, immense blessings
of the next world.
in fact, the righteous are highly regarded in the hereafter and are
addressed with this affectionate
sentence: "eat ye and
drink ye pleasantly
(until you are satiated)...; but worldly men are addressed with this
threatening sentence: "(o ye unjust) eat and enjoy yourselves (on
earth)
a little while...".
the righteous are told: "...in
return for what ye did", but
the
unjust are told: "..for that ye are sinners".
further, it makes it clear that it is man's sin, originating from
faithlessness or lusts, that
paves the way for allah's punishment.
* * * *
then, the aforementioned
warning is followed again by:
"ah woe, that day,
to the rejecters of truth".
woe to those who were deceived
by this scintillating world and its
lusts, and consequently prepared
allah's punishment for themselves.
* * * *
in the next verse another
source of their disaster, that is: 'pride
and self-conceit', is touched on where it says:
"and when it is said
unto them: bow down, they bow not down"
* * * *
many of the
commentators have said that this verse was revealed
about the thaqif tribe when the
prophet (p.b.u.h.) told them to say
prayers and they answered that
they would never bow; that it would be a
disgrace for them. then he
(p.b.u.h.) said: "religion is
worthless without
bowing and prostration".
they not only refused bowing and prostration, but also had this
quality of pride throughout their
life and permeating their ideas. they
resigned neither to allah's will
nor to the prophet's instructions nor to
people's rights; they were humble
neither to the creator nor to other
human beings. in fact, these two
elements, pride and carnality', are the
most important factors in
committing crimes, sins, cruelties, and denial.
* * * *
then, finally, for
the tenth time in this sura, it says: "ah woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth".
* * * *
in the last verse
of sura mursalat, in a scorning tone
and with
profound astonishment, it
questions:
"(if they do not believe
in holy qur'an) then what statement, after that, will
the believe in?"
one who does not believe in qur'an; that which if it were sent
down on a mountain, that mountain
would humble itself and cleave
asunder for fear of allah would
not resign to believe in any holy
book or any rational logic, and
this is a sign of enmity and obstinacy.
* * * *
as it was mentioned, at the
beginning of this sura, the verse: "ah
woe, that day, to the rejecters of truth," is repeated ten times for
emphasis on one important fact:
resurrection. repetitions, like this one,
are found in the statements of
all eloquent speakers for what they want
to emphasize on; whether it be
prose or verse.
but some commentators believe that each time the verse is
repeated, it means that it is
about a new subject, and which comes just
before the one that the rejecters
deny; so, therefore, actually there is no
repetition of the verse.
we conclude this sura with a sentence from `ruh-al-bayan' which
says: "this sura was revealed to the prophet (p.b.u.h.) in a cave
somewhere
close to `qif mosque' in mina and i
have seen the cave myself.
* * * *
supplication:
o lord! bestow on us your grace not to reject
your verses.
o lord! protect us against pride and
carnal desires; the
main sources of sin.
o lord! set us in the bliss of the
righteous among those
who will be highly regarded at
your feast.
the end
sura mursalat
(those sent forth) |
