sura balad
(the city)
no.90 (verses 11-20)
11. "but he
would not attempt the uphill road,"
12. "and what will make you comprehend what the uphill road is?"
13. "(it is) freeing of a slave (or a captive)"
14. "or the feeding on a day of hunger,"
15. "of an orphan near of kin,"
16. "or to the indigent (down) in the dust."
17. "then will he be of those who believe, and enjoin on each
other to patience, and enjoin on each other mercy."
18. "these are the people of the right hand."
19. "and those who disbelieve in our signs, they are the people
of the left hand."
20. "on them shall be afire closed over."
commentary:
an arduous uphill climb!
after mentioning some great gifts, in the previous verses,
which
are given to man, the ungrateful persons who, having all the means
of
felicity, have not taken its path, are blamed in the following
verses.
"but he would not
attempt the uphill road,"
* * * *
the term /`aqabah/
'the uphill road' is commented on in the next
verses.
"and what will make
you comprehend what the uphill road is ?"
* * * *
"(it is) freeing of a slave (or a
captive)" "or the feeding on a day of
hunger,"
* * * *
"of an orphan near of kin,"
* * * *
"or to the indigent (down) in the
dust."
therefore, this arduous uphill
road, for which the ungrateful
persons have never prepared themselves to pass, is a collection of
good
deeds and pivots on helping people, especially the poor, and is also
a
collection of the pure, righteous believers which are mentioned in
the
following verses.
truly, regarding the intensive love of most people for wealth,
climbing this arduous uphill road is really difficult.
being a true muslim and having true faith are not obtained
simply by raw claims and merely stating such.
there are some difficult uphill roads in front of every muslim
believer which he must pass, one after another, and by the help of
allah and under the light of faith and sincerity he can succeed.
some have rendered the term /`aqabah/, here, in the sense of ' low
desire' and standing against these is called `the
inner warfare' as a
tradition by the prophet (p.b.u.h.) denotes.
of course, regarding the interpretation of the verses, themselves,
about /`aqahah/' uphill road',
the meaning of this commentary must be
such that the main uphill road is considered `low
desire', and freeing the
captives and feeding the indigent are considered as its clear
examples.
some other commentators have said that the meaning of /`aqabah/
is 'an arduous uphill road in the hereafter'; as
a tradition from the
prophet (p.b.u.h) says: "there is an arduous
uphill road in front of you,
those whose load is heavy cannot pass it. i try to lighten your load
to enable
you to pass that uphill road."1
this tradition from the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) has not been cited
for the commentary of the current verse, but the commentators have
applied it to this verse. however, regarding to the commentary
clearly
expressed in the verses, their application does not seem
appropriate.
the objective idea is that the uphill roads of the hereafter
are
illustrations of the hard arduous climbs, here, in this world and
whose
paths are subdivisions of the paths of this world.
it is worth noting that the term /iqtahama/ based on /iqtiham/
which originally means `to undertake a task which is
frighiful', (raqib:
mufradat), or `to enter and pass somewhere with toil and
difficulty',
(kashshaf commentary); denotes that passing this uphill road is
not an easy thing to accomplish. this is an emphasis on what was
mentioned at the beginning of the sura: "certainly
we have created man
to be in distress". that is, both his life and
his obedience to allah are
full of difficulties.
it has been narrated that hazrat ali (p.b.u.h.) has said: "paradise
is surrounded by unpleasantness while hell is surrounded by
desires"2
some points that should be noted, here, are:
1. the phrase /fakka
raqabah/ seems to mean `the act of freeing
captives'.
2. the term /masqabah/ `famine'
is based on /saqab/ `to suffer
from hunger'. so, the words /yaumin #i masqabah\
mean `on a day of
hunger' which emphasize on feeding the needy in the
time of famine,
drought and the like.
3. the term /maqrabah/ means `relationship'
and it is an
emphasis on the orphans of relatives who are close to the person, or
else, we should feed all orphans whoever they are, but this shows
that
we are more responsible for the orphans who are of our kith and kin.
4. the term /matrabah/ is derived from /tarab/ but,
originally is
from /turab/ which means `soil' and
is used for `a poor person intimately
acquainted with his mother earth'. this is, again,
an emphasis on those
types of indigent ones who are more deserving of help, but, of
course,
all indigent ones should be helped.
* * * *
in the next verse, to continue
commenting on the 'uphill road', it
says: "then will he be of those who believe, and
enjoin (on each other to)
patience, and enjoin (on each other) mercy."
thus, such believers can pass this arduous uphill road who have
both faith and the humane characteristic of self-restraint and
enjoining
patience along with doing good deed such as freeing captives and
feeding orphan and the indigents.
in other words, these persons are those who have shown strong
sincerity in three dimensions of belief, morals, and action and can
be
successful in climbing that uphill road.
the term /#umma/ `then' does not always mean `next
in time or
order' to indicate that they should feed and help the
needy first and
then they will believe. but, in these cases, as some commentators
have
mentioned, it is for priority of rank because, the position of faith
and
enjoining patience and compassionate kindness is definitely higher
than
the value of helping the indigent, or, it is better to say that good
deeds
originate from faith and high morals.
some others have also said that the term /#umma/, here, may
mean `next in time', since good
deeds are sometimes the cause of faith
and they are especially effective in fixing the basis of high
morals,
because man's behavior manifests itself, first, into `practice'
then, into
`mood' and, then, into `habit',
and finally, into the form of 'a firm
characteristic', and settles in his spirit or
nature as a result of that
constant practice.
the term /tawasau/ with the sense of 'enjoin each other to (charity
and good deeds)' contains an important point. it
shows that patience
and perseverance on the path of obedience to allah and the challenge
against one's own desires, and also strengthening the principle of
compassionate kindness should not occur in the society only in the
form
of individual behaviour, but it should appear as a common current in
the
whole societv, and all the members of a society should enjoin
observing
and preserving this principle on each other in order to make their
social
relationship, in this way, closer and stronger.
some have said that the term /sabr/ `patience' here, means `to
be
patient in obeying allah's command and being studious in practising
his
instructions'. and the term /marhamat/
'compassionate kindness' points
to `love shown to the creatures of allah' and
we know that the relation
between the creator and his creatures establishes the foundation of
religion. in any event, patience and perseverance are the main
causes
of any obedience and servitude and also of avoiding sin and
rebellion.
* * * *
after describing these
characteristics, the position of the
possessors of them are introduced:
"these are the people
of the right hand."
they are those whose record will
be given to their right hand,
indicating that their deeds are accepted by allah.
it is also probable that the term /maymanah/ is derived from
another root with the sense of 'grace'.
if so, it means that they are
merciful and helpful both to themselves and to others in the
society.
then, the contradictory group is
pointed out; i.e., those who were
not successful in passing the arduous uphill road. it says:
"and those who disbelieve in our signs, they are
the people of the left
hand."
this position shows that they do not possess good deeds and their
records contain nothing but sin and corruption.
the term /mas'amah/, based on the root /sum/, contrasts
with the term /maymanah/. it means that these disbelievers are some
ominous people who cause disaster both for themselves and for others
in the society. but, since being fortunate or unfortunate, in the
hereafter, is known about people by having
their `record' in their right
hand or left hand, some commentators have accepted this idea for it,
in
particular, that the term /sum/ in arabic philology refers to `a
tendency
to the left'.3
* * * *
in the last verse of this sura,
there is a short, meaninigful hint to
the punishment of the latter group. it says:
"on them
shall be a fire closed over."
the term /mu'sadah/ is based on
/isad/ which means `to close the
door, and secure it' . it is obvious that when a
person is shut in a room
with hot, stuffy air, he wishes to open the doors and let the fresh
air
come in; making the room comfortable to live in. with this thought
in
mind, we may, now, consider the status of the fervent hell
with all the
doors closed. what a suffocating condition it will have!
* * * *
supplication:
o lord! save us from such a painful punishment!
o lord! to pass the uphill roads we have
in front of us is
not possible save with your help. please bestow your help on
us.
o lord! please count us among the people
of the right
hand and make us successful to be with the good-doers and
the righteous in the hereafter.
1 majma'-al-bayan, vol. 10, p. 495.
2 nahj-ul-balaqa, sermon 176 (arabic version).
3 tafsir, abulfutuh razi, vol. 12, p. 97.
the end
sura balad
(the city) |
