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(43) مُهْطِعينَ مُقْنِعي رُؤُسِهِمْ لا يَرْتَدُّ إِلَيْهِمْ طَرْفُهُمْ وَ أَفْئِدَتُهُمْ هَواءٌ
43. " Hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes (and eyelids) not blinking and their hearts void. "
Commentary:
There are several meanings proposed for the Arabic term/ muhti'in/ which is derived from/ 'iht a'/ in the sense of: upraising the head, to speed up, looking pleasurably, all of which meanings can be implied in this verse.
The chastisements of the Resurrection Day are so horrifying that these oppressors stiffen their necks, raising their heads towards the sky, they even may fix their eye- lids in a state of motionlessness, while their hearts are becoming void because of their intensive fear, distress, anxiety and despair. The verse says:
" Hastening forward, their heads upraised, their eyes (and eyelids) not blinking and their hearts void. "
Those persons who considered themselves as think tanks and considered others as stupid will lose their reasoning in such a way that their looks resemble not the lunatics but that of the dead. Their looks will be 'empty', indifferent, motionless and full of fear and horror.
Truly speaking, once the Qur'an decides to depict a scenario or a landscape, it depicts every thing in the most concise manner and provides the most comprehensive picture of everything, an example of which is shown in the above short verse.
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(44) وَ أَنْذِرِ النَّاسَ يَوْمَ يَأْتيهِمُ الْعَذابُ فَيَقُولُ الَّذينَ ظَلَمُوا رَبَّنا أَخِّرْنا إِلى أَجَلٍ قَريبٍ نُجِبْ دَعْوَتَكَ وَ نَتَّبِعِ الرُّسُلَ أَ وَ لَمْ تَكُونُوا أَقْسَمْتُمْ مِنْ قَبْلُ ما لَكُمْ مِنْ زَوالٍ
44. " And warn the people as to the day when the chastisement comes to them; then those who did injustice will say: 'Our Lord, defer us to a near term, (that) we will answer Your call and follow the messengers'. (They will be told:) 'Did you not swear before that there would be no end for you ' "
Commentary:
The Qur'anic term/ 'in ar/ (warning) is the antonym of/ bi arat/ (glad tidings) both of which were the mission of the prophets who were the bearers of the good news as well as the warners. They were bearer of the good news regarding faith, righteous acts, virtue, and being characterized by attributes which lead one to salvation, happiness, Divine blessings, and ushering one to Paradise. And they were warners as to the cases of paganism, ingratitude, darkness, sins, and evil attributes and characteristics which lead one to wretchedness misery, Divine Wrath, and awful consequences and punishments in this world and in the Hereafter.
Then, in order not to give impression that the Divine punishments are confined to a specific group, as a general rule He commands His prophet to warn all people about the day when the painful chastisement of Allah will call on them. The verse says:
" And warn the people as to the day when the chastisement comes to them; ..."
That is, when the tyrants notice the terrible consequences of their behaviour, they may regret and think of compensating for it. The verse continues saying:
"... then those who did injustice will say: 'Our Lord, defer us to a near term, ( that) we will answer Your call and follow the messengers'. ..."
The objective of this day is the day when some calamities and worldly chastisements will be descended, just like the punishments which were inflicted on the peoples of Lout, and on 'Ad, and Thamoud people as well as on the Pharaoh people which exterminated them.
However, they are instantly held back and this shaking message is delivered to them that such a thing is impossible to happen. The course of action has come to an end. Were you not the ones who swore that there would be no end and perishing of your life and power The verse says:
"... (They will be told:) 'Did you not swear before that there would be no end for you ?' "
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(45) وَ سَكَنْتُمْ في مَساكِنِ الَّذينَ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ وَ تَبَيَّنَ لَكُمْ كَيْفَ فَعَلْنا بِهِمْ وَ ضَرَبْنا لَكُمُ الْأَمْثالَ
45. " And you dwelt in the abodes of those who did injustice to themselves oppression on yourself in the houses of those who preceded you, and it became clear for you how we did with them, and We set forth (may) parables for you. "
Commentary:
Many people do not take examples and instructions from those who preceded them and neglected everything though they are seating themselves in their seats. Therefore, to warn and to blame them further, the Qur'an addresses them implying that you were such people who settled down in the lands of those who refuted the prophets and you knew as to how Allah had inflicted catastrophes on them and had exterminated them. The verse says:
" And you dwelt in the abodes of those who did injustice to themselves oppression on yourself in the houses of those who preceded you, and it became clear for you how we did with them, ..."
Some are of the opinion that they were the people of 'Ad, and Thamoud, while others claim that they were those who were killed in the Battle of the Badr.
We provided you examples and made you acquainted with the characteristics of your predecessors so as to enable you to take example, but you did not draw lessons, and admonitions did not have any impacts on you. The verse says:
"... and We set forth (may) parables for you. "
Some suggest that the objective of the parables which are mentioned is those matters which are dealt with in the Qur'an and demonstrate that Allah is Omnipotent in the world of creation as before, and is able to re- enliven all after their death, and to reckon their accounts.
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(46) وَ قَدْ مَكَرُوا مَكْرَهُمْ وَ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ مَكْرُهُمْ وَ إِنْ كانَ مَكْرُهُمْ لِتَزُولَ مِنْهُ الْجِبالُ
46. " And indeed they have devised their devising, and their devising is with Allah, though their devising were such as to remove the mountains thereby. "
Commentary:
Allah is both aware of their devices and tricks, and is all- powerful over them, and He shall provide all conspirators with commensurate chastisement. He can also diffuse and expel their tricks or return those tricks to themselves.
At any rate, do not worry, such conspiracies and plans will have no effect on you even if their strategies are such that enable them to remove mountains. For, no matter how powerful and forceful they may be, the oppressors will eventually be perished by Allah. The verse says:
" And indeed they have devised their devising, and their devising is with Allah, though their devising were such as to remove the mountains thereby. "
Some commentators have claimed that the objective in mind of 'the mountains' has been the Islamic religion and the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) that have withstood all sorts of conspiracies and tricks of the enemies.
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(47) فَلا تَحْسَبَنَّ اللَّهَ مُخْلِفَ وَعْدِهِ رُسُلَهُ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَزيزٌ ذُو انتِقامٍ
47. " So do not think that Allah will fail in His promise to His messengers. Verily Allah is Mighty, the Lord of Retribution. "
Commentary:
As a man takes revenge, he does it along with hatred and instinctive satisfaction. Nevertheless, what Allah does is based on justice and wisdom. Therefore, addressing the prophet (p.b.u.h.) once again, as to warn the oppressors and evildoers with a threatening voice, it implies that they should not imagine that Allah opposes His earlier promise and pledge which He has kept with the prophets. For, that kind of person violates his promise who is either not able to keep his promise or he has not included such words in his vocabulary as punishment or vengeance. However, Allah is both able and can take vengeance. The verse says:
" So do not think that Allah will fail in His promise to His messengers. Verily Allah is Mighty, the Lord of Retribution. "
This noble verse is in fact complementary to the verse which we already cited, saying: "And do not regard Allah to be heedless of what the unjust do. " (This Sura, verse 24) That is, if you notice that the oppressors have got a respite, it is not because of Allah's negligence and overlooking of their acts, and it is not for that Allah may violate His promise. Rather, all of their accounts will be settled and cleared in a day and their just chastisement will be given to them.
Incidentally, the respite given to the pagans and the oppressors is based on a practice and on wisdom, and it is not because of negligence and of going back on one's promises.
(48) يَوْمَ تُبَدَّلُ الْأَرْضُ غَيْرَ الْأَرْضِ وَ السَّماواتُ وَ بَرَزُوا لِلَّهِ الْواحِدِ الْقَهَّارِ
48. " On the day when the earth shall be changed into other than the earth and (so will be) the heavens, and (all men) shall come forth before Allah, the One, the All- Dominant. "
Commentary:
The changing and the transformation of the earth on the Hereafter Day has been explained in a number of verses of the Qur'an. On that Day, a strong earthquake will take place; the mountains will be displaced and start moving and they will be softened like wool and cotton. It refers to the day when the earth will be turned into a soft piece of plain which is even. As the Qur'an says: "And they ask you (O Apostle) about the mountains (on that Day) . Say: 'My Lord will uproot them and scatter them (as dust) , '" "Then He will leave them as a plain, smooth level; "(1) But, the transformation of the skies will take place with the setting off the sun and the rolling over of the skies. However, this existing system of existence has got a culmination point.
Anyway, after destruction, everything will be reborn and renewed on that Day and man will step forward with some new conditions of the world, the conditions of which differ from these of this world, as regards its vastness, its blessings, its chastisements. And it is on that Day that one appears with
(1) Sura Ta Ha, No. 20, verses 105- 106
all of his existence and with all of his possessions before the Allah Who is unique and Almighty. The verse says:
" On the day when the earth shall be changed into other than the earth and ( so will be) the heavens, and (all men) shall come forth before Allah, the One, the All- Dominant. "
Therefore, the attribute of Allah as 'the All- Dominant' signifies His domination over everything and His authority over what is inside and what exists in the outside of every single being.
(49) وَ تَرَى الْمُجْرِمينَ يَوْمَئِذٍ مُقَرَّنينَ فِي الْأَصْفاد
(50) سَرابيلُهُمْ مِنْ قَطِرانٍ وَ تَغْشى وُجُوهَهُمُ النَّارُ
49. " And you will see the guilty on that day bound together in chains. "
50. " Their robes (shall be) of pitch, and their faces covered with Fire, "
Commentary:
The person who is experiencing punishment and trouble will be ever more suffering if he hears other people crying, as the case is with those who are happy and rejoicing and their happiness and rejoicing will double if they find themselves beside others who are happy as well. It is for this reason that the Qur'an declares that: Allah will bring together all those individuals who resemble one another in their line of thinking: the culprits in Hell and the good ones in Paradise.
And we also find that the Qur'an depicts the conditions of the offenders in a different way in this verse. It says:
" And you will see the guilty on that day bound together in chains. "
These chains and yokes represent the mental and practical connections of the sinners who joined together and who were interwoven as in a line to help each other in this world.
Then, the Qur'an describes their dressing pattern which is in itself a great disaster for them. Their robes and dresses are made of tar (a stinking, malodorous, and inflammable material) and their faces are covered by flames of fire. The verse says:
" Their robes (shall be) of pitch, and their faces covered with Fire, "
As such is the case, instead of proper clothing, their bodies are wrapped up in a kind of material which has four distinct awful defects as they are stinking, black, inflammable and burnable, for robes are put on for protection as well as for ornamental and cosmetic purposes. They are meant to protect one against heat and cold. Such robes, contrast all garments, are both ugly and inflammable.
The Arabic term/ 'as fad/ is the plural form of/ s ufoud/ which means 'the bone of a tree', it was also used for attaching to the feet of prisoners.
The Arabic term/ qatran/ is a kind of material which is extracted from some trees after the boiling of which and after its solidification. It is used for curing the skin diseases of camels for its intensive burning. It is extremely stinking and inflammable.
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(51) لِيَجْزِيَ اللَّهُ كُلَّ نَفْسٍ ما كَسَبَتْ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَريعُ الْحِسابِ
51. " That Allah may requite everyone what he has earned, verily Allah is swift at reckoning. "
Commentary:
None of the people will remain without compensation. And no action in the world will be left without any reactions. Thus, the Divine punishment and reward have their origin in our own practices. The verse says:
" That Allah may requite everyone what he has earned, ..."
This means that Allah rewards or punishes everyone according to His own discretion for whatever he has done.
At the end of the verse, the Qur'an implies that Allah is quick to discern and settle accounts. The verse continues to say:
"... verily Allah is swift at reckoning. "
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(52) هذا بَلاغٌ لِلنَّاسِ وَ لِيُنْذَرُوا بِهِ وَ لِيَعْلَمُوا أَنَّما هُوَ إِلهٌ واحِدٌ وَ لِيَذَّكَّرَ أُولُوا الْأَلْبابِ
52. " This is a clear message for mankind and that they may be warned by it, and that they may know that He is God (the only) One, and that those possessors of intellects may take admonition. "
Commentary:
As we already noted, Sura 'Ibrahim began with depicting the sensitive role of the Qur'an in bringing out man from utter darkness of ignorance and paganism into the enlightenment of knowledge and of monotheism. It ends by providing an exposition of the role of the Qur'an in warning all human kind and instruction of monotheism and that the possessors of intellects may take admonition. The verse says:
" This is a clear message for mankind and that they may be warned by it, and that they may know that He is God (the only) One, and that those possessors of intellects may take admonition. "
Such a beginning and such an end provide us with clues to the reality as to the fact that whatever we read about is already mentioned in the Qur'an, and as Amir- ul- Mu'mineen Ali (a.s.) says: "The sources of all knowledge and the delight of the heart are in the Qur'an. "(1)One also has to look for the remedies of mental, ethical, social and political illnesses in the Qur'an. It has been said: "Seek from it for the treatment of your diseases. "(2) This exposition provides us with sufficient reasons
(1) Nahj- ul- Balaqah, sermon 176
(2) Ibid
to believe that the Holy Qur'an is a Book which contains instructions for everyone throughout his life.
And 'finally' it is a Book which provides the learned man as well as the masses of people with the required instructions as they need. Once the Muslims have set aside this great celestial Book and turned to the deviant schools of thought of the east and west, they must be on the look out for the reasons of their weakness and their backwardness in here.
Explanations:
1- The holy Qur'an provides the substance for religious propagation and the preachers must look to the Qur'an for the main substance of their propagation. "This is a clear message "
2- The Qur'an is the Book of monotheism and one must educate monotheistic people by it. " and that He is God (the only) One, "
3- It is not enough to communicate only, warning is also necessary. It does not suffice to know paying attention, and admonition is also required.
4- Association with the Qur'an provides us with both knowledge, cognition, and outlook as well as with admonitions which urge us to perform decent acts.
5- The Qur'an provides the general public with a mandate though only the men of wisdom take advice and instruction from it. " and that those possessors of intellects may take admonition. " Certainly, if we pay attention to the guidelines of the Qur'an heartily, we will become truly monotheistic individuals. Allah willing.
The End of Sura 'Ibrahim
You can read the biography of Had rat- i- 'Ibrahim in the following pages.
The Highly Adventurous Life of 'Ibrahim, the Iconoclastic Prophet
This Sura is the only one which is named after 'Ibrahim. However, the biography of 'Ibrahim is not covered only in this Sura. On the other hand, as there are mentions of this great Divine prophet on various occasions in other Suras, we considered it appropriate to discuss the highly- esteemed biography of this champion of monotheism in a concise manner at the end of this Sura so that we shall be able to interpret and comment on the various verses which we come across in the future, as they require command of this prophet's life. We hope that this short discussion provides sufficient awareness for our dear readers and we shall be able to provide them with useful references.
One can distinguish the life of 'Ibrahim into three distinct periods: 1- The Era prior to his prophetic Mission; 2- The Era of his prophetic Mission and his Campaign against the worshippers of idols in Babylon; 3- The Exodus Era from Babylon and his struggles and efforts in the Lands of Egypt, Palestine, and Mecca.
The Birthplace and Childhood of 'Ibrahim:
'Ibrahim was born in the lard of Babylon which was an amazing land of the world and which had a powerful and, at the same time, an oppressive and a tyrannical government which was in full control of it. (Some historians have regarded his birthplace in ''Ur', a city in the land of Babylon
The Highly Adventurous Life of 'Ibrahim (a.s.)
'Ibrahim was born at the time when, Nimrod- ibn- Kan'an, that oppressive and cruel king, was ruling Babylon and he used to present himself as the great god of Babylon. Certainly, the people of Babylon did not possess only this sole idol to worship, but, in the meantime, they had fabricated idols out of the various materials and used to worship them.
The dominant government of that land used to encourage vigorously the worshipping of idols as it considered the job as an effective means for stupefying and inciting hallucinations in people and regarded any kind of insult to the idols as a great crime and an unforgivable one.
Historians have recounted an amazing story about the birth of 'Ibrahim, a summary of which is as follows: Astrologers had predicted and had foretold that a person could be born who would stand up to the undivided and invincible power and authority of Nimrod. Then Nimrod sought to obstruct such a baby from being born, and once it was born, he did utmost to have him killed. Nonetheless, none of his plans was effective and the baby was born.
The mother of the baby tried her best and brought her child up in a cave near her birthplace so much so that she spent 31 years of her life in that place. And in such a situation, eventually, the child was brought up far from the scrutiny of the agents of Nimroud. He attained the age of puberty, and decided to leave that hiding- place forever, in order to go among the people, and explain the lessons of monotheism to the people which he had received with inspirations from within himself supplemented by his mental studies.
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Campaigns Against Various Groups of Idol- worshippers
At the time when the people of Babylon were worshipping such self- made idols, further, they were also worshipping such celestial beings as the sun, the moon and the stars. 'Ibrahim decided to awaken their dormant conscience by means of logic and clear and evident reasoning methods, thus drawing the dark curtains of the wrong suggestions down from the face of their clean inherent nature, so as to enable their enlightening nature to shine, in order that they might take several steps alongside of the path of monotheism.
'Ibrahim had done a great deal of studies concerning the creation of the universe, the skies and the earth as well as the power which was dominating and governing them and their amazing hierarchy, thus the light of certainty was being shed on his entire existence (1).
Logical Campaign Against the Idol- worshippers
At first, Abraham faced the worshippers of the stars, especially against those who used to worship Venus, which appears in the sky immediately after sunset, shining to the west of the horizon. They engaged in bowing and worshipping it.
Abraham shouted, "This is my Lord. " This he did either wonderfully, using a positive interrogation with a negative sense to stress the issue, or he used this way of expression to provide an introduction for the demonstration of their mistakes, or just for the sake of reinforcing of harmony with the opposite side in order to bring them in line.
(1) Sura Al- 'An'am, No. 6, verse 76
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