You, wrapped in your cloak, arise and give warning. Glorify your Lord's greatness; clean your garments; stay away from all filth; do not hold up what you give away, showing it to be much; but to your Lord turn in patience. (Verses 1-7)

This is an address from on high, calling on the Prophet to get ready for his great task. He is to warn mankind, wake them up and save them from evil in this life and from the fire in the life to come, setting them on the way to salvation before it is too late. This is a hard, momentous task when assigned to an individual human being, even though he may be Gods Prophet and Messenger. Mankind had, however, gone so far astray and were too steeped in sin, rebellion, arrogance and persistence.

All this made advocacy of the divine faith the most difficult task to be assigned to anyone.

“You, wrapped in your cloak, arise and give warning." (Verses 1-2)

To give warning is the most obvious aspect of the divine message. It alerts people to the impending danger that threatens to engulf those who are oblivious of it, heading unaware into error. Such warning manifests Gods grace which He bestows on people. They take away nothing of His kingdom when they go astray, and increase His kingdom by nothing when they follow His guidance. However, it is out of His grace that He gives them such care so as to save themselves from severe punishment in the life to come and to rid themselves of evil in this life. The fact that His messengers call on them to respond so as to earn His forgiveness and be admitted into His heaven is certainly a manifestation of His grace.

Having given His Messenger the instruction to warn others, He adds some directives for the Prophet to observe in his own life. The first of these is to “Glorify your Lord's greatness." (Verse 3) Only your Lord is great and only He deserves to be glorified. This directive lays down an aspect of the Islamic concept of God and His oneness. Every person, every creature, every value and everything is small, while God alone is great. All entities, sizes, forces, values, events, situations, concepts and shapes dwindle into insignificance, while God alone is supreme, perfect and majestic. The Prophet is instructed to warn mankind, bearing all the difficulties of such a task, with this vision in mind. He will then think little of any force or plot aiming to impede his work, as he realizes that his Lord alone is great. Advocates of the divine message need to always keep this principle in mind when they go about fulfilling their difficult task.

The Prophet is then directed to maintain purity and cleanliness:

“Clean your garments.” (Verse 4) In Arabic usage, this expression of cleaning ones garments means maintaining purity of heart and high moral values together with clean action. It refers to the purity of self which is covered by those garments. Such purity and cleanliness signify the condition that is best suited for receiving instructions from on high.

Moreover, it is the closest thing to the nature of the Islamic message.

This general warning gives way to the case of a particular individual who seems to have played a leading role in rejecting the divine message and plotting against it. The surah issues a crushing warning, painting an ugly image of him that invites derision. This is particularly so when his unpleasant features appear lifelike before our eyes:

Leave to me the one I created alone, to whom I have granted vast wealth, and sons by his side, making life smooth and easy for him; yet he greedily desires that I give him more. No! He has set himself stubbornly against Our revelations. I will constrain him to endure a painful uphill climb! He thought and he schemed. Damn him, how he schemed! Again, damn him, how he schemed! He looked around, then he frowned and glared, then he turned his back and gloried in his arrogance, and said, 'This is just sorcery handed down from olden times! This is nothing but the word of a mere mortal!" I will cast him into the scorching fire. Would that you knew what the scorching fire is like! It leaves nothing, and spares nothing; it appears before mankind, guarded by nineteen. (Verses 11-30)

There are several reports suggesting that the person so referred to is al-Walid ibn al-Mughlrah. ‘Ikrimah reports: “Al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah met the Prophet who read to him a passage of the Qur’an. It appeared as though al-Walid softened a bit. Abu Jahl heard of this, so he went to al-Walid and said to him: ‘Uncle! Your people are raising some money for you.’ He asked for what reason. Abu Jahl answered: ‘They want to give it to you, because you went to Muhammad to see what you might gain from him.’ [Abu Jahl was thus playing on a most sensitive point, trying to arouse al-Walid’s pride.] Al-Walid said: ‘The Quraysh know that I am the richest among them.’ Abu Jahl said: ‘Then say about him something to make clear to your people that you are opposed to what he says.’ Al-Walid said: ‘What shall I say. None of you has better knowledge of poetry than me. I know all about poetry including the poetry of the jinn. What Muhammad says is nothing like that. What he says is indeed sweet; it towers over all speech; it rises high and nothing can top it.’ Abu Jahl said: ‘Your people will not be satisfied unless you say something negative about him.’ Al-Walid said: ‘Then give me time to think.’ When he thought it over, he said of the Qur’an: ‘This is sorcery taken from olden times.’ The above passage was then revealed in reference to him.

In another report, it is said that some of the Quraysh said: ‘If al- Walid follows Muhammad, the whole tribe will follow suit.’ Abu Jahl said: ‘I will take care of him.’ He went to see him... The report then mentions the above conversation between the two, and that after long thinking al-Walid said: ‘It is sorcery handed down from olden times.

Do you not see how it causes divisions between a man and his family, children and servants?’ Such was the event as reported. The Qur’an, however, describes it in its own moving way. It so starts with a fearsome threat: “Leave to me the one I created alone.” (Verse 11) The address is made to the Prophet.

The believers received Gods words with the sort of acceptance worthy of one who trusts his Lord and shows the sort of manners a servant should have. They neither doubted this piece of news nor questioned it.

The unbelievers, on the other hand, received it all with hearts devoid of faith or seriousness. They had no reverence of God. Hence, they made sarcastic comments, making the number, i.e. the 19, the subject of endless jokes. One of them said: ‘Will not each 10 of you be sufficient to overcome one of them?’ Another said: ‘You take care of two of these and I will take care of the rest. You will have nothing to worry about from them.’ It was then that the next verse was revealed, explaining God s purpose behind giving this piece of information on something that belongs to the realm beyond human perception and mentioning this particular figure.

It makes clear that that realm and the knowledge of all that relates to it belongs to God alone. It also mentions the ultimate end that results from the mention of the scorching fire and its guard:

We have appointed none other than angels to guard the fire, and We have made their number a test for the unbelievers. Thus those who have been granted revelations in the past may be convinced and the believers may grow yet more firm in their faith; and so those who have been granted revelations and the believers will entertain no doubt; but the sick at heart and the unbelievers will ask, "What could God mean by this image?* Thus God lets go astray whomever He wills, and guides whomever He wills. No one knows your Lord’s forces except Him. This is all but a reminder for mankind. (Verse 31)

The verse begins by mentioning the nature of the 19 guards whose number the unbelievers joked about: “ We have appointed none other than angels to guard the fire.” (Verse 31) They belong to that species of creature the nature and strength of which are known only to God Almighty. He mentions elsewhere in the Qur’an that the angels “never disobey God in whatever He commands them and always do what they are bidden to do” (66: 6) This statement makes it clear that they always obey God’s orders and that they have the power to do whatever He bids them. Since He has assigned to them the task of guarding hell, then they have been given the power to undertake this task and fulfil it as it should be done. Thus, there is no way that human beings can fight with them or subdue them.

Such talk only betrays the unbelievers’ crude ignorance of the nature of Gods creation and how He conducts affairs.

“We have made their number a test for the unbelievers.” (Verse 31) It is the unbelievers that start arguing when the number is mentioned, because they cannot distinguish when an argument is out of place.

Since this question belongs to the realm beyond, and mankind have no knowledge of it, then whatever God says about it should be accepted without argument. It should also be understood that mentioning this fact only, without adding further details, is the appropriate and beneficial way. To argue about it is futile, because argument can only be based on knowledge that does not fit with the information to hand. Their exact number, whatever it signifies, is determined by the One who coordinates everything in the universe and creates everything according to a specific measure. This number is like any other, and a person who wants to argue will make the same objection to any other number. Why are the heavens seven? Why was man created from dried clay, like pottery while the jinn were created from raging flames of fire, as mentioned in Surah 55? Why does pregnancy last nine months? Why do tortoises live for centuries?

The surah now relates the truths of the life to come, the scorching fire of hell and Gods forces to various aspects of His fine creation in the universe, which people often overlook because of long familiarity.

Yet these are evident proofs of God’s limitless power of creation and His perfect design of the universe:

No! By the moon! By the night when it departs, and the shining dawn! It is indeed one of the mighty things, a warning to all mankind, (Verses 32-36)

The sight of the moon, the departing night and the shining dawn are certainly inspiring. They say much to the human heart, whispering secrets and arousing deep feelings. In its quick reference to these, the Qur’an touches our innermost selves where feelings and secrets are settled. It is rarely the case that people contemplate the sight of the moon as it rises, travels or sets without the moon whispering some universal secret in their ears. It sometimes takes no more than to stand in the moonlight in order to feel your heart being washed, as if you were bathing in light.

It is hardly possible for anyone to look carefully at the night as it starts to depart, at that time of complete serenity before sunrise, when the world starts to wake up and opens its eyes, without being profoundly affected by it. Likewise, it is hardly possible for anyone not to be alert to the scene of dawn as it breaks and begins to shine without experiencing a sense of opening up that makes us aware of a change of feeling. This change makes us ready to receive the light that shines within our hearts just as we receive the light shining over the world around us.

God, the Creator of the human heart, knows that these very sights can sometimes work wonders with this heart, as though they are recreating it. Beyond these shining feelings and openings up, the moon, the night and the dawn all refer to a great truth to which the Qur’an alerts us.

They all point to God’s power of creation, His limitless wisdom and His fine coordination of His creation.

God Almighty swears by these great universal truths in order to alert those who are oblivious to their greatness and the message they impart.

He swears that the scorching fire, or its guards, or the hereafter and its events, is one of the great wonders that serve as a warning to mankind of the impending danger ahead: “It is indeed one of the mighty things, a warning to all mankind” (verses 35-36) The very oath, its contents and subject matter are all like hammers striking hard at peoples hearts.

This is in perfect harmony with the sounding of the trumpet mentioned earlier, and with the opening of the surah as it addresses the Prophet and bids him to arise and warn. The whole atmosphere is one of hard hitting, warning of an impending danger.

The surah now declares that every soul bears responsibility for itself, leaving everyone to choose for themselves. It also states that each soul will have to account for its choices and be judged according to its deeds:

It is indeed one of the mighty things, a warning to all mankind, to those of you who choose to go ahead or to lag behind. Every soul is held in pledge for what it has wrought. (Verses 35-38)

All people, every single one of them, are responsible for themselves, choosing their own positions, going ahead or lagging behind, achieving an honourable status or bringing humiliation upon themselves. Thus, every soul is tied to what it does and the action it takes. God has shown all people the way that leads to Him so that they can take that way with open eyes. As this declaration of individual responsibility is made against the backdrop of inspiring universal scenes, as well as the scene of the scorching fire that spares nothing, it has its profound effect.

It is further declared, however, that an exception is made in the case of the believers who are referred to here as the ones on the right hand.

These are untied. They are also given the right to ask the guilty about what has perpetrated their fate:

Except for those on the right hand. They will be in gardens, and will ask about the guilty ones: 'What brought you into the scorching fire?’ They will answer: 'We were not among those who prayed, neither did we feed the needy; but we indulged with others in vain talk, and we denied the Day of Judgement until there came upon us that which is certain? (Verses 39—47)

That the believers are thus excepted is due to Gods grace, for He blesses their good deeds and multiplies them. This declaration, at this particular point, touches all hearts. It first touches the hearts of the guilty who were bent on denying the truth. They see themselves in such a humiliating position, making long confessions, while the believers, whom they looked down upon in this world, stand in a position of dignity, asking them as if they are put in a position of authority: "What brought you into the scorching fire? ” (Verse 42) It also touches the hearts of the believers who used to be at the receiving end of much hardship from those same guilty ones. Now they see themselves in a high position while their arrogant enemies of old are placed in such humiliation. The image is so powerful that it gives both sides a feeling that it is actually taking place now, as though the life of this world has come to an end and is now a thing of the past.

The long confession by the guilty gives details of the many wrongs they have perpetrated, and for which they are led to the scorching fire.

They humbly admit to these in front of the believers. “ They will answer:

We were not among those who prayed?’ (Verse 43) This is a reference to faith altogether, rather than to the act of prayer. It highlights the great importance of prayer in the Islamic faith, presenting it as a symbol and proof of faith. Denying it puts a person in the ranks of the unbelievers.

The surah now puts them back in this life, where they have the chance to do something before facing such an abject outcome. Yet they turn away, fleeing from the guidance that would bring them only what is good. The means of salvation are shown to them, but they run away from them. Therefore, the surah draws a sarcastic image of their situation:

What is the matter with them that they turn away from all admonition like terrified asses fleeing from a lion? (Verses 49—51)

The scene of asses or zebras in great agitation, running in all directions as they hear a lion roaring, was well known to the Arabs. It is a scene of fast movement in a state of panic. Hence, when it is applied to humans, it invites loud laughter. This is especially so if those humans were in real fear of some impending danger. What can be said about them if such is their state, like terrified asses, only because someone is reminding them of their Lord and their eventual destiny, showing them the way to avoid such misery and pain? The image drawn is profound and effective. Those who contemplate it will be too ashamed if they find themselves in it.

Such is their external condition. The surah, however, describes their inner feelings as well: “ Every one of them demands to be given revelations unfolded before him” (Verse 52) It is, then, a question of envy. They begrudge the Prophet for God having given him this exceptional favour.

Each one of them is so keen to attain the same status and to be given scriptures to announce to mankind. This must be a reference to their elders who felt hurt that they were bypassed when divine revelations were granted to Muhammad (peace be upon him). Hence, they said:

“ Why was not this Quran revealed to some great man of the two cities?” (43: 31) God certainly knows to whom to entrust His final message.

He chose for this task a great man with the noblest of hearts. This was enough to fill those unbelievers with rancour. Their unjustifiable grudges were also enough for the Qur’an to expose.

The surah continues its presentation of their inner feelings. As it censures their envy, which lacks sound basis, the surah now gives another reason for the unbelievers’ continued denial of the truth and their rejection of the message: “No! They do not fear the life to come” (Verse 53) It is indeed their lack of fear of what may happen in the life to come that leads to their heedless attitude to reminders. It makes them react illogically to the divine message. Had they genuinely felt the truth of the hereafter they would have had a totally different reaction.

The surah repudiates their attitude once more, as it puts its final word to them, leaving them to choose for themselves what they may:

“No! This is indeed an admonition. Let him who will, take heed” (Verses 54-55) This Qur’an to which they refuse to listen, and from which they turn away like frightened asses, is a reminder highlighting the truth.