This volume contains 37 sūrahs forming what is traditionally known as the thirtieth part of the Qur’ān, on the basis that divides the Qur’ān into 30 parts of equal length, so as to make it easy to read the whole book once a month. Yet this part has a special, distinctive colour. All the sūrahs it includes are Makkan, except two, The Clear Proof and Divine Help, which take numbers 98 and 110 respectively. Although they vary in length, they are all short. More significant, however, is the fact that they form a single group with more or less the same theme. They enjoy the same characteristics of rhythm, images, connotations and overall style. They are, indeed, like a persistent and strong knocking on a door, or a series of loud shouts seeking to awaken those who are fast asleep, or those who are drunk and have lost consciousness, or are in a night club, completely absorbed in their dancing or entertainment. The knocks and the shouts come one after the other: Wake up! Look around you! Think! Reflect! There is a God! There is planning, trial, liability, reckoning, reward, severe punishment and lasting bliss. The same warning is repeated time after time. A strong hand shakes them violently. They seem to open their eyes, look around for a second and return to unconsciousness. The strong hand shakes them again. The shouts and knocks are repeated even more loudly. They may wake up once or twice to say obstinately, “No!” They may stone the person warning them or insult him and then resume their position of inattention. He shakes them anew.
This is how I feel when I read this part of the Qur’ān. It places much emphasis on a small number of significant facts and strikes certain notes which touch people’s hearts. It concentrates on certain scenes in the universe and in the world of the human soul, as well as certain events which take place on the Day of Decision. I note how they are repeated in different ways, which suggests that the repetition is intended.
This is how one feels when one reads: “Let man reflect on the food he eats.” (80: 24)
Or: “Let man then reflect of what he is created.” (86: 5) Or: “Let them reflect on the camels, how they were created; and heaven, how it is raised aloft; and the mountains, how they are hoisted; and the earth, how it is spread out.” (88: 17-20) Or: “Which is stronger in constitution: you or the heaven He has built? He raised it high and gave it its perfect shape, and gave darkness to its night, and brought out its daylight. After that He spread out the earth. He brought out water from it, and brought forth its pastures; and the mountains He set firm, for you and your cattle to delight in.” (79: 2733) Or: “Have We not spread and levelled the earth, and made the mountains as pegs? We created you in pairs, and made your sleep a cessation of activity. We made the night a mantle, and appointed the day for gaining a livelihood. We built above you seven mighty ones, and placed therein a blazing lamp. We send down out of the rain- clouds water in abundance, by which We bring forth grain and varied plants, and gardens thick with trees.” (78: 6-16)
We entertain similar feelings when we read: “Let man reflect on the food he eats: how We pour down the rain in torrents, and cleave the earth in fissures; how We bring forth the corn, the grapes and the fresh vegetation, the olive and the palm, the dense-treed gardens, the fruit-trees and the green pastures, for you and your cattle to delight in.” (80: 24-32) Or: “O man, what has lured you away from your gracious Lord, who created and moulded you and gave you an upright form. He can give you whatever shape He wills.” (82: 6-8) Or: “Extol the limitless glory of the name of your Lord, the Most High, who creates and proportions well, who determines and guides, who brings forth the pasturage, then turns it to withered grass.” (87: 1-5) Or: “We indeed have created man in the finest form, then We brought him down to the lowest of the low, except for those who believe and do good deeds; for theirs shall be an unfailing recompense. Who, then, can henceforth cause you to deny the Last Judgement? Is not God the most just of judges?” (95: 4-8) Or: “When the sun is darkened, when the stars fall and disperse, when the mountains are made to move away, when the camels, ten months pregnant, are left untended, when the wild beasts are brought together, when the seas are set alight, when people’s souls are paired (like with like), when the infant girl, buried alive, is asked for what crime she was slain, when the records are laid open, when the sky is stripped bare; when hell is made to burn fiercely, when paradise is brought near, every soul shall know what it has put forward.” (81: 1-14) Or: “When the sky is cleft asunder, when the stars are scattered, when the oceans are made to explode, when the graves are hurled about, each soul shall know its earlier actions and its later ones.” (82: 1-5) Or: “When the sky is rent asunder, obeying her Lord in true submission; when the earth is stretched out and casts forth all that is within her and becomes empty, obeying her Lord in true submission.” (84: 1-5) Or: “When the earth is rocked by her [final] earthquake, when the earth shakes off her burdens, and man asks: ‘What is the matter with her?’ On that day she will tell her news, for your Lord will have inspired her.” (99: 1-5)
We experience the same feeling as we meditate on the scenes of the universe portrayed at the beginning or in the middle of some of the sūrahs in this part of the Qur’ān: “I swear by the turning stars, which move swiftly and hide themselves away, and by the night as it comes darkening on, and by the dawn as it starts to breathe.” (81: 1518) Or: “I swear by the twilight, and by the night and what it envelops, and by the moon in her full perfection.” (84: 16-18) Or: “By the dawn, by the ten nights, by that which is even and that which is odd, by the night as it journeys on!” (89: 1-4) Or: “By the sun and his morning brightness, by the moon as she follows him, by the day, which reveals his splendour, by the night, which veils him. By the heaven and its construction, by the earth and its spreading, by the soul and its moulding and inspiration with knowledge of wickedness and righteousness.” (91: 1-8) Or: “By the night when she lets fall her darkness, by the day in full splendour, by Him who created the male and the female.” (92: 1-3) Or: “By the bright morning hours, and the night when it grows still and dark.” (93: 1-2)
Strong emphasis is laid, throughout this part of the Qur’ān, on the origin of man as well as on the origin of life, in both its vegetable and animal forms. Emphasis is also given to various scenes in the universe, such as the Day of Resurrection, which is described in different places as the Greatest Catastrophe, the Stunning Blast, the Enveloper, etc. Scenes of the reckoning, fine reward and severe retribution are also given prominence. They are drawn with images which leave a stunning effect. All these are given as a proof of the reality of creation and the elaborate planning of the universe by God, as well as evidence confirming the reality of the life to come, and its decisive reckoning. These scenes are, at times, combined with scenes of the fate of some of the communities which rejected the divine messages. The whole of this part exemplifies all this. We will make, however, a brief reference in this introduction to some examples.
The present sūrah, The Tiding, lays its emphasis on the realities of creation and resurrection, and on scenes of the universe and the hereafter. The same applies to the next sūrah, The Pluckers. The third sūrah in this part, The Frowning, begins with a reference to a certain incident during the early days of Islam. The rest of the sūrah is devoted to a discussion of the origins of man and plants before it tackles what it terms the ‘Stunning Blast’:
On that day everyone will forsake his brother, his mother and his father, his wife and his children: for each one of them will on that day have enough preoccupations of his own. Some faces on that day shall be beaming, smiling and joyful. Some other faces on that day shall be covered with dust, veiled with darkness. (80: 34-41)
Sūrah 81, The Darkening, portrays scenes of the great upheaval which envelops the whole universe on the Day of Resurrection. It also draws some fine and inspiring scenes of the universe in the context of affirming the reality of revelation and the Prophet’s honesty. The next sūrah, Cleaving Asunder, also contains scenes of universal upheaval, coupled with scenes of perfect happiness and eternal suffering in the hereafter. As it portrays these it aims to shake and awaken people’s hearts: “0
man, what has lured you away from your gracious Lord?” (82: 6) Scenes of both types are also portrayed in Sūrah 84, The Rending. Sūrah 85, The Constellations, touches very briefly on aspects of the universe and the hereafter by way of introduction to its main theme. The sūrah then tackles the history of a group of believers who were subjected to extreme fire torture by the unbelievers. It also states how God will inflict greater and more severe torture with fire on those unbelievers.
The next sūrah, The Night Visitor, draws some scenes of the universe and speaks of the origins of man and plants prior to an oath, by all these, affirming that “This is surely a decisive word; it is no idle talk.” (86: 13-14) Sūrah 87, The Most High, speaks of creation, planning, divine guidance and the various stages of the growth of pastures.
All this is given by way of introduction to the theme of the hereafter, reckoning, reward and retribution. The next sūrah, The Enveloper, provides some images of the believers’ happiness in the hereafter, and the unbelievers’ misery. It also draws attention to the creation of camels, heaven, earth and the mountains. The same applies right through to the end of this part, with the exception of a few sūrahs which are devoted to the exposition of the fundamental principles of faith, such as those sūrahs entitled Purity of Faith, The Unbelievers, Small Kindness, The Declining Day, Power, and Divine Help. Also excepted are a few sūrahs which give encouragement and solace to the Prophet and direct him to seek refuge with his Lord against all evil, such as those entitled, The Morning Hours, Solace, Abundance, The Daybreak, and Mankind.
Another aspect of this part is its artistic use of fine expressions, images, rhythm, meter and rhyme to touch upon areas of exceptional beauty in the human soul and in the universe at large. It does this in order to achieve better results as it addresses those who have lost sight of the truth, trying to attract their attention and awaken their feelings. This is clearly evident, for example, in its portrait of the stars as they turn in their orbits, rise and set, in the image of deer disappearing in their dens then appearing again, its image of the night as a living being walking quietly in the dark, and the dawn breathing with the first rays of light: “I swear by the turning stars, which move swiftly and hide themselves away, and by the night as it comes darkening on, and by the dawn as it starts to breathe.” (81: 15-18)
It is also clear in the description of sunset, the night and the moon: “I swear by the twilight, and by the night and what it envelops, and by the moon in her full perfection.” (84:
16-18) And in the scenes of dawn and the travelling night: “By the dawn, by the ten nights, by that which is even and that which is odd, by the night as it journeys on!” (89: 1-4)
Or: “By the bright morning hours, and the night when it grows still and dark.” (93: 1-2)
Again it is markedly evident in the inspiring address to the human heart: “O man, what has lured you away from your gracious Lord, Who created and moulded you and gave you an upright form? He can give you whatever shape He wills.” (82: 6-8) The same applies to scenes from heaven: “Other faces on that day are jocund, well pleased with their striving, in a sublime garden, where they hear no babble.”(88: 8-11) And in a similar fashion it applies to scenes from hell: “But he whose weight is light in the balance, shall have the abyss for his home. Would that you knew what that is like! It is a scorching fire.” (101: 8-11)
Allegory is often employed and an unusual derivation is sometimes preferred in order to obtain the intended musical effect. All this shows the artistry which so entirely pervades this part of the Qur’ān.
The present sūrah is a good example of the general bent of this part, its themes, the fundamental principles it seeks to establish, the scenes and images it portrays, its inferences, its music and its fine touches, as well as its artistic selection and manipulation of terms and expressions to enhance its effect. It opens with a form of question imparting a sense of gravity to the matter in dispute, yet it is something that admits of no dispute. This is followed by an immediate warning of what will happen on the day when they will realize its nature: “About what are they asking? About the fateful tiding on which they dispute. No indeed; they shall certainly know! Again, no indeed; they shall certainly know!” (Verses 1-5) Discussion of this fateful tiding is then temporarily dropped. The sūrah draws attention to what we see around us in the universe and what we feel in our souls which give an unmistakable indication of what will follow: “Have We not spread and levelled the earth, and made the mountains as pegs? We created you in pairs, and made your sleep a cessation of activity. We made the night a mantle, and appointed the day for gaining a livelihood. We built above you seven mighty ones, and placed therein a blazing lamp. We send down out of the rain- clouds water in abundance, by which We bring forth grain and varied plants, and gardens thick with trees.” (Verses 6-16)
After this multitude of images taken from actual life the sūrah takes up the issue of the event of which they have been warned. It explains to them its nature and how it takes place: “Fixed is the Day of Decision. On that day the Trumpet is blown and you shall come in crowds, and heaven is opened, and becomes gates, and the mountains are made to move away, and seem to have been a mirage.” (Verses 17-20)
Then follows a scene of misery, that is at once both violent and infinitely powerful:
“Hell stands as a vigilant watch guard, a home for the tyrants and the transgressors. Therein they shall abide for ages, tasting neither coolness nor any drink, except boiling fluid and decaying filth, a fitting recompense. They did not expect to be faced with a reckoning, and roundly denied Our revelations. But We have placed on record every single thing, [and We shall say]: ‘Taste this, then; the only increase you shall have is increase of torment.’“ (Verses 21-30) The scene of happiness, on the other hand, overflows with beauty: “The God- fearing shall have a place of security, gardens and vineyards and high-bosomed maidens, of equal age, for companions, and a cup overflowing. There they shall hear no idle talk, nor any falsehood. Such is the recompense of your Lord, a truly sufficient gift.” (Verses 31-36)
The sūrah closes with a distinctive note which accompanies a majestic scene of the day when all this takes place: “Lord of the heavens and earth and all that lies between them, the Most Gracious, with whom they have no power to speak. On the day when the Spirit and the angels stand in ranks, they shall not speak, except those to whom the Most Gracious has given leave, and who shall say what is right. That day is a certainty. Let him who will seek a way back to his Lord. We have forewarned you of an imminent scourge, on the day when man will look on what his hands have forwarded and the unbeliever will cry:
‘Would that I were dust!” (Verses 37-40)
This is the fateful tiding about which they ask, and this is what will happen on the day when they realize the true nature of this great event.