Surah Al-'Adiyat 100:1-11 - Quran Translation Commentary

4. That is: In battles or in assaults when the horses are made to run fast, they run with such speed that their hoofs shed sparks of fire. These sparks of fire are created by the friction of the hoofs with the stony ground, which can be seen in the darkness of the night. Running of the horses, shedding sparks of fire, shows that Allah has placed great strength under the control of man.

5. It was the practice of the Arabs that whenever they wanted to attack some tribe or township, they used to start on their horses in the night and attack at dawn. They did not attack in the night because it was difficult to fight in the darkness of the night, and attacked at dawn because they wanted to surprise the enemy and take him unawares.

6. That is: These horses ran so fast that they left a trail of clouds of dust. Thus their attacks were accompanied by clouds of dust. It should be noted that the Arabian region is a desert and in the days of the revelation of Quran there were no pucca roads, therefore, the running of horses must have been raising a lot of dust, by seeing which people would be anticipating that marauders were coming.

7. That is: They penetrate into the midst of the assembled foes and inflict heavy losses.

In these verses a picture of the assault of the Arabs has been drawn, which they used to carry out with the intention of looting and plundering. When one tribe attacked another tribe, it used horses for the purpose. These horses used to run in the darkness of the night, shedding sparks of fire from their hoofs and at dawn accompanied by the clouds of dust raised by their running, used to attack the camps of the victims, and used to penetrate into the midst of the defenders. This used to be followed by general loot and plunder, and by making male and female captives as slaves. This state of affairs had created a state of disorder in the country. There was always a fear in the townships or camps that some marauders might attack them. Quran has drawn a picture of plundering in order to make men conscious of this tyranny and cruelty, in which speedy horses were used. It is like the modern times when for false and unfair objectives highly speedy air planes are used in the battles, and towns and cities are destroyed by indiscriminate bombings. A picture of these depredations should be drawn in words so that humanity may be shaken against these tyrannical activities.

8. For bringing home to people this fact the oath of the galloping horses has been taken. It means that fast horses are a great gift from Allah and they are of great value in battles but their use for false objectives and for tyrannical purposes is a misuse of this gift and ingratitude to Allah.

In the modern times the discovery of the atomic energy is a great gift and blessing from Allah for man, and he can be grateful for this gift only by using this power and energy for constructive work, but if he uses it for destructive, purposes like manufacturing atom bombs, and for using it to destroy the big cities and unleashing tyranny on humanity, this will be an open depreciation and misuse of the gift and a great act of ingratitude against Allah.

9. That is: This ingratitude of man does not need any proof. His own conscience is a witness to that. He may put forth a number of excuses for misusing the gifts from Allah, but his nature will shout with its inner voice that he has committed a wrong. Many people openly express their ungratefulness to their Lord, and they themselves are a proof of their ingratitude.

10. That is: Man loves his wealth and property more than he loves God. Instead of being a God-worshipper he has become a wealth worshipper. Accordingly, he does not hesitate to shed blood and plunder in order to become rich.

It should be noted that the disapproval of Quran of the love for wealth means that man should not love wealth more than God, should not make only the earning of material gains as his objective instead of the success in the Dawatul Quran. Hereafter, should not ignore the distinction between Halal and Haram for achieving wealth, and should eschew usurping the rights and misappropriating the properties of others. This mammon-worshipping existed in every age, and its modern version is the present ‘capitalism.’

11. That is: All the dead persons will be revived (See Surah Az-Zilzal, Note Nos.2 to 6)

Here the question is posed as an admonition that man indulges in plundering and in wealthworshipping because he does neither believe in his revival, nor in his accountability on the Day of Judgment, whereas this event is inevitably to occur.

12. On the Day of Judgment, not only the external deeds will be seen by men but that the feelings, intention, designs, purposes behind these deeds which motivate them, will also be seen by them, so that the demands of Justice may be fully met. The decisions will be announced thereafter.

In this connection the first secret of the breast which will be disclosed will be man’s faith or infidelity, that is whose heart contained faith and whose heart ‘kufr’ or rejection of truth. Those men who had been calling themselves as Muslims, but were hiding infidelity in their hearts, their infidelity will manifest on that day. Similarly, those persons who might have done righteous deeds for some false purpose and under evil motivation will also be exposed. And those people who had been trying to justify the wrong acts that they performed so that others might think that they have not done any wrong thing, their objectives and intentions will also be exposed on that day.

13. Allah is aware of the external and internal state of everybody even today. But on the Day of Judgment this reality will be shown to them, and they will have no other go but to admit that Allah really knew the external and internal condition of every person, and on the Day of Judgment every decision that He will take will be fully backed by the full knowledge that He has.