Surah At-Taghabun 64:1-10 - Quran Translation Commentary

1. All that is in the heavens and all that is in the earth hallow Allah. HIS is the Kingdom and for Him is the praise and HE is able to do all things.¹

2. It is HE Who created you. Then some one of you is a disbeliever and someone is a believer.² Allah sees whatever you do.³

3. HE has created the heavens and the earth with truth⁴ and HE gave you shape so HE made your shapes goodly.⁵ and toward HIM is the returning.

4. HE knows whatever is in the heavens and the earth and He knows whatever you conceal and whatever you reveal and Allah knows also what is hidden in the hearts.

5. Has not the news reached you of those people who disbelieved before this. So they tasted the punishment of their deeds and for them is a painful torment. ⁶

6. That was because their Messengers came to them with clear signs but they said: will the humans guide us?⁷ Thus did they disbelieve and turned face (therefore) Allah also disregarded them⁸ and Allah is self-sufficient and praise worthy.

7. Those who disbelieved assert that they will never be resurrected. Say: Why not? by my Lord, you will certainly be resurrected ⁹ then you shall be informed what you did and that is very easy for Allah.

8. So believe in Allah and in His Messenger and in the Light which WE have sent down ¹⁰ And Allah is aware of what you do.

9. The Day Allah will assemble (all) on the Day of assembling.¹¹ That will be the Day which will reveal the loss ¹² And those who had believed and were doing good deeds He will remove their sins and will admit them in gardens beneath which rivers flow. They will dwell therein forever. That is the great success.¹³

10. And those people who had disbelieved and had rejected our signs will be the people of the hell, dwellers therein and that is a very bad abode.¹⁴

Commentary

1. This is the introductory verse of the surah which gives us the knowledge about Allah. Faith in Allah and obedience of Allah is not possible without knowing Allah. Therefore, the Holy Quran not only orders us to believe and to obey but it also provides the light of knowledge so that the mind and the heart may become fully prepared to comply with the Divine commandment.

When man observes clearly that the entire universe is constantly singing the songs of praise and glorification of Allah, this truth also moves his heart. Consequently he too joins this sweet chorus hallowing his Lord Almighty which is indeed a great worship.

2. When it is a fact that Allah has created you. you should believe in HIM. But the fact is that some of you are believers, and some are disbelievers!

3. Since HE sees your deeds, HE will reward or punish you on the basis of your deeds.

4. That is HE has created this universe for a true purpose and it is justice and equity, reward and punishment which will manifest fully on the Day of Resurrection (Qiyaamat).

5. For clarification (Please See Surah Momin, Note: 9)

6. The indication is toward the destroyed people of the past like the people of Noah, the community of A ad and the folk of Thamood etc. Those people got the punishment for their disbelief in this worldly life also. In the Hereafter (Aakhirat)they will have to bear a very painful torment.

7. Allah had sent his Messenger for the guidance of men but as those prophets were human beings, proud people felt that it was below their dignity to accept a human being as their guide. In their view Allah should have sent angels as HIS prophets. But the strange thing was that while, on the one hand, they were rejecting the prophethood of the prophets as they were human beings, on the other, they had made misguided fellows their leaders and guides and adopted bricks and stones as their gods!! Such explicit foolishness neither diminished their ‘self-respect’ nor did they find it below their dignity. How can a person without wisdom find his way?!

8. That is, since they turned away their face from Guidance. Allah also did not care for their guidance because. HE guides only those who are ready to accept it.

9. The Holy Prophet (May peace Be on him and his progeny) has been instructed to announce by an oath of Allah that people will certainly be resurrected after their death. This (announcement on oath) is for expressing certainty and authenticity. It means: I tell you, making Allah witness, that your resurrection is a certain truth. There is not the slightest doubt in it.

10. “Noor” (Light means Quran which is the light of knowledge. This verse is inviting people directly to believe in Allah. His Prophet and the Quran. This invitation (call) is really to all human beings.

11. That is, the Day of Resurrection, will be the day on which all the former and latter people will be gathered and God will gather all on that day. It will be like a roaring sea of people. Not even a single dead fellow will remain unrestricted.

12. Original word used is ‘Taghabun’ which is the superlative form of ‘ghaban’ meaning a loss in a sale-purchase transaction. According to ‘Lisanul Arab’:-

“In a business transaction, ‘Ghaban’ means loss”. (Vol.13,P.310)

Whatever capital of life a man invests in this world is called a business transaction by Quran. A disbeliever invests his capital of life for earning only this world and for purchasing ignorance. Therefore, he engages in a transaction of loss. This loss will appear before him clearly on the Day of Resurrection. Then only he will realise that he had invested his capital of life in a totally wrong way. Consequently, today (on the Day of Qiyamah) he is facing this destructive loss.

“These are the people who have bartered guidance for darkness but their trade was not profitable and they have lost true direction.” (Al Baqarah:16)

The Day of Resurrection will be the day of Taghabun, that is, the day of facing loss. It is just like as has been mentioned in Surah Qamar:

“The disbelievers will say: this is a very hard day.”

13. Those who had believed and had spent life righteously will be protected from every kind of loss on the Day of Resurrection. They will attain a great success, that is, Jannat (Paradise), because, they had invested their capital of life in a transaction (barter) which was to prove profitable in the Hereafter.

14.This explains the loss which the disbelievers will suffer on the Day of Judgment.