Surah Al-Fajr 89:1-30 - Quran Translation Commentary

2. Fajr (Dawn) means that time when the light of the day appears from the darkness of the night on the eastern horizon. Its other name is ‘Subhe Sadiq.’ In Urdu it is called ‘pau phatna. ’

The time of the fajr is till the sunrise, while the word ‘Subh’ (morning) also refers to the time even after the sunrise.

3. The ten nights refer to the ten nights of the lunar month and in relation to fajr these are the nights of the middle part of the month, i.e. from the 11th night to the 20th night. This appears to be a correct interpretation, for these nights are comparatively bright nights because of the moon.

4. If the continuity of the theme is considered, then here by odd and even is meant the odd and even nights, because a mention of the nights has already occurred earlier and even in the later verse. In some months the number of nights can be even and in some odd, because some lunar months have 30 nights and some have 29 nights.

5. By the passing away of the night is meant the time when the darkness of the night ends and the light of the morning appears.

6. That is: Is there nothing in these things to provide guidance? And does not for a man of thinking the truth of the statement of the holy Quran become manifest from the signs that appear in the sky? This interrogatory sentence is for assertion and emphasis, Here man is called upon to contemplate over the system of the day and night, which he observes daily. It begins with the dawn and ends with the passing away of the night. The dawn appears after tearing the darkness of the night, When the white line of the morning appears on the horizon, it presents a wonderfully beautiful scene. Similarly during every month the middle ten nights which are comparatively bright because of the moon, exercise a special Influence on the heart and mind of man. Then every lunar month ends on the 30th night or the 29th night. There is no change in this routine. And when the time of the departure of the night comes, it silently packs its bag and baggage and passes away in such a way as if it had come only to pass away. On its departure the meeting (mehfil) that it had arranged with all the fanfare is also dissolved.

Do not these signs which are observed day and night point to a Wise Administrator? How could this wonderful system of day and night and its Perfect regularity be maintained without there being behind it the hand of a Being of the Greatest Might and Wisdom? Thus this observation leads man to only one conclusion and that is: Surely there is a Wise Administrator on whose commands this whole system of the universe is running with perfect, unfailing regularity, and when this Being is Wise, then how can the world created by Him be purposeless? And how can the man created by Him be an aimless wanderer? It is essential that there should be a purpose behind the creation of this world and that there should be a planning behind the creation of man. According, to His revealed statement the purpose behind the creation of the world is to prepare for the Hereafter, and as Divinely planned man is to be tried and tested in this world, and those who are successful in these tests are to be rewarded with never-ending blessings and gifts in the next world, and those who fail, to be punished by being thrown in the blazing fire of the Hell. This statement of the Quran is really an explanation of the reality which is manifesting itself in the language of signs and symbols in the system of the day and night and in the whole universe, And the fact of the Quranic statement being so harmonious with the reality of the universe is a clear proof of the truth of the Quran.

There is also another aspect of the Fajr. (Dawn). The time of the dawn reminds of the occurrence of the Doomsday. As the dawn appears after tearing the veil of the night’s darkness, similarly the dawn of the Doomsday will appear after tearing the veil of the darkness covering the world. As a man wakes up from sleep in the morning, similarly he will wake up on the appearance of the morn of the Doomsday and will feel as if he has woken up from a sleep in which he had just fallen. This reality is referred to in a prayer recommended in a hadith, which is to be recited. on waking up in the morning:

“Thanks to Allah, who has revived us after death and before Him we have to risen -(Muslim Kitabuz Zikr).

7. ”Did you not see”, means “Did you not consider” and carries the same sense which is conveyed by the words: “Did you not see what fate did Hitler meet?” when we are not actually the eye witnesses of the fate of Hitler, but we merely know it as an event of history. On such occasions the speaker wants to say that the historical event which had taken place is worth contemplation and worth taking a lesson from.

8. A’ad is the name of a nation, which inhabited the region between Yemen and Hazrmaut in the area of Ahqaf in Rub-Al-Khali in the desert of the South Arabia. This nation existed after the time of the Prophet Nooh (Nuh) and before the Prophet Ibrahim, about three thousand years before the Christ.

9. They have been called ‘Zatul Imad’ because they used to build very tall and lofty buildings. This practice was not adopted by them to meet any real social needs, but merely to erect national monuments or to satisfy their desire of exhibition. In this art of theirs there was an element of waste and also a provision for strengthening the foundation of worldly desires.

10. A’ad has been linked with Iram, because they belonged to a branch of the Semitic race that descended from Iram bin Sam bin Nuh. The mention of Iram is there in the Bible:

“The sons of Shem (Sam):………….Aram.

The Sons of Aram (Iram): ……………… UZ……… (Genesis 10: 22)

11. That is: In strength and power and worldly grandeur no other nation was their equal during their time, nor was there any other nation more powerful even earlier.

A’ad is the oldest nation of the land of Arabia. It had gained prominence after the deluge of Nooh, and was known for its magnificent buildings and strength and power. On account of its superiority in the material achievements it was a peerless nation.

12. After A’ad the other nation which became prominent for its material progress and worldly grandeur was Thamud. Its time was also before that of Ibrahim (Abraham).

13. Valley here refers to the Valley ‘Al-Qura’ which is situated between Hijaz and Syria. The most important place in this valley was ‘Hijr’ which is now known as Madayan-e-Saleh and which is situated about 180 Miles, away in the north of Madina. This was the habitat of Thamud.

14. Thamud were known for carving out their houses in the rocks. They were experts in this art of carving, in which they indulged for satisfying their interest in this art. They had made tremendous progress in the art of construction and they had thought that on account of their construction they were secure in every way.

15. Keeper of stakes means a king of great military power. The Pharaoh had formed a permanent army for the security of his country, whereas in those days there was no practice of forming and maintaining permanent armies. Instead of this an army was raised temporarily whenever a war was to be fought. As the army used to camp in tents, which were fixed in the ground with the stakes, the words keeper of stakes are used to denote a King having an army.

But, as for man, when his Lord tries him, giving him honour and gifts, then he says: ‘My Lord has honoured me. And when He tries him, restricting his subsistence for him, then he says: ‘My Lord has humiliated me.(Al-Quran)

16. These nations having found the resources of a magnificent civilization and power adopted a wrong policy. They were fearless of God and careless of the Hereafter, because they had become proud and they had adopted the policy of rebellion, which resulted in their going completely astray.

17. When these nations took the path of transgression and evil and were not prepared to reform themselves inspite of the admonitions of the Prophets, then Allah’s Law of Punishment became operative and it enveloped them in such a way that all their material progress and their grandeur were razed to the ground. Neither the tall and lofty buildings could save them from dying the death of ignominy nor the houses carved out of the rocks could provide them any safety. Similarly the great army and the equipment could not save Pharaoh from drowning in the sea, and he drowned with his entire army, as in the words of the poet:

“We are sinking, Friend! we will make you too sink with us.”

The details of the punishment which descended on these nations are mentioned in Surah A’raf, Surah Yunus. Surah Hood, Surah Hijr and other Surahs.

18. The historical events which have been pointed out above are evidences of the fact that this world is not an aimless, haphazard settlement, whose Creator has left it to run unchecked. On the contrary, He is watching every individual and every nation, and He holds the reins of everyone in His hands. He gives a little respite to the mischievous and rebellious nations so that if they want to improve they may do so. But this respite is only for a specified time, after which the destructive punishment of Allah’s wrath descends on them and they meet their unenviable fate.

This evidence of history is a clear proof of the fact that this world in not a play ground but that it is a testing ground where people, individuals and nations are tested and tried, and their lord is dealing with them with justice and wisdom. He is fully capable and powerful to inflict punishment on the wrong-doers. When this world is a testing ground, then it is necessary that there should be a day when men’s deeds should be examined and reward and punishment be awarded. Therefore, the claim of the Quran that one day there will occur the Doomsday is an incontrovertible fact which is proved by the evidence of history also.

19. The condition of man described here is with a view to removing the misunderstanding in which the world-seekers are generally found. For them wealth and property, grandeur and position and material progress are the standard of honour, and the man who achieves material progress thinks that God is pleased with him and that is why He is providing all these resources for honoring him. This wrong thinking prompts such a person to rebel against his Lord. Allah grants these things to a man to test him whether he becomes a grateful slave of Allah and pays the dues to and safeguards the rights of others or whether he becomes ungrateful, proud and one who tramples the right of others. The real honour and glory can come only after being successful in the test.

20. For the seekers of the material world, being in straitened circumstances is considered to be a condition of dishonour. In other words they think that those who do not have plenty of wealth are low in the eyes of Allah, although Allah places men in such conditions only to test them whether they prove patient and grateful or whether they grumble and complain against Him. Adversity creates in man the strength to resist the adverse circumstances, and strengthens his character. After passing through these stages man can achieve honour and respect, provided he does not become impatient. This divine great wisdom that is operative behind this condition of adversity is hidden from the eyes of the superficial onlooker, who become victims of false notion. This verse tries to correct this false notion. If even after this man remains under this false notion, then he is destined to fail in the test.

21. That is: This standard of honour and dishonour which the materialists have formulated is not correct.

22. Here the world-seekers and particularly the wealthy people are addressed directly and they are informed that what was required of them was that they should have paid the due rights of others after getting so much wealth in the life of trial, that they should have given assistance to the orphan children and the poor. But they have become so much proud of their wealth that instead of helping the orphans they shun them and look at them disdainfully.

It thus becomes clear that Quran not only commands to give help to the orphans but also to respect them. In other words Quran wants that the poor and weak class should have a place of honour in the society. And a true Muslim society is that in which this section of the society is looked upon with respect.

23. To feed the poor and to encourage others to do so is a part of the basic morality, and this becomes man’s responsibility by nature. The Shariah has made it more emphatic and has given detailed commands in this respect.

Here Quran has severely criticized the jahiliyah (non-Islamic) society in which the people neither care to feed the poor nor do they try to inculcate the spirit of performing righteous deeds in others. This shows that the character which Quran wants to build in a society is that which induces its individuals to help the poor and encourage others to do so. This practice does away with miserliness and wealth-loving, and nourishes the feelings of sympathy and generosity.

This character, this quality is the basic necessity for ending poverty and scarcity.

24. In pre-Islamic days women and children were deprived of the right of inheritance, and the members of the stronger sex used to take full share in the inheritance. Consequently orphan male and female children were deprived of getting any share in the inheritance of their fathers. In this verse this practice of the people the pre-Islamic or non-Islamic days is declared of as wrong and objectionable. (For further details please see Note No. 19 of Surah Nisa).

Here the question arises that the Quranic law of distribution of inheritance was revealed in Madina in the late 03 (A. H.) which is included in the Surah Nisa, when Surah Al-Fajr, which is Makkan, denounces the practice of devouring the inheritance greedily -then, against nonobservance of what inheritance-law is the denouncement aimed? The answer is: that although the laws of inheritance were revealed later, but it does not mean that the people did not know as to who were the real inheritors before the revelation of the inheritance-laws. At least this is obvious that the true inheritors of a man are his children, and when the children are orphans then the sanctity of their inheritance rights becomes more important. It is a matter which a man with common sense can easily comprehend. How then will the practice of usurpation of the inheritance of the deserving claimants by men of strength not be questionable? Then it is also a fact that the Arabs of Makka were not totally ignorant of the Divine Shariah; they were the inheritors of the Shariah of Prophet, Ibrahim, although they had with them only a few parts of that Shariah, e.g. rites of Hajj. etc. Thus it will not be correct to think that they did not even know that the real inheritors of a man were his children. However, the practice was that the uncle used to usurp the entire inheritance, depriving the small orphan boys and girls, of their deserving rights. What was the Justification for this open right usurpation? As regards Torah, there was in it a law of inheritance it is mentioned in the Bible:

“And you shall say, to the people of Israel, If a man dies, and has no son, then you shall cause his inheritance to pass to his daughter. And if he has no daughter then you shall give his inheritance to his brothers. “ (Number, 27:8,9)

25. This is a criticism of their love for wealth which had caused their moral downfall.

Where Allah has made wealth a means of satisfying man’s social needs, there He has also made it a means of testing him. One aspect of this test is to find out whether man makes the Hereafter his real destination or he makes grabbing wealth as the sole purpose of his life. Another aspect of this test is to find out whether he earns this wealth through honest sources or through dishonest means, and whether he spends this wealth for righteous acts or for evil-doing. The third aspect is to judge whether he spends this wealth and offers sacrifices in the name of Allah and pays the dues offers other human beings or whether he acts in a miserly way and usurps the rights of others.

26.That is: Your notion that you will not be questioned and punished is wrong.

27. The earthquake that will occur on the Doomsday and the explosions that will follow S. 89 1000 Dawatul Quran will totally destroy the earth. Not only buildings and palaces, but even mountains will be razed to dust and the earth will become a vast spotless maidan (ground), where all the people will have to gather to account for their deeds before Allah.

28. That is: Allah Himself will establish a court on the Day of the Judgment and He Himself will carry on the questioning. There will be angels to put into action and enforce. His commands.

This brings before our eyes the terrifying of picture of the Court of Allah and a belief is created in our hearts that today Allah is taking our test from behind a veil, but on the Day of the Judgment this veil will be lifted and the reality will come up before our eyes.

29. When the Court of Allah will be functioning the Hell will be in front, and its presence will be felt.

30. Seeing himself imprisoned in the Court of Allah and the Hell in front, man will come to his senses and will realize that how great is his loss in disbelieving in the Hereafter. That day he will remember that the Prophets were right in reminding him of the impending doom, and that the path which they were showing was the right one. He has committed a great blunder by not taking their advice. But coming to senses on that day would be of no avail, because the time for test and the chance for reforming has passed. The Doomsday will be the Day of declaration of the results. Coming to senses on that day and deciding to reform on that day is like the case of a student who passes his time in hilarity and merriment while in the examination hall instead of solving the question paper and realizes his mistake on the day of declaration of the result. It is obvious that this late realization of his mistake cannot change his failure into success, though it makes him more hopeless.

31. On that day man will feel that the real life is the life of the Hereafter, and that he was wrongly considering the life of the earth as every thing, Oh! would it that I had done something in the world for the next world.

32. Do not measure the punishments in the Hereafter by the standards of the world. The punishment of Allah in the Hereafter will be so severe that nobody in the world would have inflicted such a severe punishment ever and nobody ever can inflict such punishment!

After being warned of this punishment, if the people do not take care and continue to remain as criminals and transgressors, then they surely deserve the punishment which awaits them. They Will realize this when they will taste it.

The severity of the punishment will be according to the severity of the crime. Those who adopt a behaviour of transgression and disobedience against the Ruler of the Universe, they display the most reprehensible shamefacedness, and they therefore deserve the severest punishment.

33. By satisfied soul is meant the man who had believed in the oneness of Allah with the fullest satisfaction of his heart and conviction, who had believed in the Hereafter, who was pleased and satisfied with his Creator in conditions of both abundance and adversity thinking none of His acts was devoid wisdom. One who developed such a condition of a satisfied heart in this world, was surely deserving of receiving comfort, happiness and satisfaction everlastingly.

34. These words are full of love and blessings in which the glad tidings are given to the satisfied soul of the success on the Day of the Judgment, and that success which gets him the nearness of the Lord of the Universe. What better thing remains to be achieved after this? The slave is pleased with his Lord and the Lord is pleased with His slave. After reaching this place of honour and glory, what height is there which a man can imagine to reach?

35. “My slaves” denotes God’s righteous slaves. The society in the Paradise will be composed of the righteous slaves of Allah.

Being included in the group of righteous people is a great blessing of Allah, and this blessings will be achieved only by those people who appreciate it, those who like to meet the righteous people and feel happy in living with them, as against those who dislike the righteous people in the world and keep away from them. Those who were attracted towards Godless people in the world will share the fate of the Godless people on the Day of the Judgment.

36. Allah has referred to paradise as ‘His Paradise. This reference shows the. high exaltation of the Paradise as also its being a exaltation of Allah’s pleasure.