Surah Ghafir 40:1-9 - Quran Translation Commentary

(40:5) Cried lies before them Nuh‘s folk, and (several) confederates after them. Every nation attempted against its Messenger: to seize him. They disputed with falsehood in order to rebut the Truth thereby.⁶ So I seized them, so (see) how (terrible) was My retribution.⁷

(40:6) And that is how the Word of your Lord was realized against those who disbelieved, that they are the Companions of the Fire.

(40:7) Those who bear the `Arsh,⁸ and those around it, chant glory and praise to their Lord.⁹ They believe in Him¹⁰ and seek forgiveness for those who have believed (saying),¹¹ ‘Our Lord, You have encompassed everything with mercy and knowledge; forgive those who have turned penitent and follow Your path, and protect them from the chastisement of the blazing fire.

(40:8) And, Our Lord, admit them into gardens of `Adn that You have promised them, as well as those who attained righteousness of their progenitors, spouses and their offspring.¹² Surely, You alone are the All-powerful, the All-wise.

(40:9) And protect them from evils. And, whomsoever You protected from evils that Day, surely, You showed him mercy.¹³ That indeed is the great triumph.’¹⁴

Commentary

3. In all, there are 7 chapters, all in sequence, that start with these consonants. Collectively they are called “Hawamim.” Ibn `Abbas said that everything has its quintessence. The quintessence of the Qur’an are the Hawamim (Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir, Alusi).

Notably, all these seven chapters mention at their beginning the fact of the Qur’an being a Revelation from Allah (Thanwi).

During some of the campaigns the Prophet (saws) would declare “Ha. Mim. They will not be helped” (or “you will not be helped)” as the night password. The report is in Tirmidhi and Abu Da’ud and is of Sahih status.

Abu Darda’ was seen building a wall. When asked what he was doing he replied, “I am building a mosque for the people of Ha Mim.” It could be the mosque which is attributed to him, lying within the Syrian fort (Ibn Kathir).

4. It is reported that a man came to `Umar (ibn al-Khattab) and said, “I have a murder to my credit. Is there repentance for me?” He answered, “Yes. Keep attempting good deeds and do not despair.” Then he recited this verse to him (Ibn Jarir).

The report is also in Ibn Abi Hatim (Ibn Kathir).

It is also reported that a well-placed Syrian used to visit ‘Umar. Once he missed him and so asked, “What happened to so and so.” They said he had taken to drinking." `Umar asked his secretary to write to him, “O so and so, my Salam to you. I write to you the praises of Allah besides whom there is no deity: ‘Forgiver of sins, Accepter of repentance, Severe of Retribution, Possessor of bounty. There is no deity save He. To Him is the return.’” Then he told the people around him, “Pray for your brother that he turns to Allah and Allah turns to him in mercy.” When the letter reached the man, he kept saying, “He has warned me of His punishment and promises me forgiveness.” He kept repeating until he wept, turned penitent and gave up drinking. When the news of his repentance reached `Umar, he said to those around him, “This is how you should treat your deviant brothers. Pray for them and do not be Shaytan’s aides against him.”

Hafiz Abu Nu`aym has preserved this report (Zamakhshari and Qurtubi in short, Ibn Kathir in full).

A related incident goes as follows. It has been preserved by Ibn Abi Hatim. Thabit b. Bunani says, “I was with Mus`ab b. Zubayr in Kufa. I entered into an orchard in order to offer two cycles of Prayer. I began with Ha Mim until I reached ‘to Him is the return.’ I felt a man passing on a mule with a Yemeni decorated shroud on him. He said, ‘When you say, ”Forgiver of sins,“ follow up by saying, ”O Forgiver of sins, forgive me my sins.“ When you say, ”Accepter of penitence," say, “O Accepter of penitence, accept my penitence.” When you say, “Severe of retribution,” say, “O Severe of retribution do not be retributive with me.”‘ I turned back but did not find anyone. I went out and asked people whether they had seen a man with Yemeni decorated shroud. They said no. They believed it must have been Ilyas” (Qurtubi in short; Ibn Kathir in full).

5. “Those who adopt the attitude of disputation against the Revelation of Allah, can never escape the punishment. They shall inevitably meet their doom. Now, if one sees that these people, even after adopting such attitudes, are strutting about, their business is flourishing, their governments functioning in a grand style, and they are enjoying the good things of life, one should not be misled into thinking that they have escaped Allah’s punishment, or that war against Allah’s revelations is an affair which can be treated as a pastime and its evil consequences warded off easily. This in fact is a respite they have been granted by Allah. Those who abuse this respite for doing more mischief are indeed preparing themselves for an ignominious end” (Mawdudi).

6. Mawdudi elaborates on what disputing constitutes: “To dispute means using crooked arguments in reasoning, raising irrelevant objections, isolating a word or sentence from its context, subjecting it to hair splitting and making it the basis of doubts and accusations, misconstruing words from their true sense and intention so that neither should one understand the meaning oneself nor let others do it.”

Yusuf Ali comments in the following words: “Whenever a great or vital Truth is proclaimed and renewed, there are always shallow minds that are ready to dispute about it! And what petty and vain arguments they advance! They think they can discredit or condemn the Truth in this way, or render ‘of none effect’ Allah’s Plan. But they are mistaken. If they seem to succeed for a time, that is merely their trial. They may try to plan and plot against Allah’s men. But their plots will fail in the long run. They will themselves be caught in their own snares. And then, how terrible will be their Punishment!”

7. Sayyid leads us to another perspective, “This is how the Qur’an portrays the true situation.. the fact of the clash between belief and disbelief, between truth and falsehood, between the callers to One Allah and the transgressors who wax proud in the earth without right. This is how we learn that the clash is an ancient one that began with the first man stepping on this planet and that the sphere of struggle is wider than this earth. For, as is generally realized, every existent being has submitted itself to Allah; except for the unbelievers – and none other than them - who dispute with the signs of Allah. And we also know how the struggle will end between the two unequals .. between the shining, overarching, gigantic Truth and the tiny, dark, insubstantial, untruth, however extensive its to and fro movements in the earth, and whatever show it might make of its strength and power.

“This fact .. the fact of the clash between the two forces, and the time and place of the clash – is illustrated by the Qur’an in order that this fact may receive its place in the hearts, and in order that those who bear the burden of calling to the Truth, in every age and place, know the truth of it all; so that, they may not overrate the apparent power of falsehood: during a slender period in time, and a narrow stretch in space. What they see as the apparent, is not the real. It is virtual. The real is what the Qur’an depicts here. (And [see] how [terrible] was My retribution)!”

8. The bearers of the `Arsh are the most honored of angels. The Prophet said,“I have been allowed to speak of an angel from among the angels of Allah – one of those who bear the `Arsh – that the distance between his ear lobe and the shoulder is seventy years” (Qurtubi).

Haythami remarks that the report - but for the last two words – is in Abu Da’ud, and in Tabarani’s Awsat, with reliable narrators.

9. “...chant glory and praise to their Lord”: to chant glory is to declare Allah free of all imaginable defects, and to chant praises is to confirm all good Qualities for Him (Ibn Kathir).

10. Mention of the angels bearing the `Arsh clearly leads to the implication that Allah does not occupy it. If He did, He would have been in view of the angels in which case there was no point in mentioning that they believe in Him. The statement then leads to the belief that Allah is as much in the Unseen for the angels bearing the `Arsh as to His creations on the earth (Zamakhshari).

Combating anthropomorphist tendencies, Imam Razi feels elated at the above remark and after quoting it from Zamakhshari states that had Zamakhshari written nothing else in his commentary but this point, it would have been an honor enough.

11. Can one imagine to rise higher than this in esteem that he should be sinning on the earth, but because he is a believer, angels bearing the `Arsh should be supplicating for him? (Shabbir, slightly modified).

12. As Allah (swt) said elsewhere (52: 22),“As for those who believed, and their offspring followed them in faith, We shall join them with them and We shall not diminish from their deeds a thing” (Shabbir).

Sa`id b. Jubayr has said that a believer will enter Paradise and ask, “Where is my father? Where is my mother? Where is my child? Where is my wife?” He will be told that their deeds were not of the class that would allow them here. He will say, “But I used to work for myself and for them.” They will be told, “Admit them into (this higher) Paradise (from its lower levels)” - Ibn Jarir, Qurtubi, Ibn Kathir.

13. “That is the final Judgment, and any who is saved from the evil consequences of their deeds in this life will truly have been saved by Allah’s Mercy, and for them it is the highest achievement they could have, the attainment of all their wishes, the fulfillment of their destiny and the noblest purpose of their Life, the supreme Salvation and Felicity” (Yusuf Ali).

14. To paraphrase Zamakhshari’s comment at this point: The supplication of the angels in favor of a species other than theirs, reflects the significant truth that sharing of belief entails sharing of concerns and qualities that proceed from it.