Verse:1 Commentary Affirmation of After-Life

The subject-matter of Surah Adh-Dhariyat, like its predecessor Surah Qaf, is mainly the Hereafter, Resurrection, Reckoning, Judgment, and Allah's reward and punishment. The first few verses contain an oath from Allah that the promise of Resurrection is true, and shall come to pass. In these verses Allah swears an oath by four phenomena, as follows:

وَالذَّارِ‌يَاتِ ذَرْ‌وًا ﴿1﴾ فَالْحَامِلَاتِ وِقْرً‌ا ﴿2﴾ فَالْجَارِ‌يَاتِ يُسْرً‌ا ﴿3﴾ فَالْمُقَسِّمَاتِ أَمْرً‌ا ﴿4﴾

(I swear) by those (winds) that scatter dust, then by those (clouds) that bear loads, then by those (boats) that sail with ease, then by those (angels) who distribute things, (51:1-4)

There is a Hadith whose attribution to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم has been held by Ibn Kathir as da` eef [ weak ], but it is also reported as a saying of Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ and Ali ؓ . It explains these four things as follows: The expression Dhariyat [ scatterers ] refers to the wind that blows up dust; the expression hamilat-i-wiqran literally denotes burden-bearers and contextually refers to the clouds that carry the burden of water or rain; the expression jariyat-i-yusran refers to the ships that sail smoothly and with ease in the water; and the expression muqassimat-i-amran refers to the angels who distribute to all creatures their sustenance and water, and different kinds of difficulties and comfort as determined by Allah's orders and decrees (Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi and Ad-Durr-ul-Manthur quote these narrations both as mar' mawquf). Verse:2 Commentary - - - Verse:3 Commentary - - - Verse:4 Commentary - - - Verse:5 Commentary - - - Verse:6 Commentary - - - Verse:7 Commentary وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الْحُبُكِ إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ (By the sky, having paths, you are (involved) in a contradictory statement - 51:7-8) Hubuk is the plural habikah and primarily denotes thin irregular lines or streaks on fabrics when woven. They resemble tracks and pathways; therefore pathways are also referred to as hubuk in Arabic. Most interpreters take this to be the meaning in this context. Some scholars say that the 'tracks' refer to pathways used by the angels for entrance and exit. Others say that the tracks or paths of heaven are those orbits of planets and stars that are visible in the sky.

As the streaks of the woven fabric is its beauty, some scholars tend to interpret the verse as 'By the heaven full of beauty, grace, magnificence and perfection'.

Differing Beliefs of the Pagans

إِنَّكُمْ لَفِي قَوْلٍ مُّخْتَلِفٍ (you are [ involved ] in a contradictory statement... 51:8) Verse [ 7] was an oath and this verse is the statement for which oath is sworn. Apparently, the verse addresses the pagans of Makkah who assigned contradictory attributes to the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم ، calling him at different times a madman, a sorcerer, a poet and other discordant names. According to another possible interpretation, the verse addresses the entire humankind - Muslims as well as non-believers. Thus 'contradictory statement' would mean that a sector believed in the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and accepted him; and another sector rejected him and opposed him (Mazhari). Verse:8 Commentary - - - Verse:9 Commentary يُؤْفَكُ عَنْهُ مَنْ أُفِكَ (Turned away from this (Qur'an) is the one who is turned away 51:9). The word 'ufik literally denotes to turn away. The pronoun in ` anhu has two possibilities: [ 1] it could be referring to Qur'an and Rasul. In this case, the verse would mean that only that person turns away from the Qur'an who has been destined to be deprived of their guidance. And [ 2] the pronoun could be referring to the 'contradictory statement' in which case the meaning would be: he who turns away from the truth because of your discordant thoughts, is the one deprived of truth. Verse:10 Commentary قُتِلَ الْخَرَّ‌اصُونَ (Death upon those who make conjectures - 51:10). The expression kharrasun is the plural of kharras which means one who estimates or say things by conjecture. In this context the word refers to those stubborn and obstinate infidels who, without any reason or evidence, say discordant things about the Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم . Thus it would not be out of turn to interpret kharrasun as kadhdhabun, meaning 'the great liars' as they are condemned, denounced, cursed and imprecated (Mazhari) in this statement. After the mention of infidels, several verses that follow describe the qualities of the righteous people and the pleasant consequences of their righteousness. Verse:11 Commentary - - - Verse:12 Commentary - - - Verse:13 Commentary - - - Verse:14 Commentary - - - Verse:15 Commentary - - - Verse:16 Commentary - - - Verse:17 Commentary Remaining Awake at Night for Voluntary Prayers

كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ (They used to sleep little in the night,... 51:17). The imperfect verb yahja` un is derived from the infinitive huju' which means to sleep at night. The verse describes the quality of the righteous believers is that they spend their nights in voluntary worship of Allah. They sleep little at night and remain awake during the greater part of it. Ibn Jarir preferred this interpretation. Sayyidna Hasan Basri (رح) said: "The righteous perform voluntary night prayers, and do not sleep during the night except a little." Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، Qatadah, Mujahid (رح) and other leading scholars of Tafsir have taken the particle ma in the sense of negation, that is, grammatically they treat it as ma nafiyah or negative particle, meaning they spend a little part of every night awake, and not sleeping. They would worship Allah and perform voluntary prayers every night, even during a small part of the night. From this point of view, it includes all those people who pray to Allah during any part of the night - whether in the beginning, or in the middle, or at the end of it. Therefore, Sayyidna Anas Ibn Malik ؓ and ` Abul-` Aliyah said: "They used to pray between Maghrib and ` Isha'." Imam Abu Ja'far Baqir said that this includes those people who do not sleep before ` Isha' prayer (Ibn Kathir).

Hasan Basri (رح) reports from Ahnaf Ibn Qais who used to say: "When I compared my deeds with those of the inmates of Paradise, I found that they are a people who occupy a very high, lofty and elevated status; and they are a people whose deeds are incomparable and our deeds cannot match theirs, because they sleep little at nights and worship much. When I compared my deeds with those of the inmates of Hell, I found that they give the lie to Allah and His Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم and are sceptical about the Hereafter [ from which Allah has protected us ]. Therefore, in comparison, our deeds match neither with those of the real inmates of Paradise, nor [ praise be to Allah ] with those of the inmates of Hell. Thus we learn that from the viewpoint of action, our position is what the Qur'an describes: ۔ خَلَطُوا عَمَلًا صَالِحًا وَآخَرَ‌ سَيِّئًا '...(They had mixed a good deed with another that was evil. - 9:102) Thus the best person amongst us is the one who would at least remain within the boundaries of this class of people."

` Abd-ur-rahman Ibn Zaid Ibn Aslam says that a member of the tribe Banu Tamim said to my father: "0 Abu 'Usamah, we do not find that quality in us which Allah mentions in describing the righteous, that is, كَانُوا قَلِيلًا مِّنَ اللَّيْلِ مَا يَهْجَعُونَ. They used to sleep little in the night," because our position is quite the contrary: قَلِیلاً مَّنَ الَّیلِ مَا نَقُومُ ' We are very little awake at night to worship Allah'. My father replied:

طوبی لمن رقد اذا نعس و اتقی اللہ اذا استیقَظ

'Good tidings for him who sleeps away when he feels sleepy and exercises righteousness when he is awake, that is, does not do any work that is contrary to Shari` ah.'"

In other words, acceptance in the sight of Allah is not necessarily restricted to protracted waking hours at night for worship. If a person is impelled to sleep, and does not remain awake for long, but abstains from any sinful activities when awake, he is also worthy of felicitation.

` Abdullah Ibn Salam ؓ reports from the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم who said:

یٰٓاَیُّھَا النَّاس اَطعِموا الطَّعَامَ وَ صِلُوا الاَرحَامَ وَ افشُوا السَّلامَ وَ صَلُّوا بِالَّیلِ وَ اَلنَّاسُ نِیَامُ تَدخُلُوا الجَنَّۃَ بِسَلاَمِ ۔ (ابن کثیر)

"0 people, feed people, do good to kith and kin, greet each other with salam, pray at night while people are asleep, and you will enter Paradise in peace." (Ibn Kathir) Verse:18 Commentary Merits of Seeking Forgiveness in the hours before dawn

وَبِالْأَسْحَارِ‌ هُمْ يَسْتَغْفِرُ‌ونَ (and in the hours before dawn, they used to pray for forgiveness..., 51:18) The word ashar is the plural of sahar, and it refers to the latter sixth part of the night. This verse speaks of the significance of seeking forgiveness in the latter part of the night. Another verse [ 3:17] also speaks of the significance of seeking forgiveness at the last hours of the night thus: وَالْمُسْتَغْفِرِ‌ينَ بِالْأَسْحَارِ‌ (...and who seek forgiveness in pre-dawn hours. - 3:17) It is confirmed in the Sahih collections as well as others, from several Companions, that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وسلم said:

"Allah, the Most High, descends each night to the lowest heaven when the last third of the night remains. He says: 'Is there anyone who is repenting, so that I may accept his repentance? Is there anyone seeking forgiveness, so that I may forgive him? Is there anyone asking of Me, so that I may grant him his request?

Here it may be noted that in this verse Allah is describing the pre-dawn prayer of forgiveness of those righteous ones who, according to the preceding verse, are preoccupied for the major part of the night with the worship of Allah and sleep very little. Thus there seems to be no link between their previous description and their description of asking for forgiveness in this verse, because forgiveness is sought when there are sins. People who spent the entire night in worshipping Allah - what does it mean to seek forgiveness of sins? The answer to this question is that these people have the true appreciation of Allah's majesty, dignity and splendour, and they realise that there are shortcomings in their night-long worship. Therefore they seek Allah's forgiveness for failing to perform His worship as due. (Mazhari) Verse:19 Commentary Special Guidance for Philanthropists

وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ لِّلسَّائِلِ وَالْمَحْرُ‌ومِ (and in their wealth, there was a right for the one who asks and the one who is deprived...51:19) The word sail means the poor or needy who begs others, that is, he expresses his needs to people who help him. The word mahrum also refers to a poor or needy, but who cannot express his needs from a sense of self-respect or a feeling of shame, and thus is deprived of people's help. In this verse another quality of the believers and the righteous is mentioned, that is, their quality of spending in charity in Allah's way. When spending, they do not only give to those who ask for help, but they also make it their responsibility to find out who are needy ones and do not disclose their needs to others.

The purpose of the verse is to show that the believers and the righteous do not only perform bodily worship, such as prayers and remaining awake at night, but they also play a major role in performing pecuniary worship, in that besides helping the people who beg they also look for, and help, those who out of self-respect do not express their needs to anyone. When mentioning this pecuniary worship, the expression used by the Qur'an is the following, وَفِي أَمْوَالِهِمْ حَقٌّ "and in their wealth, there was a right". It means that when they meet the needs of the poor, they do not deem it a favour shown to them, but they appreciate that the poor have a 'right' in the wealth Allah has blessed them with, and fulfilling one's right is not a favour; it is rather a duty and responsibility that one has to discharge. Verse:20 Commentary Allah's Signs on the Earth and in Mankind

وَفِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ آيَاتٌ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ (And in the earth, there are signs for those who [ seek truth to ] believe,... 51:20). In the preceding verses in the first instance a description of the infidels and rejecters and their evil fate was given. As against those who flounder in the welter of wrong beliefs and evil deeds and deny the possibility of the Day of Judgment, the qualities of the believers and the righteous were subsequently given, and their elevated position was described. Now once again attention is drawn to those who deny the possibility of Judgment Day. They are invited to ponder on the signs of Allah on earth that testify to the might of the Creator and His boundless power, and thus the skeptics are advised to desist from denying the Judgment Day. In this way the statement is connected to the preceding statement in verse [ 8] "You are involved in contradictory statement."

Tafsir Mazhari is of the view that this verse too describes the quality of the believers and the righteous. The word muqinin (those who have certainty of faith) refers to the same God-fearing people mentioned in an earlier verse. The sense is that these people keep pondering on the divine signs spread on earth and in their own beings, and it increases their belief. In another verse they are described as وَيَتَفَكَّرُ‌ونَ فِي خَلْقِ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْ‌ضِ "...and ponder on the creation of the heavens and the earth...". (3:191)

Allah's signs on earth include what Allah has placed on the earth, the various plants, animals, valleys, mountains, deserts, rivers and oceans. He also created mankind with different languages, colours, intentions and abilities, and a variety among them, differences in the power of understanding and comprehension, their deeds, and ultimately earning happiness or misery. Allah put every organ in their bodies in its rightful place where they most need it to be. Verse:21 Commentary Thus Allah says: وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُ‌ونَ (... and in your own selves! So, do you not perceive? ....51:21). Out of the innumerous signs of Allah's power which are present everywhere in the universe, including the heavenly and celestial beings and creatures, only those signs are referred to here which are available on earth, because they are very close to man's experience, and he resides and moves about among them. The present verse now speaks of man himself. Man is required to ponder on his own body, its limbs and organs. Every single part of the body testifies to the boundless Wisdom of Allah, and it will make him realize that his small being represents and encompasses almost all the divine signs that are scattered in the vast universe. That is why man is termed as 'the universe in miniature', because all types of creation are present in his existence. If a man thinks of all phases he has passed through right from his birth till his death, he may perceive the power of Allah Ta' ala as if he discerns Him clearly.

The Development of the Sperm and Embryo in the Womb

Human microscopic sperm and egg is an amazing phenomenon. It is made up of foodstuff and tenuous particles from various parts of the world. If the sperm establishes itself in the mother's womb, then more material is added to it, and it changes into a red clot. It then changes and becomes a shapeless lump of flesh, like a piece of meat with no form or shape. Then out of this shapeless lump bones are fashioned; then the bones are clothed with flesh; and it starts to take on a form and shape, developing a head, arms, chest, stomach, thighs, legs, feet and all its members. A wonderful brain is placed under its skull in whose complicated layers lie all mental abilities. Thus equipping it, Allah sends an angel to it who breathes the soul into it. After the completion of its creation, it is brought into this world where he develops from infancy to full adulthood to old age. Then he gradually progresses from zero level of knowledge and consciousness to an intelligent, rational and active being. The human forms and shapes are so different that no two faces are identical in millions and billions of people even in a small area. Furthermore, there are differences in their temperaments, dispositions and habits. There is unity in this diversity. All this is the marvel of the perfect power of Allah who has neither partners nor rivals: فَتَبَارَ‌كَ اللَّـهُ أَحْسَنُ الْخَالِقِينَ "So blessed is Allah, the Best Creator!" (23:14)Man experiences all this not from outside himself, but within himself, day and night. Only a person who is absolutely blind and senseless will ever deny the existence of Allah. Therefore, at the conclusion of the verse, the Qur'an poses the rhetorical question: "So, do you not perceive?" (21) A person need not be very intelligent to understand the facts of life. If his sight is intact, he can arrive at the right conclusion. Verse:22 Commentary وَفِي السَّمَاءِ رِ‌زْقُكُمْ وَمَا تُوعَدُونَ (And in the heavens, there is your sustenance and all that you have been promised.... 51:22). The plain and simple interpretation of this is that 'in heaven' here means what has been written in the Preserved Tablet (Al-Lauh-ul-Mahfuz). It is clear that man's sustenance, what has been promised to him and whatever its consequences will be - are all preserved in the Preserved Tablet. Sayyidna Abu Said Khudri ؓ reports that the Holy Messenger صلى الله عليه وسلم said: "Even if someone tries to avoid and run away from his designated sustenance, he will not succeed, because his sustenance will pursue him just as he cannot run away from his death". (Qurtubi) Some scholars say that 'sustenance' here signifies "rain". In this case 'heaven' will not refer to the body, arch or vault of the sky. It refers to anything that hangs overhead and covers things in its shade, including the celestial atmosphere and clouds from where the rain falls. The expression 'all that you have been promised' refers to Paradise and its delights. Allah, the Pure and Exalted, knows best. Verse:23 Commentary إِنَّهُ لَحَقٌّ مِّثْلَ مَا أَنَّكُمْ تَنطِقُونَ (...it [ the Day of Recompense ] is a reality, as sure as that you speak....51:23). It means that all of the matters relating to Judgment, Resurrection and Recompense that they have been promised shall certainly occur. Therefore, it is the truth, there being no doubt about it, so they should not doubt its coming, just as they do not doubt that they can speak. There are five physical sensations of perception: sight, hearing, tasting, feeling and smelling. Here 'speaking' has been singled out probably because the faculty of speech is the only one where there can be no trace of deception or illusion, whereas the other sensations, on account of ailments, can get contorted. Differences in hearing and seeing are known. In sickness the sensation of tasting gets reversed or distorted in some other way. Sometimes sweet things taste bitter and bitter things taste sweet. (Qurtubi)