Surah 69. Al-Haqqah

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Verses [Section]: 1-37[1], 38-52 [2]

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Quran Text of Verse 38-52فَلَاۤBut nay!اُقْسِمُI swearبِمَاby whatتُبْصِرُوْنَۙyou see وَ مَاAnd whatلَاnotتُبْصِرُوْنَۙyou see اِنَّهٗIndeed it (is)لَقَوْلُsurely (the) Wordرَسُوْلٍ(of) a Messengerكَرِیْمٍۚۙnoble وَّ مَاAnd notهُوَitبِقَوْلِ(is the) wordشَاعِرٍ ؕ(of) a poet;قَلِیْلًاlittleمَّا(is) whatتُؤْمِنُوْنَۙyou believe! وَ لَاAnd notبِقَوْلِ(it is the) wordكَاهِنٍ ؕ(of) a soothsayer;قَلِیْلًاlittleمَّا(is) whatتَذَكَّرُوْنَؕyou remember تَنْزِیْلٌ(It is) a revelationمِّنْfromرَّبِّ(the) Lordالْعٰلَمِیْنَ (of) the worlds وَ لَوْAnd ifتَقَوَّلَhe (had) fabricatedعَلَیْنَاagainst Usبَعْضَsomeالْاَقَاوِیْلِۙsayings لَاَخَذْنَاCertainly We (would) have seizedمِنْهُhimبِالْیَمِیْنِۙby the right hand; ثُمَّThenلَقَطَعْنَاcertainly We (would) have cut offمِنْهُfrom himالْوَتِیْنَؗۖthe aorta فَمَاAnd notمِنْكُمْfrom youمِّنْanyاَحَدٍoneعَنْهُ[from him]حٰجِزِیْنَ (could) prevent وَ اِنَّهٗAnd indeed itلَتَذْكِرَةٌ(is) surely a reminderلِّلْمُتَّقِیْنَ for the Allah-fearing وَ اِنَّاAnd indeed Weلَنَعْلَمُsurely knowاَنَّthatمِنْكُمْamong youمُّكَذِّبِیْنَ (are) deniers وَ اِنَّهٗAnd indeed itلَحَسْرَةٌ(is) surely a regretعَلَیuponالْكٰفِرِیْنَ the disbelievers وَ اِنَّهٗAnd indeed it (is)لَحَقُّsurely (the) truthالْیَقِیْنِ (of) certainty فَسَبِّحْSo glorifyبِاسْمِ(the) nameرَبِّكَ(of) your Lordالْعَظِیْمِ۠the Most Great

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Translation of Verse 38-52

(69:38) But no;²¹ I swear by what you see,

(69:39) and by what you do not see,

(69:40) that this is the speech of an honourable Messenger,²²

(69:41) not the speech of a poet. Little do you believe!²³

(69:42) Nor is this the speech of a soothsayer. Little do you reflect!

(69:43) It has been revealed by the Lord of the Universe.²⁴

(69:44) And if he [i.e., the Prophets] had forged this Discourse and thereafter ascribed it to Us,

(69:45) We would surely have seized him by the right hand,

(69:46) and then severed his life vein;

(69:47) and not one of you would have been able to withhold Us from doing so.²⁵

(69:48) Surely it is a Good Counsel for the God-fearing.²⁶

(69:49) We certainly know that some among you will give the lie to it,

(69:50) and surely it will be a cause of regret for the unbelievers.²⁷

(69:51) Certainly it is a Truth of absolute certainty.

(69:52) So glorify the name of your Lord Most Great.

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Commentary

21. ie, the reality is quite different from what they fancy.

22. “The honorable Messenger” is the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) while in verse 19 of Surah al-Takwir, the same appellation is used for Gabriel (may peace be on him). In the verse under study, the assertion about the Prophet (peace be upon him) is followed by the statement that the Qur’an is not the product of the mind of some poet or soothsayer. Needless to add, the Makkan disbelievers accused the Prophet (peace be upon him), not the angel Gabriel, of being a poet or a soothsayer. In Surah al-Takwir however, the remark about the honorable message bearer is followed by this description: “One mighty and held in honor with the Lord of the Throne; there he is obeyed, and held trustworthy. He (the Prophet) indeed saw the message-bearer on the clear horizon.” (al-Takwir 81: 19-23) Almost a similar description of Gabriel features in verses 5-10 of Surah al-Najm.

It nonetheless raises the question that in what sense can the Qur’an be referred to as the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Gabriel?

The answer is that people received the Qur’an from the tongue of the Prophet (peace be upon him) who, in turn, received it from the tongue of Gabriel. The Qur'an is thus the word of the Prophet (peace be upon him) as well as of Gabriel. It is therefore clarified later that the Qur’an is indeed the Word of the Lord of the universe, which is conveyed through the agency of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and Gabriel. The word Rasul (Messenger) itself signifies that it is not directly from them, rather, as Messengers they presented the Qur’an on behalf of the Lord of the universe.

23. “That they believe little” in Arabic is an idiom that points to their lack of faith. Alternatively, it might mean that at times on listening to the Qur’an, they instinctively exclaim that it is not the product of the human mind. However, they soon relapse into their disbelief and obstinately refuse to believe in the Qur’an.

24. While swearing by all that the disbelievers see and what they do not see, it is emphasized that the Qur’an is not the word of a poet or a soothsayer. It is the Word of the Lord of the universe, conveyed through an honorable, noble Messenger. Let us now focus on the oath taken in the verse. The disbelievers could easily discern all this:

i. The Qur’an was being presented by someone whom every Makkan knew to be a noble, trustworthy person and there was nothing hidden about him. It was common knowledge that he was of the highest moral standard in his society. He was the best among his people. Such a decent person was not likely to invent such a flagrant lie as to attribute something falsely to God and to parade his own ramblings as the Word of God.

ii. The Makkan disbelievers knew full well that he had no personal motive or gain behind presenting the Qur’an. On the contrary, he was sacrificing his interests in the cause of this mission, for he had abandoned his profession of trade. He had given up all personal comforts and joys. He was reviled by those who used to hold him in great esteem. Not only he himself, but his family, his children included, had been subjected to all manner of hardships. He had been undergoing an ordeal, never expecting any personal gain in return.

iii. They recognized that the members of their own society who embraced faith at his hands were completely transformed overnight. No poet or soothsayer had ever achieved this feat. They were incapable of morally transforming anyone. Nor could they inspire anyone to withstand all sorts of hardships for their sake.

iv. They were fully aware of the limitations of the sayings of a poet or a soothsayer. Only a blindly obstinate person could dismiss the Qur’an as poetry or soothsaying. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. V, Surah al-Anbiya’ 21: n. 7, pp. 252-254: vol. VIL, Surah al-Shu‘ara’ 26: nn. 142-145, pp. 126-129; Surah al-Tar 52: n. 22.)

v. They Realized that no one among them throughout Arabia could match the Qur’an in its eloquence and stylistic features. There was simply no comparison with the Qur’an.

vi. It was in their knowledge that the Prophet's own literary skills were vastly different from those of the Qur’an. No native Arabic speaking person who listened to the Qur’an and to the Prophet's own speech could ever assume that the Qur’an and the Prophet's speech were the product of the same source.

vii. Even a day prior to the Prophet's declaration of his Messenger ship, the Makkans had never heard him discussing the issues and truths which he presented as the contents of the Qur’an.

They knew well that he did not have access to any source of knowledge. Even if his detractors alleged that he had borrowed the contents of the Qur’an from someone, no Makkan would have bought this story. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. IV, Surah al-Nahl 16: n. 107, pp. 366-367 and vol. VII, Surah al-Furqan 25: n. 12, pp. 7-10.)

viii. They witnessed the functioning of the vast universe which exhibited the operation of extensive and well-coordinated laws. There was no ground whatsoever for vindicating polytheism and for rejecting the belief of the Hereafter, the notions to which the Arabs of the day subscribed. On the contrary, they could observe all around them the overwhelming evidence for monotheism and the Hereafter, which are the bulwarks of the message of the Qur’an.

The Makkan disbelievers were unable to perceive that Allah alone is the Creator, Master, and Ruler of this universe and that all human beings are His servants. They failed to see that there is no god other than Him and that the Resurrection is bound to happen. They could not reconcile themselves to the truth that God had appointed Muhammad (peace be upon him) as His Messenger and had sent down the Qur’an to him. On the basis of all that the Makkan disbelievers could and could not see, the oath is taken for vindicating the above truths.

25. The true purpose of the statement is to stress that the Prophet (peace be upon him) had no authority whatsoever to alter the revelation. If he did so, he would be liable to God’s severe chastisement. The tone and tenor of the statement brings to mind how a king might react on learning that his official had forged a document and had ascribed it to him. It should not be surprising if such persons are subjected to a grievous punishment such as a beheading. Some people put forward an altogether false assertion on the basis of this verse. They claim that if anyone declared that he was a Prophet and his life-vein was not then immediately severed, it would prove that his claim was true. The fact, however, is that what is said in this verse pertains to Prophets and not to false claimants of prophethood, for as we know, there have been claimants even to Godhead who lived long years despite the absolute falsity of their claims. Their longevity was no proof that their claim to Godhead was true. (For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, vol. IV, Surah Yunus 10: n. 23, pp. 21-24.)

26. The Qur’an is good counsel for those who are keen on avoiding the dire consequence of following the wrong path. (For details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, vol. I, Surah al-Baqarah 2: n. 3.) 27. The disbelievers will eventually regret their rejection of the Qur’an.