سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ
Holy Qur'an
Al-Qur'an
Kids Qur'an
1. Al-Fatiha
2. Al-Baqara
3. Aal-Imran
4. An-Nisaa'
5. Al-Ma'ida
6. Al-An'am
7. Al-A'raf
8. Al-Anfal
9. Al-Tawba
10. Yunus
11. Hud
12. Yusuf
13. Ar-Ra'd
14. Ibrahim
15. Al-Hijr
16. An-Nahl
17. Al-Israa
18. Al-Kahf
19. Maryam
20. Ta-Ha
21. Al-Anbiya
22. Al-Hajj
23. Al-Muminun
24. An-Nur
25. Al-Furqan
26. Ash-Shuara
27. An-Naml
28. Al-Qasas
29. Al-Ankabut
30. Ar-Rum
31. Luqman
32. As-Sajdah
33. Al-Ahzab
34. Saba
35. Fatir
36. Yasin
37. As-Saffat
38. Sad
39. Az-Zumar
40. Ghafir
41. Fussilat
42. Ash-Shura
43. Az-Zukhruf
44. Ad-Dukhan
45. Al-Jathiya
46. Al-Ahqaf
47. Muhammad
48. Al-Fath
49. Al-Hujurat
50. Qaf
51. Az-Zariyat
52. At-Tur
53. An-Najm
54. Al-Qamar
55. Ar-Rahman
56. Al-Waqia
57. Al-Hadid
58. Al-Mujadilah
59. Al-Hashr
60. Al-Mumtahinah
61. As-Saff
62. Al-Jumu'ah
63. Al-Munafiqun
64. At-Taghabun
65. At-Talaq
66. At-Tahrim
67. Al-Mulk
68. Al-Qalam
69. Al-Haqqah
70. Al-Ma'arij
71. Nuh
72. Al-Jinn
73. Al-Muzzammil
74. Al-Muddaththir
75. Al-Qiyamah
76. Al-Insan
77. Al-Mursalat
78. An-Naba
79. An-Naziat
80. Abasa
81. At-Takwir
82. Al-Infitar
83. Al-Mutaffifin
84. Al-Inshiqaq
85. Al-Buruj
86. At-Tariq
87. Al-Ala
88. Al-Ghashiyah
89. Al-Fajr
90. Al-Balad
91. Ash-Shams
92. Al-Lail
93. Ad-Duha
94. Ash-Sharh
95. At-Tin
96. Al-Alaq
97. Al-Qadr
98. Al-Bayinah
99. Az-Zalzalah
100. Al-Adiyat
101. Al-Qariah
102. Al-Takathur
103. Al-Asr
104. Al-Humazah
105. Al-Fil
106. Quraish
107. Al-Ma'un
108. Al-Kauthar
109. Al-Kafirun
110. An-Nasr
111. Al-Masad
112. Al-Ikhlas
113. Al-Falaq
114. An-Nas
This Surah was revealed during the middle stage of the Prophet's residence in Makkah. According to the traditions narrated by Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas and Sayyiduna Jabir bin Zaid, "First, Surah Ash-Shu'ara was sent down, then Surah An-Naml, and then Surah Al-Qasas".
This Surah consists of the following two discourses.
The theme of the first discourse is that the only people that can benefit from the guidance of The Qur'an and become worthy of the good promises made in it, are those who accept the realities of the universe presented in this Book, and then show obedience and submission in their practical lives. But the greatest hindrance for man's following this way, is the denial of the Hereafter. For it makes him irresponsible, selfish, and greedy in this worldly life, which in turn, makes it impossible for him to submit himself to God and to accept the moral restrictions on his lusts and desires.
After this introduction, three types of character have been presented: Examples of the first type are Fir'on (Pharaoh), his chiefs, the nation of Thamud and the people of Prophet Lut (pbuh) who were all heedless of the Hereafter and consequently had become the slaves of their desires. That's why they did not believe even after seeing miracles. Rather, they turned against those who invited them to goodness and piety. They persisted in their evil ways, which were abhorred by every sensible person. They did not heed the admonition even moments before they were overtaken by the scourge of Allah.
An example of the second type is Prophet Sulaiman (Solomon) (pbuh), who had been blessed by Allah with wealth, kingdom and grandeur far greater than the chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah. But, since he regarded himself answerable before Allah and recognized that whatever he had was only due to Allah's bounty, he adopted righteousness and the attitude of obedience.
An example of the third type is the Queen of Sheba, who ruled over the most wealthy and well-known people in the history of Arabia. She possessed all those means of life which could cause a person to become proud and arrogant. Her wealth and possessions far exceeded the wealth and possessions of the Qureysh. She professed shirk, which was not only an ancestral way of life for her, but she had to follow it in order to maintain her position as a ruler. Therefore, it was much more difficult for her to give up shirk and adopt the way of Tawhid than it could be for a common mushrik. But when the Truth became evident to her, nothing could stop her from accepting it. Her deviation was, in fact, due to her being born and brought up in a polytheistic environment, not because of her being a slave to her lusts and desires. Her conscience was not devoid of the sense of accountability before Allah.
The theme of the second discourse is to draw the attention of the people to some of the most glaring and visible realities of the universe by asking questions such as: "Do the realities of the universe testify to the creed of shirk which you are following, or to the truth of Tawhid to which the Qur'an invites you?" After this the real malady of the disbelievers is pointed out, saying, "The thing which has blinded them and made them insensitive to every reality is their denial of the Hereafter. This same thing has rendered every matter and affair of life non-serious for them. For, according to them, when ultimately everything has to become dust, and the whole struggle of existence is to enjoy this worldly life then the truth and falsehood are equal and alike. Therefore, the question of whether one's system of life is based on right or wrong foundations becomes meaningless."
In conclusion, the invitation of the Qur'an to serve One God (Allah) is presented in a concise but forceful manner, and the people are admonished to accept this invitation as being to their advantage and rejection will be to their disadvantage. For if they deferred their faith before they saw those signs of Allah, after the appearance of which they would be left with no choice but to believe and submit. Then they should know that believing at that time will be of no avail.
The Surah takes its name from the phrase wadin-naml which occurs in verse 18, implying that it is a Surah in which the story of An-Naml (the Ant) has been related.
The subject matter and the style bear full resemblance with the Surahs of the middle Makkan period and this is supported by traditions as well. According to Ibn Abbas and Jabir bin Zaid, "First the Surah Ash Shuaraa was sent down, then the Surah An Naml and then Al-Qasas."
The Surah consists of two discourses, the first from the beginning of the Surah to the end of verse 58, and the second from verse 59 to the end of the Surah. The theme of the first discourse is that only those people can benefit from the guidance of the Quran and become worthy of the good promises made in it, who accept the realities which this Book presents as the basic realities of the universe, and then follow up their belief with obedience and submission in their practical lives as well. But the greatest hindrance for man to follow this way is the denial of the Hereafter. For it makes him irresponsible, selfish and given to worldly life, which in turn makes it impossible for him to submit himself before God and to accept the moral restrictions on his lusts and desires. After this introduction three types of character have been presented.
The first type is characterized by Pharaoh and the chiefs of Thamud and the rebels of the people of Lot, who were all heedless of the accountability of the Hereafter and had consequently become the slaves of the world. These people did not believe even after seeing the miracles. Rather they turned against those who invited them to goodness and piety. They persisted in their evil ways which are held in abhorrence by every sensible person. They did not heed the admonition even until a moment before they were overtaken by the scourge of Allah.
The second type of character is of the Prophet Solomon (peace be upon him), who had been blessed by God with wealth and kingdom and grandeur to an extent undreamt of by the chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah. But, since he regarded himself as answerable before God and had the feeling that whatever he had was only due to Allah's bounty, he had adopted the attitude of obedience before Him and there was no tinge of vanity in his character.
The third type is of the queen of Sheba, who ruled over a most wealthy and well known people in the history of Arabia. She possessed all those means of life, which could cause a person to become vain and conceited. Her wealth and possessions far exceeded the wealth and possessions of the Quraish. Then she professed shirk, which was not only an ancestral way of life with her, but she had to follow it in order to maintain her position as a ruler. Therefore, it was much more difficult for her to give up shirk and adopt the way of tauhid than it could be for a common mushrik. But when the Truth became evident to her, nothing could stop her from accepting it. Her deviation was, in fact, due to her being born and brought up in a polytheistic environment and not because of her being a slave to her lusts and desires. Her conscience was not devoid of the sense of accountability before God.
In the second discourse, at the outset, attention has been drawn to some of the most glaring and visible realities of the universe, and the disbelievers of Makkah have been asked one question after the other to the effect: "Do these realities testify to the creed of shirk which you are following, or to the truth of tauhid to which the Quran invites you?" After this the real malady of the disbelievers has been pointed out, saying, "The thing which has blinded them and made them insensitive to every glaring reality is their denial of the Hereafter. This same thing has rendered every matter and affair of life non-serious for them. For, when according to them, everything has to become dust ultimately, and the whole struggle of life is purposeless and without an object before it, the truth and falsehood are equal and alike. Therefore, the question whether one's system of life is based on the right or wrong foundations, becomes meaningless for him."
But the discourse, as outlined above, is not meant to dissuade the Prophet and the Muslims from calling the obdurate and heedless people to the way of tauhid; it is, in fact, intended to arouse them from their slumber. That is why in vv. 67-93 certain things have been said repeatedly in order to produce in the people a sense of the Hereafter, to warn them of the consequences of being heedless of it, and to convince them of its coining, like an eye witness of something, who convinces the other person of it, who has not seen it.
In conclusion, the real invitation of the Quran, that is, the invitation to serve One Allah alone, has been presented in a concise but forceful manner, and the people warned that accepting it would be to their own advantage and rejecting it to their own disadvantage. For if they deferred their faith until they saw those Signs of God after the appearance of which they would be left with no choice but to believe and submit, they should bear in mind the fact that that would be the time of judgment and believing then would be of no avail.
1 to 6 - Al-Quran is a Guide and Good News to the Believers
7 to 14 - Story of Prophet Musa's selection as a Rasool and Nine signs were shown to Fir'on but he still disbelieved and incurred Allah's punishment
15 to 19 - Story of Prophet Sulaiman, to whom Allah gave rule over jinns, men, birds and winds
20 to 31 - The hoopoe brought him the news about the Queen of Sheba and Letter from King Sulaiman to the Queen of Sheba
32 to 37 - Communications between Queen of Sheba and Sulaiman
38 to 44 - A man who had the 'Knowledge of the Book' brought Throne of the Queen to king Sulaiman in twinkling of and eye and Queen of Sheba and her people embraced Islam
45 to 53 - Story of Prophet Saleh and his address to his people and Saleh's people plotted to kill him but Allah saved him and destroyed the disbelievers
54 to 58 - Prophet Lut admonished his people but they paid no heed so they faced the scourge of Allah
59 to 59 - Praise to Allah and peace be on His Rasools
60 to 66 - Just think, is there any god besides Allah Who has created anything in the universe, answer the oppressed or guides to the Right Way?
67 to 82 - Disbelievers doubt Allah's power of creation and Al-Quran clarifies those matters in which the Israelites differ and A sign from the signs of doomsday
83 to 86 - Do not deny Allah's revelations without gaining their comprehensive knowledge
87 to 93 - A scene from the scenes of Doomsday and Those who accept guidance do so to their own good and those who go astray do so to their own peril