Surah 76. Al-Insan

HAS THERE [not] been an endless sup of time¹ before man [appeared - a time] when he was not yet a thing to be thought of?²

  - Mohammad Asad

Implying, according to all the classical commentators, "there has indeed been an immensely long [or "endless"] span of time" - the interrogative particle hal having here the positive meaning of qad. However, this meaning can be brought out equally well by interpolating the word "not".

Lit., "a thing mentioned" or "mentionable" - i.e., non-existent even as a hypothetical concept. The purport of this statement is a refutation of the blasphemous "anthropocentric" world-view, which postulates man as he exists - and not any Supreme Being - as the centre and ultimate reality of all life.

Has there not passed over man a period of time when he was nothing- -not even mentioned?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Is there not a period of time when each human is nothing yet worth mentioning?¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 This is the time before a human comes into being and as an embryo.

Hath there come upon man (ever) any period of time in which he was a thing unremembered?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Has there not been over Man a long period of Time when he was nothing--(not even) mentioned? ^{5830 5831}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The undoubted fact is mentioned in the form of a question, to get the assent of man. It is certain that the physical world existed long before man was ever heard of or mentioned, as geological records prove. It is also true that the world existed long before man came on the scene: see ii. 30-31. Man is here taken in a generic sense.

Dahr is Time as a whole, or for a long period.

Verily, it is We who have created man out of a drop of sperm intermingled,³ so that We might try him [in his later life]: and therefore We made him a being endowed with hearing and sight.

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "with the female ovum": cf. {86:6-7}.

Indeed, We have created man from the sperm drop containing both sexes, so that We may test him. Therefore, We gave him the faculties of hearing and sight.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'For' indeed, We 'alone' created humans from a drop of mixed fluids,¹ 'in order' to test them, so We made them hear and see.

  - Mustafa Khattab

 The mixture of male and female gametes (sperm and egg) which form the zygote after fertilization.

Lo! We create man from a drop of thickened fluid to test him; so We make him hearing, knowing.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm in order to try him: so We gave him (the gifts) of Hearing and Sight. ⁵⁸³²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Mingled: the female ovum has to be fertilised with the male sperm before a new animal can be born. Man as an animal has this humble origin. But he has been given the gift of certain faculties of receiving instruction (typified by Hearing) and of intellectual and spiritual insight (typified by Sight). His life has therefore a meaning: with a certain amount of free-will, he is to be vicegerent on earth (ii. 30). But he must be trained and tried, and that is the whole problem of human life.

Verily, We have shown him the way:⁴ [and it rests with him to prove himself] either grateful or ungrateful.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., God has not only endowed man with "hearing and sight", i.e., with reason and the instinctive ability to discern between right and wrong, good and evil (cf. 90:10 ), but He also actively guides him by means of the revelation bestowed on the prophets.

Then We guided him to the Way: Now, it is his choice either to be grateful or to be a disbeliever.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We already showed them the Way, whether they 'choose to' be grateful or ungrateful.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! We have shown him the way, whether he be grateful or disbelieving.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will). ⁵⁸³³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Besides the gift of the faculties, Man has been shown the Way by means of Revelation, through men of the highest spiritual standing. If he is grateful, he will accept Guidance, be of the Righteous, and join the company of the Blessed. If not, he puts chains round himself, thus burdening himself with sin, and gets into the Blazing Fire of Punishment. See next verse. His choice rests on his will.

[Now,] behold, for those who deny the truth⁵ We have readied chains and shackles, and a blazing flame⁶ -

  - Mohammad Asad

In this context, the "denial of the truth" (kufr) apparently relates to man's deliberate suppression of his inborn cognition of God's existence (cf. 7:172 and the corresponding note [139]) as well as to his disregard of his own instinctive perceptions of good and evil.

Sc., "of despair". For the metaphor of "shackles and chains" - i.e., the consequence of the sinners' blind surrender to their own passions and to false values, and the resulting enslavement of their spirit - see surah {34}, note [44]; also Razi's elaborate comments (quoted in note [7] on {73:12-13}) on this allegory of suffering in the hereafter.

For the disbelievers, We have prepared chains, fetters and a blazing fire.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, We have prepared for the disbelievers chains, shackles, and a blazing Fire.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! We have prepared for disbelievers manacles and carcans and a raging fire.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For the Rejecters We have prepared Chains Yokes and a Blazing Fire. ⁵⁸³⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xiii. 5; xxxiv. 33 and xl. 71.

[whereas,] behold, the truly virtuous shall drink from a cup flavoured with the calyx of sweet smelling flowers:⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

The Lisan al-'Arab gives "the calyx (kimm) of the grape before its flowering" as the primary significance of kafur; according to other lexicologists (e.g., Taj al-'Arus), it denotes "the calyx of any flower"; Jawhari applies it to the "spathe of a palm tree". Hence, this - and not "camphor" - is evidently the meaning of kafur in the above context: an allusion to the sweet, extremely delicate fragrance of the symbolic "drink" of divine knowledge (cf. {83:25-28} and the corresponding notes [8] and [9]).

The righteous shall be in paradise drinking from a cup of wine mixed with Kafoor (camphor-water),

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Indeed, the virtuous will have a drink 'of pure wine'- flavoured with camphor-

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! the righteous shall drink of a cup whereof the mixture is of water of Kafur,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As to the Righteous they shall drink of a Cup (of Wine) mixed with Kafur ⁵⁸³⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Kafur is literally Comphor. It is a fountain in the Realms of Bliss. It is a seasoning added to the Cup of pure, beatific Wine, which causes no intoxication (lvi. 18- 19), but stands for all that is wholesome, agreeable, and refreshing. Camphor is cool and refreshing, and is given as a soothing tonic in Eastern medicine. In minute doses its odour and flavour are also agreeable.

a source [of bliss] whereof God's servants shall drink, seeing it flow in a flow abundant.⁸

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "making [or "letting"] it flow...", etc.: i.e., having it always at their disposal.

from a gushing spring at which the servants of Allah will refresh themselves, and shall be able to take out its channels from place to place at their will.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'from' a spring where Allah's servants will drink, flowing at their will.

  - Mustafa Khattab

A spring wherefrom the slaves of Allah drink, making it gush forth abundantly,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

A Fountain where the Devotees of Allah do drink making it flow in unstinted abundance.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[The truly virtuous are] they [who] fulfil their vows,⁹ and stand in awe of a Day the woe of which is bound to spread far and wide,

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the spiritual and social obligations arising from their faith.

They are those who keep their vows and dread the Day of widespread terror,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They 'are those who' fulfil 'their' vows and fear a Day of sweeping horror,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Because they perform the vow and fear a day whereof the evil is wide-spreading,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

They perform (their) vows and they fear a Day whose evil flies far and wide. ^{5836 5837 5838}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

They: i.e., the Righteous: they are known in the present life by the virtues described in verses 7-10, and in the life of the Hereafter they will enjoy the Bliss described in verses 11-22.

Cf. xxii. 29. The vows must be vows of spiritual service, which of course includes service to humanity, such as is mentioned in the next verse. They are Devotees of Allah, and they must perform all vows and contracts (v. I and n. 682). Vows of the Pagan sort, savouring of a sort of "bribe" to the Deity, are not approved.

That is, they prepare for the Judgment to come, where the effects of Sin will not be transitory but far-reaching.

and who give food - however great be their own want of it¹⁰ - unto the needy, and the orphan, and the captive,¹¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Or, as in 2:177 , "however much they themselves may cherish [i.e., "need"] it"; cf. also {90:14-16}. It is to be noted that in this context the concept of "giving food" comprises every kind of help and care, both material and moral.

The term asir denotes anyone who is a "captive" either literally (e.g., a prisoner) or figuratively, i.e., a captive of circumstances which render him helpless; thus, the Prophet said, "Thy debtor is thy captive; be, therefore, truly kind to thy captive" (Zamakhshari, Razi, et al.). The injunction of kindness towards all who are in need of help - and therefore "captive" in one sense or another - applies to believers and non-believers alike (Tabari, Zamakhshari), and apparently also to animals dependent on man.

who feed the poor, the orphan and the captive for the love of Allah,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and give food- despite their desire for it- to the poor, the orphan, and the captive,

  - Mustafa Khattab

And feed with food the needy wretch, the orphan and the prisoner, for love of Him,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they feed for the love of Allah the indigent the orphan and the captive ⁵⁸³⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The captive: when taken literally, it refers to the old state of things when captives of war had to earn their own food, or their own redemption; even ordinary prisoners in jail for criminal offences often starved unless food was provided for them by private friends or from their own earnings.

[saying, in their hearts,] "We feed you for the sake of God alone: we desire no recompense from you, nor thanks:

  - Mohammad Asad

saying: "We feed you for the sake of Allah Alone; we seek from you neither reward nor thanks,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'saying to themselves,' 'We feed you only for the sake of Allah, seeking neither reward nor thanks from you.

  - Mustafa Khattab

(Saying): We feed you, for the sake of Allah only. We wish for no reward nor thanks from you;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(Saying) "We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: No reward do we desire from you nor thanks. ⁵⁸⁴⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

These words need not be actually uttered. They express the true motives of pious and unpretentious Charity.

behold, we stand in awe of our Sustainer's judgment¹² on a distressful, fateful Day!,

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "we fear our Sustainer".

for we dread from our Rabb's torment of a very distressful Day."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We fear from our Lord a horribly distressful Day.'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! we fear from our Lord a day of frowning and of fate.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

"We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord." ⁵⁸⁴¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is a Day of Distress for sin and evil. But the truly righteous are not self- righteous. They have the fear of Allah in their minds: they know they are human, and they fear lest they should be found wanting in the sight of Allah. But Allah in His Mercy gives them a bountiful Reward.