Surah 86. At-Tariq

CONSIDER the heavens and that which comes in the night!¹

  - Mohammad Asad

Some commentators assume that what is described here as at-tariq ("that which comes in the night") is the morning-star, because it appears towards the end of the night; others - like Zamakhshari or Raghib - understand by it "the star" in its generic sense. Now if we analyze the origin of this noun, we find that it is derived from the verb taraqa, which primarily means "he beat [something]" or "knocked [at something]"; hence, taraqa 'l-bab, "he knocked at the door". Tropically, the noun signifies "anything [or "anyone"] that comes in the night", because a person who comes to a house by night is expected to knock at the door (Taj al-'Arus). In the Qur'anic mode of expression, at-tariq is evidently a metaphor for the heavenly solace which sometimes comes to a human being lost in the deepest darkness of affliction and distress; or for the sudden, intuitive enlightenment which disperses the darkness of uncertainty; or, finally, for divine revelation, which knocks, as it were, at the doors of man's heart, and thus fulfils the functions of both solace and enlightenment. (For my rendering of the adjurative wa as "Consider", see surah {74}, first half of note [23].)

By the heaven and by the visitant by night,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the heaven and the nightly star!

  - Mustafa Khattab

By the heaven and the Morning Star

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Sky and the Night-Visitant (therein) ^{6067 6068}

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The appeal here is to single Sign, viz.: the Sky with its Night. Visitant; and the substantive proposition is in verse 4: "There is no soul but has a protector over it". In the last Sura we considered the persecution of Allah's votaries, and how Allah protects them. Here the same theme is presented in another aspect. In the darkest sky shines out most brilliantly the light of the most brilliant star. So in the night of spiritual darkness- whether through ignorance or distress shines the glorious star of Allah's revelation. By the same token the man of Faith and Truth has nothing to fear. Allah will protect His own.

This is explained in verse 3 below. The "Star of piercing brightness" is understood by some to be the Morning Star, by others to be the planet Saturn, by others again to be Sirius, or the Pleiads or shooting stars. I think it is best to take the "Star" in the collective or generic sense, for stars shine on every night in the year, and their piercing brightness is most noticeable on the darkest night.

And what could make thee conceive what it is that comes in the night?

  - Mohammad Asad

and what will explain to you what the visitant by night is?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And what will make you realize what the nightly star is?

  - Mustafa Khattab

Ah, what will tell thee what the Morning Star is!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And what will explain to thee what the Night-Visitant is?

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is the star that pierces through [life's] darkness:

  - Mohammad Asad

It is the star of piercing brightness.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'It is' the star of piercing brightness.

  - Mustafa Khattab

The piercing Star!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(It is) the Star of piercing brightness

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

[for] no human being has ever been left unguarded.²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "there is no human being without a guardian [or "without a watch being kept"] over it". See in this connection note [7] on {82:10-12}.

(Just as Allah Almighty is taking care of each star in the galaxies, similarly) over each soul there is an appointed guardian angel.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

There is no soul without a vigilant angel 'recording everything'.

  - Mustafa Khattab

No human soul but hath a guardian over it.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

There is no soul but has a protector over it. ⁶⁰⁶⁹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

If man has a true spiritual understanding, he has nothing to be afraid of. He is protected by Allah in many ways that he does not even know. He may be an insignificant creature as a mere animal, but his soul raises him to a dignity above other creation. And all sorts of divine forces guard and protect him.

LET MAN, then, observe out of what he has been created:

  - Mohammad Asad

Let man consider from what he is created!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Let people then consider what they were created from!

  - Mustafa Khattab

So let man consider from what he is created.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Now let man but think from what he is created!

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

he has been created out of a seminal fluid

  - Mohammad Asad

He is created from an emitted fluid

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

'They were' created from a spurting fluid,

  - Mustafa Khattab

He is created from a gushing fluid

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

He is created from a drop emitted ⁶⁰⁷⁰

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See n. 5832. to lxxvi. 2. See also last note.

issuing from between the loins [of man] and the pelvic arch [of woman].³

  - Mohammad Asad

The plural noun tara'ib, rendered by me as "pelvic arch", has also the meaning of "ribs" or "arch of bones"; according to most of the authorities who have specialized in the etymology of rare Qur'anic expressions, this term relates specifically to female anatomy (Taj al-'Arus).

that is produced from between the loins and the ribs.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

stemming from between the backbone and the ribcage.¹

  - Mustafa Khattab

 Testes and ovaries are formed in the abdomen of the fetus during the first weeks of pregnancy, before descending to their permanent place in the pelvis. Both are sustained by arteries originating between the backbone and the ribcage.

That issued from between the loins and ribs.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Proceeding from between the backbone and the ribs: ⁶⁰⁷¹

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

A man's seed is the quintessence of his body. It proceeds from his loins, i.e., from his back between the hip-bones and his ribs. His back-bone is the source and symbol of his strength and personality. In the spinal cord and in the brain is the directive energy of the central nervous system, and this directs all action, organic and psychic. The spinal cord is continuous with the Medulla Oblongata in the brain.

Now, verily, He [who thus creates man in the first instance] is well able to bring him back [to life]

  - Mohammad Asad

Surely He, the Creator, has the power to bring him back to life,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely He is fully capable of bringing them back 'to life'

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! He verily is Able to return him (unto life)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Surely (Allah) is able to bring him back (to life)! ⁶⁰⁷²

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Creator who can mingle the forces of psychic and physical muscular action in the creation of man, as explained in the last note, can surely give a new life after physical death here, and restore man's personality in the new world that will open out in the Hereafter.

on the Day when all secrets will be laid bare,

  - Mohammad Asad

on the Day when the hidden secrets will be brought to scrutiny,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

on the Day all secrets will be disclosed.

  - Mustafa Khattab

On the day when hidden thoughts shall be searched out.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

The Day that (all) things secret will be tested.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

and [man] will have neither strength nor helper!

  - Mohammad Asad

then he will have neither power of his own nor any helper to save him from the punishment of Allah.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Then one will have neither power nor 'any' helper.

  - Mustafa Khattab

Then will he have no might nor any helper.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

(Man) will have no power and no helper. ⁶⁰⁷³

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

In that new world, all our actions, motives, thoughts, and imaginings of this life, however secret, will be brought into the open, and tested by the standards of absolute Truth, and not by false standards of custom, prejudice, or partiality. In that severe test, any adventitious advantages of this life will have no strength or force whatever, and cannot help in any way.

Consider⁴ the heavens, ever-revolving,

  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "And, finally, in order to grasp more fully God's power of creation and re-creation, consider...", etc.

By the sky (having rain clouds) which sends down rain

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

By the sky with its recurring cycles,

  - Mustafa Khattab

By the heaven which giveth the returning rain,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

By the Firmament which returns (in its round) ⁶⁰⁷⁴

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The Firmament above is always the same, and yet it performs its diurnal round, smoothly and punctually. So does Allah's Revelation show forth the Truth, which like a circle is ever true to its centre,-which is ever the same, though it revolves through the changing circumstances of our present life.

and the earth, bursting forth with plants!

  - Mohammad Asad

and by the earth which is ever bursting with new growth;

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and the earth with its sprouting plants!

  - Mustafa Khattab

And the earth which splitteth (with the growth of trees and plants)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And by the Earth which opens out (for the gushing of springs or the sprouting of vegetation) ⁶⁰⁷⁵

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The earth seems hard, but springs can gush forth and vegetables sprout through it and make it green and soft. So is Truth: hard perhaps to mortals, but through the fertilising agency of Revelation, it allows our inner personality to sprout and blossom forth.

BEHOLD, this [divine writ] is indeed a word that cuts between truth and falsehood,⁵

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "a decisive word", or "word of distinction", i.e., between the true and the false - in this case, belief in a continuation of life after "death", on the one hand, and a denial of its possibility, on the other. (Cf. 37:21 , 44:40 , 77:13 and {38}, and 78:17 , where Resurrection Day is spoken of as "the Day of Distinction"; see also note [6] on 77:13 .)

surely this Qur'an is a decisive word,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Surely this 'Quran' is a decisive word,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! this (Qur'an) is a conclusive word,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Behold this is the Word that distinguishes (Good from Evil): ⁶⁰⁷⁶

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See the last two notes. Revelation-Allah's Truth-can pierce through the hardest crusts, and ever lead us back to the centre and goal of our life: for it separates Good from Evil definitely. It is not mere play or amusement, any more than the Sky or the Earth is. It helps us in the highest issues of our life.

and is no idle tale.

  - Mohammad Asad

and it is no joke.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

and is not to be taken lightly.

  - Mustafa Khattab

It is no pleasantry.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

It is not a thing for amusement.

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Behold, they [who refuse to accept it] devise marry a false argument⁶ [to disprove its truth];

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "devise [many] an artful scheme (kayd)": see note [41] on 34:33 , where the almost synonymous term makr is used in the same sense.

These unbelievers of Makkah are plotting a scheme:

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

They are certainly devising 'evil' plans,

  - Mustafa Khattab

Lo! they plot a plot (against thee, O Muhammad)

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As for them they are but plotting a scheme ⁶⁰⁷⁷

  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Though Allah in His Mercy has provided a piercing light to penetrate our spiritual darkness, and made our beings responsive to the growth of spiritual understanding, just as the hard earth is responsive to the sprouting of a seed or the gushing of a stream, yet there are evil, unregenerate men who plot and scheme against the beneficent purpose of Allah. But their plots will be of no avail, and Allah's Purpose will prevail. It happened so with the Quraish who wanted to thwart the growth of Islam. It will be so in all ages.