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Surah 96. Al-Alaq

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96:1
ٱقْرَأْ بِٱسْمِ رَبِّكَ ٱلَّذِى خَلَقَ Iqra biismi rabbika alla th ee khalaq a
READ1 in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created -
  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "this divine writ". The imperative iqra' may be rendered as "read" or "recite". The former rendering is, to my mind, by far the preferable in this context inasmuch as the concept of "reciting" implies no more than the oral delivery - with or without understanding - of something already laid down in writing or committed to memory, whereas "reading" primarily signifies a conscious taking-in, with or without an audible utterance but with a view to understanding them, of words and ideas received from an outside source: in this case, the message of the Qur'an.

Read! In the name of your Rabb Who created
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Read, 'O Prophet,' in the Name of your Lord Who created-
  - Mustafa Khattab
Read: In the name of thy Lord who createth,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Proclaim! (or Read!) in the name of thy Lord and Cherisher Who created 6203 6204
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Iqraa may mean "read", or "recite or rehearse", or "proclaim aloud", the object understood being Allah's Message. In worldly letters he was unversed, but with spiritual knowledge his mind and soul were filled, and now had come the time when he must stand forth to the world and declare his mission.

The declaration or proclamation was to be in the name of Allah the Creator. It was not for any personal benefit to the Prophet: to him there was to come bitter persecution, sorrow, and suffering. It was the call of Allah for the benefit of erring humanity. Allah is mentioned by his title of "thy Lord and Cherisher", to establish a direct nexus between the source of the Message and the one addressed. The Message was not merely an abstract proposition of philosophy, but the direct concrete message of a personal Allah to the creatures whom He loves and cherishes. "Thy" addressed to the Prophet is appropriate in two ways: (1) he was in direct contact with the divine Messenger (Gabriel) and Him Who sent the Messenger; (2) he represented the whole of humanity, in a fuller sense than that in which Christ Jesus is the "Son of Man".

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96:2
خَلَقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ Khalaqa alins a na min AAalaq in
created man out of a germ-cell!2
  - Mohammad Asad

The past tense in which the verb khalaqa appears in these two verses is meant to indicate that the act of divine creation (khalq) has been and is being continuously repeated. It is also noteworthy that this very first Qur'anic revelation alludes to man's embryonic evolution out of a "germ-cell" - i.e., out of a fertilized female ovum - thus contrasting the primitiveness and simplicity of his biological origins with his intellectual and spiritual potential: a contrast which clearly points to the existence of a conscious design and a purpose underlying the creation of life.

- created man from a leechlike mass.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
created humans from a clinging clot.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 ’Alaq, meaning the embryo resembles a leech.

Createth man from a clot.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Created man out of a (mere) clot of congealed blood: 6205
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xxiii. 14, The lowly origin of the animal in man is contrasted with the high destiny offered to him in his intellectual, moral, and spiritual nature by his "most bountiful" Creator. No knowledge is withheld from man. On the contrary, through the faculties freely given to him, he acquires it in such measure as outstrips his immediate understanding, and leads him ever to strive for newer and newer meaning.

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96:3
ٱقْرَأْ وَرَبُّكَ ٱلْأَكْرَمُ Iqra warabbuka alakram u
Read - for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One
  - Mohammad Asad
Read! Your Rabb is the Most Gracious,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Read! And your Lord is the Most Generous,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Read: And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Proclaim! And thy Lord is Most Bountiful
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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96:4
ٱلَّذِى عَلَّمَ بِٱلْقَلَمِ Alla th ee AAallama bi a lqalam i
who has taught [man] the use of the pen -
  - Mohammad Asad
Who taught by the Pen,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Who taught by the pen-
  - Mustafa Khattab
Who teacheth by the pen,
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
He Who taught (the use of) the Pen 6206
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

See n. 5593 to lxviii. 1. The Arabic words for "teach" and "knowledge" are from the same root. It is impossible to produce in a Translation the complete orchestral harmony of the words for "read", "teach", "pen" (which implies reading, writing, books, study, research), "knowledge" (including science, self knowledge, spiritual understanding), and "proclaim", an alternative meaning of the word for "to read". This proclaiming or reading implies not only the duty of blazoning forth Allah's message, as going, with the prophetic office, but also the duty of promulgation and wide dissemination of the Truth by all who read and understand it. The comprehensive meaning of qaraa refers not only to a particular person and occasion but also gives a universal direction. And this kind of comprehensive meaning, as we have seen, runs throughout the Qur-an -for those, who will understand.

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96:5
عَلَّمَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ AAallama alins a na m a lam yaAAlam
taught man what he did not know!3
  - Mohammad Asad

"The pen" is used here as a symbol for the art of writing or, more specifically, for all knowledge recorded by means of writing: and this explains the symbolic summons "Read!" at the beginning of verses {1} and {3}. Man's unique ability to transmit, by means of written records, his thoughts, experiences and insights from individual to individual, from generation to generation, and from one cultural environment to another endows all human knowledge with a cumulative character; and since, thanks to this God-given ability, every human being partakes, in one way or another, in mankind's continuous accumulation of knowledge, man is spoken of as being "taught by God" things which the single individual does not - and, indeed, cannot - know by himself. (This double stress on man's utter dependence on God, who creates him as a biological entity and implants in him the will and the ability to acquire knowledge, receives its final accent, as it were, in the next three verses.) Furthermore, God's "teaching" man signifies also the act of His revealing, through the prophets, spiritual truths and moral standards which cannot be unequivocally established through human experience and reasoning alone: and, thus, it circumscribes the phenomenon of divine revelation as such.

taught man what he knew not.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
taught humanity what they knew not.1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Verses 1-5 are known to be the first ever revealed of the Quran. The Prophet (ﷺ) was retreating at a cave in the outskirts of Mecca when the angel Gabriel appeared to him, squeezing him tightly and ordering him to read. Since the Prophet (ﷺ) was unlettered, he responded, “I cannot read.” Ultimately, Gabriel taught him: “Read in the Name of your Lord …” Some scholars believe that this encounter is the fulfilment of Isaiah 29:12, which states, “Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, ‘Read this.’ And he will say, ‘I cannot read.’”

Teacheth man that which be knew not.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Taught man that which he knew not. 6207
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Allah teaches us new knowledge at every given moment. Individuals learn more and more day by day; nations and humanity at large learn fresh knowledge at every stage. This is even more noticeable and important in the spiritual world.

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96:6
كَلَّآ إِنَّ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنَ لَيَطْغَىٰٓ Kall a inna alins a na laya t gh a
Nay, verily, man becomes grossly overweening
  - Mohammad Asad
Nay! Indeed, man transgresses all bounds,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Most certainly, one exceeds all bounds
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nay, but verily man is rebellious
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Nay but man doth transgress all bounds 6208
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

All our knowledge and capacities come as gifts from Allah. But man, in his inordinate vanity and insolence, mistakes Allah's gifts for his own achievements. The gifts may be strength or beauty, wealth, position, or power, or the more subtle gifts of knowledge or talents in individuals,-or Science, or Art, or Government, or Organisation for mankind in general.

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96:7
أَن رَّءَاهُ ٱسْتَغْنَىٰٓ An ra a hu istaghn a
whenever he believes himself to be self-sufficient:
  - Mohammad Asad
in thinking himself to be self-sufficient,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
once they think they are self-sufficient.
  - Mustafa Khattab
That he thinketh himself independent!
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
In that he looketh upon himself as self-sufficient.
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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96:8
إِنَّ إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ ٱلرُّجْعَىٰٓ Inna il a rabbika a l rrujAA a
for, behold, unto thy Sustainer all must return.4
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "is the return (ar-ruj'a)". This noun has here a twofold implication: "everyone will inescapably be brought before God for judgment", as well as "everything that exists goes back to God as its source". In ultimate analysis, the statement expressed in verses {6-8} rejects as absurd the arrogant idea that man could ever be self-sufficient and, hence, "master of his own fate"; furthermore, it implies that all moral concepts - that is, all discrimination between good and evil, or right and wrong - are indissolubly linked with the concept of man's responsibility to a Supreme Power: in other words, without such a feeling of responsibility - whether conscious or subconscious - the concept of "morality" as such loses all its meaning.

although surely towards your Rabb is his return.
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
'But' surely to your Lord is the return 'of all'.
  - Mustafa Khattab
Lo! unto thy Lord is the return.
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Verily to thy Lord is the return (of all). 6209
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Man is not self-sufficient, either as an individual, or in his collective capacity. If he arrogates Allah's gifts to himself, he is reminded-backwards, of his lowly physical origin (from a drop of animal matter), and forwards, of his responsibility and final retum to Allah.

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96:9
أَرَءَيْتَ ٱلَّذِى يَنْهَىٰ Araayta alla th ee yanh a
HAST THOU ever considered him who tries to prevent
  - Mohammad Asad
Have you seen the one (Abu Jahl) who forbids
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Have you seen the man who prevents
  - Mustafa Khattab
Hast thou seen him who dissuadeth
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Seest thou one who forbids. 6210
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The words, may be applied generally to perverse humanity, which seeks not only to rebel against Allah's Law, but also to prevent others from following it. There may however be a reference here to Abu Jahl, an inveterate enemy of Islam, who used in its early days to insult and persecute the holy Prophet and those who followed his teaching. He used, in particular, to use shameful methods to prevent the Prophet from going to the Ka'ba for devotions, and forbid any who came under his influence, from offering prayers or performing devotions. He was arrogant and purse-proud and met his end in the battle of Badr.

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96:10
عَبْدًا إِذَا صَلَّىٰٓ AAabdan i tha s all a
a servant [of God] from praying?5
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "who forbids a servant [of God] when he prays", implying an attempt at preventing. Since this seems to refer to praying in public, most of the classical commentators see in this passage (which was revealed at least a year later than the first five verses) an allusion to Abu Jahl, the Prophet's bitterest opponent in Mecca, who persistently tried to prevent Muhammad and his followers from praying before the Ka'bah. However, there is no doubt that the purport of the above passage goes far beyond any historical incident or situation inasmuch as it applies to all attempts, at all times, to deny to religion (symbolized in the term "praying") its legitimate function in the shaping of social life - attempts made either in the conviction that religion is every individual's "private affair" and, therefore, must not be allowed to "intrude" into the realm of social considerations, or, alternatively, in the pursuit of the illusion that man is above any need of metaphysical guidance.

Our servant from offering Salah (prayer)?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
a servant 'of Ours' from praying?1
  - Mustafa Khattab

 Abu Jahl was a staunch leader of the Meccan opposition to Islam. There are many authentic stories of his abuse of the Prophet (ﷺ).

A slave when he prayeth?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
A votary when he (turns) to pray?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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96:11
أَرَءَيْتَ إِن كَانَ عَلَى ٱلْهُدَىٰٓ Araayta in k a na AAal a alhud a
Hast thou considered whether he is on the right way,
  - Mohammad Asad
Have you considered, if He was on the right guidance,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
What if this 'servant' is 'rightly' guided,
  - Mustafa Khattab
Hast thou seen if he (relieth) on the guidance (of Allah)
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Seest thou if He is on (the road of) Guidance? 6211
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Man's insolence leads to two results: (1) self-destruction through self- misleading; (2) a false example or false guidance to others. The righteous man must therefore test human example or human guidance by the question, "Is there Allah's guidance behind it?" And visible light would be thrown on it by the question, "Does it lead to righteousness?" A flouting of Allah and Allah's truth answers the first question in the negative, and conduct which turns back from the eternal principles of Right answers the second.

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96:12
أَوْ أَمَرَ بِٱلتَّقْوَىٰٓ Aw amara bi al ttaqw a
or is concerned with God-consciousness?6
  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "or enjoins God-consciousness (taqwa)" - i.e., whether his aim is to deepen his fellowmen's God-consciousness by insisting that religion is a purely personal matter: the obvious implication being that this is not his aim, and that he is not on the right way in thinking and acting as he does. - Throughout this work, the term taqwa - of which the present is the earliest instance in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation - has been rendered as "God-consciousness", with the same meaning attaching to the verbal forms from which this noun is derived. (See also surah {2}, note [2].).

or was enjoining true piety, why he would forbid someone from prayer?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
or encourages righteousness?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Or enjoineth piety?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Or enjoins Righteousness?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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96:13
أَرَءَيْتَ إِن كَذَّبَ وَتَوَلَّىٰٓ Araayta in ka thth aba watawall a
Hast thou considered whether he may [not] be giving the lie to the truth and turning his back [upon it]?7
  - Mohammad Asad

Sc., "because in his arrogance he cannot face it".

Have you considered, if he denies the truth and turns away, what will happen?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
What if that 'man' persists in denial and turns away?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Hast thou seen if he denieth (Allah's guidance) and is froward?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Seest thou if he denies (Truth) and turns away? 6212
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

The usual trick of the ungodly is to refuse to face Truth. If they are placed in a corner, they deny what is obvious to reasonable men, and turn their backs.

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96:14
أَلَمْ يَعْلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ Alam yaAAlam bianna All a ha yar a
Does he, then, not know that God sees [all]?
  - Mohammad Asad
Does he not know that Allah is observing all things?
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
Does he not know that Allah sees 'all'?
  - Mustafa Khattab
Is he then unaware that Allah seeth?
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Knoweth he not that Allah doth see?
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

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96:15
كَلَّا لَئِن لَّمْ يَنتَهِ لَنَسْفَعًۢا بِٱلنَّاصِيَةِ Kall a lain lam yantahi lanasfaAAan bi al nn as iya ti
Nay, if he desist not, We shall most surely drag him down upon his forehead -8
  - Mohammad Asad

Or: "by his forelock" - an ancient Arabian expression denoting a person's utter subjection and humiliation (see 11:56 and the corresponding note [80]). However, as Razi points out, the term "forelock" (nasiyah) is here used metonymically for the place on which the forelock grows, i.e., the forehead (cf. also Taj al-'Arus).

Nay! Let him know that if he does not stop, We will drag him by the forelock,
  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik
But no! If he does not desist, We will certainly drag him by the forelock-
  - Mustafa Khattab
Nay, but if he cease not, We will seize him by the forelock--
  - Marmaduke Pickthall
Let him beware! If he desist not We will drag him by the forelock 6213
  - Abdullah Yusuf Ali

Cf. xi. 56, and n. 1551. The forelock is on the forehead, and is thus symbolical of the summit and crown of the man's power or dignity. To be dragged by it is to suffer the lowest dregs of humiliation. Nasfa'an is a syncopated form of the emphatic first person plural.

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