Surah 53. An-Najm

49The words in the original are: Hadha nadhir-un-min-an-nudhur-il-ula. The commentators have expressed three points of view in the explanation of this sentence. First, that nadhir here implies the Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace); second, that it implies the Qur'an; third, that it implies the fate of the peoples already destroyed, which has been referred to in the foregoing verses. In view of the context, we arc of the opinion that this last commentary is preferable.

50That is, "Do not be under the delusion that there is yet enough time for thinking and consideration; therefore, you may not give immediate and serious attention to these things and may not decide that you should accept them without further delay. Nay: no one among you knows how much of the respite of life is left to him. Any one of you can die at any time and the Last Hour can also take place suddenly. Therefore, do not think that the Hour of Judgment is yet far off. Whoever has any concern for the Hereafter, should mend his ways forthwith, for one may not have a chance to take a second breath after the present breath. "

51That is, when the Hour of Judgment does arrive, you will not be able to stop it, nor your deities other than Allah have the power to avert it. Allah alone can stop it but He will not.

52The word hadh-al-Hadith as used in the original, signifies the whole teaching that was . being presented in the Qur'an through the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) and "marvel" implies the marvel that man expresses on hearing a novel and incredible thing. The verse means this: "That to which Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) is inviting you is the same that you have already heard. Now, is it this very thing at which you marvel and feel alarmed, and express wonder as if something very strange and novel was being presented before you?"

53That is, "Instead of weeping at your ignorance and deviation you, on the contrary, are mocking, the Truth".

54Two meanings have been given of the word samidun by the lexicographers.

Ibn `Abbas, `Ikrimah and Abu.`Ubaidah, the grammarian, are of the view that in the Yarnanite tongue sumud means singing and playing, and the verse alludes that the disbelievers of Makkah, in order to suppress the recitation of the Qur'an and to divert the people's attention away from it, would start singing in a loud voice.

The other meaning of it given by lbn `Abbas and Mujahid is: `Sumud means bending down the head out of arrogance; when the disbelievers of Makkah passed by the Holy Prophet, they would pass by him angrily with their faces lifted up. " Raghib Isphahani in his Mafradat also has adopted the same meaning; accordingly, Qatadah has translated samidun into ghafilun and Said bin Jubair into mu'ridun.

55According to Imam Abu Hanifah, Imam Shafe`i and many other scholars it is obligatory to perform a sajdah on the recitation of this verse. Although Imam Malik himself used to perform a sajdah here (as cited by Qadi Abu Bakr ibn al-`Arabi in Ahkam al-Qur 'an), yet he held the view that it was not obligatory to perform a sajdah here, the basis of his view being this tradition of Hadrat Zaid bin Thabit: "I recited Surah an-Najm before the Holy Prophet, and he did not perfom a sajdah. ¦ (Bukhari, Muslim, Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Abu Da'ud, Nasa'i). But this Hadith does not negate the incumbency of the prostration here, for it is likely that the Holy Prophet did not perform the sajdah then due to some reason but might have performed it later. Other traditions on the subject are explicit that the prostration was always performed on this verse. Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas'ud, Ibn `Abbas and Muttalib bin Abi Wada`ah have unanimously stated that when the Holy Prophet recited this Surah for the first time in the Ka`bah, he had prostrated himself and along with him the whole assembly of the believers and the disbelievers also had fallen down prostrate. (Bukhari, Ahmad, Nasa'i) Ibn 'Umar has reported that the Holy Prophet recited Surah an-Najm in the Prayer and prostrated himself and lay long in that state. (Baihaqi, Ibn Marduyah). Saburat al- Juhani states that Hadrat 'Umar recited Surah an-Najm in the Fajr Prayer and performed a sajdah, then stood up, recited Surah al-Zilzal and performed the ruku'. (Sa'id bin Mansur). Imam Malik himself has related this act of Hadrat Umar in his Mu'watta (Bab Ma Ja `fi Sajud al-Qar en).