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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

[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

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

  - Marmaduke Pickthall