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سُبْحَانَ ٱللَّٰهِ
Holy Qur'an
Al-Qur'an
Kids Qur'an
This definition comprises things physical and spiritual: waters disappearing underground and reappearing; the metamorphosis of seed into plant, and of decaying plant into oil and coal; traces of old artifacts and entire civilizations buried in the earth and then reappearing within the sight and consciousness of later generations of men; the transformation of dead bodies of animals and men into elements of nourishment for new life; the ascent of earthy vapours towards the skies, and their descent as rain, snow or hail; the ascent towards the heavens of men's longings, hopes and ambitions, and the descent of divine inspiration into the minds of men, and thus a revival of faith and thought and, with it, the growth of new artifacts, new skills and new hopes: in short, the endless recurrence of birth, death and re-birth which characterizes all of God's creation.
This assertion of the godless has a twofold meaning: (1) "The universe is without beginning and without end; it can only change, but can never cease to exist" - which amounts to a denial of the fact that God alone is eternal; and (2) "There is no resurrection and divine judgment as symbolized by the Last Hour" - which amounts to a denial of life after death and, hence, of all significance and purpose attaching to human life as such.
See note [5] on 8:4 .
The particle min (lit., "out of") which precedes the noun rijz ("vileness" or "vile conduct") indicates that the suffering which awaits such sinners in the life to come is an organic consequence of their deliberately evil conduct in this world.
Lit., "remote aberration". (For the Qur'anic use of the term dalal - lit., "error" or "going astray" - in the sense of "aberration", see 12:8 and {95}.) The construction of this phrase points definitely to suffering in this world (in contrast with the suffering in the hereafter spoken of in verse {5} above): for whereas the concept of "aberration" is meaningless in the context of the life to come, it has an obvious meaning in the context of the moral and social confusion - and, hence, of the individual and social suffering - which is the unavoidable consequence of people's loss of belief in the existence of absolute moral values and, thus, in an ultimate divine judgment on the basis of those values.
Lit., "... not aware of what of the sky and the earth is between their hands, and what is behind them": an idiomatic phrase explained in surah {2}, note [247]. In the present context - as well as in 2:255 - the above phrase stresses the insignificance of the knowledge attained to by man, or accessible to him; hence, so the argument goes, how can anyone be so presumptuous as to deny the reality of resurrection and life after death, seeing that it is a phenomenon beyond man's experience, while, on the other hand, everything within the universe points to God's unlimited creative power?
I.e.. in an earthquake.
This allusion to unpredictable geological and cosmic occurrences - earthquakes, the fall of meteors and meteorites, cosmic rays, and so forth - reinforces the statement about "how little of the sky and the earth lies open before them, and how much is hidden from them", and contrasts man's insignificance with God's omniscience and almightiness.
See last sentence of 24:31 and the corresponding note [41].
Lit., "did We bestow upon David a favour from Ourselves". This connects with the elliptic reference to repentance in the preceding verse: David is singled out for special mention in view of the allusion, in surah {38}, to his having suddenly become aware that he had committed a sin, whereupon "he asked his Sustainer to forgive him his sin... and turned unto Him in repentance" ( 38:24 ).
Cf. 21:79 and the corresponding note [73].
Lit., "for him". The term hadid denotes, primarily, something that is "sharp" in both the concrete and abstract senses of the word: for the latter sense, cf. the Qur'anic phrase "sharp (hadid) is thy sight today" ( 50:22 ), or the many idiomatic expressions like rajul hadid, "a man of sharp intellect", hadid an-nazar, "one who looks boldly [at others]", ra' ihah hadidah, "a sharp odour", etc. (Lisan al-'Arab). As a noun with a definite article (al-hadid), it signifies "all that is sharp", or "sharpness", as well as "iron". God's having "softened all sharpness" in David is evidently an allusion to his exalted sense of beauty (expressed in the poetry of his Psalms) as well as to his goodness and humility. - An alternative rendering of the above phrase would be: "We caused iron to become soft for him", which might be an allusion to his outstanding abilities as poet, warrior and ruler.
The adjective sabigh (fem. sabighah) signifies anything that is "ample", "abundant" and "complete" (in the sense of being perfect). In its plural form sabighat it assumes the function of the noun which it is meant to qualify, and denotes, literally, "things [or "deeds"] ample and complete" or "perfect" - i.e., good deeds done abundantly and without stint: cf. the only other Qur'anic instance of the same stem in 31:20 - "[God] has lavished (asbagha) upon you His blessings". The noun sard, on the other hand, denotes something "carried on consecutively", or something the parts (or stages) whereof are "following one another steadily", i.e., are continued or repeated.
Cf. 21:81 and the corresponding note [75]. For a more general explanation of the legends connected with the person of Solomon, see note [77] on 21:82 .
Lit., "for him": probably a reference to the many furnishings of copper and brass which, according to the Bible (cf. 11 Chronicles iv), Solomon caused to be made for his newly-built temple.
Lit., "between his hands", i.e., subject to his will: see 21:82 and the corresponding notes [76] and [77]. For my rendering of jinn as "invisible beings", see Appendix III.
I.e., because of their enormous size. Cf. II Chronicles iii, 10-13, where statues ("images") of cherubim are mentioned, as well as iv, 2-5, describing "a molten sea" (i.e., basin) of huge dimensions, resting upon twelve statues of oxen, and meant to contain water "for the priests to wash in" (ibid., iv, 6). The "sanctuaries" were apparently the various halls of the new temple.
These words, ostensibly addressed to "the people" or "the family" of David, are in reality an admonition to all believers, at all times, since all of them are, spiritually, "David's people".
I.e., even among those who consider themselves God's servants - for "truly grateful [to God] is only he who realizes his inability to render adequate thanks to Him" (Zamakhshari).
This is yet another of the many Solomonic legends which had become an inalienable part of ancient Arabian tradition, and which the Qur'an uses as a vehicle for the allegorical illustration of some of its teachings. According to the legend alluded to above, Solomon died on his throne, leaning forward on his staff, and for a length of time nobody became aware of his death: with the result that the jinn, who had been constrained to work for him, went on labouring at the heavy tasks assigned to them. Gradually, however, a termite ate away Solomon's staff, and his body, deprived of support, fell to the ground. This story - only hinted at in its outline - is apparently used here as an allegory of the insignificance and inherent brittleness of human life and of the perishable nature and emptiness of all worldly might and glory.
Al-ghayb, "that which is beyond the reach of [a created being's] perception", either in an absolute or - as in this instance - in a relative, temporary sense.
I.e., because they would have known that Solomon's sway over them had ended. In the elliptic manner so characteristic of the Qur'an, stress is laid here, firstly, on the limited nature of all empirical knowledge, including the result of deductions and inferences based on no more than observable or calculable phenomena, and, secondly, on the impossibility to determine correctly, on the basis of such limited fragments of knowledge alone, what course of action would be right in a given situation. Although the story as such relates to "invisible beings", its moral lesson (which may be summed up in the statement that empirical knowledge cannot provide any ethical guideline unless it is accompanied, and completed, by divine guidance) is obviously addressed to human beings as well.
This connects with the call to gratitude towards God in the preceding passage, and the mention, at the end of verse {13}, that "few are the truly grateful" even among those who think of themselves as "God's servants" (see note [19] above). - The kingdom of Sheba (Saba' in Arabic) was situated in south-western Arabia, and at the time of its greatest prosperity (i.e., in the first millenium B.C.) comprised not only the Yemen but also a large part of Hadramawt and the Mahrah country, and probably also much of present-day Abyssinia. In the vicinity of its capital Ma'rib - sometimes also spelled Ma'rib - the Sabaeans had built in the course of centuries an extraordinary system of dams, dykes and sluices, which became famous in history, with astonishing remnants extant to this day. It was to this great dam that the whole country of Sheba owed its outstanding prosperity, which became proverbial throughout Arabia. (According to the geographer Al-Ham-dani, who died in 334 H., the area irrigated by this system of dams stretched eastward to the desert of Sayhad on the confines of the Rub' 'al-Khali) The flourishing state of the country was reflected in its people's intense trading activities and their control of the "spice road" which led from Ma'rib northwards to Mecca, Yathrib and Syria, and eastwards to Dufar on the shores of the Arabian Sea, thus connecting with the maritime routes from India and China. - The period to which the above Qur'anic passage refers is evidently much later than that spoken of in {27:22-44}.
Lit., "the flooding of the dams" (sayl al-'arim). The date of that catastrophe cannot be established with any certainty, but the most probable period of the first bursting of the Dam of Ma'rib seems to have been the second century of the Christian era. The kingdom of Sheba was largely devastated, and this led to the migration of many southern (Qahtan) tribes towards the north of the Peninsula. Subsequently, it appears, the system of dams and dykes was to some extent repaired, but the country never regained its earlier prosperity; and a few decades before the advent of Islam the great dam collapsed completely and finally.
Neither the Qur'an nor any authentic hadith tells us anything definite about the way in which the people of Sheba had sinned at the time immediately preceding the final collapse of the Dam of Ma'rib (i.e., in the sixth century of the Christian era). This omission, however, seems to be deliberate. In view of the fact that the story of Sheba's prosperity and subsequent catastrophic downfall had become a byword in ancient Arabia, it is most probable that its mention in the Qur'an has a purely moral purport similar to that of the immediately preceding legend of Solomon's death, inasmuch as both these legends, in their Qur'anic presentation, are allegories of the ephemeral nature of all human might and achievement. As mentioned at the beginning of note [23] above, the story of Sheba's downfall is closely linked with the phenomenon of men's recurrent ingratitude towards God. (See also verse {20} and the corresponding note [29].)
I.e., Mecca and Jerusalem, both of which lay on the caravan route much used by the people of Sheba.
In its generally-accepted spelling - based on the reading adopted by most of the early scholars of Medina and Kufah - the above phrase reads in the vocative rabbana and the imperative ba'id ("Our Sustainer! Make long the distances ...", etc.), which, however, cannot be convincingly explained. On the other hand, Tabari, Baghawi and Zamakhshari mention, on the authority of some of the earliest Qur'an-commentators, another legitimate reading of the relevant words, namely, rabbuna (in the nominative) and ba'ada (in the indicative), which gives the meaning adopted by me: "Long has our Sustainer made the distances . ..", etc. To my mind, this reading is much more appropriate since (as pointed out by Zamakhshari) it expresses the belated regrets and the sorrow of the people of Sheba at the devastation of their country, the exodus of large groups of the population, and the resultant abandonment of many towns and villages on the great caravan routes.
An allusion to the mass-migration of South-Arabian tribes in all directions - particularly towards central and northern Arabia - subsequent to the destruction of the Dam of Ma'rib.
See 17:62 , as well as the last sentence of 7:17 , in which Iblis (i.e., Satan) says of the human race, "most of them wilt Thou find ungrateful".
Cf. a similar phrase placed in the mouth of Iblis in 14:22 ("I had no power at all over you: I but called you - and you responded unto me"), and the corresponding note [31]; also, see note [30] on {15:39-40}. - Although, on the face of it, verses {20-21} of the present surah refer to the people of Sheba, their import is (as the sequence shows) much wider, applying to the human race as such.
See 15:41 and the corresponding note [31].
I.e., anybody who would "mediate" between Him and any of His creatures. As is evident from the sequence (as well as from {17:56-57}), this passage relates, in particular, to the attribution of divine or semi-divine qualities to saints and angels and to the problem of their "intercession" with God.
Regarding the Qur'anic concept of "intercession", see note [7] on 10:3 . Cf. also 19:87 and 20:109 .
Lit., "the truth" - i.e., whatever God decides regarding His grant or refusal of leave for intercession (which is synonymous with His redemptive acceptance or His rejection of the human being concerned) will conform with the requirements of absolute truth and justice (see note [74] on 19:87 ).
See note [49] on the first sentence of 10:31 .
The Qur'anic answer to this ironic question is found in 7:187 .
For my rendering of sa'ah (lit., "hour") as "a single moment", see surah {7}, note [26].
For the rendering of ma bayna yadayhi, in relation to the Qur'an, as "whatever there still remains of earlier revelations", see surah {3}, note [3]. As is evident from the preceding and subsequent verses, the rejection by "those who are bent on denying the truth" of all revelation is motivated by their refusal to believe in resurrection and God's judgment, and, hence, to admit the validity of absolute moral standards as postulated by every higher religion.
I.e., as the "intellectual leaders" of their community.
Lit., "did we keep you away from guidance after it had come to you?"
I.e., always. The term makr (lit., "a scheme" or "scheming") has here the connotation of "devising false arguments" against something that is true: in this case, as is shown in the first paragraph of verse {31} above, against God's messages (cf. a similar use of this term in 10:21 and 35:43 ; see also 86:15 ).
Lit., "[that we should] give God compeers (andad)". For an explanation of this phrase and my rendering of it, see surah {2}, note [13].
For a justification of this rendering of the phrase 'asarru 'n-nadamah, see surah {10}, note [77].
As pointed out by several of the classical commentators (e.g., Zamakhshari, Razi and Baydawi) in their explanations of similar phrases occurring in 13:5 and 36:8 , the "shackles" (aghlal) which these sinners carry, as it were, "around their necks" in life, and will carry on Judgment Day, are a metaphor of the enslavement of their souls to the false values to which they had surrendered, and of the suffering which will be caused by that surrender.
The term mutraf denotes "one who indulges in the pursuit of pleasures", i.e., to the exclusion of all moral considerations: cf. note [147] on 11:116 .
Implying, firstly, that the only thing that really counts in life is the enjoyment of material benefits; and, secondly, that a materially successful life is, by itself, an evidence of one's being "on the right way".
Sc., "and foolishly regard riches and poverty as indications of God's favour or disfavour". Indirectly, this statement refutes the belief held by many people in the present as well as in the past that material prosperity is a justification of all human endeavour.
I.e., God's promise to the righteous that they would attain to happiness in the life to come neither precludes nor implies their being wealthy or poor in this world.
I.e., either with worldly goods, or with inner contentment, or with spiritual merit (Zamakhshari).
This allegorical "question" - allegorical, because God is omniscient and has no need to "ask" - implies that many of "those who deny the truth" of God's messages delude themselves into believing that they are, nevertheless, worshipping spiritual forces, here comprised in the term angels".
Implying that they (the angels) would never have accepted that worship which is due to God alone.
In this instance, I believe, the term jinn has its primary meaning of "that which is concealed from [man's] senses" (see Appendix III), thus including all manner of unknown forces, both real and imaginary, believed to be inherent in what we describe as "nature". Hence, the answer of the angels implies that the sinners' alleged worship of them had never been more than a subconscious screen for their fear of the invisible forces of nature and, ultimately, of the yet deeper fear of the Unknown - that fear which sooner of later engulfs all who refuese to believe in the existence of God and, hence, cannot see any meaning or purpose in human life. (See also the last sentence of 10:28 and the corresponding note [46.])
Lit., "sorcery" or "magic" - a term frequently used in the sense of "spellbinding eloquence" (cf. 74:24 , the earliest instance in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation).
Lit., "which they could study", i.e., in support of the blasphemous beliefs and practices inherited from their ancestors. Cf. 30:35 , which expresses a similar idea.
Sc., "And how much worse will fare the deniers of the truth to whom so explicit and so comprehensive a divine writ as the Qur'an has been conveyed!" My rendering of the whole of this verse is based on Razi's interpretation, which differs from that of most of the other commentators.
Lit., "two by two (mathna) and singly (furada)". According to Razi, the expression mathna denotes, in this context, "together with another person" or "other persons": hence, the above phrase may be understood to refer to man's social behaviour - i.e., his actions concerning others - as well as to his inner, personal attidtude in all situations requiring a moral choice.
See note [150] on 7:184 .
I.e., no reward of a material nature: cf. 25:57 - "no reward other than that he who so wills may unto his Sustainer find a way".
Cf. 21:18 .
Cf. 17:81 .
I.e., in contrast to the creativeness inherent in every true idea, falsehood - being in itself an illusion - cannot really create anything or revive any values that may have been alive in the past.
According to Zamakhshari, the idea expressed by the interpolated words "due to my own self" is implied in the above, inasmuch as "everything that goes against [the spiritual interests of] oneself is caused by oneself". (See note [4] on 14:4 .)
Lit., "from a place nearby" - i.e., from within their own selves: cf. 17:13 ("every human being's destiny have We tied to his neck") and the corresponding note [17]. The same idea is expressed in 13:5 ("it is they who carry the shackles [of their own making] around their necks"), as well as in the second part of verse {33} of the present surah ("We shall have put shackles around the necks of those who had been bent on denying the truth"). See also 50:41 and the corresponding note [33].
Lit., "from a place far-away" - i.e., from their utterly different past life on earth.
The obvious implication is that man's fate in the hereafter will be a consequence of, and invariably conditioned by, his spiritual attitude and the manner of his life during the first, earthly stage of his existence. In this instance, the expression "from far away" is apparently used in a sense similar to sayings like "far off the mark" or "without rhyme or reason", and is meant to qualify as groundless and futile all negative speculations about what the Qur'an describes as al-ghayb ("that which is beyond the reach of human [or "a created being's"] perception"): in this case, life after death.
Thus, the impossibility of attaining to the fulfilment of any of their desires - whether positive or negative - sums up, as it were, the suffering of the damned in the life to come.
I.e., a suspicion that all moral postulates were but meant to deprive them of what they considered to be the "legitimate advantages" of life in this world.