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Surah Shams |
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SURAH
SHAMS In The Name of Allah, The Most Beneficent, The Most Merciful.
"By the Sun and its (glorious) splendour" - Mujahid says: This means its light. And Qatadah says: Its ‘light’ or ‘brightness’ means the day itself. Ibni Jareer says: The correct thing to say is that Allah took an oath by the sun and its daylight, for the light of the sign that manifests itself is daylight. "By the moon when she follows it" - Mujahid said: It follows the sun. And Ibni Abbas said: It (the moon) follows daylight. And Qatadah states: When the moon follows the sun during the beginning of the lunAr month, because when the sun sets the crescent can then be sighted. And Ibni Zaid says: The moon follows the sun during the first half of the lunar month. Thereafter, the sun follows moon for the second half of the month, while the latter remains in front of the former. "By the day when it displays the sun’s brightness" - Mujahid says: It lights up the sun. And Qatadah says: (This is found) when the daylight spreads around the sun. Some have interpreted this to mean: ‘By the day when it dispels darkness’, since the wordings indicate such a meaning. I say: (i.e. the author, Ibni Katheer): It would be much more preferable for the subscriber to this view to interpret the verse to mean: "By the day when it lights up the earth". Then his interpretation in the following verse: "By the night when it blankets the sun" (meaning the night that envelopes the earth) would be correct and far more sound. Allah knows best. For this reason Mujahid stated: The statement of Almighty Allah "By the day when it lights up..." is exactly like the other statement of Allah "By the day when it shines" (Surah Al-Layl, verse 2) Ibni Jareer though has opted to refer the pronoun in all these verses to the sun, since its mention is continuous throughout. "By the night when it blankets the sun" — In explaining this verse the commentators have said: ‘The night envelopes the sun when it goes down and the horizon becomes dark.’ Baqiyah says: ‘When night falls Almighty Allah says: "My great creation has shrouded my servants". So the night fears Him, and it is only befitting for His creation to fear Him.’ "By the firmament and its (wonderful) construction" — The letter Maa used here can have to connotations. One is the intransitive verb ‘construction’ or building. This is the view of Qatadah. The other possibility could be the usage of maa to mean mun, i.e. the personal pronoun ‘Who’. . The meaning will thus be: "By the firmament and He Who built it". This is the view of Mujahid. Both these meanings are corollaries. The term binaa (construction) means to elevate or raise. This is similar to the other statement of Almighty Allah: "And We raised the heavens with strength..." (Surah Zhariyaat verse 47) "By the earth and how it has been stretched out" — Mujahid says the ‘stretching out of the earth’ is its wide expanse. And according to Ibni Abbas, this verse means: "By the earth and whatever has been created in it." Mujahid, Qatadah, and Dhahhak maintain the stretching out is the expanded structure of the earth. This view is the most common and widely accepted view among the majority of commentators, and is also supported by the lexicographers of the Arabic language. One such lexiconist, Jowhari, states: Tahaa means spreading out or expanding. "By the soul and that which proportioned it" — HE created it in proportion and with equilibrium, on a naturally upright moral constitution, as Allah states elsewhere: So set yourself firmly on the course of (Allah’s) Religion, totally diverting from all (other) religions. This is the natural disposition of Allah upon which He had created mankind. There can be no change to the the (natural) creation of Allah." (Surah Room verse 30) The Messenger of Allah (may salutations be upon him) had said: "Every child is born on the nature of Islam." It appears in the Saheeh of Imam Muslim: "Almighty Allah anounced: ‘I have created (all) my servants monotheists, but the devil came to them and lured them away from their (natural) religion." "And He inspired it with its good and bad." — This means, He displayed to it piety and evil, and He guided each soul towards its share of good or bad. Ibni Abbas says: He explained to it good and evil. Saeed bin Jubair: He inspired it with good and evil. And Ibni Zaid says Allah vested the soul with its good and evil. It appears in the hadith: A man from the tribe of Muzaynah or Juhaynah came to the Messenger of Allah (may salutations be upon him) and said: "O Messenger of Allah! What is your opinion on the deeds which people do with such great effort and struggle; have these been ordained for them from a destiny that has already been decided, or are these of future events brought by their Prophet (salutations upon him) which they now encounter, thus strengthening the evidence (for punishment) against them? The Messenger of Allah replied: "This is but a matter already decreed for them." The questioner then said: "So why (if this is the case) should we endeavour to practice deeds? He replied: "Whomever Allah has created for one of these two opposing paths, its procurement will be made easy for him. Confirmation of this is found in the Book of Allah: "By the soul and that which proportioned it. "And He inspired it with its good and bad." "Successful indeed is he who purifies it" — This means that one who has purified his soul through the obedience of Allah, and purged it of lowly and evil qualities, has indeed attained success. This is like the (other) statement of Almighty Allah: "Successful indeed is he who has attained (spiritual) purity; and remembered his Lord and offered prayer." (Surah A’laa, verses 14 and 15) "And he has indeed failed who corrupts it" — This corruption means spoiling the soul so that it becomes addicted to sin and abandons the obedience of Allah. Another possible meaning is: ‘Successful indeed is he whom Allah has purified.’ And he has indeed failed whom Allah has corrupted’; such is the view of Ibni Abbas. Ibni Abi Haatim narrates from Abu Huraira, who says: ‘I heard the Messenger of Allah recite the verse: "And he inspired it with its good and bad". Then he said: "O Allah! Grant my soul its piety, and purify it, for You are the Best to purify it. You are its Guardian and Master." In another narration from Ayesha, it is reported that one night she woke to find the Messenger of Allah not in his bed. She groped around for him in the dark until her hand touched him while he was in prostration. He was saying: "O My Lord! Grant my soul its piety and purify it, for You are the best to purify it, You are its Guardian and Master." Another tradition: Imam Ahmad narrates from Zad bin Arqam who says: ‘The Messenger of Allah used to say: "O Allah! I seek protection in you from weakness, indolence, senility, cowardice, niggardliness, and from the punishment of the grave. O Allah! Grant my soul its piety, and purify it, for You are the Best to purify it. You are its Guardian and Master. O Allah! I seek your protection from a heart that has no fear, from a soul that gets no satisfaction, from knowledge that does not benefit, and from prayers that go unanswered." Zaid says: "The Messenger of Allah would teach us this prayer, and we are now teaching it to you."
Almighty Allah speaks of how the nation, Thamud rejected their Messenger (salutations be upon him) because of the rebellious and transgressing ways they had adopted. He subsequently afflicted their hearts with rejection of that guidance and faith which their Messenger had brought from Him. "When the most wicked among them went forth" — The most wicked of this tribe was Qudaar bin Saalif the slayer of the camel. It is him to whom Allah refers in the verse: "So they called their friend, who then attacked (the camel) and butchered it." This particular person was a man of noble descent, well respected and obeyed, and a leader among his people. Imam Ahmad reports that once the Messenger of Allah (salutations upon him) delivered a sermon and discussed the camel of (The Prophet Saalih), and its slayer. He then said: "When the most wicked among them went forth" A man who was of repute, influential and accepted by his tribe, set forth to kill the camel, a man of the calibre of Abu Zumu’ah." Ibni Abi Haatim narrates from Ammar bin Yaasir that the Messenger of Allah (salutations be upon him) said to Ali: "Shall I not inform you of the most wicked of people?" He said: "Please do!" He went on: "Two men: one is the blood-letter of the Thamud, the one who slayed the camel. The other is the man who shall strike you here (i.e. on the head) until this (i.e. the beard) is wet with your blood!" "The Apostle of Allah" in the above verse is Saalih (upon whom be peace). "It is the she-camel of Allah" — This means, be careful not to harm this camel. "And her drink" — meaning: do not trangress with regard to the times of drinking, for she has an appointed day to drink, whilst you too have an appointed day to draw water. "Then they rejected him and slayed her" — They rejected the message brought by him, thus precipitating the slaying of the camel. Allah had brought out this camel from solid rock as a sign of prophethood and proof against their rejection. "So their Lord annihilated them on account of their crime" — In other words, their Lord descended His Wrath upon them, resulting in their total destruction. "And made the punishment equal to all" — The chastisement was made to descend upon everyone equally. Qatadah says: When the slayer of the camel wrought his crime, the whole tribe, big and small, male and female, everyone supported him. So when they all participated in the killing of the camel, Allah brough upon them his destruction and made it common to all. "And he does not fear its consequences" — Ibni Abbas says: Allah never fears any reprisal from anyone. Dhahhak and Suddi say: "The man who killed the camel never feared the consequences of his action." However, the first view is preferred because the context of the sentence attests to it. And Allah knows best. THE END
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