56:76 Al-Waaqia (The Inevitable)

ثم عظم هذا المقسم به، فقال: { وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ } وإنما كان القسم عظيما، لأن في النجوم وجريانها، وسقوطها عند مغاربها، آيات وعبرا لا يمكن حصرها.

وقوله "وإنه لقسم لو تعلمون عظيم" أي وإن هذا القسم الذي أقسمت به لقسم عظيم لو تعلمون عظمته لعظمتم المقسم به عليه.

Allah swears to the Greatness of the Qur'an

The usage of La (in Fala) is not an extra character without meaning, as some of the scholars of Tafsir say. Rather it is used at the beginning of an oath when the oath is a negation. This is like when `A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her said, "La by Allah! Allah's Messenger ﷺ did not touch any woman's hand at all. So in this way, the meaning is, "No! I swear by the Mawaqi` of the stars. The matter is not as you people claim - about the Qur'an - that it is a result of magic or sorcery, rather it is an Honorable Qur'an." Ibn Jarir said, "Some of the scholars of the Arabic language said that the meaning of:

فَلاَ أُقْسِمُ

(Fala! I swear) is, `The matter is not as you people have claimed.' Then He renews the oath again by saying, `I swear."'

فَلاَ أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَقِعِ النُّجُومِ

(Fala! I swear by the Mawaqi` of the stars.) Mujahid said, "The setting positions of the stars in the sky," and he said that it refers to the rising and setting positions. This was said by Al-Hasan, Qatadah and preferred by Ibn Jarir. Qatadah also said that it means their positions. Allah said,

وَإِنَّهُ لَقَسَمٌ لَّوْ تَعْلَمُونَ عَظِيمٌ

(And verily that is indeed a great oath, if you but know.) meaning, `this is a great vow that I -- Allah -- am making; if you knew the greatness of this vow, you will know the greatness of the subject of the vow,'

إِنَّهُ لَقُرْءَانٌ كَرِيمٌ

(That (this) is indeed an honorable recitation.) means, verily, this Qur'an that was revealed to Muhammad ﷺ is a Glorious Book,

فِى كِتَـبٍ مَّكْنُونٍ

(In a Book Maknun.) meaning glorious; in a glorious, well-guarded, revered Book. Ibn Jarir narrated that Isma`il bin Musa said that Sharik reported from Hakim, that is Ibn Jubayr, from Sa`id bin Jubayr, from Ibn `Abbas that about:

لاَّ يَمَسُّهُ إِلاَّ الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

(Which none touches but the pure ones.) he said, "The Book that is in heaven." Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas about:

لاَّ يَمَسُّهُ إِلاَّ الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

(Which none touches but the pure ones.) that `the pure ones' means: "The angels." Similar was said by Anas, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak, Abu Ash-Sha`tha' Jabir bin Zayd, Abu Nahik, As-Suddi, `Abdur-Rahman bin Zayd bin Aslam and others. Ibn Jarir narrated that Ibn `Abdul-A`la said that Ibn Thawr said that Ma`mar said from Qatadah about:

لاَّ يَمَسُّهُ إِلاَّ الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

(Which none touches but the pure ones.) that he said, "None can touch it, with Allah, except the pure ones. However, in this life, the impure Zoroastrian and the filthy hypocrite touch it." And he said, "In the recitation of Ibn Mas`ud it is: (مَا يَمَسُّهُ إِلَّا الْمُطَهَّرُونَ) (It is not touched, except by the pure ones.) Abu Al-`Aliyah said:

لاَّ يَمَسُّهُ إِلاَّ الْمُطَهَّرُونَ

(Which none touches but the pure ones.) "It does not refer to you, because you are sinners!" Ibn Zayd said, "The Quraysh disbelievers claimed that the devils brought down the Qur'an. Allah the Exalted stated that only the pure ones touch the Qur'an, as He said:

وَمَا تَنَزَّلَتْ بِهِ الشَّيَـطِينُ - وَمَا يَنبَغِى لَهُمْ وَمَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ - إِنَّهُمْ عَنِ السَّمْعِ لَمَعْزُولُونَ

(And it is not the Shayatin who have brought it down. Neither would it suit them nor they can (produce it). Verily, they have been removed far from hearing it.)(26:210-212)" This saying is a good saying, and does not contradict those before it. Allah said,

تَنزِيلٌ مِّن رَّبِّ الْعَـلَمِينَ

(A revelation from the Lord of all that exists. ) meaning this Qur'an is a revelation from the Lord of all that exists, not as they say that it is magic, sorcery or poetry. Rather it is the truth, no doubt about it; there is none beyond it of useful truth. Allah's statement,

أَفَبِهَـذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنتُمْ مُّدْهِنُونَ

(Is it such a talk that you are Mudhinun) Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas that Mudhinun means, "You do not believe in and deny." Similar to this was said by Ad-Dahhak, Abu Hazrah and As-Suddi. Mujahid said,

مُّدْهِنُونَ

(Mudhinun) means "You want to fill yourselves with and rely upon."

وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ

(And you make your provision your denial!) some of them said that provision here has the meaning of gratitude, meaning: you deny without any gratitude. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that he recited it as: (وَتَجْعَلُونَ شُكْرَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ) (And your show of your gratitude by denying!) Ibn Jarir narrated from Muhammad bin Bashshar, who narrated from Muhammad bin Ja`far, who narrated from Shu`bah, from Abu Bishr, from Sa`id bin Jubayr who said that Ibn `Abbas said, "It has never rained upon a people except that some of them became disbelievers by saying, `Such and such position of a star sent rain!"' And Ibn `Abbas recited: (وَتَجْعَلُونَ شُكْرَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ) (And you show of your gratitude by denying.) This chain of narration is Sahih to Ibn `Abbas. In his Muwatta', Malik reported from Salih bin Kaysan, from `Ubaydullah bin `Abdullah bin `Utbah bin Mas`ud, from Zayd bin Khalid Al-Juhani who said, "The Prophet led us in the Subh (dawn) prayer at Al-Hudaybiyah after a rainy night. On completion of the prayer, he faced the congregation and said,

«هَلْ تَدْرُونَ مَاذَا قَالَ رَبُّكُمْ؟»

(Do you know what your Lord has said (revealed)) Those present replied, `Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said,

«قَالَ: أَصْبَحَ مِنْ عِبَادِي مُؤْمِنٌ بِي وَكَافِرٌ، فَأَمَّا مَنْ قَالَ: مُطِرْنَا بِفَضْلِ اللهِ وَرَحْمَتِهِ، فَذلِكَ مُؤْمِنٌ بِي، كَافِرٌ بِالْكَوْكَبِ، وَأَمَّا مَنْ قَالَ: مُطِرْنَا بِنَوْءِ كَذَا وَكَذَا، فَذلِكَ كَافِرٌ بِي وَمُؤْمِنٌ بِالْكَوْكَب»

(Allah has said, "During this morning some of my servants remained as true believers in Me and some became disbelievers. Whoever said that the rain was due to the blessings and the mercy of Allah, had belief in Me, and he disbelieves in the stars; and whoever said that it rained because of a particular star, had no belief in Me, but believes in that star.")" This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i, all using a chain of narration in which Imam Malik was included. Qatadah said, "Al-Hasan used to say, `How evil is that all that some people have earned for themselves from the Book of Allah, is denying it!"' Al-Hasan's statement means that such people gained no benefit from the Book of Allah because they denied it, as Allah said:

أَفَبِهَـذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَنتُمْ مُّدْهِنُونَ - وَتَجْعَلُونَ رِزْقَكُمْ أَنَّكُمْ تُكَذِّبُونَ

(Is it such a talk that you Mudhinun And you make your provision that you deny!)

And indeed it the swearing by these setting-places of stars is a tremendous oath if you only knew — if you were people of deep knowledge you would realise the magnitude of this oath.

Sequencing of Arguments

Preceding verses put forward rational arguments, in support of life after death, by inviting attention to Allah's infinite power. The current verses are meant to prove this fact by giving an authoritative reference, that is, the Qur'an.

Allah swears to the Greatness of the Qur’ an

فَلَا أُقْسِمُ بِمَوَاقِعِ النُّجُومِ (So, I swear by the setting places of the stars...56:75) The words لَا أُقْسِمُ 'I swear' are prefixed in the text by the particle لَا la [ no ] which is not translated in the text, because it is idiomatically prefixed to 'oath', as for example لَا وَاللہ la wallah [ No, by Allah ]. In pre-Islamic Arabic, we come across the idiomatic oath لَا وَ اَبَیکَ la wa-abik [ No, by your father ]. Some lexicologists say that the particle la is added only as an idiomatic expression [ zaidah ] which carries no sense, and others say that when the refutation of an addressee's hypothesis is intended, y la is used to signify that the assumption of the addressee is not correct, but the right thing is that which follows.

The word مَوَاقِعِ mawaqi` is the plural of مَوقع mawq' and refers to the points where or times when the stars set. Here, like in Surah -Najm وَالنَّجْمِ إِذَا هَوَىٰ "By the star when it goes down to set, [ 1] ", the oath of stars is qualified by their setting-time. The wisdom underlying this is that when the stars set, their function seems to have been cut off from the horizon, and we witness effects of their vanishing. This is the proof of their perishability and dependence on Divine power.