76:1 Al-Insaan (Man)

ذكر الله في هذه السورة الكريمة أول حالة الإنسان ومبتدأها ومتوسطها ومنتهاها. فذكر أنه مر عليه دهر طويل وهو الذي قبل وجوده، وهو معدوم بل ليس مذكورا.

سورة الإنسان: قد تقدم في صحيح مسلم عن ابن عباس أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم كان يقرأ في صلاة الصبح يوم الجمعة "الم تنزيل" السجدة و"هل أتى على الإنسان" وقال عبدالله بن وهب أخبرنا ابن زيد أن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم وسلم قرأ هذه السورة "هل أتى على الإنسان حين من الدهر" وقد أنزلت عليه وعنده رجل أسود فلما بلغ صفة الجنان زفر زفرة فخرجت نفسه فقال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم "أخرج نفس صاحبكم - أو قال أخيكم - الشوق إلى الجنة" مرسل غريب يقول تعالى مخبرا عن الإنسان أنه أوجده بعد أن لم يكن شيئا يذكر لحقارته وضعفه فقال تعالى "هل أتى على الإنسان حين من الدهر لم يكن شيئا مذكورا.

Which was revealed in Makkah

The Recitation of Surat As-Sajdah and Al-Insan in the Morning Prayer on Friday

It has been mentioned previously that it is recorded in Sahih Muslim from Ibn `Abbas that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ used to recite in the Morning prayer on Friday:

الم تَنزِيلَ

(Alif Lam Mim. The revelation...)(32) and;

هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الإِنسَـنِ

(Has there not been over man...) (76)

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Allah created Man after He did not exist

Allah informs that He brought man into existence after he was not even a thing worth mentioning, due to his lowliness and weakness. Allah says,

هَلْ أَتَى عَلَى الإِنسَـنِ حِينٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُن شَيْئاً مَّذْكُوراً

(Has there not been over man a period of time, when he was not a thing worth mentioning) Then Allah explains this by saying,

إِنَّا خَلَقْنَا الإِنسَـنَ مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ

(Verily, We have created man from Nutfah Amshaj,) meaning, mixed. The words Mashaj and Mashij mean something that is mixed together. Ibn `Abbas said concerning Allah's statement,

مِن نُّطْفَةٍ أَمْشَاجٍ

(from Nutfah Amshaj,) "This means the fluid of the man and the fluid of the woman when they meet and mix." Then man changes after this from stage to stage, condition to condition and color to color. `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Al-Hasan and Ar-Rabi` bin Anas all made statements similar to this. They said, "Amshaj is the mixing of the man's fluid with the woman's fluid." Concerning Allah's statement,

نَّبْتَلِيهِ

(in order to try him,) means, `We test him.' It is similar to Allah's statement,

لِيَبْلُوَكُمْ أَيُّكُمْ أَحْسَنُ عَمَلاً

(That He may test you which of you is best in deed.) (67:2) Then Allah says,

فَجَعَلْنَـهُ سَمِيعاً بَصِيراً

(so, We made him hearer and seer.) meaning, `We gave him the faculties of hearing and sight so that he would be able to use them for obedience and disobedience.'

Allah guided Him to the Path, so Man is either Grateful or Ungrateful

Allah says,

إِنَّا هَدَيْنَـهُ السَّبِيلَ

(Verily, We guided to him the way,) meaning, `We explained it to him, made it clear to him and showed it to him.' This is as Allah says,

وَأَمَّا ثَمُودُ فَهَدَيْنَـهُمْ فَاسْتَحَبُّواْ الْعَمَى عَلَى الْهُدَى

(And as for Thamud, We guided them but they preferred blindness to guidance.) (41:17) Allah also said,

وَهَدَيْنَـهُ النَّجْدَينِ

(And We guided him to the two ways.) (90:10) meaning, `We explained to him the path of good and the path of evil.' This is the statement of `Ikrimah, `Atiyah, Ibn Zayd and Mujahid from what is well-known from him and the majority. Allah then says,

إِمَّا شَاكِراً وَإِمَّا كَفُوراً

(Whether he be grateful or ungrateful.) This is his decree. Thus, with this he is either wretched or happy. This is like what has been recorded by Muslim in a Hadith from Abu Malik Al-Ash`ari. He said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«كُلُّ النَّاسِ يَغْدُو فَبَائِعٌ نَفْسَهُ، فَمُوبِقُهَا أَوْ مُعْتِقُهَا»

(All of mankind wakes up in the morning the merchant of his own soul. So he either imprisons it or sets it free. )

Has there ever been — there has indeed been — for man Adam a period of time forty years in which he was a thing unmentioned? — he was during this period a fashioned in clay and not mentioned; alternatively what is meant by insān ‘man’ is the generic noun and by hīn ‘a period of time’ the period of gestation.

Commentary

Surah Ad-Dahr has also been called Surah Al-Insan (Man) and Surah Al-Abrar (The Righteous) [ Ruh ]. The Surah describes in a very effective, eloquent and elegant style the inception and end of human creation, reward and punishment of deeds, and the conditions of the Hereafter, Paradise and Hell.

هَلْ اَتٰى عَلَي الْاِنْسَانِ حِيْنٌ مِّنَ الدَّهْرِ لَمْ يَكُنْ شَيْـــًٔا مَّذْكُوْرًا (There has come upon man a period of time in which he was nothing worth mentioning 76:1). The interrogative particle hal is used [ linguistically ] to introduce an interrogative sentence. Often, however, an interrogative construction is used to emphasise a self-evident truth. Such an interrogative means that whenever this question is put to anyone at anytime, the same answer is likely to come forth. There can be no other possibility. For instance, if a question is posed to anyone in the middle of day 'Is it not a day?', it is an interrogative sentence, but the answer is predictable and will emphasise its obviousness. Therefore, some scholars say that the particle hal is used here in the sense of qad 'indeed'. In both cases, the verse signifies that there has come upon man a period of time in which he was nothing worth mentioning. The word hinun with nunation [ which is the sign of 'indefiniteness'] signifies 'a long indefinite period of time; The verse mentions that a long period of time came upon man. This indicates that man essentially did exist at that time in one form or another, (but he was not worth mentioning), because time could not have come upon 'man' if he was in a state of pure non-existence [ Al-'adam-ul- mahd ]. Therefore, most commentators say that the 'period of time' here refers to the period when he was conceived in the mother's womb till his birth, which normally is nine months. This period covers all the stages of his creation, right from his being a sperm-drop up to his having a body and organs, and then his acquiring life and soul. During this time, he is thought existent, neither his gender is known to anyone, nor his name or his shape or size. Therefore, he is unmentionable.

The statement of the verse may also be taken in a wider sense. The inception of human creation takes place with the sperm that is produced by food. This food and its source and substance was existent in one or other form. If the period of that time is calculated, this long indefinite period of time can stretch into thousands of years. In any case, Allah has drawn man's attention in this verse to a particular fact. If he uses his sense, he will discover his own reality. In addition, he will have no choice but to have complete faith and unshaken belief in the Allah, His Omniscience and His Omnipotence. Suppose, a person of seventy years reflects that he was unmentionable in any way about seventy-one years ago, even his and parents had not imagined his particular existence, though they might have had a general concept of a child, then what caused his creation, what bewildering power drew together particles from different parts of the world to form a perfect human being, making him an intelligent, a hearing and seeing creature? Such a reflection will spontaneously force such a person to confirm the Persian poet who says:

ما نبودیم وتقاضا مانبود، لطف تو ناگفتہ مامی شنود

Has an era come upon man when he was not a thing remembered? The commentators say that man here means Adam and that era alludes to the days when he was thrown down for forty years as a body without spirit between Mecca and Taif. Someone may ask what wisdom there was in leaving Adam like that for forty years between Mecca and Taif and in delaying his creation. The answer is that although Adam was made outwardly from clay, with which there is no need for delay, delay is needed with the heart. I am not talking about the delay of power, but rather the delay of greatness. Adam was not like the other created things, which were created with “Be!”, so it comes to be [2:117]. In creation Adam was the root, and the other crea- tures were his followers. He created whatever He created for Adam's sake, and He created Adam for Himself: “You I created solitary for the Solitary.” “In Adam's makeup there must be a heart that recognizes Me, a tongue that praises Me, an eye that sees Me, a hand that takes the cup of union, a foot that walks in My road. If I were to bring him into existence in an instant, I would make My power apparent. By putting many years in the midst, I make apparent his greatness and magnificence. I would rather make the greatness of My friends apparent than show My own power.” What good fortune and generosity the Exalted Threshold placed before Adam! He brought him into the road with a hundred thousand endearments and exaltations, placing the embroidery of Surely God chose Adam [3:33] on the cape of his good fortune. He fixed the prosperous mole of I have blown into him of My spirit [15:29] on the beautiful cheek of his chosenness. He clothed him in the elevated robe of what I created with My two hands [38:75]. He conveyed him to a station where He gave him the wine of love in the row of chosenness on the carpet of witnessing. From the tip of the Pleiades to the end of the earth, He made him the trustee of greatness. He commanded the angels of the Dominion to prostrate themselves before him. Then, despite all this honor done toward him, his greatness, level, and rank had still not appeared.