34. SURAH QAF – Presentation of Islam and Quran

INTRODUCTION TO SURAH QAF

The exact date of revelation for the surah, which takes its name from the letter ق [Qaf] in the first verse, is unknown, though from its content, it is accepted to have been revealed in the mid-Meccan period, as the 34th chapter.

The surah, which begins and develops as a continuation of the last verse of the previous surah, Surah al-Mursalat, which reads, “What word will they believe after this [the Qur’an]?”, explains the relationship between the Qur’an and our Prophet, depicts some scenes from the Afterlife, and, as in other surahs, relates the bad endings of the infidels who lived in the past as an example.

The Meccan polytheists did not want to believe they would be resurrected after death and held accountable for their actions. “Such a thing is impossible. It is beyond reason. Once every part of us has scattered in the earth and thousands of years have passed, is it possible for these scattered pieces to be gathered again and our bodies restored and raised anew?” Thus, they rejected this belief.

In this Surah, our Lord again shows proofs from within and from the environment to convince the infidels and informs them that the resurrection after death and the Hashr will definitely take place.

Another surah in the Qur’an that could be considered a ‘twin’ to this surah in structure and content is Surah Sad. For this reason, we believe reading and understanding Surah Sad will be greatly beneficial in understanding Surah Qaf.

34 / SURAH QAF

Meaning of verses

¹Qaf/100. The honorable/glorious Qur’an is the evidence that ²²indeed, you were in apathy and ignorance of this. Now, We have removed your cover from you. Then your sight is sharp on this day; thanks to the Qur’an, you have become educated.

^2,3But they wonder that a warner has come to them from among themselves; and the infidels; those who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb said: “This is an amazing thing! When we have died and have become dust? This is a distant return.”

⁴Indeed, We know what the earth diminishes of them. And with Us is a book that records and guards very well.

⁵Rather, they denied the truth when it came to them, that is why, they are in a confused condition.

⁶So, have they not looked at the heavens/universe above them that how We structured and adorned it without any rifts! ^7,8And We spread the earth out and cast firmly set mountains thereon to open the eyes of the hearts of all those who turn towards Allah and as a reminder. We made grow therein plants of every pair which are pleasant to look at and fascinating, ^9-11We sent down a blessed water from the sky. We made grow with it gardens and grains to harvest, large and tall date trees whose sprouts are one upon other, as provision for the servants. And We gave life to a dead land with it. Thus is the resurrection.

¹²Before them, people of Noah, Companions of Rass and Thamud denied. ^13,14Ad, Pharaoh and brothers of Lot, Companions of the Thicket and people of Tubba. All of them denied the prophets and thus, My punishment was fulfilled.

¹⁵So, did We fail in the first formation? No, but they are in doubt about a new formation.

¹⁶And indeed, it is We Who formed man. And We know what his self whispers to him. And We are closer to him than his jugular vein. ^17,18While two recorders, based on his left and on his right (all around him) record all his deeds, man does not utter any word except that there is an observer with him.

¹⁹Indeed, the stupor of the death comes in truth: -“O man! This is that which you were avoiding.”-

²⁰And the Sur will be blown. –“This is the day with which it was frightened.”- ²¹And everyone will come forth, along with a driver and a witness.

²³And his companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Here, the one who is with me is ready.”

-“^24,25Here, Iblis and the witness; you two; throw all those who are obstinate, infidel; who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb, who prevent the good as much as they can, who treat to themselves unjustly and who are in doubt into Jahannah[Hell]! ²⁶He took another deity with Allah. Here, you two, together, throw him into severe punishment!”-

²⁷His companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Our Rabb! I did not make him transgress. But he was in a distant astray himself.”

²⁸And Allah will say: “Do not dispute before me! I had sent you warning before. ²⁹The Word is not changed before me. And I am never the One Who does wrong to the servants; deprives them of their good deeds, treats them unjustly.”

³⁰We will say to Jahannah [Hell] on that day: “Have you been filled?” And it will say, “Is there any more?”.

³¹And Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] will be brought close to those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah, will not be far.

^32,35This is what was promised for every one who turns much, who protects himself/the relation with Allah much, who fears Rahman; Allah, the One Who shows great mercy on the earth to all living beings that He created in awe with respect, love and knowledge even in such places where he is not seen, not heard; not felt and who is devoted to Him. –“Enter therein with Salam [health, peace, happiness…]. This is the day of eternity.”- There is for them whatever they wish. And with Us is more.

³⁶Before them, We manipulated, destroyed many generations who were greater than them in power. So that they explored throughout the lands. Is there any place to escape?

³⁷There is definitely a reminder in this for whoever has a reason, understanding, conscience or whoever heeds as a witness.

³⁸And indeed We formed the heavens/universe, the earth and all that is in between them in six phases. And no weariness touched Us.

^39,40Therefore, be patient against what they say. And before the sun rises and sets and in a part of the night; at every turn, purify your Rabb with the praise of your Rabb. And purify Him after submissions/convincements; after making deniers believe. -go on, purify Him-

⁴¹And heed to the day when a caller will call from a place which is close; ⁴²that day, they will hear that scream in truth. This is the day of emergence, the day of resurrection.

⁴³Truly, We, yes indeed it is We Who give life and take life. And the return is only to Us.

⁴⁴On that day, the earth breaks apart from them rapidly. This is a gathering which is easy only for Us.

⁴⁵We know better what they say. And you are not, over them, the one who forces them. So, remind those who fear My threat with the Qur’an.

Analysis of the Verses

Verse 1:

¹Qaf/ The honorable/glorious Qur’an is the evidence that indeed, you were in apathy and ignorance of this. Now, We have removed your cover from you. Then your sight is sharp on this day; thanks to the Qur’an, you have become educated.

QAF [100]

The letter ق [Qaf] has no meaning when it stands alone. It will be recalled that this practice first appeared in the Qalam surah, and the letter ن [nun] appeared alone in the first verse of that surah.

There have been many different interpretations of each of these letters, which are called “Huruf al-muqattaa” [truncated letters], in the past. Some of these views were presented to the reader in the pages where the analysis of Surah Kalem was made. To put it in line with those explanations, the letter ق [Qaf] at the beginning of the surah may refer to the number “100” according to the Ebced calculation. (The Ebced calculation table and explanation are given in the Qalam surah.)

As a warning to Muslims who use their intellect, we quote some of the views on the letter Qaf from existing works on the subject:

“It is a mountain of green emerald that encircles the earth and because of which the heavens appear green. Both sides of the sky are above it. And the sky is covered over it in the form of a dome. The emeralds that people seize are those that fall from this mountain.” (Ibn Zayd, Ikrimea and al-Dahhaq)

“It is Mount Qaf. Zulqarnayn saw Mount Qaf. (Wahb)

“He is one of the names of Allah.” (Ibn ‘Abbas)

“It is one of the names of the Qur’ân.” (Qatadah, Ibn ‘Abbas)

“It is the initials of the names of Allah, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, the All-Knowing, the All-Capable, and the All-Khahar.” (al-Qurazī)

“It means قف[kif=dur]. That is to say, it is a commandment that means to obey our commands and prohibitions and not to exceed them.” (Abu Bakr al-Wararak)

“He is the strength of our Prophet.” (Ibn ‘Ata)^[1]

As can be seen, these views, which have no logical basis and reflect only the personal preferences of the aforementioned personalities, do not have any serious basis. Nevertheless, these views, which are taken seriously and included in many works, are unfortunately taken seriously by societies.

Are these so-called “Muqattaat” letters just letters or numbers; what do they mean or symbolize? We believe that the truth about this was known to our Prophet and the early Muslims. However, we believe that what is known about it has not reached us. In our opinion, the reason for this is probably the negligence that occurred after the first century.

The honorable/glorious Qur’an is the evidence that

In this verse, the Qur’ân is described by the adjective al-majīd, which is among the adjectives of our Lord, as in Buruj/21. The word المجيد [majīd] means “very honorable and very great” and is also mentioned as an adjective of our Lord in Buruj/15.

The word Majīd in this verse;

a) If it is taken as “very great”, then the expression in the verse is understood as “very great Qur’an”. The Qur’an is described as “very great” because its benefit to humanity is immense. Also, the Qur’an is characterized with this adjective because it is the counsel of Allah, the Great, and counsel from the Great is inherently great. The Qur’an is also evidence of greatness. Because no one has ever been able to bring anything like the Qur’an, nor will anyone ever be able to… Therefore, it is out of the question for falsehood to approach it from the front or the back. It is unchangeable and unalterable.

b) If it is accepted as “very honorable”, then the expression in the verse is understood as “very honorable Qur’an”. Indeed, the Qur’an is honorable in a way that, anyone who seeks within It, with hopes to find what they are looking for. Because the Qur’an does not leave anyone who clings to it in need of other things. It fulfills its purpose by providing what it seeks to everyone who applies to it. Therefore, the Qur’an is the pinnacle of goodness, kindness, honor, and generosity in the sense of giving to the needy what they hope for.

Note that verse 1 constitutes the oath portion of an oath sentence. However, on the surface, the part of the oath that responds to the oath, is not present where it is expected. This gives the impression that the oath was left unfinished. This is because the judgment, which is intended to be strengthened by citing the most honorable Qur’an as evidence, is not present in the rest of the verse.

It is noteworthy that both the ancients and contemporary Qur’anic experts have not been bothered by this situation at all, and without thinking about the fact that such omissions and ambiguities cannot exist in the Qur’an, which is a miracle of literature, They have either ended verse-1 with a period here or improvised an answer and moved on, adhering to their habit of “glossing over”, which we have criticized in the previous oath sentences. Thus, in various translations and commentaries, the oath sentence is treated as if it were an emphasis on oath, while the first part of the oath sentence is left hanging without a convincing explanation of what the response to the oath is.

Some contemporary scholars, such as Muhammad al-Asad, have found the solution in distorting the oath sentence and have tried to give it a “construction” [subjunctive mood] meaning such as “…think!”. In our opinion, those with this understanding have displayed a very erroneous attitude and have given meanings to the verses such as “Think about the passing of time!” in Surah Al-Asr; “Think about the figs and olives!” in Surah Tîn; “Think about the bright morning!” in Surah Ad-Duha; and “Think about the dawn!” in Surah Al-Fajr. Thus, they have led to incomplete and misunderstanding of the Qur’an.

Others have tried to find a hidden answer to the Qur’anic Qur’anic oath and have given it the meaning of “…swear by Allah that you are a warner” or “…swear by Allah that there will be a resurrection and return after death”. In some translations and commentaries, such answers have even been presented as if they were in the original verse.

The truth is that there is a practice in literature to enrich the meaning of a sentence by omitting a part of it and leaving it hidden, and in Arabic this practice is called “the art of hazf”. However, the “art of hazf”, of which we have seen an example in Alaq/11-12 and another example in verse 3 of this surah, is not applied in oath sentences. Because this art, which enriches the meaning in other types of sentences, loses the axis of the subject in the oath sentence. In particular, mentioning the first part of the oath sentence and not mentioning the second part of the oath sentence makes the word less of a word. Even though the responses appreciated here make the opening part of the surah partially meaningful, they cannot remedy the confusion of meaning that has emerged in the passage containing the response to the oath. For these reasons, we do not agree with the view that the art of hazf is applied here.

A realistic solution to this issue requires a threefold equipment of knowledge, sincerity and courage. As mentioned earlier, the formation of the surahs was not done by Allah and our Prophet, but the Qur’an was collected and compiled by the Companions. Therefore, as in the verse in question, in our opinion, it is possible that such mistakes in the organization of the surah could have been caused by the Companions who were not in a suitable environment to think about these subtleties. This is where sincerity and courage is needed, and the facts should be revealed. The fact that they have not been mentioned in the past does not require silence.

In this case, what we need to do is to investigate whether there is a verse in Qaf/45 that is in the format of a response to the qasamah, just as we did in Surah Buruj. Upon further investigation, it will be seen that verses 4, 18, 22, and 37 are in the format of a reply to a qasamah. The way to the solution is through a careful examination of these four verses in terms of whether they can be the response to the oath in verse 1. This examination leads to the following conclusions:

⁴Indeed, We know what the earth diminishes of them. And with Us is a book that records and guards very well.

In this verse, which is an affirmative verb sentence, the particles ل [le] and قد [qad] should normally be present, but the particle ل [le] is absent. However, as there are many examples in ancient Arabic and many applications in the Qur’an, the particle [le] omitted in some cases. On the other hand, this verse is part of the totality of meaning in its own paragraph. Therefore, if this verse is taken from the paragraph in which it is found and linked elsewhere, both the meaning of the verse itself and the meaning of the paragraph in which it is found are distorted. As a result, it is not appropriate to consider this verse as a response to the oath.

¹⁸ man does not utter any word except that there is an observer with him.

This verse, originally a negative verb phrase, can grammatically form the reply part of an oath. However, this verse, like verse 4, belongs to its own paragraph. If it is taken from there and linked elsewhere, both its own meaning and the meaning of the paragraph in which it is found are distorted. Therefore, as in the first example, it is not appropriate to consider this verse as a response to the oath.

²²indeed, you were in apathy and ignorance of this. Now, We have removed your cover from you. Then your sight is sharp on this day; thanks to the Qur’an, you have become educated.

According to the rules of grammar, this verse also fulfills all the grammatical requirements for an answer to the ode. However, unlike the others, it does not harmonize in meaning with the passage in which it is found, as if it is superfluous there.

³⁷There is definitely a reminder in this for whoever has a reason, understanding, conscience or whoever heeds as a witness.

According to the rules of grammar, although it is a sentence that could be a response to the oath, this verse aligns with the passage’s meaning, in which it is found, and it does not seem appropriate to link this verse to another place.

As a result of the above determinations, it is understood that the response to the oath is verse 22. This means that the Companions who prepared the first Mushaf placed the response to the oath in verse 1 in the 22nd place. Inshallah, we will present another similar determination in the analysis of Surah Sad.

In this case, the oath sentence consisting of verses 1 and 22 of the surah is as follows:

This judgment is also in line with historical facts. Because our Prophet was ignorant of the Qur’an and he was ignorant he was indifferent and unacquainted with all revelations before his prophethood. That is, he was ignorant of revelation and its content, and had not read or written about it; he neither knew nor anticipated that he would be granted prophethood.

Indeed, the Qur’an proves that Muhammad was not a competent person in this subject. Those who knew him closely knew that he did not have the knowledge and experience to produce such a book.

The verses of the honorable Qur’an are also witnesses and proofs of the truth of these matters, as stated in the sentence of oath:

⁶⁷Say: “It; the Qur’an is great, important news. ⁶⁸And you are staying away from it. ⁶⁹When they were disputing one another, I had no information concerning the Qur’an; which is “full of the most exalted”. ⁷⁰It is revealed to me because I, yes I, am only an explicit warner.”

(Saad/67-70)

^52,53Thus We have revealed to you the soul/the Qur’an which is of Our own command/affair. You did not know what the book was, what faith was. But We made it a light/soul with which We guide from whomever We will of Our servants. Without a doubt, you also guide to a straight path; the path of Allah for Whom those in the heavens/universe and on the earth are. So open your eyes! All matters return only to Allah.

(Ash-Shura/52,53)

³We narrate you the best of stories as We reveal this Qur’an to you although you were among those who were unaware of/apathetic to this matter before this.

(Yusuf/3)

⁴⁸And you did not recite from any book before this; and you are not writing the Qur’an by yourself. If it had been so, those who believe in falsehood would have had doubt.

(Ankabût/48)

⁸⁶And you were not expecting that the Book would be revealed/sent down to you. It has been given to you as a mercy from your Rabb. So, do not help the infidels; those who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb.

(Al-Qasas/86)

After verse 22 is removed from the passage in which it is found and placed in 2nd place, the passage in which verse 22 is found becomes as follows:

²⁰And the Sur will be blown. –“This is the day with which it was frightened.”- ²¹And everyone will come forth, along with a driver and a witness.

²³And his companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Here, the one who is with me is ready.”

²⁷His companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Our Rabb! I did not make him transgress. But he was in a distant astray himself.”

When both the oath in verse 1 and the passage containing verse 22 are read in the above order, the message of our Lord is well understood; otherwise, both passages cannot be understood.

The placement of verse 22 after verse 1 draws attention to the Qur’an and it is clear from the explanation that the miraculousness of the Qur’an has nothing to do with our Prophet.

The reaction of the infidels to this fact is as follows:

Verses 2-3:

We also know from previously revealed portions of the Qur’an that what Allah revealed through His Messenger did not suit the existing order and schemes of the arrogant and proud leaders of Mecca. For this reason, these elites opposed the revelations of our Lord by hiding behind various pretexts so that their own order would not be disturbed. At times they wondered that a prophet had come from a human being like themselves and said, “Why didn’t an angel come?” and at other times they displayed a disbelieving astonishment by saying, “Is it possible to be resurrected after death?”.

However, what they marveled at is a normal situation that people of common sense can accept easily and with peace of mind. This is because Allah, the All-Merciful, the All-Compassionate, has chosen a prophet as a warner and admonisher who feels the same feelings as they do, who speaks their language, who understands them in every aspect, and who knows their degree of endurance. Allah Almighty chose one of them to be their messenger so that if they continued in the wrong attitude they were in, this messenger would draw their attention to the calamity that awaited them and set an example for the others by being the first among them to bear the obligations, the first to implement the message, and show them how they could find the right direction. But it is clear from the verses that the polytheists found the concept of prophethood itself unusual, especially the resurrection announced by this warning Prophet.

However, the revelations from the first verse to this one show us that the resurrection is the foundation of the Islamic belief system. For Islam, which preaches submission to Allah alone and obedience to Allah’s message alone, says that our Lord will never do injustice to anyone and that everyone will be rewarded for what they have done. That is, every deed will be repaid, the good will receive their rewards, and the bad will not get away with what they have done. However, sometimes these rewards will be given on earth, and sometimes they will be postponed until the final reckoning at the end of the journey. Therefore, there must be another world [the Afterlife] where the final reckoning will take place. In other words, resurrection is inevitable for the final reckoning.

Verse 4:

⁴Indeed, We know what the earth diminishes of them. And with Us is a book that records and guards very well.

The infidels’ objection in verse 3, “When we die and become dust? This is a distant return and their denial of the return to Allah is also mentioned in other verses:

¹⁰And they said: “Will we really be in a new formation when we are lost within the earth?”. Indeed, they are the ones who consciously deny/disbelieve in that they will meet their Rabb.

(As-Sajdahh/10)

Verse 4 is the answer to these excuses of the infidels. The infidels’ belief that resurrection is far from the ordinary [impossible] is due to their ignorance of the reality of creation and its parts. If all the secrets of the science of life had been discovered, resurrection after death would not seem so far-fetched. But Allah Almighty knows these secrets and creates accordingly:

^79,80Say: “The One Who formed them the first time will resurrect them. And He is the One Who knows every formation very well. He is the One Who made fire/oxygen from a green tree for you. Now, you burn oxygen.

(Ya-Sin/79,80)

Our Lord knows what happens to those who decay and turn to dust after death, what constitutes their being, what is lost from the parts that make up their being, what is not lost from the parts that make up their being, what changes shape and remains in existence, and what are the connections between these parts. Since the verse also states that this knowledge is preserved, the fact that people decompose after death does not mean that they disappear. The resumption of life from this earth [matter] has already taken place once before, and it continues to take place continuously.

Verse 5:

⁵Rather, they denied the truth when it came to them, that is why, they are in a confused condition.

As explained extensively in the analysis of Surah Al-Asr, the original meaning of the word الحقّ [hakk] is “appropriateness and alignment”.^[2] To recapitulate briefly, in the Qur’an, “haqq” refers to our Prophethood, which is confirmed by clear miracles, the rational proofs of our Prophet’s truthfulness, the revealed Furqan [Qur’an], and the coming resurrection [the gathering together in the Afterlife].

According to the verse, the infidels denied the “truth”, that is, the knowledge of Allah who created them, the Book He sent and His Prophet, as soon as they came. As a result of this denial, they are in a state of confusion. They call our Prophet a magician, a soothsayer, and a poet, and deny him in confusion, but at the same time they are in turmoil.

Everyone knows that those who live far from the truth follow their desires and engage in tedious deeds, and as a result they live in constant depression. Their conscience haunts them and they are embarrassed and ashamed in public.

A COMPLEX BUSINESS

The word مريج [merîj] in the verse means “empty, miscellaneous, confused, troublesome”.^[3] For this reason, it is possible to derive several good meanings from the verse:

* The polytheists denied the truth that came to them, but their denial also weighed on their conscience. Because as a result of their denial of something they did not know the answer to for sure, questions such as “Does it exist, or what if it does?” have arisen in their minds, and these questions are constantly disturbing them. Therefore, they became indecisive and troubled, and their affairs became chaotic.

* The polytheists knew very well that these accusations they made about our Prophet, whom they sometimes called a poet, sometimes a magician, sometimes a soothsayer, were not true and they admitted this to each other. In other words, they themselves did not believe what they were saying, and being aware of their inconsistency, sometimes they could not find any bad adjective to attribute to our Prophet.

* Even before he was chosen as a Prophet, our Prophet had superior qualities and characteristics that were known to everyone. In this context, the fact that he was a person who owed no debt of gratitude to anyone for what he had, who had good morals according to the ethical understanding of the society of that day, who was trustworthy and reliable, and who was mentally healthy was sufficient evidence for the truthfulness of what he said as the Messenger of Allah. The Meccan polytheists should have believed our Prophet’s words in this matter, as they had done in all matters up to that time, but it was very wrong of them not to do so, but to turn the tables and engage in a behavior that was contrary to their own logic. As a result of this wrong approach, they themselves became confused and confusion arose among them.

Verse 6:

⁶So, have they not looked at the heavens/universe above them that how We structured and adorned it without any rifts!

In verses such as these, we see the manifestation of our Lord’s attribute الصّبور [patience]: Allah Almighty does not immediately punish people for their crimes; He constantly gives them convincing examples and shows them rational proofs that they can think and understand. He guides people to the right belief with the proofs He points to, both from Himself and from His surroundings. The evidence that our Lord draws attention to in this verse is the heavens.

Here, السّماء [sky] refers to the “universe” of inconceivable depth and magnitude. The universe, whose size cannot be seen with the naked eye during the day due to the brightness of the sun, astonishes people at night with the light emitted by billions of stars. This vastness, which does not know where it begins and ends, becomes even more dizzying, especially when viewed through a telescope. In verse 6, the firmament symbolizes the immense universe in which there are stars thousands of times brighter than the sun, planets thousands of times larger than the earth, and all these celestial bodies floating in it like flying objects.

That the firmament is a divine proof displayed before the eyes of mankind is also mentioned in other verses of the Qur’an:

^3,4He is the One Who formed the heavens/universe upon one another in harmony. You do not see any inconsistencies in the formation of Rahman [Allah; the One Who shows great mercy on the earth to all living beings that He created]. Now, turn your sight, can you see any flaw? Then turn your sight two more times again. Your sight will turn back to you humbled while it is fatigued.

(Al-Mulk/3-4)

⁸¹Is the One Who formed the heavens/universe and the earth, not the One Who possesses the power to form many more like them? Yes, indeed, He is! And He is the One Who forms perfectly, knows very well.

(Ya-Sin/81)

⁵⁷Indeed, formation of the heavens/universe and the earth is greater than formation of the mankind. But most of the people do not know.

(Mu’min/57)

³³Have they not seen/thought about that Allah, the One Who formed the heavens/universe and the earth and did not get weary in their formation, is able to resurrect the dead? Yes, indeed, He is the One Who is competent over everything.

(Al-Ahqaf/33)

Taking the above verses into consideration, it is possible to appreciate verse 6 as follows: “Despite this astonishing size and depth, the order of the universe is so solid that the planets, stars, galaxies and galaxy systems in the universe are in harmony and in unbreakable connection with each other without any rift or crack between them. Although the structure of the heavens is larger than the structure of man, the fact that there is no disorder in this magnificent sky, which is more complex than man, shows how great Our power is.”

The Milky Way galaxy, which contains the solar system, where new discoveries are still being made, contains about 100,000,000,000 sun-like stars. It is estimated that there are about 10,000,000,000,000 galaxies in the observable universe. These numbers, these magnitudes, are only for the observable part of the universe and are perhaps like a drop in the ocean compared to the real size of the universe. Therefore, the might and majesty of Allah, who declared that He was never tired while creating this magnificent world of existence, is infinite. It is beyond the capacity of the human mind to even think, let alone measure, this power and grandeur. In such a situation, the denial that “How can we be resurrected after death?” is not something that a sound mind can do.

Detailed information about the structure of the heavens can be found in science and technology books.

Verses 7-8:

^7,8And We spread the earth out and cast firmly set mountains thereon to open the eyes of the hearts of all those who turn towards Allah and as a reminder. We made grow therein plants of every pair which are pleasant to look at and fascinating,

The topics of “mountains” and “spreading out the earth” in this verse were explained in the analysis of Surahs Ash-Shams and al-Mursalat, so they are not elaborated again here.

The eighth verse is the “absolute” or “liajlih” mef’ul of the verbs in the preceding verses [6-7]. These types of mef’ul correspond to the “adverb of state” in Turkish. Therefore, these three verses [verses 6-8] can be combined in a sentence and interpreted as follows:

1) Have they not looked at the heaven above them, and how We have built it and adorned it without any crevice, to open the eyes of the heart to every servant who turns to Allah, and as an admonition to him?

2) And have they not looked at the heaven above them, how We have built and adorned it without any crevice, that it may be a reminder to every servant who turns to Allah, and that it may open the eyes of the heart.

3) And We have spread out the earth and left in it firm mountains as a reminder to every servant who turns to Allah, to open his heart’s eye and as an admonition to him. And We have planted therein plants of every variety of appearance.

4) And We have spread out the earth and left in it firm mountains, that it may be a reminder to every servant who turns to Allah, and that it may open his heart’s eye and be a reminder to him. And We have planted therein plants of every variety of appearance.

In verse 8, the phrase “every servant who turns to Allah” means that among those who use their minds and reflect, only those who turn to Allah can be admonished. As is well known, in most of the approaches claimed to be in the name of science, the phenomena that have occurred on earth and in the sky for billions of years have always been explained by coincidence, with the understanding that the concept of a “creator” is incompatible with “science”. However, explaining the laws of change and development in the universe in terms of coincidence means basing this marvelous order on probabilities that are almost impossible to calculate, and this is the understanding that is incompatible with science [mathematics, logic].

In fact, this universe is an open book that can be read in every language and understood in every way. It can be understood by knowledgeable people, provided they are not blind, or by a shepherd in the mountains far from civilization. In other words, anyone who turns to Allah and exercises his mind can understand that this universe is consciously designed, that it continues according to a specific program, and that only a supreme Creator [Allah] can program such a magnificent order.

Verses 9-11:

^9,11We sent down a blessed water from the sky. We made grow with it gardens and grains to harvest, large and tall date trees whose sprouts are one upon other, as provision for the servants. And We gave life to a dead land with it. Thus is the resurrection.

After the brief explanations in verses 6-8, our Lord continued to reveal some of the pages of the book of the universe, and in these verses He brought up the subject of resurrection.

Allah states that resurrection will be like the emergence of plants and trees from dead soil as a result of the descent of fertile water from the sky on dead soil, and with this description, He shows the resurrection to the infidels as if it were practiced in a laboratory.

These verses are especially addressed to people living in arid climates such as Arabia in a language they can understand. The people of Arabia have seen that in some regions where not a drop of rain falls for five years, and the land becomes scorched to the point where no plant or animal can live, grass grows and insects come to life with a little rain.

Our Lord Almighty seems to be saying in these verses: “It is unwise for you to think that Allah, Who has made the earth a suitable place for the living creatures to live, Who has combined the lifeless soil of the earth with the lifeless water of the sky to create countless kinds of plants in gardens and vineyards, making them a source of sustenance and life for all living creatures, is incapable of resurrection after death. You see with your own eyes that a completely dry and lifeless land comes to life as soon as the rain falls on it, that dead roots suddenly come to life, that thousands of insects come out of the dead soil and start running around. This is clear proof that resurrection after death is possible.”

In other verses, our Lord has shown the emergence of plants from dead soil, with the fall of the rain as an example of resurrection in the Afterlife after death:

³³And dead earth is a sign for apathetic people. We have given life to it and brought grains forth from it and they eat from it.

(Ya-Sin/33)

²⁴And again, among His Ayat is that He shows you the lightning to give you fear and hope. And He sends down a water from the sky and He gives life to the earth after its lifelessness with it. Indeed, there are many evidences/signs in this for a people who will use their reason.

(Rûm/24)

⁵⁰Then, observe the effects of the mercy of Allah; how He gives life to the earth after its death! Indeed, He definitely resurrects the dead and He is the One Who is competent over everything.

(Rûm/50)

¹⁹It is He Who brings out the living from the dead, and the dead from the living and gives life to the earth after its death. And thus you will be brought out.

(Rûm/19)

In addition to the above verses, An-Nahl/65, Ankabût/63, Fatir/9, Jâsiya/5, Hadîd/17 have the same meaning.

The honorable Qur’an is like abundant water. Dead, rotten and corrupt individuals and societies can be revived with this abundant water.

Verses 12-14:

¹²Before them, people of Noah, Companions of Rass and Thamud denied.

^13,14Ad, Pharaoh and brothers of Lot, Companions of the Thicket and people of Tubba. All of them denied the prophets and thus, My punishment was fulfilled.

In these verses, similar ones of which we have encountered before, there is both a lesson, a warning and a consolation for our Prophet. By declaring that He destroyed those who denied the Prophets sent to them, our Lord has shown that He does not leave His prophets unattended, but strengthens them, and draws attention to the fact that our Prophet’s situation is no different from those of his predecessors.

The people and societies mentioned in the verses probably lived either in Arabia or on the roads that the Arabs traveled or in countries with which they had contact. The fact that only the names of these people and societies [Ashâb al-Ress, Ashâb al-‘Ayka, and the tribe of Tubba] are mentioned and no other information is given about them suggests that the people who lived at the time of the Qur’an’s revelation were aware of them and their stories. The fact that this information has not survived to the present day is probably due to the inability of early historical sources to compile and preserve this information.

Another point to be emphasized is that one of the examples given is a person, not a tribe. While all of the other examples refer to a people, Pharaoh’s person is given as an example. The reason for this is that Pharaoh did not accept any opinion, conviction, free thought or belief other than his own, and thus became a pest to his nation, dragged his nation after him on the wrong path, and was therefore considered responsible for the perversion of an entire people. Because a society can only be held responsible if it has its own freedom of thought and behavior. Pharaoh, by being a dictator, left his nation powerless, made it miserable, and took the burden of the sins of his nation on his shoulders on the path of collective deviation, and became “solely responsible”.

However, even in such a situation where only one person seems to bear the responsibility for perversion, it is not possible for a society to be completely free from responsibility. For the consent of a society to be led astray by such a dictator, and its inability to raise a voice, is enough for that society to be punished:

⁵⁰But whenever We removed our punishment from them, then they broke their word at once.

^51-53And Pharaoh called out among his people: “O my people! Do not the kingdom of Egypt and the rivers that flow beneath me belong to me? Do you still not see? Or am I not better than that man who is insignificant; who hardly expresses himself? And why have not bracelets of gold placed upon him or have not angels in ranks come with him?”.

⁵⁴Pharaoh passivated; rendered his people unqualified so they obeyed him. Indeed, they were a people who had gone astray from the righteous path.

^55-56And when We were displeased with them at last, We maintained justice by recompensing them. Then We drowned them all in the water. Then We made them predecessors and an example for the ones who will come later.

(Az-Zukhruf/50-56)

The purpose of referring to some people and societies by name in verses 12-14 is not to tell their stories, but to influence hearts by reminding them of the fate of those who denied the Prophets who gave the news of the resurrection after death. The common characteristic of the exemplary societies is that they all denied the Prophets sent to them.

However, it is not correct to see the crime of the exemplary societies as only denying their prophets. It is as follows: All the Prophets conveyed to their societies the common news revealed to them by Allah. These societies denied the Prophets who came to them because of the news they brought. Therefore, it is not the Prophets that they rejected, but the news revealed by Allah. Therefore, to deny a single prophet is to deny all the Prophets and indeed to deny Allah.

Verses 12-14, in addition to the proofs given in the previous 6 verses for the possibility of the Afterlife, provide evidence for the destruction of some societies that the Arabs knew intimately, thus proving the reality of the Afterlife with “history”. Because the destruction of the infidels, who denied the belief in the Afterlife that all the Prophets put forward, and who were dehumanized and became the lowest of the low, because of the mischief they caused, the blood they shed and their immorality, is actually a proof that man is closely monitored by Allah, that he is not left unaccounted for, and that he can be punished for his deeds in this world as well.

Detailed information about the societies mentioned in the verses, ‘Aad and Thamûd, was given in the previous surahs. As for Noah and his people, information will be given in the following surahs when appropriate. The chronological listing of the societies other than these has been done for the first time in this surah, and the Qur’an does not give much detail about the societies of Ress, Aykelites and Tubba.

Verse 15:

¹⁵So, did We fail in the first formation? No, but they are in doubt about a new formation.

In this verse, our Lord has again given an example of His Laws in the external world and within themselves, in accordance with His general principle, which He has made very clear in Surah Fussilat and of which we have seen many examples so far.

⁵³We will show them Our evidences/signs in other worlds and within themselves until it becomes clear that it is the truth. Is it not sufficient that your Rabb is witness over all things?

(Fussilat/53)

FIRST CREATION

The example given in the verse is the first creation. This example can be understood in two ways: it can be considered as both afakî and infusî:

1) The first creation can be understood as the bringing of man into the world, in which case the example is of an intimate nature:

⁷⁷And has that person not seen that We formed him from a drop of semen/a drop of water/liquid, and now he is an explicit enemy?

⁷⁸And he has presented for Us an example, not considering his own formation: He said: “Who will resurrect those bones? While they are decomposed!”.

(Ya-Sin/77-80)

2) The first creation can be understood as the creation of the heavens, the universe, and the first human being, in which case the example is of an apaphysical/ external nature:

(Al-Ahqaf/33)

It will be recalled that in verse 6, Our Lord said, ‘And have they not looked at the sky above them? And here, did We fail in the first creation? In our opinion, this statement indicates that the heavens were the first creation.

In the light of these explanations, verse 15 can be interpreted in the following ways:

* Were We then incapable of the first creation? That is to say, have we not demonstrated our power by creating both the others and themselves with the first creation, so that they see a second creation as distant and say, “This is a distant resurrection”?

* Have we exhausted our power with the first creation and become powerless to create what comes after? No, they know it is not so. They doubt the recreation.

Verse 15 is actually a proof of the Afterlife through rational proof [logic]. This is because the fact that human beings are alive in this world and that the order of the earth, sky and universe continues before our eyes clearly proves that Allah is not incapable of creating these things. It is as if Allah Almighty is saying, “What we have done is proof of what we will do.”

In this case, it is not a logical approach to say that Allah will not be able to establish another order or resurrect the dead after the Judgment Day. For if Allah were incapable of doing these things, He could not have done them beforehand, and He could not have created any of the beings we see.

Therefore, looking at the beings created by the Power that created human beings and the universe out of nothing, and concluding that He can recreate [resurrect] them after taking away their lives is a perfectly sound form of reasoning. To say the opposite, that is, to say that the Power that created the universe out of nothing in a magnificent order based on immutable laws cannot recreate [resurrect] these beings in another order after changing [causing them to die] these beings with the laws that He Himself has established, is simply absurd, since it is not a logical reasoning based on facts and justifications, since there is no diminution or loss in the power of the Creator.

Verse 16:

¹⁶And indeed, it is We Who formed man. And We know what his self whispers to him. And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.

In this passage, people are warned by drawing attention to the source of the power that leads man astray, and then the relationship between “man” and the “Creator” who created him, who knows all his characteristics because He created him, and who constantly controls him even though He has given him freedom. The degree of this relationship is explained by the statement, “And We are closer to him than his jugular vein.

The passage implicitly states: “Our power and knowledge surrounds mankind from within and without in such a way that the closeness of Our knowledge and power to him is greater than the closeness of his jugular vein to him. We do not need to come to him at a distance to hear his speech; We know the thoughts of his heart directly. Likewise, if we need to interfere with him, we do not have to travel any distance. Wherever he is, he is always under our control, and we can intervene whenever we want.”

On the one hand, Allah is said to be close enough to man to know what his nafs whispers to him, even closer than his jugular vein; on the other hand, He has placed two recorders and monitors over man, recording his every word and action. If Allah Almighty knows what everyone does down to the smallest detail, why has He also placed two witnesses on each person to monitor and record what they do?

In our opinion, this means that man, who will be held to account before the justice of Allah, will give his account in the presence of two witnesses who will reveal what he did in the previous world. Man’s own body is like a tape recorder, a disk that records his words, his actions and even his thoughts in minute detail. On the Judgment Day, these records will be opened and announced, and each person will hear with his own ears what he said in his own voice while he was in the world, and he will see with his own eyes what he did with his own organs. Thus, he will never be able to deny what he has done. Despite His omniscience, Allah Almighty will judge those whom He is holding to account in the Afterlife in a way that fulfills all the conditions of justice and by hearing each person himself as a witness. This is why a full and complete record of everyone’s words and actions in this world is necessary.

And We know what his self whispers to him

The whispers of the nafs refers to hidden, inward things, such as feelings, delusions, and decisions that pass through the human being. These inward, nafs things, which come into the human being in such secrecy that even the faculties in charge of recording what is said and done are not aware of them, can never remain hidden from Allah. For Allah, as the creator and programmer, is closer to man than he is to his own soul. After all, it is Allah who gave man the nafs [soul] that keeps him alive.

HABL-I VERÎD

The phrase حبل وريد [habl-i verîd] in the verse has long been regarded as the “jugular vein”. However, the real meaning of this phrase is not “jugular vein” in anatomy. The “jugular vein” in anatomy is the common name for the main arteries that come from the heart and carry clean blood to the head and neck. The habl-i verîd is the “main vein that carries dirty blood throughout the body”.

Some of the classical sources provide the following information on this subject:

The two veins are the two veins grasping the two sides of the front of the neck, which are connected to the vetine [jugular vein] and enter from the head towards the heart.^[4]

The verîd is “the vein on the face of the neck,” which swells in anger. These are two verîd [jugular veins].^[5]

The verid is “a vein connected to the lungs and the heart, through which the blood flows”.^[6]

A vein is “a vessel that carries blood other than the arteries”. The verîdân [two veins] are “two veins in front of the neck, grasping the two sides of the neck. They spread out from the head and are connected to the vein [jugular vein].”^[7]

There are two subtle points in the use of the expression habl-i verîd to indicate the closeness of Allah to man:

1) As is well known, the arteries distribute the blood from the heart to the body, that is, they take the blood away from the heart, while the veins take the blood from the body towards the heart, that is, they bring the blood closer to the heart. For this reason, verīd [vein] is mentioned as a measure of proximity. As a matter of fact, the expression habl-i verîd appeared in the pre-written form of Arabic culture [in poetry in the ancient Arabic language] with the meaning of “very near”, as in the example of “Death is closer to him than verîd”.

2) Habl-i verîd means “the vein that carries used, black, dirty blood”. This blood is collected in the right atrium of the heart and sent from there to the lungs, where it is cleaned, then returned to the heart and pumped throughout the body. This cycle is a kind of re-creation. In our opinion, this is the other subtlety that this phrase expresses in the verse.

THE CLOSENESS OF ALLAH:

We have learned from the Qur’an’s description of Him so far that Allah is not close to His servants in terms of distance. The closeness of Allah in the verse is a figurative expression. It means, “We are closer to man than he is, closer to him than he is, we have more power over him, we have more control over him, and we know better than he does what is in his soul.” The closeness of Allah is a metaphorical expression.

In some of the classical sources, the issue of Allah’s closeness is discussed in the following ways:

It is a declaration of the perfection and extent of Allah’s knowledge. Allah is closer to him in His knowledge than the blood in his veins. Because there is a barrier in the vein. It can remain hidden to him. But there is no barrier to the knowledge of Allah. This can also mean: We are closer to him than the blood in his veins because of the uniqueness of Our power. Our command moves in him like the flow of blood in his veins.^[8]

The expression “We are closer to him” is a metaphor. It means that Allah is close to him in knowledge. The expression “Allah is everywhere” means that His knowledge is all-encompassing. This is because nearness is in terms of space and distance, and Allah is free from space.^[9]

That is to say, “We know his condition better than the one who is closer to him than “habl-i verîd””. The closeness of the essence is a metaphor for the closeness of knowledge. Because it is the reason for it.^[10]

WHATEVER A PERSON SAYS:

‘Whatever a person says’ means ” whatever is spoken, whether good or evil,” meaning not only spoken words but all external actions. For a syllable that comes out of the mouth is the smallest outward action of a person. Therefore, the observers of a person’s speech and actions record every word and deed without omission.

Allah, who is closer to a person than they are to themselves, who knows better than man the secrets of the soul and every impulse that arises in it, holds people accountable only for actions done voluntarily and consciously:

²²⁵Allah does not hold you responsible for your vain talk in your oaths; yet He holds you responsible for your intended deeds. Allah is very forgiving, the One Who forbears much.

(Al-Baqara/225)

This means that when a person is unconscious, their involuntary words and actions are not recorded and he is not held responsible for them.

TWO SCRIBES:

What these two scribes represent is explained in the next passage, where they are referred to as سائق [sâik] and شهيد [shahid]. Moreover, sâik is further clarified in verses 23 and 27 by the term karîn. Despite these explanations, it is incorrect to understand the scribes in the verse as angels recording good deeds on the right and evil deeds on the left, both in terms of the words, the concept of angels, and the meaning of the passage.

FROM THE RIGHT TO THE LEFT:

There have been some various interpretations regarding the two scribes, mentioned in the verse, such as “the angel on the right records good deeds and good deeds and the angel on the left records evil deeds and sins”.

In the analysis of Surah Nas, we have examined under the title of “Ins and Jinn” that the use of antonyms together enhances the meaning of the expression and that the use of words together in such expressions creates a meaning other than the meaning of the words themselves.

This is also the case here, where the expression “from his right and left” refers to “all directions”, not just “right and left”. Therefore, these scribes are not only to the right and left of a person but in all directions—right, left, front, behind, above, below, inside him, outside him, that is, in his heart. These recorders, who keep the human being under constant control and record and store everything he says and does, and when the time comes, they reveal what they have hidden, are the two faculties that Allah has given to human beings, which, in our view, represent Iblis and human memory. Although it is possible to call these faculties “faculties”, it is not correct to call them “angels”.

Verses 19-23:

¹⁹Indeed, the stupor of the death comes in truth: -“O man! This is that which you were avoiding.”-

²⁰And the Sur will be blown. –“This is the day with which it was frightened.”- ²¹And everyone will come forth, along with a driver and a witness.

²³And his companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Here, the one who is with me is ready.”

Since verse 22 is a response to the oath in verse 1, it is not included in this passage, which, in our opinion, should have been placed where it is, starting from the intoxication of death and coming face to face with the Judgment Day and the horror of the Judgment Day.

In verse 19, the third person is changed to the second person in order to make a complement and direct the narration to the addressee. This tells us that the addressee is special. The specificity of the addressee means that this person being addressed does not symbolize human beings in general, but only disbelieving, denying people. In fact, the events described in the whole passage, such as his argument with Iblis and his being thrown into Hell, show that this person is a denier and a liar.

THE INTOXICATION OF DEATH:

Although the word السّكر [sukr] is generally known as “the intoxication from drinking, a clouded mind”, it is actually a concept that refers to “any state of mental lethargy in which a person cannot fully use his mental faculties for any reason”. Accordingly, any state in which clear and sound judgment is impaired or absent, is a state of sukr.

The sukr in the verse in question refers to the intoxication of death, the shock of facing death face to face, as described earlier in Surah Qariah and Surah Qiyamah.

In addition to this meaning, the word ‘sukr’ occurs in the Qur’an in Hijr/14-15 in the sense of “the eyes being clouded by magic”, in Hijr/72 in the sense of “being blinded by lust”, and in Hajj/1-2 in the sense of “fear of the Judgment Day”.

THE COMING OF THE INTOXICATION OF DEATH BY RIGHT:

This expression refers to the initial stage when death seizes the soul. This is the stage in which the knowledge and news about the Judgment Day, which was previously given through the Prophets and the book that was sent, are realized and come before man’s eyes. At this stage, man will know that the Afterlife is absolutely true and that he will enter this second stage of life happy or miserable. It will be recalled that this is described in more detail in Surah al-Qiyamat:

¹³That day, man will be informed with that which he sent ahead and what he left behind.

^14,15Truly, man is a very good witness against himself even though he presents his all excuses/he conceals: “¹⁶Do not move your tongue to hasten it! ¹⁷No doubt that it is only upon Us to combine and gather what you did and what you did not. ¹⁸Then, witness Us when We combine and gather what you did and what you did not! ¹⁹Then, it is also only upon Us to declare what you did and what you did not; to prove with evidence.”

(Qiyamah/13-19)

THE DAY OF THE DREAD:

The unbelieving person wants to wander around in this world like any other irresponsible creature, and does not want there to be another life after death in which he will be rewarded for his deeds. For this reason, he avoids the idea of an afterlife and refuses to accept that there will be such a world. However, that day [the moment of death] when the intoxication of death comes with the truth is the first stage of that second world that is revealed to us. At that moment, the world that the infidel has been running away from believing in is revealed to the infidel in all its reality.

THE BLOWING OF THE SUR:

The phrase “blowing of the Sur” evokes the sound of an assembly horn or siren, just as in ancient times a horn, usually made of cattle horns, was blown to announce a gathering or danger, or the blowing of a referee’s whistle to start and end a game, or the ringing of a bell in a school to signal the start and end of a lesson.

With the first blowing of the Sur, all living beings will die, and with the second blowing of the Sur, the dead will be resurrected, raised from their graves and sent to gather in the Ultimate Tribunal.

The blowing of the Sur is mentioned in many places in the Qur’an:

⁶⁸And the Sur will be blown, and whoever is in the heavens/universe and whoever is on the earth will be struck and will fall except whom Allah wills. Then the Sur will be blown again and then they will stand and will be looking on.

(Az-Zumar/68)

⁹⁹And on the day of Qiyamat [Resurrection], We will leave those who associate others with Allah surging over each other like waves. And the Sur will be blown. Thus We will gather all of those who associate others with Allah together.

(Al-Kahf/99)

⁵¹And the Sur will be blown. And then they will hasten to their Rabb from their graves at once.

(Ya-Sin/51)

In addition to these verses, the verses al-Muminun/101, Al-Haqqahh/13, Al-An’am/73, al-Ta-Ha/102, al-Naml/87, An-Naba/18 also mention the blowing of the Sur.

SAIK AND SHAHID:

In classical works, it has been explained that the sâik is the angel who leads the human being first to the square of judgment and then to his rightful place, and the shahid is the angel who writes down the deeds. However, these explanations are both baseless and inconsistent with the description in the Qur’an.

The sâik and the shahîd are the two detecting agents mentioned in verse 17 above, and in our opinion they are Iblis and the human memory. The sâik, which we call “Iblis”, is described here and in verse 27 as karîn. We find it more useful to give a more detailed explanation of this concept under “Karîn”.

KARIN:

The word قرين [karîn] means “close, kinsman, relative, friend and peer”.^[11] The Turkish word “akran” also comes from here.

The most appropriate meaning of the word according to the verse is “peer”. Because this being, who is described as a karîn, must be close enough to that person to be an inseparable part of him, since he is testifying against that person in the Supreme Court by the command of our Lord. An inseparable part means being born with that person, living with that person and dying with that person, i.e. being the same age as that person.

In our opinion, this karīn is “Iblis”. Every person is born, lives and dies with his Iblis. Iblis, too, has our Lord’s permission until the Judgment Day, that is, until he appears with the person and testifies against him.

The word “karîn” occurs 8 times in the Qur’an, 7 in the singular and 1 in the plural. In order to better understand both Karîn and Iblis, it is useful to look at the verses other than the two verses in this surah:

^51-53A speaker among them will say: “Surely, I had a contemporary/close companion who used to say, ‘Are you surely one of those who confirm? Will we really be recompensed when we have died and become dust, bones?’.

(Sâffat/51)

^36,37And whoever is blinded from the reminder of Rahman [Allah; the One Who shows great mercy on the earth to all living beings that He created] and His remembrance, We appoint for him a devil and he is for him a contemporary/follower; and indeed, contemporaries/followers avert those who are blinded from the path. And they think that they are upon the righteous path that they are guided.

³⁸And when he finally comes to us, he says: “I wish that there was a distance between you and me as it is between the east and the west”. –Then, how an evil follower/contemporary this is!

(Az-Zukhruf/36-38)

^36-38And worship Allah and do not associate others with Him. And do good to your parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, neighbors who are relatives, neighbors who are from farther away, companion at your side, stranded travelers, those who have been given under your protection in accordance with the laws. Indeed, Allah does not like those who are arrogant and who brag about themselves; those who are stingy, instruct others stinginess and conceal that which Allah has given to them from His bounty and those who spend their wealth so it may be seen by the people while they do not believe in Allah and Akhirat [Afterlife]. And We have prepared for the infidels; those who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb a humiliating punishment. And to whomever satan is a contemporary/close companion; how an evil companion he is!

(An-Nisa/36-38)

²⁵And We made them surrounded by their contemporaries/Iblises like a shell so they made what was before them and what was behind them [all around them] attractive to them. And the “Word” that was in effect for all former peoples which passed before them was fulfilled upon them. Indeed, they were the ones who lost and suffered.

(Fussilat/25)

As seen in the verses above, the karîn [Iblis], who led the person astray during his life in this world, will come into play again in the Judgment and will say, “Here is the one who is with me!” almost in such a way that the infidel will not even be able to blame himself. When the infidel, in a last ditch effort, points to Iblis as the real culprit for what he has done, Iblis will defend himself, as described in many verses:

²²And when the matter has been concluded, satan [Iblis/thinking ability] will say to them: “Surely, Allah promised you the true promise, and I promised you too but then renounced at once. Yet I did not have a compelling authority over you. But I invited you and you responded to me. Therefore, do not condemn me but condemn yourselves! I can not save you, and you are not my saviors! Surely, I had not accepted your association of me with Allah before”. –Surely, those who do wrong; act against their own good by associating others with Allah are the ones for whom will be a painful punishment! ²³And those who believe and do amendatory deeds will be admitted to Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] underneath of which rivers flow, to abide therein eternally by permission/knowledge of their Rabb. Their greeting there will be “Salam [health, peace, happiness…]!”.-

(Abraham/22,23)

Verses 24-25:

“^24,25Here, Iblis and the witness; you two; throw all those who are obstinate, infidel; who consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb, who prevent the good as much as they can, who treat to themselves unjustly and who are in doubt into Jahannah[Hell]!”-

The phrase القيا فى جهنّم [القيا فى جهنّم] in the verse, القيا فى جهنّم [القيا fī Jahannam=throw him into Hell, both of you], has been interpreted with various extra-Qur’anic influences in classical texts. Some interpret it as “Throw, throw!” while others translate it as ‘the two of you,” thinking the addressees are ‘two angels.”. However, the addressees of our Lord’s command al-qiya [throw, both of you] are the saik and shahīd mentioned in verse 21.

In this passage, it is the sâik [karîn=Iblis] and the shahîd [human memory], representing the organs that involved in the crime, that are addressed with the instruction, “Throw every stubborn disbeliever into Hell, both of you!”, who are brought to the place of judgment together with the disbeliever who denies. This means that it is the testimony of the infidel’s demon (i.e., himself, his nafs), which led to his Hell-deserving actions, and the testimony of his memory, which records all the actions of his organs that are involved in that behavior. No additional witness or cause is required. This is because Allah, who is closer to man than his jugular vein, has preemptively resolved any disputes that may arise at the Last Judgment through the inner faculties [Iblis and his memory] that He has placed in man’s constitution. In addition to Iblis, prophets, revelations, and even a person’s own relatives and community will testify against him. We can also refer to the following verses on this subject:

Baqara/ 143, Hajj 78, Al-Fajr/21-23, An-Naba/38-40, Nisa/ 41, 159, An-Nahl /84, 89, Qaf/ 21, Mu’min /51, Hud/18, 19, Al-Qasas/ 75, Fussilat /20-22, Nur/ 24, Ya Sin/ 65, Furqan/30, Ma’idah/116-118.

It is not possible to express the one-to-one equivalents of the adjectival words in the verse in Turkish / English with a single word, both in terms of their patterns and their broad meanings. For this reason, the adjectival words have been explained in detail.

كفّار [KEFFAR = THE INFIDEL/THE UNGRATEFUL ONE]:

This word, which may be derived from the infinitives كفر [kufr] or كفران [kufran], means “utterly unbelieving” when derived from the infinitive kufr, and “utterly ungrateful” when derived from the infinitive kufran, i.e. “one who denies Allah’s blessings despite all the abundance bestowed upon him and does not give thanks”.

منّاع للخير [MENNA’UN LI’L-HAYR = ONE WHO PREVENTS GOOD]:

The word “hayr” in this expression can mean “wealth” or “faith”, or it can be used for both meanings. In this case, the expression manna’un li’l-hayr means “one who does not give wealth or property to anyone, does not do good deeds, and prevents others from doing so to an extreme degree, and strongly prevents people from faith”. Verse 25 says in a way: “He disbelieved in Allah, and not only did he disbelieve, he also tried to prevent others from doing good deeds.”

For further insight into this attribute and the verse, it is helpful to refer to Surah al-Ma’un;

¹Have you seen/have you ever thought about the one who denies the fact that everyone will be recompensed for his deeds, good or evil, in Akhirat [Afterlife]/the one who denies the principles of Allah that regulate the social order? ^2,3He is the one who repulses the orphan and does not encourage on giving opportunities for those poor so they might earn their living.

^4-7Woe to those who are careless, apathetic to their Salah, who fulfill Salah [while they look like they support others financially and spiritually; strive to enlighten the community] for showing off, and forbid that even simple items should reach to a needy!

(al-Ma’un/1-7)

معتد [MU’TED]:

This word means “cruel, transgressor”.^[12] If the word is taken in conjunction with the phrase manna’un li’l-hayr (one who prevents good), the word mu’ted can be explained in the following two ways, taking into account the meaning of the word hayr:

1) When the meaning of the word “charity” as “property” is taken into consideration, it is understood that the mu’ted was a person whose property and social aid prevented him from doing what he was supposed to do, and who became an oppressor and robbed the poor and destitute by means of usury and theft.

2) When the meaning of “faith” is taken into consideration, it is understood that a mu’ted is a person who obstructs faith, and not content with that, becomes an oppressor, humiliates, persecutes, kills, and aids and harbors the enemies of the believers as well as killing them.

A manna’un li’l-hayr wa mu’ted is a person who transgresses the limits of morality in everything he does, who is ready to do anything and destroy anything for the sake of his own interests and desires, who accumulates wealth in unlawful ways and spends it in unlawful ways, and who encroaches on people’s rights, It is understood that he is an extremely sinful person whose tongue knows no moral boundaries and whose hand does not restrain from cruelty and oppression, who creates obstacles in the way of goodness, and not only that, but also oppresses those who embrace goodness and does evil to those who work for goodness.

مريب [MURIB]:

The word is suitable for two different forms in Arabic with different meanings:

According to one of these patterns, the word means “skeptical, full of doubt”. According to this meaning, the person whose characteristics are listed above is also in doubt about the Afterlife and the reward. Therefore, he does not help or give to anyone because he doubts that he will be rewarded.

According to another of the patterns, the word means “one who leaves others in doubt by arousing doubts”.

Collectively, in these verses, our Lord has enumerated the qualities that lead people to Hell, which are 1) denying the truth, 2) not giving thanks to Allah, 3) Resisting the right and the just, 4) Obstructing the path of goodness and righteousness, 5) Not giving the right of Allah and His servants from his own wealth, 6) Exceeding the limits and deviating from the truth in their dealings, 7) Oppressing and persecuting people, 8) Doubting the basic principles of religion, 9) Creating doubt in the hearts of others, 10) It is to make someone else a partner in divinity along with Allah.

When these attributes are revealed, the infidel trembles and tries to fend off any accusation from his friends and associates because he is with them in every evil deed.

Verse 27:

²⁷His companion who is his contemporary/Iblis will say: “Our Rabb! I did not make him transgress. But he was in a distant astray himself.”

From the context in these passages and the wording of verses 27-28, it is clear that what is meant by karîn is “Iblis” who is in harmony with that person in the world, and that person and Iblis will quarrel and argue with each other in Allah’s court.

During the trial, the person whose evil deeds are revealed will complain that Satan is haunting him and will demand that the real punishment be given to Iblis and that Iblis’ punishment be many times greater than his own.

On the other hand, Shaytan (i.e. “Iblis”) will defend himself by saying, as in Ibrâhîm/22, that he did not force that person to become a sinner and a rebel, and that this poor person, because he was a person who strongly shunned goodness and clung to evil, did not embrace any of the signs of Allah and the messages brought by the Prophets, and came running to even the slightest invitation to the contrary:

(Abraham/22)

^39,40Iblis said: “My Rabb! Because of the reason that You have created me to lead the people astray, I will indeed make everything on the earth attractive to them and I will indeed lead all of them astray except for your purified servants!”.

^41-44Allah said: “This is a straight path that I have taken upon Me. You have no compelling power over my servants except for those who follow you of the ones who go astray. Surely, the promised place to all of them is Jahannah [Hell]. There are seven gates for it. For each of those gates, a part of them is assigned”.

(Hijr/39-44)

⁶⁰They will say: “No, no welcome for you. It is you who have brought Jahannah [Hell] before us. What an evil settlement it is!”

⁶¹They will say: “Our Rabb, whoever brought this before us, increase his punishment in the fire more and more!”

⁶²And they will also say: “Why can not we see those men whom we assumed that they were among the evil? ⁶³We ridiculed/scorned them. Or, have eyes turned away from them?”

⁶⁴Indeed, this quarreling/dispute of the people of the fire is truth.

(Saad/60-64)

These discussions are also detailed in other surahs.

A DISTANT DEVIATION:

It is noteworthy that ضلالة [misguidance] is also characterized by distance. This characterization implies that the one who is misguided is far away from the right path. One who has gone astray for a long time and lingered on those paths is far away from the purpose and goal. Therefore, the distance here refers to the length of the deviation. If a person who deviates from the right path turns back from the wrong path as soon as he realizes that he has gone astray, he will not be too far away from the purpose and goal. However, it should not be forgotten that for the one who deviates from the right path and stays on the wrong path for a long time, the neighborhoods and directions become unclear, and that person cannot see and reach the real goal; he moves away from the “truth” and gets lost.

Verse 28:

²⁸And Allah will say: “Do not dispute before me! I had sent you warning before.

So do not dispute in My presence. I had once sent you books and prophets and warned you, I had sent you threats of severe punishment for those who were unruly, I had warned you while you were still in this world that you would indeed enter Hell were you to follow Satan, but you followed him and did not listen to Me. So do not dispute now in vain in the place of reckoning and punishment. This is not a place of strife. The recompense for every deed has already been determined. Whatever has been done has been recorded and will not be changed. each will be punished solely for their own actions. No one will be wronged, for He is the justest of judges.

From the wording of verse 28, it is clear that strife is forbidden in the court of the Afterlife and that it is useless. A similar warning in this passage is found in Surah Ya-Sin:

⁵⁹And o sinners! Stand apart today!

^60-62Did I not enjoin upon you, saying: “O mankind! Do not worship satan, indeed he is an explicit enemy to you, but worship Me; this is the straight path and indeed satan already led many generations astray from among you”? Were you still not the ones who used their reason? ⁶³This is Jahannah [Hell] which you have been promised.

(Ya-Sin/59-63)

GOD’S WORD DOES NOT CHANGE:

What is meant by القول [qawl=word], which is declared unchanging in this verse? It is possible to answer this question by considering the two different meanings that the word qawl can have in this verse:

1) Here the word is used in this verse to indicate a specific promise, decision or principle. This principle is clearly stated in the Qur’an:

¹³Had We willed, We would have given everyone the righteous path. Yet the word from Me has been decreed : “I will definitely fill Jahannah [Hell] with people of known, unknown, the past, the future all together”.

(As-Sajdahh/13)

¹¹⁰And surely, We gave Moses the Book and disagreements emerged over it. If not for a Word²¹³ that preceded from your Rabb before, they would have been recompensed immediately in this world. And indeed, they have a disquieting uncertain, incomplete knowledge about the Qur’an.

(Hud/110)

This principle, which is repeated in other verses in the Qur’an, Our Lord has decreed to fill Hell with human beings and jinn. However, it should not be overlooked that our Lord based His decision on the free will of man and jinn.

This decision of our Lord is sometimes referred to in the Qur’an as al-kawl (Isrâ/16; An-Naml/82, 85; Kasas/51, 63; Ya-Sin/7, 70; Saffat/31; Fussilat/25; Al-Ahqaf/18); and sometimes as kelimetü Rabbik (Hud/119; An’am/115; Al-A’raf/137; Yunus/19, 33, 96; Mu’min/6; Fussilat/45; Ash-Shu’ara/14; Saffat/171; Ta-Ha/129).

In the light of these verses, the expression “Allah’s word does not change” can be interpreted as follows: “There is no principle in My sight to change My decision. My decision to cast you into hell cannot be reversed. Nor can that law be changed, which I made known to you while you were still in this world, what punishment would be meted out in the Afterlife to those who went astray and to those who led astray. I warned you both: ‘Whichever of you does evil will be punished for it,’ and ‘Whichever of you strays from the right path will bear its wages.’ Despite My warning, neither of you stopped committing crimes. What will you gain by quarreling now? He who deviates from the right path will surely be punished for his deviation, and he who leads astray from the right path will surely be punished for having led astray. There is no turning back from this promise.”

2) The word القول is used as a genitive noun in the verse. According to this assumption, the meaning of the statement implicitly becomes: “No lie can be told in My presence. One cannot fabricate or slander in My presence. For I am knowledgeable, so I know the tempter and the tempted, the tempted and the tempted, the tempted and the tempted. Therefore, your saying, ‘Satan has tempted me,’ and Satan’s saying, ‘O our Lord! I did not tempt him’ does not mean anything in My sight.”

ظلاّم [ZALLÂM]:

This word means “great felon”. However, based on the meaning of the word, it is not correct to understand the statement in the verse as “I am not a great wrongdoer”. Because the opposite of the meaning of this statement is, “I am not a great wrongdoer, but I am a wrongdoer”. But Allah is far removed from any injustice.. On the contrary, Allah Almighty has the opposite attributes of wrongdoing. Therefore, the statement here should be understood as follows: “If I, the Creator and the Lord, were to oppress My creation that I have nurtured, then I would be the greatest wrongdoer. Therefore, I do not commit even the smallest injustice against My servants. The punishment that I am giving you is directly the punishment that you have made yourselves deserving of. You will not be punished even a speck beyond what you have earned. My court is a court of unparalleled justice. In this court, no one will be punished until his guilt is proved by conclusive testimony.”

Verse 30:

³⁰We will say to Jahannah [Hell] on that day: “Have you been filled?” And it will say, “Is there any more?”.

In this verse, a horrifying scene is again portrayed. When all the infidels and deniers, those who were a burden upon their community, those who did not fulfill their financial obligations, the wrongdoers and the doubters are being thrown into Hell in clusters, Hell is called out, “Are you full, is it enough?”. Hell, as a party to this conversation, responds, “Is there yet more?”

This scene is a symbolic expression of how our Lord’s decision in As-Sajdah/13, which we mentioned in the analysis of verse 28, will be realized in the Afterlife, and how the Word [principle] will never be broken.

In contrast to this scene of horror, another picture is shown. It shows the Paradise that has been brought near to the pious, and the believers who will be welcomed there and honored with the bounties they desire.

Here is that picture:

Verses 31-35:

³¹And Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] will be brought close to those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah, will not be far.

^32-35This is what was promised for every one who turns much, who protects himself/the relation with Allah much, who fears Rahman; Allah, the One Who shows great mercy on the earth to all living beings that He created in awe with respect, love and knowledge even in such places where he is not seen, not heard; not felt and who is devoted to Him. –“Enter therein with Salam [health, peace, happiness…]. This is the day of eternity.”- There is for them whatever they wish. And with Us is more.

It is noteworthy that the method of warning, which has been practiced in the Qur’an until this Surah, is also practiced in this Surah: Until this passage, people were first persuaded with inward-looking and environmental evidence, and then the deniers were threatened by narrating an episode from the state of the deniers in the Judgment. In this passage, the spotlight is turned on the believers, their situation in paradise is revealed, and the promises will be fulfilled.

The expression “bringing Paradise nearer” does not mean nearness in terms of location. It means that for those who have been given the opportunity to enter Paradise, it is their turn to enter, that their entry into Paradise is imminent.

In this passage, as in the previous one, words with very special and beautiful meanings have been chosen. It would be useful to explain in detail these words, which have a wide range of meanings:

اوّاب [AWWAB], حفيظ [HAFIZ]:

The word awwab means “one who turns a lot, turns a lot” and the word hafīz means “one who protects a lot”. The words awwab and hafīz, both of which are adjectives in the imperfective form, together mean “one who turns much and preserves much” [one who never forgets].

Taking into account the meaning of the passage, it is possible to paraphrase the words as follows:

The adjective awwab means “to repent of one’s sins and to turn away from them and to ask forgiveness for them”; “to turn towards Allah with much contemplation”; “to turn away from excessive inclination towards things other than Allah, and to restrain oneself from following one’s desires and whims”; “The one who is awwab is the one who abandons his desires and rebellion and chooses obedience and submission to Allah, for it entails not accepting anything other than Allah and absolutely renouncing everything other than Allah. He abandons what Allah dislikes and follows the path recommended by Allah. Even a small deviation from this path frightens him. He repents a lot. He serves Allah, remembers Him and turns to Him in everything he does.

Since the attribute of Hafīz requires “protecting oneself from breaking one’s repentance”; “always preserving and never forgetting the remembrance of Allah”; “perceiving Allah with His perfect attributes and never letting Him go”, a Hafīz is someone who turns towards Allah with his whole being and thus sees that everything happens because of Him and that He brought everything into existence. When the hafīz reaches this point, he never forgets Allah and always remembers Him, even when he is in abundance and overwhelmed with blessings.

According to these explanations, the person who is meant by the terms awwab and hafīz is the one who protects Allah’s commands, obligations, prohibitions, and the trusts He has entrusted to him, who takes into consideration the rights given to him by Allah, who does not forget the promise he made to his Lord after he believed, who watches over his time, strength, efforts, and efforts so that they are not lost due to wrong actions, who does not break his repentance after he repents, and who always keeps his repentance, and who always takes himself into account, “Have I disobeyed my Lord with my actions or words?”.

The meanings of these words are also a commentary on the word “muttaqi”, which has already been explained in detail.

الخشية [HASYET:

Hashiyyah, as we have explained earlier, is the fear of being longed for, of being far away, caused by the admiration and respect that arise from knowledge and understanding. Detailed information on the word “awe” is given in the analysis of Surah al-A’la.

HASHIYYAH OF RAHMÂN IN THE UNSEEN:

This statement points to two main characteristics that make the believers worthy of appreciation in the sight of Allah:

A) that the believers have a deep respect for Allah, the Most Merciful, despite the fact that Allah, the Merciful, cannot be felt or perceived by the five senses, and that they exhibit God-consciousness in their behavior. This awe of Allah, the Most Merciful, is greater than their fear of other beings who are clearly visible and have great power.

B) Believers are well aware of Allah’s attribute of “mercy”, yet they refrain from sinning, not taking Allah’s mercy for granted.

Based on this information, the expression ” who hold a reverent fear of the Most Merciful, even in private.” can be explained as follows: “One who knows that Allah is the Most Merciful, but trusts in His mercy and never commits sin…”

Such a person thinks, “My Lord will forgive me, but let me not do it anyway.”

قلب منيب [KALB-İ MUNÎB]:

The word منيب [munîb], which comes from the root انابة [inâbet] meaning “to turn away from one side and always turn towards that side”, is meant to describe a kind of compass. Because the needle of a compass is always in the direction of the magnetic north and magnetic south poles, and no matter which way the compass is turned, the needle does not deviate from this direction.

Kalb-i munîb refers to a heart[mind] that consistently turns toward Allah. Such a heart remains unwavering on Allah’s path, regardless of life’s trials.The phrase that best expresses the meaning of this expression in Turkish is “wholehearted devotion”. The real value and worth in the sight of Allah is not only the commitment expressed with the tongue, but also the sincere and constant devotion to Him from the heart.

Kalb-i munîb is the opposite of the phrase “a distant disappearance [deviation]” mentioned in verse 27. While infidels are in distant error, believers are sincerely devoted to Allah. Even if they commit mistakes and faults, they return to Him immediately and never stray far from Him.

As for the phrase in verse 34, ادخلوها بسلام [udhuluhâ bi-salām], it can be explained in two ways using the different meanings of the word salām:

If we take the meaning of salām as “safety”, then the expression can be understood as “enter Paradise protected from all kinds of sorrow, grief and worry”.

If we take the meaning of the word as “peace”, we can understand the statement in the verse as “Come, enter this Paradise; peace be upon you from Allah and His angels in Paradise”. The details of this matter can be found in the following verses:

^30-32And when it is said to those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah: “What has your Rabb sent down?”, they will say: “Good”. Good is for those who produce good in this world. Yet, the home of Akhirat [Afterlife] is certainly better. And how beautiful is the home of those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah; gardens of Eden! They will enter there. Rivers flow underneath it. For them will be therein that which they wish. Thus recompense will Allah those who have entered under the guardianship of Himself. Those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah are the ones whom angels will comfort and remind one by one what they did in the past and what they failed to do while being obliged to. And they will say: “Salam [health, peace, happiness…] be upon you! Now enter Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] as the recompense of the deeds you have done!”.

(An-Nahl/30-32)

⁵⁸”Salam [health, peace, happiness…]!” will be the word from Rabb, Who is the possessor of vast mercy.

(Ya-Sin/58)

⁷³And those who have entered under the guardianship of Allah will definitely be sent to Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] in groups. And when they arrive there, its gates will be opened and its guards will say to them: “Salam [health, peace, happiness…] be upon you! You have come pure!”, it will be said to them, “Enter it to abide therein eternally!”.

(Zumar/73)

⁴⁶And those who have knowledge about the sections of the Qur’an, will recognize them all from their signs. And those who have knowledge about the Qur’an call out to the companions of Jannah [Heaven] who hoped for Jannah [Heaven] but have not entered yet: “Salam [health, peace, happiness…] be upon you!”

(Al-A’raf/46)

²³And those who believe and do amendatory deeds will be admitted to Jannah [Heaven/Paradise] underneath of which rivers flow, to abide therein eternally by permission/knowledge of their Rabb. Their greeting there will be “Salam [health, peace, happiness…]!”.-

(Abraham/23)

See also Yunus 10 and Hijr/46.

WHATEVER THEY ASK FOR, THERE IS MORE:

In every word of the verses that describe the picture of the pious, there is an extremely beautiful arrangement in which there is a sense of hospitality and honor for the pious. For example, the entry of the pious into Paradise is described as bringing Paradise closer to the pious, as if Paradise is being brought to the feet of the pious. Allah Almighty’s command to those who come to the gates of Paradise, “Enter there with greetings!” is reminiscent of the behavior of a host who greets his guests at the gates, and adds a different color to the treats with Paradise. In addition, our Lord’s statement in verses 32-33, “This is what is promised for everyone who returns much and protects much, who fears the Most Merciful in the unseen [in seclusion] and comes with a returning heart” means that Paradise is given to the pious as a reward [wage] for doing good deeds. This statement of our Lord, which characterizes Paradise as a wage, not only shows that the pious have full power of disposition over the blessings of Paradise, but also, in our opinion, contains two more subtleties: A) It is related to the fact that a person who enjoys a blessing by paying for it will appreciate it more fully than someone who does not pay for it. The indirect message of the verses emphasizes that the pious, who have full power of disposal over the blessings of Paradise, will know how to make full and perfect use of these blessings. B) “It is about the elimination of the anxiety that arises in the recipient of a free blessing, that the donor may change his mind and back out. The indirect message in the relevant verses expresses such an assurance given to the pious. Thus, Paradise is not merely a promise but a certain reward that the pious will rightfully receive.. That is to say, the pious will be repaid for the debt they owe to Allah for doing the righteous deeds with the blessings of Paradise.

In verse 35, the word مزيد [mezîd] means “more, addition, more”. In other words, it is said that the people of Paradise will be given blessings in addition to what they want, blessings that they cannot think of, cannot know, cannot imagine the desire to obtain. Such good news is given in another verse:

²⁶For those who do good, there will be better and more. No darkness will cover their faces nor humiliation nor scorn. These are the companions of Jannah [Heaven/Paradise]. They will abide therein eternally.

(Yunus/26)

The fact that the people of Paradise will be given more than they ask for means that the blessings there will be more than they ask for and in more detail than they realize, and it also means that Allah will create things there that He did not create in this world. In other words, those who deserve Paradise will be rewarded there with more than they expected and knew.

In the analysis of verses 24-26, the attributes that our Lord lists in this Surah as qualities that lead a person to Hell were mentioned. In the passage of verses 31-35, our Lord has listed some of the qualities that qualify a person for Paradise, and these qualities are as follows: 1) Taqwa; 2) turning towards Allah; 3) keeping in touch with Allah; 4) having awe of Allah without seeing Him, with a firm belief in His mercy; 5) To come with a heart of munîb [to be attached to Allah wholeheartedly].

Verses 36-37:

³⁶Before them, We manipulated, destroyed many generations who were greater than them in power. So that they explored throughout the lands. Is there any place to escape?

³⁷There is definitely a reminder in this for whoever has a reason, understanding, conscience or whoever heeds as a witness.

The warning given in verses 12-14 by giving the names of the people and tribes who denied the Prophets and were destroyed is repeated here with a different expression due to the importance of the matter and attention is drawn to the issue of taking lessons from history again.

THERE IS NO ESCAPING THE JUDGMENT:

Allah, who warned the people of the terrible day and the severe punishment ahead of them, also warned them that He would seize them and destroy them while they were still in this world, and in many places in the Qur’an He gave them the example of the people before them.

Verse 36 explains that those whose time has come to be seized by Allah, their power and glory will not save them from Allah’s seizure, and no one will be able to find a place of refuge and escape from this fate. That some of the people of the past were among those who tried to flee and escape is evident from the statement in the verse that they were riddling the towns with holes.

The word نقّبوا [nakkabû], which has been chosen as the verb of this sentence, is derived from the infinitive nekb, which means “to pierce, to travel, a path through a mountain”. According to these meanings of the word, it is possible to list the meanings of the expression in the verse as follows:

1) According to the meaning of the word “to pierce”: It is understood that the people of the verse were the ones who broke the ground and made roads and hollowed out rocks and built houses, which implies their power. It will be recalled that this is how the power and might of the tribe of Thamûd was described in Al-Fajr/9.

2) According to the meaning of the word “traveling”: “They traveled all the time, and in the process, they saw the traces of their people who perished, and the signs of their destruction,” in which case it is clear that the polytheists of Mecca are the ones meant in the verse.

3) According to the meaning of the word “the way in the mountain”: It means that the people referred to in the verse are the representatives or rulers of the other people on earth, emphasizing the opportunities that their power and sovereignty afforded them.

If the above three meanings are combined, the statement can be appreciated as follows: “So that they were not only powerful in their own country. In fact, they would go in and out of other parts of the world and other countries, obtain the means of life and livelihood from them, and create colonies outside their countries by attacking and invading them. They used to intimidate everyone with their power. They used to exploit by force.”

THE WORD [HEART] قلب:

In every spoken language, a term is coined to represent a concept or object encountered for the first time. There may not always be a correct relationship between the coined word and the concept or object it represents. When the derived word becomes widespread among the people, no one examines whether the relationship between the word and the meaning or object it signifies is accurate or not, and everyone uses that word.

For example, Christopher Columbus, thinking that he had reached India, named the islands he came across the West Indies. Although it is well known today that this name does not correspond to geographical realities, the name has not been corrected and continues to be used. This is similarly true with the naming of the parasite taenia solium, meaning “single stripe”, because it was thought to be only one in the intestine. Although it was later discovered that there is more than one of these parasites in the intestine, the name was not changed and the name is still used. A neurological disorder previously referred to as hysteria, meaning “of the uterus”, because it was thought to be caused by a disease in the uterus, is still called by that name, even though it is now known that the uterus is not the source.

This is also true for Arabic. For example, the word majnoon, which means “possessed” and was coined to describe a person who is believed to be under the influence of invisible supernatural forces called “jinn” and superstitious beliefs that accept the existence of invisible supernatural forces called “jinn”, is still used for the mentally ill among the people today, even though it is known that mental illnesses have nothing to do with the jinn in superstitious beliefs. Or, in times when the movements and orbits of the solar system were unknown, the words tuluu’sh-shams, meaning “the sun rising above the horizon”, and gurubu’sh-shams, meaning “the sun setting”, are still used today, even though it is now known that these events are caused by the earth’s rotation around its axis.

This shows that in all languages, misunderstandings can arise regarding the connection between a word and what it represents. After such words and terms came into widespread use, even scientists continued to use them even though they knew that the basis on which they were built was faulty or incorrect. The use of such words has never been dropped.

What we want to say with these long explanations is this: In Arabic, as in other languages, there are words that are widely used even though it is known that the relationship between the words and the meanings or substances they express is wrong. Such words are used in the Qur’an with the meanings that were common at the time. This is because the Qur’an, which was revealed in the Arabic language, was revealed for people to understand easily and take guidance. Therefore, in order for people to understand the Qur’an, it is inevitable to use words with their common and popular meanings. As a matter of fact, the wordابقر [ebgar], which according to the beliefs of the Arabs of the jahiliyyah period was “the name of the land of the jinn” and was used colloquially for “marvelous things”, is used in the Qur’an in Rahman/76 in the sense of وابقرىّ حسان [wa ebgariyyin hisan=and carpets from Ebgar/wonderful, exquisite, magnificent carpets], even though a country called “the land of Ebgar” is completely imaginary.

In accordance with this, the word heart is used in the Qur’an not as “the organ that pumps blood” but as “the brain, which is the center of the mind, thought and all mental functions”. In other words, according to the Qur’an, the heart is the center of the qualities that make a human being human, especially the intellect; in short, it is the core of human nature.

A WARNING TO THOSE WHO POSSESS HEART:

The word “heart” in the phrase “for those who have a heart” in the verse means “the essence of man” in a general sense, as we have explained above, but in the specific sense of the verse it means “the mind”. In other words, the expression in the verse means “for those who have intellect”. Taking this into account, it can be said that the verse indirectly means: “In this is an admonition for him who has anything that can be called a heart [intellect]. So whoever does not take advice, then he has no heart [intellect] at all.”

Indeed, if we look at history, taking lessons from past events is a method that people have always recommended to each other and believed to be necessary. But drawing lessons from the past, as the verse points out, is for people who have a heart [intellect]. A person who has no heart, or whose heart is dead [whose mind does not work], can neither take advice nor be admonished… An individual with a heart [intellect] is highly sensitive to the bitter consequences of past events. Impressive and uplifting sites like graves and ruins resonate with a person who has a heart [intellect]; they stir his emotions, revive his memories, and inspire him. But those without hearts are blind, deaf and dumb to such places and events:

¹⁸They are deaf, dumb, blind! So they will not return.-

(Al-Baqara/18)

⁴When you see them, their massive form –as if they are pieces of wood propped up- please you. And you heed when they speak. They think that every shout is against themselves. They are enemy, therefore beware of them. –Allah has cursed them; how they are deluded!-

(Munafikoon/4)

¹⁷⁹And certainly We produced and multiplied many of those that you know and you do not know; those who have heart/brain/reason but do not contemplate and understand, those who have eyes but do not see with them, those who have ears but do not hear with them for Jahannah [Hell]. They are like four-legged cattles. They are even in more astray. They are the ones who are apathetic.

(Al-A’raf/179)

⁴³Have you seen/thought about the one who took his evil feelings and desires as his god? So, will you be the one who arranges all creatures pursuant to a schedule and implements this schedule by supporting, maintaining it upon him?

⁴⁴Or do you really think that most of them will heed the Wahy [Revelation] or use their reason? They are only like animals. Truly they are more astray/confused/inferior in way.

(Furqan/43-44)

⁵⁰If they do not respond to you despite this, then know that they only follow their desires. Who can be more astray [confused, fallen] than the one who follows his desires without a guidance from Allah? Surely, Allah does not guide a people who do wrong; act against their own good by associating others with Him.

(Al-Qasas/50)

²⁶And indeed, We had made them strong in that which We have not made you; We had given them opportunities which We have not given you. And We had given them hearing, sight and feelings as well. Despite this, their hearing, sight and feelings did not avail them/could not avert anything from them. Because they consciously denied the Ayat of Allah. And that which they were ridiculing surrounded them.

(Al-Ahqaf/26)

The Qur’an compares the infidels to a shepherd who shouts and screams and hears nothing but his own voice. The infidels, who know how to prevail by drowning out the right word with dry noise, do not find the words that, according to the Qur’an, can only be understood by listening in silence and seriousness worth listening to and meaningful. The Qur’an characterizes them as blind, deaf, dumb and heartless, and declares that these infidels will be gathered on the Judgment Day as blind, deaf and dumb (see al-Baqara/171 and Isrâ/97).

OR HE WHO LISTENS:

The expression “he who listens” in the verse, or he who listens as a witness, means “he who listens”. This is because giving ear means “listening”. The one who does not listen is as if he has plugged his ear and prevented him from listening. But when he releases his ear, it means that he has given ear and started listening.

In light of these explanations, the intended meaning of verse 37 may be expressed as follows: “In this is an admonition for those who are intelligent, who find out everything with their intellect, or for those who have a heart that memorizes, or for those who give ear and listen to the warner, so that they may be admonished.”

Our Lord, in His mercy, has bestowed upon mankind two blessings to save themselves: Reason and revelation. If people utilize these two blessings, they will be able to save themselves:

¹⁰And they will say: “If we had listened or reasoned, we would not be among the companions of that blazing fire”.

(Al-Mulk/10)

¹⁰⁰And did it not guide; influence those who inherited the earth; last owners of it after its previous owners: “If We willed, We would recompense them for their sins. We seal their hearts so they do not hear”.

(Al-A’raf/100)

⁴⁶Have they not travelled through the earth so they might have hearts to reason and ears to hear. Indeed, it is not the eyes that go blind but, hearts which are within the chests go blind.

(Hajj/46)

Verse 38:

³⁸And indeed We formed the heavens/universe, the earth and all that is in between them in six phases. And no weariness touched Us.

SIX DAYS/SIX CYCLES:

The word اليوم [yawm] can be translated as “day” or “revolution”. For in Arabic, the word yawm means both “a 24-hour cycle of day and night” and “a cycle [a period of time of whatever duration]” in general.^[13] Indeed, the Qur’an confirms that the word “yawm” refers to a general “cycle” and not to a specific “cycle” in a specific measure by mentioning a yawm of 1,000 years in As-Sajdahh/5 and a yawm of 50,000 years in al-Ma’âraj/4.

If the word yawm is taken to mean “24-hour day”, which is not in accordance with the Qur’an, then the Qur’anic verses [Al-A’raf/54, Hûd/7, Yunus/3, Furqân/59, As-Sajdah/4, Hadîd/4] which state that the universe and the earth were created in 6 “yawms” would be misunderstood. Because in this case, it would mean that the universe and the earth were created in 6 days of 24 hours each, and it does not seem to be a logical possibility that the duration of creation at a time when the sun and the earth did not yet exist, i.e. when a 24-hour day consisting of day and night did not exist in the universe, could be expressed by a measurement of the period after the sun, the earth and human beings came into existence. In fact, science expresses this period in terms of “billions of years” with the theories it accepts as a result of its findings on the formation of the universe and the earth. Therefore, the six days in the verse should be understood as “six cycles”.

The acceptance of the meaning of the word yawm here as “cycle” allows us to see another miracle of the Qur’an. As is well known, the cosmological findings of the present day show that the universe [hence the earth] has passed through a number of phases to reach its present state:

Almost all models of the expanding universe agree on the life history of the universe. In the beginning, the universe was an infinitely dense medium made up of elementary particles such as protons, neutrons, electrons, positrons and neutrinos with temperatures as high as 10¹⁶ K. This environment was dominated by energy. … About 100 seconds after the explosion, the temperature dropped to 10⁹ K and the elementary particles began to combine to form heavier nuclei. … For the next 1,000,000 years, the universe remained hot and opaque, like the core of a star, where photons could not escape and propagate into space. During this time, the temperature gradually dropped to 3,000 K and the density to 1,000 atom/cm³. At this point, radiation began to escape into space. … The matter that spread out in space began to gather in clumps under the influence of gravity. The age of radiation came to an end and a new process called the stellar age began, with the formation of galaxies and stars. … Research to prove these models continues by studying the most distant regions of the universe, corresponding to the most distant past.^[14]

Likewise, the earth came to its present state through a process that began with a gas cloud and went through various phases. By declaring that the universe and the earth were created in “six yawm” [periods], the Qur’an announced 14 centuries in advance the conclusion reached by today’s scientific findings, namely, that the creation took place in phases and periods, and revealed another miracle.

¹¹Then He established His dominion in the heavens/universe while it was smoke and said to it and the earth: “Come, willingly or unwillingly!”. And both of them said: “We have come willingly”.

(Fussilat/11)

REJECTION OF THE JEWISH DOCTRINE:

According to Jewish belief, God began the creation of the universe on Sunday, completed it in six days on Friday, and rested on Saturday. The statement in the biblical account of Genesis 2:2 that says Allah rested on the seventh day, must have disturbed Christian priests, for in the new Turkish and Arabic translations of the Bible, the phrase “rested” has been changed to “became free”. But in the famous King James Bible, the phrase “And he rested on the seventh day” is present with the words And he rested on the seventh day. This phrase appears in the Arabic translations of the Bible, as well as in the English translation published by the Jews in Philadelphia in 1954.

This mistaken belief, as mentioned above, is rejected by reason and science because it is illogical and contrary to science in the sense that a process expressed by science in terms of billions of years is expressed in terms of a measure of time [week] that can only be traced back to the Sumerians or Babylonians. Our Lord rejected this false belief 14 centuries ago with the statement in verse 38, And no weariness touched Us. The fact that this false belief still persists despite its rejection by Allah Almighty and its exclusion by reason and science is, in our opinion, due to a lack of understanding of that verse in the Torah or because that verse has been altered.

The statement in verse 38 rejects the false beliefs of the Jews as well as the beliefs of the polytheists that resurrection after death is impossible. In verse 15, Did We fail in the first creation? No, but they are in doubt about a new creation.” The polytheists are condemned with the proof of the creation of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them. It is as if to say: “We did not tire of the first creation so that We would not be able to recreate it a second time…”

Indeed, when we consider the magnificent universe and the astonishing creations before our eyes, it is not an unreasonable comparison that a Power that never tires while creating all this out of nothing can also resurrect the dead. Moreover, the creation of man is a much simpler and insignificant thing compared to the creation of the heavens and the earth.

After these explanations, the verse can be paraphrased as follows: “That is, the truth is that We created the whole universe in six days. And We were not tired when We created it, so who can claim that We are not able to create it again? If these poor ignorant people, when they hear from you the news of the resurrection after death, begin to ridicule you and call you mad, be patient, listen to their nonsense in silence, and go on explaining to them the truth which you have been entrusted to explain.”

Verses 39-40:

These verses are among the verses whose meanings have been distorted and used as material for the corruption of religion. Unfortunately, the words تسسبيح [tasbîh] and سجدة [prostration] in these verses have unfortunately been reflected out of their true meanings, so that some behaviors that have nothing to do with Islam have been turned into the most important worships of our religion.

Before going into the meaning of the words and phrases in the verses, we would like to share with you the distorted views on this subject in order to show how our religion is being corrupted:

“This is a statement of Allah (swt) commanding our Prophet (pbuh) to pray. Thus, it is like the verse of Allah Almighty, ‘Pray on both sides of the day and close to the night’ (Hud/114). The phrase “before the rising of the sun and before its setting” refers to the “two parts of the day”, and the phrase “at a part of the night” refers to the “two parts of the day”. The phrase “glorify Him” refers to “a time close to night”.

What is meant here by praising Allah and glorifying Him is “prayer”. Wherever in the Qur’an special times are set aside for praise and glorification, prayer is meant. Before sunrise means the Al-Fajr prayer, before sunset means “the two prayers: noon and ‘Al-Asr”, and at night means “Maghrib and ‘Isha’ prayers, and thirdly the Tahajjud prayer”.

The meaning of this expression is, “Say Subhanallah!” This is so because certain words in the language of the Arabs mean saying those words. So for example, when we say kebbera, we mean to say “Allahu Akbar”. For greetings, we use the term sallama, which means to say, “Asalaamu ‘alaykum”. Hamdala means “alhamdulillah”, hellala means “laa ilaha illallah”, and sebbeha means “sübhanallahi”.

As for the tasbîh that is commanded to be done after the As-Sajdahh, it can be dhikr after the prayer, or it can be the nâfilah that is performed after the obligatory prayer. ‘Umar, ‘Ali, ‘Ali, ‘Ali’s son Hasan, Abu Hurayrah, Ibn ‘Abbas, Shabī, Mujahid, Ikrimahīm, Hasan Basrī, Qatadah, Ibrahīm Naha’ī and al-Azwa’i said, “This means two rak’ahs of prayer after the prayer.” ‘Abdullah ibn ‘Amr ibn ‘As and Ibn ‘Abbas, according to one account, said that it refers to the dhikr after the prayer.

Ibn Zayd is of the opinion that the meaning of this commandment is the nafl after the obligatory prayers. According to the account of Abu Huraira in Bukhari and Muslim, one day some of the poor Muhajireen Companions were sitting in the presence of our Prophet when they said:

O Messenger of Allah, the rich have attained great degrees.

Our Prophet asked:

What happened?”

They said:

They pray as we pray, they fast as we fast, but they give alms and we cannot give alms, they free slaves and we cannot free slaves.

Our Prophet then said:

Shall I tell you something like that? If you do it, you will compete with other people, except that they also do it. That is, after every prayer, keep saying 33 times each, Subhanallah, Alhamdulillah and Allahu Akbar.

After a few days these people came back to our Prophet and said:

“Our rich brothers have heard this saying and they too have started doing this.

Then our Prophet (s.a) said:

This is a favor of Allah that He gives to whom He wills.

In one account, the number of these words is 10 instead of 33.^[15]

Zayd b. Thabit narrates: : Hz. The Prophet (pbuh) advised us to keep saying Subhanallah and Alhamdulillah 33 times and Allahu Akbar 34 times after each prayer. Later, when a Companion from the Ansar said, “I saw someone say in my dream that if you said these words 25 times and then it would be better if you said “La ilaha illallah” 25 times afterward, our Prophet said, “Very well, keep doing that!” he commanded.^[16]

Hadrat Abû Sa’îd al-Hûdri said: “I heard the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, returning after the prayer, saying: “Subhâna rabbi rabbi al-izzati amma yasifûna wa salâmun ala ala al-mursalîn wa l-hamdu lillâhi rabbi al-‘Alamîn.”^[17]

Edbare al-sujûd means, “Do not stop glorifying and praising Allah after you have finished prostrating, that is, after you have finished praying, and continue to glorify Him after the prostrations, so that all your time will be spent in glorifying Him”. Therefore, these expressions express the meaning of Allah Almighty’s verse, “Remember your Lord when you forget” (Al-Kahf/24). When you finish one thing, immediately start another and turn to your Lord alone. This expression is also read as “idbare al-sujūd”.^[18]

And after the prostrations, i.e. after the prayers; tasbîh is done after every prayer. As for the nafl prayers, it is makrooh after the Al-Fajr and ‘Al-Asr prayers. There are also many who say that the expression “after the prostrations” refers to the “last sunnah of the evening prayer”.^[19]

After comparing the above quotations with the following explanations, it becomes clear once again that the issue of “the importance of language in religion”, which we have touched upon on various occasions, is indeed a very important and priority issue.

الصّبر [SABR]:

Due to its importance in our religion and its widespread misunderstanding of its meaning and content; it is given in detail in the analysis of Surah al-Qalam.

Enduring evils that one can overcome with one’s own strength and will or slackening in the face of needs that one can meet is not patience, but weakness, laziness and cowardice.

تسبيح [TASBIH]:

Only a brief reminder will be given here about the word tasbîh, as it has already been explained in detail. (For a detailed explanation, see vol. 1, Surah A’lâ.)

The word تسبيح [tasbîh] is derived from the root sebh, whose literal meaning is “to move in air and water, to pass by, to swim away”. Its meaning in the Qur’an is “to keep Allah away from what is unbecoming of Him, to glorify Him, to realize that He is endowed with all the perfect attributes, and to say this aloud on every occasion.” (See the analysis of Qalam/29, vol. 1.)

In short, tasbîh means “to recognize and introduce the Creator with all His attributes”.

TASBIH OF THE NAME:

To tasbîh a name [to glorify it by keeping it free from deficiencies] actually means to tasbîh the owner of that name. Because the sublimity and holiness of the owner of a name is expressed by the sublimity and purity of that name. Although some scholars have said, “The name and the owner are the same,” they all agree that the purpose of purifying the name is not only to purify the literal meanings of the name, but also to purify the owner of the attributes and names. Therefore, what is meant by the “purification of the name” is to keep away from our Lord the names and attributes that are unworthy of Him.

To remove from our Lord the names and attributes attributed to our Lord, both the superstitious beliefs that our Lord is related to some beings by descent, and the names and attributes attributed to our Lord in matters such as deception, trap, revenge, etc., and to keep His name, and therefore Himself, free from any stain of imperfection, means to fulfill the necessity of the expression “glorification of the name”.

In the light of these explanations, the expression, “And glorify your Lord with praise before the rising of the sun, and before its setting, and during a portion of the night” means the following: “Exalt Him from what those polytheists say, and do not grow weary of their opposition! On the contrary, remind them of the greatness of Allah, and denounce Him from shirk, and from the slander of having wives and children, and especially from being tired, and from being incapable of the possible [conceivable] Hashr!”

The reason why these things are commanded to be done before the rising and setting of the sun and in the early night is nothing other than the fact that the Meccans gathered at these times.

AT THE END OF THE SAJDAH:

The phrase in this passage has always been conveyed with its conventional meaning due to the dominance of traditions. In this way, the principles of Islam, which are actually based on activity, are made passive, and as a result, Islam is transformed into a mystical cult with its widely practiced dhikr, salawat and tasbīh, which is fed by verbal repetitions.

However, the word “prostration” here means “submission, surrender”, and our Prophet is instructed in these verses to “teach tawheed to those who have just entered Islam, so that they may purify Allah from bad attributes, recognize their Lord correctly, and not associate shirk”.

Verses 41-43:

⁴¹And heed to the day when a caller will call from a place which is close; ⁴²that day, they will hear that scream in truth. This is the day of emergence, the day of resurrection.

⁴³Truly, We, yes indeed it is We Who give life and take life. And the return is only to Us.

The instructions given in verses 39-40 continue in verse 41. The instruction in this verse, “And you listen to the day when a caller will call from a near place,” means “prepare yourself for death, for the Judgment Day!”.

A number of Qur’anic explanations can be given as to what the caller is calling for:

⁵⁹And o sinners! Stand apart today!

(Ya-Sin/59)

^22,23Gather those who did wrong; acted against their own good by associating others with Allah and their spouses and those whom they worshipped from among those that are inferior to Allah. Then guide them to the path of Jahannah [Hell]. ^24,25And stop them, they will definitely be questioned: “What has happened to you so you do not help each other?”.

(Sâffat/22-25)

⁸²And when the Word is fulfilled, We will bring out a moving and speaking creature made of earth/substance that will tell/explain them that the people did not believe in Our Ayat as they should have.

(An-Naml/82)

It is clear from Qaf/24, 30, Al-Haqqah/30 and Fussilat/47 that it is Allah who makes the call. Examples of these direct or indirect calls of Allah can be found in other verses.

FROM A NEARBY PLACE:

The expression “from a nearby place” indicates that the call will be heard by all and will not be hidden from anyone.

HEARING THE CALL:

Considering verse 41’s warning to listen, the statement in verse 42 that the call will be heard can be paraphrased as follows: ” Listen, and be vigilant for its coming. Wait, for it will certainly be heard! For it will surely be heard. You and they are equal in this. So this means that they will hear it too. But they will hear it before they are ready to hear it, so they will fall down, and you will hear it before you are ready to hear it. Therefore, it will be as effective in you as it must be…”

The word الحقّ [al-haqq], which defines the hearing of the call, refers to يقين [certainty or definite knowledge]. For truth implies certainty/”taqīn”. Thus, it is said, “So-and-so called out with his own voice with certainty,” in the sense of, “That call came from him with certainty, it was not an echo.” That is, people will hear the call of the Day of Resurrection as truth, and they will know that it is real and not an imagination. Thus, they will be certain that the Day of Resurrection has come, and that this voice announces that Day.

TO US ALONE IS THE RETURN:

This is an expression of threat and intimidation. When a person commits a crime, he knows that he will eventually be brought before a judge, but the fact that he will be judged by a judge who does not see him commit the crime is not enough to stop him from doing the bad things he wants to do. This is why our Lord declares that He Himself is the judge who will judge everyone, and reminds people that they will stand before a judge who “knows” and “sees” everything, and calls on them to fear and be cautious. This verse, therefore, is a clear warning, which is reiterated in other verses:

²³And when We save them from there, they commit transgressions without right on the earth as soon as they are saved. – O mankind! Your transgression is only against your own good as a gain of this worldly life. Then your return is only to Us. Then We will inform you about what you did. –

(Yunus/23)

⁷If you disbelieve; consciously deny the divinity of Allah and the fact that He is Rabb/If you will be ungrateful, know that, Allah is indeed the One Who does not need you at all and He does not approve disbelief; conscious denial of His divinity and the fact that He is Rabb/ungratefulness for His servants. And if you repay for the blessings you are given, He approves it for you. No bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. Then your return is only to your Rabb. Thus He will inform you about what you did. Indeed, He is the One Who knows well what is hidden within the essence of the hearts.

(Az-Zumar/7)

Verse 44:

⁴⁴On that day, the earth breaks apart from them rapidly. This is a gathering which is easy only for Us.

حشر [haşr] means “to gather”.^[20] On the Day of Resurrection, the lost parts of the dead people will be gathered together and the souls will be reunited with their bodies. Thus, the dispersed, shattered and decayed nations will be reunited. Therefore, the subject of Hashr refers to both the gathering together of the scattered parts of people and the gathering together of the scattered nations.

The word علينا [‘aalaynah] in front of the word يسير [‘yesīr] in the statement, “This is a gathering that is easy only for Us,” gives it the meaning, “It is easy only for Us, not for others, and it is not something that others can do. Is it when We die and become dust, as the infidels say in verse 3? That is a distant return. The essence of the message in the answer can be appreciated as follows: “The fact that the bodies of the dead are scattered in the earth, water and air does not prevent Us from recreating human beings by gathering their bodies one by one and placing their personalities and consciousnesses in those bodies as they lived in those bodies before. Because this is not a work that requires great effort and labor for Us. On the contrary, all of this can happen in a moment at Our signal, and all the people who have ever lived in the world from the first obligated human being until the Day of Resurrection can easily be gathered together. Even if your mind, which is incapable of knowing this occurrence, considers it irrational, it is not far from the power of the Creator of the universe.”

Verse 45:

⁴⁵We know better what they say. And you are not, over them, the one who forces them. So, remind those who fear My threat with the Qur’an.

THE MESSENGER IS NOT A TYRANT:

This verse addresses our Prophet but also warns the infidels: “The responsibility of your Prophet is only to warn and to tell the truth through the Qur’an to those who come to their senses. It is not his job to force those who do not want to believe to become believers; he has not been sent as a coercer.”

In another sense, this verse simultaneously warns the infidels while comforting and reassuring the Prophet: “Do not listen to what these people fabricate against you and do not attach any importance to it! For We know their words and We see what they do. Do not let your complaints to Us distract you from your purpose, but be busy with the work that We have given you; it is for Us to punish them. They were left free to believe and disbelieve. You have not been sent to judge their feelings, faculties and powers, and you have no obligation to force them to Hidayet. You are only commanded to convey the truth. So be patient, and set before their eyes only what is good, true and beautiful, and glorify your Lord, and leave them to Us.”

The threat to the infidels is this: “The ugly things you say about the Messenger whom We have sent and the baseless claims you make will cost you dearly. We hear every word of what you say, and you will be punished for it.”

This clear message, which has already been given in Qalam/44 and Al-Muddaththir/11-19, will also appear in other surahs, such as Surah Al-Nisa, whose 80th verse is given below:

⁸⁰Whoever obeys the Messenger has obeyed Allah. And whoever turns away, We have not sent you as a protector/guardian for those who turn away.

(Al-Nisa/80)

ADMONISH WITH THE QUR’AN:

This expression means, “Admonish those of their remnant who fear the Day of Promise by reciting the Qur’ân! Consider the Qur’an and admonish them by reminding them of what it reveals.”

This verse forbids our Prophet from giving advice based on his personal opinions. Our Prophet’s legislative practices in the administration of society were also based on the Qur’an, as will be seen later. In other words, our Prophet had no authority or freedom to make or apply any non-Qur’anic judgment.

The opening of the surah with the Qur’an and its closing with the Qur’an is a method to draw attention to the importance of the Qur’an.

Allah is the one who knows best.

^[1] (Qurtubi; al-Jami’a li Ahkami’l Qur’an)

^[2] (al Isfahani; al Mufredat)

^[3] (Lisan al Arab, article “mrc” )

^[4] Sahib al-Kashshaf.

^[5] Ibn al-Asir.

^[6] Râgıb. He also said that the meaning of habl-i verîd is “spirit”.

^[7] Nizameddin Nisâburî.

^[8] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)

^[9] Sahib al-Kashshaf.

^[10] Qadi Baydawi and Abu al-Suud.

^[11] (Lisan al Arab, article “krn” )

^[12] (Lisan al Arab, article “atd” )

^[13] (al Isfahani; al Mufredat)

^[14] Ana Britannica; v. 12, p. 28.

^[15] Bukhari, “Book of Prayers”, 17/25.

^[16] İmâm Ahmed, Neseî, Dârimî.

^[17] Jessas, Ahkam al-Qur’an.

^[18] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)

^[19] (Qurtubi; al-Jami’a li Ahkami’l Qur’an)

^[20] (Lisan al Arab, article “hşr” )