S78. SURAH AN-NABA
Title: This Surah is styled as ‘An-Naba’, which means the News, or rather the Great or Important News. This news relates to the Doomsday and Resurrection. It is derived from the second verse of the Surah.
Time of Revelation: It was revealed in Makkah. From the early verses it is clear that this Surah was revealed at a time when an argument was started between the Prophet and the citizens of Makkan when he informed them of the coming of the Doomsday and of the accounting for one’s deeds and the consequent reward and punishment on the Day of Judgment. They used to laugh at the mention of the Doomsday. Such an argument could have taken place in the early stages of the call towards Islam.
Central Theme:- The central theme of this Surah is about the establishment of the Court of Allah and the reward and the punishments that would be declared on the Day of Judgment.
Arrangement of the Text : Verses Nos. 1 to 5 warn those who make fun of the Doomsday as if this information does not deserve serious consideration. The coming of the Doomsday is not far off when it will appear as an accomplished fact before their very eyes, and they will have to account for their deeds before the Lord of the world. In verses Nos. 6 to 1 6 are mentioned the signs of Allah’s Might, His overlords hip and Wisdom, which not only justify the life after death but also explain why Resurrection is necessary-—as it is demanded by the Over lordship and Wisdom of Allah. Verses Nos. 1 7 to 2 0 explain that the Day of Resurrection will occur at the appointed time; that on that day the whole order of the earth and heavens will undergo a sea change; and all people will be revived and will proceed to the Court of Allah. In verses Nos. 2 1 to 3 0 is mentioned the fate that awaits the transgressors and in verses Nos. 31 to 3 6 is mentioned the rewards for the Godfearing righteous men. Verses Nos. 3 7 to 4 0 from the concluding text which describes the scene when all people will appear before their Master for giving an account of what they did in their lifetime, and it has been explained that nobody will be spared on the basis of false recommendation or intercession.
78 Surah An-Naba (Translation of text)
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
1. About what are they disputing?
2. About that great News.1
3. About which they have different views.2
4. Their views are wrong, they will soon come to know.
5. Listen again! Their imaginations are wrong, they will soon learn.3
6. Have we not made the earth as floor?4
7. And the mountains as pegs?5
8. And have we not created you in pairs6,
9. And made your sleep to be a source of relaxation.7
10.And the night as a garb8
11. And the day as the time for livelihood9
12. And built over you the seven strong heavens.10
13. And created one bright lamp.11
1 Great News means the Important news about the occurrence of the Day of Judgment. When the Quran gave this news to enable the people to lead responsible and virtuous lives, the citizens of Makkan made it a topic of their discussion and laughter. The verse refers to these disputations.
2 The views of the Makkans on the Doomsday and the Day of Judgment were varied. They did not think it was possible to resurrect the dead people. They believed that none could revive the decayed bones. To some, the idea of the Day of Judgment was irrational. They said that there was life only in this world, and that men would not be revived after death. Some others were in doubt and undecided about it. Their difference of opinion was not based on any weighty argument, but it was just an opinion unsupported by any reasoning. .
It may be made clear that the non-believers in Arabia were not the only people who rejected the idea of the Day of Judgment, but other nonbelievers from other parts of the world also held extremely complicated and baseless viewpoints, as can be seen from the following extracts: .
Extract From The Encyclopaedia Of Religion And Ethics, Volume V : Hindu: Although in the Rigveda no clear statement of Judgement is found, and Yama appears mainly as king of the region of bliss, yet he is to some extent an object of terror, and a dark under ground hell is spoken of as the fate of evil-doers (iv. 5 . 5 , vii 1 0 4 . 3 , ix- 7 3 . 8 )............ The later views differ widely from this, through the gradual introduction of the belief in transmigration, while Yama is now the judge of the dead..........In the Upanishads re-birth in varios conditions, in heaven, hell or on earth, appears as the result of ignorance of the true end of existence ...... Hinduism in all its forms endorses this view. All go to Yama over a dreadful road, on which the pious fare better than the wicked. Yama or Dharma judges and allots the fate. Throgh endless existences and re-births - in human, animal, or plant forms - alternated with lives in the heavens or hells, the soul must pass. .
Buddhist : In Buddhism the idea of karma afforded an automatic principle of judgement, whereby the person after death entered upon an existence, higher or lower, according to his actions. At death, the force resulting from actions combined with clinging to existence causes creation of the five skandhas, or constituent elements of being. This is so swift that there is hardly any break in the continuity of personality, which is thus re-created in one of the six states -gods, mean, asuras, animals, plants, pretas, or inhabitants of one of the hells.(p. 3 7 5 ) .
But in spite of all this involved discussion” it is an undeniable fact that this world is coming to an end one day and the modern’ science supports this view, as is clear from the following remarks of the editor of the Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics: .
Conclusion : The ideas regarding the end of the world wich are found in most eschatologies may be regarded as mythical speculations prompted by knowledge of actual catastrophes in Nature and of its phenomena. The world, as science teaches, and as the speculations of men suggested, must have an end; but they pictured that end in lurid colours, while generally anticipating after it a new order. (p. 3 9 1 ) .
The Quran does not present the news of the, reward and punishment for one’s deeds as a dogma, but with arguments backed by reasons and in such a gripping manner that there is no room for doubt and difference and the conscience at once accepts that the arrangements for the Day of Judgment are not only possible but also necessary. Further the Quran with full confidence and assertion announces that the Day of Judgment will most assuredly dawn.
3 That is: the time is not far off when they will know that their conjectures about the Day of Judgment were wrong. This fact will dawn on them immediately when they will die and their soul will pass into “Barzakh” which is the resting place of all souls till the Day of Resurrection. Again they will witness this fact with their own eyes, when they will be required on the Day of Resurrection. The words: “They will very soon know” which have been repeated, refer to these two events.
4 The planet Earth is hanging in space and is revolving round the Sun, but still there is no disturbance in it. Its surface has been spread in such a way that life on it has become possible. It seems that all this has been done with the set purpose of inhabiting man on the planet Earth and all the necessities of life have been provided. The entire set-up has been planned to enable man to live on this earth. Does this not show the over lordship and wisdom of the Almighty?
5 By fixing pegs of mountains in the earth, its speed and revolution have been controlled and disturbance has been done away with. A lot of benefits is derived by man from the mountains, like rivers flowing from them, etc., etc.
6 Only men have not been created, nor only women. The mankind was created in pairs of men and women. Every individual of these pairs is different from the viewpoint of his/her physical and spiritual qualities but this difference does not create any conflict or opposition, it creates harmony and love, as if they complement one another. Does not this perfection of mankind point to the over lordship and wisdom of Allah?
7 Sleep removes tiredness and refreshes man. Had Allah not made sleep compulsory in the nature of man, man’s muscles would not have borne the strain of continuous work and man would not have been able to enjoy peaceful life. How wonderful is this arrangement for providing rest and peace for man! Is such an arrangement only accidental or is it the result of some one’s wise planning?
8 If the world would have had only days, then there would have been no time for men to rest and have peaceful life. The continuous heat of the Sun would have deprived men of comfort, but Allah has made the earth, subject to such laws that it has to revolve on its axis and the cycle of day and night goes on continually. In this way the garb of night covers man in itself as his clothes cover him. Does not the hand of a Great Administrator appear to be responsible for arranging this revolution of the earth?
9 If there were to be only nights and no days, then man would not have got that opportunity for making his living and for striving for better living conditions which are now available to him as the best of God’s creatures. Such an arrangement has opened up innumerable avenues for him to achieve economic betterment. Is this not a miracle of Allah’s over lordship?
10 It means that one can imagine the vastness of Allah’s creation by the fact that the sky which can be seen to the extent to which one’s eyes can see is only the first sky (Heaven) and Allah has created seven such heavens (or firmaments), and has planted the heavenly bodies (stars and planets) in such a strong way that in spite of the passage of such a longtime there are no signs of wear and tear in them, and there has been no change or decline in their beauty.. The Laws of the Nature are so strong and unchangeable that there is no possibility of any break anywhere. If the management or the order of the heavens had not been on sound footing then the working of this earth would also not have been on safe and sound footing. Are not the signs of Allah’s over lordship and wisdom present in these arrangements?
11 The sun has been made so bright that its brightness or its light will never fail. If the sun is examined in the light of the modern science, the wonder wrought by Allah’s creation would be seen clearly. The temperature of the sun is one crore forty lakh degrees ( 1 , 4 0 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 ) centigrade. It is hundred times bigger than our earth. It has been kept at a distance of nine crore thirty lakh ( 9 , 3 0 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 ) miles away from the earth. which results in neither extreme heat nor. extreme cold, but in keeping the temperature on the earth at a level which is helpful in sustaining human life on this planet. And on account of this heat of the Sun, rainfall is caused and farm products are harvested. Do not you get any light from the brightest lamp (Sun) on the over lordship and wisdom of the Almighty?
14.And sent down abundant rainwater from the clouds,12
15.So that we may produce corns and vegetables from that,
16. And luxurious gardens,
17. Verily, the Day of Judgment is fixed13
18. The Day when the trumpet shall be sounded, and then you shall come forth in crowds;14
19. And the heavens shall be thrown open, as if there were doors15 ,
20. And the mountains shall be made to move away as if they have become a mirage. 16
21. Truly, Hell is lurking in ambush,
22. The destination of the transgressrs.17
23. They will lie in it for ages. 18
24. There they will neither taste anything cool, nor any drink,
25. Except boiling water and pus,
26. A fitting recompense.
27. They had not expected that they will have to account for (their deeds),
28. And they had treated Our signs as totally false.
12 Are the arrangements of providing abundant water from the clouds and through it the arrangement for producing corns, vegetables and luxurious gardens, which provide a continuous source of human food not sufficient to open the eyes of men? Does it not disclose the hand of a Being who is master-minding all these activities?
13 This is the matter (as discussed above) which has been argued in the verses Nos. ( 6 ) to ( 1 6 ). The summary of the argument is that the Day of Judgment is a certainty and the time of its occurrence is also fixed. The non-believers of Makkah were rejecting this, because this presupposes the revival of men, which was impossible according to them. They were unable to imagine that when a man dies and his remains are mixed with dust, how could that man be revived. They were in doubt, because they were unable to correctly estimate, due to their narrowminded thinking, the power and wisdom of the Almighty. Therefore an approach which would appeal to the intellect has been used to remove this doubt. The occurrence of the Day of Judgment has been argued on the basis of the Power, Over lordship and Wisdom of Allah. .
The sum and substance of the whole argument is that WHETHER this earth, the sky and the various gifts of Nature with which your life is so much concerned are evidences of a certain fact-— the fact that their Creator is the possessor of some limited power and that no purpose is seen in all His works and that the parts or the components of this world are in a state of disarray and the whole set-up is unsystematic; Or this world and the life on it prove the fact that the Creator of man is the possessor of limitless power—- and not merely of His limitless power but also of His over lordship and greatest wisdom. After accepting Allah as the possessor of these attributes, there is no difficulty in believing that the Day of Judgment will surely occur. In fact, the attributes possessed by Allah demand that He should ordain such a Day of Judgment. When it is accepted that Allah is the possessor of limitless power, then it is absolutely easy for Him to revive the dead. What is impossible in it? The Being who has expressed his over lordship in such a manner; and who has bestowed his countless gifts, can rightly ask for the account of his gifts from man, and can rightly reward those of His slaves who are loyal to Him and punish those who are transgressors. His wisdom is apparent from everything of this world. His every act is based on wisdom and is well planned. How can we then say that the creation of man is purposeless, and that man dies and his remains are mixed with dust and there the whole story ends; that there is no difference between good and evil; that those who believe in Allah and those who do not, and those who obey Him and those who rebel against Him are all equal and that no one is to get any reward nor is anyone to be punished; that the Court of Allah is no court where one is to account for one’s past deeds. Does this kind of talk appear to be reasonable and do they have any relation with Allah’s attributes and wisdom? The fact is that the manifestations of Allah’s wisdom as witnessed by man around him very clearly point out to the necessity of there being a Day of Judgment for all. The great news disclosed by the Quran is supported by all these facts and conclusions there from and one is convinced that the Day of Judgment must one day dawn and that everybody will be revived and will appear before his Creator to answer for his past deeds.
14 On the Doomsday when the Trumpet will be sounded, the dead will rise from their graves and will proceed to appear in the Court of Allah.
15 The realities of the other world are hidden from the eyes of men today, but on the Doomsday when the skies (heavens) will be opened, men will be able to see them.
16 This refers to the fact that on the Doomsday the whole order of the world will change. The earth will acquire the shape of a vast maidan, where everybody will be gathered and a Court will be established. Great mountains will be flying in the air and their places will be taken by vast expanses of sand and they will completely disappear. This gives an idea of the horrors of the Doomsday, the changes that will be wrought in the shape of the earth and expanse of the Court of the Day of Judgment.
17 The transgressors or rebels against God lead their lives without any fear of God and think that there will be no occasion for them to get punishment for their misdeeds on the Day of Judgment. But on the Day of Judgment, Hell will Dawatul Quran 8 9 7 S. 7 8 appear as if it was an ambush for them, and they would be so caught that it will be impossible for them to escape.
18 It means that there will be one period of punishment after another period, with the result that they will be suffering continuously. This harsh punishment is given to them for the reason that they accepted for themselves the path of disobedience to Allah instead of submission to Him. They had been ungrateful to their real Benefactor and they were never prepared to accept the fact of the Day of Judgment and to adopt their lives accordingly. So they will reap the harvest according to the seeds they had sown.
29.Although We had preserved everything in writing. 19
30.So taste it! Now we will not increase for you anything but punishment.
31. Verily, Success is for the righteous;20
32. Gardens and grapes,
33. Girls of young and equal age.
34. And cups filled up to the brim.21
35. There they will hear neither any trash talk nor any falsehood. 22
36. This is the recompense from your Lord and a sufficient reward, 23
37. From Him who is the Lord of the heavens and earth and all between the Most Gracious whom none dare address. 2 4
38. The day on which the Spirit25. and the angels will be standing in rows; nobody will be able to utter a word except the one who is permitted by the Most Gracious and the one who speaks aright. 26
39. That Day is a sure reality 27 : therefore anyone who so desires, let him take resort to his Lord!
40. We have warned you of a punishment which is near,28The Day when the man will see what he had done for his future,29and the infidel will say, “Would that I were dust” ! 3 0
19 That is: We had been keeping a record of all their deeds. It is as if a talking movie was being prepared of everybody’s life on this earth. This film did not only record the words and deeds of men, but their intentions also. These men were under the wrong impression that they were free to do whatever they liked and that no record of their deeds or misdeeds was being kept, because they could not see any camera which was taking these pictures nor any tape recorder which was recording voices on the cassettes.
20 Here the words “Muttaqeen” (righteous) is used as opposed to the word’ ‘Tagheen’ (transgressors). This refers to those people who believe in Allah and the Day of Judgment; those who accept his signs and lead their life in such a way that they know that they have to account for their actions.
21 Means cups of wine “Tahur”-the wine of purity (sanctity) which will be available in Paradise.
22 The atmosphere or the environment in Paradise will be decent. The society will be decent and all the articles of food and drink will be decent. Even the wine that will be available there will not be like the wine of this world which makes a man talk nonsense after it is drunk. It will be a very decent wine and it will create a feeling of happiness and satisfaction which will not have any element of indecency. Similarly there will be no indecent recreations and shows, nor will there be falsehood and accusations. It will have a sober and happy atmosphere, where one will see examples of good moral behaviour and decent activities.
23 The God-fearing or the righteous will not only be awarded returns or recompense for their good deeds in the world, but Allah will bestow more benefits and gifts on them.
24 On the Day of judgment when the Creator of the universe will sit on judgment, the state of awe and fear of that Court will be felt so strongly that not a single soul will dare open his/her mouth. This also refutes the views of the polytheists that their gods and goddesses will get whatever concessions they want on their behalf.
25 The Spirit here means the Archangel (Jibril). He being the Chief of the angels, his mention has been made specifically. The point to be made here is that when Allah will sit on judgment, then the angels even Jibril-— will be standing in attention and every one will be struck with awe and none will dare open his mouth.
26 The purpose is to correct the wrong impression about the ‘recommendation of clemency.’ which is generally carried by the people of other religions. .
So far as the nonbelievers (idolaters) are concerned, they think that if at all the Day of Judgment comes and they are made to appear in the Court of Allah to account for their deeds in this world, then these gods and goddesses would come to help them and stand up to recommend to Allah for clemency on their behalf and thus they would escape punishment. But the Quran says that first of all there will not exist any of these gods or goddesses. Everyone will appear as meek slaves of Allah and the whole power and administration will be in the hands of Allah. The Court of Allah will present such an awe-inspiring spectacle that even the closest of the angels will not dare open his mouth. .
If anybody would be able to open his mouth for recommending clemency or pardon, it will be the one who will be permitted by Allah and will speak the truth. So far as the question of recommending clemency or pardon for the idolaters is concerned, no one will be able to do it, because of the decision of Allah that “Shirk” or polytheism and equating of Allah with others is an unpardonable sin. It will not be proper that any intercession for such sinners may be allowed. If anyone would intercede for salvation at that time with the permission of Allah, it will be on behalf of only such sinners who were believers in Allah and about whom Allah would like to entertain such intercession. So no one should remain under the wrong impression that the one polytheist who had indulged in equating Allah with other gods, etc., and who had led the life of a transgressor and non-believer can be saved from the final punishment by the recommendation of someone’ or the other.
27 The Day of Judgment is not the result of some guess work but it is a fact and a reality about which you are being informed with full authentication.
28 It is stated to be near at hand, because a good portion of the life of the earth has passed and the time left for the coming of the Day of Reckoning is short. Time itself is a relative thing. On the Doomsday, the measure of time and space will be changed. The time spent by man on this earth will appear to be too short.
29 Whatever good or evil a man does in this world, it has its repercussions in the other world. This fact has been expressed as “Ma Qaddamat Yadahu” (whatever his hands have sent in advance), because every act of man is like sowing seeds by him, whose fruits he will get in future life.
30 It means that those people who refuse to accept the Day of Judgment and refuse to shape their lives on the basis of that belief, they should clearly understand that when the Day of Judgment will actually dawn and when man will see his own deeds or misdeeds and the result thereof, at that time every non-believer of the Day of Reckoning will feel and say “Would it that my remains were-”mixed with dust so that today I would not have to account for my misdeeds.”