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An-Naba Section 1 - The Great Announcement

The Great Announcement of the Day of Decision and the scene of it

An-Naba Verses 1 - 30

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful

عَمَّ يَتَسَاءَلُونَ

‘‘Of what ask they one another?” (78:1).

عَنِ النَّبَإِ الْعَظِيمِ

‘‘Of the Great News1“ (78:2).

الَّذِي هُمْ فِيهِ مُخْتَلِفُونَ

‘‘That which they therein differ” (78:3).

كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ

‘‘Verily! they shall soon come to know” (78:4).

ثُمَّ كَلَّا سَيَعْلَمُونَ

‘‘Verily, Verily, they shall soon come to know” (78:5).

أَلَمْ نَجْعَلِ الْأَرْضَ مِهَادًا

‘‘What! Made We not the earth a wide expanse2? (78:6).

وَالْجِبَالَ أَوْتَادًا

‘‘And the mountains as bolts3?” (78:7).

وَخَلَقْنَاكُمْ أَزْوَاجًا

‘‘And We created you in pairs” (78:8).

وَجَعَلْنَا نَوْمَكُمْ سُبَاتًا

‘‘And cause your sleep a rest” (78:9).

وَجَعَلْنَا اللَّيْلَ لِبَاسًا

‘‘And caused the night a covering” (78:10).

وَجَعَلْنَا النَّهَارَ مَعَاشًا

‘‘And caused the day for (your) seeking livelihood” (78:11).

وَبَنَيْنَا فَوْقَكُمْ سَبْعًا شِدَادًا

‘‘And We have erected above you the seven4strong ones” (78:12).

وَجَعَلْنَا سِرَاجًا وَهَّاجًا

‘‘And We made therein a lamp5burning” (78:13).

وَأَنْزَلْنَا مِنَ الْمُعْصِرَاتِ مَاءً ثَجَّاجًا

‘‘And send We down from the clouds water in torrents” (78:14).

لِنُخْرِجَ بِهِ حَبًّا وَنَبَاتًا

‘‘That We may bring forth by it, corn and herbs” (78:15).

وَجَنَّاتٍ أَلْفَافًا

‘‘And gardens of thick foliage” (78:16).

إِنَّ يَوْمَ الْفَصْلِ كَانَ مِيقَاتًا

‘‘Verily the Day of Decision is a time appointed” (78:17).

يَوْمَ يُنْفَخُ فِي الصُّورِ فَتَأْتُونَ أَفْوَاجًا

‘‘The Day when the Trumpet shall be blown6, and ye shall come forth in (huge) groups” (78:18).

وَفُتِحَتِ السَّمَاءُ فَكَانَتْ أَبْوَابًا

‘‘And (they will find) the heaven opened, full of portals” (78:19).

وَسُيِّرَتِ الْجِبَالُ فَكَانَتْ سَرَابًا

‘‘And (they will find) the mountains set in motion7, as if they are a mere vapour8“ (78:20).

إِنَّ جَهَنَّمَ كَانَتْ مِرْصَادًا

‘‘Verily (they will find) the hell in waiting” (78:21).

لِلطَّاغِينَ مَآبًا

‘‘(Being) for the transgressors the destination” (78:22).

لَابِثِينَ فِيهَا أَحْقَابًا

‘‘To abide therein for ages9“ (78:23).

لَا يَذُوقُونَ فِيهَا بَرْدًا وَلَا شَرَابًا

‘‘They shall taste not therein any coolness nor any drink” (78:24).

إِلَّا حَمِيمًا وَغَسَّاقًا

‘‘Save boiling water and running pus” (78:25).

جَزَاءً وِفَاقًا

‘‘A recompense fitting10(their evils)!” (78:26).

إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا لَا يَرْجُونَ حِسَابًا

‘‘Verily they looked not forward to their reckoning” (78:27).

وَكَذَّبُوا بِآيَاتِنَا كِذَّابًا

‘‘And belied Our Signs with a (persistent) falsification” (78:28).

وَكُلَّ شَيْءٍ أَحْصَيْنَاهُ كِتَابًا

‘‘And everything have We recorded in a book11“ (78:29).

فَذُوقُوا فَلَنْ نَزِيدَكُمْ إِلَّا عَذَابًا

‘‘Taste ye then! And never will We increase for you aught but chastisement!” (78:30).

Commentary

Verse 1-2

‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ announcement of great importance - Some say it is the apostleship of the Holy Prophet about which the people differed in their views, for some said he was an apostle of God, while the others said he was a sorcerer and some others said he was a mad man. Some say, it is the announcement about the Day of Judgment. Some commentators say it is the Holy Qur’an12. Hafiz Abu Nayeem a Sunni Scholar in his book Hulyat al-Aulia says that the Holy Prophet said that by ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ is meant Ali Ibn Abu Talib and his succession to Apostolic office as the First Imam or the divinely chosen ‘Guide’ which fact was announced in Ghadir Khumm about which the people differed.

The Fifth Holy Imam Muhammad Ibn Ali-al-Baqir said by ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ is meant Ali Ibn Abu Talib. The same interpretation is given by the Holy Ahl Al-Bayt. Alqama says that on the day of the battle of Siffin, a man fully armed came out of the army of Mu’awiyah reciting this Surah. Ali went to him and asked him ‘‘Knowest thou the meaning of ‘Naba’ al-Adheem?” He said ‘‘No” Then Ali said, ‘‘Know thou, I am the ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’. It was about my position as the first divinely chosen successor to the Last Apostle of God that you doubted”.

A similar event took place on the’ day of the battle of Jamal at Basra when similarly, a man came out of Ayesha’s army reciting this Surah. Ali asked him if he knew the meaning of ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ and said, ‘‘Know thou I am the ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’” (MS.) Besides Amr Ibn Aas, a deadly enemy unable to resist the truth exposed it in a couplet about Ali saying: ‘‘He is the ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ and ‘Babullah’, (i.e., the Gate of God) - ‘‘This is a decisive word13‘‘.

Regarding the Great Message, News, Information, mentioned here and in 38:67 the commentators have suggested different views - saying, it refers to the Resurrection - the Qur’an, about the Apostleship, but a thorough study of the Holy Qur’an proves beyond doubt that though all the three views given above, are great and important and people held different view about each - viz. Some deny the Resurrection Day while some believed in it - Some deny Qur’an to be the revealed Word of God, while some believe in it. The same is the case with the prophethood of the Holy Prophet and that of the other prophets and the question of the existence and the Unity of God, is disputed, yet the controversy about these questions according to Qur’an, was confined only to the human circle and was not extended to the angelical realm, except the question of man’s capacity to represent God on the earth in exercising His authority. It was the question of man’s Vicegerency about which even the angels objected, though later they submitted, and Satan and all the Satanic forces refused to submit to His authority entirely.

Therefore, as here and also in 38:67, immediately after mentioning the Great ‘Naba’, i.e., News - it’s being disputed is mentioned, is the best evidence that the great ‘Naba’ is the ‘Khilafat al-llahia’, i.e., the Vicegerency of God, in the extent of the dispute no other religious questions can be compared with. Even people who have accepted all the fundamental articles of faith in Islam such as ‘Iman Billah’, i.e., Faith in God, the Revealed Scriptures and His apostle and the angels and the Resurrection Day, have failed in believing in the fact that God is always represented by a man on the earth who is the closest one to God by His Absolute submission (Abdiyat) and the closest one to each individual soul by virtue of annihilation of limitations and temporal tendencies. In short, the man who has attained the state of ‘Fana Fillah’ - The absolute absorption, ‘Baqia Billah’ (R al-asserting himself as entirely God’s instrument)14. Ali being the first man declared by the Qur’an and the Holy Prophet to be of this attainment and the holder of the Absolute Vicegerency of God (Khilafat and Wilayati Mutlaqa). Some commentators such as Mohi’uddin al-Arabi and others have suggested that the great news here and in 38:67 refers to ‘Wilayah’ or the Vicegerency of Ali-Ibn Abu Talib, and no wonder this is the Last Vital Test of man’s submission to God’s authority.

Thus, in verse 4 and 5, Qur’an assures that man shall come to realise about the importance of that news. In the subsequent verses forwards the process of creation as the evidence of the divine designs and the purposefulness of the creation which shall be achieved and the Resurrection, from which, can easily be inferred that such an important process of bringing up the matter from the lowest stage of its pr al-nebular form to the highest stage of the human form, cannot be without the ministry of a central entity as the medium between the Absolute and the finite realms, species and entities.

No society in its scientific sense is possible to take shape without a centre of gravitation as the medium and man the highest organism which is termed to be a microcosm is in process towards the resurrection which means a formation of a greater society wherein each man or a microcosm shall function as a part, cannot be left without a centre and the centre of every society is formed prior to the formation of its satellite. On this basis the Imamat or the Khilafat of man was started first and then the propagation of humanity followed and this Imamat will continue till the human society assumes its final form.

Thus, Ibn Arabi says: ‘‘The Resurrection Day and ‘Wilayati’ Ali are tiro different aspects of one reality” He is the Great News, and he is the Ark of Noah, he has confined in him, rather he is the embodiment of perfection in theory and practice. (A.P.)

Verse 3

This verse clarifies the meaning further. It is an undeniable historic fact that it was the announcement of the succession of Ali to the Holy Prophet made at Ghadir Khumm with which the people differed the most and also doubted if what the Holy Prophet did, was in fact at God’s command or at his own instance out of his love for Ali15. Relating the instance of Harith Ibn Nu’man al-Qahri questioning the Holy Prophet about the announcement he made at Ghadir about Ali and how he, at his own choice received the wrath of God16. What is said in this verse about the great announcement is true for even to this day the announcement made by the Holy Prophet about Ali succeeding him, is still the topic debated by some of the Muslims, although it is a historic fact acknowledged on all hands that the Holy Prophet acted only in response to the command from God17 at the announcement of which, Islam was declared by God. He Himself to have perfected the religion and the bounties of God to have been perfected and God having been pleased, Islam to be the religion of mankind18.

Verse 6

Refers to the surface of the earth on which things develop. (A.P.)

Verse 7

The existence of lofty mountains effects in changing the course of earthquake19. (A.P.)

Verse 12

Meaning20 strongly fixed in a fixed systematic constitution, without any defect or without any weakness to give way to any failure.

May refer the seven planets above the earth in comparison to their distance to the sun and it may also refer to the seven non-physical spheres beyond the material and the starred realms. (A.P.)

Verse 13

Reference is to the sun in the centre of the solar system21. This is a metaphorical reference to the Holy Prophet.

Verse 14

‘Mo’sirat’ the State when the cloud is transformed from a vapour into a liquid shower by the pressure of the temperature - Squeezing. (A.P.)

Verse 17

That day, the True and the False, the Good and the Bad, will be separated - Everything will be laid bare in its reality22.

Verse 18

The angel will be the one who will blow the Trumpet which will give effect to all the violent changes in the present state of existence, heralding the dawn of the day or the hour of the Final Judgment23. People will rise from their graves and run to report to the seat of judgment in hosts, under their respective religious leaders24.

Once when the Holy Prophet was in the house of Abu-Ayub Ansari, Ma’aaz Ibn Jabal asked him about the ‘Naba’ al-Adheem’ the Holy Prophet said, ‘‘Certainly it is a very great thing” Then with tears in his eyes continued: ‘‘Ma’aaz! Ten kinds of my followers will be presented for judgment:

  1. Some will be with the face of monkeys, and they will be the back-biters and the tale bearers.

  2. Some with the face of swine and they will be those who ate the forbidden things.

  3. Some walking on the heads and they will be the usurers who earned interest on their lendings.

  4. Some blind who have acted unjustly.

  5. Some deaf and dumb who had been proud of their righteous deeds.

  6. Some biting their tongues which will be hanging on their breasts with a liquid giving out the foulest smell, flowing out of their tongues which will be tormenting the people assembled there, and they will be unjust judges, the hypocrites among the ‘Ulema’, i.e., the scholars who preached piety and goodness to the others, but they themselves behaved otherwise, i.e., contrary to their own admonition to the others.

  7. Some with their hands and legs severed. They will be the ones who teased their neighbours.

  8. Some will be hanging on the gallows of fire, they will he the critics who sought the defects am! the shortcomings of the others.

  9. Some from whom will be coming out a very foul smell and they will he those who defying the limits of the law prescribed by God, in seeking enjoyment of their carnal desires and passions, the fulfilment of their selfish desires and those who obstructed the dispensation of the rights of others and depriving the others from getting their legitimate due.

  10. And some will be clad in the garments made of ‘Qataran’ a kind of oily matter which will be sticking to one another, and they will be the proud and the haughty ones.

It has already been given under the concerned verses that ‘Sour’ is plural of ‘Soorat’ the blow in the forms mean the time when everything will assume its final form and according to authentic traditions narrated by both schools of thought, that on the Resurrection Day, people will be grouped in accordance with their deeds and characters, formed in the present life and each group will assume the form after its character. Some will assume the form, worse than the form of swine and dogs and that shows the body in the hereafter will be the manifestation of the soul.

However, it has nothing to do with the doctrine of the Transmigration, i.e., the return of the departed soul to a physical body through r al-birth in this terrestrial realm. All these sorts of references in the Qur’an deal with the life hereafter which is beyond the terrestrial realm. (A.P.)

Verse 20

Mountain means something firm and stable. But when its moving and the transitory condition is realised, it appears that the idea of a mountain was only a mirage. (A.P.)

Verse 23

‘Ahqab’ is the plural of ‘Huqub’, and the Holy Prophet said that a ‘Huqub’ is the duration of Eighty and more years and each year of an especially long duration of thousands of years in the terms of our present calculations. The First Holy Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib was asked by Bilal as to the length of a ‘‘Huqub’ which is ordinarily taken and he replied, ‘‘that a Huqub is of Eighty years and each year of twelve months and each month of thirty days and each day of thousand years!” Then Ali said that ‘Huqub’ which will continue one after the other before those committed to hell are taken out of it.

About the duration of the stay in hell and heaven see 11:107 and 11:108.

The continuous chain of the ‘Ahqab’ is for the disbelievers who will never be out of the hellfire (MS.)

According to the Ahl Al-Bayt ‘Ahqab’ is for those who ultimately, will be released. (A.P.)

Verse 25

‘Ghussaq25’ is a liquid with intolerable foul smell.

Verse 27

They did not believe in the Day of Judgment and hence they hoped not to be called to account for their faith and their deeds.

Verse 28

They impudently ridiculed and belied the signs of God, called the truth as falsehood. They treated the admonition of the apostles and the holy ones with disdain and ridiculed and persecuted and martyred the apostles of God and their divinely commissioned deputies, i.e., the Holy Imams.

Verse 29

Every deed has been preserved in its exact originality which will itself speak out.

This Book and the Imam al-Mubeen in 36:12 and the Imam in 17:71 - are one and the same entity or two separable entities as already pointed out - thus they are well connected with the Great News here. (A.P.)

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