The great bounties of God to mankind, The Doom, The sufferings and the enjoyments awaiting for the wicked and righteous respectively

An-Nazi’aat Verses 27 – 46

أَأَنْتُمْ أَشَدُّ خَلْقًا أَمِ السَّمَاءُ ۚ بَنَاهَا

‘‘Are ye the harder to be created, or the heaven which built He1?” (79:27)

رَفَعَ سَمْكَهَا فَسَوَّاهَا

‘‘Raised He its heights and established2it” (79:28)

وَأَغْطَشَ لَيْلَهَا وَأَخْرَجَ ضُحَاهَا

‘‘And He darkened its night, and brought forth its noon light” (79:29)

وَالْأَرْضَ بَعْدَ ذَٰلِكَ دَحَاهَا

‘‘And the earth, afterwards he stretched forth” (79:30)

أَخْرَجَ مِنْهَا مَاءَهَا وَمَرْعَاهَا

‘‘He brought forth from it, its waters and its pasteurage” (79:31)

وَالْجِبَالَ أَرْسَاهَا

‘‘And the mountains, He set them firm” (79:32)

مَتَاعًا لَكُمْ وَلِأَنْعَامِكُمْ

‘‘A provision3for you and your cattle” (79:33)

فَإِذَا جَاءَتِ الطَّامَّةُ الْكُبْرَىٰ

‘‘When cometh the Great Calamity.4” (79:34)

يَوْمَ يَتَذَكَّرُ الْإِنْسَانُ مَا سَعَىٰ

“The day when man shall recollect5(all) that he strove for” (79:35)

وَبُرِّزَتِ الْجَحِيمُ لِمَنْ يَرَىٰ

“And the hell shall be displayed unto him who seeth” (79:36)

فَأَمَّا مَنْ طَغَىٰ

“Then, as for him who hath transgressed the bounds” (79:37)

وَآثَرَ الْحَيَاةَ الدُّنْيَا

“And preferreth the life of this world” (79:38)

فَإِنَّ الْجَحِيمَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ

“Then, verily, Hell, that shall be his abode” (79:39)

وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِ وَنَهَى النَّفْسَ عَنِ الْهَوَىٰ

“And as for him who feareth the standing6of his Lord, and forbiddeth (his) self from (following) his inclinations7“ (79:40)

فَإِنَّ الْجَنَّةَ هِيَ الْمَأْوَىٰ

“Then, verily, the Garden (of Paradise), that shall be his abode” (79:41)

يَسْأَلُونَكَ عَنِ السَّاعَةِ أَيَّانَ مُرْسَاهَا

“They ask thee of ‘the Hour’ whereto (is) anchorage8?” (79:42)

فِيمَ أَنْتَ مِنْ ذِكْرَاهَا

“Wherein art thou of its notion9?” (79:43)

إِلَىٰ رَبِّكَ مُنْتَهَاهَا

“Unto thy Lord (alone) is its termination!” (79:44)

إِنَّمَا أَنْتَ مُنْذِرُ مَنْ يَخْشَاهَا

“Thou (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) art only a Warner unto him who feareth it” (79:45)

كَأَنَّهُمْ يَوْمَ يَرَوْنَهَا لَمْ يَلْبَثُوا إِلَّا عَشِيَّةً أَوْ ضُحَاهَا

“It shall seem unto them, on the day when they see it, as though they tarried not in (their graves) but a (single) evening, or the following morning10“ (79:46)

Commentary

Verse 27

Man is reminded of his insignificant physical position in the universe. When the heavens with all their heavenly bodies will succumb to the will of the Lord and vanish at His will - of what consideration could be man who is nothing more than an insignificant germ in the set-up of the universe.

Verse 28

The mystery of the existence of the heavens and the wonderful heavenly bodies in them, with the perfection in their form and the perfect harmony, with which each one works with the other, was brought into existence by God, and is worked at His will.

Verse 30

‘Dab.’ here means further expansion11 of its surface long after the creation of the earth and the heavenly bodies. It may refer to the last layer of the earth which produces food for men and the animals. (A.P.)

Verse 31

The ready supply of water through the underground springs and wells and the wonderful arrangement of rain from heaven and the evaporation of the water from seas; all these are the unquestionable proofs of the Wisdom and Might of the Creator.

Verse 35

Every act and motive of evert one, will be laid bare to each individual to account for.

This confirms the awakening state referred to in in Verse 79:14 (A.P.).

Verse 37-39

Those who wilfully persisted in transgressing the prescribed limits, will have the abiding chastisement and those who were the victims of the common weakness in the human being and who yielded to the human frailty, will have to face the balancing of their evil with their goodness12.

Verse 40

Note the key to heaven and the blissful life therein, has been shown and that is the control of the self and refraining from low desires, abstaining from the forbidden.

Verse 43

The time limit in terms of the state of existence after life or on the Day of Judgment, is quite different from that of our calculation in the present life. God alone knows the extent or its duration. The whole matter lies in the will of the Lord13.

You are far away from grasping its ultimate significance. (A.P.)

Verse 44

The duty of an apostle of God ends with warning those who want to avail of the message and the admonition. No apostle of God is responsible for the conduct and character of the people.

It indicates that the whole system of universe is in motion and in the state of ever becoming. It is He to Whom the motion terminates. There is nothing in the whole system of the Universe to be termed eternal. Hence ‘Hudoose Zamani al-Aalam’, i.e., The universe being as a whole and past being created from naught. (A.P.)

Verse 45

None knows the extent of the passage of time14.

Verse 46

Refers to the last state of the awakening when the conscious self gets out of the bounds, time and space, the whole system of the four-dimensional state will appear to him and even less than a part of an ordinary day - to which Eqbal says: Referring to the stars addressing man - saying ‘‘Thy century unto Us is only a moment and thine Ocean unto Us is only a drop. We are seeing and passing”.

Qur’an says the day shall come - man will be in a position to say the same to the whole heavenly bodies. (A.P.)

• 1. Refer to: 2:29, 41:9-12.
• 2. Put in an established position.
• 3. Refer to: 80:32.
• 4. The day of final Judgment.
• 5. This confirms the awakening slate mentioned in Verse 79:14.
• 6. The justice.
• 7. Submitting to God’s will.
• 8. Refer to: 53:42, 7:187.
• 9. You are far away from grasping its ultimate significance. Refer to: 11:107, 11:108.
• 10. Refer to: 10:45.
• 11. Refer to: 2:29, 41:9-11.
• 12. See 101:6-9.
• 13. See 11:107, 11:108.
• 14. See 10:45.