Surah At-Tariq - The Nightly Visitant
(Revealed at Mecca)
17 Verses in 1 Section
Sections of Surah At-Tariq
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Man reminded of his Origin.
At-Tariq – Man Reminded Of His Origin
Let man to reflect upon his own Origin, God is well able to resurrect man, Qur’an a Decisive Word, The disbelievers’ plot, God also plans, The disbelievers respited.
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
“In the name of God the Beneficent the Merciful”
وَالسَّمَاءِ وَالطَّارِقِ
“By the heaven and the Nightly Visitant” (86:1)
وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ
“What will let thee know what the Nightly Visitant is?” (86:2)
النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ
“(It is) the Star of piercing radiance” (86:3)
إِنْ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ
“There is not a soul is set a Watcher1“ (86:4)
فَلْيَنْظُرِ الْإِنْسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ
“Let man then reflect, of what he is created” (86:5)
خُلِقَ مِنْ مَاءٍ دَافِقٍ
“He is created a water (drop) ejected” (86:6)
يَخْرُجُ مِنْ بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ
“Coming forth from between the backbone and the ribs2“ (86:7)
إِنَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ
“Verily, He is Well-Able to resurrect him3“ (86:8)
يَوْمَ تُبْلَى السَّرَائِرُ
“On the day when all things hidden shall be tried” (86:9)
فَمَا لَهُ مِنْ قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ
“Then for him shall not be any power, and nor any helper” (86:10)
وَالسَّمَاءِ ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ
“By the heaven endued with rotation” (86:11)
وَالْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ
“And by the earth endued splitting4“ (86:12)
إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ
“Verily, it (the Qur’an) is a decisive word” (86:13)
وَمَا هُوَ بِالْهَزْلِ
“And it is not a jest” (86:14)
إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا
“Verily scheme they (against the truth), a scheme” (86:15)
وَأَكِيدُ كَيْدًا
“And I too do scheme (against them), a scheme” (86:16)
فَمَهِّلِ الْكَافِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًا
“So respite thou the disbelievers; let them alone a while” (86:17)
Commentary
Verse 1
The mention of the Night-visitant is a mystic expression. There are various interpretations of the word ‘Tariq’. Some take it to be a particular star, some say it is the Morning Star, some say Sirius, and some take it to be the star in general for the stars shine in the nights, all through the year.
‘Tariq’ lit. Hammering - figuratively has been used for a visitor at night who knocks at the door by a hammer hanging at it. Furthermore, it has been used for a constant traveller who hammers or tramples the ground at the time. Here as expressed in Verse 3, is used to mean a piercing or shining star. According to a tradition from the Ahl Al-Bayt it refers to a star which traverses all the seven spheres above, one after another and returns, which means, it crosses all the orbits of the planets. Thus, it could be true only of a comet which crosses all orbits, and in this sense, it can be applied figuratively to the Holy Prophet whose piercing and radiating mind, traverse all the spheres of the Universe, physical and spiritual.
Vide verse 4, The Holy Prophet with his penetrating and piercing spirit, would be over-all vigilant, over and above every soul. This is in conformity with all the verses of Qur’an which assert the Holy Prophet as a Universal Witness over all witnesses5. (A.P.)
Verse 2
The query itself suggests the mystic nature of the reference and meaning of it having been kept a secret, and all interpretations being mere conjectures.
Verse 4
It is only said that it is the star of piercing brightness. It is not said which star - for it is a figurative reference to the great personality. Some commentators take the reference to the First Holy Imam Ali Ibn Abu Talib, for he used to get in communion with the Lord in getting himself absorbed in the All-Divine, in his prayers that Salman and the others had more than once taken him even to be dead. Besides, Ali used to get out in the night enquiring about the needs of the poor and the helpless and help them. It is said that even soul has been preserved or guarded or protected by a number of angels, but for this grace of the Lord no soul would be able to escape the various kinds of the calamities which the body and the soul faces in this world.
The First Holy Imam Ali says, ‘‘It is no wonder if a man dies, it is a wonder, how he is kept alive for so many are the dangers to his existence for there are in every element, things which can cause his death - Man is living amidst innumerable dangers and yet he is kept alive. It is nothing but God’s will that makes man live or die”
Verse 6
The sperm issued from between the back and the ribs6.
Verse 7
The stimulant for the discharge of the matter is generated in the brain and is conveyed through the spinal cord, continued with the Medulla Oblongata. The kidneys thus pissing from the back from between the ribs and the hip bones.
The ejected water referred to here, with a mention of backbone (the Spinal Cord) and ribs evidently refers to the part which the breast and the spinal cord play a joint role in the process of the meeting of the sperm and the ovum which result in the formation of the embryo. (A.P.)
Verse 8
See 85:12, 36:77-82, particularly 36:81 wherein is given the greatest argument ‘‘What! Is not He who created the heavens and earth, able to create the like of them? Yes, He, is the Creator (of all) the Knower.’
He who created the physical body with all its Psychic forces with the wonderful harmony in the working of the various kinds of forces, can bring back the same at His will.
God who caused the union of the sperm and the ovum out of which the most complicated form of an organic being comes into evidence, is naturally able to make a higher complicated soul to proceed towards its Maker by undergoing trial after trial to unfold the possibilities endowed in it. (A.P.)
Verse 9
When asked what are the secrets that will be disclosed, the Holy Prophet said ‘‘All your deeds good and bad, open and hidden” (MS.)
Verse 10
On the Day of Judgment, which will be the day of reality and truth, none shall have any help from anyone else. Everybody for himself. None shall bear the burden of the other7.
Verse 11
‘Raj’, i.e., return. Here the return of the same action or function again and again in a prescribed order or cycle - the return of the monsoonic functions and their relevant changes in the working of the heavenly bodies and the consequent effects on the earth. Though the Firmament above, is always the same yet the change in its function takes place quietly, secretly, smoothly and regularly without any voice of anyone else in the matter save the will of the Almighty Author of the Universe. The revolving and the change in the activities of the heavenly bodies, goes on constantly and it is ever true to its Centre.
It indicates the rotational and revolutionary nature of the heavenly bodies. (A.P.)
Verse 12
The earth is made amenable to opening itself or yielding to the gushing out of the springs and the sprouting of the vegetation, necessary for every kind of life on earth.
Refers to the recipiency and the productivity of the earth. (A.P.)
Verse 13
The Holy Qur’an is the Final Word of God, complete and perfect to be current for all times until the end of the world for the human race as a whole.
Verse 14
It is not a collection of mere tales of the ancient people as imagined by the disbelievers8.
Verse 15
It is a reference to the scheming activities among the disbelievers and the hypocrites. The immediate reference is said to be to what the pagans of Mecca did, in their preparation for the battle of Badr. But the reference has the common application also that the disbelievers will always exert to the utmost, plotting to thwart the spread of the truth or to make it totally extinct.
God undertakes to Himself to fight the disbelievers and hypocrites, i.e., the enemies of the truth. This indicates the continuous effort against Islam and the perpetual help from God, to save and spread it9.
Verse 17
Thus, the disbelievers and the wicked ones, are granted a respite. It is the mercy of the Lord that has given a chance for those who reject the truth to reconsider their decision and amend it. At the end, their doom shall overtake them and bring everyone to account individually for each, of the good and the evil, even the motives as well as the deeds.
