ការបកប្រែអត្ថន័យគួរអាន - ការបកប្រែជាភាសាអង់គ្លេស - បណ្ឌិត វ៉ាលីទព្លីហាស្ហ អូម៉ើរី - កំពុងដំណើរការលើវា
وَيَسۡتَعۡجِلُونَكَ بِٱلسَّيِّئَةِ قَبۡلَ ٱلۡحَسَنَةِ وَقَدۡ خَلَتۡ مِن قَبۡلِهِمُ ٱلۡمَثُلَٰتُۗ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَذُو مَغۡفِرَةٖ لِّلنَّاسِ عَلَىٰ ظُلۡمِهِمۡۖ وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَشَدِيدُ ٱلۡعِقَابِ
[2863] This just shows the utter disregard with which they treated the Message (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “˹Mention Muhammad˺ When they ˹the Deniers˺ said: “O Allah, if this is the Truth from You, then rain on us stones from the sky or bring us a painful punishment!” (8: 32)
[2864] The Qurayshites had many of the ruins of previous, much more prosperous, nations all around them, which the Qur’an always points out to them: “Verily You ˹Makkans˺ pass by their ruins morning *and night. Will you not use your reason?” (37: 137-138). They could also see many more of these majestic ruins, especially those of the wealthy Nabateans in Hegra (al-Ḥijr) and Petra (al-Batrā’) respectively, during their famed winter and summer journeys (cf. 106: 2); “Have they not travelled throughout the land to see what was the end of those ˹destroyed˺ before them? They were far superior in might; they cultivated the land and developed it more than these ˹Makkans˺ ever have. Their Messengers came to them with clear proofs. Allah would have never wronged them, but it was they who wronged themselves” (30:9).
The fact that they fully knew about what befell other nations before them when they Denied is called to attention three times in this sura; here and in Ayas 30 and 42 (at the beginning, middle and end of the sura). Among the many rational arguments and irrevocable facts that where presented before them, they were also shown the fate of the Deniers of the Truth before them as ‘social proof’ and yet they still would not heed!
[2865] This replies to their request about why God Almighty does not hasten evil on them; rain stones on them from the sky or bring about a painful punishment on their heads (cf. 8: 32). That their punishment is delayed is not a sign of the incapacity of the warner, Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), but rather of the boundless Mercy of His Lord, Who wants them to reason and repent (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “If they call you a liar then say ˹Muhammad to them˺: “Your Lord is of vast Mercy and His affliction is never to be warded off away from the criminal people” (6: 147).
وَيَقُولُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ لَوۡلَآ أُنزِلَ عَلَيۡهِ ءَايَةٞ مِّن رَّبِّهِۦٓۗ إِنَّمَآ أَنتَ مُنذِرٞۖ وَلِكُلِّ قَوۡمٍ هَادٍ
[2866] This is yet another cause for wonder; their asking for a ‘sign’ while they had already been amply presented with many Signs, both Qur’anic and cosmic, given that Signs are all the same in proving the Truthfulness of the Message (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar).
[2867] Āyah (sign) means a miracle here (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “And they ˹the Makkan Deniers˺ say: “We shall not Believe in you ˹Muhammad˺ till you make a spring gush forth for us from the ground; *or till you have a garden of date palms and grapevines, and you make streams gush forth in the midst of it; *or till you make the sky fall upon us in pieces, as you have claimed, or you bring Allah and the angels before us; *or till you have a house of gold ornament, or you ascend to Heaven. And we shall not Believe in your ascension till you bring down unto us a book we can read”. Say: “Glory be to my Lord! Am I aught but a human being, a Messenger?” (17: 90-93)
[2868] That is, a Messenger not a miracle worker! (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr)
[2869] The sending of Messengers is mainly meant to invite people to look at evidences (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “We surely sent a Messenger to every nation ˹saying˺: “Worship Allah and shun false idols!” Some of them were guided by Allah, while among them were ˹others˺ whom misguidedness was their rightful lot” (16: 36).
ٱللَّهُ يَعۡلَمُ مَا تَحۡمِلُ كُلُّ أُنثَىٰ وَمَا تَغِيضُ ٱلۡأَرۡحَامُ وَمَا تَزۡدَادُۚ وَكُلُّ شَيۡءٍ عِندَهُۥ بِمِقۡدَارٍ
[2870] In this passage and the next two the Makkan pagans’ misconception about ‘Allah’ is set aright; so that they may let go of their ‘yokes’ and gain a new perspective on the Message. Here God Almighty’s (سبحانه وتعالى) Omniscience is the focal point.
[2871] God Knows what each and every female, human and otherwise, carries in her womb: the fetus’s gender, physical characteristics, fortune and fate in life, etc. (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “Indeed nothing, neither in Earth nor in the Heavens, is hidden from Allah. *He is the One Who forms you in ˹your mothers’˺ wombs as He wills – there is no god but Him, the All-Prevailing, All-Wise” (3: 5-6).
ʿAbdullāh Ibn Masʿūd (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Messenger (ﷺ) said: “Each of you is gathered in his mother’s belly for forty days, then he becomes a clinging clot ˹of blood˺ for as much ˹i.e. forty days˺, then he becomes a lump of flesh for as much ˹i.e. forty days˺. Then Allah sends an angel with four words ˹and˺ he records his ˹the fetus’s˺ deeds, lifespan, provision of sustenance, and whether fortunate or unfortunate. Then he blows the soul into it ˹i.e. the fetus˺” (al-Bukhārī: 3332; Muslim: 2643).
[2872] That is, what swells up and subsides in the wombs, these most secret loci of creation, especially, the volume of the fetus and the duration of pregnancy. The ‘receding/decrease’ is in, among other things, the number of fetuses, the limbs and size of the fetus and the duration of pregnancy or whether the baby is born prematurely. Conversely, the ‘increase’ is in all these and whether the duration of pregnancy lasts longer than what is naturally the case (cf. Ibn al-Qayyim, Tuḥfat al-Mawdūd bi Aḥkām al-Mawlūd, p. 268, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān). Yet, most exegetes agree that the decrease and increase are in the duration of pregnancy (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wasīṭ).
[2873] Given the context exegetes see this as referring to the duration of pregnancy, which also indicates that nothing goes beyond or falls short of its stated limit (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Rāzī, Abū Ḥayyān). In a way, it reflects on the timing of punishment which the Deniers challengingly were in a hurry for. This is supported by the fact mentioned in the closing of this thematic unit, Aya 11 below.
عَٰلِمُ ٱلۡغَيۡبِ وَٱلشَّهَٰدَةِ ٱلۡكَبِيرُ ٱلۡمُتَعَالِ
سَوَآءٞ مِّنكُم مَّنۡ أَسَرَّ ٱلۡقَوۡلَ وَمَن جَهَرَ بِهِۦ وَمَنۡ هُوَ مُسۡتَخۡفِۭ بِٱلَّيۡلِ وَسَارِبُۢ بِٱلنَّهَارِ
[2874] The statement of this fact here, as also the next, implicates the Makkan Deniers, essentially warning them that their evil plotting does not go unnoticed (Ibn ʿĀshūr): “Keep your speech secret or proclaim it; truly He knows what lies within chests. *Does He Who created not Know—He is the Most Subtle, All-Knower!” (67: 13-14)
[2875] “Nay, but they bend their chests to hide from it. Nay, but when they cloak themselves in their garments, He Knows what they conceal and what they reveal—He is Knowledgeable of what the chests hide” (11: 5).
لَهُۥ مُعَقِّبَٰتٞ مِّنۢ بَيۡنِ يَدَيۡهِ وَمِنۡ خَلۡفِهِۦ يَحۡفَظُونَهُۥ مِنۡ أَمۡرِ ٱللَّهِۗ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُغَيِّرُ مَا بِقَوۡمٍ حَتَّىٰ يُغَيِّرُواْ مَا بِأَنفُسِهِمۡۗ وَإِذَآ أَرَادَ ٱللَّهُ بِقَوۡمٖ سُوٓءٗا فَلَا مَرَدَّ لَهُۥۚ وَمَا لَهُم مِّن دُونِهِۦ مِن وَالٍ
[2876] That is, the human, thus referring to the state in which he is depicted in the previous aya, i.e. being secretive or open about his thoughts (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Zajjāj, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2877] These are the angels tasked with each human; they alternate and take day and night shifts (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar). Min bayni yadayhi wa min khalfihi (lit. from between his hands and from his behind) could mean either from these two sides exclusively (cf. al-Ṭabarī) or from all sides with the front and back implying the other sides (cf. al-Shawkānī, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
Ibn Kathīr gives some details and further explains that each person has angels who keep alternating day and night shifts over him. There are four in each shift: one from the front and another from the back protecting him from evil, and one from the right keeping record of his good deeds and another on the left side recording his misdeeds: “When the two receivers ˹i.e. angels˺ receive, seated on the right and on the left” (50: 17).
[2878] Yaḥfaẓūnahu could mean either to guard and protect, i.e. what are referred to here are the guardian angels which is the more generally agreed meaning (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Wasīṭ); and/or to keep record of a person’s deeds (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2879] But when it is time for this cover of protection to be lifted, these guardian angels will no longer intervene (cf. Ibn Abī Zamanīn, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz, al-Baghawī).
[2880] As long as people are aware of God’s Grace on them and are dutifully thankful to Him, God Almighty will not show them other than mercy, and vice versa (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Saʿdī, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān): “That for Allah would never alter a favour He bestows on a ˹certain˺ people until they alter what is in themselves—verily Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. *˹Just˺ like the habitual ways of the people of Pharaoh and those ˹who came˺ before them; they rejected the Signs of their Lord and We destroyed them for their sins and We drowned the people of Pharaoh; they all were unjust” (8: 53-54).
[2881] All what has been said in this passage, amounts to a warning to the Qurayshites, who rebuffed the Message and treated it with nothing but ridicule, that the great bounty that God shows them (cf. Sura 106) is not an earned right but is given only out of God Almighty’s boundless Mercy to His servants. They have to do their best to earn it, i.e. Believe in the Message (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). But, if they persist in Denial, then let them not be fooled by the respite they are given, for Allah’s Command can come at any minute.
هُوَ ٱلَّذِي يُرِيكُمُ ٱلۡبَرۡقَ خَوۡفٗا وَطَمَعٗا وَيُنشِئُ ٱلسَّحَابَ ٱلثِّقَالَ
[2882] This passage carries on and builds upon the threatening note found in the previous passage, but further reinforces it.
[2883] “In fear” of being hit by thunderbolts and “˹hopeful˺ anticipation” for rain (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr). Such is the subtlety of God Almighty’s Wisdom where one thing both instigates fear and sparks hope (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar); no one knows whether an eventuality turns out to be for better or for worse.
[2884] The clouds that are floating above our heads like balloons filled with helium are not weightless but rather very heavy. Researchers have calculated that the average cumulus cloud - which is that nice, white fluffy kind you see on a sunny day - weighs an incredible 500,000 kg (or 1.1 million pounds!) (cf. https://www.usgs.gov/special-topic/water-science-school/science/how-much-does-a-cloud-weigh?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects): “We will show them Our Signs in the horizons and in themselves, so that they may realize that it is the Truth!” (41: 53).
Not less impressive is the detailed description of how clouds are formed, a scientific fact which was only recently discovered with all the sophisticated equipment that the wonder of modern technology has made available to humans: “Do you not see that Allah gently drives the clouds, then joins them together, piling them up into masses, from which you see raindrops come forth? And He sends down from the sky mountains ˹of clouds˺ loaded with hail, pouring it on whoever He wills and averting it from whoever He wills. The flash of its lightning nearly takes away eyesight” (24: 43).
وَيُسَبِّحُ ٱلرَّعۡدُ بِحَمۡدِهِۦ وَٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ مِنۡ خِيفَتِهِۦ وَيُرۡسِلُ ٱلصَّوَٰعِقَ فَيُصِيبُ بِهَا مَن يَشَآءُ وَهُمۡ يُجَٰدِلُونَ فِي ٱللَّهِ وَهُوَ شَدِيدُ ٱلۡمِحَالِ
[2885] “Glorify Him the seven Heavens and the Earth and whatever is there in them; there is not a ˹single˺ thing but glorifies in gratitude to Him, but you ˹people˺ discern not their glorification!” (17: 44).
[2886] ʿAbdullāh Ibn al-Zubayr (رضي الله عنه) used to hold off from talking once he heard thunder and would say: ““Thunder glorifies Him in Gratitude and the angels out of fear of Him!” This threat to the people of Earth is formidable indeed!” (Quoted in al-Baghawī.)
[2887] al-Miḥāl is sematically complex; it means seizure, punishment, destruction, power and also scheming (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, Ibn Qutaibah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt).
