ការបកប្រែអត្ថន័យគួរអាន - ការបកប្រែជាភាសាអង់គ្លេស - បណ្ឌិត វ៉ាលីទព្លីហាស្ហ អូម៉ើរី - កំពុងដំណើរការលើវា
لَهُۥ دَعۡوَةُ ٱلۡحَقِّۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَدۡعُونَ مِن دُونِهِۦ لَا يَسۡتَجِيبُونَ لَهُم بِشَيۡءٍ إِلَّا كَبَٰسِطِ كَفَّيۡهِ إِلَى ٱلۡمَآءِ لِيَبۡلُغَ فَاهُ وَمَا هُوَ بِبَٰلِغِهِۦۚ وَمَا دُعَآءُ ٱلۡكَٰفِرِينَ إِلَّا فِي ضَلَٰلٖ
[2888] This Call of Truth (daʿwatu al-ḥaqq) is said to be the very Declaration of Monotheism: “Lā ilāha illā Allāh (There is no god but Allah)”; He is the only One truly deserving worship (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). However, al-Wāḥidī (al-Basīṭ) says that, given the context and the comparison that follows with the prayers of the Deniers, the Call of Truth is collective for all the invocations, supplications and prayers that are rightfully addressed to God Almighty for answer. Essentially, he who turns to Him will never be let down, for God Almighty is Able over everything.
[2889] This imagery beautifully depicts the desperate state of the Deniers; their thirst will never be quenched (cf. al-Zamakhsharī, Abū al-Suʿūd, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
وَلِلَّهِۤ يَسۡجُدُۤ مَن فِي ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ طَوۡعٗا وَكَرۡهٗا وَظِلَٰلُهُم بِٱلۡغُدُوِّ وَٱلۡأٓصَالِ۩
[2890] After all the many Signs that have been expounded already, the debate with the Deniers comes to a head in this passage with the argumentative qul (Say!), by which the Messenger is directed to steer the argument, repeated no less than five times; this also highlights the clarity of evidence so far provided against the Deniers (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). It also equips the Messenger (ﷺ) with the defences to confront the barrage of criticism that was hurled at his call.
[2891] As much as invocation and prayers are a sign of need and acknowledgement, prostration is the greatest sign of submission to God Almighty (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[2892] The ‘unwilling’ (karhan, lit. forced) prostration is that of the Deniers who outwardly disdain God Almighty’s worship and their innate nature (fiṭrah) belies them (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar), they too being subject to the natural order of how things work in life (cf. Ibn Taymiyyah, Majmūʿ al-Fatāwā, 8: 49) and especially at times of hardship (cf. Tafsīr al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah). At times like these, they turn to God Almighty, to Whom belongs the ‘Call of Truth’: “And whenever affliction befalls you at sea, forgotten are those whom you would call upon, save for Him. Then when He has delivered you ˹safely˺ to land, you turn away; man is ever ungrateful!” (17: 67).
Ibn ʿUthaymīn further makes a distinction between two types of prostration: sujūd sharʿiyy (doctrinal prostration, i.e. prescribed by law) and sujūd qadariyy, i.e. that which is subjected to Divine Power. ‘Unwilling prostration’ falls squarely within this second category (Sharḥ Riyāḍ al-Ṣāliḥīn, 5: 442): “Would they seek other than the Religion of Allah while to Him devoutly submitted whoever is on Earth and the Heavens willingly and unwillingly—and to Him they shall return?” (3: 83).
[2893] This reflects the elongation and contraction of the shadows of concrete objects as the sun moves along its course during the different times of the day; a reflection which mimics that of standing up and prostrating. Though some people do not prostrate themselves willingly to God Almighty, being disdainful or busy prostrating to their false idols, their very own shadows bear constant witness to His rightfulness to being worshipped in spite of them (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “Have they not considered how the shadows of everything Allah has created incline to the right and the left ˹as the sun moves˺, prostrating to Allah in a state of abject humility? * And to Allah prostrates whatever is in the Heavens and whatever is on Earth of moving creatures, and the angels ˹as well˺; they do not wax arrogant!” (16: 48-49).
[2894] Given this sajdah sign, it is very significant to note that one is to, only all too ‘willingly’, prostrate oneself to God Almighty, which is the embodiment of one’s humbleness and devotion. Ibn ʿUmar (رضي الله عنه) said: “When the Prophet (ﷺ) used to recite the Qur’an, and come upon a sura in which there is prostration, he would prostrate and we would prostrate with him; some among us would not ˹even˺ find a place for his forehead” (Muslim: 575); ʿĀ’ishah (i) narrated that: “The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) used to say when prostrating while reading the Qur’an at night: “My face has prostrated to He Who created it and slit in it its hearing and sight with His Ability and Power (sajada wajhī li-lladhī khalaqahu wa shaqqa fīhi samʿahu wa baṣarahu bi-ḥawlihi wa quwatih)” (al-Tirmidhī: 580). In another hadith (al-Tirmidhī: 3424), the supplication said during such a prostration is: “O Allah, record for me this one as a reward, eliminate me with it a sin of mine, make it a deposit for me with You and accept it from me as You have accepted it from Your servant, Dāwūd (Allāhumma ktub lī bihā ʿindaka ajran, wa ḍaʿ ʿannī bihā wizran, wa jʿalhā lī ʿindaka dhukhran, wa taqabbalhā minnī kamā taqabbaltahā min ʿabdika Dāwūd)”.
قُلۡ مَن رَّبُّ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ قُلِ ٱللَّهُۚ قُلۡ أَفَٱتَّخَذۡتُم مِّن دُونِهِۦٓ أَوۡلِيَآءَ لَا يَمۡلِكُونَ لِأَنفُسِهِمۡ نَفۡعٗا وَلَا ضَرّٗاۚ قُلۡ هَلۡ يَسۡتَوِي ٱلۡأَعۡمَىٰ وَٱلۡبَصِيرُ أَمۡ هَلۡ تَسۡتَوِي ٱلظُّلُمَٰتُ وَٱلنُّورُۗ أَمۡ جَعَلُواْ لِلَّهِ شُرَكَآءَ خَلَقُواْ كَخَلۡقِهِۦ فَتَشَٰبَهَ ٱلۡخَلۡقُ عَلَيۡهِمۡۚ قُلِ ٱللَّهُ خَٰلِقُ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ وَهُوَ ٱلۡوَٰحِدُ ٱلۡقَهَّٰرُ
[2895] Amidst all these evidences against them, here is most clearly where the Qurayshite idolaters’ misconceptions about ‘Allah’ is set aright.
[2896] “They worship besides Allah that which neither harms nor benefits them and say: “These are our intercessors with Allah!” Say ˹Muhammad˺: “Are you informing Allah of that which He knows not neither in the Heavens nor in Earth? Glorified and exalted is He above all they Associate ˹with Him˺!” (10: 18).
[2897] Those who are being contrasted here are the Deniers who are ‘blind’ to the Truth and the Believers who can see it plainly for what it is (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2898] The expression al-ẓulumāt wa al-nūr (lit. darknesses and light) is quite recurrent throughout the Qur’an. ‘Darkness’ is invariably always found in the plural form (ẓulumāt) whilst ‘light’ is conversely always in the singular (al-nūr). Here they could mean both tangible and abstract darkness and light; ignorance, Association and sin as opposed to knowledge, Belief and obedience (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
[2899] There is no excuse for their Association to be found anywhere (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr). Their so-called ‘gods’ could not answer their prayers or do them good or harm, let alone perform such a great act as that of creation; utter darkness indeed is what they languish in: “O mankind! A parable is set forth, so hearken to it! Truly those upon whom you call apart from Allah will never create a fly, even if they gathered together to do so. And if the fly should rob them of aught, they could not rescue it from it; feeble are the seeker and the sought” (22: 73).
أَنزَلَ مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءٗ فَسَالَتۡ أَوۡدِيَةُۢ بِقَدَرِهَا فَٱحۡتَمَلَ ٱلسَّيۡلُ زَبَدٗا رَّابِيٗاۖ وَمِمَّا يُوقِدُونَ عَلَيۡهِ فِي ٱلنَّارِ ٱبۡتِغَآءَ حِلۡيَةٍ أَوۡ مَتَٰعٖ زَبَدٞ مِّثۡلُهُۥۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَضۡرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡحَقَّ وَٱلۡبَٰطِلَۚ فَأَمَّا ٱلزَّبَدُ فَيَذۡهَبُ جُفَآءٗۖ وَأَمَّا مَا يَنفَعُ ٱلنَّاسَ فَيَمۡكُثُ فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِۚ كَذَٰلِكَ يَضۡرِبُ ٱللَّهُ ٱلۡأَمۡثَالَ
[2900] Here is where ‘wheat is separated from the chaff’, figuratively. Truth being of ‘real substance’ and use runs deep and stays put but falsehood, being superficial and at surface level, no sooner bubbles away and it is gone!
[2901] The example of the knowledge and guidance that God Almighty sent down to the hearts of people is that of water which pours down from the sky. The hearts that carry these are like valleys; some are wide and great while others are narrow and small (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr).
[2902] Zabad (also called ghuthā’ and raghwah, cf. al-Shawkānī) is the froth/scum that floats on the surface of flooding water. The example given here is that of Truth and falsehood. Truth is the water that stays put and people benefit from it, whereas falsehood is the dispensable scum, jetsam, which soon dissolves and disappears (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz).
[2903] That is, the different minerals (gold, silver, copper, iron, etc.) that people set fire on to be able to form it into different ornaments and utensils. This process results in the surface removal of impurities (the zabad, scum of slag) in these minerals which are then discarded leaving only the ‘pure’ substance (cf. al-Baghawī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shawkānī).
لِلَّذِينَ ٱسۡتَجَابُواْ لِرَبِّهِمُ ٱلۡحُسۡنَىٰۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ لَمۡ يَسۡتَجِيبُواْ لَهُۥ لَوۡ أَنَّ لَهُم مَّا فِي ٱلۡأَرۡضِ جَمِيعٗا وَمِثۡلَهُۥ مَعَهُۥ لَٱفۡتَدَوۡاْ بِهِۦٓۚ أُوْلَٰٓئِكَ لَهُمۡ سُوٓءُ ٱلۡحِسَابِ وَمَأۡوَىٰهُمۡ جَهَنَّمُۖ وَبِئۡسَ ٱلۡمِهَادُ
[2904] al-Ḥusnā (lit. the best ˹reward˺) is good reward in this life and Paradise in the Hereafter (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “For those who do the best ˹of deeds˺ is the best ˹reward˺ and more” (10: 26).
[2905] “Those who Deny and die as Deniers, ˹as much as˺ Earth’s fill of gold will not be accepted from any of them, even if he were to ransom himself with it—for those is a painful Punishment and they will have no helpers” (3: 91).
[2906] Sū’ al-ḥisāb is ‘the worst of calling to account’ on the Day of Judgement; wherein they will be held accountable for all their sins both major and minor, of which they will be forgiven none. Their good deeds will not be accepted from them and they will be asked about their minutest misdeeds (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī): “And the Book ˹of deeds˺ will be laid ˹open˺, and you will see the criminal in fear of what is ˹recorded˺ in it. They will say: “Woe to us! What kind of Book is this that does not leave any sin, small or large, unaccounted for?” They will find whatever they did present ˹before them˺; your Lord will never wrong anyone” (18: 49).
[2907] “Say to the Deniers: “You shall be overpowered and herded to Hellfire—indeed it is the worst of beds!” (3: 12)
