ការបកប្រែអត្ថន័យគួរអាន - ការបកប្រែជាភាសាអង់គ្លេស - បណ្ឌិត វ៉ាលីទព្លីហាស្ហ អូម៉ើរី - កំពុងដំណើរការលើវា
وَلَقَدۡ جَعَلۡنَا فِي ٱلسَّمَآءِ بُرُوجٗا وَزَيَّنَّٰهَا لِلنَّٰظِرِينَ
[3112] The ‘sign/miracle’ they were asking after, which they would still have denied, is not, by any means, the only sign that the universe is full of, but to which they are still mindless (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah).
[3113] Burūj (sing, burj) is a polysemous word. Here, it means the positions of celestial bodies. The word is derived from the rise and conspicuousness of a thing; positions of celestial bodies are called burūj because they are high and clear to the sight (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). It also means towers/edifices (cf. 4: 78).
[3114] Those whose hearts are perceptive enough to be full of awe of God’s wonderful creation and are led by that to Believe in the Oneness and Ability of the Creator (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shawkānī): “Have they not looked at the sky above them; how We have built it, adorned it and that it is ˹faultless˺ without loopholes!” (50: 6).
وَحَفِظۡنَٰهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيۡطَٰنٖ رَّجِيمٍ
[3115] This so that they would not eavesdrop on the Highest Assembly (al-mala’ al-aʿlā; the angels that are in the Heavens (cf. al-Saʿdī, al-Tafsīr Muḥarrar)) who talk about news in the Heavens (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr). This is so that the Reminder (the Qur’an, as in Aya 9 above) is protected against their confounding whisperings and the lies they drop in the ears of their allied soothsayers (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr). “˹The Jinn said:˺ And we touched the sky and found it filled up with formidable guards and comets. *We had used to take seats in it for listening, but whoever listens now, will get himself a comet in ready waiting!” (72: 8-9).
إِلَّا مَنِ ٱسۡتَرَقَ ٱلسَّمۡعَ فَأَتۡبَعَهُۥ شِهَابٞ مُّبِينٞ
[3116] Abū Hurayrah (رضي الله عنه) narrated that the Prophet (ﷺ) said: “When Allah decrees an affair in the Heavens, the angels fold their wings in submission to His Saying, ˹which sounds˺ like a chain hitting a hard rock. When their hearts regain consciousness, they would say: “What did your Lord say?” They say to the one who asked: “The Truth. He is the Most High, the Grand!” The eavesdroppers hear it ˹What Allah said˺ and these are like this, one above the other. The comet may hit the eavesdropper and burn him before he throws it down to his companion. It may not hit him and he drops it to the one after him, and the lower one until they drop it to Earth where it gets dropped in the mouth of the sorcerer and he mixes it with a hundred lies. He gets believed in. People would say: “Did he not tell us that on day so and so, such and such a thing will happen and we found it truthful!” That because of the word he heard from the Heavens!” (al-Bukhārī: 4701).
وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ مَدَدۡنَٰهَا وَأَلۡقَيۡنَا فِيهَا رَوَٰسِيَ وَأَنۢبَتۡنَا فِيهَا مِن كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ مَّوۡزُونٖ
[3117] Now the terrestrial signs, closer to home, are dealt with (cf. al-Rāzī).
[3118] “He Who made the land a carpet” (2: 22).
[3119] Part of making Earth habitable is that its crust is maintained with stabilizing mountains (cf. al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr): “He cast into Earth firmly-set ˹stabilizers˺ – lest it should shift with you” (16: 15); “We made in it ˹Earth˺ soaring firmly-set ˹stabilizers˺”. (77: 27)
[3120] A well-calculated measure in balance with the needs of all creatures (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar) as per God Almighty’s infinite wisdom (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Muḥarrar): “Everything with Him is in ˹precise˺ measure!” (13: 8); “The making of Allah Who perfected everything!” (27: 88).
وَجَعَلۡنَا لَكُمۡ فِيهَا مَعَٰيِشَ وَمَن لَّسۡتُمۡ لَهُۥ بِرَٰزِقِينَ
[3121] The children, servants and livestock that one is blessed with and for whom only God Almighty, not their so-called masters, furnishes their provisions (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Wāḥidī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
وَإِن مِّن شَيۡءٍ إِلَّا عِندَنَا خَزَآئِنُهُۥ وَمَا نُنَزِّلُهُۥٓ إِلَّا بِقَدَرٖ مَّعۡلُومٖ
[3122] The keys and troves of everything (provisions and livelihoods, destinations, rain, etc.) are with God Almighty. He is the Owner of everything and He is Able over it coming into being whenever He wishes. There is a precisely calculated measure in which it gets sent to Earth (cf. al-Qurṭubī, al-Shawkānī, al-Saʿdī): “Had Allah given abundant provisions to His servants, they would have certainly transgressed throughout the land. But He sends down whatever He wills in perfect measure—He is truly All-Aware, All-Seeing of His servants” (42: 27).
وَأَرۡسَلۡنَا ٱلرِّيَٰحَ لَوَٰقِحَ فَأَنزَلۡنَا مِنَ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَآءٗ فَأَسۡقَيۡنَٰكُمُوهُ وَمَآ أَنتُمۡ لَهُۥ بِخَٰزِنِينَ
[3123] Winds, by the grace of God Almighty, pollinate clouds and thus help generate the water that the clouds carry (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Qurṭubī).
[3124] No matter what people used to do, they could hardly preserve fresh water, this most precious resource, had it not been for the favour of God Almighty (cf. Ibn Abī Zamanīn, al-Rāzī, al-Saʿdī, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar): “And We sent water in due measure and lodged it in the ground––We have the power to take it all away if We so wish!” (23: 18); “Say: “Have you considered: if your water was to become ˹deeply˺ sunken ˹into the ground˺, then who ˹besides Allah˺ could bring you flowing water?”” (67: 30).
وَإِنَّا لَنَحۡنُ نُحۡيِۦ وَنُمِيتُ وَنَحۡنُ ٱلۡوَٰرِثُونَ
[3125] The water which is sent down by God Almighty to give life and whose reserves are with Him, is a subtle reminder to the Deniers of God’s Ability over life and death. A fact which is plainly stated here (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[3126] None will remain except God Almighty after all the creatures on Earth have perished and He will come to ‘inherit’ it and them (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Shawkānī): “Verily, We Who shall inherit the Earth and whoever is on it and to us they shall return!” (19: 40); “All who are on it shall perish *and there remains the Face of your Lord—the Full of Glory, the Boundlessly Generous!” (55: 26-27).
وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا ٱلۡمُسۡتَقۡدِمِينَ مِنكُمۡ وَلَقَدۡ عَلِمۡنَا ٱلۡمُسۡتَـٔۡخِرِينَ
[3127] As much as God Almighty’s Ability is infinite, His Knowledge is boundless. He keeps record of everything and has knowledge of those who have died since the creation of Adam, the father of humanity, and all those that will come to die until the Day of Judgement (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar).
وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ هُوَ يَحۡشُرُهُمۡۚ إِنَّهُۥ حَكِيمٌ عَلِيمٞ
[3128] There is no escaping Him. The One Who gives life and causes death, and has a record of every soul that has died since the first creation of humans, is Able to gather them for Judgement (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Zamakhsharī, al-Baiḍāwī).
وَلَقَدۡ خَلَقۡنَا ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِن صَلۡصَٰلٖ مِّنۡ حَمَإٖ مَّسۡنُونٖ
[3129] This passage, which only after they have been told of their future reminds people of the origin of their creation (cf. Abū Ḥayyān), brings home two messages: that true submission to the will of God is best reflected in unquestioning obedience and that Satan, the sworn archenemy of humans, will stop at nothing to divert them away from the Straight Path, and that only the truly devout servants of God will be spared from him.
[3130] This is the most detailed description of the substance from which the father of humanity, Adam, was created to be found in the Qur’an. It is ṣalṣāl, i.e. clay that has been left to ferment and turn hard so that it clinks when tapped on (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Baiḍāwī, al-Saʿdī); ḥama’, i.e. transformed, blackened clay (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr); masnūn, i.e. the smell of which has tuned foul and/or been left for some time for these alternations to take place (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, al-Saʿdī, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
Note that this exact description is repeated three times in the course of this short passage, so as to draw attention to God’s infinite Ability of creation in making such a magnificent being out of such a lowly substance (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). But it could also be to highlight that what is to be obeyed with true humbleness is the Command of God Almighty itself no matter what misgivings one finds in oneself about it. This is what the Makkans found in themselves, thus they ‘ridiculed’ the Messenger (ﷺ), especially for being a poor orphan despite his most noble lineage: “And when those who Denied see you ˹Muhammad˺ they take you not except in ridicule, ˹saying˺: “Is this the one who insults your gods?”” (21: 36); “And they said: “Why was this Quran not sent down to a great man from one of the two towns?” (43: 31). They, thus, followed in the footsteps of Satan about whose rebelliousness against God’s Command, essentially for the same reason, we are told about here. They were oblivious to the magnificent thing that was to come out of the Message.
وَٱلۡجَآنَّ خَلَقۡنَٰهُ مِن قَبۡلُ مِن نَّارِ ٱلسَّمُومِ
[3131] By comparison, we are told here about the substance of Satan’s creation by way of prelude as to how the enmity started between him and his offspring, on the one hand, and Adam and his offspring on the other (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[3132] al-Jānnu, is Satan, the father of the jinn, who hides (yajinnu) from seeing eyes (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Muyassar, al-Tafsīr al-Muḥarrar).
[3133] Nār al-samūm, is the fire that seeps into the pores of the skin because of its extreme heat (cf. al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān, al-Sijistānī, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lughah).
وَإِذۡ قَالَ رَبُّكَ لِلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةِ إِنِّي خَٰلِقُۢ بَشَرٗا مِّن صَلۡصَٰلٖ مِّنۡ حَمَإٖ مَّسۡنُونٖ
[3134] Bashar basically means human; humans are called bashar because of the skin (basharah) that covers their bodies, unlike animals and birds who are covered in feathers, hair, fur, wool, etc. (cf. al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī, ʿUmdat al-Ḥuffāẓ, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). Since mention here is of the origin of creation and what was to appear before the angels was this new creation covered in skin, I added the explicitation, ˹of skin˺, in my translation to give credence to the origin of the word.
فَإِذَا سَوَّيۡتُهُۥ وَنَفَخۡتُ فِيهِ مِن رُّوحِي فَقَعُواْ لَهُۥ سَٰجِدِينَ
[3135] Min rūḥī (lit. from My spirit) is unanimously agreed upon (cf. al-Naisābūrī, Ibn al-Qayyim, al-Rūḥ, pp. 154-156) not to refer to God Almighty’s Own Spirit, as some will take it, but rather to the spirit that He honoured by creating. It is possessively added to God as in nāqatu-Llāhi (The she-camel of Allah, cf. 7: 73, 11: 64 and 91: 13) out of holding it in high regard (cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Qurṭubī, Abū Ḥayyān).
فَسَجَدَ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةُ كُلُّهُمۡ أَجۡمَعُونَ
[3136] This comprehensive show of unhesitating obedience is the core characteristic of true servants of God. It is very much in sharp contrast to the reaction of the rebellious as we will see through Satan.
إِلَّآ إِبۡلِيسَ أَبَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونَ مَعَ ٱلسَّٰجِدِينَ
[3137] Iblīs is Satan. Etymologically, iblīs comes from iblās, i.e. having no hope in good things, grief and sadness caused by utter despair (Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt). This choice of name in this instance is meant to project these meanings onto the desperate state in which he has put himself (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar).
[3138] He refused to obey God’s Command out of arrogance and envy for the honouring of Adam (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Khāzin, Ibn Kathīr): “˹Mention Muhammad˺ When We said to the angels: “Bow down to Adam!”; they bowed down except Iblīs; he refused, became arrogant and was one of the Deniers” (2: 34).
