Ibisobanuro bya qoran ntagatifu - Ibisobanuro bya Qur'an mu rurimi rw'icyongereza - Dr Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Biracyasobanurwa.
An-Nahl
أَتَىٰٓ أَمۡرُ ٱللَّهِ فَلَا تَسۡتَعۡجِلُوهُۚ سُبۡحَٰنَهُۥ وَتَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُونَ
[3203] The sura opens up with this urgent, yet subtle threat; a threat that runs throughout the sura to underline the fact that God’s Punishment is ever overshadowing those who incur His Wrath (cf. Ayas: 26, 33, 45-47, 77 and 112). This is so that the Deniers may see reason and become mindful (another theme that the sura emphasizes).
This aya could be taken as a direct reply to the Makkan idolater’s ‘insistent’ request from the Noble Prophet to ‘bring upon’ them (i’tinā, bring us; an imperative form of atā) what he was promising them, i.e. God’s Command as in Aya 8: 32. It is also revealing to note that many earlier rebellious nations, who, to mark their utter denial, requested the expedition of their Punishment, by addressing their Messengers with the very same brazen words, cf. 7: 70 and 77, 8: 32, 11: 32, 29: 29, 46:22).
The expression used here is very much similar in its sense and sensation to that used in Sura al-Naml, which marks the very same dire circumstances, i.e. the Noble Messenger (ﷺ) being saddened by the stance his tribe took to his call, in essence being troubled by their plotting against it (there Aya 70, which describes the Messenger’s (ﷺ) state of mind is exactly parallel (mutashābih) with Aya 127 at the end of this sura). There, they requested him to bring upon them the ‘promise’ of punishment and the just as subtle reply came: “It may be well that, some of what you seek to hasten is closing in on you!” (27: 72). The verb atā, used in this aya also marks the imminence and certainty of the coming (cf. al- Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). The situation in Makkah at the time of revelation, and the zenith of the persecution campaign mounted by the Deniers, was so dire that only such an urgently worded statement could have driven the message home.
Amru Allāh could either mean (among other lesser senses of the expression, cf. Ibn ʿAṭiyyah) the infliction of punishment (cf. Aya 33 below; al-Wāḥidī, al-Wajīz, al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar) or the Day of Judgement, which is said to be ‘akin to a blink of an eye or ˹even˺ faster’ (cf. Aya 77 below; al- Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). That neither one of them is clearly stated further emphasizes the subtlety of the threat being posed as also clouds its exact nature in ambiguity by way of imparting upon it the magnitude that it merits (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). Ibn ʿĀshūr also notes that elsewhere in the Qur’an it is called waʿdu Allāh (Allah’s Promise; cf. among others: 10: 4 and 55, 13: 31, 30: 9, 45: 32) and ajalu Allāh (Allah’s Term; cf. for instance: 29: 5, 71: 4).
[3204] This most egregious of all sins, Associating (shirk) other deities with God, is what made them incur His Wrath (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr). What follows is a thorough detailing of God’s sole worthiness of worship, which in the process, discredits all other so-called deities they invoke besides Him (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar).
يُنَزِّلُ ٱلۡمَلَٰٓئِكَةَ بِٱلرُّوحِ مِنۡ أَمۡرِهِۦ عَلَىٰ مَن يَشَآءُ مِنۡ عِبَادِهِۦٓ أَنۡ أَنذِرُوٓاْ أَنَّهُۥ لَآ إِلَٰهَ إِلَّآ أَنَا۠ فَٱتَّقُونِ
[3205] al-Rūḥ (lit. soul, spirit) is Divine revelation (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr). It is called so because it breathes life in people after going through the ‘death’ of Denial, just as a soul does to a body, and/or because in revelation do souls find life (cf. Ibn Qutaybah, Gharīb al-Qur’ān, al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān): “Thus We have revealed to you ˹Muhammad˺ a Soul – by Our Command – ˹when˺ you were aware of neither the Book nor Belief, but We made it a light with which We guide whoever We wish of Our servants!” (42: 52).
This is the first bounty (niʿmah) of the many accounted for here in this sura of bounties (sūrat al-niʿam) (cf. Ibn Rajab, Majmūʿ al-Rasā’il, 3: 74).
[3206] Min amrihi literally means: from His Command. Exegetes are of two opinions as to what the particle min means: the partitive min (al-tabʿīḍiyyah), i.e. a portion of it, i.e. the Command, but not its entirety (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān), or that this action of revelation happens by virtue of God’s Command (cf. Ibn al-Jawzī, al-Qurṭubī).
[3207] The notification that God singles out whomever He wills of His servants for the lofty status of Prophethood and Messengership is in reply to the Makkan Deniers who held the opinion that the Noble Messenger (ﷺ) was not worthy of it (cf. 43: 31; al-Shinqīṭī, Aḍwā’ al-Bayān).
[3208] This is the core message of all revelation; that people are to Associate none with God in worship: “We have not sent any Messenger before you ˹Muhammad˺ but We reveal to him that: “There is no God but Me, so worship Me ˹Alone˺!”” (21: 25). Stating this fact here is by way of warning people against God’s Punishment (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr). Fully heeding the warning of God’s sole worthiness of worship and having perfect knowledge of what it really means, will surely lead to the perfection of one’s deeds through being ‘mindful’ of Him at all times (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
It is important to note that the “Mindful”, as opposed to the “unmindful”, are, especially, taken notice of in this sura, cf. Ayas: 30 and 128; with Mindfulness (taqwā) being this lofty status that truly devoted servants of God strive to achieve.
خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ بِٱلۡحَقِّۚ تَعَٰلَىٰ عَمَّا يُشۡرِكُونَ
[3209] God’s foremost undisputed sign of Power is that of creation, especially that of the largest humanly perceivable creations, the Heavens and Earth, over which none else is capable (cf. Abū Ḥayyān, al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar, Ibn ʿĀshūr): “Is the One Who creates ˹then be˺ like the one who does not create; do you not think!” (16: 17).
[3210] The creation of the Heavens and Earth is for a valid reason (the Truth); so that people will come to realize the greatness and omnipotence of their Creator, and that He is not be Associated with in worship: “High Aloof is He above all they Associate ˹with Him˺!” (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī).
خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِن نُّطۡفَةٖ فَإِذَا هُوَ خَصِيمٞ مُّبِينٞ
[3211] This is another great sign of God’s wondrous omnipotence; the creation of humans, who most remarkably metamorphose from mere semen, “contemptible water” (77: 20), to a being who is fully able to articulate his thoughts and stand up for a cause (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr): “May man perish! How ˹ardently˺ Denying is he! *From what thing did He create him?* From a drop He created Him!” (80: 17-19).
[3212] The ones who are meant here are, especially, the Associators who deny God’s Ability over resurrection, argue against the Truth and are ungrateful for God’s favours and blessings (cf. al-Ṭabarī, al-Qurṭubī, Abū Ḥayyān): “Could not man see that We created him from a drop and lo, he is an articulate, ˹ardent˺ opponent; * he poses an example to Us, forgetting his ˹own˺ creation, and says: “Who gives life to bones when they are ˹but˺ crumbled to dust!”” (36: 77-78).
وَٱلۡأَنۡعَٰمَ خَلَقَهَاۖ لَكُمۡ فِيهَا دِفۡءٞ وَمَنَٰفِعُ وَمِنۡهَا تَأۡكُلُونَ
[3213] This passage underlines the bounty of livestock, which is, especially to the Arabs at the time of revelation, central to people’s lives and livelihoods (cf. Abū Ḥayyān). This very practical bounty is most worthy of gratefulness (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar).
[3214] The benefits of warmth, gained from clothing and homes made from animal hair and hide, is singled out and foregrounded because it is the most constant use that humans find for livestock at all times (cf. al-Biqāʿī, Naẓm al-Durar. Ibn ʿĀshūr).
[3215] The benefits of livestock abound and are too many to be listed. They were considered as currency and a sign of wealth, used for tillage, riding, drawing water from wells, etc. (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Wasīṭ, Ibn ʿAṭiyyah, al-Rāzī). However, warmth and food are the most essential benefits, so that they are singled out here (cf. Abū Ḥayyān). That warmth is mentioned first is because it lasts longer than food (cf. al-Rāzī).
وَلَكُمۡ فِيهَا جَمَالٌ حِينَ تُرِيحُونَ وَحِينَ تَسۡرَحُونَ
[3216] Jamāl (lit. beauty) conveys a pleasure-inducing beauty (cf. al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī). For Arabs, the sight of these animals brought unparalleled joy and satisfaction; they were a sign of opulence and status (cf. al-Wāḥidī, al-Basīṭ, al-Rāzī): “Wealth and children are the adornment of the worldly life!” (18: 46).
[3217] Their returning back from grazing pasture late in the day is mentioned before their setting off to pasture early in the morning, because that is when their udders, waists and humps are at their fullest and thus more pleasing to the eye of the beholder, especially their proud owner (cf. al-Qurṭubī, Ibn ʿĀshūr).
