بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمـٰنِ الرَّحيمِ عَبَسَ وَتَوَلّىٰ

HE FROWNED and turned away

أَن جاءَهُ الأَعمىٰ

because the blind man approached him!¹

1. 1.  One day, as recorded in many well-authenticated Traditions, the Prophet was engrossed in a conversation with some of the most influential chieftains of pagan Mecca, hoping to convince them - and, through them, the Meccan community at large - of the truth of his message. At that point, he was approached by one of his followers, the blind Abd Allah ibn Shurayh - known after his grandmother's name as Ibn Umm Maktum - with the request for a repetition or elucidation of certain earlier passages of the Qur'an. Annoyed by this interruption of what he momentarily regarded as a more important endeavour, Muhammad "frowned and turned away" from the blind man - and was immediately, there and then, reproved by the revelation of the first ten verses of this surah. In later years he often greeted Ibn Umm Maktum with these words of humility: "Welcome unto him on whose account my Sustainer has rebuked me (atabani)!" Indirectly, the sharp Qur'anic rebuke (stressed, in particular, by the use of the third-person form in verses 1-2) implies, firstly, that what would have been a minor act of discourtesy on the part of an ordinary human being, assumed the aspect of a major sin, deserving a divine rebuke, when committed by a prophet; and, secondly, it illustrates the objective nature of the Qur'anic revelation: for, obviously, in conveying God's reproof of him to the world at large, the Prophet "does not speak out of his own desire" (cf. 53:3).

وَما يُدريكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكّىٰ

Yet for all thou didst know, [O Muhammad,] he might perhaps have grown in purity,

أَو يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنفَعَهُ الذِّكرىٰ

or have been reminded [of the truth], and helped by this reminder.

أَمّا مَنِ استَغنىٰ

Now as for him who believes himself to be self-sufficient²

1. 2.  I.e., who does not feel the need of divine guidance: a reference to the arrogant pagan chieftains with whom the Prophet was conversing.

فَأَنتَ لَهُ تَصَدّىٰ

to him didst thou give thy whole attention,

وَما عَلَيكَ أَلّا يَزَّكّىٰ

although thou art not accountable for his failure to attain to purity;³

1. 3.  Lit., "it is not upon thee (alayka) that he does not attain to purity".

وَأَمّا مَن جاءَكَ يَسعىٰ

but as for him who came unto thee full of eagerness

وَهُوَ يَخشىٰ

and in awe [of God]

فَأَنتَ عَنهُ تَلَهّىٰ

him didst thou disregard!

كَلّا إِنَّها تَذكِرَةٌ

NAY, VERILY, these [messages] are but a reminder:⁴

1. 4.  Sc., of the existence and omnipotence of God. The Qur'an is described here, as in many other places, as "a reminder" because it is meant to bring man's instinctive - though sometimes hazy or unconscious - realization of God's existence into the full light of consciousness. (Cf. 7:172 and the corresponding note 139.)

فَمَن شاءَ ذَكَرَهُ

and so, whoever is willing may remember Him

في صُحُفٍ مُكَرَّمَةٍ

in [the light of His] revelations blest with dignity,

مَرفوعَةٍ مُطَهَّرَةٍ

lofty and pure,

بِأَيدي سَفَرَةٍ

[borne] by the hands of messengers

كِرامٍ بَرَرَةٍ

noble and most virtuous.

قُتِلَ الإِنسانُ ما أَكفَرَهُ

[But only too often] man destroys himself:⁵ how stubbornly does he deny the truth!

1. 5.  For my rendering of qutila as "he destroys himself", see surah 74, note 9.

مِن أَيِّ شَيءٍ خَلَقَهُ

[Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates him?

مِن نُطفَةٍ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ

Out of a drop of sperm He creates him, and thereupon determines his nature,⁶

1. 6.  I.e., in accordance with the organic functions which man's body and mind are to fulfil, and the natural conditions to which he will have to adapt himself. Verses 18-22, although formulated in the past tense, obviously describe a recurrent phenomenon.

ثُمَّ السَّبيلَ يَسَّرَهُ

and then makes it easy for him to go through life;⁷

1. 7.  Lit., "He makes easy the way for him". This is an allusion to man's being endowed with the intellectual equipment enabling him to discern between good and evil and to make fruitful use of the opportunities offered to him by his earthly environment.

ثُمَّ أَماتَهُ فَأَقبَرَهُ

and in the end He causes him to die and brings him to the grave;

ثُمَّ إِذا شاءَ أَنشَرَهُ

and then, if it be His will, He shall raise him again to life,

كَلّا لَمّا يَقضِ ما أَمَرَهُ

Nay, but [man] has never yet fulfilled what He has enjoined upon him!⁸

1. 8.  In other words, man has failed to make adequate use of the intellectual and spiritual endowment referred to in verse 20. Whereas some commentators are of the opinion that this relates only to the type of man spoken of in verse 17 above, others maintain, with greater plausibility, that it is a reference to man in general - thus: "No human being has ever fulfilled all that was imposed on him as a [moral] duty" (Mujahid, as quoted by Tabari, with a similar statement attributed by Baghawi to Al-Hasan al-Basri); or "From the time of Adam to this time, no human being has ever been free of shortcomings" (Zamakhshari, Baghawi). This is in tune with the Qur'anic doctrine that perfection is an attribute of God alone.

فَليَنظُرِ الإِنسانُ إِلىٰ طَعامِهِ

Let man, then, consider [the sources of] his food:

أَنّا صَبَبنَا الماءَ صَبًّا

[how it is] that We pour down water, pouring it down abundantly;

ثُمَّ شَقَقنَا الأَرضَ شَقًّا

and then We cleave the earth [with new growth], cleaving it asunder,

فَأَنبَتنا فيها حَبًّا

and thereupon We cause grain to grow out of it,

وَعِنَبًا وَقَضبًا

and vines and edible plants,

وَزَيتونًا وَنَخلًا

and olive trees and date-palms,

وَحَدائِقَ غُلبًا

and gardens dense with foliage,

وَفاكِهَةً وَأَبًّا

and fruits and herbage,

مَتاعًا لَكُم وَلِأَنعامِكُم

for you and for your animals to enjoy.⁹

1. 9.  The implication is that man ought to be grateful for all this God-given bounty, but as a rule is not: and this connects with the subsequent evocation of the Day of Resurrection, already hinted at in the reference to the recurring phenomenon of life-renewal.

فَإِذا جاءَتِ الصّاخَّةُ

AND SO,¹⁰ when the piercing call [of resurrection] is heard

1. 10. I.e., as God is able to bring forth new life out of a seemingly dead earth, so is He able to resurrect the dead.

يَومَ يَفِرُّ المَرءُ مِن أَخيهِ

on a Day when everyone will [want to] flee from his brother,

وَأُمِّهِ وَأَبيهِ

and from his mother and father,

وَصاحِبَتِهِ وَبَنيهِ

and from his spouse and his children:

لِكُلِّ امرِئٍ مِنهُم يَومَئِذٍ شَأنٌ يُغنيهِ

on that Day, to every one of them will his own state be of sufficient concern.

وُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ مُسفِرَةٌ

Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,

ضاحِكَةٌ مُستَبشِرَةٌ

laughing, rejoicing at glad tidings.

وَوُجوهٌ يَومَئِذٍ عَلَيها غَبَرَةٌ

And some faces will on that Day with dust be covered,

تَرهَقُها قَتَرَةٌ

with darkness overspread:

أُولـٰئِكَ هُمُ الكَفَرَةُ الفَجَرَةُ

these, these will be the ones who denied the truth and were immersed in iniquity!