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MEANING AND EXPLANATION OF SURAT NAAZIAT
By the (angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence; (1) By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed); (2) And by those who glide along (on errands of mercy), (3) Then press forward as in a race, (4) Then arrange to do (the commands of their Lord)― (5) One Day everything that can be in commotion will be in violent commotion― (6) Followed by oft-repeated (commotions): (7) Hearts that Day will be in agitation; (
Cast down will be (their owners') eyes. (9) They say (now): "What! shall we indeed be returned to (our) former state?"― (10) "What!― When we shall have become rotten bones?" (11) They say: "It would, in that case be a return with loss!" (12) But verily, it will be but a single (compelling) Cry. (13) When behold they will be in the (full) awakening (to Judgment). (14) Has the story of Moses reached thee? (15) Behold, thy Lord did call to him in the sacred valley to Tuwa― (16) "Go thou to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds. (17) "And say to him `Wouldst thou that thou shouldst be purified (from sin)?― (18) "`And that I guide thee to thy Lord, so thou shouldst fear Him?' " (19) Then did (Moses) show him the Great Sign. (20) But (Pharaoh) rejected it and disobeyed (guidance); (21) Further, he turned his back, striving hard (against Allah). (22) Then he collected (his men) and made a proclamation, (23) Saying "I am your Lord, Most High." (24) But Allah did punish him, (and made an) example of him― in the Hereafter, as in this life. (25) Verily in this is an instructive warning for whosoever feareth (Allah): (26) What! are ye the more difficult to create or the heaven (above)? (Allah) hath constructed it: (27) On high hath He raised its canopy, and He hath given it order and perfection. (28) Its night doth He endow with darkness, and its splendour doth He bring out (with light). (29) And the earth, moreover; hath He extended (to a wide expanse): (30) He draweth out therefrom its water and its pasture; (31) And the mountains hath He firmly fixed― (32) For use and convenience to you and your cattle. (33) Therefore when there comes the great, overwhelming (Event) (34) The Day when Man shall remember (all) that he strove for (35) And Hell-Fire shall be placed in full view for (all) to see― (36) Then, for such as had transgressed all bounds, (37) And had preferred the life of this world, (38) The Abode will be Hell-Fire; (39) And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord's (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower Desires, (40) Their Abode will be the Garden. (41) They ask thee about the Hour― `When will be its appointed time?' (42) Wherein art thou (concerned) with the declaration thereof? (43) With they Lord is the Limit fixed therefor. (44) Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. (45) The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till) the following morn! (46)
Period of Revelation
According to Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas, this Surah was sent down after Surah An-Naba. Its subject matter also testifies that it belongs to the earliest period at Makkah.[5]
Theme and Subject Matter
Its theme is affirmation of Resurrection and the life hereafter; It also warns of the consequences of belying the Messenger of God.
The Surah opens with oaths sworn by the angels who take the soul at deaths and those who hasten to carryout Allah's Commands, and those who conduct the affairs of the universe according to Divine Will, to assure that the Resurrection will certainly come to pass and the second life after death will certainly take place. For the angels who are employed to pluck out the soul today can also be employed to restore the soul tomorrow, and the angels who promptly execute Allah's Commands and conduct the affairs of the universe today can also upset the order of the universe tomorrow by orders of the same God and can also bring about a new order.
After this the people have been told, so as to say: "This work which you regard as absolutely impossible, is not any difficult for Allah, for which He may have to make lengthy preparations. Just a single jolt will upset this system of the world and a second jolt will be enough to cause you to appear as living beings in the new world. At that time the same people who were wont to deny it, would be trembling with fear and seeing with awe struck eyes all that they thought was impossible.
Then, relating the story of the Prophet Moses and Pharaoh briefly, the people have been warned to the effect: "You know full well what fate the Pharaoh met in consequence of belying the Messenger and rejecting the guidance brought by him and endeavoring to defeat his mission by trickery and deceit. If you do not learn any lesson from it and do not change your ways and attitude accordingly, you also will have to meet the same fate.
Then, in vv. 27-13, arguments have been given for the Hereafter and life after death. In this regard, the deniers have been asked the question:"Is your resurrection a more difficult task or the creation of the huge Universe which spreads around you to infinite distances with myriads of its stars and planets? Your recreation cannot be difficult for the God for Whom this was an easy task. Thus, after presenting in a single sentence, a decisive argument for the possibility of the Hereafter, attention has been drawn to the earth and its provisions that have been arranged in it for the sustenance of man and animal and of which everything testifies that it has been created with great wisdom for fulfilling some special purpose. Pointing to this the question has been left for the intellect of man to ponder for itself and form the opinion whether calling man to account after having delegated authority and responsibilities to a creature like him in this wise system would be more in keeping with the demands of wisdom, or that he should die after committing all sorts of misdeeds in the world and should perish and mix in the dust for ever and should never be called to account as to how he employed the authority and fulfilled the responsibilities entrusted to him. Instead of discussing this question, in vv. 34-41, it has been said: "When the Hereafter is established, men's eternal future will be determined on the criterion as to which of them rebelled against his God transgressing the bounds of service and made the material benefits and pleasures his objective of life and which of them feared standing before his Lord and refrained from fulfilling the unlawful desires of the self." This by itself provides the right answer to the above question to every such person who considers it honestly, free from stubbornness. For the only rational, logical and moral demand of giving authority and entrusting responsibilities to man in the world is that he should be called to account on this very basis ultimately and rewarded or punished accordingly.
In conclusion, the question of the disbelievers of Makkah as to when Resurrection will take place, has been answered. They asked the Holy Prophet this question over and over again. In reply it has been said that the knowledge of the time of its occurrence rests with Allah alone. The Messenger is there only to give the warning that it will certainly come. Now whoever wishes may mend his ways, fearing its coming, and whoever wishes may behave and conduct himself as he likes, fearless of its coming. When the appointed time comes, those very people who loved the life of this world and regarded its pleasures as the only object of life, would feel that they had stayed in the world only for an hour or so. Then they will realize how utterly they had ruined their future for ever for the sake of the short lived pleasures of the world.
By the (angels) who tear out (the souls of the wicked) with violence; (1) By those who gently draw out (the souls of the blessed); (2) And by those who glide along (on errands of mercy), (3) Then press forward as in a race, (4) Then arrange to do (the commands of their Lord)― (5) One Day everything that can be in commotion will be in violent commotion― (6) Followed by oft-repeated (commotions): (7) Hearts that Day will be in agitation; (
Cast down will be (their owners') eyes. (9) They say (now): "What! shall we indeed be returned to (our) former state?"― (10) "What!― When we shall have become rotten bones?" (11) They say: "It would, in that case be a return with loss!" (12) But verily, it will be but a single (compelling) Cry. (13) When behold they will be in the (full) awakening (to Judgment). (14) Has the story of Moses reached thee? (15) Behold, thy Lord did call to him in the sacred valley to Tuwa― (16) "Go thou to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds. (17) "And say to him `Wouldst thou that thou shouldst be purified (from sin)?― (18) "`And that I guide thee to thy Lord, so thou shouldst fear Him?' " (19) Then did (Moses) show him the Great Sign. (20) But (Pharaoh) rejected it and disobeyed (guidance); (21) Further, he turned his back, striving hard (against Allah). (22) Then he collected (his men) and made a proclamation, (23) Saying "I am your Lord, Most High." (24) But Allah did punish him, (and made an) example of him― in the Hereafter, as in this life. (25) Verily in this is an instructive warning for whosoever feareth (Allah): (26) What! are ye the more difficult to create or the heaven (above)? (Allah) hath constructed it: (27) On high hath He raised its canopy, and He hath given it order and perfection. (28) Its night doth He endow with darkness, and its splendour doth He bring out (with light). (29) And the earth, moreover; hath He extended (to a wide expanse): (30) He draweth out therefrom its water and its pasture; (31) And the mountains hath He firmly fixed― (32) For use and convenience to you and your cattle. (33) Therefore when there comes the great, overwhelming (Event) (34) The Day when Man shall remember (all) that he strove for (35) And Hell-Fire shall be placed in full view for (all) to see― (36) Then, for such as had transgressed all bounds, (37) And had preferred the life of this world, (38) The Abode will be Hell-Fire; (39) And for such as had entertained the fear of standing before their Lord's (tribunal) and had restrained (their) soul from lower Desires, (40) Their Abode will be the Garden. (41) They ask thee about the Hour― `When will be its appointed time?' (42) Wherein art thou (concerned) with the declaration thereof? (43) With they Lord is the Limit fixed therefor. (44) Thou art but a Warner for such as fear it. (45) The Day they see it, (it will be) as if they had tarried but a single evening, or (at most till) the following morn! (46)Period of Revelation
According to Hadrat Abdullah bin Abbas, this Surah was sent down after Surah An-Naba. Its subject matter also testifies that it belongs to the earliest period at Makkah.[5]
Theme and Subject Matter
Its theme is affirmation of Resurrection and the life hereafter; It also warns of the consequences of belying the Messenger of God.
The Surah opens with oaths sworn by the angels who take the soul at deaths and those who hasten to carryout Allah's Commands, and those who conduct the affairs of the universe according to Divine Will, to assure that the Resurrection will certainly come to pass and the second life after death will certainly take place. For the angels who are employed to pluck out the soul today can also be employed to restore the soul tomorrow, and the angels who promptly execute Allah's Commands and conduct the affairs of the universe today can also upset the order of the universe tomorrow by orders of the same God and can also bring about a new order.
After this the people have been told, so as to say: "This work which you regard as absolutely impossible, is not any difficult for Allah, for which He may have to make lengthy preparations. Just a single jolt will upset this system of the world and a second jolt will be enough to cause you to appear as living beings in the new world. At that time the same people who were wont to deny it, would be trembling with fear and seeing with awe struck eyes all that they thought was impossible.
Then, relating the story of the Prophet Moses and Pharaoh briefly, the people have been warned to the effect: "You know full well what fate the Pharaoh met in consequence of belying the Messenger and rejecting the guidance brought by him and endeavoring to defeat his mission by trickery and deceit. If you do not learn any lesson from it and do not change your ways and attitude accordingly, you also will have to meet the same fate.
Then, in vv. 27-13, arguments have been given for the Hereafter and life after death. In this regard, the deniers have been asked the question:"Is your resurrection a more difficult task or the creation of the huge Universe which spreads around you to infinite distances with myriads of its stars and planets? Your recreation cannot be difficult for the God for Whom this was an easy task. Thus, after presenting in a single sentence, a decisive argument for the possibility of the Hereafter, attention has been drawn to the earth and its provisions that have been arranged in it for the sustenance of man and animal and of which everything testifies that it has been created with great wisdom for fulfilling some special purpose. Pointing to this the question has been left for the intellect of man to ponder for itself and form the opinion whether calling man to account after having delegated authority and responsibilities to a creature like him in this wise system would be more in keeping with the demands of wisdom, or that he should die after committing all sorts of misdeeds in the world and should perish and mix in the dust for ever and should never be called to account as to how he employed the authority and fulfilled the responsibilities entrusted to him. Instead of discussing this question, in vv. 34-41, it has been said: "When the Hereafter is established, men's eternal future will be determined on the criterion as to which of them rebelled against his God transgressing the bounds of service and made the material benefits and pleasures his objective of life and which of them feared standing before his Lord and refrained from fulfilling the unlawful desires of the self." This by itself provides the right answer to the above question to every such person who considers it honestly, free from stubbornness. For the only rational, logical and moral demand of giving authority and entrusting responsibilities to man in the world is that he should be called to account on this very basis ultimately and rewarded or punished accordingly.
In conclusion, the question of the disbelievers of Makkah as to when Resurrection will take place, has been answered. They asked the Holy Prophet this question over and over again. In reply it has been said that the knowledge of the time of its occurrence rests with Allah alone. The Messenger is there only to give the warning that it will certainly come. Now whoever wishes may mend his ways, fearing its coming, and whoever wishes may behave and conduct himself as he likes, fearless of its coming. When the appointed time comes, those very people who loved the life of this world and regarded its pleasures as the only object of life, would feel that they had stayed in the world only for an hour or so. Then they will realize how utterly they had ruined their future for ever for the sake of the short lived pleasures of the world.
