- Interpretation Of Quran / The long version
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- (078) Al Nab'a
Perfection of creation refers to the perfection of purpose:
Dear brother, today we are going to deal with the second lesson of the surah An-Naba’. In the first lesson I said that these short surahs are Mekkan. Their common axis is faith taking root in the souls of the believers, and thus they are abundant in the sings that the Universe contains, which testify to the Greatness of Allah the Almighty, but the surah An-Naba’ contains a specific matter: the connection –the connection between the perfection of the Creation and the perfection of its purpose, and thus the first perfection indicates the second one.“6- Have We not made the earth as a bed?”
Metals, semi-metals, deserts, mountains, shores, seas, lakes, rivers birds, fish, roses –their species are numberless, and“No imperfection will you see the Creation of the Most Gracious.”
According to the Creation of Allah the Almighty, the axis of this surah is that the perfection of Creation indicates the perfection of its purpose. Imagine a student asking if there is going to be an exam. This question should not be asked. There is a spacious university, the construction of which cost millions and millions; there are lecture halls, dormitories, recreation areas; the staff consisting of highly specialized professionals –doctors and professors, using advanced teaching methods… and the students are not to be examined and a good student is going to be like a bad one? And the one who has studied as the one who hasn't? And the diligent one as the negligent one?“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.”
It is incredible that man would not be questioned:
Have they any doubt about it? This incredible Universe, with all its greatness, and the man shall not be questioned?!“Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled?”
Just like this, the strong and the weak, the rich and the poor, the healthy and the sick, the brilliant and the simple, the handsome and the ugly, the oppressor and the oppressed, the exploiter and the exploited, the one who lived long and the one who died young, the beautiful woman and the plain one… and then it is all over? Inequality in chances, inequality in gifts, inequality in abilities… Is it reasonable? The perfection of Creation indicates the perfection of its purpose.When you join a top-notch computer company, would you consider it possible that it should lack a follow-up system, ensuring granting bonus or imposing deduction, promotion or demotion?
The perfection of Creation indicates the perfection of its purpose.
“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the great news.”
“Does man think that he will be left uncontrolled?”
“Did you think that We had created you in jest-“
Man should not ask about the Day of Truth:
Nations which live on the ruins of other nations, and the life simply is over? Nations which have massacred hundreds of thousands, and the life is finished just like this? Somebody exists on the debris of another, and then it is simply over? Somebody gets rich by impoverishing other people, and such life just ends? A man for whom everybody else lived and a man who lived for everybody else, as the prophets did, and the life is gone? This question should not be asked…“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the great news.”
“And behold! You come to Us bare and alone as We created you for the first time.”
“1- What are they asking (one another ) about?”
About the Judgment Day? About the Day of Resurrection? About the Doomsday? About the Day of Settlement of Accounts? About the Day on which the grievances are looked into? About the Day of enforcing the righteousness and frustrating the wrong-doing? Then, the perfection of Creation indicates the perfection of its purpose.Imagine somebody asking the company management if they had the capacity of executing such and such project. The management would answer: "Haven't you seen such and such building, project, plant or bridge of ours? Aren't they all evidence enough that we do have the capacity to accomplish this one?"
1- “What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.
3- About which they are in disagreement.”
This world is a test and the Hereafter is a reward:
And I swear by Allah that no person has doubt about the Judgment Day but there is a doubt about the integrity of his mind. Don't you see how people differ as regards their luck? There is a man who can hardly find something to eat, and another one has a great surplus of food. These disproportioned opportunities must be equated on the Doomsday. Allah the Great and Almighty has made the opportunities in this life as a trial. He has meant them to be a trial, a test, and on the Doomsday they will be used for retribution.There was a man tested by poverty. He was patient and pure. He was satisfied with Allah for what He had preordained for him. Thus, he succeeded in this test. Another man was tested by wealth, for example; but he failed because he felt oppressed and outraged. He was proud and haughty, and spent his money on his silly pleasures and denied the poor their right to it. The man tested by poverty succeeded; the one tested by richness failed. On the Day of Judgment opportunities will be distributed in another way: according to merit, by distribution of recompense, by distribution of fairness. So, he who has succeeded in the poverty test will be rich forever. On the other hand, he who has failed in the wealth test will be poor forever. Hence, sayyidina Ali said:
"The (real) wealth and poverty are after having been judged."
The apportionment of opportunities in this worldly life is worthless because they are to be discontinued; they are just for a few days. What really matters is their distribution in the Hereafter.“As to the righteous, they will be in the midst of Gardens and Rivers.
In a sure abode with a Sovereign Omnipotent.”
The believer lives the Hereafter before he arrives it:
This day is the Judgment Day. I have given an example today in the khutbah: A person has received an invitation to visit a remote country. As soon as the invitation has been accepted, this person's concepts, notions, obsessions, writings, forebodings and dreams changed as if he were already there, although he was still in his home country, but his heart, mind, interests and thoughts have already been transferred to that country.When somebody wants to perform umrah, for example, and after having done all the paperwork, buys the ticket, verily, his thoughts and plans are focused on Mekka.
Somebody who believes in the Last Day and the After Life measures everything –every silence, every word he says, everything he gives and every thing he keeps back, everything that happens is measured and related to the Hereafter. Will this deed please Allah? Shall I be questioned about it? Shall I be punished for it? Thus, one of the attributes of the believer is that he lives in the Hereafter before he gets there.
If somebody is required for questioning, the moment he receives the requirement, he is unable to sleep, thinking: "What shall I be questioned about? What is the reason for calling me?" Days are spent on thinking about it. What is the fault that I shall be asked about? Maybe this fault, or that one, or yet another one. This is your state with a human affair; just imagine how much more it is with Allah the Great.
“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.”
“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.”
It is impossible that man is created in vain:
The perfection of Creation indicates the perfection of its purpose.“3- About which they are in disagreement.”
The moment you have a doubt about the Judgment Day, you should doubt the way your mind is reasoning, because that would mean that Allah the Almighty created people in vain.“Do men think that they will be left alone on saying, "We believe", and that they will not be tested?”
Do they think they will not be questioned?“Do you think that you would enter Heaven without Allah testing those of you who fought hard (in His Cause) and remained steadfast?”
“Allah will not leave the believers in the state in which you are now, until He separates what is evil from what is good.”
In this life there are tests, trials, ordeals and severe adversities. You must be tested. You might mislead somebody all the time, or everybody for some time, but to deceive everybody all the time is impossible. Thus, this surah began with:“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.”
There must be a day in which accounts are settled:
This is axiomatic. Imagine somebody asking you what is bigger: the whole of something or a part of it? If somebody asks you: what is bigger, the whole or its part? You know intuitively that this question should not be asked. Can a room in a house be bigger than the house itself? Impossible! A part in a car bigger than the whole car? Can anyone believe that a part is bigger than the whole? You will reply: "What kind of question is that? This thing is a self-evident; this thing is taken for granted; it is clear."“1- What are they asking (one another) about ?
2- About the Great News.”
“1- What are they asking (one another) about?
2- About the Great News.
3- About which they are in disagreement.
4- Nay”
“They will come to know”
A menace…“5- Nay, again, they will come to know!”
Allah didn’t create the universe or people in vain:Man will know when he dies, and he will know on the Day of Judgment that Allah the Almighty did not create this Universe and himself in vain.
“ Did you think that We had created you in jest-
Therefore exalted be Allah, the King, the Reality; there is no god but He, the Lord of the Throne of Honour!”
“6- Have We not made the earth as a bed?
7- And the mountains as pegs?
8- And We have created you in pairs,
9- And We have made your sleep as a thing for rest,
10- And We have made the night as a covering,
11- And We have made the day for livelihood,
12- And We have built above you seven strong (heavens),
13- And We have made (therein) a shining lamp,
14- And We have sent down from the rainy clouds abundant water.
15- That We may produce therewith grain and vegetation,
16- And gardens of thick growth.
17- Verily, the Day of Decision is a thing appointed-“
"The (time of) battlefield of death is between sixty and seventy."
And if not, they die in accidents at the age of forty, thirty, twenty five…“17- Verily, the Day of Decision is a thing appointed-“
On this Day the accounts will be settled.A great Quranic Ayah:
O brother, by Allah, the Qur'an is with us, six hundred pages, we hear it by day and by night. Everything is easy there. A Bedouin came once to see the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and said: "O Messenger of Allah, advise me and do not elaborate." Then the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, reauthord Allah's Words:“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. So whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.”
The Bedouin said: "It will suffice me". An ayah will suffice him, not even a complete surah. The Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace then said: "The man has comprehended."By Allah, apart from Whom there is no other god, if there were no other ayah in the Qur'an except this one, it should suffice us.
“weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.”
This means somebody smiling ironically, somebody avoiding somebody else without reason, or ignoring him, or treading on an ant…“So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it. So whosoever does evil equal to the weight of an atom (or a small ant) shall see it.”
Ibn Umar narrated that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:"A woman entered the Hellfire because of a kitten that she had tied up, and then she did not feed it nor allowed it to eat from what is on earth."
Only Allah knows the truth of the Trumpet:
What do you say about what is bigger than a kitten? Don't you hear what is going on in the world –massacres, genocides, displacements… Will not those who take such decisions be called to account?“17- Verily, the Day of Decision is a thing appointed-“
There is a precisely appointed moment for those who have forgotten what they have been reminded about.“17- Verily, the Day of Decision is a thing appointed-
18- The Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups).”
18- “The Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded,”
That is to say that the Trumpet is a tool to call or order the resurrection of the dead.“and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups).”
Crowds of usurers, crowds of adulterers, crowds of homosexuals, tyrants and oppressors, the negligent, the believing, the pious, the Muslims, the foremost...“18- The Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups).”
On the Last Day everything in the universe changes:
On this Day the system of the Universe will get changed. There used to be a sun in it:“When the sun is wound round and its light is lost and is folded up. “
And there used to be stars in the world:“And when the stars fall, losing their luster.”
And there used to be high mountains –the Himalaya, for example:“And when the mountains vanish (like a mirage).”
“19- And the heavens shall be opened, as if it were doors,”
Everything in the Universe will change; this is part of the Great News:“18- The Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups).
19- And the heavens shall be opened, as if it were doors,
20- And the mountains shall vanish, as if they were a mirage.”
Examples of the punishment of the disbelievers in the Last Day:
The Roman, the Greek, the Aramaean, the Persian, the Turk, the Muslims saw, and we see, the Qass'yoon Mountain as it is, it has never changed, but on the Day of Judgment:“20- And the mountains shall vanish, as if they were a mirage.”
That means a terrible picture:“21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-
22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general)”
“21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-
22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general)”
“21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-“
It is waiting for them…“The Day We shall ask Hell: "Are you filled to the full?" It will say: "Are there any more (to come)?”
“22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general)
23- They will abide therein for ages.”
We need to know Allah, fear Him, and believe in the Last Day:
I have read the following report: A French ship anchored in a harbor in Africa. Ten poor Africans sneaked into the ship and hid in its cargo decks. After the ship had sailed for France, the captain found out and simply ordered to kill all of them. We ask: Can a man be killed just for sneaking into a ship?! He shot them dead one after another, and they were thrown in the sea, as he thought that nobody would find out about this crime. But one of them was not found out and remained in the ship till it arrived in France. He disembarked and informed the police. The captain was sentenced to death and everyone who helped him in committing the crime to twenty years in prison. Thus, can you kill ten people just like that? No, this is a terrible injustice and wrong-doing.O brother, who is the sensible one? Who is the intelligent one? He who takes the Last Day into account in his daily affairs. Let me relate to you this painful piece of news: Bakers have a substance that helps bread to grow. The price of one kilo of the healthy variety of this substance is five thousand pounds; I read this in a newspaper. And there is another variety, which is poisonous and causes cancer, and its price is just five pounds. Now, a baker was caught using this poisonous substance, which works in the same way as the other one but is very cheap. He used it without anybody knowing about it, and the people ate this bread. Didn't he think that he would be brought to account? And he did it secretly, at night? Is it possible?!
Those who cheat Muslims in their food and drink… for example a chicken seller who puts dead chicken meat together with the good meat… he feeds people with dead meat, meat of an animal not slaughtered properly, and the matter is over? Impossible! And cancer causing substances are put in some foods to raise their price, although it is forbidden. Be cautious, the Reckoning will be extremely hard.
Our life will not be correct unless we know our Lord and fear Him, and believe in the Last Day. It is almost impossible for a man to supervise another man all the time. Somebody kneaded bread at three o’clock in the morning and found out that some insects got mixed into the dough, what will he do? Continue, since nobody can see him? Is he not to be called to account for it?
Our life will not be correct unless we fear Allah the Great and Almighty…
Religion is to call yourself to account in this world:
In the hadith transmitted to us he said to the shepherd:"Sell me this ewe and take its price."
He said: "It is not mine."
"Tell its owner that it has died or a wolf has eaten it."
"By Allah, it's not mine. By Allah, I am in need of this money, and if I say to its owner that it has died or a wolf has eaten it, he will believe me, he trusts me. But then, where is Allah?"
This Bedouin shepherd had grasped the essence of the deen, and this essence is to say: Where is Allah?
You should call yourself to account very frequently in order for your Reckoning on the Last Day to be easy. You must ask yourself: Have I the right to take this money? Or this commission? Is it licit for me to sit with this woman and enjoy her beauty? Am I allowed to do it, to take this money? The one who does not call himself to account accurately will face a hard and terrible Day, on which no money, no sons will be of use, except a pure heart with which to face the Lord.
“21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-“
It is waiting for them, observing their movements and moments of quietude…“22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general).”
Their end is Hell. What is the suitable place for a criminal? A palace? No, it is the prison. He has murdered, has stolen, and has been arrested. What will his fate be? Life imprisonment and he is finished, but somebody who tyrannized and violated, forgot the very purpose of his life and the Afterlife, neglected the knowledge of Allah and obedience to Him, what will his inevitable end be?“21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-
22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general)
23- They will abide therein for ages.”
Times of pain and times of pleasure:
A minute of pain feels like an hour, and an hour of pleasure feels like a minute. Sometimes you sit with your beloved brother and you are surprised that it is one o'clock a.m. You met at seven; time has flown because you have been happy. But it is difficult to sit on a chair waiting for somebody. To get the feeling of this experience this just think of a supervisor in an examination room, you feel, then, that every minute lasts an hour. Can you imagine how long a painful torture feels?“23- They will abide therein for ages.”
Somebody said: "I was in jail for three days and I have nearly gone off my mind." What is the state of somebody who has spent in prison 20 years? How did this passage of time feel? And Hell is forever.“They will cry: "O Malik! Would that your Lord put an end to us!" He will say: "Nay, but you shall abide!"”
“23- They will abide therein for ages.”
Ages and ages, forever and ever…“24- Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.”
Wise people live in the future:
If you go on hajj or umrah in the summer months, then you know what heat is. One does not desire anything else apart from cold water and air conditioner. Heat there is unbearable. Just imagine how much more it is in Hell.“23- They will abide therein for ages.
24- Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.”
“25- Save a boiling fluid, and a fluid, dark, murky, intensely cold,
26- A fitting recompense (for them).”
Dear brother, the stupid one focuses on his past. The less stupid one lives his present, but the wise one lives the future, and what is the most dangerous event in your future? It is death.
Today I attended a funeral… an empty grave, a hole deep in the ground; man is put inside this hole. If he is honoured, it will expand up to the range of his sight and become a Garden of Paradise, if he has been generous and done good deeds. On the other hand, if he has been a wrong-doer, this hole will be a place of torture for him. What is the usual phrase that is written in the obituaries? It is "will be escorted to his grave or to the final resting place". Our comfortable houses, tidy and nicely painted, air-conditioned, warmly furnished rooms for guests, dining rooms, living rooms, bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, all of these are temporary. The real final resting place is underground.
“17- Verily, the Day of Sorting Out is a thing appointed,
18- The Day when the Trumpet shall be sounded, and you shall come forth in crowds (groups after groups).
19- And the heavens shall be opened, as if it were doors,
20- And the mountains shall vanish, as if they were a mirage.
21- Truly, Hell is a place of ambush-
22- A dwelling place for the taghun (transgressors in general)”
The disbeliever doesn’t take the Hereafter into consideration:
(a dwelling place) means an abode..“23- They will abide therein for ages.”
The plural of "age" denotes a very long period of time…“24- Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.
25- Save a boiling fluid, and a fluid, dark, murky, intensely cold,
26- A fitting recompense (for them).
27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)”
“Look for any account…”
The believer thinks of the Hereafter before doing anything:
What do they say? In the colloquial language it is common to say funny words: Put your head between other heads and say: "O the Cutter of heads!" Is this an ayah or hadith? This is a ridiculous talk, nonsense. The believer is conscious:“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)”
He did not include the Judgment Day in his affairs at all… he extorted a house, or a business, took ill-gotten money, violated people's rights…“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)
28- But they treated Our Signs as false.
29- And all things have We preserved on record.
30- So taste (the fruits of your deeds), for no increase shall We grant you except in chastisement.”
“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)”
They forgot the Last Day and did not enter it into their affairs –did not heed. For example, a person went to Lebanon. On entering there, he found a strict checking out for those leaving. Let us say that he arrived in Beirut and found very beautiful bedroom furniture. What does he think about it? Can't he take it to Damascus? No, there is a prohibition, a strict checking out. Whenever he saw anything he liked, he remembered the checkpoints on the way back to Damascus. That means that whenever he saw something nice, he thought: "I can't take this back to my country", because he kept in his mind the checkpoints on the frontier, and knew this thing would not pass, and he would be, for example, fined for it. This is a simple case, and similarly the believer who intends to say something not nice, answers himself: This will not please Allah.Narrated Abu Huraira: The Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said:
"Man may utter a word which he does not think is harmful, and fall for seventy autumns (years) in the Hell because of it."
(A-Tirmidhi)
He planned to take a look, this look does not please Allah; intended to abuse somebody; to earn illicit money; to humiliate somebody else… A true believer, before speaking, taking an attitude, giving his opinion, looking, hearing, enjoying himself by looking at a beautiful woman, before every act he does, must think about the Day of Resurrection, the Day of Recompense, the Reckoning, the Judgment Day, so:“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)”
Talking about the dwellers of Hell and why do they enter Hell:
Why will they enter Hell? And why is it their dwelling place? Why will they stay therein for ages? And…“24- Nothing cool shall they taste therein, nor any drink.
25- Save a boiling fluid, and a fluid, dark, murky, intensely cold,
26- A fitting recompense (for them).
27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)
28- But they treated Our Signs as false.”
“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)
28- But they treated Our Signs as false.”
“28- But they treated Our Signs as false.
29- And all things have We preserved on record.”
“(It will be said to him):”Read your record. You yourself are sufficient to make out an account against you this Day.”
“28- But they treated Our Signs as false.
29- And all things have We preserved on record.
30- So taste (the fruits of your deeds), for no increase shall We grant you except in chastisement.”
“27- For that they used not to look for any account (for their deeds)”
Why didn't they use to "look for any account"? Allah describes them in the following way:“They will further say: "Had we but listened or used our intelligence, we should not now be among the companions of the Blazing Fire!"”
The ignorance is man's most dangerous enemy. An ignorant person harms himself more than his enemy does, and the depravation and negligence of the Day of Judgment result from ignorance.“30- So taste (the fruits of your deeds), for no increase shall We grant you except in chastisement.”
