In the Shade of the Qur'an - Surah # 100
In the Shade of the Qur'an - Surah # 100
Syed Qutb
Sura 100
The Courses
al Adiyat
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent,
the Merciful!
By the snorting coursers, striking sparks of fire, by those which sour to raid at dawn,
blazing a trail of dust, cleaving into the center of the enemy: man is surely un-grateful to his Lord, and of this
he him self is a witness; and truly, he is passionate in his love for wordly riches. But he is un-aware
that when the contents of the graves are scattered about, and what is in the breats is brought out, surely
their Lord will on that know all about them.
In the Shade of the Qur'an
This surah is presented in rapid and violent touches. The text moves swiftly
from one scene to another. As we come to the last verse, everything - the verbal expressions, the connotations,
the subject matter and the rhythm - settle down in a manner similar to that of a courser reaching the
finishing point. The surah starts with the scene of war steeds running, snorting, striking
sparks of fire with their hoofs, launching a raid at dawn and blazing a trail of dust, cleaving suddenly into the
centre of the enemies, taking them by surprise and striking terror and fear in their hearts.
Then
follows a picture of the human self: a scene of ingratitude, ignobleness, greed and extreme miserliness. Immediately
after that there is a description of graves laid open and their contents scattered, and the secrets
of hearts poured out. Finally the trail of dust, ingratitude and miserliness, the contents of the graves and the
dragged out secrets all come to the same terminus. They come to Allah and settle down: "surely their
Lord will on that day know all about them."
The rhythm of the surah is robust and thunderous and thus fits well
with the dusty and clamorous atmosphere generated by the upturned graves and the secrets violently pulled
out of the breasts. These characteristics of the rhythm are also appropriate to the picture of ingratitude, thank
lessness and extreme miserliness. A framework for this picture is provided by a dusty and tumultuous atmosphere
of horses racing and thundering. Thus the frame and the picture are in perfect harmony with each other.
"By the snorting coursers. striking sparks of fire, by those which scour to the raid at dawn, blazing a trail of
dust, cleaving into the centre of the enemy, man is surely ungrateful to his Lord. A And of this he
himself is a witness; ant truly, he is passionate in his love for worldly riches ".
Allah swears by
the war horses and describes their movements one after the other - running, snorting and neighing. They strike
their hoofs against rocks, producing sparks of fire. They wage their attack early at dawn in order to
take the enemy by surprise, producing a trail of dust during the unexpected battle. They pierce swiftly the enemy
ranks creating disorder and confusion amongst them. These successive stages were well known to those
who were first addressed by the Holy Qur'an. The fact that Allah swears by the horses provides an emphatic suggestion
that the movement portrayed is a lovable one and men should respond to it actively. This they do only
after realising how precious it is in the measure of Allah, which is reflected in His paying attention to it. Added
to all this is the harmony between this scene and the scenes which are the subject of the Divine oath,
namely the state of the human soul when it is devoid of faith and its impetus. The Qur'an draws man's attention
to this state in order that he may gather all his willpower to combat it. For Allah is perfectly aware
of how deeply it is ingrained in man and what great pressure it exercises on him.
"Man is surely
ungrateful to his Lord and of this he himself is a witness; And truly, he is passionate in his love for worldly
riches". It is a fact that man reacts with ingratitude to all the bounties of his Lord. He denies the
favours which Allah confers on him. His thanklessness and ingratitude is reflected in a host of actions and verbal
statements which will serve as witness against him. Or perhaps, on the Day of Judgement, he may testify
against himself, admitting his ingratitude: "and of this he himself is a witness ". For on the Day of Judgement
he will speak the plain truth even against himself, without any contentions or excuses. "And truly,
he is passionate in his love for worldly riches". Man is a passionate self-lover. But he loves only what he imagines
to be good for him: wealth, power and the pleasures of this world. This is his nature unless he has
faith which changes his concepts, values and even his concerns. Faith changes his ingratitude to humble thankfulness.
It changes his greed and miserliness to benevolence and compassion. It makes him aware of the proper
values which are worthy of being the object of ambition and hard competition. Indeed these are much more exalted
than money, power and mundane pleasures.
Man without faith is an ignoble creature having only trivial
ambitions and petty concerns. However big his desires, however strong his ambitions and high his objectives
may seem, he remains sunk in the cesspool of this earth, confined within the limits of this life, imprisoned in
self. He cannot be freed or elevated except by an attachment to a world superior to this earth, extending
beyond this life; a world which originates from Allah who is the First Being and returning to Allah the Eternal;
a world into which this life and the life hereafter converge and which has no end.
Hence, the final
touch in the surah provides the cure for ingratitude, greed and miserliness.-It portrays the scene of resurrection
in a way which makes man shudder, and puts his love for wealth and indulgence in worldly riches out
of his mind, unshackling his soul and setting it free from earthly attachments: "But is he unaware that when the
contents of the graves are scattered about, and what is in the breasts is brought out, surely their
Lord will on that day know all about them". It is a violent and frightening scene in which we witness the "scattering
about" of the contents of the graves and the bringing out of the secrets of the hearts which were closely
guarded, kept away from everyone. The Arabic terms used here for scattering and pulling are very forceful, suggesting
an atmosphere of violence and force. Does he not know when this will take place? The mere
awareness of all this is enough to inspire man to seek an answer and explore every avenue in search
of it, while at the same time discerning all that may result from these wild movements. These nimble and agile
movements finally come to where every matter and destiny is settled: "surely their Lord will on that
day know all about them ". So to their Lord is their end. He "on that day" knows them and all their affairs and
secrets. Allah certainly knows everything at all times and in all conditions but the knowledge of "that
day" has some effects to which their attentions are drawn here. It is a knowledge which necessitates the reckoning
and reward. This implicit meaning is the one underlined here.
The surah is a swift, vehement and
breathless piece, with a sudden terminus of meaning, expression and rhythm. It reflects a unique Qur'anic
method of expression.
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