In the Shade of the Qur'an

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.