(Makki)

54:1. The Hour has drawn nigh and the moon has split.

54:2. But whenever they see a sign, they turn away and say: Incessant magic!

54:3. They deny the truth and follow their own whims and desires, but every matter will reach its inevitable conclusion.

54:4. Surely there have come to them stories [of earlier nations] that should serve to deter them,

54:5. in which there is profound wisdom, but the warnings are of no avail.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that the Hour, which is the resurrection, has drawn nigh and its time is at hand, yet despite that these disbelievers still deny it and are making no preparations for its arrival, although Allah is showing them great signs of its approach, that should make people believe.

One of the greatest signs of the truth of the message brought by Muhammad ibn ‘Abdullah (ﷺ) is that when the disbelievers demanded that he show them miracles to prove the soundness and truthfulness of the message that he brought, he pointed to the moon which, by Allah’s leave, split in two, one half over the mountain of Abu Qubays and the other over the mountain of Qu‘ayqi‘an. The polytheists and others saw this great sign, which occurred in the upper realm, where no human could create illusions by means of magic.

They saw something the like of which they had never seen or even heard of happening to the previous Messengers. They were shocked by it, but faith did not enter their hearts and Allah did not will good for them, so they resorted to their regular way of false accusations and transgression, saying: Muhammad has bewitched us. But the sign of that having truly happened was to ask travellers who came to you: if he was able to bewitch you, he would not be able to bewitch those who were not present like you; so they asked every traveller who came to the city, and they told them that they had seen that, but they still said: Incessant magic! - that is, Muhammad has bewitched us and has bewitched others.

These are accusations that nobody could be fooled by except the most foolish of people, the most misguided and most lacking in reason. They did not only deny this sign; rather they denied every sign that came to them, for they were prepared to counter the signs with falsehood and reject them. Hence Allah says: ﴾But whenever they see a sign, they turn away﴿. This does not refer only to the splittingof the moon; rather they reject every sign and have no intention of following truth and guidance. Their only aim is to follow their whims and desires, hence Allah says: ﴾They deny the truth and follow their own whims and desires﴿. This is like the verse in which Allah says:

﴾But if they do not respond to you, then know that they only follow their own desires...﴿ (al-Qasas 28: 50)

If their aim was to follow true guidance, they would definitely have believed and followed Muhammad (ﷺ), because Allah showed them at his hands clear signs, proof and definitive evidence.

﴾but every matter will reach its inevitable conclusion﴿ that is, until now this matter has not reached its conclusion, but it will do so, then the believer will be enjoying the gardens of bliss and the forgiveness and pleasure of Allah, whilst the disbeliever will be subjected to the wrath and punishment of Allah, forever and ever.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says - explaining that they have no valid aim and are not following guidance: ﴾Surely there have come to them stories [of earlier nations]﴿ that is, stories of earlier and later nations, and clear miracles dthat should serve to deter them﴿ that is, they should deter them from their error and misguidance.

﴾in which there is profound wisdom﴿ from Allah, that establishes His proof against the disobedient, arid no one has any argument against Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) after the coming of the Messengers.

﴾but the warnings are of no avail﴿ this is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾Verily, those against whom the decree of your Lord is fulfilled will not believe, even if every sign were to come to them, until they see [for themselves] the painful punishment.﴿ (Yoonus 10: 96-97)

54:6. So turn away from them. On the day when the caller calls them to something terrible,

54:7. with eyes downcast they will come forth from their graves like swarming locusts,

54:8. rushing headlong towards the caller. The disbelievers will say: This will be a hard day!

Here Allah says to His Messenger (ﷺ): It has become clear that there is no way the disbelievers will be guided, so there is no option left but to turn away from them.

﴾So turn away from them﴿ and wait for the momentous day and terrible horror to befall them.

That will be when ﴾the caller﴿ namely Israfeel Bealls them to something terrible﴿ that is, to something awful that people would be scared of, and nothing more terrible and more distressing than it has ever been seen. Israfeel will sound a blast on the Trumpet, at which the dead will emerge from their graves for the final judgement.

﴾with eyes downcast﴿ because of fear and dread that has reached their hearts; their eyes will be downcast humbly for that reason, ﴾they will come forth from their graves like swarming locusts﴿ that is, because of their large numbers and their movement, they will resemble a swarm of locusts covering the earth with their huge numbers, ﴾rushing headlong towards the caller﴿ that is, hastening to respond to the call of the caller. This indicates that the caller will summon themand command them to attend the place of gathering on the Day of Resurrection, and they will answer his call and hasten to respond to it.

﴾The disbelievers﴿ whose punishment has come ﴾will say: This will be a hard day!﴿ This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾Not easy for the disbelievers.﴿ (al-Muddath-thir 74: 10)

What this implies is that it will be easy for the believers.

54:9. Before them the people of Nooh also disbelieved. They rejected Our slave and said: He is a madman, and he was rebuked and threatened.

54:10. So he called upon his Lord, saying: I am overwhelmed, so help me!

54:11. So We opened the gates of heaven with water pouring down in torrents,

54:12. And We caused the earth to burst forth with springs, then the waters met for a purpose that had already been decreed.

54:13. We carried him on a [vessel] made of planks and nails,

54:14. sailing under Our watchful eyes; a recompense for one who had been rejected.

54:15. Verily We have left it as a sign; is there then any who will pay heed?

54:16. Then how were My punishment and My warnings?

54:17. We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?

Having mentioned the situation of those who rejected His Messenger (ﷺ) and that the signs did not benefit them or have any impact on them at all, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) warns them and alerts them by mentioning the punishment of past nations who rejected the Messengers, and how Allah destroyed them and sent His punishment upon them.

Allah mentions the people of Nooh, the first Messenger whom Allah sent to people who worshipped idols, and he called them to affirm the oneness of Allah and to worship Him alone, with no partner or associate. But they refused to give up polytheism and said (to one another):

d...Do not forsake your gods; do not forsake Wadd, Suwa‘, Yaghooth, Ya‘ooq and Nasr.p (Nooh 71: 23)

Nooh kept on calling them to Allah, by night and by day, in private and in public, but that only increased them in stubbornness, transgression, opposition and criticism of their Prophet. Hence Allah says here:

﴾They rejected Our slave and said: He is a madman﴿, because they claimed that what they and their forefathers followed of polytheism and misguidance was what was supported by reason, and that what Nooh (iHO brought was ignorance and misguidance, that could only come from those who were insane.

But they were lying and turning upside down facts that were proven according to religious teaching and rational thinking. What he brought was the established truth which guides enlightened and sound-thinking minds to true guidance, light and maturity, whereas what they were following was ignorance and clear misguidance.﴾fand he was rebuked and threatened﴿ that is, his people rebuked him and told him off when he called them to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى).

But they did not stop at not believing in him or at rejecting him; they went to great lengths in trying to harm him as much as they could. This is how all the enemies of the Messengers were and how they treated their Prophets.

At that point, Nooh called upon his Lord, saying: ﴾I am overwhelmed﴿ and cannot stand up to them, because no one among his people believed except very few, but they had no strength to resist his people.

﴾so help me﴿, O Lord, against them. According to another verse, he said:

^...My Lord, do not leave on earth a single living soul from among the disbelievers.﴿ (Nooh 71: 26)

Allah answered his request and helped him against his people. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us here: ﴾So We opened the gates of heaven with water pouring down in torrents﴿ that is, a great deal of water pouring down.

﴾And We caused the earth to burst forth with springs﴿, so the heavens began sending down an extraordinary amount of water, and the earth burst forth with springs ﴾then the waters﴿ namely the waters of the heaven and the waters of the earth ﴾met for a purpose that had already been decreed﴿ by Allah. In other words, Allah had ordained it and decreed it from eternity as a punishment for those transgressors and evildoers.

﴾fWe carried him on a [vessel] made of planks and nails﴿ that is, We saved Our slave Nooh on the ark that was made of planks and nails; in other words, it was made of planks that were held together with nails.

﴾sailing under Our watchful eyes﴿ that is, it sailed with Nooh and those who believed with him, and the different kinds of creatures thathe took on board with him, under the care of Allah, Who protected them from drowning, for He is the best protector and best disposer of affairs.

﴾a recompense for one who had been rejected﴿ that is, We did what We did for Nooh, saving him from the widespread drowning, as a recompense for him after his people had rejected him and disbelieved in him, but he patiently persisted in calling them and continued to obey the command of Allah, from which no one could deter him or stop him. This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says of him:

﴾It was said: O Nooh, disembark with safety granted by Us, and with blessings upon you and some of the communities [who will spring from] those who are with you... p (Hood 11: 48)

It may be that what is meant is: We destroyed the people of Nooh and did what we did to them of punishing and disgracing them as a requital for their disbelief and stubbornness.

Verily We have left it as a sign; is there then any who will pay heed?﴿ That is, We have left the story of Nooh with his people as a sign so that people may pay heed and realise that whoever disobeys the Messengers and stubbornly rejects them, Allah will destroy them with widespread severe punishment. Or it may be that the pronoun ﴾it﴿ refers to the ark and ships in general, and that Allah taught His slave Nooh (عليه السلام) how to make them, then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) left that craft among the people as an indication and sign of His mercy and care for His creation, and of His great might.

﴾is there then any who will pay heed?p That is, is there any who will pay heed to the signs, pay attention and reflect upon them, for they are very clear and straightforward?

﴾Then how were My punishment and My warnings?﴿ That is, how do you see the painful punishment of Allah and His warnings which left no excuse for anyone?

﴾We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?﴿ that is, We have made the words of this Holy Qur’an easy to memorise and recite, and We have made its meanings easy to understand and know, because it is the best of speech in wording, the truest in meaning and the clearest in interpretation. So for everyone who reads it with focus of mind, Allah makes it easy for him to attain what he seeks of knowledge. Understanding and remembering includes everything that those who seek knowledge want to know of what is lawful and unlawful, commands and prohibitions, rulings of requital, exhortation and stories from which to learn lessons, what one needs to know of true beliefs, and true stories (of the past and future).

Hence knowledge of the Qur’an - in terms of both memorising and understanding - is the easiest of knowledge, and the noblest of all branches of knowledge. It is beneficial knowledge which, if a person seeks it, he will receive divine help to attain it. One of the early generations said concerning this verse: there is no seeker of knowledge but he will be divinely helped to attain it. Therefore Allah calls His slaves to study the Qur’an and pay heed (to its contents) by saying: ﴾is there then any who will pay heed?﴿

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54:18. ‘Ad disbelieved. Then how were My punishment and My warnings?

54:19. So We sent against them a furious cold wind on an unremittingly inauspicious day,

54:20. which swept the people away as if they were trunks of uprooted palm trees.

54:21. Then how were My punishment and My warnings?

54:22. We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?

‘Ad were a well-known tribe in Yemen, to whom Allah sent Hood (3§50, to call them to affirm His oneness and worship Him alone, but they rejected him. So Allah sent against them ﴾a furious cold wind﴿ that is, a very powerful wind.

﴾on an unremittingly inauspicious day﴿ that is, a day that brought severe punishment and misery upon them

﴾unremittingly﴿ - the punishment lasted for seven consecutive nights and eight consecutive days.

﴾which swept the people away﴿ because it was so strong and fierce; it lifted them up to the sky, then hurled them down to earth and destroyed them. Thus they became ﴾as if they were trunks of uprooted palm trees﴿ that is, as if their bodies, after their destruction, were like the hollow trunks of palm trees that had been struck by the wind and fallen to the ground. How worthless people are to Allah if they disobey His commands.

﴾Then how were My punishment and My warnings?﴿ By Allah, it was a painful punishment, and the warnings left no excuse for anyone.

﴾We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?﴿ Allah repeats this phrase, out of mercy and care for His slaves, as He calls them to that which is in their best interests in this world and the hereafter.

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54:23. Thamood rejected the warnings.

54:24. They said: What! Are we to follow a single human from among ourselves? Then we would surely have fallen into error and madness!

54:25. Has the message been sent to him alone, out of all of us? Nay, he is an insolent liar.

54:26. Tomorrow they will know who the insolent liar is.

54:27. Verily We are sending the she-camel as a test for them, so watch them [O Salih] and be patient,

54:28. and tell them that the water is to be shared between them; each will be allowed to drink in turn.

54:29. But they called their companion, and he seized [the she-camel] and hamstrung her.

54:30. Then how were My punishment and My warnings?

54:31. Verily We sent against them a single blast, and they became like dry sticks collected to build a pen for livestock.

54:32. We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?

﴾Thamood﴿ who were the well-known tribe in the land of al-Hijr ﴾rejected the warnings﴿ of their Prophet Salih (عليه السلام), when he called them to worship Allah alone with no partner or associate, and warned them of the consequences if they disobeyed him.

But they rejected his message and were arrogant towards him; they said, out of arrogance and insolence: ﴾What! Are we to follow asingle human from among ourselves?﴿ That is, how can we follow a human and not an angel, who is from among ourselves and not from among others who are greater than us in people’s view?

Furthermore, he is just one man. tfThen﴿, if we follow him in that case, ﴾we would surely have fallen into error and madness!﴿ That is, we will be lost and doomed.

These words stemmed from their misguidance and wretchedness, for they were reluctant to follow a human Messenger, but they were not reluctant to worship trees, rocks and images.

﴾Has the message been sent to him alone, out of all of us?j﴿ That is, how could Allah single him out from among us and send the message down to him? What makes him so special out of all of us?

This is an objection on the part of the disbelievers to Allah, and they kept on presenting this argument, and rejecting the call of the Messengers on the basis thereof. Allah responded to this specious argument by means of what the Messengers said to their nations:

﴾Their Messengers said to them: Indeed, we are but human beings like yourselves, but Allah bestows His favour upon whomever He wills of His slaves... j﴿ (Ibraheem 14: 11)

Allah blessed the Messengers by bestowing upon them sublime attributes and characteristics that made them fit to convey the message of their Lord and be chosen to receive His revelation.

By His mercy and wisdom, they were human beings, for if they had been angels, humans would not have been able to learn from them. If Allah had caused them to be from among the angels, He would have hastened the punishment for those who disbelieved in them.

The intention behind these words that Thamood said to their Prophet Salih was a rejection of him; hence they judged him in an unfair manner and said: ﴾Nay, he is an insolent liar﴿ that is, he tells many lies and does a great deal of evil.

May Allah curse them; how foolish and evil they were, and how badly they confronted the sincere people, with insulting words. It is no wonder that Allah punished them when they went too far in transgression.

Allah sent the she-camel, which was one of the greatest blessings that He bestowed upon them, one of the signs of Allah. Her milk was sufficient for all of them.

﴾as a test for them﴿ that is, as a trial for them ﴾fso watch them [O Salih] and be patient﴿ that is, be patient in calling them; watch and see what happens to them, and see whether they will believe or disbelieve.

dand tell them that the water is to be shared between them﴿ tell them that the water source from which they drink is to be shared between them and the she-camel; she is to drink one day and they are to drink another day, according to a set schedule.

﴾each will be allowed to drink in turn﴿ that is, the one whose turn it is may go there, and the one whose turn it is not is to be kept away.

But they called their companion﴿ who was the one who actually hamstrung the she-camel; he was the most wretched member of the tribe.

﴾and he seized [the she-camel] and hamstrung her﴿, doing what they instructed him to do.

﴾Then how were My punishment and My warnings?﴿ They were severe indeed; Allah sent against them a blast and an earthquake that destroyed them to the last man, but Allah saved Salih and those who believed with him.

﴾We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?﴿

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54:33. The people of Loot rejected the warnings.

54:34. We sent against them a violent squall of pebbles, [which destroyed them all] except the family of Loot; We delivered them before dawn

54:35. by Our grace. Thus do We reward those who give thanks.

54:36. He had indeed warned them of Our punishing onslaught, but they doubted the warnings.

54:37. They demanded that he let them have their way with his guests. So We blinded their eyes, [saying]: Taste My punishment and My warnings.

54:38. Early in the morning a lasting punishment overtook them.

54:39. Taste My punishment and My warnings.

54:40. We have indeed made the Qur’an easy to understand and remember; is there then any who will pay heed?

﴾The people of Loot rejected the warnings﴿ when Loot (عليه السلام) called them to worship Allah alone, with no partner or associate, and he forbade them to ascribe partners to Allah or commit shameful deeds that were unprecedented among other nations.

But they rejected him and persisted in their polytheism and evil deeds, to the extent that when the people of Loot heard about the angels who came to Loot in the guise of guests, they came rushing.wanting to commit shameful deeds with them and demanding that he let them have their way with them.

So Allah commanded Jibreel to blind their eyes with his wing, and their Prophet warned them of the punishment of Allah, ﴾but they doubted the warnings﴿.

﴾Early in the morning a lasting punishment overtook them﴿ - Allah overturned their houses on top of them, turning them upside down, and He followed that with a shower of stones of baked clay, one after another, specifically marked, and kept with your Lord for the evildoers.

But Allah saved Loot and his family from that great distress, as a reward to them for their gratitude to their Lord and their worship of Him alone, with no partner or associate.

54:41. Indeed warnings came to the people of Pharaoh.

54:42. They rejected all of Our signs, so We seized them with the vehement grip of One Who is Almighty, Omnipotent.

54:43. Are your disbelievers [0 Quraysh] better than those, or have you been promised immunity in the [earlier] scriptures?

54:44. Or do they say: We are a united group, bound to prevail?

54:45. This group will be defeated, and they will turn and flee.

54:46. What is more, the Hour is their appointed time, and the Hour will be more calamitous and more bitter.

54:47. Verily the evildoers are in error and will be in the raging fire.

54:48. On the day when they will be dragged in the fire on their faces, [it will be said to them]: Taste the agony of hell!

54:49. Verily We have created all things according to a determined measure.

54:50. Our command is but a single [word, which is fulfilled] like the twinkling of an eye.^{1This is like the verse in Soorat Ya Seen in which Allah says: <f(His way, when He decrees a matter, is merely to say to it, ‘Be!’ and it}

54:51. We have destroyed many a nation like yourselves [O Quraysh]; is there then any who will pay heed?

54:52. Everything they did is recorded in the books [of their deeds],

54:53. and everything, small or great, is written down.

54:54. Verily the righteous will be in the midst of gardens and rivers,

54:55. seated in honour in the presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent.

﴾Indeed warnings came to the people of Pharaoh﴿. Allah sent Moosa to them, and supported him with clear signs and irrefutable miracles, and caused them to witness signs that He had never caused anyone else to witness. But they rejected all the signs of Allah, so He seized them with the vehement grip of One Who is Almighty, Omnipotent, and drowned them in the sea - him and his troops.

The purpose behind recounting these stories is to warn the people and those who disbelieved in Muhammad Hence Allah says:﴾Are your disbelievers [O Quraysh] better than those﴿ that is, are these people who rejected the best of the Messengers better than those disbelievers whose destruction Allah tells us about and describes what happened to them? If they are better than them, then they could be saved from the punishment and there would not befall them that which befell those evil people. But that is not the case; if they are not worse than them, then they are not better than them either.

﴾or have you been promised immunity in the [earlier] scriptures?﴿ That is, has Allah given you a promise and a covenant in the scriptures that He sent down to the Prophets, so you believe that you will be saved on the basis of a promise from Allah?

That is not the case; in fact it is not even possible, according to reason or according to the texts, for them to have been granted immunity in the divinely-revealed Books that are based on justice and wisdom. It is not wise for people such as these stubborn disbelievers who rejected the best of the Messengers and the dearest of them to Allah to be saved. So there is nothing left for them but to have their own strength by which to prevail, and indeed Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that they said: (fWe are a united group, bound to prevail﴿.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says, highlighting their weakness and the fact that they will be defeated: ﴾This group will be defeated, and they will turn and flee﴿. And that happened as He foretold: Allah defeated their great gathering on the day of Badr, and killed many of their leaders and prominent figures. Thus they were humiliated, and Allah granted victory to His religion, His Prophet (ﷺ) and His party, the believers.

Moreover, they will have an appointed time where the first and the last of them will be gathered together, as will those among them who suffered in this world, and those who enjoyed the pleasures of life. Hence Allah says: ﴾What is more, the Hour is their appointed time﴿ when they will be requited and scores will be settled with them on the basis of justice.dand the Hour will be more calamitous and more bitter﴿ that is, it will be more serious, more difficult and more distressing than anything one could imagine or that could possibly cross one’s mind.

﴾Verily the evildoers﴿ that is, those who committed a lot of evil deeds and grave sins, such as ascribing partners to Allah and other acts of disobedience ﴾are in error and will be in the raging fire﴿ they are misguided in this world, straying from knowledge and straying from righteous deeds that could save them from divine punishment, and on the Day of Resurrection, they will find themselves suffering a painful punishment in the fire that will rage around them and bum their bodies until it reaches their hearts.

﴾On the day when they will be dragged in the fire on their faces﴿ - the face is the noblest part of the body, where pain is felt more intensely than pain elsewhere in the body. Thus they will be humiliated and disgraced, and it will be said to them: ﴾Taste the agony of hell!﴿ That is, taste the pain of the fire, and its anger, rage and flames.

﴾Verily We have created all things according to a determined measure﴿ - this includes all creatures, in the upper and lower realms. Allah alone created them and they have no creator other than Him; no one had any share in their creation.

Allah created them according to a decree of which He had prior knowledge and that had been written by His pen with regard to its timing and predetermined measure, and all its characteristics and qualities. That is easy for Allah, therefore He says:

﴾Our command is but a single [word, which is fulfilled] like the twinkling of an eye﴿. When He wills a thing, He merely says to it, ‘Be!’ and it is as He wills it, like the twinkling of an eye, with no resistance or reluctance (on the part of the thing in question).

﴾ We have destroyed many a nation like yourselves﴿ of the previous nations who did deeds such as you have done and disbelieved as you have disbelieved.

﴾is there then any who will pay heed?﴿ That is, is there anyone who will pay heed and realise that Allah’s way of dealing with the earlier and later generations is the same, and that just as His wisdom decreed that the earlier evildoers be destroyed, these people are just like them, and there is no difference between the two groups?

﴾Everything they did is recorded in the books [of their deeds]﴿that is, all that they have done, good or bad, is already recorded against them in the books of their deeds,

﴾and everything, small or great, is written down﴿.

This is the reality of the divine will and decree, that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) knows all things and has written them down with Him in al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh. Whatever Allah wills happens and whatever He does not will does not happen.

Whatever befalls a person could not have missed him and whatever misses him could not have befallen him.

﴾Verily the righteous﴿ who fear Allah by doing what He commands and refraining from what He forbids, who avoid ascription of partners to Allah and sins both major and minor,

﴾will be in the midst of gardens and rivers﴿ that is, they will be in gardens of bliss in which there is that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it ever crossed the mind of man, such as fruitful trees, flowing rivers, lofty palaces, elegant houses, delicious food and drink, beautiful hoor, and splendid gardens in paradise, the good pleasure of the Sovereign Judge, and attaining closeness to Him. Hence He says:

﴾seated in honour in the presence of a Sovereign Omnipotent﴿. After that, do not ask about what their Lord will give them of honour and generosity, and what He will bestow upon them of immenseblessings. May Allah make us among them and not deprive us of the best of that which is with Him because of our evil deeds.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Qamar.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (jSjg), his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.