74:1. O you who are covered with your cloak,

74:2. arise and warn,

74:3. your Lord magnify,

74:4. your garments purify,

74:5. abomination shun,

74:6. do not give out of a desire for gain,

74:7. and for the sake of your Lord, be patient.

We noted above that the words Muzzammil and Maddath-thir have the same meaning, and that Allah commanded His Messenger (ﷺ) to strive hard in worshipping Him, whether the benefit thereof was limited to him alone or extended to others. We also noted the command to do acts of worship of great virtue, the benefit of which was limited to himself, and to bear with patience the harm of his people.

Here Allah instructs him to openly call people and warn them, as He says:

﴾farise﴿ that is, get up with resolve and vigour ﴾and warn﴿ people in words and deeds that will achieve the purpose and explain what the warning is about, so that people will know how to avoid the punishment.

﴾your Lord magnify﴿ that is, glorify Him by affirming His oneness, and make your aim when warning people the pursuit of His pleasure, and so that people will glorify Him and worship Him.

﴾your garments purify﴿. It may be that what is meant by his garments is all his deeds, and purifying them means making them sincere and carrying them out in the most perfect manner, ridding them of anything that may render them invalid, spoil them or undermine them, such as polytheism, showing off, hypocrisy, self-admiration, arrogance, heedlessness and other attitudes that one is enjoined to avoid in all acts of worship.

That includes purifying one’s garments and removing impurities from them, for that is part of purifying one’s deeds, especially in the case of prayer, concerning which many of the scholars say that removing physical impurities is one of the conditions of prayer.

Or it may be that what is meant by garments is garments in the usual sense, and that he was commanded to purify them and remove all impurities from them, at all times, especially when beginning to pray. As he was enjoined to purify himself outwardly, then outward purification is part of inward purification.

﴾abomination shun﴿ - it may be that what is meant by abomination is idols and images, that were worshipped alongside Allah. So Allah commanded him to shun them and disavow them, and to reject whatever is attributed to them of words or deeds. Or it may be that what is meant by abomination is all evil deeds and words, in which case it is a command to refrain from sins, both minor and major.visible and hidden. So that includes the ascription of partners to Allah (shirk), and all lesser sins.

﴾do not give out of a desire for gain﴿-) that is, do not give to people and do them favours, whether they have to do with religious or worldly matters, in the hope of gaining more in return, thinking that you have the upper hand over them by virtue of showing them kindness.

Rather you should treat people kindly in whatever ways you can, and forget about your favours to them; do not seek reward for that except with Allah, and treat the one to whom you did a favour and others in the same manner.

﴾and for the sake of your Lord, be patient﴿) that is, seek reward for your patience and seek the pleasure of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) thereby.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) complied fully with the command of his Lord, and hastened to do so. So he warned the people and explained to them, by means of the clear revelations, all that Allah wanted of them. He glorified Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and called people to glorify Him, he purified his deeds, both visible and hidden, of all bad elements, and he shunned everything that would take people further away from Allah, such as idols and idol worshippers, and evil and evildoers.

It is thanks to him, after Allah, that the message reached us, without him expecting any recompense or thanks from people for that.

He showed perfect patience for the sake of Allah. He was patient in obeying Allah, and in refraining from disobedience to Allah, and he was patient in accepting the painful decree of Allah, until he surpassed the Messengers of strong resolve, may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon him and upon them all.

74:8. Then when the Trumpet is sounded,

74:9. that day will be a difficult day,

74:10. not easy for the disbelievers.

That is, when the Trumpet is sounded for all creatures to rise from their graves and gather for the Day of Resurrection,

﴾(that day will be a difficult day﴿ because of its many horrors and hardships,

﴾not easy for the disbelievers﴿ because they will despair of all good, and will be certain of their doom and perdition.

What this implies is that it will be easy for the believers, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere:

((...The disbelievers will say: This will be a hard day!﴿ (al-Qamar54:8)

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.tls j* ajji yeu «ui jiji ji/pJtj>/ 4 jbSi

^4;H. Leave Me to deal with the one whom I created alone [and penniless].

74:12. then gave him abundant wealth,

74:13. and sons by his side,

74:14. and smoothed the way for him to power and status,

74:15. yet he desires that I should give him more.

74:16. By no means! For he stubbornly denies Our revelations.

74:17. I will subject him to an overwhelming punishment.

74:18. He reflected and deliberated.

74:19. May he perish, how he deliberated!

74:20. Again, may he perish, how he deliberated!

74:21. Then he looked around,

74:22. then he frowned and scow led,

74:23. then he turned away insolently,

74:24. and said: This is nothing but magic handed down;

74:25. this is nothing but the words of a human being!

74:26. I will admit him to hell,

74:27. and how could you know what hell is?

74:28. It leaves nothing and spares no one,

74:29. scorching the skin.

74:30. Appointed over it arc nineteen [angels].

74:31. We have appointed none but angels as keepers of the fire, and We have only mentioned their number as a trial for those who disbelieve, so that those who were given the Book might attain certainty and those who believe might increase in faith; so that those who were given the Book and the believers might have no doubts; and so that those in whose hearts is a disease and the disbelievers might say: What does Allah mean by this number? Thus Allah leaves to stray whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills, and no one knows the hosts of your Lord but He. This is but a reminder to humankind.

These verses were revealed concerning al-Waleed ibn al-Mugheerah, who stubbornly rejected the truth and openly fought and opposed Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ). Therefore Allah condemned him as He condemned no one else, and this is the requital of everyone who stubbornly rejects and opposes the truth: he will be disgraced in this world and the punishment of the hereafter is more shameful. Hence Allah said:

﴾Leave Me to deal with the one whom I created alone [and penniless];-﴿ that is, I created him alone, without wealth, without family and without anything else, and I kept caring for him and causing him to grow.

﴾then gave him abundant wealth﴿ that is, I gave him a great deal of wealth, and I gave him ﴾sons﴿, that is, male children ﴾by his side﴿) that is, they are with him constantly, he enjoys their company, his needs are met by them, and he has their support.

﴾and smoothed the way for him to power and status﴿ that is, I gave him power in this world and granted him the means of attaining it, so that he was able to get all that he wanted and desired.

﴾yett? despite these blessings and favours ﴾he desires that I should give him more﴿ that is, he desires to attain bliss in the hereafter as he attained blessings in this world.

﴾By no means!﴿ That is, it will not be as he hopes; on the contrary, the outcome will be other than what he seeks.

That is because ﴾he stubbornly denies Our revelations﴿ that is, he recognised them, but then he stubbornly denied them. They called him to the truth, but he did not submit to it.

And he was not content simply to turn away from the revelations; rather he began to oppose them and strive to undermine them. Hence Allah says of him:

﴾He reflected﴿ that is, he thought to himself ﴾and deliberated﴿ about saying something to undermine the Qur’an.

﴾May he perish, how he deliberated! Again, may he perish, how he deliberated! because he deliberated about something that was beyond him and tried to do something that he and his ilk will never be able to do.

﴾Then he looked around﴿, not saying a word, ﴾then he frowned and scowled;﴿ - what appears to be the case is that this was out of resentment and hatred towards the truth.

﴾then he turned away insolently b and as a result of his intellectual, physical and verbal efforts, he said:

﴾This is nothing but magic handed down; this is nothing but the words of a human being﴿ that is, this is not the words of Allah, rather it is the words of human beings, and it is not the words of good human beings, rather it is the words of evildoers and bad people, namely liars and magicians.

May he perish, how far away he was from the truth and how deserving he is of doom and perdition!

How could anyone think or imagine that the most sublime and greatest of words, the words of the Almighty Lord, the Majestic and Most Generous, could resemble the words of poor, imperfect humans?

How could this stubborn liar dare to describe in such terms the words of Allah, Who originates and recreates?

He deserves nothing but severe punishment and divine vengeance. Hence Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: ﴾I will admit him to hell, and how could you know what hell is? It leaves nothing and spares no one﴿ that is, because of its intensity it does not leave anything of the one who is punished but it will reach it.

﴾scorching the skinj﴿ that is, it will scorch and bum them with its punishment, causing them pain with its extreme heat and cold.

﴾Appointed over it are nineteen [angels] ji as its keepers. They are harsh and stem, never disobeying Allah in what He commands them, and they do what they are commanded to do.

﴾We have appointed none but angels as keepers of the fire﴿, because they are so strong and powerful

﴾and We have only mentioned their number as a trial for those who disbelieve﴿ what is meant is: We have told you the number so that We may make known who is sincere and who is lying. This is indicated by the words that follow this statement: ﴾fso that those who were given the Book might attain certainty and those who believe might increase in faith﴿. For the People of the Book, if the number mentioned matches and is exactly the same as the number that they have, this will increase them in certainty of the truth. For the believers, every time Allah sent down a verse and they believed in it, that increased them in faith.

﴾so that those who were given the Book and the believers might have no doubts﴿ that is, so as to dispel doubts from them.

These are important objectives to which people of mature understanding pay attention and care about, striving to increase their certainty and faith at all times, with regard to issues of religion, and to ward off doubt and illusion that could undermine the truth in a person’s mind. Whatever Allah revealed to His Messenger (ﷺ), He made it lead to all these sublime benefits and made it a means of distinguishing the liars from those who are sincere.

Hence He says: ﴾and so that those in whose hearts is a disease﴿ namely doubt, confusion and hypocrisy, ﴾and the disbelievers might say: What does Allah mean by this number?﴿ This is reflective of confusion, doubt and disbelief in the revelations of Allah on their part. This is how Allah guides those whom He guides and leaves to stray those whom He leaves to stray. Hence He says: ﴾Thus Allah leaves to stray whomever He wills and guides whomever He wills﴿. Whomever Allah guides, He makes what He revealed to His Messenger (ﷺ) a mercy in his case, increasing him in faith and religious commitment.

And whomever He leaves to stray. He causes what He revealed to His Messenger (iig) to increase him in wretchedness, confusionand darkness. What is required is to receive what Allah and His Messengers tell us with acceptance and submission.

For no one knows the hosts of your Lord, the angels and others, ﴾but He﴿, so if you are ignorant of His hosts, and the All-Knowing, All-Aware tells you of them, then you must believe what He tells you, without any doubt.

﴾This is but a reminder to humankind﴿ that is, the purpose of this exhortation and admonition is not in vain; rather its purpose is to remind people of that which will benefit them, so that they may do it, and of that which will harm them, so that they may avoid it.

j' ill (g)

74:32. Nay; by the moon.

74:33. and by the night when it departs,

74:34. and by the dawn when it brightens,

74:35. verily it [hell] is one of the gravest of matters,

74:36. a warning to humankind.

74:37. to whomever among you wishes to advance or regress.

74:38. Every person is held in pledge for what he earns,

74:39. except those on the right.

74:40. In gardens they will ask one another

74:41. about the evildoers:

74:42. What brought you to hell?

74:43. They will say: We were not among those who prayed,

74:44. and we did not feed the poor,

74:45. and we indulged in vain discourse along with those who indulged therein,

74:46. and we denied the Day of Judgement,

74:47. until that which was certain [namely, death] came to us.

74:48. So the intercession of the intercessors will not benefit them.

74:49. Then what is the matter with them, that they turn away from the Reminder [the Qur’an],

74:50. as if they were startled [wild] donkeys

74:51. fleeing from a lion?

74:52. Indeed each one of them wants to be given an unfurled scroll.^{1That is, an unfurled scroll of revelation, direct from Allah, instructing him to follow the Prophet (5^).}

74:53. By no means! Rather they do not fear the hereafter.

74:54. Nay, verily this is a reminder,

74:55. so let him who will pay heed.

74:56. But they will not pay heed unless Allah wills. He is most worthy of being feared and most worthy of granting forgiveness.

﴾-[Nay; by the moon...﴿ Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) swears by the moon, by the night when it departs, and by the day when it grows light, because these things are among the great signs of Allah that highlight the perfect nature of His might. His wisdom, the vastness of His power.the far-reaching nature of His mercy and the all-encompassing nature of His knowledge.

What is attested to is that ﴾verily it [hell] is one of the gravest of matters﴿ that is, it is one of the greatest calamities and gravest issues. So if We tell you about it, and you are aware of it and understand it, then let whoever will among you go ahead and do that which will bring him closer to his Lord and to His pleasure, and will bring him closer to paradise;

or let him refrain from doing that for which he was created and that which Allah loves and which pleases Him, and let him commit sins that will bring him closer to the fire of hell, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere: ﴾Say: This is the truth from your Lord. So let him who will, believe; and let him who will, disbelieve.. .﴿ (al-Kahf 18: 29)

﴾Every person is held in pledge for what he eams﴿ that is, he is firmly yoked to his deeds, for which he may deserve punishment ﴾except those on the right﴿ for they are not held in pledge; rather they will be released and let go

﴾ln gardens they will ask one another about the evildoers﴿ that is, in the gardens where they will have all that they sought and they will achieve the highest level of comfort, security and reassurance, they will start to ask one another questions, and in the course of their discussion they will ask about the evildoers: what happened to them, and did they find what Allah promised them?

They will say to one another: Shall we look for them? Then they will look down and see them in the middle of the blazing fire, and they will say to them:

﴾What brought you to hell?﴿ That is, what caused you to enter it? For what sin did you deserve it?

﴾They will say: We were not among those who prayed, and we did not feed the poor﴿, so we showed no sincerity towards Allah and no kindness or help to people who were in need.﴾and we indulged in vain discourse along with those who indulged therein﴿ that is, we used to indulge in falsehood and oppose the truth, ﴾and we denied the Day of Judgement﴿ as a result of indulging in vain discourse, which was an implicit rejection of the truth. One of the most obvious of truths is the Day of Judgement, which is the occasion of requital for deeds, when the dominion of Allah will be made manifest and He will judge all people with justice.

We persisted in that evil way, ﴾until that which was certain [namely, death] came to us﴿. When they died in a state of disbelief, at that point it became impossible for them to seek a way out of the trouble in which they found themselves, and the door of hope was closed to them.

﴾So the intercession of the intercessors will not benefit them﴿ because no one can intercede except one with whom Allah is pleased, but Allah is not pleased with the deeds of these people.

Having explained the fate of those who differ and warned of what will happen to them, Allah now rebukes and blames those who are still alive, as He says:

﴾Then what is the matter with them, that they turn away from the Reminder [the Qur’an]﴿ in rejection and heedlessness,

(fas if﴿, in their strong aversion towards it ﴾they were startled [wild] donkeys﴿ that is, as if they were wild donkeys who got startled and alarmed one another, so they began to run even faster,

﴾fleeing from a lion﴿ - the word translated here as ﴾-[lion﴿﴿ may refer to a hunter who is shooting arrows at them, or to a lion or other predator.

This is a depiction of the strongest kind of aversion towards the truth, yet even with this turning away and aversion, they make big demands, for ﴾Indeed each one of them wants to be given an unfurled scroll﴿ to be sent down to him from heaven, and he claims that he will not follow the truth unless he receives that. But they were lying, for even if every sign came to them, they would not believe until they saw the painful punishment. Clear signs had already come to themthat highlighted and explained the truth; if there had been anything good in them, they would have believed.

Hence Allah says: ﴾By no means﴿, We will not give them what they demand, for their only aim is to outwit the Prophet (ﷺ). ﴾Rather they do not fear the hereafter﴿ for if they did fear it, they would not have done what they did.

﴾Nay, verily this is a reminder﴿ - the pronoun refers either to this soorah or to what it contains of this admonition.

﴾so let him who will pay heed﴿ because the way has been shown to him clearly, and evidence has been presented to him.

﴾But they will not pay heed unless Allah wills﴿ for His will is always done and is all-encompassing; no event, great or small, goes beyond His will. This is a refutation of the Qadaris, who do not believe that people’s deeds are subject to the will of Allah, and of the Jabaris who claim that man has no free will or any deed of his own in a true sense, rather he is compelled to do what he does. But here Allah (is) affirms that people do have free will in a true sense and in reality, but He states that their will is subordinate to His will.

﴾He is most worthy of being feared and most worthy of granting forgiveness﴿ that is, He is most worthy of being feared and worshipped, because He is God and none is deserving of worship except Him; and He is most worthy to forgive those who fear Him and seek His pleasure.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Muddath-thir.

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