English Translation and Commentary of the Holy Quran (1951/2002)

53:1 By the star when it sets!^a

1a (Commentary on 53:1) The words may be interpreted variously, according to the meaning of najm and hawā that is adopted. The best-known significance of najm is star, and when used as a proper noun it signifies the Pleiades, and hawā may signify, going down low (R). The Arabs believed that when al-Najm (the Pleiades) rose in the morning, disasters and calamities came to an end. Thus we have under the word najm: “The Arabs believed that between its rising in the morning and its disappearance there are diseases and plagues and calamities for men and camels and fruits” (R). In the setting of the star the opponents are warned of the calamities which would soon overtake them; their star of fortune was about to set.

There is, however, a less-known significance of the word najm. It sometimes means a portion of the Quran (Bd, Rz, Kf ). Kf says: “Or najm indicates one of the portions of the Quran, and it was revealed in portions, during twenty years. Hawā means when it descends or is revealed”. R gives the following interpretation: “And it is said that by this (i.e., najm) is meant the Quran as revealed in portions, one part after another. And by His saying hawā is meant its revelation; and the same interpretation must be adopted in His saying bi-mawāqi‘l-nujūm” (56:75). The meaning is that every portion of the Quran when it is revealed is an evidence that the Prophet errs not — he is in the right. Thus there is a reference here to the internal evidence which is offered in every portion of the Quran that it is the Truth.

53:2 Your companion errs not, nor does he deviate.^a

2a (Commentary on 53:2) By your companion is meant the Prophet, who had led among this very people a life of unblemished purity. There are two statements made here; erring on his part is negatived in the first to show that he had a true knowledge or he did not err in theory, and deviation from the right course is negatived in the second to show that he acted according to that knowledge, or his practice accorded with the theory. This verse is a conclusive proof that according to the Holy Quran the Prophet was perfectly sinless.

53:3 Nor does he speak out of desire.

53:4 It is naught but revelation that is revealed^a —

4a (Commentary on 53:4) The personal pronoun huwa (it) occurring here refers to the najm or portion of the Quran spoken of in the first verse. The Quran was not his word, for he spoke not of his own desire; it was the word of God.

53:5 One Mighty in Power has taught him,^a

5a (Commentary on 53:5) It is not correct to take the One Mighty in Power as meaning Gabriel. The One Who taught him was God Himself as plainly stated elsewhere: “The Beneficent (has) taught the Quran” (55:1, 2).

53:6 The Lord of Strength. So he attained to perfection,^a

6a (Commentary on 53:6) Istawā means he became full-grown and mature in body and intellect, or he attained the completion of his make and intellect (LL). There is no mention of Gabriel; the personal pronoun, therefore, does not refer to him. It is the Holy Prophet that is spoken of here as having attained to perfection because the Almighty Himself was his Teacher.

53:7 And he is in the highest part of the horizon.^a

7a (Commentary on 53:7) The Prophet’s being in the highest part of the horizon is in reference to the resplendence of his light, which was to illuminate all corners of the world — a prophecy, in fact, that he will shine out in the full brilliance of his light as the midday sun.

53:8 Then he drew near, drew nearer yet,^a

8a (Commentary on 53:8) Tadallā signifies he was lowly or humble (LL), but it also means al-dunuww or being near (R). According to LA, the meaning is zāda fi-l-qurb, he increased in nearness. The verse points out that the Prophet attained the utmost nearness unto God which it is possible for man to attain.

53:9 So he was the measure of two bows or closer still.^a

9a (Commentary on 53:9) The qāb of a qaus is the portion of a bow that is between the part that is grasped by the hand and the curved extremity (LL). According to Qatādah, its meaning is from one extremity of the bow to the other extremity (AH). According to Ḥasan and Mujāhid, the qāb is from the chord to the middle of the bow near the place grasped by the hand (AH). N and LA favour measure (qadr) as the meaning of qāb, and the latter quotes the Arab proverb baina-humā qāba qausain, i.e., between them two is the measure of a bow, which is a proverb to indicate close relationship between two persons. There is another proverb, ramau-nā ‘an qaus-in wāḥid-in, meaning they shot at us from one bow, denoting agreement (LL). Whatever significance of the word qāb may be adopted, the mention of a single qāb for two bows indicates close union. The two bows seem to indicate the Holy Prophet’s twofold perfection, i.e., his nearness to the Divine Being and his humility in his relations with men. The commentators generally understand the phrase as only indicating the distance of two bows.

53:10 So He revealed to His servant what He revealed.^a

10a (Commentary on 53:10) The mā (what) in mā auḥā (i.e., what He revealed) is according to all commentators for the purpose of taf khīm, i.e., to indicate that a mighty revelation was given to him.

53:11 The heart was not untrue in seeing what he saw.

53:12 Do you then dispute with him as to what he saw?^a

12a (Commentary on 53:12) That is, what he saw was a certain truth and not an imaginary picture.

53:13 And certainly he saw Him in another descent,

53:14 At the farthest lote-tree.^a

14a (Commentary on 53:14) The sidrah, or the lote-tree, is, in Arabia, the tree in the shade of which people alight and rest (LL), or in the shade of which people gather together (Bd). The word occurs elsewhere in the Quran as indicating a tree in paradise (56:28), and R thus explains the word: “And the shade of it is sought, and thus it is made to serve as a parable for the shade of paradise and its blessings in the words fī sidr-in makhḍūd-in on account of the ampleness of its shadow”. As for its meaning in this verse, the same authority takes it either as meaning a place in which the Holy Prophet (may peace and the blessings of Allah be upon him!) was chosen for Divine favours and great blessings, or as signifying the tree under which the companions of the Holy Prophet took the pledge at Ḥudaibiyah to defend him with their lives, the mention in the latter case being prophetical. The qualification of sidrah by the word al-muntahā shows that it is a place beyond which human knowledge does not go, one of the explanations given by Kf being, “the knowledge of angels and others ends there, and no one knows what is beyond it”. Hence the significance conveyed by the words is that the Prophet’s knowledge of things Divine was the utmost which could be vouchsafed to man. According to some it conveys the same significance as ‘illiyyūn in 83:18 (LL), for which see 83:18a.

53:15 Near it is the Garden of Abode.

53:16 When that which covers covered the lote-tree;

53:17 The eye turned not aside, nor did it exceed the limit.

53:18 Certainly he saw of the greatest signs of his Lord.

53:19 Have you then considered Lāt and ‘Uzzā,

53:20 And another, the third, Manāt?

53:21 Are the males for you and for Him the females?^a

21a (Commentary on 53:21) Verses 19–21 are made the basis of the false story of what is called the “Lapse of Muhammad” or “Compromise with idolatry” by Christian writers. Certain reports narrated by Wāqidī and Ṭabarī are the sole authority for this charge against that incessant preacher against idolatry, every incident of whose life condemns it as a bare falsehood. Muir asserts that “Pious Muhammadans of after-days, scandalized at the lapse of their Prophet into so flagrant a concession, would reject the whole story,” as if the earlier Muslims were not as pious as the latter. The fact is that the story was quite unknown to the earlier Muslims. There is not a single trustworthy ḥadīth that lends support to this story. Muhammad ibn Isḥāq, who died as early as 151 A.H., does not mention the incident, while Muir’s earliest authority, Wāqidī, was born more than forty years later. It is stated in the Baḥrain that when questioned about it, Ibn Isḥāq called it a fabrication of the zindeeqs. And the famous Bukhārī, the most trustworthy authority on the sayings of the Holy Prophet, was Wāqidī’s contemporary, and his collection of sayings contains no mention of the story. As regards Wāqidī, all competent authorities entertain a very low opinion of his trustworthiness. The Mīzān al-I‘tidāl, a critical work on the lives and characters of the reporters of Ḥadīth, speaks of Wāqidī as unreliable and even as a fabricator of reports. As regards Ṭabarī, Muir himself represents him as guilty of “indiscriminate reception”. As against these two unreliable authorities, “those who reject this story are highly learned men” (Rūḥ al-Ma‘ānī ). The six collections of reports known as the Ṣiḥāḥ Sittah (or the Six Reliable Works) do not mention it at all, and contain instead a report which essentially contradicts the story of the so-called compromise. Internal evidence, too, is wholly against the story. We are told that instead of v. 21 the Prophet read the words: Tilk al-gharānīq al-‘ulā wa inna shafā‘ata-hunna la-turtajā, i.e., “These are exalted females whose intercession is to be sought”. But the insertion of these few words in a chapter which is wholly directed against idolatry is quite out of place: v. 23 condemns idols; v. 26 denies their intercession; v. 28 condemns the giving of names of female deities to angels, and so on. It is further asserted that 22:52 was revealed in connection with this change, but it should be noted that a period of at least eight years must have elapsed between the revelation of this verse and that of 22:52. Moreover, if the Prophet had made any such compromise, it could not have been a sudden event, and traces of it would have been met with in other chapters revealed about the same time. But a perusal of these shows clearly that the Quran’s condemnation of idolatry was never marked by the slightest change. See further 62a.

53:22 This indeed is an unjust division!

53:23 They are naught but names which you have named, you and your fathers — Allah has sent no authority for them. They follow but conjecture and what (their) souls desire. And certainly the guidance has come to them from their Lord.

53:24 Or shall man have what he wishes?

53:25 But for Allah is the Hereafter and the former (life).

53:26 And how many angels are in the heavens, whose intercession avails naught except after Allah gives permission to whom He pleases and chooses.

53:27 Surely those who believe not in the Hereafter name the angels with female names.^a

27a (Commentary on 53:27) The Arabs called the angels daughters of Allah.

53:28 And they have no knowledge of it. They follow but conjecture, and surely conjecture avails naught against Truth.

53:29 So shun him who turns his back upon Our Reminder, and desires nothing but this world’s life.

53:30 That is their goal of knowledge. Surely thy Lord knows best him who strays from His path and He knows best him who goes aright.

53:31 And Allah’s is whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, that He may reward those who do evil for that which they do, and reward those who do good with goodness.

53:32 Those who avoid the great sins and the indecencies, but the passing idea^a — surely thy Lord is Liberal in Forgiving. He knows you best when He brings you forth from the earth and when you are embryos in the wombs of your mothers; so ascribe not purity to yourselves. He knows him best who guards against evil.

32a (Commentary on 53:32) Lamam is from almamtu bi-kadhā, meaning I alighted at it and approached it without falling into it (R). Hence I render the word as a passing idea which leaves no impression on the mind. Such an idea is forgiven, for a mortal cannot be proof against it. But this by no means amounts to an intention or an attempt to commit a sin.

53:33 Seest thou him who turns back,

53:34 And gives a little, then withholds?

53:35 Has he the knowledge of the unseen so that he can see?

53:36 Or has he not been informed of what is in the scriptures of Moses,

53:37 And (of) Abraham who fulfilled (commandments)?

53:38 That no bearer of burden bears another’s burden:

53:39 And that man can have nothing but what he strives for:

53:40 And that his striving will soon be seen.

53:41 Then he will be rewarded for it with the fullest reward:

53:42 And that to thy Lord is the goal:

53:43 And that He it is Who makes (men) laugh and makes (them) weep:

53:44 And that He it is Who causes death and gives life:

53:45 And that He creates pairs, the male and the female:

53:46 From the small life-germ when it is adapted:^a

46a (Commentary on 53:46) Tumnā means, according to R, tuqaddaru, i.e., adapted to circumstances. And according to LL, manā is also synonymous with qadr.

53:47 And that He has ordained the second bringing forth:

53:48 And that He it is Who gives wealth and contentment:

53:49 And that He is the Lord of Sirius:

53:50 And that He destroyed the first ‘Ād:^a

50a (Commentary on 53:50) The tribe of ‘Ād is sometimes referred to as the first ‘Ād, in contrast with Thamūd, who are called the second ‘Ād.

53:51 And Thamūd, so He spared not:

53:52 And the people of Noah before. Surely they were most iniquitous and inordinate.

53:53 And the overthrown cities, He hurled down:

53:54 So there covered them that which covered.

53:55 Which, then, of thy Lord’s benefits wilt thou dispute?

53:56 This is a warner of the warners of old.

53:57 The near Event draws nigh.^a

57a (Commentary on 53:57) The near Event is the doom of the Quraish, the overthrow of their power, which was now being utilized against Islam.

53:58 There is none besides Allah to remove it.

53:59 Wonder you then at this announcement?

53:60 And do you laugh and not weep,

53:61 While you sport?

53:62 So bow down in prostration before Allah and serve (Him).^a [Prostration]

62a (Commentary on 53:62) Here is a command to prostrate oneself, which is literally obeyed by all Muslims when reciting the Quran or hearing it recited; see 7:206a. This chapter, when first revealed, was read in a large assembly, containing Muslims as well as disbelievers. When the Holy Prophet prostrated himself in obedience to the command, not only did the Muslims prostrate themselves, but even the idolaters were so overawed that they also prostrated themselves, with the exception only of Umayyah ibn Khalf, who raised some gravel to his forehead. This man was afterwards killed, dying a disbeliever, says the report, evidently implying that all the others were gradually converted to Islam (B. 17:1). It should be further borne in mind that the idolaters did not deny the existence of God the Supreme, Whom they believed to be above their idols, who were recognized only as minor deities, and therefore there is nothing strange in their joining the Muslims in their prostration.

It is this simple incident which is connected with the story of the so-called “lapse” and is adduced as proof of its truth. But it will be seen that the prostration was made in obedience to the direct Divine command of prostration and had nothing to do with the worship of idols. The incidents narrated before it, relating to the grandeur and majesty of Allah and to the destruction of the wicked, are so impressive that the idolaters could not resist prostrating themselves. It is possible that the story of the prostration reached the Abyssinian exiles, some of whom might have returned under the impression that the disbelievers no longer opposed the movement.