Ending of the Chapter of the Pen

This is the last portion of the main body of tafsir that Sabooni has provided in his book. There is a section on the Balagha of the chapter. I didn't translate it because I have no idea what the equivalent terms in English would be.

I'll come back to these translations and make them read better. - Inshallah.

Please comment if you find a mistake.

33

Such was the punishment. And verily the punishment of the Hereafter is greater if they did but know.



The like of the punishment that befell the People of the Garden shall befall Quraish. And the punishment of the Hereafter is greater and harsher than the worldly punishment. If only they had understanding or knowledge.
Ibn Abbas said: “This is a parable of the Meccans as they set out for Badr. They took an oath that they would not return until they killed Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and his companions and drunk the wine and set the songstresses to sing. Then God disappointed their dreams. They were killed, taken as captives and routed up just as the people of this garden set out assured of their picking and then had their hopes dashed.

Then God mentioned the state of the God fearing believers following the mention of the malefactor Pagan Meccans’ state.


34

Lo! for those who keep from evil are gardens of bliss with their Lord.

Truly, for the God fearing will be gardens and orchards containing only pure bliss. In which there will be no tarnish from distress or spoiling of delight as occurs in this World.

35

Shall We then treat those who have surrendered as We treat the guilty?

This is a question posed to rebuke. Shall we equate between the obedient and the sinner? Between the spiritually excellent and the criminal?


36

What aileth you? How foolishly ye judge!


Strange is their equating the obedient and the sinner, the believer and the disbeliever. The like of this should never come from a rationale person.


37

Or have ye a scripture wherein ye learn

Do you have a book revealed from Heaven which you read and study?

38

That ye shall indeed have all that ye choose?

This sentence is the grammatical object of “You study”. That is, you study in this book that for you is which you please and desire. This is another rebuke of the polytheists’ false claim where they said: If there is a resurrection and judgment, then we will be better off than the believers, just as we better off in the World.
Al Tabari said: “This is a rebuke for those people and a scolding for what they said falsely and for their delusive hopes”


39

Or have ye a covenant on oath from Us that reacheth to the Day of Judgment…

Do you have with us agreements strictly binding until the Day of Judgment?

that yours shall be all that ye ordain?

This is its answer [answer to the first part of the verse]: That for you is which you want and decide?
Ibn Kathir said: “The meaning is, do you have with you oaths and agreements that that which you desire and wish will come to pass?”


40

Ask them (O Muhammad) which of them will vouch for that!

Oh Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم ask those arrogant people who will be the guarantee and advocate for your claim?
This is a sort of mockery sarcasm. They make ruling outside of rationale thought, which any logic would reject and any judgement would dismiss.

41

Or have they other gods? Then let them bring their other gods if they are truthful

Do they have supporters or partners who will guarantee for them this? Then let them bring them if they are truthful in their claim.
In the Tas-heel it is said: “This renders the disbelievers unable. The meaning is, if they have partners that have ability over anything, then let them bring them forth and present them so we can see their state.

Upon falsifying their claims and making their delusions ridiculous, God begins to delineate the events of the Hereafter and its trials.


42

On the day when it befalleth in earnest, and they are ordered to prostrate themselves but are not able,
Translation of Yusuf Ali: “The Day that the shin shall be laid bare, and they shall be summoned to bow in adoration, but they shall not be able,”

Oh Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم remind your people that critical day when the horrid calamity will be uncovered, extreme in its horror and harshness.
Ibn Abbas said: “It is the Day of Reserection, a day of worry and calamity.”
Qurtabi said: “The origin of this is that when someone finds himself in needing great strength he rolls up his pant leg thus making the leg bare. Revealing the leg is in the subject matter of calamity . (literally the verse says: the day the leg will be bare”)

Just like the saying of al Rajz:

She uncovered her leg so they intensified;
The battle is escalated against you so escalate (yourselves)!

And the disbelievers will be called to prostrate to the lord of the Worlds and they will not be able.
In the Prophetic tradition:

“Every believer male and female will prostrate to God. There will remain he who in the World prostrated out of show and ostentation. He will go to prostrate but his spine will return rigid like a piece of wood( إلا جعل الله ظهره طبقة واحدة).”

43

With eyes downcast,

Abased and humiliated will be their eyes, they will be unable to lift them.

abasement stupefying them.

Humiliation and disgrace will overcome and overwhelm them.

And they had been summoned to prostrate themselves while they were yet unhurt.

Their state was such that they were called to prostrate while their bodies were healthy, but they rejected the call.
Imam al Fakhir said: “They are not called to prostrate in worship and in following commandment, but in jest and bitterness against their rejecting prostration in the world. Then God will solidify against them the ability to prostrate. He will come between them and their ability until it increases their regret for what they neglected while they had able bodies”


44

Leave Me (to deal) with those who give the lie to this pronouncement.

Leave Me oh Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم and he who belies the Quran, so that I may suffice you his evil and revenge you! This is the most extreme promise of punishment.

We shall lead them on by steps from whence they know not.

We will take him in a progressive manner, from goodness to destruction and doom, such that he will not even notice.
Al Hasan said: “How many are there that are tested will being praised. And how many are fooled with a covering upon them” [i.e. their faults are hidden]
Al Razi said: “الاستدراج is when one is brought down one step at a time until he is entangled in trouble. So every time they commit a sin, God renews for them a blessing and makes them forget repentance. Istidraj happens to them from blessings being bestowed upon them. However, they estimate it to be God’s favour on them over the believers. It is in reality the cause of their destruction.”

45

Yet I bear with them, for lo! My scheme is firm.


Let them take their time, let their lives be elongated so that they may only increase in sin.

Truly my revenge against the rejects of faith is stern, strong.

In the Prophetic tradition: “Allah gives respite to the oppressor, but when He takes him over, He never releases him” Then he صلى الله عليه و سلم read the verse: “Even thus is the grasp of thy Lord when He graspeth the townships while they are doing wrong. Lo! His grasp is painful, very strong.” Surah Hud verse 102
He called his benevolence a trap, just as he called it istidraj because it is in the form of a trap. So whatever befalls them in expanse of provisions, length in life and physical health is benevolence in appearance, but calamity in secret; this because its purpose is punishment.

46

Or dost thou (Muhammad) ask a fee from them so that they are heavily taxed?

Do you Oh Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم ask them a monetary fee for the prorogation of your message which causing them to reject faith because of its heavy burden?
The purpose here, is to mock them for their lack of faith. For the Prophet does not ask from them anything in return.
The Khazin says: “The meaning is: do you ask from them a price burdening them by taxing their wealth and thus hold them back form faith?”


47

Or is the Unseen theirs that they can write (thereof)?


Do they have the Preserved Tablet that contains the unseen, so they relate from it that they are better than the people of faith? And for this they have stayed on disbelief and false worship?
This is a question asked in rebuke and mockery.

48

But wait thou for thy Lord's decree,

Be patient Oh Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم over their mistreatment. Continue the command of the propagation of your message.

and be not like him of the fish,

Do not be vexed and in haste, just as Jonah the son Amittai, upon whom be peace, when he was angered by his people’s disbelief. He left them and took to the sea where he was swallowed by a whale.

who cried out in despair.

When he called his Lord inside the whale, filled with worry, “There is no Allah save Thee. Be Thou Glorified! Lo! I have been a wrong-doer.” (The Prophets verse 87).

49

Had it not been that favour from his Lord had reached him

That is His Mercy.

he surely had been cast into the wilderness while he was reprobate.

He would have been thrown into the vast emptiness, void of trees and mountains. And he would have been grieved over what he committed. But God blessed him by allowing him to make repentance and he was not left worried.

50

But his Lord chose him and placed him among the righteous.

His Lord selected him for his service and made him among His close ones.
Ibn Abbas said: “God returned to him the Revelation, and He mediated for him his people.”


51

And lo! those who disbelieve would fain disconcert thee with their eyes

The pagans, in extreme enmity towards you, try to inflict you with their eyes.
This comes from their saying: “He looked at me a look that inflicted me” [fall into fit].
Ibn Kathir said: “In this verse there is proof that the Evil Eye, its power and effect are true by the command of God (Blessed and Exalted). And the Prophetic Tradition emphasises this: “If something was to succeed the Decree, The Evil Eye would succeed it”.

when they hear the Reminder, and they say: Lo! he is indeed mad;

When they hear you reading the Quran, they say, in extreme loathing and hate: “truly Muhammad is mad. God says in refutes by saing:

52

When it is naught else than a Reminder to creation.

This Quran, which cannot be imitated, is nothing more than a warning and reminder for Man and Jinn. So how can they subscribe madness to the one to whom it was revealed? God ends the chapter with a clear explanation of the greatness of the Quran just as He started with the greatness of the Prophet so that He makes the beginning and ending complementary in a manner that is most charming in clarity and beautiful in completion.