RENAISSANCE AUGUST 2020

7 Monthly Renaissance August 2020 Qur’ ā nic Exegesis S ū rah Ḥā M ī m al-Sajdah Javed A ḥ mad Gh ā mid ī ٰ ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ ﺑﺴۡﻢ ﷲ ﺣٰﻢٓ ۚ﴿ ١﴾ ﺗ ۡﻳۡﻞٌ ﻣﻦ ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ ۚ﴿ ٢ ﴾ * ' ٰۡﻧًﺎ ('ﺑﻴًﺎ ﻟﻘﻮۡمٍ + , ﻛﺘٰﺐٌ ﻓ * ﺼﻠﺖۡ ٰﻳٰﺘ * ﻪ ﻌۡﻠﻤ * ﻮۡن ۙ﴿ 8 ٣﴾ * ﻫ * ﻢۡ ﻓﻬ * ﻢۡ ﻵﻹﻳﺴۡﻤﻌ * ﻮۡن﴿ >?ۡ@ ﻓﺎ(ۡ'ض B ً ً وﻧﺬﻳۡﺮ >ۡE ﺑﺸ ٤﴾ ۤۡIJ وﻗﺎﻟ * ﻮۡ ﻗ * ﻠ * ﻮۡﺑ * ﻨﺎ In the name of God, the Most-Gracious, the Ever-Merciful. This is S ū rah Ḥā M ī m. 1 This is a revelation from the Merciful God. 2 This is a Book whose verses have been explained. In the form of an Arabic Qur’ ā n for those who want to know, 3 deliverer of glad tidings and warnings. [Alas!] Their majority has however turned away from it; thus they are not prepared to listen to it and 1. What is the meaning of this name? I have explained in detail my view about it while discussing verse 2 of S ū rah al-Baqarah. 2. The actual words are: ﺗ ۡﻳۡﻞٌ ﻣﻦ ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ . The inchoative in them is suppressed in the opinion of this writer. About the word ٌ ﺗ ۡﻳۡﻞ it is known that it expresses thoroughness, diligence and majesty. Here too it has been used thus. In other words, the implied meaning is that the Qur’ ā n is a Book revealed in a very thorough and elaborate way by the gracious and merciful God. The reason that His attributes of ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ and ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ are cited here is to pinpoint the horrendous nature of the denial of its addressees: God has sent down a great blessing and mercy to them; yet it is a pity that instead they are demanding punishment and torment. Succeeding verses explain this. 3. The verb in the verse, in the opinion of this writer, is meant to express inention. Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī writes: ... This style induces and urges the Arabs that they should be eager and enthusiastic about knowing because they were not recipients of any divine scripture and it was the first time that the Almighty out of His mercy revealed to them His book in their own language to teach them. (Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī , Tadabbur-i Qur’ ā n , vol. 7, 78)