RENAISSANCE OCTOBER 2020

7 Monthly Renaissance October 2020 Qur’ ā nic Exegesis S ū rah Zukhr ū f Javed A ḥ mad Gh ā mid ī ﺑ ٰ ﻟﺮﺣۡﻤٰﻦ ﻟﺮﺣﻴۡﻢ ﺴۡﻢ ﷲ ﺣٰﻢٓ ﴿ ١﴾ ﴿ ۡ و ﻟۡﻜﺘٰﺐ ﻟۡﻤﺒ ٢﴾ ,ۡءٰﻧًﺎ -,ﺑﻴًﺎ ﻟﻌﻠﻜﻢۡ )ﻌۡﻘﻠﻮۡن ۚ﴿ 0 ﻧﺎ ﺟﻌﻠۡﻨٰﻪ ٣﴾ 5 و ﻧﻪ ۡۤ م 89 ﴿: ٌ ﺣﻜﻴۡﻢٌ 8< ﻟۡﻜﺘٰﺐﻟﺪﻳۡﻨﺎﻟﻌ ٤﴾ ﴿ ۡ ۡ,ﻓ A ۡ,ﺻﻔۡﺤًﺎ نۡ ﻛﻨۡﺘﻢۡ ﻗﻮۡﻣًﺎﻣ H ۡ,بﻋﻨۡﻜﻢ ﻟﺬ L ﻓﻨ ٥﴾ ﴿ ۡ ﻵۡﻹوﻟ 89 ٍQR وﻛﻢۡ رۡﺳﻠۡﻨﺎﻣﻦۡ ﻧ ٦﴾ وﻣﺎ In the name of God, the Most-Gracious, the Ever-Merciful. This is S ū rah Ḥā M ī m. 1 This clear Book is a witness 2 [to its own self]. We have revealed it as an Arabic Qur’ ā n so that you may understand. 3 And indeed it is with Us 4 in the real Book, very exalted and replete with wisdom. 5 (1-4) So, should We become indifferent to reminding you 6 merely 1. Like the previous ones, the name of this s ū rah is also ٓ ﺣٰﻢ . Commonality in name indicates commonality in topics which every student of the Qur’ ā n can observe in these s ū rahs . 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: ۡ و ﻟۡﻜﺘٰﺐ ﻟۡﻤﺒ . The signifies an oath. The complement of oath ( muqsam ‘alayh ) is suppressed and the word ۡ ﻣﺒ is pointing towards it. In the words of Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī , what is obvious does not require any proof. 3. These words express both God’s favour and also conclusive communication of the truth from Him. Obviously, after this they cannot present the excuse that the addressees are Arabs and the book sent to them is not in Arabic. 4. Ie., in the guarded tablet which is the source of all knowledge. Hence no one should regard it to be the inspiration of the devils or the soothsaying of soothsayers or mere poetry or oratory and then make fun of it. 5. This is because the author of this Book is also exalted and replete with wisdom and every Book is the reflection of its author’s attributes. 6. The word ﺻﻔۡﺤًﺎ in the verse in my opinion connotes an accusative of cause ( maf‘ ū l lah ū ), and means “to ignore something.” The implication is that when God has decided to implement His worldly retribution among