(1–22) “In the name of Allah, the Most Compassionate, the Most Merciful. By the heaven with its constellations * and the promised Day * and by a witness and what is witnessed * Destroyed were the people of the trench * the fire full of fuel * when they sat around it * and witnessed what they did to the believers * They resented them only because they believed in Allah—the Almighty, the Praiseworthy * to Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth. And Allah is Witness over all things * Those who persecuted the believing men and women and then did not repent will suffer the punishment of Hell and the punishment of burning * Those who believe and do righteous deeds will have Gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great triumph * Indeed, your Lord’s grip is severe * He alone originates and restores * and He is the All-Forgiving, the All-Loving * Possessor of the Throne, the Glorious * Doer of whatever He wills * Has the account of the hosts reached you—* Pharaoh and Thamūd? * Yet the disbelievers persist in denial * while Allah encompasses them from behind * Rather, it is a glorious Quran * in a Preserved Tablet.”
“By the heaven with its constellations” means the celestial stations, comprising the stations of the sun and moon and the stars moving regularly in their courses, all arranged in the most perfect order and system, demonstrating the perfection of Allah Most High’s power and mercy and the vastness of His knowledge and wisdom.
“And the promised Day” is the Day of Resurrection, on which Allah has promised to gather all creation, bringing together the first and the last and those far and near. It cannot be changed, for Allah never breaks His promise.
“And by a witness and what is witnessed” encompasses everyone and everything that bears this description: one who beholds and one beheld, one present and one attended, a seer and what is seen.
The point affirmed by this oath is what the oath itself contains of Allah’s dazzling signs, manifest wisdom, and vast mercy.
It has also been said that the point affirmed by the oath is His statement, “Destroyed were the people of the trench.” This is a supplication that they be destroyed.
A “trench” is a pit dug into the ground.
These people of the trench were disbelievers among whom there were believers. They tried to induce the believers to enter (1) their religion, but the believers refused. The disbelievers therefore dug a trench in the ground, kindled a fire in it, sat around it, and subjected the believers to persecution, bringing them before the fire. Anyone who complied with their demand was released, while anyone who remained steadfast in faith was cast into the fire. This was warfare against Allah and His believing party in its most extreme form. Allah therefore cursed and destroyed them and threatened them, saying, “Destroyed were the people of the trench.” He then explained the trench in the words, “the fire full of fuel * when they sat around it * and witnessed what they did to the believers.” This was among the most extreme forms of tyranny and hard-heartedness, for they combined disbelief in Allah’s signs and obstinate opposition to them with waging war against the believers and torturing them with a punishment that rends the heart, while personally watching as they were thrown into it. Yet the only thing they resented in the believers was a single quality (2) for which they deserved praise and in which lay their happiness: they believed in Allah, the Almighty, the Praiseworthy—that is, the One possessing the might by which He has subdued all things, and Who is praiseworthy in His words, attributes, and deeds.
“To Whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth”: He created them, and they are His servants. He disposes of them as an owner disposes of his property (3). “And Allah is Witness over all things” through His knowledge, hearing, and sight. Did these rebels against Allah not fear that the Almighty, the Omnipotent, would seize them? Did they not know that they were all Allah’s possessions (4), and that no one has authority over another except by the Owner’s permission? Or were they unaware that Allah encompasses their deeds and will recompense them for what they have done (5)? No indeed. The disbeliever is deluded, while the wrongdoer is in ignorance and blindness (6) concerning the straight path.
He then gave promises and warnings and offered them the opportunity to repent, saying, “Those who persecuted the believing men and women and then did not repent will suffer the punishment of Hell and the punishment of burning”—that is, a severe, scorching punishment.
Al-Hasan—may Allah have mercy on him—said: “Behold this generosity and munificence! They killed His allies ⦗919⦘ and His obedient servants, yet He calls them to repent.”
After mentioning the punishment of the wrongdoers, He mentioned the reward of the believers, saying, “Those who believe” in their hearts “and do righteous deeds” with their limbs “will have Gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great triumph,” through which triumph (7) is attained by gaining Allah’s pleasure and entering His abode of honor.
“Indeed, your Lord’s grip is severe.” That is, His punishment of those guilty of crimes and grave sins is truly mighty and severe. He is ever watchful over the wrongdoers, as Allah Most High says, “Such is the seizure of your Lord when He seizes the towns while they are wrongdoing. Indeed, His seizure is painful and severe.”
“He alone originates and restores.” That is, He alone originates creation and restores it, and He has no partner in this (8). “And He is the All-Forgiving,” Who forgives every sin of anyone who repents and pardons the misdeeds of anyone who seeks His forgiveness and returns to Him.
“The All-Loving”: His beloved servants love Him with a love unlike any other. Just as nothing resembles Him in His attributes of majesty and beauty, His meanings, or His deeds, so the corresponding love for Him within the hearts of the choicest of His creation resembles no other kind of love. Love for Him is therefore the foundation of servitude. It takes precedence over and prevails above every other love; any other love that is not subordinate to it becomes a source of torment for its possessor. He Most High is the All-Loving, Who loves His beloved servants, as He says, “He loves them, and they love Him.” Affection is pure love. There is a subtle secret in His pairing “the All-Loving” with “the All-Forgiving”: it indicates that when sinners repent to Allah and return to Him, He forgives their sins and loves them. It must not be said that their sins are forgiven but His love for them does not return, as some mistaken people have claimed.
Rather, Allah rejoices more over His servant’s repentance than a man whose mount carried his food, drink, and all his provisions but escaped from him in a deadly wilderness. Having despaired of finding it, he lies beneath the shade of a tree awaiting death. While he is in that state, he suddenly finds his mount standing over him and grasps its halter. Allah’s joy at His servant’s repentance is greater than this man’s joy at recovering his mount—and this is the greatest joy imaginable.
All praise and commendation belong to Allah, as does the purest love. How immense is His benevolence, how abundant His goodness, how profuse His beneficence, and how vast His favor!
“Possessor of the Throne, the Glorious” means the Lord of the mighty Throne. Such is its immensity that it encompasses the heavens, the earth, and the Kursī (Footstool). Compared with the Throne, they are like a ring cast into a desert compared with the rest of the earth. Allah singled out the Throne for mention because of its greatness and because it is the created thing closest to Him Most High. According to the genitive reading, “Glorious” modifies “Throne”; according to the nominative reading, “Glorious” describes Allah (9). Glory signifies the vastness and greatness of one’s attributes.
“Doer of whatever He wills”: whatever He wills, He does. When He wills something, He says to it, “Be,” and it is. No one does whatever he wills except Allah.
Created beings may will something, but their will depends upon assistance and encounters resistance. Allah’s will, however, requires no assistant, and nothing can prevent whatever He wills.
He then mentioned some of His deeds that demonstrate the truth of what His messengers brought, saying, “Has the account of the hosts reached you—Pharaoh and Thamūd?” They denied the messengers, so Allah made them among those who were destroyed.
“Yet the disbelievers persist in denial.” That is, they remain entrenched in denial and obstinacy: the signs do not benefit them, nor do admonitions avail them.
“While Allah encompasses them from behind.” That is, He encompasses them in knowledge and power, as He says, “Indeed, your Lord is ever watchful.” This contains a severe warning to the disbelievers of punishment from the One in Whose grasp they remain and under Whose governance they stand.
“Rather, it is a glorious Quran.” That is, its meanings are vast and sublime, and it abounds in goodness and knowledge.
“In a Preserved Tablet”: protected against alteration, addition, and omission, and guarded against devils. It is the Preserved Tablet in which Allah has recorded all things.
This demonstrates the Quran’s majesty and magnificence and its exalted standing with Allah Most High. Allah knows best.
The commentary on this surah is complete.