Qaf 50:37–43

Channels of Acquiring Knowledge

لِمَن كَانَ لَهُ قَلْبٌ ( who has a heart - 50:37). Ibn ` Abbas ؓ has said that here the word qalb [ heart ] means ` aql [ intellect ], because the centre of intellect is heart. Some scholars of Qur'an say that "heart" here refers to life, because the axis of life is heart. Thus the verse means only that person will be able to benefit from the advice and lesson of the Qur'an who has life or a sound understanding with which he comprehends. The one devoid of intellect cannot benefit from the Qur'an.

أَوْ أَلْقَى السَّمْعَ وَهُوَ شَهِيدٌ (and gives ear [ to the truth ] attentively....50:37). The phrase Ilqa'-us- sam' connotes to listen to someone attentively and the word Shahid means present. The message of the above verses is that two types of people benefit: [ 1] a person who has the mind and the intellect who understands it in his mind and accepts it; and [ 2] a person who gives his ears and listens to the Divine verses with an attentive heart, while his heart is present and not absent. Mazhari interprets that the first type is called kamilin [ thoroughly proficient members of the Islamic community ]. The second type is their followers and sincere seekers of Reality who are under the direction of a spiritual guide who, on account of their sincerity and purity of heart, accept the teachings of the religion.

وَسَبِّحْ بِحَمْدِ رَ‌بِّكَ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُ‌وبِ (and proclaim His purity along with your Lord's praise before sunrise and before sunset... 50:39). The imperative verb sabbih is derived from the infinitive tasbih which originally means to declare or proclaim the purity of Allah. This comprehends the verbal declaration or proclamation and the worship, such as prayer. Therefore, some scholars say that tasbih before sunrise refers to the morning prayer, and tasbih before sunset refers to ` Asr (late afternoon) prayer. Sayyidna Jarir Ibn ` Abdullah ؓ reports from the Holy Prophet ﷺ [ as part of a long Tradition ]

اِن اسَطَعتُم اَن لَّا تُغلَبُوا عَلیٰ صَلَوٰۃِ قَبلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمسِ وَقَبلَ غُرُوبِھَا، یَعنِی اَلعَصرَ وَ الفَجرَ ثُمَّ قَرَأ جَرِیر ؓ قَبْلَ طُلُوعِ الشَّمْسِ وَقَبْلَ الْغُرُ‌وبِ ۔ (بخاری و مسلم و اللفظ لمسلم)

"So if you can avoid missing the prayer before the sunrise and the prayer before sunset, that is the 'Asr prayer and the morning prayer, you must do so." (Bukhari and Muslim the wordings of Muslim: vide Qurtubi)

Although according to the majority of commentators, tasbih in the verse refers to salah (prayer), yet the general words of tasbih include all those invocations also the recitation of which is encouraged by authentic ahadith at the time of morning and evening. Bukhari and Muslim have recorded a Tradition on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said:

"If you recite morning and evening سُبحَانَ اللہ subhanallah a hundred times, no one will bring, on the Day of Judgment, a virtuous act better than it, except those who would recite the same tasbih in the same number or even more than that."

In the same collections, a narration by the same authority, says that whosoever recites subhanallahi wa bi hamdihi one hundred times in a day, his sins will be forgiven, even though they may be more than the waves of the sea. (Mazhari)

وَأَدْبَارَ‌ السُّجُودِ (...and at the ends of prostration.... 50:40) Mujahid (رح) interprets sujud in this verse to refer to the five obligatory prayers, and the phrase "at the ends of the prostrations", according to him, refers to all those tasbihat which authentic ahadith encourage us to recite after every prayer. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ reports that the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: "Whosoever recites after every obligatory prayer 33 times subhanallah (سُبحَانَ اللہ), 33 times al-hamdulillah (اَلحَمدُ للہ) and 33 times allahu 'akbar (اللہُ اَکبَر), and once:

لَا اِلٰہَ ِالّا اللہُ وَحدَہُ ، لَا شَرِیکَ لَہُ ، لَہُ المُلکُ وَ لَہُ الحَمدُ وھُوَ علیٰ کُلِّ شیٔ قَدِیر

la ilaha illatlahu wahdahu la-sharika lahu lah-ul-mulku wa-lah-ul- hamdu wa huwa 'ala kulli shai'in qadeer.

- all his sins will be forgiven, even though they may be equal to the waves of the sea (Bukhari and Muslim). The phrase "at the ends of the prostrations" could also refer to the supererogatory prayers to be performed after the obligatory prayers as authentic Traditions testify (Mazhari).

يَوْمَ يُنَادِ الْمُنَادِ مِن مَّكَانٍ قَرِ‌يبٍ (...the Day when the caller will call from a near place - 50:41). Sayyidna Ibn ` Asakir ؓ reports from Zaid Ibn Jabir Shafi` i that the "caller" referred to here is the angel Israfil (علیہ السلام) who will stand on the Dome of the Rock (Sakhrah) and will address all the dead people of the entire world : "0 you rotten bones! 0 you decomposed skins! 0 you scattered hair! Listen, Allah commands you to reassemble to render account of your actions (Mazhari)." This scene depicts how, after the second blowing of the trumpet, the world will be resurrected. The phrase "a near place" refers to the fact that the voice of the angel will reach everybody who rises from death anywhere on the surface of the earth, and will feel as though the angel had called him from a nearby place. 'Ikrimah ؓ says that the voice will be heard in such a way as if someone is speaking to us in our ears. Other scholars have said that "a near place" refers to the Dome of the Rock, because that is the centre of the earth, and is equidistant, being separated by equal distances from all sides of the globe. (Qurtubi)