Al-Ghashiyah

إِنَّ هَٰذَا لَفِي الصُّحُفِ الْأُولَىٰ صُحُفِ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَمُوسَىٰ (Indeed this is [ written ] in the earlier divine scripts, the scripts of Ibrahim and Musa....87:18, 19] In other words, either all the themes of this Surah or its last theme, that the Hereafter is much better and much more durable than this life, was written in the earlier Divine scriptures. It is further explicated that this theme was written in the scriptures of Prophets Ibrahim and Musa (علیہما السلام) . Probably, it refers to other scriptures that were given to Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) before Torah. It is also possible that it refers to Torah itself.

Themes of the Scripts of Prophet Ibrahim (علیہ السلام)

Ajurri transmits a narration from Sayyidna Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari ؓ that he inquired from the Prophet ﷺ as to the contents of the scripts of Prophet Ibrahim (علیہ السلام) and the Holy Prophet ﷺ replied that they contained educating parables . A story is told in it about a tyrant king where he is addressed and told: You haughty, arrogant and oppressive ruler! I did not give you kingdom so that you may amass wealth, but I had given you power so that you may let the supplication of the oppressed against the oppressor reach me, because my law does not reject the supplication of an oppressed, even though it may be uttered by an unbeliever.

Another parable addresses the general public thus: A wise person should divide his time into three parts. One part should be reserved for the worship of his Lord and supplication to Him. The second part should be reserved for self-assessment of his deeds, and reflection on the Omnipotence and creation of Allah. The third part should be allocated for acquisition of livelihood and fulfilling the natural needs. It further imparts that a wise person should keep himself abreast of the circumstances of his time, and keep himself busy in performing his intended work. He should take care of his tongue. He who takes speech as one of his works, his speech will be confined only to the things of real need.

Themes of the Scripts of Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام)

Sayyidna Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari ؓ says that he then inquired from the Holy Prophet ﷺ as to the contents of the scripts of Prophet Musa (علیہ السلام) and the Holy Prophet ﷺ replied

that they contained lessons of wisdom. Some of them are as follows:

§ I am surprised at the person who believes that he will certainly die, and yet he lives happily.

• I am surprised at the person who believes in Divine destiny, and yet he is despondent and aggrieved.

• I am surprised at the person who experiences the vicissitudes of life and rise and fall of nations, and yet he is content with the world.

• I am surprised at the person who believes in the Reckoning of the Hereafter, and yet he abandons [ good ] deeds.

Sayyidna Abu Dharr Al-Ghifari ؓ says that he asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ whether anything from these scriptures was revealed to him, he replied in the affirmative and asked Sayyidna Abu Dharr Ghifari ؓ to recite verses 14-19 of this Surah. [ Qurtubi ]

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Al-A` la

Ends here

Commentary

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ (Many faces on that day will be humbled, working hard, exhausted...88:3). On the Day of Judgment, there will be two separate groups of people, believers and unbelievers, and their faces will be different. This verse describes the faces of the unbelievers. They will be downcast. The word khashi` ah from the root word khusha' means to humble, humiliate, cast down'. This is the meaning of casting oneself down before Allah in prayer. People who did not cast themselves down before Allah in this world, their faces on the Day of Judgement will be downcast with humiliation and disgrace.

The other conditions of the unbelievers are amilah and nasibah. The word ` amilah from ` aural means 'to work hard' and ` amil or ` amilah in Arabic is used for 'a person who works continuously, so as to become completely tired'. The word nasibah is derived from nasab. This word also refers to 'one who toils unceasingly so as to become totally exhausted'. It seems that the latter two conditions of the unbelievers relate to this world, because Hereafter is not a realm in which one has to work to become so tired and exhausted. Therefore, Qurtubi and other commentators are of the view that the humbleness of their faces relates to the Hereafter, but their working hard and being exhausted refers to their work in this world. Given this interpretation, the sense is that many unbelievers exert themselves in their false rituals, and work hard in their presumed acts of worship in the world, as for instance the Hindu Yogis and many Christian monks do. They endure many difficulties in the devotional acts of worship sincerely in order to seek the good pleasure of Allah, but being on wrong and idolatrous ways, they are not acceptable to, or rewarded by, Allah. Thus their faces show signs of exhaustion in this world; and in the Hereafter they will show signs of disgrace and humiliation.

Sayyidna Hasan Basri رحمۃ علیہ reports that when Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ went to Syria, a Christian monk came to him. He was an old man, and on account of his religious exercises and great endeavours, his face was exhausted, his body was dry and his dressing was miserable. When Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ looked at him, he began to weep. People asked him about the cause of his weeping. He replied: "I pity the condition of this old man. This poor soul worked so hard and showed such readiness to lay down his life to achieve a particular purpose (that is, to gain the pleasure of Allah) but, alas! He could not achieve it”. Then he recited the following verse:

وُجُوهٌ يَوْمَئِذٍ خَاشِعَةٌ . عَامِلَةٌ نَّاصِبَةٌ

Many faces on that day will be humbled, 'working hard, exhausted. [ 88:2-3] '

نَارًا حَامِيَةً (...[ the ] scorching fire...88:4). The word حَامِيَةً hamiyah literally means 'hot' and 'scorching'. Although this is the natural property of fire that needed no mention, yet the specific reference to this quality of the fire brings out the point that the fire of Hell cannot be compared to the fire of this world. The heat of the fire of this world, some time or the other, is reduced or ends. But the fire of Hell is everlasting and eternal. Its heat will neither reduce nor end.

لَّيْسَ لَهُمْ طَعَامٌ إِلَّا مِن ضَرِيعٍ (There will be no food for them except from a thorny plant...88:6) The only food available for the inmates of Hell would be dari`. In the world, this is a kind of thorny grass that spreads on the ground. No animal goes near it. It is foul-smelling, poisonous and thorny. [ As interpreted by ` Ikrimah, Mujahid, and quoted by Qurtubi ].

How will Grass or Tree Survive in Hell

One may ask the question that the grass or trees are among things

that burn in fire. How will they survive in Hellfire? The answer is that the Supreme Creator Who cherished and sustained them in this world with water and air, has the power and ability to make the fire itself the nutrient of these trees, so that they may flourish.

Another question may be raised here. The Qur'an mentions several things as the food of the inmates of Hell. Here it refers to their food as dart`. On another occasion, it refers to zaqqum, and on a third occasion it refers to ghislin. This verse restricts their food to dari', thus: 'There will be no food for them except from a thorny plant...88:6)

The answer is that the restriction in this verse is in contrast to a palatable food that may be fit for [ human ] consumption. Dari` is cited here as an example. The verse means that the inmates of Hell will not get any palatable food. They will get worst, most disgusting and loathsome food like Dari`. Thus the purpose of mentioning Dari` is not restriction. In fact, Dari` includes zaqqum and ghislin. Qurtubi says that it is possible there will be different levels in Hell, and on different levels there will be different kinds of food. On one level, there will be dart` and on another level, ghislin, and so on.