SAD. I CALL to witness the admonishing Qur'an.
Saad* – By oath of the renowned Qur’an, (Alphabet of the Arabic language; Allah and to whomever He reveals, know their precise meanings.)
Sad. By the Koran, containing the Remembrance --
Sad. CONSIDER this Qur’an, endowed with all that one ought to remember!
Sad. By the Qur'an full of admonition.
Sad [These letters (Sad etc.) are one of the miracles of the Quran and none but Allah (Alone) knows their meanings]. By the Quran full of reminding.
Saad. By the renowned Quran.
Sad, and by the Qur'an full of exhortation!
Sad. By the Qur'an full of reminding.
Sad. By the renowned Qur'an,
Suad. By the Quran bearing the Reminder,
Saad, by the Holy Reading (Koran) of the Remembrance.
Sad. By the Qur'an containing reminder...
Sad. I swear by the Quran, which is full of reminders of God, (that you are a Messenger).
Suad, I swear by the Quran, full of admonition.
<u>Sa</u>d wa<b>a</b>lqur<u>a</u>ni <u>th</u>ee a<b>l</b><u>thth</u>ikr<b>i</b>
Sad. By the Quran, full of admonition!
Sad: By the Qur'an, Full of Admonition: (This is the Truth).
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ صٓ وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ ذِى ٱلذِّكْرِ
Saad. By the Qur’ān containing reminder. The discussion on similar letters has already passed in the beginning of Sūrah Al-Baqarah. I swear by the Qur’ān which is full of admonition, reminding mankind that which benefits them in their worldly life and the Afterlife. The matter is not as the idolaters think, namely that Allah has partners beside Him.
Saad. By the Qur’ān containing reminder. The discussion on similar letters has already passed in the beginning of Sūrah Al-Baqarah. I swear by the Qur’ān which is full of admonition, reminding mankind that which benefits them in their worldly life and the Afterlife. The matter is not as the idolaters think, namely that Allah has partners beside Him.
<p>Commentary</p><p>The background of the revelation</p><p>The background of the revelation of the initial verses of this Surah was that Abu Talib, the uncle of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was doing his best as his guardian, despite that he had not yet embraced Islam. When he fell sick, the chiefs of the tribe of Quraish held a consultative meeting in which Abu Jahl, ` As Ibn Wa'il, Aswad Ibn Muttalib, Aswad Ibn ` Abd Yaghuth and several other chiefs participated. They discussed the situation they faced. Abu Talib was sick. If he were to pass away and they were to take some strong action against the Holy Prophet ﷺ to restrain his activities in favor of promoting his new faith, the people of Arabia will throw taunts at them and say, 'Here are these people who could do nothing against him while his uncle Abu Talib was alive while, now when he has died, they have stood up against him as their target. So, they came to the conclusion that they should decide this thing about Muhammad ﷺ while Abu Talib was still alive, so that he would stop speaking ill about their objects of worship.</p><p>Accordingly, these people came to Abu Talib and said to him that his nephew spoke ill of their objects of worship. They appealed to his sense of justice, and asked him to tell his nephew that he was free to worship any god he liked, but say nothing against their objects of worship. The truth of the matter was that the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself did not say about these idols anything more than that they were insensate and lifeless. They were not their creators, nor their sustainers, and that nothing that could benefit or harm them was in their control. Abu Talib asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ to come in the meeting. To him, he said, 'My dear nephew, these people are complaining about you that you speak ill of their objects of worship. Leave them on their faith and, on your part, you keep worshiping your God.' People from the Quraish also kept making their comments following it.</p><p>Finally, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'My dear uncle, should I not be inviting them to something that is better for them?' Abu Talib said, 'What thing is that?' He said, 'I want them to say a particular kalimah (statement) by virtue of which the whole Arabia will be at their feet, and they will become masters of the non-Arab lands beyond it.' Thereupon, Abu Jahl said, 'Tell us. What that kalimah is? By your father, not simply one kalimah, we are ready to say ten of them.' To this he replied, 'Just say: لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha il-lal-lah: There is no god (worthy of worship) but Allah). Hearing this, all of them rose to leave saying, 'Are we supposed to leave all objects of worship we have, and take to just one? This is something very strange.' It was on this occasion that these verses of Surah Sad were revealed. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, pp. 27, 28 v. 4)</p>
CommentaryThe background of the revelationThe background of the revelation of the initial verses of this Surah was that Abu Talib, the uncle of the Holy Prophet ﷺ was doing his best as his guardian, despite that he had not yet embraced Islam. When he fell sick, the chiefs of the tribe of Quraish held a consultative meeting in which Abu Jahl, ` As Ibn Wa'il, Aswad Ibn Muttalib, Aswad Ibn ` Abd Yaghuth and several other chiefs participated. They discussed the situation they faced. Abu Talib was sick. If he were to pass away and they were to take some strong action against the Holy Prophet ﷺ to restrain his activities in favor of promoting his new faith, the people of Arabia will throw taunts at them and say, 'Here are these people who could do nothing against him while his uncle Abu Talib was alive while, now when he has died, they have stood up against him as their target. So, they came to the conclusion that they should decide this thing about Muhammad ﷺ while Abu Talib was still alive, so that he would stop speaking ill about their objects of worship.Accordingly, these people came to Abu Talib and said to him that his nephew spoke ill of their objects of worship. They appealed to his sense of justice, and asked him to tell his nephew that he was free to worship any god he liked, but say nothing against their objects of worship. The truth of the matter was that the Holy Prophet ﷺ himself did not say about these idols anything more than that they were insensate and lifeless. They were not their creators, nor their sustainers, and that nothing that could benefit or harm them was in their control. Abu Talib asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ to come in the meeting. To him, he said, 'My dear nephew, these people are complaining about you that you speak ill of their objects of worship. Leave them on their faith and, on your part, you keep worshiping your God.' People from the Quraish also kept making their comments following it.Finally, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said, 'My dear uncle, should I not be inviting them to something that is better for them?' Abu Talib said, 'What thing is that?' He said, 'I want them to say a particular kalimah (statement) by virtue of which the whole Arabia will be at their feet, and they will become masters of the non-Arab lands beyond it.' Thereupon, Abu Jahl said, 'Tell us. What that kalimah is? By your father, not simply one kalimah, we are ready to say ten of them.' To this he replied, 'Just say: لا إله إلا اللہ (la ilaha il-lal-lah: There is no god (worthy of worship) but Allah). Hearing this, all of them rose to leave saying, 'Are we supposed to leave all objects of worship we have, and take to just one? This is something very strange.' It was on this occasion that these verses of Surah Sad were revealed. (Tafsir Ibn Kathir, pp. 27, 28 v. 4)
<h2 class="title">Which was revealed in Makkah</h2><div class="text_uthmani arabic">بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ </div><p>In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَالْقُرْءَانِ ذِى الذِّكْرِ</div><p>(By the Qur'an full of reminding.) means, by the Qur'an which includes all that is in it as a reminder and a benefit to people in this life and the Hereafter. Ad-Dahhak said that the Ayah, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">ذِى الذِّكْرِ</div><p>(full of reminding.) is like the Ayah, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَـباً فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ</div><p>(Indeed, We have sent down for you (O mankind) a Book in which there is Dhikrukum) (21:10). i.e., your reminder. This was also the view of Qatadah and of Ibn Jarir. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Isma`il bin Abi Khalid, Ibn `Uyaynah, Abu Husayn, Abu Salih and As-Suddi said: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">ذِى الذِّكْرِ</div><p>(full of reminding.) "Full of honor," i.e., of high standing. There is no contradiction between the two views, because it is a noble Book which includes reminders and leaves no excuse and brings warnings. The reason for this oath is to be found in the Ayah: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">إِن كُلٌّ إِلاَّ كَذَّبَ الرٌّسُلَ فَحَقَّ عِقَابِ </div><p>(Not one of them but denied the Messengers; therefore My torment was justified.) (38:14). Qatadah said, "The reason for it is to be found in the Ayah: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِى عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ </div><p>(Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition)." This was the view favored by Ibn Jarir. </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِى عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ </div><p>(Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition.) means, in this Qur'an there is a reminder for those who will be reminded and a lesson for those who will learn a lesson, but the disbelievers will not benefit from it because they </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فِى عِزَّةٍ</div><p>(are in false pride) meaning, arrogance and tribalism, </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَشِقَاقٍ</div><p>(and opposition.) means, they are stubbornly opposed to it and go against it. Then Allah scares them with news of how the nations who came before them were destroyed because of their opposition to the Messengers and their disbelief in the Scriptures that were revealed from heaven. Allah says: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ</div><p>(How many a generation have We destroyed before them!) meaning, disbelieving nations. </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَنَادَوْاْ</div><p>(And they cried out) means, when the punishment came to them, they called for help and cried out to Allah, but that did not save them at all. This is like the Ayat: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَلَمَّآ أَحَسُّواْ بَأْسَنَآ إِذَا هُمْ مِّنْهَا يَرْكُضُونَ - لاَ تَرْكُضُواْ وَارْجِعُواْ إِلَى مَآ أُتْرِفْتُمْ فِيهِ وَمَسَـكِنِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْأَلُونَ </div><p>(Then, when they perceived (saw) Our torment, behold, they (tried to) flee from it. Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes, in order that you may be questioned.) (21:12-13). Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that At-Tamimi said, "I asked Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, about the Ayah: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ</div><p>(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) He said that it was not the time for them to call or flee or escape. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, concerning the Ayah: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ</div><p>(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "They called for Tawhid when their lives were over, and they resorted to repentance when their lives were over." Qatadah said, "When they saw the punishment, they wanted to repent when there was no longer time to call out." Mujahid said: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ</div><p>(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "It was not the time to flee or escape." Allah says: </p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ</div><p>(when there was no longer time for escape.) meaning, there was no time to escape or run away; and Allah knows best. </p>
Which was revealed in Makkahبِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. وَالْقُرْءَانِ ذِى الذِّكْرِ(By the Qur'an full of reminding.) means, by the Qur'an which includes all that is in it as a reminder and a benefit to people in this life and the Hereafter. Ad-Dahhak said that the Ayah, ذِى الذِّكْرِ(full of reminding.) is like the Ayah, لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَآ إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَـباً فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ(Indeed, We have sent down for you (O mankind) a Book in which there is Dhikrukum) (21:10). i.e., your reminder. This was also the view of Qatadah and of Ibn Jarir. Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Isma`il bin Abi Khalid, Ibn `Uyaynah, Abu Husayn, Abu Salih and As-Suddi said: ذِى الذِّكْرِ(full of reminding.) "Full of honor," i.e., of high standing. There is no contradiction between the two views, because it is a noble Book which includes reminders and leaves no excuse and brings warnings. The reason for this oath is to be found in the Ayah: إِن كُلٌّ إِلاَّ كَذَّبَ الرٌّسُلَ فَحَقَّ عِقَابِ (Not one of them but denied the Messengers; therefore My torment was justified.) (38:14). Qatadah said, "The reason for it is to be found in the Ayah: بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِى عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ (Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition)." This was the view favored by Ibn Jarir. بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ فِى عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ (Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition.) means, in this Qur'an there is a reminder for those who will be reminded and a lesson for those who will learn a lesson, but the disbelievers will not benefit from it because they فِى عِزَّةٍ(are in false pride) meaning, arrogance and tribalism, وَشِقَاقٍ(and opposition.) means, they are stubbornly opposed to it and go against it. Then Allah scares them with news of how the nations who came before them were destroyed because of their opposition to the Messengers and their disbelief in the Scriptures that were revealed from heaven. Allah says: كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِن قَبْلِهِم مِّن قَرْنٍ(How many a generation have We destroyed before them!) meaning, disbelieving nations. فَنَادَوْاْ(And they cried out) means, when the punishment came to them, they called for help and cried out to Allah, but that did not save them at all. This is like the Ayat: فَلَمَّآ أَحَسُّواْ بَأْسَنَآ إِذَا هُمْ مِّنْهَا يَرْكُضُونَ - لاَ تَرْكُضُواْ وَارْجِعُواْ إِلَى مَآ أُتْرِفْتُمْ فِيهِ وَمَسَـكِنِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْأَلُونَ (Then, when they perceived (saw) Our torment, behold, they (tried to) flee from it. Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes, in order that you may be questioned.) (21:12-13). Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that At-Tamimi said, "I asked Ibn `Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, about the Ayah: فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) He said that it was not the time for them to call or flee or escape. Muhammad bin Ka`b said, concerning the Ayah: فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "They called for Tawhid when their lives were over, and they resorted to repentance when their lives were over." Qatadah said, "When they saw the punishment, they wanted to repent when there was no longer time to call out." Mujahid said: فَنَادَواْ وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "It was not the time to flee or escape." Allah says: وَّلاَتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ(when there was no longer time for escape.) meaning, there was no time to escape or run away; and Allah knows best. 