Sura al-Buruj

Priority: b, Quality: b
From wikishia
Sura al-Buruj
al-Inshiqaq
Sura Number85
Juz'30
Revelation
Revelation Number27
Makki/MadaniMakki
Information
Verse Count22
Word Count109
Letter Count468\


This article is an introduction to the Sura al-Buruj; to read its text see text:Sura al-Buruj.

Sūra al-Burūj (Arabic: سورة البروج) is the eighty fifth sura of the Qur'an. It is Makki sura and located in the juz' thirty of the Qur'an. This sura is called "al-Buruj" because it starts with a swearing to the sky which has houses.

This sura is about the fate of Ashab al-Ukhdud (The People of the Ditch) and the fate of believers in God in the Day of Judgment. Also those who rejected the Qur'an are warned and it is said that Qur'an is protected in the preserved tablet (al-lawh al-mahfuz). The tablet is something that records all the incidents of the whole universe with their smallest details and it is imperishable and unchangeable. According to narrations, Prophet Muhammad (s) has recommended to recite this sura of Qur'an in daily prayers.

Introduction

  • Naming

"Buruj" is the plural form of "Burj" which means palaces or houses.[1] This sura of Qur'an is called al-Buruj as it starts with God's swearing to the sky which has constellations: By the sky with its houses.[2]

  • Place and Order of Revelation

Sura al-Buruj is a Makki sura and it is the twenty seventh sura which was revealed to Prophet (s). Now this sura is the eighty fifth sura which is in the thirtieth juz' of the Qur'an.[3]

  • Number of Verses and Features

Sura al-Buruj has twenty two verses, 109 words, and 468 letters. It is one of the mufassalat suras (the ones with short and numerous verses) in Qur'an. This sura is among the suras which stars with God's swearing.[4]

Content

This sura of Qur'an starts with God's swearing to the sky and the Day of Judgement as well as emphases on its occurrence. Then its verses are about the fate of Ashab al-Ukhdud (People of the Ditch) in which believers were tortured by disbelievers, but disbelievers themselves were perished eventually. Next verses are about the fate of believers and their rewards given to them by God in the Day of Judgment, characteristics and acts of God and lastly they are about the stories of the Pharaoh, Thamud tribe and the Knowledge of God which is comprehensive, as He knows everything about intentions and actions of humans. It also talks about the greatness of Qur'an.[5]

Content of Sura al-Buruj[6]
 
 
Failure and suffering of enemies of religion
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
First topic: verses 1-9
Severity and violence of enemies
 
Second topic: verses 10-22
Failure and suffering of tyrants in this world and in the Hereafter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
First point: verses 1-3
Swearing to signs of failure of enemies
 
First point: verses 10-16
Suffering of tyrants and rewards for believers in the Hereafter
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Second point: verses 4-9
A story about severity of enemies
 
Second point: verses 17-22
Failure of tyrants in this world

Ashab al-Ukhdud

The forth to eighth verses of Sura al-Buruj is about Ashab al-Ukhdud. The term 'Ukhdud' means deep ditch or a trench[7] and it is used in this sura of the Qur'an in order to describe the ditches filled with fire in which believers were thrown in to be burnt.[8] There are disagreements among the historians and exegetes on the time and the tribe who experienced this event.

The most famous report is about Dhu Nuwas, the last Himyaritic King in Yemen who burnt a number of people of Najran because they converted to Christianity. The Jewish king asked Christian people of Najran to convert to Judaism but they refused and he ordered to prepare ditches filled with fire and then threw Christians to the ditches alive. A number of them were also killed with strikes of swords.[9] It is stated in Qur'an that those believers were faultless, they only believed in God, the All-Mighty and the Praise Worthy.[10]

Al-Lawh al-Mahfuz

In the last verse of Sura al-Buruj, it is said that Qur'an is protected in an imperishable lawh (tablet) which is something that record all the events in this world with their smallest details and it is imperishable.[11] 'Allama Tabataba'i has written about these verses that, God has mentioned the reason why disbelievers will not accept any advice. In fact they are not emphasizing on rejecting Qur'an but they say that Qur'an was not descended from God, which is not true. Qur'an has powerful and extraordinary meanings and it is protected in an imperishable tablet which is safe from the Satans and wrongdoers.[12]

Merits and Benefites

It is narrated from Prophet Muhammad (s) that whoever who recite Sura al-Buruj, will be rewarded ten times rewards of the rewards of Fridays and 'Arafa he gained during his lifetime.[13] Also he recommended Muslims to recite this sura in their daily prayers.[14] There is also a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) according to which if someone recites Sura al-Buruj in daily prayers, he/she will be accompanied by prophets and messengers in the Dooms day and the Day of Judgment, as Sura al-Buruj is among the favorite suras of Qur'an for prophets.[15]

In Tafsir al-burhan a number of merits have been mentioned about reciting Sura al-Buruj including: overcoming fear and hardship,[16] having sound sleep and facilitating stopping breastfeeding of children.[17]

External Links

Notes

  1. Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān, Under the word «برج».
  2. Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1262-1263.
  3. Maʿrifat, Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, vol. 1, p. 166.
  4. Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1262-1263.
  5. Khurramshāhī, Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 1262-1263.
  6. Khamagar, Muhammad, Sakhtar-i suraha-yi Qur'an-i karim, Mu'assisa-yi Farhangi-yi Qur'an wa 'Itrat-i Nur al-Thaqalayn, Qom: Nashra, ed.1, 1392 Sh.
  7. Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān, Under the word «خدّ».
  8. Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 414.
  9. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 26, p. 338.
  10. Qur’an, 85:8.
  11. Subḥānī, Maʿ al-Shīʿa al-imāmīyya, p. 123.
  12. Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 20, p. 254.
  13. Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 10, p. 310.
  14. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 89, p. 321.
  15. Ṣadūq, Thawāb al-aʿmāl, p. 122.
  16. Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 5, p. 621.
  17. Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 5, p. 621.

References

  • Baḥrānī, Sayyid Hāshim b. Sulaymān. Al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1416 AH.
  • Khurramshāhī, Bahāʾ al-Dīn. Dānishnāma-yi Qurʾān wa Qurʾān pazhūhī. Tehran: Dūstān-Nāhīd, 1377 Sh.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Second edition. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1380 Sh.
  • Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī. Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān. [n.p]: Markaz Chāp wa Nashr-i Sāzmān-i Tablīghāt, 1371 Sh.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1367 Sh.
  • Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-. Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān. Edited by Ṣafwān ʿAdnān Dāwūdī. Beirut: Dār al-Qalam, 1412 AH.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Thawāb al-aʿmāl wa ʿiqāb al-aʿmāl. Edited by Ṣādiq Ḥasanzāda. Tehran: Armaghān-i Ṭūbā, 1382 Sh.
  • Subḥānī, Jaʿfar. Maʿ al-Shīʿa al-imāmīyya. Qom: Nashr-i Mashʿar, 1413 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāyī, Mūhammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Second edition. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1974.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Translated to Farsi by Bīstūnī. Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1390 Sh.