Sura Qaf

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Sura Qaf
al-Hujurat
Sura Number50
Juz'26
Revelation
Revelation Number34
Makki/MadaniMakki
Information
Verse Count45
Word Count373
Letter Count1507\


This article is an introduction to the Sura Qaf; to read its text see text:Sura Qaf.

Sūra Qāf (Arabic: سورة ق) is the fiftieth sura, and a Makki sura of the Qur'an, located in the twenty sixth juz' thereof. It is called "qaf" because it opens with the disjoined letter, "qaf." Themes of the sura include resurrection, the astonishment of disbelievers at the revival of the dead, prophethood, monotheism, and the divine power.

One well-known verse of Sura Qaf is its sixteenth verse, according to which God is closer to human beings than their jugular vein. As to the virtues of the recitation of this sura, it is said that God will ease hardships and agonies of death reciters of this sura.

Introduction

  • Naming

The sura is called "Qaf" because it opens with the disjoined letter, "qaf."[1] It is also called "Basiqat" (tall trees) because the word occurs in the sura,[2] which is its only occurrence in the whole Qur'an.[3]

  • Place and Order of Revelation

Sura Qaf is a Makki sura of the Qur'an. In the order of revelation, it is the thirty forth sura revealed to the Prophet (s). In the present order of compilation, it is the fiftieth sura in the twenty sixth juz' of the Qur'an.[4]

  • Number of Verses and Other Features

Sura Qaf has 45 verses, 373 words, and 1507 letters. With respect to size, it is one of the Mufassalat suras, occupying about half a hizb of the Qur'an.[5] It is the 28th of the 29 suras opening with disjoined letters. And it is the sixth of the twenty three suras opening with oaths.[6]

Content

The main theme of Sura Qaf is said to be resurrection, other themes being only subsidiary.[7]

Here is an outline of issues that appear in Sura Qaf:

  • Argument for resurrection from the system of creation, particularly the revival of dead lands by rainfalls
  • Argument for resurrection from original creation
  • Issues pertaining to death
  • Some events of the day of resurrection and attributes of the Heaven and the Hell
  • Shocking events of the end of the world
  • The agonizing fate of transgressors
  • Humans being monitored and protected throughout their life.[8]
Content of Sura Qaf[9]
Reply to objections by deniers of resurrections, and warning them
First speech: verses 1-15
Objection to the revival of scattered particles of the body		Second speech: verses 16-35
Objection to the recording and evaluation of human thoughts and deeds		Third speech: verses 36-45
A warning to deniers of resurrection
Introduction: verses 1-3
Astonishment of disbelievers at the Prophet’s words about the revival of human beings		First subject-matter: verses 36-37
necessity of disbelievers taking warning from the destruction of past nations
First reply: verses 4-5
God's knowledge of the whereabouts of the particles of dead bodies on the Earth		Second subject-matter: verse 38
God's power to create; reason for the falsity of the denial of resurrection
Second reply: verses 6-8
God's power to create and arrange the world		Third subject-matter: verses 39-45
The Prophet's obligation towards deniers of resurrection
Third reply: verses 9-14
Similarity of reviving dead human being to reviving the dead Earth
Fourth reply: verse 15
God's power to originally create the human being

The Occasion of the Revelation of Verse 38

The occasion of the revelation of verse 38 of Sura Qaf "Certainly We created the heavens and the earth, and whatever is between them, in six days, and any fatigue did not touch Us." is said to be as follows:

Some Jews went to the Prophet (s) and asked him about the creation of skies and the Earth. The Prophet (s) said, "God created the Earth on Sunday and Monday, the mountains on Tuesday, the sky on Wednesday and Thursday, and stars, the sun, and the moon on Friday." The Jews asked, "What did He do thereafter?" The Prophet (s) recited the Quranic verse, "and then established Himself above the Throne," which implies God's infinite power. However, the Jews said, "thus, God was finished with His work on Friday, and then took a rest on Saturday by relying on His Throne." The Prophet (s) was angered at what they said. Thus, the verse thirty eight of Sura Qaf was revealed to the effect that no weariness touched God after the creation.[10]

Well-Known Verses

Verse 16

The word, "warid," has been variously interpreted as "jugular vein", the vein connected to the heart and liver,[11] the vein beneath the tongue,[12] and the vein going throughout the whole body in which the blood circulates.[13] In his al-Mizan, 'Allama Tabataba'i takes this verse to be a metaphor for God's closeness to, and encompassing of, human beings.[14]

Verse 18

Main article: Raqib and Atid

This verse refers to two angels as "Raqib" (Observer) and "'Atid" (Prepared). According to some hadiths, Raqib stands on one's right shoulder to record his or her good deeds, and 'Atid stands on one's left shoulder to record his or her sins.[15] The two angels appear to the person at the time of his or her death, and will testify for one's deeds on the day of resurrection.[16] These angels have also been referred to in the Qur'an as "rusul" (messengers), "noble and recording," and "keepers."

Verse 20

Main article: Blowing the Trumpet

Blowing the Trumpet is a horrendous heavenly cry filling all skies and the Earth at the time of resurrection, causing all creatures in the world to die.[17] According to some hadiths, the Blowing occurs four times.[18] However, the Qur'an mentions only two instances of Blowing: one at the end of the world as a consequence of which all creatures die, which is the Blowing of death, and the other just before resurrection as a consequence of which all creatures come back to life, which is the Blowing of life.[19] Verse twenty of Sura Qaf refers to the latter Blowing, or to both, because it also says, "that is the day of the threat [or the promised day]."[20]

Merits and Benefits

The Prophet (s) was quoted as saying that if one recites Sura Qaf, God will ease for him the hardships and agonies of death.[21] Imam al-Baqir (a) said: if one recites Sura Qaf in his obligatory or recommended prayers, God will expand his livelihood and, on the day of resurrection, will give the book of his deeds to his right hand, and will audit his records with some laxity.[22] According to al-Burhan, the recitation of the sura has effects such as the healing of epilepsy,[23] increase in one's livelihood,[24] and the obviation of one's fears and anxiety.[25]

For the full text, see text:Sura Qaf.


Notes

  1. ↑ Khurramshāhī, "Sura-yi Qaf," p. 1252.
  2. ↑ Khurramshāhī, "Sura-yi Qaf," p. 1252.
  3. ↑ Khurramshāhī, "Sura-yi Qaf," p. 1252.
  4. ↑ Maʿrifat, Āmūzish-i ʿulūm Qurʾān, vol.2, p. 166.
  5. ↑ Khurramshāhī, "Sura-yi Qaf," p. 1252.
  6. ↑ Ṣafawī, "Sura-yi Qāf," p. 782.
  7. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 222.
  8. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 17, p. 337; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 222.
  9. ↑ 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.
  10. ↑ Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 5, p. 116; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 225; Wāḥidī, Asbāb nuzūl al-Qurān, p. 413-414.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 246.
  12. ↑ Ibn Mazūr, Lisān al-'arab, The term "Warid".
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 347.
  14. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 347.
  15. ↑ Mughnīya, al-Kāshif, vol. 7, p. 132; Ṭabrisī, Jawāmi’ al-jāmi’, vol. 4, p. 166; Kāshānī, Manhaj al-Ṣādiqīn fī ilzām al-mukhālifīn, vol.9, p. 10; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 249-250.
  16. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 22, p. 374-376.
  17. ↑ Qurashī, Qamus al-Qur'ān, vol. 4, p. 163.
  18. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 6, p. 318.
  19. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 257.
  20. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 349.
  21. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 233.
  22. ↑ Ṣadūq, Thawāb al-aʿmāl, p. 115.
  23. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān, vol. 5, p. 125.
  24. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān, vol. 5, p. 125.
  25. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qur'ān, vol. 5, p. 125.

References

  • Qurʾān-i Karīm. Translated to Farsi by Muḥammad Mahdī Fūlādwand. Tehran: Dār al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, 1376 Sh-1418 AH.
  • Baḥrānī, Sayyid Hāshim. Al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. 1st Edition. Tehran: Bunyād-i Bi'that, 1416 AH.
  • Ḥuwayzī, Abd Alī b. Jum'a. Nūr al-thaqalayn. Edited by Hāshim Rasūlī. Qom: Ismā'īlīyān, 1415 AH.
  • Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukarram. Lisān al-ʿArab. Introduction by Aḥmad Fāris. Beirut: 1389 AH.
  • Khurramshāhī, Qawām al-Dīn. "Sūra-yi Qāf. Tehran: Dūstān-Nāhīd, 1377 Sh.
  • Kāshānī, Mullā Fatḥ Allāh. Manhaj al-ṣādiqīn fī ilzām al-mukhālifīn. Kitābfurūshī-yi Muḥammad Ḥasan ʿIlmī. Tehran: 1336 Sh.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
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  • Ṭabāṭabāyī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1390 AH.
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  • Wāḥidī, Alī b. Aḥmad. Asbāb al-nuzūl al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-Ilmīyya, 1411 AH.
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