THE WORD OF GOD
From The Scriptures
THE Quran is the book of God. It has been preserved in its entirety since its revelation to the Prophet of Islam between 610 and 632 A.D. It is a book that brings glad tidings to mankind, along with divine admonition, and stresses the importance of man’s discovery of the Truth on a spiritual and intellectual level.
Translated from Arabic and commentary
by Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
THE DAY OF RESURRECTION
In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
By the Day of Resurrection, and by the self-reproaching soul! Does man think that We cannot (resurrect him and) bring his bones together again? Indeed, We have the power to restore his very finger tips! Yet man wants to deny what is ahead of him: he asks, ‘When is this Day of Resurrection to be?’
But (on that Day), when mortal sight is confounded, and the moon is eclipsed, when the sun and the moon are brought together, on that Day man will ask, ‘Where can I escape?’ But there is nowhere to take refuge: on that Day, to your Lord alone is the recourse. On that Day, man will be told of all that he has sent before and what he has left behind. Indeed, man shall be a witness against himself, in spite of all the excuses he may offer. 75: 1-15
Man has the innate capacity to distinguish between good and evil. By his very nature, he wants anyone indulging in evil to be punished and, anyone doing righteous deeds to be rewarded. It is this consciousness which is called in the Quran the self-reproaching soul or an-nafs allawwamah. This faculty bears testimony at the psychological level, to the reality of the world of the Hereafter. If, in spite of this inner testimony, an individual does not fulfil its demands, it means that he negates what he has already accepted.
[Prophet], do not move your tongue too fast in your attempt to learn this revelation: We Our self shall see to its collection and recital. When We have recited it, followed its words attentively; and then, it will be for Us to make its meaning clear. 75: 16-19
When revelations (wahi) were made to the Prophet Muhammad, he used to make haste to receive them. Here, he has been asked not to do this. It is further stated that he should pay full attention to that part of the Quran which had already been revealed and which had already been addressed to him and should not concern himself with that portion which had not till then been revealed and had not been addressed to him.
This shows that an individual should pay the fullest attention only to that portion of the Quran for which he is accountable at that moment. To make a point of seeking out that portion of the Quran for which he has not yet been made accountable, is being over-hasty and is entirely against Quranic wisdom.
Truly, you love immediate gain and neglect the Hereafter. Some faces will be radiant on that Day, looking towards their Lord; and some faces will on that Day be gloomy, dreading some great affliction. But when [man’s soul] reaches the throat, and when it is asked: ‘Could any magician save him now?’; and he knows that it is the time of parting; when his legs are brought together [when affliction is combined with affliction]; on that Day he will be driven towards your Lord! 75: 20-30
There is only one reason for neglect of the Hereafter and that is the desire to obtain an immediate reward for all one’s striving (kalla bal tuhibbuna’l ‘ajilah). In relation to the Hereafter, the result of one’s actions seems infinitely remote. Therefore, man disregards it. But in relation to this world, instant gratification appears to be a distinct possibility, so man rushes towards it.
It is obvious that ultimately death overtakes every human being and nullifies all successes. Yet nobody learns a lesson from this, until he himself faces death—which takes away all opportunities for learning lessons.
He neither believed nor prayed, but rejected the Truth and turned away! Then he went off to his people, swaggering. Woe to you, [O man!], yes, woe to you. Again, woe to you, [O man!], yes, woe to you! Does man, then, think that he is to be left to himself, to go about at will? Was he not once a drop of ejaculated semen, which then became a leech-like clot; then God shaped and fashioned him in due proportion, fashioning out of him the two sexes, the male and the female? Then is He not able to bring the dead back to life? 75: 31-40
In the beginning, a human being enters the womb of his mother in the form of a drop. Then he develops and takes the shape of a leech (alaqa). He further develops, and his limbs and features acquire their typical characteristics. Then he emerges, as a male or female. All these wonderful changes take place without any effort on the part of human beings. So, for a system of nature which brings about such wonders every day, the creation of a new world after the present world should not be difficult. The fact is that the real impediment in the way of acceptance of Truth is egotism or conceit, and not any dearth of arguments or reasoning.
