86- Surat Altariq/Tafseer
17 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)
A'auzu Bellahi mena alshaiytani alrajeem
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan
Besmi Ellahi Alrhmani Alraheem
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful
Wa alsamai wa altariq (1).
By the sky and the Night Comer.
Wa ma adraka ma altariq (2).
And what will make you know what is the Night Comer?.
Alnajmu althaqeb (3).
It is the piercing star.
In kullu nafsin lamma alayha hafiz (4).
There is no soul but that it has over it a keeper.
Fal-yanzuri alinsanu memma khuliq (5).
So let man observe from what he was created.
Khuliqa men ma-in dafiq (6).
He was created from an ejected water.
Yakhruju men bayni alsulbi wa altra-eb (7).
Coming out from between the backbone and the ribs.
Innahu ala raj-ihi la-qadir (8).
Indeed, He is Able to bring him back.
Yawma tubla alsara-ir (9).
That day when the secrets will be searched out.
Fama lahu men quwwatin wa-la nasir (10).
Then he will have no power nor a helper.
Wa alsamai zati alraj' (11).
And by the sky which returns.
Wa alardi zati alsad' (12).
And by the earth which cracks open.
Innahu la-qawlun fasl (13).
Indeed, it is a decisive statement.
Wa-ma huwa bel-hazl (14).
And it is not a amusement.
Innahum yakiduna kayda (15).
Indeed, they are planing a plan.
Wa akidu kayda (16).
But I am planing a plan.
Fa mahili alkafirina amhilhum ruwayda (17).
Then Give the disbelieves respite, give them respite for a while.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Altariq comes to refute a false belief among the infidels regarding the denial of the resurrection and the day of judgment. Allah, Almighty begins it with a great oath to assure man that his deeds will be judged on the day of resurrection, and Allah invites man to reflect on how he was created, Then Allah confirms His ability to bring him back to life on that day, and He commanded His Messenger (PBUH) in the last verse to leave the disbelievers for a while for they will know that what they deny will be reality before their eyes.
In the first verse Allah swears by the sky and the Night Comer., then He says and what will make you know what is the Night Comer?, to demonstrate the greatness of what he swears by, and then says in the third verse that the Night Comer is the shining star that appears in the sky at night and disappears during the day, and when Allah swore by the places of the stars in the sky, He described it as a great oath where He says in Surat Alwaqi'ah Ayat (75,76) {But nay, I swear by the locations of the stars, and indeed, it is surely an oath, if you know, great}.
So the great oath in the current Surah comes to confirm the preservation of man's deeds where Allah says in Aya (4) "There is no soul but that it has over it a keeper", so there are the Angels who records the deeds, livelihood, and endeavor of man in his book which he will read on the day of resurrection, and Allah described these angels in Ayat (10,11) of Surat Alinfitar saying {Indeed, over you there are keepers, noble, are recording}, and it will be said to man on the day of resurrection as Allah has stated in Surat Alisraa Aya (14) {Read your book, sufficient is yourself against you this day as accountant}.
Then Allah calls the one who denies the resurrection after death, and denies Allah's Ability to revive him again in the next three verses (5-7) to see from what he was created in order to show him the weakness of the origin form which he was created, as Allah has stated in Surat Alsajdah Ayat (7,8) that He began the creation of man from clay (Adam, peace be upon Him), then he made his posterity from an extract of disdained water, which is described in the current Surah as an ejected water, coming out from between the backbone of a man and the ribs of a woman.
Allah Almighty says in Ayat (8,9) "Indeed, He is Able to bring him back, that day when the secrets will be searched out", that is, Allah has created man, and then He will bring him back on the day of resurrection and this is easier for Allah, and then all secrets will be exposed, so man will find everything he presented written by the Angels who are mentioned above in Aya (4), and these two verses are similar to Aya (7) of Surat Altaghabun where Allah says to His Messenger {Those who disbelieve claim that they will not be resurrected, Say but by My Lord, surely you will be resurrected, then you will be informed of what you did, and that is easy for Allah}.
Allah Almighty says in Aya (10) "Then he will have no power nor a helper", that is, Allah assures that the disbeliever will not find his clan to protect him, nor an ally to save him from Allah's torment on the day of resurrection, and the he will ask Allah to send him back to the worldly life so that he might do righteousness in that which he left behind and he can rectify whatever wrongs he committed during his life, as mentioned in Ayat (99,100) of Surat Almu'minun {Until when the death comes to one of them, he says My Lord Send me back, That I may do righteous deeds in what I have left, nay! Indeed, it is a word he has to say, and behind them is a barrier until the day they are resurrected.
Allah Almighty says in Ayat (11,12) "And by the sky which returns, and by the earth which cracks open", that is, Allah cites s a clear example of His ability to revive the dead, so He swears by the sky which returns the water that it took during the evaporation process to the dead earth, and then it comes back to life after its death, so you see the earth lifeless and without vegetation, but when Allah sends down upon it the rain from the sky, it quivers and grows various kinds of crops and fruits, so Be sure that the One who has given life to the earth is the Giver of life to the dead for He is All-Powerful over everything, as mentioned in Aya (39) of Surat Fussilat {And of His signs is that You see the earth inactive, but when We send down upon it water it quivers and grows, indeed, the One who has given life to it is the Giver of life to the dead, indeed, He is All-Powerful over everything}.
This example is one of the scenes of the day of resurrection, where rain plays a main role in bringing man back to life, as the prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said in narration of Abu Hurayrah: "Between the two blowing of the trumpet, there will be forty, they said O Abu Hurayrah Do you mean forty days?, He said I cannot say anything, they said Do you mean forty months?, he said I cannot say anything, they said Do you mean forty years?, he said I cannot say anything. Then Allah would cause the water to descend from the sky and they will sprout like vegetable, the only thing in a man which would not decay would be one bone, which is the little bone at the end of the coccyx from which the human body will be reconstituted on the day of resurrection" (Sahih Muslim 2955).
Allah Almighty says in Ayat (13,14) "Indeed, it is a decisive statement, and it is not a amusement", that is, Allah assures that bringing man to life again and rewarding him for what he did in this worldly life is a decisive statement, and it is not a joke, so it will inevitably happen.
Allah Almighty says in the last three verses (15-17) "Indeed, they are planing a plan, but I am planing a plan, then Give the disbelieves respite, give them respite for a while", that is, Allah assures that the disbelievers planing a plan, and they deceive people and prevent them from the way of Allah, but Allah has His own plan, and He confirms many times in the Holy Quran (e.g. Surat Ali Imran Aya 178, Surat Ibrahim Aya 30, and Surat Luqman Aya 24) that He lets them enjoy for a while, and He postpones the punishment so that they may increase in sin, then He will force them to a severe punishment. So He commanded the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in the last verse to give respite to the disbelievers for a little time, for the punishment will befall upon them, and it will inevitably happen, and Allah says to His Messenger in Aya (84) of Surat Maryam {So Do not hasten over them, We only count to them a counting}.