87- Surat Ala'la

19 Verses Meccan (revealed in Mecca)

A'auzu Bellahi mena ash-shytani ar-rajim

I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan

Bismi Ellahi Ar-rhmani Ar-rahim

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Sabehi esma Rabbika ala'la (1).

Glory the name of your Lord, the Most High.

Allazi khalaqa fa sawwa (2).

The One who created, then perfected it.

Wa allazi qaddara fa hada (3).

And the One who destined, then guided.

Wa allazi akhraja almar'a (4).

And the One who brought out the pasture.

Fa ja'alahuo ghutha'an ahwa (5).

And then made it black stubble.

Sanoqre-oka fala tansa (6).

We will make You recite, so You will not forget.

Ella ma shaa Allahu innahuo ya'lamuo aljahra wa ma yakhfa (7).

Except what Allah wills, indeed He knows the declared, and what is hidden.

Wa noyasiruka lel-yousra (8).

And We will ease you to the ease.

Fa zakker in nafea'ti alzekkra (9).

So remind, if the reminder benefits.

Sa ya-zakkaruo man yakhsha (10).

Will pay attention, he who fears.

Wa ya-tajanabuoha alashqa (11).

And will avoid it the most wretched.

Allazi yasla alnara alkubra (12).

Who will burn in the biggest fire.

Thumma la yamutuo feeha wa la yahya (13).

Then neither he die therein, nor live.

Qad aflaha man tazakka (14).

Certainly succeeded who purifies himself.

Wa zakara esma Rabbihi fa salla (15).

And mentioned the name of his Lord, then prays.

Bal tu-ethiruna alhayata alddunya (16).  

Nay! you prefer the worldly life.

Wa alakheratuo khairun wa abqa (17).

While the hereafter is better and everlasting.

Enna haza lafi alssuhufi aloula (18).

Indeed, this is in the former scriptures.

SSuhufi Ibrahima wa Musa (19). 

The scriptures of Abraham and Moses.

Simplified interpretation:

 Surat Ala'la is one of the seven Surahs of the Holy Quran that begin with glorification, and it carries two commands to Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and two good tidings, then Allah make clear to us the fate of those who follows His Messenger, and the fate of those who turns away from Him, and then He assures us in the last verses that the message of the heavenly religions is one. 

 The messenger of Allah as it was narrated by Ubayy Bin Ka'b used to pray witr with three rakhahs, in the first rakhah he would recite Surat Ala'la "Glory the name of your Lord, the Most High", and Surat Alkafiruon in the second rakhah, and Surat Alikhlas in the third one. Surat Ala'la is one of the four Surahs that Our prophet commanded Mu'az Bin Gabal to recite them, when he led His companions in the prayer (Imam) in order not to prolong the prayer. 

 In the First verse Allah commanded Our Prophet and said to Him "Glory the name of your Lord, the Most High", so Our Prophet and His companions used to say when reciting this Aya "Glory to My Lord, The Most High", and Our Prophet used to glory the name of His Lord in the prostration by saying "Subhana Rabbiya Ala'la".

 Then Allah clarifies in the next four verses (2-5) some attributes that belongs to him alone, where The Most High is the One who created every thing in the heavens and on the earth, and then He created it in the best form, and Allah destined the fate of man, then guided man to the endeavor that corresponds to his destiny, and this issue has been explained at length in Surat Al-lail, then Allah says that He alone brought forth from the earth the pasture from various kinds of plants and weeds for the cattle, and He guided that cattle to their pasture, and then that pasture dries up and turns black.

 Allah gave His Messenger a good tiding in the sixth verse that is He will make Him recite the Holy Quran, and He promise Him that He will not forget it, Then He said "except what Allah wills" (Aya 7), that is, except what Allah wills that you forget and do not remember it. In fact Allah made His Messenger forget verses during the revelation time, and this evidence comes from Surat Albaqarah Aya (106) where Allah says: "We do not abrogate a verse or cause it to be forgotten except that We bring forth one better than it or similar to it". and then Allah says that He knows the manifest and what his creatures do openly, and knows what is hidden and knows what the soul of man whispers to himself. Then Allah gave Him the second good tiding and said "And We will ease you to the ease", that is, He will find it easy and pleasant to do the good deeds (Aya 8).

  

 The second command to Our Prophet (PBUH) was to remind people if the reminder benefits (Aya 9), Allah commanded Him to remind His people although there are those who ignore that reminder as Allah knows the manifest, and what is hidden as mentioned in the seventh verse. And Allah says in the next verse (Aya 10) that he who fears Allah is the one who acts according this reminder.

 But as for the most wretched, he will avoid the reminder, and it will not benefit him, so he will burn in the biggest fire (Hellfire), then neither he die therein, nor live Ayat (11-13), he will abiding in the Hellfire as a recompense for his disbelief as Allah has stated in many verses of the Holy Quran, such as Aya (36) of Surat Fattir where He says: "And for those who disbelieve will be the fire of Jahanam; neither they will be sentenced to death, so that they die, nor will its torment be lightened for them, thus do We recompense every infidel one".  

 Certainly the one who purifies himself, and mentioned the name of his Lord, then prays will succeed Ayat (14,15), that is, he purifies himself from disbelief and fears Allah, and he did what Allah commanded, and avoided what He forbade, and he mentioned the name of his Lord and offered prayers at its prescribed times. So the prayer is a dividing point between disbelief and belief, where our Prophet said in narration of Jabir: "There is nothing between a person and disbelief except abandoning prayer (Salah). 

 Then Allah says "Nay! you prefer the worldly life, while the hereafter is better and everlasting" Ayat (16,17), where the temptations of the worldly life takes man away from the way of Allah whereas the reward in the hereafter is better and more lasting, so how can a sane man prefer what perishes over what remains, and cares about what will soon pass away, and abandons the abode of perpetuity and immortality?. And Allah has emphasized the meaning of these two verses in many places of the Holy Quran such as: Surat Alqasas Aya 60, Surat Alan'am Aya 32, Surat Ghafir Aya 39....etc.

 In the last two verses Allah assures us that the message of the heavenly religions is one, where He says "Indeed, this is in the former scriptures, the scriptures of Abraham and Moses", these scriptures came to explain the way to Allah, and to warn man against indulging in the pleasures of this worldly life and leaving work for the hereafter. 

  

No one Knows its interpretation except Allah