85- Surat Alburuoj

 85- Surat Alburuoj

22 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

Wa alsama'e zati alburuoj (1).

By the sky of constellations.

Wa alyawmi almaww-uod (2).

And by the promised day.

Wa shaahiden wa mashhuod (3).

And by the witness, and what is witnessed.

Qutila asshabuo alaukhduod (4).

Killed were the companions of the trench.

Alnari zati alwaquod (5).

The fire full of fuel.

Iz hum alayiha quood (6).

When they were sitting by it.

Wa hum ala ma yafa'luona bel-mu'mineena shuhuod (7).

And they over what they are doing to the believers are witnesses.

Wa ma naqamuo menhum ella ann you'minuo bellahi Alazizi Alhameed (8).

And they did not take revenge on them except that they believed in Allah, Almighty, The Praiseworthy.

Allazi lahuo mulkuo alsamawati wa alardi wa Allahu ala kuli shay'in shaheed (9).

He who belongs to Him the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is witness over everything.

Inna allazina fatanuo almu'mineena wal-mu'minati thumma lam yatubuo fa lahum azabuo Jahanama wa lahum azabuo alhareeq (10). 

Indeed, those who have tried the believing men and the believing women, then they did not repent, then for them is the punishment of Hellfire, and for them is the punishment of the blazing fire.

Inna allazina amanuo wa ameluo alssalehati lahum jannatun tajri men tahteha alanharuo zalika alfawzuo alkabeer (11).

Indeed, those who have believed and did righteous deeds, shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, this is the big win.

Inna battcha Rabbika la-shadeed (12).

Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe.

Innahuo huwa youbdeou wa youeed (13).

Indeed, He is who originates and repeats.

Wa huwa Alghafuruo Alwaduod (14).

And He is the Most forgiving, the Ever Affectionate.

Zuo alarshi almajeed (15).

The Owner of the glorious throne.

Fa'alun lema youreed (16).

Doer of what he intends.

Hal ataka hadithuo Aljunuod (17).

Has there come to you the story of the soldiers.

Fera'wna wa Thamud (18).

Pharoah and Thamud.

Bali allazina kafaruo fee takzeeb (19).

Nay, those who disbelieve are in denial.

Wa Allahu men wara-ihim muheet (20).

And Allah encompasses them from behind.

Bal huwa quranun Majeed (21).

Nay, it is a glorious Quran.

Fee lawhen mahfouz (22).

In Al-lawh Al-mahfuoz. 

Simplified interpretation: 

 Surat Alburuoj begins with three oaths to assure us that Allah's punishment against the infidels is severe, where Allah tells the stories of the previous nations such as the companions of the trench, Pharaoh, and Thamud, to make it clear to those who deny Allah's Messengers what He made to those before them from punishment and wrath in the worldly life, and what will befall over them from torment in the hereafter, and Allah assures in the last two verses that the Holy Quran not as they claim, but it is a glorious Quran preserved from change and alteration.

 Allah swears in the first three verses by the sky which contains great stars, and by the promised day which is the day of resurrection, and by the witness and what is witnessed, that is, man will be a witness against himself in the day of resurrection, where Allah said in Surat Aladiyat Aya (7) "And he is a witness on that", and Allah described the day of resurrection in Surat Huod Aya (103) by saying "And that is a day which will be witnessed".

 Then Allah tells the story of the companions of the trench in the next eight verses (4-11), Where they dug a trench and full it with fuel in order to throw the believers in it, and they gave the believers a choice between abandoning the worship of Allah or burning them in the trench, so when the believers refused to give up their religion, they threw them in the trench, and Allah says in the seventh verse "And they over what they are doing to the believers are witnesses", they will be a witness against themselves on the day of resurrection and this explains the oath of the third verse "And by the witness, and what is witnessed".

 And they did not take revenge on the believers except that they believed in Allah, Almighty who is Severe in His revenge on those who disobeyed Him, The Praiseworthy of all what He decrees, and to Him belongs the sovereignty of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is witness over everything Ayat (8,9). So those who have tried the believing men and the believing women from their religion, then they did not repent from their disbelief in Allah, then for them there is the torment of Hellfire (Jahanam), and for them there is the punishment of the blazing fire, but as for those who have believed in Allah and did righteous deeds, shall have gardens beneath which rivers flow, this is the big win (Ayat 10,11).

 It was said that there were three trenches: one in Iraq, one in Alsham (Syria), and one in Yemen, but the most famous story of the companions of the trench is what was reported from Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) in narration of Suhaib when He said: "There was a king among the kings, and that king had a fortune-teller who would see for him, the fortune teller said to the king: search for a boy for me, he must be understanding, or he said clever and quick, so that I can teach him this knowledge of mine, for verily I fear that I shall die, and this knowledge will be removed from you, and there will be no one among you who knows it, then our Prophet said that they looked for a boy fitting his description. After finding one they ordered to him to attend to that fortune teller, and to continue visiting him. So he began his frequent visits, and on the boy's route, there was a monk at his hermitage, Mu'mar said: "I think that during that time, the people at the hermitage were Muslims".

 Then Our Prophet said that the boy began to asking that monk questions each time he passed him, and he would not leave him until he informed him, so he said: "I only worship Allah". our Prophet said "so the boy began spending more time with the monk and arriving late to the fortune teller. The fortune teller sent a message to the boy's family saying "he hardly ever attends me", the boy told that to the monk, so the monk said to him "when the fortune teller asks you where you have been , tell him I was with my family, and when your family asks you where you have been then tell them that you were with the fortune teller. 

 One day, the boy passed by a large group of people being held back by a beast, some of them said it was a lion, so the boy took a rock and said "O Allah, if what the monk says is true, then I ask You to kill it", then he threw the rock, killing the beast. The people began asking who killed it, and some of them replied it was the boy, they were terrified and said "This boy has learned a knowledge that no one else has learned".

 A blind man heard about him so he said to him "If you can return my sight, I shall give you this and that, the boy said to him "I do not want this from you, however if your sight is returned to you, would you believe in the one who gave it back to you?, he said yes, so the boy supplicated to Allah and He returned his sight to him, and the blind man believed. his case was conveyed to the king, so he sent for them to be brought before him, and said "I shall kill each of you in a different manner than his comrade was killed", he called for the monk and the man who used to be blind, and he placed a saw upon the forehead of one of them and killed him, then he killed the other one by a different way. 

 Then the king orders for the boy, and said "take him to this or that mountain, and throw him from its peak", they brought the boy to the mountain, and when they reached the place from where they intended to cast him off, they began tumbling off the mountain, and all of them fell down until none of them remained except for the boy. then the boy returned, and the king ordered that he brought out to the sea and cast into it, so he was brought out to the sea but Allah drowned those were with him and Allah saved the boy.

 Then the boy said to the king "You will not kill me until you tie me to the trunk of a tree and shoot me, and when you shoot me say "In the name of Allah, the lord of this boy". So the king ordered that he be tied, then when he shot him, he said "In the name of Allah, the lord of this boy", the boy placed his hand upon his temple where he was shot, then he died, the people said "this boy had knowledge that no one else had, verily we believe in the Lord of this boy", then it was conveyed to the king "your efforts have been thwarted by the opposition of these three, now all of these people have opposed you", so he had dug a trench, then fire wood was filled into it and a fire was lit.

 Then he gathered all of the people and said "whoever leaves his religion, then we shall leave him, and whoever does not leave, we shall cast him into this fire", so he began casting them into that trench. And Our Prophet said that Allah Almighty said about that: "Killed were the companions of the trench, The fire full of fuel until he reached Almighty, The Praiseworthy (Ayat 4-8) of the current Surah, and He said as for the boy he was buried.

 So Allah says in Ayat (12,13) "Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe", Indeed, He is who originates and repeats" that is, Allah's torment against the disbelievers who belied His Messengers and disobeyed His commands is severe and powerful, and as He began the creation of man, He will repeat him on the day of resurrection. But at the same time Allah says in Aya (14) "And He is the Most forgiving, the Ever Affectionate, that He forgives the sins of those who repent and believe, so if the companions of the trench repented and believed in Allah, He would have forgiven their sins but as it was mentioned in Aya (10) "then they not repented", so they deserved the torment of the hellfire. Then Allah says that He is The Owner of the glorious throne, Doer of what he intends Ayat (15,16), That He has the sovereignty over His creations and as He says in Surat Alfath Aya (14) "He forgives whom He wills and punishes whom He wills".

 Then Allah says to His Messenger "Has come to you the story of the soldiers, Pharaoh and Thamud, Nay, those who disbelieve are in denial, And Allah encompasses them from behind" Ayat (17-20), to assures us that the people of Pharaoh and Thamud has denied Allah's messengers, so Allah poured out a whip of torment on them and He punished them with various kinds of torment as mentioned in Surat Alfajr. and since the disbelievers are in doubt, disbelief, and stubbornness, Then Allah is Able to inflict upon them the torment that was sent down over the previous nations.

 In the last two verses Allah says to the disbelievers who doubt that the Holy Quran is from Allah "Nay, it is a glorious Quran, In Al-lawh Al-mahfuoz", where Al-lawh Al-mahfuoz is the mother of the book with Allah as He stated in Surat Alzukhruf Aya (4), and it is saved from change and alteration.

No one Knows its interpretation except Allah