85- Surat Alburooj/Tafseer
22 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 zati alburooj (1).
By the sky of constellations.
Wa alyawmi almawud (2).
And by the promised day.
Wa shahiden wa mashhud (3).
And by the witness, and what is witnessed.
Qutila as-habu al-aukhdud (4).
Cursed were the companions of the trench.
Alnari zati alwaqud (5).
The fire full of fuel.
Iz hum alayha qoud (6).
When they were sitting near it.
Wa hum ala ma yafa'luna bel-mu'mineena shuhud (7).
And they, over what they were doing to the believers, were witnesses.
Wa ma naqamu menhum ella an you'minu be-llahi Al-Azizi Al-Hameed (8).
And they did not resent them except because they believed in Allah, the Almighty, The Praiseworthy.
Allazi lahu mulku alsamawati wa alardi wa Allahu ala kulli shay-in shaheed (9).
The One to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Witness over every thing.
Inna allazina fatanu almu'mineena wal-mu'minati thumma lam yatubu fa-lahum azabu Jahannama wa lahum azabu alhareeq (10).
Indeed, those who have tried the believing men and the believing women, then they have not repent, for them there is the punishment of Hellfire, and for them there is the punishment of the Burning Fire.
Inna allazina amanu wa amelu alsalehati lahum jannatun tajri men tahteha al-anharu zalika alfawzu alkabeer (11).
Indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds, will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, this is the great attainment.
Inna batsha Rabbika la-shadeed (12).
Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe.
Innahu huwa youbdiu wa youeed (13).
Indeed, it is He who originates and repeats.
Wa huwa Al-Ghafuru Al-Wadud (14).
And He is the All-Forgiving, the Ever Affectionate.
Zou al-Arshi al-Majeed (15).
The Owner of the Glorious Throne.
Fa'alun lema youreed (16).
The Doer of what He intends.
Hal ataka hadithu Aljunud (17).
Has there come to You the story of the soldiers.
Fera'wna wa Thamud (18).
Pharaoh and Thamud.
Bali allazina kafaru fee takzeeb (19).
But those who disbelieve are in denial.
Wa Allahu men wara-ihim muheet (20).
And Allah encompasses them from behind.
Bal huwa quranun Majeed (21).
But it is a glorious Quran.
Fee lawhin mahfouz (22).
In a Preserved Tablet.
Simplified interpretation:
Surat Alburooj begins with three oaths to confirm that Allah's punishment against the infidels is severe, and Allah tells the stories of the previous nations such as the companions of the trench, Pharaoh, and Thamud, to make clear the fate of those who denied their Messengers and the punishment that awaits them in the Hereafter, and Allah assures in the last two verses that the Holy Quran is not as they claim, but it is a Glorious Quran preserved from change and alteration.
Allah Almighty says in the first three verses (1-3) "By the sky of constellations, and by the promised day, and by the witness, and what is witnessed", that is, 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, and the witness refers to man as he will be a witness against himself in the day of resurrection, where Allah said in Aya (7) of Surat Aladiyat {And indeed, he is a witness to that}, and what is witnessed refers to the day of resurrection as Allah described the day of resurrection in Surat Hud Aya (103) saying {And that is a day which will be witnessed}.
Allah Almighty says in the eight verses (4-11) "Cursed were the companions of the trench, the fire full of fuel, when they were sitting near it, and they, over what they were doing to the believers, were witnesses, and they did not resent them except because they believed in Allah, the Almighty, The Praiseworthy, the One to whom belongs the kingdom of the heavens and the earth, and Allah is Witness over every thing, indeed, those who have tried the believing men and the believing women, then they have not repent, for them there is the punishment of Hellfire, and for them there is the punishment of the Burning Fire, indeed, those who have believed and done righteous deeds, will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, this is the great attainment", that is, Allah tells the story of the companions of the trench, when 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 were doing to the believers, were witnesses", so they will be witnesses against themselves on the day of resurrection and this explains the oath of the third verse "And by the witness, and what is witnessed".
the companion of the trench 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. Then Allah assures that those who have tried the believing men and the believing women from their religion, then they have not repent from their disbelief in Allah, will enter Hellfire on the day of resurrection, then for them there will be the torment of Hellfire, and for them there will be the punishment of the blazing fire, but as for those who have believed in Allah and done righteous deeds, they will have gardens beneath which rivers flow, and this is the great success.
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 the 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 the 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 the 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". The 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 the 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, (Jami' Altirmidhi 3340).
Allah Almighty says in the next five verses (12-16) "Indeed, the vengeance of your Lord is severe, indeed, it is He who originates and repeats, and He is the All-Forgiving, the Ever Affectionate, the Owner of the Glorious Throne, the Doer of what He intends", that is, Allah assures that His torment against the disbelievers, who denied His Messengers and disobeyed His commands, is severe and painful, and as He began the creation of man, He will repeat him on the day of resurrection. But at the same time, Allah is the Most forgiving, the Ever Affectionate, so 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 mentioned in Aya (10) "then they have not repented", so they deserved the torment of the Hellfire. Then Allah assures that He is the Owner of the Glorious Throne, Doer of what He intends, so He has the sovereignty of everything, so He will forgive whom He wills and punish whom He wills as mentioned in Aya (14) of Surat Alfath.
Allah Almighty says in the next four verses (17-20) "Has there come to You the story of the soldiers, Pharaoh and Thamud, but those who disbelieve are in denial, and Allah encompasses them from behind", that is, Allah addresses His Messenger (PBUH) saying "Has there come to You the story of the soldiers, Pharaoh and Thamud, so Allah assures that Pharaoh and His soldiers, and Thamud, the people of the Prophet Salih, had denied their Messengers out of in doubt, disbelief, and stubbornness, and Allah encompasses them from behind, so He poured upon them a scourge of punishment, as mentioned in Surat Alfajr.
Allah Almighty says in the last two verses (21-22) "But it is a glorious Quran, in a Preserved Tablet", that is, Allah assures the disbelievers who denied that the Holy Quran is from Allah and denied His Messenger (PBUH) that it is a Glorious Quran, in a Preserved Tablet (Al-Lawh Al-Mahfouz), and Al-Lawh Al-Mahfouz is the Mother of the Book which is with Allah as He has stated in Aya (4) of Surat Alzukhruf {And indeed, it is in the Mother of the Book with Us, surely Sublime, Wise}, and Allah assures that the Holy Quran is saved from change and alteration.