61- Surat Alsaff

 

61- Surat Alsaff

14 Verses  Maddani (revealed in Medina)

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

Sabbaha lellahi ma fee alsamawati wa ma fee alardi wa huwa Alazizu Alhakeem (1).

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorified Allah, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise.

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo lema taquluna ma la taf'aluon (2). 

O you who believed! why do you say what you do not do?.

Kabura maqtan enda Allahi an taquluo ma la taf'aluon (3).

Great is hatred with Allah that you say what you do not do.

Inna Allaha youhebbuo allazina youqateluona fee sabeelehi saffan ka-annahum bunyanun marsuos (4).

Indeed, Allah loves those who fights in His cause in a row, as if they were a joined structure.

Wa iz qala Musa le-qawmehi ya-qawmi lema tuo'zunani wa qad ta'lamuona anni rasuluo Allahi elaiykum fa-lamma zaghuo azagha Allahu qulubahum wa Allahu la yahdi alqawma alfaseqeen (5).

And when Moses said to His people, O My people! why do you hurt Me while certainly you know that I am the Messenger of Allah to you?, so when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate, and Allah does not guide the disobedient people.

Wa iz qala Isa ibnu Maryama ya-bani Israela inni rasuluo Allahi elaiykum musaddeqan lema baiyna yadayya mena altawrati wa mubashsheran be-rasulin ya'ti men ba'di esmuhuo Ahmadu fa-lamma ja'ahum bel-bayyenati qaluo haza sehrun mubeen (6).

And when Juses, the son of Mary, said O children of Israel! indeed, I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming what is between My hands of the Torah, and bringing a glad tidings of a Messenger will come after Me, whose name is Ahmad, but when He came to them with a clear proofs, they said, this is manifest magic.

Wa man azlamuo memmani eftara ala Allahi alkazeba wa huwa youd'a ela al-islami wa Allahu la yahdi alqawma alzalemeen (7).

And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah, while he is invited to Islam, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoers.

Youreduona le-youtfeuo nura Allahi be-afwahehim wa Allahu mutemmuo nurehi wa law kareha alkaferuon (8).

They want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light even though the disbelievers dislike.

Huwa Allazi arsala rasulahuo bel-huda wa deeni alhaqqi le-youzherahuo ala aldeeni kullehi wa law kareha almushrekuon (9).

He is the One who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion even though the polytheists dislike.

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo hal adullukum ala tejaratin tunjekum men azabin aleem (10).

O you who believed! Shall I guide you to a trade that shall save you from a painful punishment.

tou'menuona bellahi wa rasulehi wa tuojaheduona fee sabeeli ellahi be-amwalekum wa anfusekum zalekum khayrun lakum in kuntum ta'lamuon (11).

You believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and yourselves, that is better for you if you know.

Yaghfir lakum zunubakum wa youdkhelkum jannatin tajri men tahteha alanharuo wa masakena tayyebatan fee jannati Adnin zaleka alfawzuo alazeem (12).

He will forgive for you your sins and will admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, and a pleasant dwellings in gardens of Eden, that is the great success.

Wa aukhra tuohebbunaha nasrun mena Allahi wa fat-hun qareebun wa bashsheri elmu'meneen (13).

And another that you love, a help from Allah, and a near victory, and give a glad tidings to the believers.

Ya-ayyuha allazina amanuo kunuo ansara Allahi kama qala Isa Ibnu Maryama lel-hawareyyina man ansari ela Allahi qala alhawareyyuna nahnuo ansaruo Allahi fa-amanat ta-efatun men bain Israela wa-kafarat ta-efatun fa-ayyadna allazina amanuo ala aduwwehim fa-asbahuo zahereen (14).

O you who believed! be supporters to Allah as when Juses, son of Mary, said to the disciples, who are my supporters towards Allah, the disciples said: we are the supporters of Allah, then a group of the children of Israel believed, and a group disbelieved, so We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant. 

Simplified interpretation:

 Surat Alsaff is one of the seven Surahs of the Holy Quran that begin with glorification, and it was revealed as a blame from Allah to a group of the believers who wished to know the best deeds that Allah loves, then they would do it, and when He made it known to them, they did not do it, so Allah revealed "O you who believed! why do you say what you do not do?".

 Allah says in the first verse "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorified Allah, and He is the All-Mighty, the All-Wise", where all creatures glorifies their Creator but man does not understand their way of glorification as mentioned in Surat Alisraa Aya (44), and Allah is All-Mighty who is Severe in His revenge on those who disobeyed Him, and He is All-Wise who manages His creation with wisdom in His laws and destiny.

 Then Allah says in the next two verses (2,3) "O you who believed! why do you say what you do not do?, great is hatred with Allah that you say what you do not do", where Abdullah Bin Salam said: "A group of Us, companions of the Messenger of Allah, sat talking, and we said ''If we knew which deeds was most beloved to Allah then we would do it" so Allah, Most High, revealed "Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is on the earth glorified Allah, and He is the All-mighty, the All-Wise, O you who believed! why do you say what you do not do?", and it was said that when Allah made it clear that strive (Jihad) in His cause is the most beloved of deeds to Him, as mentioned in the fourth and the eleventh verses, some of the believers hated that, and it was difficult for them, therefore, it is most abhorrent to Allah that you say what you do not do.

 So Allah says in the next verse (4) ''Indeed, Allah loves those who fights in His cause in a row, as if they were a joined structure", it is a declaration from Allah of His love of the believers if they line up facing the enemies of Allah in the battlefield and fighting in the cause of Allah those who disbelieved. And Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) said about the virtue of fighting (Jihad) in the cause of Allah in narration of Abu Abs ''Anyone whose both feet get covered with dust in Allah's cause will not be touched by the Hellfire", and He also said in narration of Anas Bin Malik "Nobody who enters Paradise likes to go back to the worldly life even if he got everything on the earth except Shaheed (who was killed in the cause of Allah) who wishes to return to the worldly life so that he may be martyred ten times because of the dignity he receives from Allah".

 Then Allah says in the next verse (5) "And when Moses said to His people, O My people! why do you hurt Me while certainly you know that I am the Messenger of Allah to you?, so when they deviated, Allah caused their hearts to deviate, and Allah does not guide the disobedient people", where Allah saying, informing that His Messenger Moses, the son of Imran, was harmed by the children of Israel, despite their knowledge that He was the Messenger of Allah for He came to them with clear signs of His prophecy, but they turned away from following the truth despite their knowledge of it, so Allah turned their hearts away from guidance where Allah does not guide the disobedient people, and those who oppose Him and His Messengers.   

 And Allah says in verse (6) "And when Juses, the son of Mary, said O children of Israel, indeed, I am the Messenger of Allah to you, confirming what is between My hands of the Torah, and bringing a glad tidings of a Messenger will come after Me, whose name is Ahmad, but when He came to them with a clear proofs, they said, this is manifest magic", where the Prophet Juses said to the children of Israel that He came confirming the glad tidings of the Torah about Him, and He in turn gives them the glad tidings of a Messenger will come after Him, whose name is Ahmed which is Our Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) where as narrated by Jubair Bin Mut'im "I heard Allah's Messenger saying: I have several names: I am Muhammad, and I am Ahmed, and I am Almahi with whom Allah obliterates disbelief, and I am Alhashir at whose feet the people will be gathered on the day of resurrection, and I am Alaqib''. Although Our Prophet Muhammad was mentioned in the Torah and the Gospel as mentioned in Aya (157) of Surat Ala'araf "Those who follow the Messenger, the illiterate Prophet, whom they find written in what they Have of the Torah, and the Gospel", but when He came to them with a clear proofs that confirm the truth of His prophecy, they said that what He brought is a clear magic.  

 Allah Almighty says in the next three verses (7-9) "And who is more unjust than he who invents a lie against Allah, while he is invited to Islam, and Allah does not guide the wrongdoers, they want to extinguish the light of Allah with their mouths, but Allah will perfect His light even though the disbelievers dislike, He is the One who has sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion even though the polytheists dislike", that is, there is no one is more unjust than those who invent and fabricate a lie against Allah, and made to Him equals and partners, while they are called to monotheism and sincerity. Then Allah assures that the polytheists who make equals to Allah of false gods and idols want to extinguish the light of Allah with which He has sent His Messenger Muhammad (PBUH) and intend to invalidate it with their mouths, but it is impossible for them to do so for Allah refuses except His light to be perfected, His religion to be exalted, His words to be made clear, and the truth with which He has sent His Messenger to be perfected even though the disbelievers dislike, thereupon, Allah is the One who has sent His Messenger Muhammad with guidance and Islam which is the religion of the truth, and He will make it prevail over every religion other than it even though the polytheists dislike, and at the end of time, when Juses, the son of Mary, will descend, the religion will become one and there will be no religion other than Islam, and this will remain as Allah destined and willed to to happen, then the people will return to the religion of their forefathers, where as narrated by Aisha: "I heard Allah's Messenger (PBUH) as saying the night and the day will not end until the Lat and Uzza will be worshipped, I said Allah's Messenger! I think when Allah has revealed He is the One who sent His Messenger with guidance and the religion of truth to make it prevail over all religion even though the polytheists dislike, that it is going to be fulfilled, thereupon, He said it will happen as long as  Allah wills, then Allah will send the good wind by which everyone who has even a weight of mustard grain of faith in his heart will die, until there will remain those in whom there is no good, and they will return to the religion of their fathers" (Sahih Muslim 2907).

 Then Allah addresses the believers in the next two verses (10,11) and says ''O you who believed! Shall I guide you to a trade that shall save you from a painful punishment, You believe in Allah and His Messenger and strive in the cause of Allah with your wealth and yourselves, that is better for you if you know", where as mentioned above in Aya (4), Allah told the believers that strive in His cause is the most beloved deeds to Him, and He describes here belief in Him and in His Messenger and strive in His cause with money and life as a trade that shall save them from the Hellfire, and it is better for them from the worldly trade and from toiling for it if they know.

 And Allah gives them a glad tidings if they do so in the next two verses (12,13) "He will forgive for you your sins and will admit you into gardens beneath which rivers flow, and a pleasant dwellings in gardens of Eden, that is the great success, and another that you love, a help from Allah, and a near victory, and give a glad tidings to the believers", where Allah gave them the glad tidings of two wins, one of them related to the Hereafter by obtaining forgiveness for their sins, gardens beneath which rivers follow, and a pleasant dwellings in the gardens of Eden, and Eden is one of the names of Paradise, and Allah described the win in the Hereafter as the great success, and the other success is related to the worldly life which they love, where Allah will grant them the victory over their enemies, and it is a glad tidings for the believers if they fight in His cause and support His religion where He says in Aya (7) of Surat Muhammad "O you who believed! if you support Allah, He will support you and plant firmly your feet".

 Then Allah commands the believers in the last verse (14) and says "O you who believed! be supporters to Allah as when Juses, son of Mary, said to the disciples, who are my supporters towards Allah, the disciples said we are the supporters of Allah, then a group of the children of Israel believed, and a group disbelieved, so We supported those who believed against their enemy, and they became dominant", that is, Allah commands them to be supporters in all their conditions and by themselves and their wealth, and to respond to Allah and to His Messenger as the disciples responded to the Prophet Juses (Issa) when He said "who are my supporters towards Allah?", the disciples (His followers) said "we are the supporters of Allah", but when He conveyed Allah's Message to His people, a group of the children of Israel were guided by what He had brought to them, and a group went astray and denied His prophethood and accused Him and His Mother (Mary) of A great things, and they split into three sects, one of them said that Juses is the son of Allah, and the second said that He is Allah, and the third said that He is the third of the three: the father, the son, and the holy spirit. so Allah supported those who believed in the time of Juses against their enemy, and they became dominant by showing the religion of Muhammad over the religion of the infidels, that even the Prophet Issa (Juses) himself will support the religion of Islam at the end of time as our Prophet said in narration of Abu Hurayrah "The Hour will not be established until the son of Mary (Juses) descends amongst you as a just ruler, He will break the cross, kill the pigs, and abolish the Jizya tax. Money will be in abundance so that nobody will accept it (as alms).

No one Knows its interpretation except Allah