80
عَبَسَ
He Frowned!

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ۔

عَبَسَ وَ تَوَلّٰٓى۔ اَنْ جَآءَهُ الْاَعْمٰى۔ؕ وَ مَا يُدْرِيْكَ لَعَلَّهُ يَزَّكّٰٓى۔ اَوْ يَذَّكَّرُ فَتَنْفَعَهُ الذِّكْرٰى۔ؕ اَمَّا مَنِ اسْتَغْنٰى۔ فَاَنْتَ لَهُ تَصَدّٰى۔ؕ وَ مَا عَلَيْكَ اَلَّا يَزَّكّٰى۔ؕ وَ اَمَّا مَنْ جَآءَكَ يَسْعٰى۔ وَ هُوَ يَخْشٰى۔ فَاَنْتَ عَنْهُ تَلَهّٰى۔ كَلَّآ اِنَّهَا تَذْكِرَةٌ۔ فَمَنْ شَآءَ ذَكَرَهُ۔ فِيْ صُحُفٍ مُّكَرَّمَةٍ۔ مَّرْفُوْعَةٍ مُّطَهَّرَةٍ٘۔ بِاَيْدِيْ سَفَرَةٍ۔ كِرَامٍ٘ بَرَرَةٍ۔ؕ قُتِلَ الْاِنْسَانُ مَآ اَكْفَرَهُ۔ؕ مِنْ اَيِّ شَيْءٍ خَلَقَهُ۔ؕ مِنْ نُّطْفَةٍ ؕ خَلَقَهُ فَقَدَّرَهُ۔ ثُمَّ السَّبِيْلَ يَسَّرَهُ۔ ثُمَّ اَمَاتَهُ فَاَقْبَرَهُ۔ ثُمَّ اِذَا شَآءَ اَنْشَرَهُ۔ؕ كَلَّا لَمَّا يَقْضِ مَآ اَمَرَهُ۔ؕ فَلْيَنْظُرِ الْاِنْسَانُ اِلٰى طَعَامِهٖٓ۔ اَنَّا صَبَبْنَا الْمَآءَ صَبًّا۔ ثُمَّ شَقَقْنَا الْاَرْضَ شَقًّا۔ فَاَنْ٘بَتْنَا فِيْهَا حَبًّا۔ وَّ عِنَبًا وَّ قَضْبًا۔ وَّ زَيْتُوْنًا وَّ نَخْلًا۔ وَّ حَدَآىِٕقَ غُلْبًا۔ وَّ فَاكِهَةً وَّ اَبًّا۔ مَّتَاعًا لَّكُمْ وَ لِاَنْعَامِكُمْ۔ؕ فَاِذَا جَآءَتِ الصَّآخَّةُ۔ يَوْمَ يَفِرُّ الْمَرْءُ مِنْ اَخِيْهِ۔ وَ اُمِّهٖ وَ اَبِيْهِ۔ وَ صَاحِبَتِهٖ وَ بَنِيْهِ۔ؕ لِكُلِّ امْرِئٍ مِّنْهُمْ يَوْمَىِٕذٍ شَاْنٌ يُّغْنِيْهِ۔ؕ وُجُوْهٌ يَّوْمَىِٕذٍ مُّسْفِرَةٌ۔ ضَاحِكَةٌ مُّسْتَبْشِرَةٌ۔ وَ وُجُوْهٌ يَّوْمَىِٕذٍ عَلَيْهَا غَبَرَةٌ۔ تَرْهَقُهَا قَتَرَةٌ۔ؕ اُولٰٓىِٕكَ هُمُ الْكَفَرَةُ الْفَجَرَةُ۔

In the name of God—the most compassionate, the most merciful.

He frowned and turned away because the blind man came to him!

What will make you realize that he may [yet] be purified (of disbelief) or even reminded, and the Reminder may benefit him? However anyone who seems indifferent, you will attend to. It is not your concern whether he will purify himself (or not)!

Yet with someone who comes to you eagerly and anxiously, you act so distracted! Indeed, it serves as a Reminder! Anyone who wishes should remember how it [exists] on honored pages which are held aloft [for display], cleansed by the hands of noble, virtuous scribes.

Let man be damned! What makes him act ungrateful? From what sort of thing did He create him? From a drop of semen has He created him and proportioned him. Then He made the Way easy for him; next He will let him die and bury him. Then [later on] He will raise him up again whenever He may wish.

Of course he does not accomplish what He orders him to. So let man look at his own food! We let water pour down abundantly; then We split the earth right open and cause grain to sprout from it, and grapes and fodder, olive trees, date-palms and dense woodlots and fruit[-trees] and pastures as an enjoyment for both you and your livestock.

When the uproar comes on a day when man will flee from his brother, his mother and his father, his mate and his children, every last man among them will have enough concern that day to keep him occupied. Some faces will be beaming on that day, laughing, rejoicing; while other faces will be covered with grime on that day, soot will overshadow them. Those will be the shameless disbelievers.

It refers to an incident when the Prophet was conferring with some of the leading citizens of Mecca, and a blind man, Abdullah ibn-Umm-Maktum, interrupted their conversation to ask him some questions of his own. Muhammad is here cautioned against being overbearing and is reminded about how he must provide instruction for everybody.

The Prophet Muhammad was once preaching to the chiefs of the Quraysh in Mecca, when a blind man, ‘Abdullah ibn Umm al-Maktum, arrived at the gathering and said, ‘O, Prophet of God! Please teach me something of what God has taught you.’ The arrival of a blind person at this juncture displeased the Prophet. These verses were revealed on that occasion. In these verses the apparent addressee is the Prophet Muhammad, but actually it has been clarified with reference to this incident that, in the eyes of God, those prominent people who have turned away from religion have no value. Before God, the valued person is the one who is imbued with the God-fearing spirit, though apparently he may be a ‘blind’ person.

The driving force behind the true godliness required of a man is, in reality, his sense of gratitude. If he gives serious consideration to his creation and the various natural systems in operation around him, a sense of gratitude towards his Lord will eventually develop in him. The state of being resulting from these feelings of gratitude and obligation is known as godliness, or adoration of God in the real sense.

Rejection of truth and being arrogant about it are the worst crimes. Arrogant people will have absolutely no personal worth in the Hereafter, while those who accept the Truth and bow down before it are the ones who will carry weight in the Hereafter. The honor and successes of the Hereafter will be theirs.