96
اَلْعَلَقِ
The Clot
(or Read!)

بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ۔

اِقْرَاْ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ الَّذِيْ خَلَقَ۔ خَلَقَ الْاِنْسَانَ مِنْ عَلَقٍ۔ اِقْرَاْ وَ رَبُّكَ الْاَكْرَمُ۔ الَّذِيْ عَلَّمَ بِالْقَلَمِ۔ عَلَّمَ الْاِنْسَانَ مَا لَمْ يَعْلَمْ۔ؕ كَلَّآ اِنَّ الْاِنْسَانَ لَيَطْغٰٓ۔ اَنْ رَّاٰهُ اسْتَغْنٰى۔ؕ اِنَّ اِلٰى رَبِّكَ الرُّجْعٰى۔ؕ اَرَءَيْتَ الَّذِيْ يَنْهٰى۔ عَبْدًا اِذَا صَلّٰى۔ؕ اَرَءَيْتَ اِنْ كَانَ عَلَى الْهُدٰٓى۔ اَوْ اَمَرَ بِالتَّقْوٰى۔ؕ اَرَءَيْتَ اِنْ كَذَّبَ وَ تَوَلّٰى۔ؕ اَلَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِاَنَّ اللّٰهَ يَرٰى۔ؕ كَلَّا لَىِٕنْ لَّمْ يَنْتَهِ لَنَسْفَعً٘ا بِالنَّاصِيَةِ۔ نَاصِيَةٍ كَاذِبَةٍ خَاطِئَةٍ۔ فَلْيَدْعُ نَادِيَهُ۔ سَنَدْعُ الزَّبَانِيَةَ۔ كَلَّا ؕ لَا تُطِعْهُ وَ اسْجُدْ وَ اقْتَرِبْ۔

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

Read in the name of your Lord Who creates, creates man from a clot! Read, for your Lord is most Generous; [it is He] Who teaches by means of the pen, teaches man what he does not know. 

However man acts so arrogant, for he considers he is self-sufficient. Yet to your Lord will be the Return! 

Have you seen someone who stops a worshipper as he prays? Have you considered whether he is [looking] for guidance or ordering heedfulness? Have you seen whether he has rejected [the message] and turned away? 

Does he not know that God sees [everything]? Of course not! Yet if he does not stop, We shall catch him by his forelock! Such a lying, sinful forelock! 

Let him appeal to his henchmen: We shall appeal to the avenging [angels]. Of course, do not obey him; bow down on your knees, and come closer!

These 19 Meccan verses form what is traditionally considered to be one of the very earliest portions of the Koran that was revealed to Muhammad. They are thrilling words through which God spoke directly to mankind. It is calculated that this incident occurred about the year 610 of the Christian era, or over a decade before the Hijra or eventual Transfer to Medina.

This and chapters 68 and 74 recognize the fact that the art of reading or literacy forms the basis for civilized life and culture. The Muslims’ respect for it helped to build up the Islamic commonwealth later on which held off the West European middle ages from much of Africa and Asia.

The latter half of this chapter shows a subtle though quite apparent change in mood which is directed against the Meccans' opposition to the Prophet's public prayers.

The first five verses of this chapter were the very first verses which were revealed to the Prophet Muhammad. Almighty God created man out of ordinary material elements. Then He blessed him with the rare capacity to read and to understand the import of what he read. Then, man was given the additional capacity to use the pen and thus systematize and preserve his knowledge. While the capacity to read enables a man to acquire knowledge, the pen makes him capable of spreading this knowledge to others on a large scale.

The ‘pen’ is a symbol of knowledge. In other words, through written words the believers are enjoined to acquire and spread the knowledge of the truth, wisdom and beauty of Islam.

Today, spreading the word of God will be done by means of printed material and through other means of communication which includes the internet and the multimedia. Translations of the Koran in various languages, Islamic books and other printed material on Islam should be distributed as a part of dawah work on a large scale, so that the word of God reaches each and every home—big or small as predicted in a hadith (Musnad Ahmed).

Thousands of men and women are dying every day without having had the message of God conveyed to them; without having had the opportunity to accept it, they have missed their chance of improving their lives in the Hereafter. In such a situation it is the solemn responsibility of the believers to desist from making excuses and seriously take up the mission of proclaiming the divine truth.

The conveying of the message of Truth to everyone, the responsibility for which has been placed on the Muslims, is not like an optional subject, which you may either take up or leave off on some pretext. This is a responsibility of such a nature that it has to be discharged at all costs.

Dawah, which in the Koran is called ‘warning and giving glad tidings’, is directly the mission of God. So that men might have no argument with God on the plea that they were unaware, this task was passed on to the believers themselves after the preservation of the Koran. This exigency has opened up the opportunity for man to perform this great divine task. Those who come forward to carry out this divine mission of dawah will receive special succor in this life and will be held deserving of great honor in the life Hereafter.

Those who wage aggressive campaigns against Truth or place impediments in the way of those who adopt the path of Truth, are destined to have a miserable fate. In such circumstances, the real prop for a preacher of Truth is his prayers to God. Having been disappointed by people, he should turn to God for fulfilment. He should distance himself from human beings and come close to the God of all humanity and submit to Him.