سورة الأنبياء   


Surah Name: Al-Anbya Meaning: The Prophets-AS

  • Revealed at Makkah
  • Total Number of Rukū / Sections 7
  • Total Number of Āyāt / Parts 112
  • Sūrah / Chapter number 21
  • Rukū / Section 1 contains Āyāt / Parts 10
  • Siparah/ Volume 17

bismillah

اقْتَرَبَ لِلنَّاسِ حِسَابُهُمْ وَهُمْ فِي غَفْلَةٍ مَّعْرِضُونَ

Iqtaraba li(l)nnasi hisabuhum wahum fee ghaflatin muAAridoon(a)

Their reckoning has approached mankind, while they are turning away unheedingly.

(21:01)


مَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن ذِكْرٍ مَّن رَّبِّهِم مُّحْدَثٍ إِلَّا اسْتَمَعُوهُ وَهُمْ يَلْعَبُونَ

Ma yateehim min thikrin min rabbihim muhdathin illa istamaAAoohu wahum yalAAaboon(a)

No fresh admonition from their Rabb-SWT comes to them but they listen to it while they are sporting.

(21:02)


لَاهِيَةً قُلُوبُهُمْ وَأَسَرُّواْ النَّجْوَى الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ هَلْ هَذَا إِلَّا بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ أَفَتَأْتُونَ السِّحْرَ وَأَنتُمْ تُبْصِرُونَ

Lahiyatan quloobuhum waasarroo a(l)nnajwa allatheena thalamoo hal hatha illa basharun mithlukum afatatoona a(l)ssihra waantum tubsiroon(a)

Their hearts being in a light mood, The wrongdoers keep secret their whispers among themselves: This is but a mortal like yourselves, what! Will you be affected by magic while you know?

(21:03)


قَالَ رَبِّي يَعْلَمُ الْقَوْلَ فِي السَّمَاء وَالأَرْضِ وَهُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ

Qala rabbee yaAAlamu alqawla fee a(l)ssamai wa(a)lardi wahuwa a(l)ssameeAAu alAAaleem(u)

The Prophet said: My Rabb-SWT knows the word in the heavens and the earth, and He-SWT is the Hearer, the Knower.

(21:04)


بَلْ قَالُواْ أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلاَمٍ بَلِ افْتَرَاهُ بَلْ هُوَ شَاعِرٌ فَلْيَأْتِنَا بِآيَةٍ كَمَا أُرْسِلَ الأَوَّلُونَ

Bal qaloo adghathu ahlamin bali iftarahu bal huwa shaAAirun falyatina biayatin kama orsila alawwaloon(a)

Aye! They say: a medley of dreams, aye! He-SW has fabricated it, aye! He-SW is a poet, so let him bring us a Sign, as the ancients were sent with.

(21:05)


مَا آمَنَتْ قَبْلَهُم مِّن قَرْيَةٍ أَهْلَكْنَاهَا أَفَهُمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

Ma amanat qablahum min qaryatin ahlaknaha afahum yuminoon(a)

Not a town which We-SWT destroyed before them came to believe: Will these believe?

(21:06)


وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ إِلاَّ رِجَالاً نُّوحِي إِلَيْهِمْ فَاسْأَلُواْ أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لاَ تَعْلَمُونَ

Wama arsalna qablaka illa rijalan noohee ilayhim fa(i)saloo ahla a(l)ththikri in kuntum la taAAlamoon(a)

And We-SWT sent not before you but human beings to whom We-SWT revealed, so ask the People of the Admonition if you do not know,

(21:07)


وَمَا جَعَلْنَاهُمْ جَسَدًا لَّا يَأْكُلُونَ الطَّعَامَ وَمَا كَانُوا خَالِدِينَ

Wama jaAAalnahum jasadan la yakuloona a(l)ttaAAama wama kanoo khalideen(a)

And We-SWT made them not bodies requiring no food, nor were they immortals.

(21:08)


ثُمَّ صَدَقْنَاهُمُ الْوَعْدَ فَأَنجَيْنَاهُمْ وَمَن نَّشَاء وَأَهْلَكْنَا الْمُسْرِفِينَ

Thumma sadaqnahumu alwaAAda faanjaynahum waman nashao waahlakna almusrifeen(a)

Then We-SWT fulfilled to them the Promise, so We-SWT delivered them and those whom We-SWT Willed, and destroyed the extravagant.

(21:09)


لَقَدْ أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَابًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ أَفَلَا تَعْقِلُونَ

Laqad anzalna ilaykum kitaban feehi thikrukum afala taAAqiloon(a)

And assuredly We-SWT have sent down to you a Book in which is admonition for you, will you then not reflect?

(21:10)


In The Name of Allah-SWT the Most Gracious, The Most Merciful
SECRETS OF REVELATION:

A Qalb Heedless of Zikr, becomes Heedless to Akhirah


It is implied that if a Qalb is not engaged in Allah-SWT's Zikr it will tend to neglect the Akhirah and will be totally engrossed in worldly pleasures. As a result, it is disinclined even to the most convincing argument. These infidels do mumble amongst themselves in secret bccause a human being, by nature, cannot remain.

 

indifferent to Akhirah. However, in order to satisfy their vanity, they tell one another that this claimant of the Prophethood is but a human being like them. In other words, they expect that a Prophet-AS should be above humanity. They assert that he is either a magician or knows the art of subduing the hearts, through which he makes wonders and people begin to believe in him. Overtly they say that they do not attach any importance to whatever he does, but covertly they reassure one another that it is they who are on the right stance. The Holy Prophet-AS must tell them that they may conceal from one another but they cannot do so from his Rabb-SWT , Who-SWT listens to each and every whisper in the universe. He-SWT is the Knower and the Hearer Who-SWT knows what people are going to say before they actually do.

 

They do not even stick to what they themselves say as it is totally baseless. They allege that what the Holy Prophet-AS propagates is nothing but confused thoughts and the disturbed dreams, which he ascribes to Allah-SWT as revelations and thus lies over Him-SWT .Or else he is a poet par excellence who can compose colourful phrases If not so, why does he not bring about the miracles they demand, as did the preceding Prophets-AS. They may be asked to speak the whole truth about such nations who had failed to become believers even after the miracles were manifested. And they were destroyed as a consequence of their adamant denial. "ShaIl these people become believers", asks Allah-SWT ? In other words, it is inAllah-SWT's Knowledge that they are not demanding miracles in pursuit of guidance or for becoming believers.Allah-SWT does not wish to destroy them as a nation and, therefore, is not manifesting what they demand, by way of His-SWT Mercy.

 

An Ignorant is Obliged to Follow a Scholar


All the Prophets-SWT raised before the Holy Prophet-SW and blessed with revelation were also human. The Holy Prophet must tell his ignorant critics that they had better ask the learned ones, that is, the scholars of the prceeding Divine Books who had since embraced Islam. The erudites conclude here that it is obligatory for an ignorant person to conform to the scholars.

 

None of the Prophets-AS had been blessed with a super natural existence, setting him beyond human needs such as hunger, thirst, or death. Allah-SWT honoured all the promises He-SWT had made to them and delivered them from every temporal and eternal distress by His-SWT Mercy And all those who believed in them were saved and the transgressors destroyed. This is the law of nature manifest as a common factor in the accounts of all preceding nations. Rather the people of Arabia in particular and the believers in general have been favoured by Allah-SWT . He-SWT has not only blessed them with guidance by mentioning them in His-SWT Book, but also granted them status unique and everlasting over and above the worldly successes. Had there been no Quran, the history of Arabs would have been different; no one would have ever known them. Do these infidels lack the sense even to recognise the Divine Favours?

previousnext