Surah al-An`am (The Cattle) 6 : 77
Translations
Pickthall
Yusuf Ali
Qur'an Dictionary
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(6:77:1) |
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(6:77:2) raā he saw |
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(6:77:3) l-qamara the moon |
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(6:77:4) bāzighan rising |
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(6:77:5) qāla he said |
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(6:77:6) |
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(6:77:7) rabbī (is) my Lord |
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(6:77:8) |
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(6:77:9) afala it set |
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(6:77:10) qāla he said |
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(6:77:11) |
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(6:77:12) |
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(6:77:13) yahdinī guide me |
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(6:77:14) rabbī my Lord |
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(6:77:15) la-akūnanna I will surely be |
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(6:77:16) |
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(6:77:17) l-qawmi the people |
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(6:77:18) l-ḍālīna who went astray |
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Explanatory Note
This is a very similar experience, as if Abraham has never seen the moon before, and does not know that his people worshipped the moon. To him on that particular night, it was something new: “He said: ‘This is my Lord.’“ Its light spreads all over the place: it is a beautiful light singling it out in the sky." Nevertheless, it sets, while the Lord, as Abraham knows Him instinctively through his unadulterated nature, does not set.
At this moment, Abraham realizes that he needs help from his true Lord, the existence of whom he feels in the depths of his soul. He loves his Lord although he has not yet recognized Him in his consciousness. Therefore, he feels he will remain astray unless his Lord helps him with His guidance and shows him the way. Hence, when he sees the moon setting, he says: “If my Lord does not guide me, I will most certainly be one of those who go astray.” (Verse 77)
3. Surah Overview
According to Ibn Abbas, the whole of the Surah was revealed at one sitting at Makkah [during the night]. Asma bint Yazid says, ‘During the revelation of this Surah the Prophet was riding on a she-camel and I was holding her nose-string. The she-camel began to feel the weight so heavily that it seemed as if her bones would break under it.’ We also learn from other narrations that it was revealed during the last year before the migration (Hijrah) and that the Prophet dictated the whole of the Surah the same night that it was revealed. [Mawdudi]
After determining the period of its revelation it is easier to visualize the background of the Surah. Twelve years had passed since the Prophet had been inviting the people to Islam. The antagonism and persecution by the Quraysh had become most savage and brutal and the majority of the Muslims had to migrate to Abyssi