Overview - Surah 51: ad-Dhariyat (The Scattering Winds)
The Surah gives the good news of the emergence of a new community. It also warns the opponents of the truth that their time is about to end and the judgment of Allah is near.
Sections:
- Falsehood is about to end. The righteous shall be rewarded. The character of the righteous people.
- Prophet Ibrahim and his angel visitors. The fate of the people of Prophet Lot. Prophet Moses and the fate of Pharaoh. People of 'Ad and Thamud and the people of Prophet Noah -peace be upon them all.
- Hasten to Allah. Do not associate anyone in the divinity of Allah. Remind, the reminding will help the Believers. The Judgment of Allah is near.
The Surah takes its name from the first Ayat, وَالذَّارِيَاتِ ذَرْوًا "By those [winds] scattering [dust] dispersing" (51:1)
There are 60 Ayat in this Surah.
Overview
| Total Ayat | 60 |
| Total Words * | 360 |
| Root Words * | 147 |
| Makki / Madani | Makki |
| Chronological Order* | 67th (according to Ibn Abbas) |
| Year of Revelation* | |
| Events during/before this Surah*
N/A
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| Events during/after still to occur*
N/A
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| Names of Prophets Mentioned
Nuh, Ibrahim, Musa
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| Surah Index
‘Aad, Abraham, Astronomy (stars) , Charity, Cosmology (expanding Universe) , Creation of everything (in opposite duality) , Earth, Hell, Hud, Jinn, Judgement, Judgement (Day) , Moses, Noah, Pharaoh, Pharaoh (punishment of) , Prayer, Prayer (times of day of) , Religion (divergence of opinion) , Resurrection (of soul) , Thamud, Weather (wind)
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The Surah mostly deals with the Hereafter, and in the end it presents the invitation to Monotheism (Tawhid). In addition, the people have also been warned that refusal to accept the message of the Prophets and persistence in the concepts and creeds of ignorance have proved to be disastrous for those nations themselves which have adopted this attitude and way of life in the past.
- What has been promised.
إِنَّمَا تُوعَدُونَ لَصَادِقٌ "Indeed, what you are promised is true." (51:5)
فَوَيْلٌ لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا مِن يَوْمِهِمُ الَّذِي يُوعَدُونَ "And woe to those who have disbelieved from their Day which they are promised." (51:60) This is the last Ayat of the Surah.
Manuscripts / Inscriptions
- Surah adh-Dhariyat and Surah at-Tur have Ayat towards the end that speak about the Dhalimeen.
فَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا ذَنُوبًا مِّثْلَ ذَنُوبِ أَصْحَابِهِمْ فَلَا يَسْتَعْجِلُونِ "And indeed, for those who have wronged is a portion [of punishment] like the portion of their predecessors, so let them not impatiently urge Me." (51:59)
وَإِنَّ لِلَّذِينَ ظَلَمُوا عَذَابًا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ وَلَـٰكِنَّ أَكْثَرَهُمْ لَا يَعْلَمُونَ "And indeed, for those who have wronged is a punishment before that, but most of them do not know." (51:47) - Surah adh-Dhariyat and Surah at-Tur instruct the Prophet to turn away from the Disbelievers
فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ فَمَا أَنتَ بِمَلُومٍ وَذَكِّرْ فَإِنَّ الذِّكْرَىٰ تَنفَعُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ "So leave them, [O Muhammad], for you are not to be blamed. And remind, for indeed, the reminder benefits the believers." (51:54-55)
فَذَرْهُمْ حَتَّىٰ يُلَاقُوا يَوْمَهُمُ الَّذِي فِيهِ يُصْعَقُونَ "So leave them until they meet their Day in which they will be struck insensible -" (52:45)
- The usage of the the words وَفِي "and in....." in the beginning of a number of Ayat
وَفِي أَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ "And in yourselves. Then will you not see?" (51:21)
وَفِي مُوسَىٰ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَاهُ إِلَىٰ فِرْعَوْنَ بِسُلْطَانٍ مُّبِينٍ "And in Moses [was a sign], when We sent him to Pharaoh with clear authority." (51:38)
وَفِي عَادٍ إِذْ أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمُ الرِّيحَ الْعَقِيمَ "And in 'Aad [was a sign], when We sent against them the barren wind." (51:41)
وَفِي ثَمُودَ إِذْ قِيلَ لَهُمْ تَمَتَّعُوا حَتَّىٰ حِينٍ "And in Thamud, when it was said to them, "Enjoy yourselves for a time." (51:43)
Total Word Count per Ayat (shows how many words per Ayat) = * | ||
The subject matter and the style clearly show that it was sent down in the period when persecution had not yet started. Although the Prophet’s invitation was being resisted and opposed with denial and ridicule and false accusations stubbornly. Therefore, this Surah also seems to have been revealed in the same period in which the Surah 50: Qaf (Qaf) was revealed.
- Surely the Day of Judgement shall come to pass, only the perverse persons turn away from this truth.
- The same angels who gave good news, of having a son, to Ibrahim annihilated the nation of homosexuals.
- There is a lesson in the stories of Pharoah, 'Ad, Thamud and people of Nuh.
Tafsir Zone
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Overview (Verses 15 - 19) At the Opposite End Next, a contrasting image is drawn. This depicts a different group, reassured in their certainty, eager to do what is good without boasting about it, fully awake at night when they volunteer their night worship: This group are fully alert, sensitive to the fact that God watches them and, therefore, they carefully watch their own behavior. These will be placed " amid gardens and springs. They will happily receive what their Lord will grant them." (Verses 15-16) God grants them blessings in abundance as a reward for what they do in this their first life, worshipping Him as if they see Him and realizing that He sees them: "for they were keen to do good." (Verse 16) Their desire to excel is portrayed in a splendid image: "They would sleep but little at night, and would pray for forgiveness at the time of dawn," (Verses 17-18) They are the ones who stay up at night when others are fast asleep. They turn to their Lord, appealing to Him to forgive them their sins. They sleep but little during the night, preferring to address their Lord and enjoy the pleasure of being in close contact with Him, when no one else is aware of that contact. Al-Masan says in commenting on the verse, "They would sleep but little at night": "They offered voluntary night worship, sleeping only a little and extending their worship until the late hours, shortly before dawn, when they would pray for forgiveness." Qatadah quotes al-Ahnaf ibn Qays's comment after reading this verse: "They slept only for a short while at night. I am not one to which this verse applies." Al-Hasan al¬Basri cites al-Ahnaf ibn Qays's comment: "I tried to compare my work to that of the people of heaven and I discovered that those people are ahead of us by a long way. We cannot aspire to what they achieved, sleeping but little at night. I then tried to compare my work to that of the people of hell and I found out that those are devoid of goodness, denying God's revelations and His messengers, refusing to believe in resurrection after death. I concluded that the best among us are those who mix good deeds with bad ones." A man said to Zayd ibn Aslam that he felt that this quality of spending much of the night in voluntary worship does not apply to their generation who only spend a little of the night time in such worship. Zayd said to him: "Blessed is the one who sleeps when he is sleepy and remains God-fearing when awake." This is a standard to which a number of the Tabi`in generation that immediately followed the Prophet's Companions, known for their firm belief and piety, aspired to. They felt that they were well below it. It is the standard only achieved by the elite God has chosen and who have been shown the way to achieve it. This is their situation with regard to their relations with God. As for their relations with people and their attitude to money, these people are of the type that is keen to do good: they "would give a rightful share of their possessions to the one who asks [for help] and the one who is deprived." (Verse 19) They not only give a share of what they have to those who ask for help and the one who is too shy to ask and thus remains deprived of help, but they make that a rightful share, committing themselves to it as though they are duty bound to do so even though it is voluntary. This point fits well with the treatment of the issue of possessions and earnings in the surah, as it helps to free the believer's heart of the shackles of personal greed and their preoccupation with livelihood. It also serves to prepare us for the next section of the surah"). |
Ibn Kathir (English)
Sayyid Qutb
Sha'rawi
Al Jalalain
الطبري - جامع البيان
ابن كثير - تفسير القرآن العظيم
القرطبي - الجامع لأحكام
البغوي - معالم التنزيل
ابن أبي حاتم الرازي - تفسير القرآن
ابن عاشور - التحرير والتنوير
ابن القيم - تفسير ابن قيّم
السيوطي - الدر المنثور
الشنقيطي - أضواء البيان
ابن الجوزي - زاد المسير
الآلوسي - روح المعاني
ابن عطية - المحرر الوجيز
الرازي - مفاتيح الغيب
أبو السعود - إرشاد العقل السليم
الزمخشري - الكشاف
البقاعي - نظم الدرر
الهداية إلى بلوغ النهاية — مكي ابن أبي طالب
القاسمي - محاسن التأويل
الماوردي - النكت والعيون
السعدي - تيسير الكريم الرحمن
عبد الرحمن الثعالبي - الجواهر الحسان
السمرقندي - بحر العلوم
أبو إسحاق الثعلبي - الكشف والبيان
الشوكاني - فتح القدير
النيسابوري - التفسير البسيط
أبو حيان - البحر المحيط
البيضاوي - أنوار التنزيل
النسفي - مدارك التنزيل
ابن جُزَيّ - التسهيل لعلوم التنزيل
علي الواحدي النيسابوري - الوجيز
السيوطي - تفسير الجلالين
المختصر في التفسير — مركز تفسير
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Overview (Verses 15 - 19) At the Opposite End Next, a contrasting image is drawn. This depicts a different group, reassured in their certainty, eager to do what is good without boasting about it, fully awake at night when they volunteer their night worship: This group are fully alert, sensitive to the fact that God watches them and, therefore, they carefully watch their own behavior. These will be placed " amid gardens and springs. They will happily receive what their Lord will grant them." (Verses 15-16) God grants them blessings in abundance as a reward for what they do in this their first life, worshipping Him as if they see Him and realizing that He sees them: "for they were keen to do good." (Verse 16) Their desire to excel is portrayed in a splendid image: "They would sleep but little at night, and would pray for forgiveness at the time of dawn," (Verses 17-18) They are the ones who stay up at night when others are fast asleep. They turn to their Lord, appealing to Him to forgive them their sins. They sleep but little during the night, preferring to address their Lord and enjoy the pleasure of being in close contact with Him, when no one else is aware of that contact. Al-Masan says in commenting on the verse, "They would sleep but little at night": "They offered voluntary night worship, sleeping only a little and extending their worship until the late hours, shortly before dawn, when they would pray for forgiveness." Qatadah quotes al-Ahnaf ibn Qays's comment after reading this verse: "They slept only for a short while at night. I am not one to which this verse applies." Al-Hasan al¬Basri cites al-Ahnaf ibn Qays's comment: "I tried to compare my work to that of the people of heaven and I discovered that those people are ahead of us by a long way. We cannot aspire to what they achieved, sleeping but little at night. I then tried to compare my work to that of the people of hell and I found out that those are devoid of goodness, denying God's revelations and His messengers, refusing to believe in resurrection after death. I concluded that the best among us are those who mix good deeds with bad ones." A man said to Zayd ibn Aslam that he felt that this quality of spending much of the night in voluntary worship does not apply to their generation who only spend a little of the night time in such worship. Zayd said to him: "Blessed is the one who sleeps when he is sleepy and remains God-fearing when awake." This is a standard to which a number of the Tabi`in generation that immediately followed the Prophet's Companions, known for their firm belief and piety, aspired to. They felt that they were well below it. It is the standard only achieved by the elite God has chosen and who have been shown the way to achieve it. This is their situation with regard to their relations with God. As for their relations with people and their attitude to money, these people are of the type that is keen to do good: they "would give a rightful share of their possessions to the one who asks [for help] and the one who is deprived." (Verse 19) They not only give a share of what they have to those who ask for help and the one who is too shy to ask and thus remains deprived of help, but they make that a rightful share, committing themselves to it as though they are duty bound to do so even though it is voluntary. This point fits well with the treatment of the issue of possessions and earnings in the surah, as it helps to free the believer's heart of the shackles of personal greed and their preoccupation with livelihood. It also serves to prepare us for the next section of the surah"). |
Scientific References
وَالسَّمَاءَ بَنَيْنَاهَا بِأَيْدٍ وَإِنَّا لَمُوسِعُونَ "And the heaven We constructed with strength, and indeed, We are [its] expander." (51:47)
The Expanding Universe
It was only after the development of the radio telescope in 1937, that the expansion of the universe was observed and established. This discovery is regarded as one of the greatest in the history of astronomy.
During these observations, Hubble established that the stars emit a light that turns redder according to their distance. The wavelengths of receding bodies prolonged in the spectrum of light waves would shift to red, while, if the bodies approached each other, the wavelengths would shorten, shifting to blue. The light that came from galaxies that shifted to red showed that the galaxies were receding. In line with this observation, Hubble discovered a striking law: the speed of galaxies that receded was directly proportional to the distance between galaxies. The farther away a galaxy stood, the more its speed of recession accelerated. The result was tested again and again. In short, galaxies were moving further and further away, all the time.
A universe where everything constantly moves away from everything else implied a constantly expanding universe. The debate now is not whether the universe is expanding but rather at what rate. In 2011, the Nobel Prize in Physics was awarded to three scientists for the ‘discovery of the accelerating expansion of the universe through observations of distant supernovae’.
- Surah 51. Ad-Dhariyat - Saad al Ghamidi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzzSbqMZR2Y&index=51&list=PLhM2xiAUdw2cAqW_o3zZkbhJNw0bnaBZN
- Surah 51. Ad-Dhariyat Mahmoud Khalil Al Hussary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjQdS5nKtJI&index=51&list=PLxpAkjlGauHfMFWX22VZWOKpzjr-vH_BM
- Surah 51. Ad-Dhariyat Muhammad Al Luhaydan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CqBqLH3kCoo&list=PLxpAkjlGauHfKAYuQLRNAZomoezhfhRZe&index=51
- Idris Akbar Surah Ad-Dhariyat https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw_2gLJAtQg
- Surah 51. AAd-Dhariyat Muhammad Minshawi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYFprNOxZbA&index=51&list=PLxpAkjlGauHdUcO_uc-8F8J2NUQRDZjPG
- Dr Israr Ahmed Tafsir Surah Al-Zariyat to Surah Al-Waqi'ah1 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6iQj5eAnWSE&index=97&list=PLB4B8D1654A8BD263
- Surah Al-Zariyat to Surah Al-Waqi'ah2 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a1V7hlRdFI&index=98&list=PLB4B8D1654A8BD263
