Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary * - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (76) Surah: Al-An‘ām
فَلَمَّا جَنَّ عَلَيۡهِ ٱلَّيۡلُ رَءَا كَوۡكَبٗاۖ قَالَ هَٰذَا رَبِّيۖ فَلَمَّآ أَفَلَ قَالَ لَآ أُحِبُّ ٱلۡأٓفِلِينَ
(76) Thus when ˹the darkness of ˺ night shrouded him, he saw a ˹particularly luminous˺ planet and said: “This is my Lord?”[1408] When it vanished, he said: “I do not like those that vanish!”
[1408] Scholars and exegetes, old and new, pondered at length on the nature of the declaration: “This is my Lord” in this aya and the next two and the question is still being raised. Generally, they have come to the conclusion that Abraham (عليه السلام) was engaged in a debate with his people and was not involved in meditating the universe around him in this instance (kāna munāẓiran wa lam yakun nāẓiran cf. al-Eījī). That is, this declaration should not be misconstrued as a declaration of faith by Abraham and that it comes within the context of his argument with his people (cf. Ayas 80-83 below and al-Shinqīṭī), the Chaldeans, who worshiped planets. In order to persuade them, Abraham mimicked their own line of deduction (cf. Ibn ʿĀshūr), whereby he followed a gradual line of argument moving from one terrestrial body to another, to the bigger and more luminous, only to reach the same final result at the end. They also cite many proofs to bolster this point of interpretation.
Another view is provided by the great exegete al-Ṭabarī whereby Abraham was genuinely engaged in meditation (nāẓiran), thus, he called upon his Lord to guide him or else he too would go astray. Although this view is frowned upon as it is understood to cast doubts on Abraham’s (عليه السلام) all-time purity of Faith, it could give a glimpse at another way of looking at the concerned ayas. This passage, Ayas 74-79, provides a composite whole and is couched in the context of exposing the folly of idol worship: it cuts against the grain of sound human nature as these idols possess neither power nor ability to either harm or benefit, thus they do not possess the very basic quality of a god worthy of the name. This conclusion was reached at by Abraham who was endowed with true guidance and sound judgement (rushd) from an early age (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar: “We had certainly given Abraham his rushdahū (his portion of sound judgement, guidance, rectitude) before, and We were of him Well-Knowing” (21: 51)). Thus, he saw the folly of worshipping mere idols, who can neither harm nor benefit and he points this fact out to his father (Aya 74). For this firm stand, he was gifted with the faculty of reading the Signs of the Heavens and Earth (shown the malakūt; cf. Muqātil quoted in al-Ṭabarī) to realize the Truth and thus attain certitude of Faith (li yakuna min al-muqinīn; Aya 75). As he had to intellectually deduce these, he had to engage in deep, hard thinking and being in that state, coupled with the very lonely engulfing darkness of the night (janna; cf. al-Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn, Ibn ʿĀshūr), he naturally turned his face to the sky. He saw this shining star which he wondered if it were his lord, but soon realized that it was not, being of the sound judgement (rushd) that he was gifted with by God. This state of meditation lasted until another night when he saw the moon rising in its full glory, but it having the same shortcoming as the earlier star made him realize for sure that his real Lord is way beyond any of these and, hence, he prayed for guidance. By this time he was bestowed with certitude (yaqīn), and so turned to his people to use this newly gained logic (God’s own ḥujjah argument, cf. Aya 83 below) and cited the sun, the largest and brightest star glaringly visible to humans, as being essentially imperfect, faulty and frail. None of these heavenly bodies fit the criterion of being present at all times (Omnipresent) to hear and answer those who worship it; whatever vanishes is not God because it abandons its worshippers leaving them to fend for themselves (this reading is alluded to by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah in his Tafsīr). Thus his certitude of Faith materialized as he stood in the face of his people unequivocally declaring his beliefs (disowning their idols) and showing his real substance. By singularly taking on a whole nation, he fully deserves the designation one-man ‘nation’: “Truly Ibrāhīm was a nation, devoutly obedient to Allah, rightly-oriented, and he was not among the Associators” (16: 120). Having said this, one cannot emphasize enough the importance of considering the learned opinion of the majority of exegetes on this issue whereby Abraham was engaged in debate and argumentation with his people.
Another view is provided by the great exegete al-Ṭabarī whereby Abraham was genuinely engaged in meditation (nāẓiran), thus, he called upon his Lord to guide him or else he too would go astray. Although this view is frowned upon as it is understood to cast doubts on Abraham’s (عليه السلام) all-time purity of Faith, it could give a glimpse at another way of looking at the concerned ayas. This passage, Ayas 74-79, provides a composite whole and is couched in the context of exposing the folly of idol worship: it cuts against the grain of sound human nature as these idols possess neither power nor ability to either harm or benefit, thus they do not possess the very basic quality of a god worthy of the name. This conclusion was reached at by Abraham who was endowed with true guidance and sound judgement (rushd) from an early age (cf. al-Tafsīr al-Mukhtaṣar: “We had certainly given Abraham his rushdahū (his portion of sound judgement, guidance, rectitude) before, and We were of him Well-Knowing” (21: 51)). Thus, he saw the folly of worshipping mere idols, who can neither harm nor benefit and he points this fact out to his father (Aya 74). For this firm stand, he was gifted with the faculty of reading the Signs of the Heavens and Earth (shown the malakūt; cf. Muqātil quoted in al-Ṭabarī) to realize the Truth and thus attain certitude of Faith (li yakuna min al-muqinīn; Aya 75). As he had to intellectually deduce these, he had to engage in deep, hard thinking and being in that state, coupled with the very lonely engulfing darkness of the night (janna; cf. al-Māwardī, al-Nukat wa al-ʿUyūn, Ibn ʿĀshūr), he naturally turned his face to the sky. He saw this shining star which he wondered if it were his lord, but soon realized that it was not, being of the sound judgement (rushd) that he was gifted with by God. This state of meditation lasted until another night when he saw the moon rising in its full glory, but it having the same shortcoming as the earlier star made him realize for sure that his real Lord is way beyond any of these and, hence, he prayed for guidance. By this time he was bestowed with certitude (yaqīn), and so turned to his people to use this newly gained logic (God’s own ḥujjah argument, cf. Aya 83 below) and cited the sun, the largest and brightest star glaringly visible to humans, as being essentially imperfect, faulty and frail. None of these heavenly bodies fit the criterion of being present at all times (Omnipresent) to hear and answer those who worship it; whatever vanishes is not God because it abandons its worshippers leaving them to fend for themselves (this reading is alluded to by Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah in his Tafsīr). Thus his certitude of Faith materialized as he stood in the face of his people unequivocally declaring his beliefs (disowning their idols) and showing his real substance. By singularly taking on a whole nation, he fully deserves the designation one-man ‘nation’: “Truly Ibrāhīm was a nation, devoutly obedient to Allah, rightly-oriented, and he was not among the Associators” (16: 120). Having said this, one cannot emphasize enough the importance of considering the learned opinion of the majority of exegetes on this issue whereby Abraham was engaged in debate and argumentation with his people.
Arabic explanations of the Qur’an:
Translation of the meanings Ayah: (76) Surah: Al-An‘ām
Translation of the Meanings of the Noble Qur'an - English Translation - Dr. Waleed Bleyhesh Omary - Translations’ Index
Translation of the meanings of the Noble Qur’an into English - in progress - translated by Dr. Walid Bleihesh Al-Omari.