Surah 44: Ad-Dukhan
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.[3698]
[a] See 1:1.
[3698] Commentary:
See 1:1.
[b]Ha Mim.[3699]
[b] 40:2.
[3699] Commentary:
See 40:2.
By this perspicuous Book.[3700]
[3700] Commentary:
See 26:3; 27:2 and 28:3.
Truly, [c]We revealed it in a blessed Night. Truly, We have ever been warning against evil.[3701]
[c] 97:2.
[3701] Commentary:
In this verse the Holy Qur’an is stated to have been revealed in the blessed night which elsewhere is called لیلة القدر i.e. the "Night of Destiny" (97:2). According to authentic traditions of the Holy Prophet, the "Night of Destiny" falls in the last ten nights of Ramadan, the month in which the Holy Qur’an began to be revealed (2:186), to be exact, on its 24th night (Masnad & Jarir). The blessed night, or the "Night of Destiny", is the metaphor in the Holy Qur’an for a period of time when spiritual darkness enshrouds the entire face of the earth and mankind wallows in the quagmire of sin and iniquity. It is then that a Divine Reformer is raised to reclaim and regenerate corrupt humanity. The night which gave to humanity its greatest Teacher and the last and most perfect Divine Law, was indeed a "Night of Destiny" for it. The blessed night or the "Night of Destiny" may also be taken as covering the whole period in which the Holy Qur’an continued to be revealed.
[d]In it all wise things are decided,[3702]
[d] 97:5.
[3702] Commentary:
The "Night of Destiny" or the time of the advent of a great Divine Reformer heralds a new era, a new order of things, when, in fact, the future of humanity is decreed and decided. The time when the Holy Qur’an was revealed was humanity’s greatest "Night of Destiny", for it was then that the foundations were laid of man’s destiny for all time to come.
By Our own command. Verily, We have ever been sending Messengers,
As a mercy from thy Lord. Verily, He is the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing,[3703]
[3703] Commentary:
The advent of a Divine Reformer or of a new revelation is indeed a great mercy of God to mankind. It seems that a Prophet or a Divine Reformer comes in response to the agonised cries of the righteous men of the time that God might raise one who should call and lead erring humanity to the way of righteousness; and God does raise a Prophet or a Divine Reformer in the fulness of time. Being All-Knowing, He knows full well when the spiritual needs of mankind call for the appearance of a Prophet.
[a]The Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that is between them, if you would only have faith.[3704]
[a] 19:66; 37:6; 44:8; 78:38.
[3704] Commentary:
The verse points to the object of the appearance of a Divine Reformer which is to call men to God, the Lord of the heavens and the earth, Who gives life and causes death.
There is no God but He. [b]He gives life and He causes death. He is your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers.
[b] 7:159; 10:57; 57:3.
Yet they play about in doubt.
But watch thou for the day when the sky will bring forth a visible smoke,[3705]
[3705] Important Words:
For دخان (smoke) see 41:12.
Commentary:
The reference in the verse may be to the severe famine that overtook Mecca and lasted for several years till Abu Sufyan, then a great leader of disbelief, came to the Holy Prophet and begged him to pray for deliverance from the scourge. The famine is said to have been so severe that the Meccans ate hides, bones and even dead bodies (Bukhari, Abwabul-Istisqa). The famine has been described by the word دخان (smoke) because, as the tradition goes, the hunger was so severe that people felt a sort of smoke hanging before their eyes. Or the word may have been used because there was no rain for a long time in Mecca, and the whole atmosphere had become dusty, for دخان also means dust.
The verse may also be taken as referring to the last two world wars in which towns and cities were burnt down to rubble and the smoke that rose from their ruins filled the whole atmosphere with smoke and dust.
That will envelop the people. This will be a painful torment.