Surah 89: Al-Fajr
The Holy Qur’an with English Translation and Commentary (Five Volume Commentary)
[a]In the name of Allah, the Gracious, the Merciful.
[a] See 1:1.
By the Dawn,[4706]
[4706] Commentary:
"The Dawn" may mean the Holy Prophet’s Migration to Medina with which ended the ten dark nights or ten years of persecution of the Holy Prophet and his righteous and noble Companions at Mecca. "The Dawn" may also signify the advent of the Promised Messiah who brought a message of hope and of a bright future for Islam after ten dark centuries of its decline and decadence.
See also Introduction to the Surah.
And the Ten Nights,[4707]
[4707] Commentary:
The word لیل meaning, a night, may signify one year after the Hijrah in the case of the Holy Prophet and one century in the case of the Promised Messiah. Thus "the Ten Nights" represent the ten dark years of severe persecution to which Muslims were subjected at Mecca before the Holy Prophet’s Migration to Medina which has been likened to the break of the dawn in the preceding verse. Or "the Ten Nights" may refer to the ten centuries of the decline and decadence of Islam before the advent of the Promised Messiah, with which ended a dark period of degradation, and which ushered in the dawn of a glorious future for Islam. An implied reference to these "Ten Nights" of the decline of Islam is also to be found in the verse in the Holy Qur’an: "He will plan the Divine Ordinance from the heavens unto the earth, then shall it go up to Him in a day the duration of which is thousand years according to what you reckon" (32:6). These ten centuries (or a thousand years) of the moral decadence of Muslims came after the first three centuries of the heyday of their glory and grandeur which have been called the best three centuries of Islam by the Holy Prophet (Bukhari, Kitabur-Riqaq). The decline of Islam began towards the end of the third century A.H. when on the one hand an Umayyad Caliph of Spain signed a pact of mutual assistance with the Pope against the Abbasid Empire of Baghdad and, on the other, the Caliph of Baghdad entered into a treaty of friendship with the Caesar of Rome against the Umayyad Caliph of Spain.
And the Even and the Odd,[4708]
[4708] Commentary:
Continuing the allegory the word الشفع (the Even) may allude to the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr—his ever faithful Companion. The two of them made the number even, and God Who was with them in the hour of tribulation was الوتر (the Odd). To this "Even and Odd" number a pointed reference is to be found in the words "One of the two when they were both in the cave, when he said to his Companion, 'Grieve not, for Allah is with us'" (9:40). Or the Holy Prophet and the Promised Messiah may be taken as making an even number and Allah an odd, because, while the Prophet in his first advent took refuge along with Abu Bakr in the Mount Thaur, Allah being with them; in his second advent, according to a revelation of the Promised Messiah, the Holy Prophet "took refuge in the fortress of India" (Tadhkirah), along with the Promised Messiah, Allah being the third of them. Or "the Even and the Odd" may signify that though the Holy Prophet and the Promised Messiah were two separate individuals, the Promised Messiah was completely lost in the Holy Prophet as to become one person with him.
And the Night when it moves on to its close,[4709]
[4709] Commentary:
"The Night" may represent the first year of the Hijrah which did not see any abatement of the Holy Prophet’s anxieties and in which the Quraish of Mecca marched to the battlefield of Badr with a powerful army to give Islam a coup de grace from which it should never recover. It was in the Battle of Badr, about one year after the Hijrah, that the Quraish suffered an ignominious defeat and this literally fulfilled Prophet Isaiah’s prophecy: "For thus hath the Lord said unto me, within a year, according to the years of an hireling, all the glory of Kedar shall fail." (Isa. 21:16) Thus though after the Migration to Medina the 'morning' had dawned for the Muslims, still they were not completely out of the wood; they had to suffer hardships for another night, i.e. a year. Or the verse may signify that after the advent of the Promised Messiah which heralded the break of the Dawn for Islam, its difficulties would not altogether disappear. One night of darkness—one century of difficulties—seems to lie ahead; after which Islam would march forward on a uniform course of success. Thus the Surah embodies a double prophecy which was made at a time when the prospects for Islam appeared to be very bleak indeed. It was remarkably fulfilled first, in the first phase of the chequered career of Islam, and it is at present in the process of being fulfilled in the shape of the renaissance being wrought at the hands of the Promised Messiah, the Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement.
Is there not in it strong evidence for one of understanding?[4710]
[4710] Important Words:
حجر (understanding) is inf. noun from حجر which means, he prevented, he hindered, debarred, withheld. They say فلان فی حجر فلان i.e. such a one is in the protection of such a one. حجر means, the anterior pudendum of a man and of a woman; relationship; understanding, intelligence or reason. ذو حجر means, a person who possesses understanding (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
The prophecy contained in the above verses constitutes an invincible argument in support of the Divine origin of the Holy Qur’an.
Hast thou not seen how thy Lord dealt with ‘Ad—[4711]
[4711] Commentary:
The ‘Ad were a powerful and prosperous people of antiquity. They defied their Prophet Hud and were destroyed. For a detailed note on ‘Ad and Thamud see 11:62.
The tribe of Iram, possessors of lofty buildings,[4712]
[4712] Important Words:
العماد (lofty buildings) is the plural of عمود and عمادة which are both derived from عمد. They say عمده i.e. he supported it. اعتمدت علیه means, I relied upon him in such a case. عماد means, lofty buildings. ذات العماد means, possessing lofty buildings supported by columns or possessing tallness; possessor of tents. فلان رفیع العماد means, such a one is a person of exalted nobility. ھو عماد القوم means, he is the support of his people (Lane & Aqrab).
The like of whom have not been created in these parts—[4713]
[4713] Commentary:
The verse signifies that ‘Ad were a very powerful people in their time. They excelled their contemporary nations in material means and resources.
[a]And with Thamud who hewed out rocks in the valley,[4714]
[a] 7:75; 26:150.
[4714] Commentary:
See 7:75 & 11:62.
And with Pharaoh, lord of vast camps? [4714A]
[4714A] Commentary:
See 38:13.
[a]Who transgressed in the cities,
[a] 28:5.