Welcome to our weekly programme "Path towards Enlightenment" in which we present you a fluent and easy-to-understand explanation of the ayahs of the holy Qur’an.

If you remember, last week we completed explanation of Surah Saaffaat and today we start the next Surah, that is, Surah Saad, which is number 38 of the holy Qur’an in its present order. This Surah was revealed at Mecca during the first phase of the mission of Prophet Mohammad (SAWA). It contains eighty-eight ayahs and its title, which is actually an abbreviated letter, is derived from its first ayah. Like Surah as-Saaffaat, the ayahs of Surah as-Saad deal with the issue of prophethood during the length of history and the opposition of the polytheists and pagans against the concept of Towheed or Monotheism and the inevitability of Resurrection after death.

In Surah Saaffaat, the names of several prophets were mentioned by God Almighty such as Noah, Abraham, Lot, Moses, Aaron, Ilyas and Yunus or Jonah. Surah Saad mostly refers to the account of the prophets David, Solomon, and Ayyoub or Job. The ending part of this Surah refers to the event of the creation of man, the angels’ prostration to Adam on the commandment of God and the disobedience of Satan to divine orders. The ayahs of this surah enable believers to develop proper cognition of the innate greatness of man and the necessity of resisting the temptations of the Satan.

Regarding the virtues of this Surah, the Prophet of Islam has said: “Whoever recites Surah Saad, Allah will reward equal to the weight of every mountain that Allah had subdued for David. Allah will also protect the reciter from persistence in committing sins, whether minor or major.”

The Prophet’s 5^th Infallible Heir, Imam Mohammad Baqer (AS) has said: “Whoever recites Surah Saad on the eve of Friday will be rewarded amply both in this world and in afterlife (by Allah) equal to what has been given to prophets and the near-stationed angels; and Allah will admit to paradise the reciter and all those dear to him from among the household, even the servant who served him.”

Here it should be emphasized that these hadith do not mean mere parrot-like recitation, but a recitation that inspires contemplation and creates clear resolve for proper action, in a manner that the contents of Surah Saad are practiced in life.

We now listen to or read the first and second ayahs of Surah Saad:

“Ṣād. By the Qurʾān bearing the Reminder!”

“Yet the faithless dwell in conceit and defiance.”

As we said at the beginning of Surah Baqarah, as well as the Surahs Aal-e Imran, A’raaf, Yunus, Hood, Ibrahim, Shua'ra, Ankabut, Yaseen, etc, 29 Surahs of the Holy Qur’an start with Horoof Muqatta’at or seemingly unarranged alphabets whose meaning is known only to God and His Prophet, although some exegetes have tried to interpret them. Surah Saad is thus one such Surah, and here the use of the letter Saad by God is among the marvels of the unmatched eloquence of the Holy Qur'an, which bewildered the infidels of the age of Prophet Muhammad (SAWA). Today also, the miraculous Qur’an continues to confound the disbelievers of our own days, who despite the advancement in science and technology, have failed to meet the divine challenge to bring about at least some phrases equal to those of the Holy Qur'an.

After the letter Saad, the Surah immediately refers to the heavenly scripture with the words: By the Qurʾān bearing the Reminder!

It means the holy Qur’an is both itself the Reminder and contains Remembrance. The Qur’anic term is “Zikr” which means ‘Reminder’ in order to remove the rust of negligence from the heart. The remembrance of Allah is the remembrance of His bounties, the remembrance of the Great Court on the Day of Resurrection, and the remembrance of the purpose of the creation of mankind.

Yes, the important and main factor of Man’s misery is his forgetfulness and negligence, and the Holy Qur’an wipes it out.

In contrast to the believers, the unbelievers and unrepentant sinners are prone to forgetfulness, so much so that they forget the value of their own selves, and the Qur’an is a means for breaking these curtains of forgetfulness, and it is a light for removing the darkness of negligence. Its ayahs make the readers to remember Allah and Resurrection, and its sentences make persons better acquainted with the values of their own self.

The next ayah implies the faithless dwell in conceit and defiance. It is not that any curtain has fallen over the words of truth, but the fact is that their ignorant and arrogant attitudes make the disbelievers to be haughty and hinders them from accepting the truth. In other words, their enmity to the Prophet and disobedience to his instructions prevent them to accept the plain truth of Islam.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. The holy Qur'an awakens the sleeping conscience and reminds the conscientious of the forgotten realities.
2. The holy Qur’an has been sent for the guidance of mankind, but those whose hearts are rusted with unbelief are not willing to accept it due to their lack of faith.

Now we listen to or read ayahs 3 and 4 of Surah Sad:

“How many a generation We have destroyed before them! They cried out [for help], but it was no more the time for escape.”

“They consider it odd that there should come to them a warner from among themselves, and the faithless say, ‘This is a magician, a mendacious liar.”

It is clear that ayah 3 intends to awaken the arrogant, ignorant and negligent people towards the realities of creation and the fate of those who rejected truth. That is why the holy Qur’an refers to the past history and points out the evil end of the proud, haughty and obstinate nations, so that the present generation take a lesson.

The infidels used to mock at the prophets of the past who would remind them of the divine wrath they were inviting upon themselves by rejecting truth and monotheism. In other words, they lost the ample opportunities provided by God and when, because of their evil nature and sins, divine wrath struck them, they cried for help, but it was too late and there was no time for escape.

On occasion of revelation of ayah 4 of Surah Saad, it is said that when Prophet Mohammad (SAWA) announced his invitation openly, the chiefs of the pagan Quraysh came to his uncle Abu Taleb and said: “O Abu Taleb! Your brother’s son calls us feeble-minded, and abuses our gods. He has made our youths corruptible and has dispersed our community. If this action is because of financial deficiency, we will gather so much money for him that he can be the wealthiest man among Quraysh, and we are even ready to choose him as a chief.”

Abu Taleb conveyed this message to the Prophet and he replied: “If they put the sun in my right hand and the moon in my left hand, I would not intend it; but (instead of these promises) they may agree with me in one sentence so that by which they govern over Arab and also non-Arab come into their religion, and they will be kings in Paradise.”

Abu Taleb sent this message to them, and they said they were ready to accept ten sentences instead of one sentence. The Prophet told them: “You may testify that there is no god but Allah and that I am the Messenger of Allah.”

The pagan Arabs felt terrified and said: “Do we have to leave three hundred and sixty gods and go to only one God (and too a God that eyes cannot see)?

It was here that God revealed ayah 4 of Surah Saad, which reads: “They consider it odd that there should come to them a warner from among themselves, and the faithless say, ‘This is a magician, a mendacious liar.”

The most important duty of the prophets is to warn people, but the hardcore infidels do not formally assume anything save what they have perceived by their own limited and deficient thoughts. That was why when the Prophet of Islam announced Islam in Mecca and stood against the small and big idols, the number of which was around 360 idols, the pagan Arabs began to wonder why the Prophet, the Warner, has appeared from among them!

They used to say why there had not been sent an angel from the heaven. Thus instead of realizing that the one who had been raised from among themselves was better aware of their needs and pains, and was acquainted with their difficulties and the problems of their lives, they began to call the Prophet a liar and sorcerer.

From these ayahs we learn that:

1. Atheism, polytheism and disbelief lead to the divine punishment, which after God has provided ample opportunities, would strike all of a sudden.
2. There is no escape from God’s wrath, which means repentance is effective while there is still time to contemplate, reform and rectify.
3. Prophets are raised from the very nations to which God has sent them so that they can be examples for them.
4. Insults and slander are one of the most common practices of the faithless against the faithful.

AS/ME