The Ranks (Al-Saffat) الصافات 102–113
102
فَلَمَّا بَلَغَ مَعَهُ السَّعْيَ قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ
And when he reached the age when he could work with him, he said, ‘O my son, I have seen in a dream that I am sacrificing you. So tell me what you think of it!’ He replied, ‘O my father, do as you are commanded; and God willing, you will find me steadfast.’
103
فَلَمَّا أَسْلَمَا وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ
When they had both submitted to God, and he had laid his son down on his face,
104
وَنَادَيْنَاهُ أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ
We called out to him, ‘Abraham,
105
قَدْ صَدَّقْتَ الرُّؤْيَا إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
you have fulfilled the dream.’ It is thus indeed that We reward those who do good—
106
إِنَّ هَذَا لَهُوَ الْبَلَاء الْمُبِينُ
that surely was a manifest trial—
107
وَفَدَيْنَاهُ بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ
We ransomed him with a great sacrifice,
108
وَتَرَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ فِي الْآخِرِينَ
and left him thus to be succeeded by a group [of followers] among later generations:
109
سَلَامٌ عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
‘Peace and salutation to Abraham!’
110
كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
That is how We recompense the righteous:
111
إِنَّهُ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
truly, he was one of Our faithful servants.
112
وَبَشَّرْنَاهُ بِإِسْحَقَ نَبِيًّا مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ
We gave Abraham the good news of Isaac—a prophet and a righteous man—
113
وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى إِسْحَقَ وَمِن ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ مُبِينٌ
and blessed him and Isaac too: some of their offspring were good, but some clearly sinned against their souls.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) In the days of Abraham, polytheism was so dominant that its continuity in history had been long established. Now, any child born into this situation was influenced by the surrounding atmosphere and was so immersed in polytheism that no effort even at the level of the Prophet was successful in weaning him away from it. When Abraham left Iraq, after a long missionary struggle, there were only two believers with him—one his wife Sarah and the other his nephew, Lot. People did not adhere to the concept of the oneness of God, despite the utmost struggle on the part of Prophet Abaraham. So, Almighty God planned that a new race be brought into existence which should be nurtured far away from the atmosphere of polytheism. For this purpose, the area of Hijaz was selected. This area, being dry and without any vegetation, was desolate and uninhabited. The plan was that a devotee should be settled in this area where he would become the progenitor of a pure race Hijaz (Mecca and Medina) was a waterless desert and to settle anyone in such arid surroundings amounted to sacrificing him alive. God ordered Abraham to offer his son Ishmael as a sacrifice, and in all obedience, Abraham submitted to God’s will. Abraham’s second son was Isaac. Prophethood continued in his line of descent until the advent of the last prophet who belonged to the Children of Ishmael (the younger brother of Isaac). The Prophet Muhammad brought about a revolution, which destroyed polytheism as a dominant school of thought.