The Moon (Al-Qamar)
Verses 1-8 GROUP_1416 54.1-8
1
اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ وَانشَقَّ الْقَمَرُ
The Last Hour draws near and the moon is split asunder.
2
وَإِن يَرَوْا آيَةً يُعْرِضُوا وَيَقُولُوا سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ
Yet, when they see a sign they [who deny the truth] turn their backs and say, ‘The same old sorcery!’
3
وَكَذَّبُوا وَاتَّبَعُوا أَهْوَاءهُمْ وَكُلُّ أَمْرٍ مُّسْتَقِرٌّ
They deny the truth and follow their own whims—every matter has its appointed time—
4
وَلَقَدْ جَاءهُم مِّنَ الْأَنبَاء مَا فِيهِ مُزْدَجَرٌ
there has come to them many a tiding wherein there are warnings,
5
حِكْمَةٌ بَالِغَةٌ فَمَا تُغْنِ النُّذُرُ
profound in wisdom, but all warnings have been of no avail:
6
فَتَوَلَّ عَنْهُمْ يَوْمَ يَدْعُ الدَّاعِ إِلَى شَيْءٍ نُّكُرٍ
so ignore them. On the Day when the Crier will call out about a horrible event,
7
خُشَّعًا أَبْصَارُهُمْ يَخْرُجُونَ مِنَ الْأَجْدَاثِ كَأَنَّهُمْ جَرَادٌ مُّنتَشِرٌ
with downcast eyes they shall come out of their graves, as if they were locusts milling about
8
مُّهْطِعِينَ إِلَى الدَّاعِ يَقُولُ الْكَافِرُونَ هَذَا يَوْمٌ عَسِرٌ
hastening towards the Crier. Those who deny the truth will cry, ‘This is such a hard day!’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) God causes such events to take place in the present world as make the occurrence of Doomsday understandable in advance. An event of this type occurred in the days of the Prophet Muhammad a few years before the Hijrah, when people saw that the moon was ‘cleft in two.’ At that time, the Prophet told the people that just as the moon had broken into pieces, the world would also break into pieces and then a new world would be built. Undoubtedly, there is a lesson to be learned from such events. But this is possible only when a man applies his mind to it. Those who are slaves to their own desires, will look at such events and simply say, ‘This is magic’. They will interpret such events as they please and treat them as inapplicable to themselves. For such people even the most cogent reasoning is meaningless. They will come to their senses only when the blast of Doomsday bursts on them and deprives them of the opportunity to reform.