Thafseer Lafzi 9 — Sūrat aṭ-Ṭāriq (86) — the whole sūrah سُورَة الطَّارِق

1 · Introduction — the sūrah's identity card #

Its name is سُورَةُ الطَّارِق — Sūrat aṭ-Ṭāriq.

2 · Where the Prophet ﷺ recited it #

Rasūlullāh ﷺ used to recite this sūrah in the ʿIshāʾ prayer, in the second rakʿah.

Sūrat al-Burūj is also spoken of as recited alongside it. The class's account of how the two were divided over the rakʿahs was not recorded.

3 · No occasion of revelation #

As for the sabab al-nuzūl: for this sūrah there is no particular occasion of revelation. There is nothing special of that kind to report about it.

4 · An early-Makkan sūrah, and the setting it answers #

It was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ in the early period of the mission — the early Makkan period. It is counted among the sūrahs revealed in that first stretch.

And that period is the setting. In it, people were rejecting Allah and rejecting the matters that must be believed in. This sūrah came as a reply to that. "These are the things you should look for in it."

5 · The central theme, and what the sūrah carries #

The central theme: to strengthen and confirm īmān — to establish it firmly.

6 · The shape of the sūrah — its five parts #

"Look at how it is built. It falls into five parts."

7 · Āyah 1 — the oath, and the wāw al-qasam #

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ وَٱلطَّارِقِ

Wa-s-samāʾi wa-ṭ-ṭāriq

"By the sky and the night-comer."

So the whole sense: by the sky, and by the ṭāriq. "And on ṭāriq there is a small matter to take up."

8 · Ṭāriq — the morphology #

طَرْق — ṭarq — means knocking, striking, beating, and along with that it carries the sense of coming by night — one who arrives at night. الطَّارِق is that which comes in the night.

In the Qurʾān the word is placed as an اِسْم فَاعِل (ism fāʿil, the active participle) — طَارِق. The corresponding اِسْم مَفْعُول on the mafʿūl pattern would be مَطْرُوق. It is from that verb that this ṭāriq, the ism fāʿil, is formed.

9 · Āyah 2 — and what will make you know? #

وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلطَّارِقُ

Wa-mā adrāka mā ṭ-ṭāriq

"And what will make you know what the night-comer is?"

Put together: and what has informed you what the ṭāriq is? "What does ṭāriq mean — what is it that has told you what the ṭāriq is?" You have met the verb أَدْرَى before.

10 · Āyah 3 — the piercing star #

ٱلنَّجْمُ ٱلثَّاقِبُ

An-najmu th-thāqib

"It is the piercing star."

That is what the previous āyah was pointing to — the ṭāriq is a shining star, a star blazing with light.

A word you already know, from

وَٱلنَّجْمُ وَٱلشَّجَرُ يَسْجُدَانِ

Wa-n-najmu wa-sh-shajaru yasjudān — the same word نَجْم, met before.

And in the tafsīrs it is mentioned that الثُّرَيَّا (ath-Thurayyā, the Pleiades) is the star meant.

11 · Thāqib — the morphology, and thaqb #

Its name here is اِسْم فَاعِل — thāqib, just as ṭāriq is an ism fāʿil.

And the sense it comes from: ثَقْب (thaqb) — boring or piercing a hole; "the holes that are in the ground, the pits, the hollows."

What follows from it is this: the thāqib pierces the darkness with its light — it drives the darkness away.

12 · Āyah 4 — no soul without a guardian #

إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ

In kullu nafsin lammā ʿalayhā ḥāfiẓ

"There is no soul but has a guardian over it."

13 · ʿalayhā ḥāfiẓ — how the phrase is built #

Take an ordinary example to see how such a phrase works.

عَلَى ٱلْمَكْتَبِ كِتَابٌ

ʿAlā l-maktabi kitābun — "the book is on the table." مَكْتَب is the table; ʿalā l-maktabi is "on the table"; kitābun is "a book." And likewise

عَلَى ٱلْمَكْتَبِ قَلَمٌ

ʿAlā l-maktabi qalamun — "there is a pen on the table."

Taking the full sense: over every soul Allah has appointed a guardian.

14 · Who the guardian is — the recording angels #

Allah has appointed angels to record the deeds a man does. For every human being — for every soul — there are two angels: one to write down the good, and one for the bad. Throughout his life in this world, they write.

So the imams say it is those angels who are meant here. But note: the word is stated here in the singular — it is not put in the plural, and no division is made in the wording.

Two pairs, two kinds of work.

So taken generally, the work of both parties is protection — they are all ḥāfiẓ, guardians — and that is how we can read the word here.

15 · Ḥāfiẓ — the morphology, and the Urdu ḥāfiẓ #

"So: طَارِق, ثَاقِب, and now حَافِظ — the same shape each time."

And this is where the word you know comes from: in Urdu they say حَافِظ of a man who has memorised the Qurʾān — because he has kept it, guarded it. The Urdu farewell اللهُ حَافِظ (Allāh ḥāfiẓ) comes from the same word.

16 · Āyah 5 — so let man look #

فَلْيَنظُرِ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ

Fa-l-yanẓuri l-insānu mimma khuliq

"So let man look at what he was created from."

So: let man look at what he was created from — let him consider what it is he was made of.

17 · Naẓara — and why "look" means "consider" #

Think of the way a child attends to a subject, and the way a student who wants to take something in must give it attention.

18 · Āyah 6 — created from a gushing fluid, and the majhūl #

خُلِقَ مِن مَّآءٍ دَافِقٍ

Khuliqa min māʾin dāfiq

"He was created from a gushing fluid."

And the answer: he was created مِن — from — مَآء, water: from a single drop of water. From a gushing drop of fluid — that is what man was made from.

19 · The full paradigm of khalaqa #

20 · Āyah 7 — from between the backbone and the ribs #

يَخْرُجُ مِنۢ بَيْنِ ٱلصُّلْبِ وَٱلتَّرَآئِبِ

Yakhruju min bayni ṣ-ṣulbi wa-t-tarāʾib

"Coming out from between the backbone and the ribs."

From between the two, this fluid comes out. In the man, from the region of the back; in the woman, from above the breasts — it emerges from between the chest and the backbone.

21 · Kharaja — the paradigm, and the rule for forming the ism fāʿil #

So, as you have already studied, the ism fāʿil comes out in the form خَارِجٌ.

22 · Lāzim and mutaʿaddī — and why some verbs have no ism mafʿūl #

خَرَجَ is a lāzim verb: "he went out" — he himself went out; there is nothing he went-out. So for verbs like that, the ism mafʿūl does not come, and neither does the passive.

23 · Āyah 8 — indeed He is able to bring him back #

إِنَّهُۥ عَلَىٰ رَجْعِهِۦ لَقَادِرٌ

Innahu ʿalā rajʿihi la-qādir

"Indeed He is able to bring him back."

Indeed He is able to bring him back. It is the raising up again that is the matter stated in this āyah.

24 · Qadara — the morphology #

25 · Āyah 9 — the day the secrets are tested #

يَوْمَ تُبْلَى ٱلسَّرَآئِرُ

Yawma tublā s-sarāʾir

"On the Day when the secrets are put to the test."

On that Day the secrets will be laid bare. Hidden where? Here, in this world. Some things are mysteries that nobody knows, that stay unexplained — and all those mysteries will come out.

26 · The illustration — the secrets that never came out here #

There is plenty of it in history.

• A flight that went one day and was never found. No one ever knew what became of it. They said it went down into the sea; years of investigation, and nothing was ever established.
• And the same holds in personal matters. Each person, when it comes to something between him and another — "no, it is not so" is what he says. He works to hide it.

That is what the sarāʾir are: things kept hidden, which will not come out fully here. On the Day of Resurrection they will all be exposed.

27 · Balā / tublā — the paradigm and the passive #

بَلَا (balā) means "he tested, he tried." Its مُضَارِع is يَبْلُو (yablū).

28 · Āyah 10 — no strength and no helper #

فَمَا لَهُۥ مِن قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ

Fa-mā lahu min quwwatin wa-lā nāṣir

"Then he will have no strength and no helper."

On that Day no one will help anyone, and there is no helper to be had. Why? Because each one is occupied with himself — everyone will be trying to secure his own release, and will not be looking to anyone else's affair.

So: he has no power of his own to free himself, and no other who will come to help him.

29 · Āyah 11 — by the sky that returns #

وَٱلسَّمَآءِ ذَاتِ ٱلرَّجْعِ

Wa-s-samāʾi dhāti r-rajʿ

"By the sky that returns."

The sky that sends the rain again and again, returning with it. By the rain-returning sky.

The word رَجْع. Its مَاضِي is رَجَعَ (rajaʿa); its مَصْدَر is رُجُوع (rujūʿ), while what stands here is رَجْع; the أَمْر is اِرْجِعْ (irjiʿ), and the اِسْم فَاعِل is رَاجِع (rājiʿ).

The ism mafʿūl follows the usual pattern.

30 · Āyah 12 — and by the earth that splits open #

وَٱلْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ ٱلصَّدْعِ

Wa-l-arḍi dhāti ṣ-ṣadʿ

"And by the earth that splits open."

Splitting for what? For the plants — so that vegetation may come up. A seed lies inside the earth, and when it sprouts, the ground gives way and splits and makes room for it.

31 · Āyah 13 — indeed it is a decisive word #

إِنَّهُۥ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ

Innahu la-qawlun faṣl

"Indeed it is a decisive word."

قَوْل. Its مَاضِي is قَالَ (qāla), its مُضَارِع يَقُولُ (yaqūlu), and the maṣdar standing here is قَوْل — the saying of a word. The أَمْر is قُلْ (qul).

32 · Qāla — and the hollow verbs whose alif becomes a hamzah #

قُلْ — "say!" — that is the أَمْر, addressed to the second person. Its اِسْم فَاعِل is قَائِل (qāʾil) and its اِسْم مَفْعُول مَقُول (maqūl).

That is how it comes — the alif becomes the hamzah.

33 · Āyah 14 — and it is not a jest #

وَمَا هُوَ بِٱلْهَزْلِ

Wa-mā huwa bi-l-hazl

"And it is not a jest."

And it is not idle talk. There is idle speech elsewhere; this is not that. Everything the Qurʾān states is firmly settled.

34 · Āyah 15 — indeed they are plotting a plot #

إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا

Innahum yakīdūna kaydā

"Indeed they are plotting a plot."

The verb: كَادَ · يَكِيدُ, the أَمْر كِدْ (kid), the اِسْم فَاعِل كَائِد (kāʾid). The word means "he plotted, he schemed" — so: indeed they are hatching a scheme.

The plotting is directed against the Prophet ﷺ.

35 · Āyah 16 — and I am planning a plan #

وَأَكِيدُ كَيْدًا

Wa-akīdu kaydā

"And I am planning a plan."

"And I too plan a plan." Against them, We plan. They plot, and I plot — and it is in order to bring their plotting to an end.

36 · Āyah 17 — so give them a little respite #

فَمَهِّلِ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًۢا

Fa-mahhili l-kāfirīna amhilhum ruwaydā

"So give the disbelievers respite — grant them a little delay."

So the whole: give the deniers respite; leave them alone for a little.

Why mahhili, with a kasrah? It takes the kasrah here because of the join with the word after it — and that is temporary, only for the connection.

37 · The lessons of the sūrah #

"From this sūrah we can take up some lessons."

1 · Over every soul a permanent guardian is appointed #

Over every human soul a permanent guardian has been appointed. And because of those guardians, his deeds — and likewise his thoughts — cannot be hidden from Allah. Nothing is forgotten here; nothing goes unremembered. The angels stand as witness to it. That is what it is showing us.

2 · Remember what you were made from, and drop the arrogance #

The way man was created — from a drop of water. The sūrah is making man call that to mind, and therefore he must be free of arrogance.

Going about full of pride — a man created out of a mean drop of water has no business boasting. There is no need for arrogance in a creature made that lowly.

3 · The One who created first can raise again #

The Allah who created man in the first place will raise him after death.

However much we have decayed, however our bodies lie buried in the ground, He will bring us up from there. And if anyone thinks "we will not be there, it comes to nothing" — however it may be, the raising is real.

4 · Every hidden intention will be exposed #

Every hidden thought and every hidden deed will be brought out on the Day of Resurrection. So one must be careful about one's inner intentions — about the motives underneath what one does.

Whatever is concealed, all of it will be exposed there. And if we keep that in mind, we would keep our lives good.

5 · The sky and the earth are signs that resurrection is possible #

They are Allah's signs. The sky that brings back the rain, and the earth that splits open so plants can come up — these point to the possibility of the resurrection. They are signs, set there to be read.

And the Qurʾān is true: it is a clear separator between truth and falsehood.

6 · Do not take this lightly #

It is not false, and we must not take it lightly. Recall the āyah about the mountains:

لَوْ أَنزَلْنَا هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانَ عَلَىٰ جَبَلٍ لَّرَأَيْتَهُۥ خَٰشِعًا مُّتَصَدِّعًا مِّنْ خَشْيَةِ ٱللَّهِ

"Had We sent this Qurʾān down upon a mountain, you would have seen it humbled, split apart out of fear of Allah."

And so: even when people scheme against the truth, we must bear it patiently and go on trusting.

7 · The plot is Allah's in the end — so be patient #

In the end it is Allah's plan that stands against their plotting.

So we take patience. "Allah is there" — that is what we say. However much anyone plots and does not stop, we accept it with patience.

38 · The sūrah in one line #