This verse: أَفَنَجْعَلُ الْمُسْلِمِينَ كَالْمُجْرِ‌مِينَ (Otherwise, shall We make the obedient like the sinners?... 68:35). Clarifies that it is rationally necessary that there should come a time when people will have to give account of their deeds, a place where the guilty ones will find no escape routes, an ideal world where there will be absolute justice and fair play, where good and evil will be clearly distinguished. If this is not the state of affairs in the Hereafter, then no evil should be evil, and no sin should be sin in this mortal world. Divine justice would thus be rendered meaningless.

Since it is established that Resurrection is a reality and inevitable, the reward of good deeds is a reality and the punishment of evil deeds is a reality, the verses that follow describe the horrors of the Day of Judgment and the punishment of the evil ones, including the description of the exposure of the Shin [ kashf-us-saq ] in Verse 42 (the explanation of which may be seen in the foot-note given in the translation of that verse.)

فَذَرْ‌نِي وَمَن يُكَذِّبُ بِهَـٰذَا الْحَدِيثِ (So, leave Me alone with those who reject this discourse. We will draw them on little by little (towards Hell) from a way they do not know.... 68:44). Here the phrase 'So, leave me alone' in the original Arabic is an idiomatic expression which signifies 'Rely on Allah'. The disbelievers often demanded Divine punishment arguing that if they are really guilty in the sight of Allah, and if He has the power to punish, then why the punishment does not befall them forthwith. These were heart-rending demands on account of which the thought probably must have crossed the mind of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and he might have prayed to Allah to punish them sometime, in the hope that the rest of the people might draw lessons and amend their conduct. On that occasion, Allah revealed [ in verse, 45] that He is the best aware of the wisdom behind His decisions. He does not punish them immediately, but He gives them respite to test them and to give them an opportunity to believe.

Towards the end, the story of Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) is concisely told that when his people constantly demanded punishment, he became indignant and prayed for the punishment to be sent down. The signs of the punishment started appearing. Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) left the place and transferred himself elsewhere. In the meantime the entire nation wept, wailed, sincerely repented and begged refuge from the Divine punishment. Allah pardoned them and took away the punishment. Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) felt embarrassed and thought that if he goes back to his people, they might think he was a liar. As a result, without the clear permission of Allah, he acted purely on his ijtihad [ independent judgment ] that he would not go back to his people. At this, Allah, in order to caution him, created a situation where he had to undertake sea voyage, and then was lowered into the sea where he was swallowed up by a fish. Being thus cautioned, Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) sought the Divine pardon. Consequently, Allah once again opened the doors of the former blessings to be restored to him. Full description of the event has been given in Surah Yunus (Verse 10:98) and other Surahs. The Holy Prophet ﷺ is comforted by this story not to be impressed by people's demands nor to be anxious to get them punished hastily. Allah's wisdom is profound and unfathomable. Allah alone knows what is in the best interests of the world. Allah should be trusted and relied on.

وَلَا تَكُن كَصَاحِبِ الْحُوتِ (So, remain patient with your Lord's judgment, and be not like the Man of the Fish...68:48). It refers to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) . He is named here as 'Man of Fish' because he was devoured by a fish and remained in its belly for some time.

1-This is the literal translation of the Qur'anic phrase used here. The exegetes have explained it in two different ways. Some of them are of the view that, according to the Arabic usage, 'exposure of the shin' is an idiomatic expression for a severe state of distress. When a person is confronted with such a distress, he normally lays his shins bare. Therefore, exposure of the shin has been taken as indicative of such a state. Given this interpretation, the verse means that on the day when the disbelievers will face the severe distress, they will be called upon to prostrate themselves, but they will not be able to do so, because their backs will be made flat, with no elasticity to bow down. Some other commentators, however, take the phrase in its literal sense. They say that the 'Shin' referred to here is the Shin of Allah Ta'ala, which is one of His attributes, the exact nature of which is neither known to anybody, nor discoverable in this world. (But obviously, it is not like the shins of human beings). According to this interpretation, the verse means that, at some stage on the Day of Judgment, Allah Ta'ala will expose this attribute of His which is called 'Shin', and they will be called upon to prostrate before it. This interpretation is supported by an authentic hadith reported by Bukhari and Muslim.

2-It refers to Sayyidna Yunus (علیہ السلام) who was devoured by a fish after he left his nation. Full description of the event has been given in Surah Yunus. (Muhammad Taqi Usmani)

3-According to the explanation given to this verse by Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanawi (رح) ، 'Favour from His Lord' means the acceptance of his repentance, and 'wilderness' refers to the place where he was thrown by the fish. If this verse is read in juxtaposition with Verses 143, 144 of Surah As-Saffat, the sense appears to be that if Yunus had not offered tasbih and taubah, he would have remained in the belly of the fish for good, and if he had repented, but was not favoured by Allah with the acceptance of his taubah, he would have been cast by the fish into the wilderness, due to his repentance, but in a reproachable state. However, since Allah favoured him with accepting his taubah, he was no more reproachable. Some other scholars, however, suggest that 'wilderness' in this verse refers to the plain of Hashr, and the verse means that if Allah had not accepted his taubah, he would have been cast into the plain of Hashr in a reproachable state.

4-It means that they glare at you with such a hatred and anger as if they were to make you slip from your standpoint due to their aversion.

وَإِن يَكَادُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا لَيُزْلِقُونَكَ بِأَبْصَارِ‌هِمْ (And indeed the disbelievers seem to trip you up with their glances when they hear the Reminder, and say, "He is a madman indeed 68:51). The verb 'layuzliqunaka' is derived from izlaq which means 'to trip up or to cause someone to fall or make a mistake' [ Raghib ]. The verse says to the Holy Prophet that disbelievers cast angry looks at him that they might frighten him into giving up his mission or intimidate him into yielding to their pressure tactics. When they listen to Divine words, they call him a madman. But far from it, his teaching contains the quintessence of wisdom - the Qur'an puts it thus:

وَمَا هُوَ إِلَّا ذِكْرٌ‌ لِّلْعَالَمِينَ (And it is nothing else but a Reminder for all the worlds.... 68:52). Divine words are a Reminder and an admonition for the entire universe. The Reminder will lift the people from the lowest depths of degradation to the highest summits of greatness and glory. It would also cleanse them and free them from moral blemishes and raise their spiritual stature. Is it possible for an insane person to receive and deliver such a Sublime Divine Message? Can a Prophet of such a high caliber be called a madman? The earlier verses of this Surah rebutted the charge of insanity against the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Towards the end of the Surah, the same charge of lunacy is rebutted again in a different style.

Imam Baghawi (رح) and some other commentators have reported another event as background of this verse. The evil eye is a reality which causes loss, illness and destruction. Authentic Traditions report that it is a reality. The Arabs also believed that an evil eye is a reality. There was a person famous in Arabia to cast an evil eye on camels or animals to cause instant death or destruction. The pagans of Arabia were enemies of the Holy Prophet ﷺ and in every possible way they were after persecuting him and killing him. They left no stone unturned in harming him. They even contemplated afflicting him with an evil eye. They therefore decided to secure the services of the particular person who could effectively cast an evil eye. He was instructed to cast the evil eye on the Messenger of Allah ﷺ so that he would become ill. He exerted himself to the utmost, but to no avail. Allah protected him and he was unaffected. The verses were revealed in connection with this incident.

Special Note

Sayyidna Hasan Basri (رح) reports that if anyone is affected by the evil eye, these verses (51 52) may be recited and blown on the person: the ill effect will be dispelled.

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on Surah Al-Qalam ends here.

The phrase رِ‌يحٍ صَرْ‌صَرٍ‌ (rihin sarsarin) (in verse 6) refers to a violent windstorm which is also severely cold.

سَبْعَ لَيَالٍ وَثَمَانِيَةَ أَيَّامٍ (seven nights and eight consecutive days'... 69:7). According to some of the narratives, the punishment of windstorm started on Wednesday morning, and lasted till the following Wednesday evening. In this way, it makes up eight days and seven nights.

The word husuman (in verse 7) is the plural of hasim and means 'cutting them off entirely' or 'causing them to perish completely'.

The word مُؤْتَفِكَاتُ mu'tafikat (in verse 9) means 'adjacent to one another'. The towns of Sayyidna Lut Sodom and Gomorrah, are so called because they were adjacent to each other or because when the punishment overtook the disbelievers and criminals overthrowing their towns ], they were all jumbled up.1

(1) Another possible meaning of mu'tafikat is 'overthrown' as mentioned by several exegetes. The translation in the text is based on this meaning. Muhammad Taqi Usmani