37. As-Saffat (Those Ranged In Ranks)

Mecca 56 [182 verses]

The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:

وَالصَّافَّاتِ صَفًّا ﴿١﴾

37: 1. By those who range themselves in ranks.

C4030. At a later stage, we shall study the general meaning of the adjurations in the Quran indicated by the particle wa.

See appendix XI.

Here we may note that the last Surah (Yasin) practically began with the adjuration "by the Quran, full of wisdom", emphasizing the fact that Revelation was the evidence by which we could learn the highest wisdom of the spiritual world. Here our attention is called in three verses or clauses, to three definite attitudes which illustrate the triumph of Good and the frustration of Evil.

See the notes following.

C4031. Two questions arise:

1. are the doers of the three things noted in verses 1-3 the same persons, whose actions or qualities are differently described, or are they three distinct sets of persons?

2. in either case, who are they?

As to 1 the most authoritative view is that the three clauses describe the same set of persons in different aspects.

As to 2 some take them to refer to angels, and others understand by them the good men, the men of God, who strive and range themselves in Allah's service.

The words are perfectly general, and I interpret them to refer to both classes. The feminine form is grammatically used in Arabic idiom for the indefinite plural. In 37:165 below, the word saffan is used in the definite plural, and seems to be spoken by these beings, angels or men of God or both, according to how we interpret this verse.

فَالزَّاجِرَاتِ زَجْرًا ﴿٢﴾

37: 2. And so are strong in repelling (evil),

C4032. The three acts in verses 1-3 are consecutive, as shown by the particle fa.

I understand them to mean that angels and good men

- are ever ready to range themselves in ranks in the service of Allah and work in perfect discipline and accord at all times;

- that they check and frustrate evil wherever they find it and they are strengthened in doing so by their discipline and their ranging themselves in Tanks; and

- that this service furthers the Kingdom of Allah and proclaims His Message and His glory to all creation.

فَالتَّالِيَاتِ ذِكْرًا ﴿٣﴾

37: 3. And thus proclaim the message (of Allah)!

إِنَّ إِلَهَكُمْ لَوَاحِدٌ ﴿٤﴾

37: 4. Verily, verily, your Allah is One! --

C4033. That divine Message is summed up in the gospel of Divine Unity, on which the greatest emphasis is laid: "verily, verily your God is One".

It is a fact intimately connected with our own life and destiny.

- 'Your Lord is one Who cares for you and cherishes you;

- you are dear to Him. And He is One:

- it is only He that you have to look to, the source of all goodness, love, and power.

- You are not the sport of many contending forces or blind chances. There is complete harmony and unity in heaven and you have to put yourselves into unison with it-by discipline in ranks, by unity of plan and purpose in repelling evil, and by concerted action in promoting the Kingdom of Allah.

Here is the mystery of the manifold variety of creation pointing to the absolute Unity of the Creator.

رَبُّ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا...

37: 5. Lord of the heavens and of the earth, and all between them,

...وَرَبُّ الْمَشَارِقِ ﴿٥﴾

and Lord of every point at the rising of the sun!

C4034. Allah is the Lord of everything that exists- 'the heavens and the earth, and all between them'.

He is the Lord of the Mashariq,-of every point at the rising of the sun.

As the Commentators tell us, there are in the solar year only two equinoctial days, when the sun rises due east: on every other the sun rises at a shifting point either north or south of due east.

In 7:137 we have Mashariq al ardhi wa magaribaha, where the plural of the words for East and West is negligible, as the conjunction of the two embraces all points.

The same may be said of 70:40, where Allah is called "Lord of all points in the East and the West".

If we are speaking of longitudes, they may embrace all latitudes. In 55:17 Allah is called "Lord of the two Easts and the two Wests", referring to the extreme points in either case.

A cursory reader may ask, why is only the East referred to here?

The reply is that it is not so much the East as the rising of the sun, on which stress is laid. The Arabic mashriq or mashariq is close enough to the root-word sharaqa, to suggest, not so much the East as the rising of the sun, especially when the plural form is used.

The glorious sun rises from different points, as seen by us, but it illuminates the whole heaven and earth. It is an emblem of Unity.

Asad’s Version:

37:1 CONSIDER these [messages] ranged in serried ranks, 1

(37:2) and restraining [from evil] by a call to restraint,

(37:3) and conveying [to all the world a reminder:

(37:4) Verily, most surely, your God is One –

(37:5) the Sustainer of the heavens and the earth and of all that is between them, and the Sustainer of all the points of sunrise ! !

Yuksel’s Version:

37:01 In the name of God, the Gracious, the Compassionate.

37:1 By the arrangers in ranks.

37:2 By the forces that repel.

37:3 By the memory which follows.

37:4 Your god is indeed One.

37:5 The Lord of the heavens and the earth, and what lies between them, and Lord of the easts.