Story of Sacrifice of the son [Kurbani]
37. Surah As-Saffat (Those Ranged In Ranks)
Mecca 56 [182 verses]
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
وَقَالَ
إِنِّي ذَاهِبٌ
إِلَى رَبِّي
سَيَهْدِينِ
﴿٩٩﴾
37: 99. He said:
"I will go to my Lord! He will surely guide me!
C4095. This was the Hijrah of Abraham. He left his people and his land, because the Truth was dearer to him than the ancestral falsehoods of his people. He trusted himself to Allah, and under Allah's guidance he laid the foundations of great peoples.
See n. 2725 to 21:69.
رَبِّ
هَبْ لِي مِنَ
الصَّالِحِينَ
﴿١٠٠﴾
37: 100. "O my Lord! grant me a righteous (son)!"
فَبَشَّرْنَاهُ
بِغُلَامٍ
حَلِيمٍ ﴿١٠١﴾
37: 101. So We gave him the good news of a boy ready to suffer and forbear.
C4096. This was in the fertile land of Syria and Palestine. The boy thus born was, according to Muslim tradition, the first-born son of Abraham, viz., Ismail. The name itself is from the root Samia, to hear, because Allah had heard Abraham's prayer (verse 100).
Abraham's age when Ismail was born was 86 (Gen 16:16).
C4097. The boy's character was to be Halim, "forbearing".
This title is also applied to Abraham (in 9:114 and 11:75).
It refers to the patient way in which both father and son cheerfully offered to suffer any self-sacrifice in order to obey the Command of Allah.
See next verse.
فَلَمَّا
بَلَغَ مَعَهُ
السَّعْيَ...
37: 102. Then, when (the son) reached (the age of) (serious) work with him,
...قَالَ يَا بُنَيَّ إِنِّي أَرَى فِي الْمَنَامِ ...
he said:
"O my son! I see in vision...
C4098. Where did this vision occur?
- The Muslim view is that it was in or near Makkah.
- Some would identify it with the valley of Mina, six miles north of Makkah, where a commemoration sacrifice is annually celebrated as a rite of the Hajj on the tenth of Dhu al Hijjah, the 'Id of Sacrifice, in Memory of this Sacrifice of Abraham and Ismail (see n. 217 to 2:197).
- Others say that the original place of sacrifice was near the hill of Marwa (the companion hill to Safa, 2:158), which is associated with the infancy of Ismail.
... أَنِّي أَذْبَحُكَ...
... that I offer thee in sacrifice:
C4099. At what stage in Abraham's history did this occur?
See n. 2725 to 21:69.
It was obviously after his arrival in the land of Cannan and after Ismail had grown up to years of discretion.
Was it before or after the building of the Ka'bah ( 2:127)?
There are no data on which this question can be answered. But we may suppose it was before that event, and that event may itself have been commemorative.
...فَانظُرْ مَاذَا تَرَى...
now see what is thy view!"
...قَالَ يَا أَبَتِ افْعَلْ مَا تُؤْمَرُ...
(The son) said:
"O my father! do as thou art commanded:
...سَتَجِدُنِي إِن شَاء اللَّهُ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ ﴿١٠٢﴾
thou will find me, if Allah so wills, one practicing Patience and Constancy!"
فَلَمَّا
أَسْلَمَا ...
37: 103. So when they had both submitted their wills (to Allah),
C4100. Note that the sacrifice was demanded of both Abraham and Ismail. It was a trial of the will of the father and the son. By way of trial the father had the command conveyed to him in a vision. He consulted the son. The son readily consented, and offered to stand true to his promise if his self-sacrifice was really required.
The whole thing is symbolical. Allah does not require the flesh and blood of animals (22:37), much less of human beings. But he does require the giving of our whole being to Allah, the symbol of which is that we should give up something very dear to us, if Duty requires that sacrifice. (R).
... وَتَلَّهُ لِلْجَبِينِ ﴿١٠٣﴾
and He had laid Him prostrate on his forehead (for sacrifice),
C4101. Our version may be compared with the Jewish-Christian version of the present Old Testament.
The Jewish tradition, in order to glorify the younger branch of the family, descended from Isaac, ancestor of the Jews, as against the elder branch, descended from Ismail, ancestor of the Arabs, refers this sacrifice to Isaac (Gen. 12:1-18).
Now Isaac was born when Abraham was 100 years old (Gen. 21:5), while Ismail was born to Abraham when Abraham was 86 years old (Gen. 16:16). Ismail was therefore 14 years older than Isaac.
During his first 14 years Ismail was the only son of Abraham; at no time was Isaac the only son of Abraham. Yet, in speaking of the sacrifice, the Old Testament says (Gen. 22:2): "And He said, Take now thy son, thine only son Issac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah: and offer him there for a burnt offering..."
This slip shows at any rate which was the older version, and how it was overlaid, like the present Jewish records, in the interests of a tribal religion. The "land of Moriah" is not clear: it was three days' journey from Abraham's place (Gen. 22:4). There is less warrant for identifying it with the hill of Moriah on which Jerusalem was afterwards built than with the hill of Marwa which is identified with the Arab tradition about Ismail.
وَنَادَيْنَاهُ
أَنْ يَا إِبْرَاهِيمُ
﴿١٠٤﴾
37: 104. We called out to him,
"O Abraham!
C4102. In the Biblical version Isaac's consent is not taken; in fact Isaac asks, 'where is the lamb for sacrifice?' and is told that 'God would provide it'. It is a complete human sacrifice like those to Moloch.
In our version it is as much a sacrifice by the will of Ismail as by that of Abraham. And in any case it is symbolic:
"this was obviously a trial": "thou hast already fulfilled by vision": etc.
قَدْ
صَدَّقْتَ
الرُّؤْيَا...
37: 105. "Thou hast already fulfilled the vision!" --
...إِنَّا كَذَلِكَ نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ ﴿١٠٥﴾
thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
إِنَّ
هَذَا لَهُوَ
الْبَلَاء
الْمُبِينُ
﴿١٠٦﴾
37: 106. For this was obviously a trial --
وَفَدَيْنَاهُ
بِذِبْحٍ عَظِيمٍ
﴿١٠٧﴾
37: 107. And We ransomed him with a momentous sacrifice:
C4103. The adjective qualifying "sacrifice" here, 'azim, (great, momentous) may be understood both in a literal and a figurative sense.
- In a literal sense it implies that a fine sheep or ram was substituted symbolically.
- The figurative sense is even more important. It was indeed a great and momentous occasion, when two men, with concerted will, "ranged themselves in the ranks" of those to whom self-sacrifice in the service of Allah was the supreme thing in life. In this sense, said Jesus, "he that loseth his life for my sake shall it". (Matt, 10:39). (R).
وَتَرَكْنَا
عَلَيْهِ فِي
الْآخِرِينَ
﴿١٠٨﴾
37: 108. And We left (this blessing) for him among generations (to come) in later times:
C4104. Cf. above, 37:78-81 and n. 4083.
سَلَامٌ
عَلَى إِبْرَاهِيمَ
﴿١٠٩﴾
37: 109. "Peace and salutation to Abraham!"
كَذَلِكَ
نَجْزِي الْمُحْسِنِينَ
﴿١١٠﴾
37: 110. Thus indeed do We reward those who do right.
إِنَّهُ
مِنْ عِبَادِنَا
الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
﴿١١١﴾
37: 111. For he was one of Our believing Servants.
وَبَشَّرْنَاهُ
بِإِسْحَقَ
نَبِيًّا مِّنَ
الصَّالِحِينَ
﴿١١٢﴾
37: 112. And We gave him the good news of Isaac -- a prophet -- one of the Righteous.
C4105. Isaac was Abraham's second son, born of Sarah, when Abraham was 100 years of age. See n. 4101.
He was also blessed and became the ancestor of the Jewish people. See next note.
وَبَارَكْنَا عَلَيْهِ وَعَلَى إِسْحَقَ...
37: 113. We blessed him and Isaac:
...وَمِن
ذُرِّيَّتِهِمَا
مُحْسِنٌ وَظَالِمٌ
لِّنَفْسِهِ
مُبِينٌ ﴿١١٣﴾
but of their progeny are (some) that do right, and (some) that obviously do wrong, to their own souls.
C4106. So long as the Children of Israel upheld the righteous banner of Allah, they enjoyed Allah's blessing, and their history is a portion of sacred history. When they fell from grace, they did not stop Allah's Plan: they injured their own souls.
Asad’s Version:
37:99 And [Abraham] said: "Verily, I shall (leave this land and] go wherever my Sustainer will guide me!" 37
(37:100) [And he prayed:] "O my Sustainer! Bestow upon me the gift of (a son
who shall be] one of the righteous! "-
(3 7: 101) whereupon We gave him the glad tiding of a boy-child gentle [like himself]. 38
37:102 And [one day,] when [the child] had become old enough to share in his [father's] endeavours, 3 ' the latter said: "O my dear son! I have seen in a dream that I should sacrifice thee: consider, then, what would be thy view!" [Ishmael] answered: "O my father! Do as thou art bidden: thou wilt find me, if God so wills, among those who are patient in adversity!"
37:103 But as soon as the two had surrendered themselves to [what they thought to be] the will of God, 40 and [Abraham] had laid him down on his face,
(37:104) We called out to him: "O Abraham,
(37: 105) thou hast already fulfilled [the purpose of] that dreamvision!" 41
Thus, verily, do We reward the doers of good:
(37: 106) for, behold, all this was indeed a trial, clear in itself 42
(37:107) And We ransomed him with a tremendous sacrifice, 43
(37:108) and left him thus to be remembered among later generations: 44
(37: 109) "Peace be upon Abraham!"
37:110 Thus do We reward the doers of good –
(37: 1 1 1) for he was truly one of our believing servants
(37:112) And [in time] We gave him the glad tiding of Isaac, [who, too, would be] a prophet, one of the righteous;
(37: 1 13) and We blessed him and Isaac: but among the offspring of these two there were [destined] to be both doers of good and such as would glaringly sin against
themselves.' 15
koppiik
[[Asad’s notes:-
36 See surah 21, note 64.
37 Lit., "I shall go to my Sustainer: He will guide me."
38 I.e., Abraham's first-born son, Ishmael (Isma'il).
39 Lit., "attained to [the age of] walking [or "striving"] with him": evidently a metonym for the child's attaining to an age when he could understand, and share in, his father's faith and aims.
40 Lhe above interpolation is, I believe, absolutely necessary for a proper understanding of this passage. As pointed out repeatedly in these notes, the verb aslama signifies, in Qur'anic usage, "he surrendered himself to God", or "to God's will", even if there is no express mention of God; hence, the dual form aslama occurring in the above verse might, on the face of it, have this meaning as well. Since, however, the sequence clearly shows that it was not God's will that Ishmael
should be sacrificed, his and his father's "self-surrender to God's will" can have in this context only a purely subjective meaning- namely "to what they thought to be the will of God".
41 I.e., the moral significance of Abraham's dream-vision consisted in a test of his readiness to sacrifice, at what he thought to be God's behest (see preceding note), all that was dearest to him in life.
42 I.e., a trial of this severity clearly implied that Abraham would be capable to bear it, and thus constituted a high moral distinction - in itself a reward from God.
43 The epithet 'azim ("tremendous" or "mighty") renders it improbable that this sacrifice refers to nothing but the ram which Abraham subsequently found and slaughtered in Ishmael's stead (Genesis xxit, 13). To my mind, the sacrifice spoken of here is the one repeated every year by countless believers in connection with the pilgrimage to Mecca (al-hajj), which, in itself, commemorates the experience of Abraham and Ishmael and constitutes one of the "five pillars" of Islam. (See 22:27-37, as well as 2:196-203.)
44 See note 30 on verse 78. ]]