27 . Surah An-Naml (The Ants)
Mecca Period 48
The Quranic Text & Ali’s Version:
إِذْ
قَالَ مُوسَى
لِأَهْلِهِ
إِنِّي آنَسْتُ
نَارًا...
27: 7. Behold! Moses said to his family:
"I perceive a fire;
C3244. Cf. 20:9-24.
Both there and here there is a reference to the dawn of Revelation in the heart of Moses. The points there emphasised will be found in the notes to that passage.
Here the emphasis is on the wonderful nature of the Fire and the wonderful way in which Moses was transformed at the touch of the Light. He was travelling in the Sinai desert with his family. Seeking ordinary light, he came upon a Light which took him to the highest signs of Allah.
No doubt all his inner history had prepared him for his great destiny. It is the inner history that matters, and not the place or position of a man in the eyes of his ordinary fellows.
... سَآتِيكُم مِّنْهَا بِخَبَرٍ...
soon will I bring you from there some information,
... أَوْ آتِيكُم بِشِهَابٍ قَبَسٍ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَصْطَلُونَ ﴿٧﴾
or I will bring you a burning brand to light our fuel, that ye may warm yourselves."
فَلَمَّا
جَاءهَا نُودِيَ
أَن بُورِكَ
مَن فِي النَّارِ
وَمَنْ حَوْلَهَا...
27: 8. But when he came to the (Fire), a voice was heard:
"Blessed are those in the Fire and those around:
C3245. Those: in the original the pronoun is in the singular, "man", which is often used with a plural meaning.
The Commentators usually construe it to mean that this was not a physical fire, but it was the glory of the Angels, a reflection of the Glory of Allah. Hence the exclamation at the end of the verse.
... وَسُبْحَانَ اللَّهِ رَبِّ الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٨﴾
and Glory to Allah, the Lord of the Worlds!
يَا
مُوسَى إِنَّهُ
أَنَا اللَّهُ
الْعَزِيزُ
الْحَكِيمُ
﴿٩﴾
27: 9. "O Moses!
verily, I am Allah, the Exalted in Might, the Wise!...
وَأَلْقِ
عَصَاكَ...
27: 10. "Now do thou throw thy rod!"
C3246. Moses was now transported into an entirely new world. What he had taken to be an ordinary fire was a gleam of the heavenly light.
His own rod or staff was no longer the dead piece of wood that had hitherto supported him. It became instinct with life, a life that moved, and had the power of offence and defence in it, as all living Good must have in its fight with Evil.
His own transformation is described in the next note.
... فَلَمَّا رَآهَا تَهْتَزُّ كَأَنَّهَا جَانٌّ وَلَّى مُدْبِرًا وَلَمْ يُعَقِّبْ...
But when he saw it moving (of its own accord) as if it had been a snake, he turned back in retreat, and retraced not his steps:
... يَا مُوسَى لَا تَخَفْ إِنِّي لَا يَخَافُ لَدَيَّ الْمُرْسَلُونَ ﴿١٠﴾
"O Moses (it was said),
"fear not: truly, in My presence, those called as messengers have no fear --
C3247. In this great, new, wonderful world, that was opening out to Moses, he had to get his vision adjusted to his new surroundings, as an ordinary man has to adjust his sight before he can see in any very strong light that is new to him.
The staff which had become alive as a snake frightened him: yet it was to be his own instrument of work in his new mission. All fear was to be cast out of his mind, as befitted a man chosen by Allah.
إِلَّا
مَن ظَلَمَ
ثُمَّ بَدَّلَ
حُسْنًا بَعْدَ
سُوءٍ فَإِنِّي
غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ
﴿١١﴾
27: 11. "But if any have done wrong and have thereafter substituted good to take the place of evil, truly, I am Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
C3248. His slaying the Egyptian (n. 3146 to 26:14), however defensible from certain aspects, was yet something from his past that had to be washed off, and Allah, Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful, did it out of His abounding Grace.
Nay, more; he was given a pure, Radiant Hand, as a Sign from Allah, as stated in the next verse.
وَأَدْخِلْ
يَدَكَ فِي
جَيْبِكَ تَخْرُجْ
بَيْضَاء مِنْ
غَيْرِ سُوءٍ...
27: 12. "Now put thy hand into thy bosom, and it will come forth white without stain (or harm):
C3249. Cf. 20:22. There the expression is: "Draw thy hand close to thy side." As far as the physical act is concerned, the expressions there and here mean the same thing.
Moses had a loose-fitting robe. If he put his hand within the folds of the robe, it would go to his bosom on the side of his body opposite to that from which his hand came; i.e., if it was his right hand it would go to the left side of his bosom. The hand comes out white and radiant, without a stain.
Ordinarily if the skin becomes white it is a sign of disease or leprosy. Here it was the opposite. It was a sign of radiance and glory from the higher Light.
... فِي تِسْعِ آيَاتٍ إِلَى فِرْعَوْنَ وَقَوْمِهِ...
(these are) among the nine Signs (thou wilt take) to Pharaoh and his people:
C3250. The nine Signs: see n. 1091 to 7:133.
... إِنَّهُمْ كَانُوا قَوْمًا فَاسِقِينَ ﴿١٢﴾
for they are a people rebellious in transgression.
فَلَمَّا
جَاءتْهُمْ
آيَاتُنَا
مُبْصِرَةً
قَالُوا هَذَا
سِحْرٌ مُّبِينٌ
﴿١٣﴾
27: 13. But when our Signs came to them, that should have opened their eyes, they said:
"This is sorcery manifest!"
C3251. The Signs should have clearly opened the eyes of any persons who honestly examined them and thought about them. Those who rejected them were perverse and were going against their own light and inner conviction. That was the aggravating feature of their sin.
وَجَحَدُوا
بِهَا وَاسْتَيْقَنَتْهَا
أَنفُسُهُمْ
ظُلْمًا وَعُلُوًّا...
27: 14. And they rejected those Signs in iniquity and arrogance, though their souls were convinced thereof:
... فَانظُرْ كَيْفَ كَانَ عَاقِبَةُ الْمُفْسِدِينَ ﴿١٤﴾
so see what was the end of those who acted corruptly!
Asad’s Version:
27:7 LO! (While lost in the desert, 6 ] Moses said to his family: "Behold, I perceive a fire (far away]; I may bring you from there some tiding [as to which way we are to pursue], or bring you tat least] a burning brand so that you might warm yourselves."
(27:8) But when he came close to it, a call was sounded: "Blessed are all who are within [reach of] this fire, and all who are near it! 7 And limitless in His glory is God, the Sustainer of all the worlds!"
27:9 [And God spoke thus:] "O Moses! Verily, I alone am God, the Almighty, the Wise!"
(27:10)[And then He said:] "Now throw down thy staff!" 10 But when he saw it move rapidly, as if it were a serpent, he drew back [in terror], and did not [dare to] return.' [And God spoke to him again:] "O Moses! Fear not for, behold, no fear need the message- bearers have in My Presence,
(27: 1 1) and neither 10 need anyone who has done wrong and then
has replaced the wrong with good: 11 for, verily, I am much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace!
(27:12) "Now place thy hand into thy bosom: it will come forth [shining] white, without
blemish! 12 "[And thou shalt go] with nine [of My] messages unto Pharaoh and his people 13 - for, verily, they are people depraved!"
27:13 But when Our light-giving messages came unto them, they said, "This is clearly [but] spellbinding deception!" "
(27:14) - and in their wickedness and self-exaltation they rejected them, although their minds were convinced of their truth: and behold what happened in the end to those spreaders of corruption!
[[ Asad’s notes - 6 Cf. 20:9 ff, and particularly note 7 on verse 10 of that surah.
7 Thus Zamakhshari explains the expression hawlaha (lit., "around it"). According to some of the earliest commentators, quoted by Tabari, the "fire" (nar) is in this context synonymous with "light" (nur), namely, the illumination which God bestows on His prophets, who - one may presume - are a priori "near it" by virtue of their inborn spiritual sensitivity. Alternatively, the phrase man fi 'n-nar wa-man hawlaha may be 'inderstood as referring to God's Own light, which encompasses, and is the core of, all spiritual illumination.
8 Cf 20:17-20.
9 For a tentative explanation of the symbolism underlying the miracle of the staff, see note 1 4 on 20:20-21.
10 For my rendering of ilia, in this context, as "and neither", see note 38 on 4:29.
1 1 I.e., by sincere repentance. Apart from its general significance, this may also be an allusion to the crime which Moses had committed in his youth by slaying the Egyptian (see 28:15-17). ]]