080
Muhammad Asad
'ABASA (HE FROWNED)
THE EIGHTIETH SURAH
Total Verses: 42
Introduction
REVEALED at a very
early stage of the Prophet's mission, this surah
has always been designated by the predicate with which its first sentence
opens. The immediate cause of the revelation of the first ten verses was an
incident witnessed by a number of the Prophet's contemporaries (see verses 1-2
and the corresponding note 1 below).
IN THE NAME OF
GOD, THE MOST GRACIOUS, THE DISPENSER OF GRACE:
80: 1
HE FROWNED and turned away
80: 2
because the blind man approached
him!*
*One day, as recorded in many
well-authenticated Traditions, the Prophet was engrossed in a conversation with
some of the most influential chieftains of pagan Mecca, hoping to convince them
- and, through them, the Meccan community at large -
of the truth of his message. At that point, he was approached by one of his
followers, the blind Abd Allah ibn
Shurayh - known after his grandmother's name as Ibn Umm Maktum - with the request
for a repetition or elucidation of certain earlier passages of the Qur'an. Annoyed by this interruption of what he momentarily
regarded as a more important endeavour, Muhammad
"frowned and turned away" from the blind man - and was immediately,
there and then, reproved by the revelation of the first ten verses of this surah. In later years he often greeted Ibn Umm Maktum with these words
of humility: "Welcome unto him on whose account my Sustainer has rebuked
me (atabani)!" Indirectly, the sharp Qur'anic rebuke (stressed, in particular, by the use of the
third-person form in verses 1-2) implies, firstly, that what would have been a
minor act of discourtesy on the part of an ordinary human being, assumed the
aspect of a major sin, deserving a divine rebuke, when committed by a prophet;
and, secondly, it illustrates the objective nature of the Qur'anic
revelation: for, obviously, in conveying God's reproof of him to the world at
large, the Prophet "does not speak out of his own desire" (cf. 53:3).
80: 3
Yet for all thou didst know, [O Muhammad,] he might perhaps
have grown in purity,
80: 4
or have been reminded [of the truth],
and helped by this reminder.
80: 5
Now as for him who believes himself to be self-sufficient* –
* I.e., who does not feel the need
of divine guidance: a reference to the arrogant pagan chieftains with whom the
Prophet was conversing.
80: 6
to him didst thou give thy whole
attention,
80: 7
although thou art not accountable
for his failure to attain to purity;*
*Lit., "it is not upon thee (alayka) that he does not attain to purity".
80: 8
but as for him who came unto thee
full of eagerness
80: 9
and in awe [of God]
80: 10
him didst thou disregard!
80: 11
NAY, VERILY, these [messages] are but a reminder:*
*Sc., of the existence and
omnipotence of God. The Qur'an is described here, as
in many other places, as "a reminder" because it is meant to bring
man's instinctive - though sometimes hazy or unconscious - realization of God's
existence into the full light of consciousness. (Cf. 7:172 and the
corresponding note 139.)
80: 12
and so, whoever is willing may
remember Him
80: 13
in [the light of His] revelations
blest with dignity,
80: 14
lofty and pure,
80: 15
[borne] by the hands of messengers
80: 16
noble and most virtuous.
80: 17
[But only too often] man destroys himself:* how stubbornly
does he deny the truth!
* For my rendering of qutila as "he destroys himself",
see surah 74, note 9.
80: 18
[Does man ever consider] out of what substance [God] creates
him?
80: 19
Out of a drop of sperm He creates him, and thereupon determines
his nature,*
* I.e., in accordance with the
organic functions which man's body and mind are to fulfil,
and the natural conditions to which he will have to adapt himself. Verses 18-22,
although formulated in the past tense, obviously describe a recurrent
phenomenon.
80: 20
and then makes it easy for him to
go through life;*
* Lit., "He makes easy the
way for him". This is an allusion to man's being endowed with the
intellectual equipment enabling him to discern between good and evil and to
make fruitful use of the opportunities offered to him by his earthly
environment.
80: 21
and in the end He causes him to die
and brings him to the grave;
80: 22
and then, if it be His will, He
shall raise him again to life,
80: 23
Nay, but [man] has never yet fulfilled what He has enjoined upon him!*
* In other words, man has failed
to make adequate use of the intellectual and spiritual endowment referred to in
verse 20. Whereas some commentators are of the opinion that this relates only
to the type of man spoken of in verse 17 above, others maintain, with greater
plausibility, that it is a reference to man in general - thus: "No human
being has ever fulfilled all that was imposed on him as a [moral] duty" (Mujahid, as quoted by Tabari,
with a similar statement attributed by Baghawi to Al-Hasan al-Basri); or "From
the time of Adam to this time, no human being has ever been free of
shortcomings" (Zamakhshari, Baydawi).
This is in tune with the Qur'anic doctrine that
perfection is an attribute of God alone.
80: 24
Let man, then, consider [the sources of] his food:
80: 25
[how it is] that We pour down
water, pouring it down abundantly;
80: 26
and then We cleave the earth [with
new growth], cleaving it asunder,
80: 27
and thereupon We cause grain to
grow out of it,
80: 28
and vines and edible plants,
80: 29
and olive trees and date-palms,
80: 30
and gardens dense with foliage,
80: 31
and fruits and herbage,
80: 32
for you and for your animals to
enjoy.*
* The implication is that man
ought to be grateful for all this God-given bounty, but as a rule is not: and
this connects with the subsequent evocation of the Day of Resurrection, already
hinted at in the reference to the recurring phenomenon of life-renewal.
80: 33
AND SO,* when the piercing call [of resurrection] is heard
* I.e., as God is able to bring
forth new life out of a seemingly dead earth, so is He able to resurrect the
dead.
80: 34
on a Day when everyone will [want
to] flee from his brother,
80: 35
and from his mother and father,
80: 36
and from his spouse and his
children:
80: 37
on that Day, to every one of them
will his own state be of sufficient concern.
80: 38
Some faces will on that Day be bright with happiness,
80: 39
laughing, rejoicing at glad tidings.
80: 40
And some faces will on that Day with dust be covered,
80: 41
with darkness overspread:
80: 42
these, these will be the ones who
denied the truth and were immersed in iniquity!
