A Ray of the Qur’ān: Selected Essays of Sayyed Mahmoud Taleghani Volume V

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A Ray of the Qurʾān: Selected Essays of Sayyed Mahmoud Taleghani, Volume V

A Ray of the Qurʾān: Selected Essays of Sayyed Mahmoud Taleghani

Volume V

بِسْمِ اللَّـهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah the Gracious, the Merciful

Contents

1. Descriptive Table of Contents

2. Acknowledgments

3. Foreword by Abbas Mirakhor

4. Transliteration of Arabic Letters

5. Translator’s Introduction

6. Editor’s Introduction

7. Author’s Biography by Abdolali Bazargan

8. Introduction

9. Sūrah al-Nabaʾ (The [Great] News), 78:1–40

10. Sūrah al-Nāziʿāt (Those Who Drag), 79:1–46

11. Sūrah ʿAbasa (He Frowned), 80:1–42

12. Sūrah al-Takwīr (The Folding Up), 81:1–29

13. Sūrah al-Infiṭār (The Cleaving), 82:1–19

14. Sūrah al-Muṭaffifīn/al-Taṭfīf (Dealing in Fraud), 83:1–36

15. Sūrah al-Inshiqāq (The Rending Asunder), 84:1–25

16. Sūrah al-Burūj (The Constellations), 85:1–22

17. Sūrah al-Ṭāriq (The Night Visitant), 86:1–17

18. Author’s Notes

19. Translator’s Notes

20. Bibliography

21. Index

22. Translator and Editor biographies

Descriptive Table of Contents

1. Acknowledgments

2. Foreword by Abbas Mirakhor

3. Transliteration of Arabic Letters

4. Translator’s Introduction

5. Editor’s Introduction

6. Author’s Biography by Abdolali Bazargan

7. Introduction

8. Sūrah al-Nabaʾ (The [Great] News), 78

   1. Āyāt 1–5

      Tone of the formation of Qurʾānic words and āyāt; sudden announcement and news about eternal life and the resurrection after death.

   2. Āyāt 6–16

      Earth is the cradle of upbringing; mountains are the pegs and pillars of the earth; the theory of isostasy concerning the formation and structure of mountains; the more expansive realm of the solar system; burning lamp; the total annual energy disseminating from the surface of the sun; the vital causes and effects of sunshine.

   3. Āyāt 17–20

      Yawmu al-Faṣl [The day of sorting out/decision/judgment]; breathing life [into beings] and gathering command; the sudden movement of groups of human beings toward the arena of the resurrection; the doors of the sky open and mountains begin to move; the extinction or the evolution of the earth.

   4. Āyāt 21–26

      Hell has previously been an ambush on the wayfarer’s way, and it is hidden within humans and nature; the belief in Hell among nations and tribes; the end of the transgressors and of those safeguarding themselves with full awareness of Allah [swt]’s laws; the meaning of tasting and enjoying; recompense according to behavior and character.

   5. Āyāt 27–30

      What transgressors think; the root of thinking and reasoning behind transgressing; the transgressors become [companions] of Hell; the “Book” is recorded and is a proven form of “word,” but [what is] kalām [theology]?; the origins of elements are formed motion and energy; the view of Sadr al-Dīn Shirāzī about kalām and the “Book of Truth”; the continuous increase in punishment.

   6. Āyāt 31–37

      People’s preventive system (waqāyah) and that of other creatures and manufactured [products]; Plato’s discourse about justice; the tangible fruits of safeguarding oneself with full awareness; the best examples of the image of an instinctive intellect that is the ornament of humans; specific degrees and stations of safeguarding oneself with full awareness; heavenly wines and never-ending joys and pleasures; appreciating Plato’s example of the chained cave-dwellers as observers of shadows only; expanding the sphere of manifesting the Truth and appreciating joy by those who safeguard themselves with full awareness; the rewards of safeguarding oneself with full awareness; signs of the mercy of the Sustainer in upbringing; complete manifestation of the will of the Truth.

   7. Āyāt 38–40

      Ṣadr al-Mutaʾallihīn’s view about the kinds of heavenly beings; the final destination, ultimate movement, and final resurrection of the world; those who are not allowed to speak; the Day of Truth; choosing the path of sustainership; warning about near punishment; the effects of action in the soul of the actor; the wish of the unbeliever.

9. Sūrah al-Nāziʿāt (Those Who Drag), 79

   1. Āyāt 1–7

      Swearing “By those who drag forth violently, and those who undo (the bonds) gently”; oaths in the Qurʾān!; stages of the movement of the evolution of beings; the movement of the earth; the effects of energies that emanate from the sun on the earth; the essence of motion; explosions and the sudden changes of stars.

   2. Āyāt 8–14

      The human condition and the state of being in a sudden transmutation and change; the description of the arena of resurrection and gathering; the tone of the āyāt in stating that the stream is overwhelmed with participation, undulation, and emanation.

   3. Āyāt 15–26

      The historical event of Moses; the relevance of the historical āyāt to the previous āyāt of oaths; comparing statements of the Qurʾān with those of the Torah concerning the delegation of Moses; the atmosphere of confrontation and collision among the successive reflections of the āyāt and the ego of Pharaoh and those like Pharaoh.

   4. Āyāt 27–36

      Curing the illnesses of arrogance and insurrection from the point of view of the Qurʾān; the primary material of the structure of the sky and space; the world’s diameter, physical structure, and shape; the Qurʾān’s viewpoint on the equilibrium of the sky, the completion of stars, as well as the arrangement, stages, and specific distances in the appearance of the world and the system of the universe; the destiny of the earth from a Qurʾānic point of view; the outlook of the Greek philosophers on the essence of the earth and the celestial bodies; Kant’s and La Place’s theories of the creation of the earth and of the sky; quadruple periods of creation and the beginning of appearance of life; the formation of mountains; two evolutionary periods of life on earth and nine evolutionary periods of the earth; the overwhelming calamity; the opening of the book of all people’s struggles during their final completion; human thoughts and deeds are the makers of the sphere of the hereafter, and each person sees one’s own sphere.

   5. Āyāt 37–46

      The causes of becoming companions of Hell; choosing the world is the result of insurrection; carefulness of humans in preventing the insurrection of desires is the result of paying attention to the high station of sustainership; the continuous journey of the world toward the anchorage of resurrection; exclusivity of the knowledge of the resurrection to Allah (swt); the only duty of messengership; change of view in people at the beginning of the Day of Resurrection.

10. Sūrah ʿAbasa (He Frowned), 80

    1. Āyāt 1–10

       Who was the one who frowned?; the beginning of the social revolution of messengers is from purification and building of individuals; all individuals are able to be purified; the exclusive messengership of the noble Messenger is to be a reminder; the opinion of Socrates about remembrance; the task of the Qurʾān is to rebuild humans.

    2. Āyāt 11–23

       Human hearts and minds are like the kernel of a seed; those who are ready for reminders have healthy kernels; the cherished [protected] leaves [of the Qurʾān]; meeting the Messenger’s concern; writers and the recorders of the Qurʾān; phases of the creation, division, and measure of the embryo; the period in the grave is also a stage of life; rising from the resting place of the grave and seeing the result of past living.

    3. Āyāt 24–32

       Commanding and inviting people to observe and think about the signs of creation; the evolutionary periods of the earth; main food items of humankind; every small or large plant seed is a living factory.

    4. Āyāt 33–42

       The end of the evolutionary periods of the earth; natural causes and factors in the future evolution of the earth and its inner movements; the day the earth explodes; all types of relationships and family affiliations are cut off; bright and happy faces, and dark, beleaguered faces.

11. Sūrah al-Takwīr (The Folding Up), 81

    1. Āyāt 1–6

       Is the source of definitive news in the Qurʾān about the transformation of the sun and the evolution of the earth and stars from the Messenger’s mind, others’ thoughts, or is it from another source?; the views of Greek, Roman and Alexandrian philosophers about celestial bodies; the views of some contemporary scholars and the Qurʾān; the darkening of stars; the beginning of the movement of mountains; the evaporation of seas.

    2. Āyāt 7–14

       The first appearance of human beings; hidden aptitudes; books opening; the destruction of the shell of the universe and the ignition of the fire of Hell; the adornment of heaven.

    3. Āyāt 15–21

       The oaths of this sūrah and their relevance; the proofs of messengership; the most honored Messenger as a source of knowledge and power; on the reality of the ʿarsh [“the Throne”]; the instrument of delivering revelation.

    4. Āyāt 22–29

       The life history of the messengers is the best witness to their truthfulness, especially the environment and life of the Messenger of Islam; the clear horizon indicating the coming of the messenger; characteristics of the Messenger of Islam and his advantages relative to priests and rabbis; the driving force of nature.

12. Sūrah al-Infiṭār (The Cleaving), 82

    1. Āyāt 1–8

       The cleaving and expansion of the universe; contemporary cosmologists’ theory of the firmness of the universe; the cleaving of galaxies and the view of contemporary scholars of astronomy; colliding galaxies; theosophists’ responses to “… what beguiled you from your most gracious Lord?” and the statement of al-Imām ʿAlī (pbuh) about it; the [proportionate] equalization or adjustment of energies and instincts of people with the environment; heredity in offspring; contemporary biology and the issue of heredity.

    2. Āyāt 9–19

       The source of pride; on the description of guardian angels; the acquisition of logic is not an instrument for receiving the truth about the day of recompense.

13. Sūrah al-Muṭaffifīn/al-Taṭfīf (Dealing in Fraud), 83

    1. Āyāt 1–6

       The ominous effects of stealing people’s rights and properties; measuring property and goods is measuring its owner; the rising of humans is presently observable; life and sustainership are essential movers of living species in the course of evolution toward perfection.

    2. Āyāt 7–13

       The permanent prison of offenders who are prisoners of their own habits and transgressions; the denial of the day of recompense by repressive sinners.

    3. Āyāt 14–21

       Disbelief and denial as products of (persistence) in sin; individuals are responsible for their deeds and their effects on those who passed away and those yet to be born; the broader the viewpoint of the righteous, the higher their station [before Allah (swt)] is; the righteous who reach the station of nearness and presence are overlooking those who are in “high places [in] the upper part of the heavens, where the register of man’s good actions is preserved” [Penrice, 1991, 100].

    4. Āyāt 22–36

       The righteous, who themselves are the source of bounty, live in everlasting bounty; wine of the righteous and nectar of “those who are nearest (to Allah) [swt]” [83:28]; thoughts of the sacrosanct about believers.

14. Sūrah al-Inshiqāq (The Rending Asunder), 84

    1. Āyāt 1–9

       The real meaning of the sky; the views of ancient Greek scholars and their influence on the philosophers of Islam; the view of contemporary scholars about the structure of galaxies; what does the Qurʾān mean by the word samāʾ? The phase of separation of our solar system from the large body of the Milky Way; the declaration of the sky’s utmost readiness in the last state of its evolution on the way of completion toward its Sustainer; the latest theories of researchers about the formation of planets; after the completion of its evolution, the earth leaves its orbit; the unity of general and continuous principles in the sky and on earth as stated by the Infallibles; meeting the Sustainer; companions of the right.

    2. Āyāt 10–25

       Those whose past deeds catch up to them; the present condition that is made of past conditions and connected to the future.

15. Sūrah al-Burūj (The Constellations), 85

    1. Āyāt 1–9

       The last phase of the completion of stars; the appearance of planets; the emergence of life and its assumption of a living form; the promised day and “the people of the ditch”; the truthful people who, by their own burning, lit the torch of belief; two types of punishment.

    2. Āyāt 10–22

       The greatest [and final] achievement of those whose bodies burned and whose spirit brought joy and increased mercy; the reason for the oppressors’ vengefulness; the destiny of all oppressors is the same.

16. Sūrah al-Ṭāriq (The Night Visitant), 86

    1. Āyāt 1–7

       Completion periods of the stars; the systems of making human beings.

    2. Āyāt 8–17

       The day of manifesting and actualizing the intrinsic and acquired self; “By the heaven which rotates” [86:11]; the power and plan of Allah in changing the situation of the stars.

17. Author’s Notes

18. Translator’s Notes

19. Bibliography

20. Index

21. Translator and Editor biographies

Acknowledgments

In the course of completing this translation for its publication and distribution, which has been a spiritual journey and a labor of love, there are numerous individuals and institutions to whom I have come to owe sincere thanks for their educational, intellectual, material, and spiritual help. A list of their names would fill several pages and, hence, while I am deeply thankful to everyone who has helped to make this work possible in one way or another, not being named here in no way lessens the degree of my appreciation for their support during any phase of completing this unique task.

First I express my thanks to our dear family friend of more than fifty years, Mr. Mehdi Tabeshian, for his trusting recommendation to the Alavi Foundation that, thankfully, sponsored the translation of all volumes of A Ray of the Qurʾān (ARQ), and then to its president, Hamid Yazdi, MD, who facilitated the transfer to me of all the rights of publication and distribution of ARQ.

Even the most sincere and profound gratitude would not be sufficient to ex- press my humble gratitude to Mariam Froelich Agah, my beloved wife, whose excellent command of the English language as well as her familiarity with Latin and French, and being conversant in Farsi, along with her extraordinary patience and immeasurable generosity in every step of the entire project, whether editing, reviewing, or preparing ARQ for publication, guaranteed the completion