Bismillah-ir-Rahman-ir-Rahim.

In the Name of Allâh, the Most Beneficent, the Most Merciful. All the praises and thanks be to Allâh, the Lord of the 'Alamîn . The Only Owner of the Day of Recompense. You (Alone) we worship, and You (Alone) we ask for help. Guide us to the Straight Way. The Way of those on whom You have bestowed Your Grace , not (the way) of those who earned Your Anger, nor of those who went astray .

____________

78: (Al-Naba)- The Tidings

(The Great News)Number of Verses: 40

Sūra al-Nabaʾ (Arabic: سورة النبأ) or Sūra ʿAmma (Arabic: سورة عمَّ) or Sūra al-Tasāʾul (Arabic: سورة التسائل) is the seventy eighth sura of the quran and a makki sura. It is a relatively short Qur'anic sura. Sura al-Naba' is the first sura of the juz thirtieth. This is why this juz' is called "'Amma juz'". "Nabaʾ" means "news".

Sura al-Nabaʾ is concerned with the resurrection and its events, and the condition of sinners and good people on that day. Its well-known verses are verses thirty one onwards concerning the pious people after the resurrection. Some hadiths take the "pious" in these verses to refer to amir al-mu'minin (a).

There is a hadith according to which if someone recites Sura al-Nabaʾ every day, the year will not end until he visits the ka'ba.

Most of the verses of the last part of the Qur'an were revealed in Mecca. The nature of these Surahs is that they put emphasis on the Creation and the Resurrection, furnished with glad tidings and warnings; usually in a shocking and awakening tone.

All the verses of the Surahs, except a few, are short and full of implications. For the same reason, they affect, deeply, on any conscious person and they awaken some of the unaware, too. They give spirit to dead‑like people and make the indifferent ones feel responsibility. On the whole, they have a specific case and an enthusiastic world of their own, full of enlightenment and attraction.

Surah Nabaa is not an exception to this general principle. It begins with an awakening question, and ends with a wonderful sentence full of warning.

The contents of the Surah can be divided into several parts:

The question that is stated in the first verse about the

"Great News" /naba'-in-'ażim/

or the Hereafter.

Examples of the types of Divine Power in the Heavens and on Earth, and also of men's lives and their gifts as evidences to the possibility of the Resurrection and the Hereafter.

Preliminary signs of the Resurrection.

Reference to the painful chastisement of the transgressors.

The encouraging gifts and blessings of Heaven.

Finally, the Surah ends with some intensive warnings about the dreadful punishment, and then, the sad destiny of the Unbelievers.

The name of the Surah, Nabaa, is taken from its second verse, but sometimes it is called /'amma/ which is the first word in the first verse.

There is a tradition from the Prophet (S) which says:

"He who studies Surah Nabaa will be satiated, by Allah, with a cold drink in Heaven".

Another tradition from Imam Sadiq says:

"He who continues studying Surah Nabaa, everyday, will meet the Holy Shrine at Mecca (Kaaba) before the year ends".

Again, another tradition from the Prophet (S) says:

"He who studies it (Surah Nabaa) and learns it by heart, on the Day of Judgment, his reckoning will be concluded (so quickly) equal to the same length of time it takes to say a single prayer".

___

Benefits

There are 40 verses in this 'makki' Surah. Imam Ja'far as-Sadiq (a.s.) has said that whoever recites this Surah everyday will be fortunate enough to visit Masjidul Haraam in the same year. The Holy Prophet (S) said that memorization of this Surah carries great reward.

If this Surah is recited with the intention of staying awake, then the reciter will not fall asleep and if it is recited before travelling then the journey will become easy. Drinking water in which this Surah has been dissolved cures stomach problems.

___

Lessons

a) Oneness of Allah (Tawheed): None except Allah has the power of creation, dominion and control. There is no Creator except Allah, no Sovereign except Allah and no Controller of affairs except Allah. He has no partner or associate. There is nothing worthy of worship except Allah.

b) Messengership (Risalat): Allah has sent Prophets in all ages to guide mankind to the truth of Islamic Monotheism. Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was the last and final Messenger of Allah. It is essential for a person to believe in his Prophethood and follow him for eternal success.

c) Life after death (Akhirat): There is another life after death where everyone will be accountable before Allah. People who believed and did righteous deeds in this life will receive eternal rewards and those who disbelieved and did wicked deeds will be punished.

People of Makkah, at that time, believed that there is no creator and sustainer except Allah, but they ascribed partners to Him and were involved in idol worship. They had no doubt about the truthfulness, righteousness and honesty of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), yet they rejected his claim of Prophethood and the message that he brought.

The Makkans of that era believed that the life of this world is the only life; people are born and they die, and there is nothing after it. Some of them rejected the concept of life after death altogether and some of them were in serious doubt about it.

***

Allāh created the world for the benefit of man.

The people of Jahannam will not taste soothing coolness, nor drink.

Those who think they are not going to be held to account, are doomed.

Allāh has encompassed everything in writing.

On the Day of Qiyāmah, there will be a huge exhibition of Allāh's Control. All the angels will be lined up, and no one shall have the courage to speak except the one given permission by Allāh.

The disbelievers on that Day shall wish they had been dust instead of humans, after seeing the doom awaiting them.

***

All praise is due to Allah, we praise Him, and seek His help and forgiveness. We seek refuge in Allah, Most High, from the evils of our own selves and from our wicked deeds. Whoever Allah guides, there is none who can misguide him, whoever Allah allows to be misguided cannot be guided. I testify that there is no true God worthy of being worshipped except Allah, alone, without partner or associate. I further testify that Muhammad is His true slave and Messenger (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam).

May Allah's Salah and Salam be also granted to the Prophet's pure family, and to all of his noble companions.

"O you believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He ordered and abstaining from all that He forbade) as He should feared (Obey Him, be thankful to Him, and remember Him always) and die not except in a state of Islam (as Muslims with complete submission to Allah)."Al-Qur'an 3:102"O mankind! Be dutiful to you Rabb (Allah), Who created you from a single person (Adam) and from him (Adam) He created his wife (Eve), and from them both He created many men and women and fear Allah through Whom you demand your mutual (rights) and (do not cut the relations of) the wombs (kinship). Surely, Allah is ever an All-Watcher over you."Al-Qur'an 4:1"O you who believe! Keep your duty to Allah and fear Him, and speak (always) the truth. He will direct you to do righteous good deeds and will forgive you your sins. And whosoever obeys Allah and His Messenger has indeed achieved a great success."Al-Qur'an 33:70-71

It proceeds then: That the most truthful speech is that of Allah's Book (the Qur'an) and that the best of guidance is that of Muhammad (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). The worst of evils are innovation (foreign to the true teachings of Islam). Every innovated matter (in religion) is a Bid'ah; every Bid'ah is a Dalalah (misguidance), and every Dalalah is in the Fire of Hell. The Qur'an is the Word of Allah. The Tafsir (Exegesis) of the meaning of the Noble Ayat (verses) of the Qur'an is critical to the understanding of Islam as a whole. The Qur'an is explained by the Qur'an itself and by the Sunnah of the Prophet (sallallahu 'alayhi wa sallam). The Salaf not only transmitted the explanation of the Qur'an, but laid down the foundations for Ijtihad and thus their way is the best and most reliable way of Tafsir. Philosophical and scholastic opinions dealing with the Word of Allah produce confusion, alterations in the meaning of the texts and thus lead astray. The Muslim is called to follow the path of those who gained Allah's Pleasure. They are the Salaf, may Allah make us follow their path in all matters of Islam.

___

Hadiths

Abu Ishaq narrated from ikrimah ibn abi jahl, from ibn abbas who said: "Abu bakr [may Allah be pleased with him] said: 'O Messenger of Allah! You have become gray.' He said: 'I have gone gray from Hud (surah), al-waqi'a, al-mursalat and 'Amma Yatasa'alun () and Idhash-Shamsu Kuwwirat (at-takwir).

***

It has been said that the phrase /naba'‑in‑'ażim/ has several meanings: 'the Hereafter, the Holy Qur'an, the entire Islamic Principles', etc. But, the whole concept, taken from the verses altogether, leads us to 'Resurrection' as having the closest meaning.

There are a lot of narrations, some of which have been cited by the Household of the Prophet 'Ahlul Bayt' (as), and some others by Sunni commentators, that say the phrase /naba'‑in‑'ażim/ refers to Hazrat Ali's (as) vicegerency and Imamat (the leadership of the Islamic community), which is a matter of dispute among a group of Muslims, even today. Or it is interpreted as vicegerency, in general.

Three of the narrations are as follows:

1. Hafiz‑Muhammad‑ibn‑Mo'min‑Shirazi, one of the scholars of the Sunni Community, has narrated a tradition from the Prophet (S) on the commentary of the first verse of this Surah, and he (S) said:

"It means the vicegerency of Ali; about which everyone will be asked in the grave, and no one in the East or West, in the seas or over the land passes away without the angels asking him about the vicegerency of Amir‑al‑Mo'minin, and he will also be asked what his religion is, who his Prophet is, and who his Imam is".

2. Another narration says that on the day of the Battle of Seffin, a man from the troops of Sham (Damascus), having his armor on and carrying a Qur'an with him, entered the battlefield while he was reciting Surah Nabaa.

Then Ali (as), himself, faced him and questioned him:

"Do you know what

/naba'‑in‑'ażim/ (the Great News),

in which they differ, is?"

The man replied:

"No, I do not know".

Imam Ali (as) said:

"I am, by Allah, the very

/naba'‑in‑'ażim/ (the Great News)

that you differ in and you quarrel against my vicegerency. You turned away from my vicegerency after you had pledged allegiance to it, and only on Dooms Day will you really comprehend, once more, what you had understood about it before".

3. A narration from Imam Sadiq says:

"'The Great News'

is the same as Vicegerency".

To gather the contents of these narrations and the commentary of the verse, in the same sense as 'Resurrection', which was previously mentioned, is possible in two ways:

(1) The phrase /naba'‑in‑'ażim/ has a broad meaning which includes all of the meanings previously given, though when these verses were revealed the Qur'an insisted on 'Resurrection' more than anything else. Still, this does not hinder us from finding more interpretations, of the verse, other than the above and

(2) as we know and as it has been mentioned repeatedly, the Qur'an has various meanings; that is, a verse may have several meanings, in different dimensions, among which only one is obvious by the apparent words and the other meanings are hidden, but they can be found with the help of other explanations and are not clear to anyone except 'the distinguished ones'.

This is not the only verse that has obvious and hidden meanings. There are many other verses, in the Holy Qur'an, of which the Islamic narrations contain different commentaries.

But, we emphatically state that it is not possible to understand the hidden meanings of the Qur'an without the clear explanations or commentaries from the Prophet or sinless Imams (as), and the existence of hidden meanings, in the Qur'an, should not be a possible way of misusing it by the mischief‑makers who comment on the verses in whatever way they wish.

___