Muhasabah I

In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Most Compassionate.

By the dawn,
And the ten nights,
And by the night when it departs.
Is there in this an oath for one endowed with understanding?

Have you not seen how your Lord dealt with 'Ad
of Iram, known for their lofty columns,
the like of whom no nation was ever created in the lands of the world?
And how did He deal with Thamud who hewed out rocks in the valley?
And with Pharaoh of the tent pegs
who transgressed in the countries of the world,
spreading in them much corruption?
Then their Lord unloosed upon them the lash of chastisement.
Truly your Lord is ever watchful.

As for man, when his Lord tests him by exalting him and bestowing His bounties upon him, he says: "My Lord has exalted me."
But when He tests them by straitening his sustenance, he says: "My Lord has humiliated me." *

But no, you do not treat the orphan honorably,
and do not urge one another to feed the poor,
and greedily devour the entire inheritance,
and love the riches, loving them ardently.

-*This, then, is man's materialistic concept of life. Man equates wealth, position and power in the world with the bestowal of honour; and when he is deprived of these, he thinks God has humiliated him. The fact which he fails to grasp is that whatever God gives anyone in this world is by way of a test. One is tested both when one has wealth and power as well as when one is in a state of poverty and destitution.-

But no, when the earth is ground to powder,
and when your Lord appears with rows upon rows of angels,
and when Hell is brought near that Day. On that Day will man understand, but of what avail will that understanding be?
He will say: "Would that I had sent ahead what would be of avail for this life of mine!"
Then on that Day Allah will chastise as none other can chastise,
and Allah will bind as none other can bind.

(On the other hand it will be said) : "O serene soul! **
Return to your Lord well-pleased (with your blissful destination), well-pleasing (to your Lord).
So enter among My (righteous) servants
and enter My Paradise."

-**The expression 'serene soul' signifies the person who accepts, with full conviction, the One True God as his Lord and Sustainer, and recognizes the religious faith expounded by the Prophets as the True Faith.-

Terjemahan dan tafsir Surah Al-Fajr, ayat 1-30.

Dari Towards Understanding The Quran, Sayyid Abul A'la Mawdudi, dialihbahasa dan diedit oleh Zafar Ishaq Ansari, terbitan The Islamic Foundation.

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