Surah Ar-Rahman Part 4

In the Name of God, The Most Gracious, The Dispenser of Grace

Part 4.

و السماء رفعها و وضع الميزان

الا تطغوا فى الميزان

و أقيموا الوزن بالقسط و لا تخسروا الميزان

And the sky (heaven) has He raised high and has devised a measure
So that you might never transgress the measure
And establish the balance in/with justice and cut not the measure short!

This section of the surah deals with الميزان (measure/balance).  Lane's Lexicon has it that الميزان is a weighing instrument/a balance/a pair of scales.  How is it connected to the sky and the previous verses?  Then, there is the transition to a reminder - that we, the readers/the students, should maintain that balance.  How do we relate to these three verses?  Also, anticipating the next few verses, the mizan (الميزان) is set between the heaven (the last few verses) and the earth (the subject of the next few verses).  Again, there is a symmetry in ordering of the verses in this Surah.

I remember the story of 'Chicken Little' who was worried about the falling sky.  Well, until the Hour happens, God assures us in this verse that He has raised the sky high and in balance.  The sun and the moon and everything else in the heaven/sky above us are in a state of balance, the measure mentioned here is linked to the precision of the sun and the moon.  And that there is balance between the heaven and the earth.

In a sense, the whole universe is a balanced Universe, as Maududi stated:

Almost all the commentators have interpreted mizan (balance) to mean justice, and '...set the balance" to imply that Allah has established the entire system of the Universe on justice. Had there been no harmony and balance and justice established among the countless stars and planets moving in space, and the mighty forces working in this Universe, and the innumerable creatures and things found here, this life on earth would not have functioned even for a moment. Look at the creatures existing in the air and water and on land for millions and millions of years on this earth. They continue to exist only because full justice and balance has been established in the means and factors conducive to life; in case there occurs a slight imbalance of any kind, every tract of lift would become extinct.

My understanding of Nouman Ali Khan's lecture is that God is instructing us that we should emulate the same balance and justice that is inherent in the universe in ourselves.  This is why the two verses directly after is addressed to us.  

He calls us to not only not transgress the balance but also establish balance (in its other word form الوزن) in/with justice.  One is in passive form, i.e. avoidance, while the other is an active form, i.e. positive action is required.  It is not enough that we refrain from upsetting the balance, we need to step forward and establish it in cases where we detect an imbalance (in ourselves and our surroundings).  It is pertinent to note that the Qur'an uses the word 'establish', the same word which is used to associate with prayer, i.e. establish the prayer.  It sets the tone of how serious the matter of balance is.

But how do we know what the balance is?  How do we know we are in balance and with our surroundings?  Everything in its place and time, so my dad likes to say.  Give each its due - that's what it means by not cutting the measure short.  As an employee, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a citizen, a vicegerent of God (etc) and towards my own self, each of these roles should be given its due without short-changing one for the sake of the other.  The optimal answer, any optimisation expert would tell you, is when all the constraints are 'tight' and there is no slack.  Basically a very good balancing act.

But it is not only that.  Maududi, like many other commentators before him, also equates balance with justice:

As you are living in a balanced Universe, whose entire system has been established on justice, you also should adhere to justice. For if you act unjustly within the sphere in which you have been given authority, and fail to render the rights of others, you would indeed be rebelling against the nature of the Universe; for the nature of this Universe does not admit of injustice and perversion and violation of the rights. Not to speak of a major injustice, even if a person fraudulently deprives another of an ounce of something, by giving him short measure, he disturbs the balance of the entire Universe.-This is the second important part of the Qur'anic teaching that has been presented in these three verses. The first teaching is Tauhid and the second is justice. Thus, in a few brief sentences the people have been told what teaching has been brought by the Qur'an which the Merciful God has sent for the guidance of man.

Surah Ar-Rahman Part 3

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Like any good teacher, Ar-Rahman puts our understanding of what we learn to a test.  And to my mind, the rest of the Surah truly are a good test to my understanding of the Qur'an and my mastery of Al-Bayan.

The next two verses to be discussed are as follows:

الشمس و القمر بحسبان

و النجم و الشجر يسجدن

The sun and the moon according to a definite calculation

And the stars and the trees prostrate themselves

In my years of fascination with this Surah, I have wondered why God groups these together.  Like the game of what does not belong, the tree seems out of place in the celestial theme.  The various tafsirs that I have read did not really resolve the question of why the tree is included.  Other questions I had were: what does it mean that the stars and trees prostrate?  Why not the sun or the moon?

Listening to Nouman Ali Khan's lecture, it dawns upon me that the key to understanding these two verses is in using al-Bayan, i.e. in distinguishing the words.  For those who would like to listen to his inspiring lecture, subscribe to Bayyinah TV.  But here is my understanding of his lecture.

It is interesting that the Qur'an often uses reflections or mirror images as a literary device.  In Ayat al-Kursi, for example, or even Surah Ar-Rahman and Surah Al-Waqi'ah mirror each other in their topics.  Similarly, here there is a kind of a mirror imagery - the sun and the trees, the moon and the stars.  Why?  Nouman Ali Khan reminded us that the Qur'an was first revealed to the Arabs in the desert.  The two things of beauty were the trees during the day (when the sun is shining) and the stars (accompanying the moon) at night.  Therein lies the connection between the four.  And what a beautiful connection.

But it is more than that piece of connection.  The key is in two words other than the nouns: in the first verse, بحسبان which most translate as precise or definite calculation, is also used in Surah Al-Kahf as a calamity.  So there are several dimensions to understanding the verse.  Syed Qutb in his tafsir was eloquent in discussing how the precision of the celestial bodies helps to promote life on this planet.  Then there is the time dimension - the sun and the moon are the celestial bodies with which we calibrate our time.  Our calendars and seasonality depends on them as well as our sense of day and night.  But like a clock, ticking away, there is also a sense of impending end which is suggested by the use of the word "Husban".  That time is running out and the celestial clock is running down.  God is subtly reminding us that the Hour is ever closer with every passing cycle of day and night.

And then, when the Hour is nigh, those precious and beautiful stars and trees, so admired by the Arabs, will fall (into prostration).  If that is the case, could we hope to escape?  Basically, God is telling us that we need to prepare ourselves and gather our provisions before the Hour sets and there is no time left.

Surah Ar-Rahman Part 2

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Dispenser of Grace

Part 2

بِسْم الله الرحمن الرحيم

الرحمن

علم القران

خلق الانسان

علمه البيان

The Most Gracious,

He taught the Qur'an

He created Mankind

He taught him Al-Bayan

Earlier I reflected on the questions an what I learnt for the first 2 verses.  The next two verses are the continuation of the sentence where Ar-Rahman created mankind and taught us al-Bayan.

If the order is important, then the creation of Man is second to the teaching of the Qur'an.  A question that I have is why the creation of Man is stated in two places in the surah, albeit with more details in verse 14.  Another question is why the creation of Man is considered a mercy.  Next, what is Al-Bayan and its importance given it is again another thing taught by Ar-Rahman himself?  

These two are the next most important of God's favours to the Qur'an.  Let's tackle the first - why is our creation considered a favour and a mercy?  Looking at the state of the world today, one could very well be sceptical as to the mercy aspect to creating mankind.  In fact, one would not be the first to ask...the Angels asked God something similar before the creation of Adam a.s.  (Surah 2:30).  And God's answer was that He knew what they knew not.  

Syed Qutb said this about the above:

"It is true that man would commit corruption and shed blood, but even this apparently evil aspect of his function turns out to be for best.  It is a necessary consequence of perpetual progress and development, and the changes brought about a ceaseless endeavour in pursuit of better and higher things in this world."

Basically there is purpose to our creation and that purpose is fulfilled by our actions, good and bad, whether we understand it or otherwise, because there is a higher plan that neither we nor the angels are aware of.  Furthermore, there is a potential in all of us that God describes in Surah At-Tin as the "best of forms" which can be unlocked through the teachings of the Qur'an.  And that is the reason why the teaching of the Qur'an is mentioned before even our own creation.

The fulfillment of the purpose is why God taught us specifically Al-Bayan, something which is not taught to other creation.  Al-Bayan is actually linked to the concept of Names that God taught Adam a.s. (Surah 2:31).  Al-Bayan, which is often translated as speech, comes from the same root word as Baina (between) - which basically means to distinguish, separate, make clear.  More than just speech, Asad said that it:

"applies to both thought and speech in as much as it comprises the faculty of making a thing or an idea apparent to the mind and conceptually distinct from other things or ideas, as well as the power to express this cognition clearly in spoken or written language."

What are the "Name of All Things/Beings etc" that God taught Adam but in essence the ability to distinguish one thing from another.  Al-Bayan is a skill and ability that is uniquely inherent in mankind, a gift from Ar-Rahman.  It is also the basis of the languages that were/are spoken and written by mankind through time.  Nouman Ali Khan emphasised in one of his lectures that therefore all languages are revealed languages because Ar-Rahman taught them (by teaching Al-Bayan to mankind).  With languages, we are able to communicate and get to know one another as commanded by God (Surah Al-Hujurat).  This beautiful gift of Ar-Rahman needs to be fully appreciated and not abused as we seem to do nowadays - with all the meaningless and almost abusive chatters on social media and in real life.

And through this skill of Al-Bayan, do we come to understand the world around us and live up to our potential and responsibility of being care takers on this Earth on God's behalf.  It is through Al-Bayan, that discoveries are made and progress and development continues in various spheres of life.

And ultimately only with Al-Bayan do we come to understand the underlying messages of the upcoming verses of Surah Ar-Rahman.