In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.
Abridged by Dr. Aqil Ibn Salim al-Shammari.
Surah al-Tariq.
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
By the heaven and the Tariq (the night-comer).
“- Ah, what will tell thee what the Morning Star is!” (86:2)
The piercing star.
“No human soul but hath a guardian over it.” (86:4)
Our Lord swears by the heaven,
And by the Tariq, which is the luminous star that arrives by night,
And disappears by day.
And what could make you understand, O Muhammad, what the Tariq is, by which I have sworn?
It is the star whose light ignites and glows.
There is no soul but that it has a guardian from its Lord, who preserves its deeds,
And keeps account of whatever it earns of good or evil.
So let man consider from what he was created.
“He is created from a gushing fluid” (86:6)
“That issued from between the loins and ribs.” (86:7)
“Lo! He verily is Able to return him (unto life)” (86:8)
The Day when secrets are tested.
“Then will he have no might nor any helper.” (86:10)
Let the human who denies the resurrection after death consider,
From what thing his Lord created him.
He was created from a gushing fluid,
Which emerges from the loins of the man and the ribs of the woman,
Which is the place where the necklace rests on a woman's chest.
Indeed, Allah is fully capable of bringing man back to life after his death,
In the same state he was in before he died.
On the Day when the inner secrets of the servants are tested,
And there will be revealed on that Day what was hidden from the eyes of people in this world.
Then the disbelieving human will have no power on that Day to protect himself from the punishment of Allah,
Nor will he have any helper to support him or defend him against those who harmed him through his own schemes.
By the heaven which returns,
And the earth which cracks open.
Indeed, it is a decisive word,
And it is not for amusement.
Indeed, they are planning a scheme,
And I am planning a scheme.
“So give a respite to the disbelievers. Deal thou gently with them for a while.” (86:17)
The heaven returns with clouds and the provisions of the servants each year,
And the earth cracks open with vegetation.
Indeed, this Qur'an and this message,
Are a decisive word that separates truth from falsehood through its clarity.
And it is not a matter of play or falsehood.
Indeed, these people who deny Allah, His Messenger, and the promise of reward and threat of punishment,
Are plotting a scheme,
And I am plotting a scheme.
And His scheme, may He be exalted, is to let them continue,
By granting them respite in their disobedience and disbelief in Him.
So grant the disbelievers respite, O Muhammad, and do not be hasty with them,
And delay them for a short while,
And wait for them until the appointed time, which is the moment when retribution befalls them.