Conclusion from Al-Tabari’s interpretation | Episode (53-1) | Surah Al-Najm

0:00 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:03 A summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.

0:08 Abridged by Dr. 'Aqil ibn Salim al-Shammari.

0:12 Surah al-Najm.

0:16 In the name of Allah, the Entirely Merciful, the Especially Merciful.

0:22 By the star when it descends.

0:25 “Your comrade erreth not, nor is deceived;” (53:2)

0:29 And by the Pleiades when they set.

0:32 Your companion, O people, has not deviated from the truth, nor has he strayed from it.

0:37 Rather, he is upon uprightness and correctness.

0:40 He has not become misguided.

0:43 Rather, he is rightly guided and sound.

0:46 “Nor doth he speak of (his own) desire.” (53:3)

0:50 “It is naught save an inspiration that is inspired,” (53:4)

0:55 Muhammad does not speak this Qur'an out of personal desire.

1:00 This Qur'an is nothing but a revelation from Allah, revealed to him.

1:05 He was taught by one intense in strength.

1:08 He, the angel, stood poised.

1:11 While he was in the highest horizon.

1:14 Then he approached and descended.

1:18 And was at a distance of two bow lengths or nearer.

1:22 “And He revealed unto His slave that which He revealed.” (53:10)

1:26 He taught Muhammad, peace be upon him,

1:30 this Qur'an—meaning Gabriel, peace be upon him.

1:33 He is intense in his faculties,

1:35 possessing physical health and soundness,

1:37 free from defects and infirmities.

1:40 Then he, the one intense in strength, stood poised,

1:42 while your companion, Muhammad, was at the highest horizon of the sunrise.

1:46 This occurred when the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, was taken on the Night Journey.

1:51 Then Gabriel approached Muhammad, peace be upon him.

1:56 Gabriel descended toward him.

1:58 At a distance of two bow lengths or closer.

2:01 Then Gabriel revealed to His servant, Muhammad, peace be upon him,

2:06 what his Lord had revealed to him.

2:09 The heart did not deny what it saw.

2:13 The heart of Muhammad did not deny

2:16 what he saw; rather, he confirmed it.

2:19 What his heart saw was the Lord of the worlds.

2:23 He saw Him with his heart, not with his physical eyes.

2:27 It has also been said:

2:28 Rather, what his heart saw—and did not deny—was

2:31 Gabriel, peace be upon him.

2:34 “Will ye then dispute with him concerning what he seeth?” (53:12)

2:38 And he certainly saw him in another descent,

2:41 at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary,

2:46 near which is the Garden of Refuge.

2:51 Do you dispute with Muhammad, O polytheists, regarding what he sees,

2:55 of the signs of His Lord that Allah has shown him?

2:58 He saw Gabriel in his true form twice:

3:01 at the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary,

3:04 near which is the Garden of Refuge for the martyrs.

3:07 “When that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree,” (53:16)

3:11 “The eye turned not aside nor yet was overbold.” (53:17)

3:15 “Verily he saw one of the greater revelations of his Lord.” (53:18)

3:20 “When that which shroudeth did enshroud the lote-tree,” (53:16)

3:23 It was covered by golden moths.

3:25 It has also been said:

3:27 That which covered it was the Lord of Might and His angels.

3:31 The gaze of Muhammad did not swerve right or left from what he saw,

3:35 nor did he exceed what he was commanded in the slightest.

3:39 Muhammad saw there

3:41 the greatest signs and proofs of his Lord.

3:45 So have you considered al-Lat and al-'Uzza,

3:49 and Manat, the third one, the other?

3:52 “Are yours the males and His the females?” (53:21)

3:57 That is then an unjust division.

4:28 And for Allah is the female, while for yourselves is what you desire?

4:32 This division of yours is an unfair and unequal division,

4:37 deficient and incomplete.

4:39 “They are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which Allah hath revealed no warrant. They follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. And now the guidance from their Lord hath come unto them.” (53:23)

4:44 You have named them, you and your forefathers.

4:56 Allah has not sent down any authority for them.

5:01 They follow nothing but assumption

5:05 and what their souls desire.

5:08 “They are but names which ye have named, ye and your fathers, for which Allah hath revealed no warrant. They follow but a guess and that which (they) themselves desire. And now the guidance from their Lord hath come unto them.” (53:23)

5:14 These names that you have given them,

5:18 namely al-Lat, al-'Uzza,

5:20 and Manat, the third one, the other,

5:22 are nothing but names you have invented,

5:25 you and your forefathers, O you who associate partners with Allah.

5:29 Allah has not sent down any proof for you regarding these names,

5:33 nor has Allah permitted that for you.

5:36 These polytheists follow nothing regarding these names

5:40 except assumption and the desires of their own souls.

5:43 And there has certainly come to these polytheists,

5:46 from their Lord, the clarification that their worship is not appropriate.

5:50 Or is there for man whatever he wishes?

5:56 Rather, to Allah belongs the Hereafter and the first life.

6:00 Or did Muhammad, peace be upon him, desire

6:03 prophethood and messengership,

6:05 and wish for that,

6:07 so his Lord granted it to him?

6:09 To Allah belongs everything in the Hereafter and the world.

6:13 He gives to whom He wills of His creation what He wills,

6:16 and He withholds from whom He wills among them what He wills.

6:19 The summary of the Tafsir of al-Tabari.

Conclusion from Al-Tabari’s interpretation | Episode (53-1) | Surah Al-Najm | Verses from (1) to (25)

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