Verses 1–8
101. Al-Qaari'a · The Calamity
Makkan11 verses
بِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ
ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ
يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ
101:4[It is] the day when mankind will be like scattered moths10
وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٱلْمَنفُوشِ
101:5and the mountains like carded wool.
فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
فَهُوَ فِى عِيشَةٍۢ رَّاضِيَةٍۢ
101:7he will have a pleasing life.
وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ
101:8But as for him, whose deeds weigh light in the scales,12
Tafsir
Commentary on this passage
Verse 1
3.How shameful it is that Allah swears by horses and declares that man is disobedient. Why not! Horses go towards the battle field with a great speed. They are ready to attack since the early morning without food and water. They go off right in between the enemies and never care for anything and man worries about his life and is concerned about his wealth and he is not prepared to go to the battlefield; and sometimes if he does go he begins to run away from there. Animals are better than these kind of humans; and may be for that reason in some places memorials of horses are established. This is the best lesson and advice to man if consciousness and comprehension have remained alive in him.
Footnotes
Explanations of words and phrases in these verses
- 7
Zab-ha - The sound of breathing when one runs.
- 8
Qad-ha - friction. Mooriyaat - those that fly the sparks.
- 9
Magheeraat, the attackers.
- 10
Naq-aa, the dust of the battlefield.
- 11
Kanood, those who intentionally refuse.
- 12
AI-Khair, wealth.
Benefit : In the 8th ayat Khair denotes worldly wealth which is good in itself but the excess love of it has made man miser and incharitable. Otherwise excess in every good deeds is not a defect. Generally the Surah was revealed in praise ofwarriors and to encourage people to Jihad whose effect will become visible on the day of Qiyamat.