Five lines in a cave, and the Qur'an has begun. Years later the same man prays in public. One of the most powerful men in Makkah threatens to stamp on his neck. The surah answers: do not obey him. Bow down, and come close.
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The thread
A man alone in a cave outside Makkah is told to read, and cannot. Five lines later the Qur'an has begun. Years on, he is praying in the open at the Ka'bah, and a rich, well-connected man swears to stamp on his neck. The surah joins the two moments: the One who taught him to read sees the man who threatens him. So the answer to the threat is to keep praying.
Background
This surah is two moments, stitched together. The first five ayat came in the Cave of Hira', on a mountain outside Makkah, where Muhammad ﷺ had taken to spending nights alone. Nearly all scholars agree they are the first words of the Qur'an to be revealed. Nearly all. Not quite all (see the closer looks).
Then revelation stopped for a while. When the rest of this surah came, Makkah was a different place for him. At the time of the cave he had no enemies there. People called him al-Amin, the trustworthy one. By the time of ayat 6 to 19 he was preaching openly and praying in public at the Ka'bah, the cube-shaped house of worship at the centre of Makkah. Some of the town's leaders wanted it stopped.
One leader in particular. The commentators name him as Abu Jahl: wealthy, obeyed, and boasting that he had more men behind him than anyone in the valley. He said that if he saw Muhammad ﷺ with his face on the ground in prayer, he would stamp on his neck. The second part of the surah is the reply. It never uses his name.
The journey of the surah
1-5
The cave Read. Your Lord made the human being from a clinging clot, and taught by the pen what nobody knew.
6-8
What changed Years later. A person oversteps once he thinks he needs no one. But everyone goes back to their Lord.
9-14
The man who blocks the prayer Three questions about someone who stops a servant from praying. Then a fourth: does he not know that Allah sees?
15-18
The warning If he does not stop, he will be dragged by the forelock. Let him call his council. The guards of Hell will be called too.
19
The answer Do not obey him. Prostrate, and draw near.
The cave, the cloak and the threat
'A'ishah, the Prophet's wife, tells how it began (Bukhari 3). First came dreams that turned out true, as clear as daybreak. Then he came to love being alone, and would take food up to the Cave of Hira' and stay for nights at a time. One of those nights an angel came and said: "Read!" He answered: "I am not one who reads." The angel gripped him until he could bear no more, let go, and said it again. After the third time the angel recited ayat 1 to 5.
He came down the mountain with his heart pounding and said to his wife Khadijah: "Cover me, cover me." When the fear had passed he told her he was afraid for himself. She answered with what she knew of him: "By Allah, Allah will never disgrace you. You keep family ties, carry the burdens of the weak, help the destitute, honour guests and stand with people through hardship."
She took him to her cousin Waraqah ibn Nawfal, an old, blind man who had become a Christian and knew the earlier scriptures. He said: "This is the same Namus whom Allah sent to Musa (Moses)." Namus is his word for the angel who carries revelation, Jibril (Gabriel).
Years later, Abu Jahl swore he would step on the Prophet's neck if he saw him in sajdah (prostration, forehead on the ground) at the Ka'bah. He came forward to do it. Then he backed away, shielding himself with his hands. Asked why, he said that between the two of them he had seen a trench of fire, terror and wings. (Muslim 2797)
The lessons
Read in His name The first command is to read, and it comes with a condition: in the name of your Lord. In this surah, knowledge starts tied to Allah. Ayah 1
Where a person starts A clinging clot. The surah puts that beside the pen: a small beginning, then the ability to learn. Ayah 2
The pen is honoured Writing and learning are the first gifts the Qur'an names, to a messenger who could not write. Ayah 4
Feeling self-sufficient leads to arrogance The surah's diagnosis of the man who blocks the prayer: he looked at his wealth and his following and decided he needed no one. Ayah 6-7
Allah sees The surah's only argument with him is one question. Ziyaad's note: that one line is the whole of ihsan (worshipping as though you see Allah, knowing He sees you). Ayah 14
Sajdah is closeness "The closest a servant is to his Lord is in prostration" (Muslim 482). Ayah 19 is a sajdah ayah: one at which the reciter prostrates. Ayah 19
Virtues, with their grading
Abu Hurayrah: "We prostrated with the Prophet [saw] in Idhas-sama'un-shaqqat and Iqra' bi-smi rabbik."
Muslim 578 Sahih In Sahih Muslim
Section by section
1-5
Five lines in a cave
It starts with one man, alone on a mountain, and a command he cannot carry out.
1 Recite in the name of your Lord who created – 2 Created man from a clinging substance. 3 Recite, and your Lord is the most Generous - 4 Who taught by the pen – 5 Taught man that which he knew not.
Al-‘Alaq 96:1-5
What's happening
A cave on a mountain outside Makkah. Muhammad ﷺ has been going there to be alone. An angel appears and gives a one-word order: iqra', read, or recite. He says he cannot. He is gripped and released, three times. Then he is given the words themselves.
The five ayat are short enough to hold in your head. Read, in the name of your Lord who created. He created the human being from 'alaq, a clinging clot. Read, and your Lord is the Most Generous. He taught by the pen. He taught the human being what he did not know.
The ideas come in an order. Creation first. Then the humblest stage of a human life, then generosity, then the pen, then knowledge. Ibn Kathir reads it as a statement about what makes people worth anything: they begin as a clot, and what lifts them is being taught. Then there is the man hearing about the pen. He has never used one.
The Qur'an begins with a command to read, given to someone who could not, and with a reminder of how small a person starts.
6 No! [But] indeed, man transgresses 7 Because he sees himself self-sufficient. 8 Indeed, to your Lord is the return.
Al-‘Alaq 96:6-8
What's happening
Ayah 6 opens with a sharp word, kalla, and a change of subject. The cave is gone. This part came years later, and it starts with a diagnosis: the human being oversteps, because he sees himself as needing no one.
Most of the commentaries read here say the person in view is Abu Jahl, who is about to appear in the next ayat. But the wording is about people in general. Ma'ariful Qur'an puts the idea in everyday terms: as long as someone needs others he behaves, and once he thinks he does not, he starts pushing people around.
Ayah 8 answers in one line: to your Lord is the return. Whatever a person has gathered, he is going back to the One who gave it. Ibn Kathir reads this as a warning about wealth in particular: there will be an account of where it came from and where it went.
The surah traces arrogance to one mistaken belief: I do not need anyone.
11 Have you seen if he is upon guidance 12 Or enjoins righteousness? 13 Have you seen if he denies and turns away -
Al-‘Alaq 96:11-13
أَلَمۡ يَعۡلَم بِأَنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَرَىٰ ١٤
14 Does he not know that Allāh sees?
Al-‘Alaq 96:14
What's happening
By now the Prophet ﷺ is praying in the open at the Ka'bah. The commentaries agree on who objected: Abu Jahl. He told him to stop, and said that if he saw him with his face on the ground he would stamp on his neck.
The Qur'an does not name him. It describes what he does: "the one who forbids a servant when he prays". Then it asks the listener to think it through. What if the one praying is rightly guided, or is calling people to be mindful of Allah? What if the one forbidding is denying the truth and turning away?
There is no ruling and no threat yet. The passage ends with a question that anybody can answer: does he not know that Allah sees?
Before any warning, the surah asks the man one question: does he not know that Allah sees?
The second kalla. If he does not stop, he will be seized by the nasiyah, the forelock: the hair at the front of the head. "A lying, sinning forelock." To be held by the front of the head is to be led wherever the holder wants. Ziyaad's note on this ayah: the forelock stands for leadership and decision-making, which is exactly what this man was proud of.
The next two ayat answer something Abu Jahl actually said. He boasted that nobody in the valley had a bigger following. The reply takes him at his word: let him call his council. Allah will call the zabaniyah, the guards of Hell.
The reports say he never made the call. Muslim 2797 records that when he walked up to carry out his threat he stopped, backed away and shielded himself with his hands. He said he had seen a trench of fire, terror and wings between them.
He counted his men. The surah's reply was that he had not counted everyone.
The warning was for him. The last line turns to the man he threatened, and tells him what to do about it.
كَلَّا لَا تُطِعۡهُ وَٱسۡجُدۡۤ وَٱقۡتَرِب۩ ١٩
19 No! Do not obey him. But prostrate and draw near [to Allāh].
Al-‘Alaq 96:19
What's happening
The third kalla, and three short commands to the Prophet ﷺ. Do not obey him. Prostrate. Draw near. Nothing is said about fighting back or winning the argument. He is told to do the very thing he was ordered to stop. Ibn Kathir paraphrases: pray wherever you wish and do not worry about him.
The surah that opened with "read" closes with "prostrate". The Prophet ﷺ said: "The closest a servant is to his Lord is while he is prostrating, so make plenty of du'a' (personal prayer)" (Muslim 482).
This is one of the ayat of sajdah: places in the Qur'an where the person reciting goes down in prostration. Abu Hurayrah reports that they prostrated with the Prophet ﷺ at this surah (Muslim 578). In the Hanafimadhhab (school of law), sajdah at-tilawah, the prostration of recitation, is wajib (required) on whoever recites or hears it.
The surah's reply to the threat is to keep doing the thing that was forbidden.