Ar-Rahmān: the cards as text

Qur'an and Tafsir, Surah 55. Awaiting scholar review.

1. Card 1

   Makkah asked: what is the Most Merciful? This surah is the answer.

2. Card 2

   A name Makkah did not know

   Muhammad ﷺ calls on ar-Rahman, the Most Merciful.

   Makkah replies: and what is ar-Rahman?

   This surah opens with that one word. Then it explains it.

3. Card 3

   Beaten for reciting it

   The first to recite the Qur'an aloud at the Ka'bah, Ibn Ishaq reports, was Ibn Mas'ud. He recited this surah. Quraysh, the tribe that ran Makkah, beat him for it.

4. Card 4

   The answer, in six parts

   1. 1-13: The introduction. One word: the Most Merciful. He taught the Qur'an, made man, gave him speech. Sun, moon, sky, a balance, an earth full of food. Then the question, for the first time.
   2. 14-25: The two listeners. Man from clay that rings, jinn from flame. Two sunrises, two seas that meet and stay apart, pearls, ships like mountains.
   3. 26-30: The turn. Everyone on earth will pass away. One thing stays. And everyone in the heavens and the earth is asking Him for something, every day.
   4. 31-45: The reckoning. "We will attend to you." Run, if there is anywhere to run. A sky like a rose. And still, the question.
   5. 46-61: Two gardens. For whoever was in awe of standing before his Lord. Branches, springs, fruit within reach. Is the reward for good anything but good?
   6. 62-78: Two more, and the name. Two further gardens, so green they are almost black. The surah ends where it began: on His name.
5. Card 5

   Ar-Rahmān 55:1-2: The name, alone. Then the first gift.

   ٱلرَّحۡمَٰنُ ۝١ عَلَّمَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ ۝٢

   ¹ The Most Merciful

   ² Taught the Qur’ān,

6. Card 6

   Taught first, created second

   The surah lists teaching the Qur'an before creating man. One commentary's reading: the human being was made in order to be guided, so the guidance is named first.

7. Card 7

   Ar-Rahmān 55:9: He raised the sky and set up a balance. Then:

   وَأَقِيمُواْ ٱلۡوَزۡنَ بِٱلۡقِسۡطِ وَلَا تُخۡسِرُواْ ٱلۡمِيزَانَ ۝٩

   ⁹ And establish weight in justice and do not make deficient the balance.

8. Card 8

   A scale, or justice?

   One translation says He "imposed the balance". The other says He "enjoined justice". Early scholars held both. Either way: weigh fairly.

9. Card 9

   Ar-Rahmān 55:13: Then, for the first time, the question.

   فَبِأَيِّ ءَالَآءِ رَبِّكُمَا تُكَذِّبَانِ ۝١٣

   ¹³ So which of the favors of your Lord would you deny?

10. Card 10

    One question, 31 times

    Each time it follows something new, so each time it asks something new.

    The "you" is the Arabic form for exactly two. Which two?

11. Card 11

    Ar-Rahmān 55:14: The two being asked. The first:

    خَلَقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنَ مِن صَلۡصَٰلࣲ كَٱلۡفَخَّارِ ۝١٤

    ¹⁴ He created man from clay like [that of] pottery.

12. Card 12

    Ar-Rahmān 55:15: And the second:

    وَخَلَقَ ٱلۡجَآنَّ مِن مَّارِجࣲ مِّن نَّارࣲ ۝١٥

    ¹⁵ And He created the jinn from a smokeless flame of fire.

13. Card 13

    Clay that rings

    Man's clay is not wet mud. The word means dry clay that sounds when tapped, like a fired pot. The jinn's fire is the tip of the flame. No smoke in it.

14. Card 14

    The jinn answered better

    The Companions heard the surah in silence. The jinn, the Prophet ﷺ said, answered every refrain: "We deny none of Your favours, our Lord, and to You belongs all praise."

15. Card 15

    Ar-Rahmān 55:19-20: The world humans and jinn share also comes in twos.

    مَرَجَ ٱلۡبَحۡرَيۡنِ يَلۡتَقِيَانِ ۝١٩ بَيۡنَهُمَا بَرۡزَخࣰ لَّا يَبۡغِيَانِ ۝٢٠

    ¹⁹ He released the two seas, meeting [one another];

    ²⁰ Between them is a barrier so neither of them transgresses.

16. Card 16

    Ar-Rahmān 55:26: Then the list of gifts stops.

    كُلُّ مَنۡ عَلَيۡهَا فَانࣲ ۝٢٦

    ²⁶ Everyone upon it [i.e., the earth] will perish,

17. Card 17

    Ar-Rahmān 55:27: An early scholar said: never stop there. Read on.

    وَيَبۡقَىٰ وَجۡهُ رَبِّكَ ذُو ٱلۡجَلَٰلِ وَٱلۡإِكۡرَامِ ۝٢٧

    ²⁷ And there will remain the Face of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor.

18. Card 18

    "Every day He is in some matter"

    Forgiving a sin, relieving a distress, raising some and lowering others. That is how a hadith on Ziyaad's sheet (Ibn Majah 202) explains it. Everyone is asking, so something is always being answered.

19. Card 19

    Ar-Rahmān 55:31: The tone turns in one line.

    سَنَفۡرُغُ لَكُمۡ أَيُّهَ ٱلثَّقَلَانِ ۝٣١

    ³¹ We will attend to you, O prominent beings.

20. Card 20

    Ar-Rahmān 55:33: Then a dare, to both.

    يَٰمَعۡشَرَ ٱلۡجِنِّ وَٱلۡإِنسِ إِنِ ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُمۡ أَن تَنفُذُواْ مِنۡ أَقۡطَارِ ٱلسَّمَٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضِ فَٱنفُذُواْۚ لَا تَنفُذُونَ إِلَّا بِسُلۡطَٰنࣲ ۝٣٣

    ³³ O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allāh].

21. Card 21

    Not about rockets

    A modern commentary says plainly: this is no prediction of space travel. It states what humans and jinn cannot do. The jinn are named first, it suggests, because if anyone could, it would be them.

22. Card 22

    Ar-Rahmān 55:37: The Arabic word here is literally "a rose".

    فَإِذَا ٱنشَقَّتِ ٱلسَّمَآءُ فَكَانَتۡ وَرۡدَةࣱ كَٱلدِّهَانِ ۝٣٧

    ³⁷ And when the heaven is split open and becomes rose-colored like oil -

23. Card 23

    A favour, after Hell?

    The refrain follows even the fire. Ibn Kathir's answer: the warning is itself the favour. People are told in advance, he says, while they can still turn back.

24. Card 24

    Ar-Rahmān 55:46: Then the other outcome.

    وَلِمَنۡ خَافَ مَقَامَ رَبِّهِۦ جَنَّتَانِ ۝٤٦

    ⁴⁶ But for he who has feared the position of his Lord are two gardens -

25. Card 25

    Only the lining

    The couches of the gardens are described by their lining alone: thick silk. Ibn Mas'ud's remark: that is the lining, so what about the outside?

26. Card 26

    Ar-Rahmān 55:60: The rule behind the gardens, in five Arabic words.

    هَلۡ جَزَآءُ ٱلۡإِحۡسَٰنِ إِلَّا ٱلۡإِحۡسَٰنُ ۝٦٠

    ⁶⁰ Is the reward for good [anything] but good?

27. Card 27

    Two pairs of gardens

    • The first pair: Branches, flowing springs. Two kinds of every fruit. Many commentators: for the Foremost, those brought nearest. (55:46)
    • The second pair: Green, almost black. Gushing springs, dates, pomegranates. Many say a lower rank. Al-Jalalayn: simply two more. (55:62)
28. Card 28

    Ar-Rahmān 55:78: The surah began with a name. It ends on one.

    تَبَٰرَكَ ٱسۡمُ رَبِّكَ ذِي ٱلۡجَلَٰلِ وَٱلۡإِكۡرَامِ ۝٧٨

    ⁷⁸ Blessed is the name of your Lord, Owner of Majesty and Honor.

29. Card 29

    Reflect: Why does the refrain about "favours" follow even the ayat about Hell?

    Answer: A warning given in advance is itself a favour. That is Ibn Kathir's reading: people are warned beforehand so they can turn back. The jinn's reply to the refrain was: we deny none of Your favours, our Lord.

30. Card 30

    "Everything has an adornment, and the adornment of the Qur'an is Ar-Rahman." The surah is often called "the Bride of the Qur'an".

31. Card 31

    The end of Ar-Rahmān.

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