﷽
الحمد لله والصلاة والسلام على رسول الله
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
We begin by mentioning the Name of The One True God, Allāh, The Infinitely Caring, Eternally Compassionate. We sincerely praise and thank God to the highest extent, and ask Him to bless, protect, honor, and compliment our Prophet and Messenger Muḥammad, his family, his companions, and those that diligently follow them until the end of times. Dear God, please include us from amongst them.
حم (١) وَالْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ (٢) إِنَّا أَنزلْنَاهُ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مُبَارَكَةٍ إِنَّا كُنَّا مُنْذِرِينَ (٣) فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ (٤) أَمْرًا مِنْ عِنْدِنَا إِنَّا كُنَّا مُرْسِلِينَ (٥) رَحْمَةً مِنْ رَبِّكَ إِنَّهُ هُوَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ (٦)
“Ḥā Mīm. I swear by the clear and clarifying book! No doubt We, yes We, revealed it on a blessed night filled with increasing goodness. (I/We swear that,) no doubt We, yes We, are a Warner! On that night, every planned, wise, and decided matter is clarified and dispatched as a command from Us. No doubt We, yes We, are a Sender of messengers. (The revealing of books and sending of messengers is) compassion from your Master. No doubt He, yes He, is Eternally Hearing, Eternally Knowing.”[1]
These are “ḥurūf muqaṭṭaʿah”[2] or “broken letters”, meaning that they are individual letters from the Arabic alphabet that do not make up a word. There is much that can be said, but simply put, it has the possibility of serving the following few goals (among others).
Firstly, it is an address to the Arabs of Makkah. You have known this man, Muḥammad, for 45 years now. You know he never got a formal education, and that he for sure does not know how to read or write. But here he is, quoting letters of the alphabet to you. You only know the alphabet if you learn formally. So that means he is getting an education. But that begs the questions: who is teaching him? The answer? The One True God, Allāh ﷻ[3] via The Archangel Jibrīl ﷺ[4] (Gabriel).
Secondly, do you Arabs not claim to be the apex race when it comes to language, composition, style, rhetoric, and depth of meaning? But here you are, stumped, duped, and dumbfounded by some letters?!
With both of those possible reasons in mind, a practical application is born. In The Qurʾān, these broken letters are just about always followed by a mention of The Qurʾān itself and its Greatness. However, there are a few “half” exceptions, such as:
As discussed earlier, broken letters are followed by the mention of Qurʾān. That is exactly what happens here. Allāh swears by The Qurʾān: the clear and clarifying (mubīn[9]) book. This is an oath (qasam[10]) taken by Allāh ﷻ. After swearing by something, the point at hand (jawāb al-qasam) will be made. For example, if someone says, “I swear to God (wallāhi[11]) I did not eat that apple!” then their statement “I swear to God” is the qasam (the swear), and their statement “I did not eat that apple” is the jawāb al-qasam[12] (the point of the swear). When Allāh ﷻ says, “يس وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ - Yā Sīn. I swear by the perfectly knit commanding book of wisdom (i.e., The Qurʾān) that you (O Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ) are from those who have been sent!”[13] then the statement of Allāh, “وَالْقُرْآنِ الْحَكِيمِ - I swear by the perfectly knit commanding book of wisdom” is the qasam, and “إِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِينَ - you are from those who have been sent!” is the jawāb al-qasam. There is a very deep study of what Allāh ﷻ swears by depending on what point He is trying to make. May Allāh ﷻ open our hearts and minds to get even a taste of that. Āmīn![14]
The repetition within “We, yes We” comes from the fact that Allāh ﷻ stated the pronoun “We” twice in addition to a particle of emphasis (inna[15]). This is often lost in translation due the repetitive nature, but it detracts from the multiple layers and modes of emphasis utilized by Allāh ﷻ. The verb “anzala”[16] means to send something down from above. It is most often used with (a) revelation, and (b) rain. There is much that can be said, but to keep it short, just like Allāh ﷻ sends rain down from above to bring the dead earth back to life, He ﷻ sent The Qurʾān, which is revelation and guidance, down from above to bring the dead soulless human back to life and faith.
Allāh ﷻ continues and says that He sent it, meaning the clear and clarifying book (The Qurʾān) mentioned in the previous āyah on a “blessed night”.[17] The word “mubārakah”[18] means something that is divinely blessed, and has barakah placed inside of it by Allāh ﷻ.[19] We often translate barakah as “blessing”, and despite the mental connection made, we fail to understand what barakah and blessings truly are. The term barakah refers to an increase in good. We can understand it in this very simple example: one person can eat an entire pizza and not feel satisfied, whereas another person (of similar size and metabolism) can eat a couple slices and feel extremely satisfied. We are not focused on the quantity, rather the quality, as well as the ability for us to do or experience more with less via blessings and an increase in goodness from Allāh ﷻ.
The preposition used is technically “in” (fī[20]) but in English we say “on a certain night” as opposed to “in a certain night.” How this night is blessed and has an ever increasing amount of goodness is beyond our comprehension, but one possible way will be discussed shortly.
Which night is this “blessed night”? There are two main opinions as quoted by Shaykh Al-Mufassirīn (Senior Exegete) Al-Imām Al-Ṭabarī (d. 310 AH - raḥimahuAllāh)[21]: (1) Laylah Al-Qadr[22] (The Night of “Al-Qadr”,[23] to be explained later) or (2) Laylah Al-Niṣf Min Shaʿbān[24] (i.e., the 15th night of the 8th Hijrī month named Shaʿbān[25]). He, as well as the vast majority of scholars[26] go with the former, that Laylah Al-Qadr is being referred to. This is because Laylah Al-Qadr is in Ramaḍān,[27],[28] and without a doubt, some aspect of The Qurʾān’s revelation took place in Ramaḍān since Allāh ﷻ says, “شَهْرُ رَمَضَانَ الَّذِي أُنْزِلَ فِيهِ الْقُرْآنُ - Ramaḍān is the month in which The Qurʾān was revealed.”[29]
Allāh ﷻ informs us of three aspects of Laylah Al-Qadr in Sūrah Al-Qadr (Sūrah #97):
Again the repeated use of the pronoun “We” along with a particle of emphasis (inna) is used. Allāh ﷻ is emphasizing the point that He ﷻ is a warner (mundhirīn[33]), either in and of Himself, or via His sending of messengers or revealing of scripture. This has also been explained to mean, “We are instilling fear of our punishment.”[34] Warnings and ensuring things that need to be feared are feared are necessary for people to get their act together. This life is a test, and that must be conveyed to humanity. The consequences of this test, be it Heaven or Hell, must also be clarified. Thus the warning and instilling of fear is not just justified, but necessary, and even a manifestation of His Compassion (raḥmah[35]) as we will see in a couple āyāt.
The “(I/We swear)” at the beginning of the translation is there because it is most likely the reason the oath was taken on The Qurʾān earlier, meaning it is the jawāb al-qasam. However, others have said that the oath was taken to prove that the revelation took place on a blessed night, even though the qasam is usually not on or by the thing being proven in the jawāb al-qasam (i.e., Allāh swearing by The Qurʾān that He revealed The Qurʾān).[36]
We have seen from above that the blessed night being discussed is Laylah Al-Qadr - The Night of Al-Qadr. Let us now define and discuss the word “qadr” and its possible meanings.
With that in mind, we see how the āyah in question from Sūrah Al-Dukhān, “فِيهَا يُفْرَقُ كُلُّ أَمْرٍ حَكِيمٍ أَمْرًا مِنْ عِنْدِنَا - On that night, every planned, wise, and decided matter is clarified and dispatched as a command from Us” falls perfectly in line with the first meaning of qadr which is decree.
Next we can examine “ḥakīm”,[47] often translated as “wise”. That is a correct translation depending on the context. Here, ḥakīm is being used as muḥkam,[48] which means planned and decided.[49] Muḥkam stems from the verb iḥkām[50] which means to perfect something. It is also related to hukm which means verdict. So we can actually piece all four meanings together:[51]
The decree that is “yufraq”[52] - meaning “carried out” or “dispatched” - is a perfectly planned, decreed, and wise command from Allāh ﷻ and Allāh ﷻ alone. As Allāh ﷻ says, “أَمْرًا مِنْ عِنْدِنَا - as a command from Us.” Everything He ﷻ does is like that. But on this night, His Decree is “yufraq”, meaning “handed off” or “dispatched” to the angels for the coming year.[53] We know that these decrees are sent to the angels because Allāh ﷻ says, “تَنزلُ الْمَلائِكَةُ وَالرُّوحُ فِيهَا بِإِذْنِ رَبِّهِمْ مِنْ كُلِّ أَمْرٍ - Jibrīl and the angels come down with the decree of Allāh.”[54] Despite the angels’ involvement and their coming down, it is not their decision, choice, or plan; it is a command (amr[55]) from Allāh ﷻ alone, and via His Permission (idhn[56]).
Again, the repeated use of the pronoun “We” along with a particle of emphasis (inna) is used. Allāh ﷻ is emphasizing the point that He ﷻ is the sender of messengers (mursilīn[57]). He ﷻ is a warner (mundhirīn), as mentioned before, either in and of Himself, or via His sending of messengers. He ﷻ highlights that again. Also, Allāh ﷻ does not just send human messengers (i.e., prophets [nabiyy[58]] and messengers [rasūl[59]]) but also angels (who are also referred to as “sent” beings). Both of these meanings work because revelations were sent to a human prophet to teach and convey. Those revelations were conveyed to their respective human prophets via the angel-messenger Jibrīl (Gabriel). Additionally, in this co-context of decree and Laylah Al-Qadr, Allāh ﷻ has sent angels to carry out His Decree. All of this: the revealing of books, sending of angel-messengers, sending of human-messengers, giving of warnings, instilling of fear, and His Decree are all an act of His Compassion (raḥmah), a show of His kindness and gentleness. That is because, without all of this, humanity would not be aware, with certainty, that a life after death exists, wherein judgment will determine one’s fate of Heaven (Jannah[60]) or Hell (Jahannam[61]).
Allāh ﷻ ends this introduction by reminding us that He is Al-Samī[62]: He has, does, and always will hear absolutely everything. He is also Al-ʿAlīm[63]: He has, does, and always will know absolutely everything. There is nothing that goes on in existence except that He ﷻ is completely aware of all of the details. He sees every single thing, and He ﷻ knows every single thing. This serves not only as a reminder to humanity of Allāh ﷻ’s infinite perfection, but also ties in to Allāh ﷻ’s warnings and His kindness and compassion (raḥmah). We humans should strive to obey Allāh ﷻ in hopes of earning His kindness, because we know that He ﷻ sees everything we do. Just like that, we should strive to avoid His disobedience in hopes of saving ourselves from His punishment, because we know that He sees everything we do.
اللهم فهمنا
ربنا زدنا علما
اللهم فقهنا في الدين وعلمنا التأويل
اللهم معلم آدم وإبراهيم ومحمد علمنا مما علمتهم
اللهم ارزقنا علما نافعا وحكمة بالغة
اللهم افتح علينا فتوح العارفين
يا فتاح يا عليم
اللهم صل وسلم على رسولك المصطفى الكريم
وعلى آله وصحبه أجمعين ومن تبعهم بإحسان إلى يوم الدين
اللهم اجعلنا منهم
Written primarily on the 21st of Ramaḍān 1445 AH.
May Allāh ﷻ reward those who helped write and edit this, including, but not limited to, Shaykhah Ayesha Syed Hussain, and Munir Eltal[64].
