reynolds-the-quran-in-its-historical-context-2

266 Munther YounesIn this'essay, I examine the introductory verses ofQur'an 79 (wa-1-nazi 'at)suggest a new interpretation using the same method as the one used in thestruction ofQur'an 100.First, I present the verses according to the standard interpretation, as uv•a',""" uTab an (d. 310/923), whose account is the earliest comprehensive and svs:ten1ati1taftir available. 412345wa-1-niizi 'iiti gharqiiwa-1-niishitiiti nashtiiwa-l-siibil:z"iiti sabl;afa-1-siibiqiiti sabqiifa-1-mudabbiriiti amra\,;_;C. \c. jllll J\.b..S.;U..::.llliJt....;....d"""LJIJli:.... wt....J~.>,_;.11~Tab an cites differences among the Qur' an commentators in the first tr-•• ~ "' 0 ~"0'but not the fifth. The five verses contain two words each, an active participlea verbal noun. The ten words are derived from seven different roots. In theand fifth verses, the two words are derived from two different roots, but inremaining three, the active participle and the verbal noun share the same rootbasic meaning, with the active participle referring to an attribute of an actorthe verbal noun to the action itself. The disagreements among the coJnrrlentat(revolve around the reference of the active participles, particularly the activeciple of the first verse al-nazi 'at. Taban's account, which presents the viewsearlier commentators, is summarized in the following table:2345al-niizi'iitgharqiial-niishitiitnashtaal-siibil;atsabl;aal-siibiqatsabqaal-mudabbiriitamraangels, death, stars, bows, the souldrowningangels, death, stars, lassos, the oryxremoving, untying quickly, moving swiftlydeath, angels, stars, shipsswimmingangels, death, horses, starsracing, overcoming in a raceangels (managing)command, affairProblems with the traditional accountGeneral problem: tlze reference of tlze active participlesThe fact that there is so much uncertainty about the reference or referencesthe five active participles is sufficient to raise questions about the value of4 Abu Ja' far Mul)ammad b. JarTr al-Tabar'i. Tafslr al-Tabari al-musamma Jami' al-bayan 'an'ayal-Qur'an, ed. Mul)ammad Bay(filn, Beirut: Diiral-Kutub al-'IImiyya, 2005, 12,420-24.The opening verses of Qur 'an 79 267interpretation. The reference to angels seems to make the most sensethe only one with any consistency among the five verses, since none of thepossible references (i.e. death, stars, etc.) can be understood to be pulling ordrowning, moving or removing swiftly, swimming, racing, and managing• 5 However, there is strong evidence in the Qur'anitselffor excluding evenfrom being the reference of these participles, since the Qur' an associatesangels with unbelief: inna alladhfna !a yu 'minzlna bi-1-akhiratiusamn1iin!a al-mala 'ikata tasmiyat al-untha ("Lo! it is those who disbelieve inwho name the angels with the names offemales" [Q 53:27]). 6root n-z- 'is found twenty times in the Qur'an, with several meanings ranging"pulling" to "desire" to "controversy." 7 The Form I verb naza', the source of thective p:mi,ciple niizi '(fern. niizi 'a), is used with seven meanings all revolving aroundof pulling or taking away: 1) to pull out, take out; 2) to remove; 3) to withtakeaway; 4) to sweep away; 5) to peel off; 6) to select; 7) to pluck out. 8word niizi 'at, which occurs only' once in the Qur'an, is translated as "thosestrive," "those who pull out," "those who discarl" 9 The meanings ofand "discarding" are clearly tied to the context of the verse as traditionunderstood,and not to the usage of the word outside of this verse. The rootoccurs twenty-three times. 10 It is found in two verbal nouns (gharq andin the Form IV verb aghraqa, and the passive participle of the latter,Following are the meanings provided by Badawi and Abdel Haleem forfour words: 11going to the extreme, all the way, violently, strongly, energeticallydrowningto cause to drowndrownedBint al-Shiiti' suggests "raiding horses" (al-khayl a/-mughira) rather than angels as 1:he reference· participles (al-Tafsir al-bayani /i-1-Qur 'an al-karim, Cairo: Dar al-Ma' iirif, 1977, I: 124).', Howe,ver_ an interpretation in which horses would be "managing the affair" (Q 79:5) is highly: prctble1natiic. Bell offers yet another possibility. After stating that the meaning ofQ 79:1-5 is "quitehe writes: "If they must be interpreted, it seems best to take them as referring to thelife of Mecca." R. Bell, A Commentary on the Qur 'an, C.E. Bosworth and M.E.J.o::Richrurdscm (eds), Manchester: University of Manchester, 1991, 2:485.also Qur'an 6:9 and 37:150-52. The English transiations ofQur'anic verses cited-in this essayare taken from Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall's The Meaning of the Glorious Koran, New. York: New American Library, 1972.E.M. Badawi and M. Abdel Haleem, Arabic-English Dictionmy of Qur 'anic Usage, Lei den,Brill, 2008, 926-27.927.927-28.663-64.