Volume 18 Surah 78 - 114 - Enjoy Islam

Al-Muţaffifīn (The Stinters)by the turning stars, which move swiftly and hide themselves away, and by the night as itcomes darkening on, and by the dawn as it starts to breathe.” (Verses 15-18) Thisdescriptive wealth adds power to man’s feelings as he responds to the naturalphenomena to which the verses refer.The Two MessengersAs the Qur’ān makes this brief, full-of-life description of these phenomena itestablishes a spiritual link between them and man, with the result that, as we read,we feel the power which created these phenomena, and the truth which we are calledupon to believe. This truth is then stated in a manner which fits in superbly with thegeneral theme of the sūrah: “This is truly the word of a noble and mighty messenger, whoenjoys a secure position with the Lord of the Throne. He is obeyed in heaven, faithful to histrust.” (Verses 19-21) This Qur’ān with its description of the Day of Judgement is theword of a noble and mighty messenger, i.e. Jibrīl or Gabriel, the angel who carriedand delivered it to Muĥammad (peace be upon him).The sūrah then gives a description of this chosen messenger. He is ‘noble’,honoured by God who says that he is ‘mighty’, which suggests that considerablestrength is required to carry and convey the Qur’ān. “Who enjoys a secure position withthe Lord of the Throne.” (Verse 20) What a great honour for Jibrīl to enjoy such aposition with the Lord of the universe. “He is obeyed in heaven”, i.e. by the otherangels. He is also “faithful to his trust”, carrying and discharging the message.These qualities add up to a definite conclusion: that the Qur’ān is a noble, mightyand exalted message and that God takes special care of man. It is a manifestation ofthis care that He has chosen an angel of Jibrīl’s calibre to bring His revelations to theman He has chosen as His Messenger. As man reflects on this divine care he shouldfeel humble. For he himself is worth very little in the kingdom of God, were it not forthe care God takes of him and the honour He bestows on him.There follows a description of the Prophet who conveys this revelation tomankind. The sūrah seems to say to them: You have known Muĥammad very wellover a considerable length of time. He is your old, honest, trusted friend. Why, then,are you fabricating tales about him, when he has been telling you the simple truthwhich he has been entrusted to deliver to you: “Your old friend is not mad. He saw himon the clear horizon. He does not grudge the secrets of the unseen. It is not the word of anaccursed devil. Whither then are you going? This is only a reminder to all mankind.” (Verses22-27)They knew the Prophet perfectly well. They knew that he was a man of steadycharacter, great sagacity and complete honesty. But in spite of all this they claimedthat he was mad, and that he received his revelations from the devil. Some of them63