Tazkirul Quran, Qur’an 37:61–74
The Ranks (Al-Saffat)
By Maulana Wahiduddin Khan
English text; the translator is not named in the archive’s data.
Translation
(61) It is for the like of this that all should strive. (62) Is that better by way of hospitality or the Zaqqum tree, (63) which We have made as a test for the wrongdoers. (64) For it is a tree that springs out of the bottom of Hellfire: (65) and its fruits are like devils’ heads. (66) They will eat from it and fill their bellies with it; (67) then in addition to it they shall have a draught of boiling water to drink; (68) then surely they shall return to Hell. (69) They found their fathers had gone astray; (70) so they are rushing to follow in their footsteps. (71) And assuredly many of the ancients went astray before them, (72) though We had sent warners among them. (73) See how those who were warned met their end! (74) Not so the chosen servants of God.
Commentary
(a) Paradise will be a world of aesthetic and noble activity. There will be interesting meetings; there will be enjoyable experiences; intellectually stimulating conversations and all kinds of limitations and unpleasantness will have come to an end.
Believing in the Hereafter does not mean a simple acceptance of it but rather considering the existence of the Hereafter as so very real and so very important that its concept should prevail over one’s entire life and one should be prepared to risk one’s all for its sake. Those who had thought of believers who were ever conscious of the Hereafter as being mad will be wonderstruck on seeing their success in the Hereafter. On the other hand, the believers in the Hereafter themselves will be surprised to see their own glory, finding it difficult to believe that God could have rewarded them so generously for their small acts of goodness. How strange is one who does not pine for such a heaven and who does not perform such deeds as will help him achieve it.
(a) It is stated in the Quran that there will be a Zaqqum tree in hell and that its fruits will be eaten by the inmates of hell when they are overwhelmed by hunger. (See
56: 52).
When this revelation was made in the Quran, the people of ancient Arabia started mocking it. One of the chiefs said, ‘How can a tree grow amidst the fire of hell?’ Another chief said, ‘Muhammad is terrifying us by talking of Zaqqum, when the fact is that dates and butter are called Zaqqum, in the Berber language.’ Abu Jahl took some people home and asked his maidservant to bring some dates and butter and when they were brought, he said to his companions, ‘Eat this. This is the Zaqqum with which you are being threatened by Muhammad.’ (Tafsir al-Mazhari).
Such Quranic statements were misused by unbelievers to demonstrate the untrustworthiness of the Quran. God might well have refrained from using such a word as would give unbelievers the opportunity to raise unnecessary issues, but He did not do so. The reason is that this creates the very situation in which a man is meant to be tried. In order to achieve salvation, he has to prove that by avoiding unnecessary issues he has given his full attention to the truth; that, by carefully avoiding misunderstandings, he has managed to discover the real purpose of the argument; that he has concentrated entirely on facts, although there were many opportunities for his mind to be diverted from them.
God’s selected few are those who rise above traditional religion and discover the real Truth; who rise above outward appearances and realise the real meaning of occurrences; who recognise God’s representative and become his supporters.