(p-99) Surah Al-Taghabun

Its purpose is to convey a warning against what the hypocrites have warned of, by establishing conclusive evidence that it is from the disgrace on the Day of Judgment, on the Day of the Greatest Gathering. Its name, Al-Taghabun, clearly indicates this, and it is the most indicative of it. For this reason, it was named thus. 'In the name of Allah, the Owner of the Kingdom, there is none comparable to Him, nor any like Him. 'The Most Gracious,' whose goodness encompasses the creatures, 'the Most Merciful,' who has specifically favored a people above others with His kindness.

* *When that was concluded with the affirmation of His dominion through the enforcement of the command and the encompassing of knowledge, this began with the encompassing of praise and the continuous purification from every blemish of deficiency. This is a guidance to reflect on His actions and to contemplate His creations, for this is the path to knowing Him. As for knowing Him in the essence of reality, it is impossible, for no one knows a thing in that way except its like, and there is nothing like Him. So He said, affirming what He made understood at the beginning of the gathering: ﴿He glorifies﴾ meaning He establishes complete glorification along with renewal and continuity ﴿for Allah﴾ who has the encompassing of the attributes of perfection ﴿what is in the heavens﴾ which includes the earth and what is in it. He does not desire anything from it except that it is according to His will, and thus the existence and the existent (p-100) are witnesses to His purity from every blemish of deficiency.

And when the address was with those who preceded in the last of the hypocrites, who are in need of affirmation, He said, affirming by repeating the connected phrase: ﴿and what is in the earth﴾ meaning likewise, indicating His perfection and self-sufficiency. It has been established that the agreement of the rational person with the command is like the agreement of the non-rational with the will. Therefore, he must refine himself to the utmost refinement so that he is in obedience to Him by complying with the commands like the obedience of the non-rational in complying with what is desired from him.

And when He, glorified is He, presented that textual evidence of His complete purity in a way that the rational evidence is understood by those who have understanding, as Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, said: "What is heard does not benefit if it is not imprinted, just as the sun does not benefit if the light of the eye is prohibited." This is because He, glorified is He, made them containers as is observed, and the container is in need of the existence of its content before it; thus, it is incapable. Therefore, it is always glorifying, and if it is not with a tongue that speaks it, it is with the tongue of its state. And its Creator is free from the need for the container, so the other is glorifying. [He explained] this by saying: ﴿to Him﴾ meaning alone ﴿belongs the kingdom﴾ [meaning] all of it absolutely in this world and the Hereafter, and it is the general sovereignty over the specific and the general, and the general governance with its two pillars: repelling evils and bringing about good, which brings joy (p-101) and happiness from creation and annihilation. Thus, it is more eloquent than what is in the gathering, for kingship may be a kingship in form, and that kingship which is apparent in it for others. Therefore, the continuous glorification that is necessitated by the greatness of the King here is greater than that continuity.

And when they followed him in the Friday [prayer], the glorification of Him from deficiency, he followed it here with the description of perfection and said: "And to Him" meaning alone, "is all praise" meaning the encompassing of all attributes of perfection. Therefore, all of His creatures glorify Him. So whoever understands their glorification, that is the [muhsin]. And whoever was by nature and innate disposition inclined to understanding, then neglected it, is likely to return and understand. And whoever was not prepared for that, then that is the misguided one, for whom there is no way out. "And He" meaning alone, "is over all things" meaning anything possible that His will may relate to. "All-Powerful" because He alone is over all things absolutely knowledgeable. This is because the relation of His essence necessitating power over all things is equal in measure, and this is very clear. And because whoever knows himself with deficiency knows his Lord with perfection and the strength of sovereignty and majesty.

And [Imam] Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair, may Allah have mercy on him, said: When he elaborated in the two surahs, he accepted the state of those who carried the Torah from the Children of Israel and then did not carry it. He also addressed the state of the hypocrites who pretend to be Muslims, while their hearts are filled with disbelief and stubbornness, thick with darkness. He clarified the departure of the two groups from the straight path and their deviation from the guidance of the upright religion. He implied that their description with a single characteristic indicates their particularity in disbelief, marked by a label that signifies the severity of that distancing, aside from what others among the factions of disbelievers encountered. So, Allah, the Most High, informed that all of creation, even if the factions are diverse and the paths are separated, will return by the decree of the precedents to two paths. He said, "He is the One who created you; among you is the disbeliever and among you is the believer" [Al-Taghabun: 2]. We have clarified the evidence that the believers are on degrees, and the people of disbelief have ranks, while the people of hypocrisy are the lowest in status and the worst in disbelief and misguidance. "Indeed, the hypocrites are in the lowest level of the Fire" [An-Nisa: 145]. The surah began with glorification due to the great sins committed by the hypocrites in their ignorance. Even if the Surah of the Hypocrites did not encompass the enormity of their actions except for what Allah, the Most High, narrated of their saying, "If we return to the city, the more honorable will surely expel the more humble from it" [Al-Munafiqun: 8]. His saying, the Most High, "He knows what is in the heavens and the earth, and He knows what you conceal and what you declare, and Allah is Knowing of that which is in the breasts" [Al-Taghabun: 4], refers to what is before and after it from the verses regarding the great ignorance of the hypocrites and their immense deprivation in their saying with their tongues what their hearts do not encompass. "And Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are indeed liars" [Al-Munafiqun: 1]. They take their oaths as a shield and turn others away from the path of Allah to what He described them with, glorified and exalted is He. So, He, glorified and exalted, opened the Surah of Al-Taghabun with His glorification of what they imagined of their actions that are not hidden from Him, glorified is He. "Do they not know that Allah knows their secrets and their private conversations?" [At-Tawbah: 78]. Then He, the Most High, said, "And He knows what you conceal and what you declare" [Al-Taghabun: 4]. He admonished and reprimanded in several verses, then indicated what prevented them from reflecting on the verses and turned them away from considering the miracles. It is arrogance that destroys others. So, He, the Most High, informed about their predecessors in this sin, from whom that led to painful punishment and a bad end. "That is because their messengers came to them with clear proofs, but they said, 'Are mere humans guiding us?' So they disbelieved and turned away" [Al-Taghabun: 6]. Then the discourse continued, known by their ultimate fate and the fate of others to His saying, "And wretched is the final destination" [Al-Taghabun: 10]. The relevance of what follows will be clarified in the tafsir, by the will of Allah - it has ended.