al-Ṣāffāt 37:171-179

Wa laqad sabaqat kalimatunā li-ʿibādina'l-mursalīn · Innahum la-humu'l-manṣūrūn · Wa inna jundanā la-humu'l-ghālibūn · Fa-tawalla ʿanhum ḥattā ḥīn · Wa abṣirhum fa-sawfa yubṣirūn · A-fa-bi-ʿadhābinā yastaʿjilūn · Fa-idhā nazala bi-sāḥatihim fa-sāʾa ṣabāḥu'l-mundharīn · Wa tawalla ʿanhum ḥattā ḥīn · Wa abṣir fa-sawfa yubṣirūn

"And Our word has gone forth already concerning Our servants the messengers: they will surely be helped, and Our host will surely prevail. So turn away from them for a time, and watch them — soon they will see. Do they seek to hasten Our punishment? But when it comes down into their courtyard, how evil will be the morning of those who were warned! Turn away from them for a time, and watch — soon they will see."

Sabaqa — root س-ب-ق: to go ahead, to be first. The root was treated at al-Wāqiʿa 56/10, 60 (al-sābiqūn, masbūqīn).

And the choice of the verb is worth noting — as my own reading: the verse does not say "We have a word", it says "Our word went ahead". The promise, that is, stands in front of the events — not a consolation given afterwards.

Kalima — root ك-ل-م. And in Arabic kalima means not a single word but also a saying, a decree. In the thirty-first verse the same idea occurred with another word: fa-ḥaqqa ʿalaynā qawlu rabbinā — "the word of our Lord has come true against us".

The same idea, two words, two opposite directions. This is a textual datum.

Li-ʿibādina'l-mursalīn — "Our servants the messengers". And the construct uses the same word as the closing mould of the sequence: min ʿibādinā'l-muʾminīn (81, 111, 132). The same structure: ʿibādinā + an attribute.

This is a datum about a word that binds the sequence's closing mould to the sūra's closing block.

And the two verses are in the same mould: inna + a noun + la-humu + a definite active or passive participle.

The difference of pattern is worth noting — as my own reading: the messengers are named with the passive pattern (those helped), the host with the active (those who prevail). Help comes to the messenger, that is; the victory belongs to the host. The two sentences say the same outcome from two different directions.

Manṣūr — root ن-ص-ر. And in the hundred and sixteenth verse it was said of Moses and Aaron wa naṣarnāhum. The same root, the one realised in the past, the other a promise given for the future.

Al-ghālibūn — root غ-ل-ب. And in the hundred and sixteenth verse it was said fa-kānū humu'l-ghālibīn. The table was given in the section on the hundred and sixteenth verse.

Verses one hundred and seventy-two and one hundred and seventy-three, that is, turn into a general rule two things that were realised in the past in the Moses-Aaron section (help and victory). This is a link that can be verified from the text.

Jund — a soldier, an army, a company. And the construct is jundanā — "Our host". Whose it is is not said, of whom it consists is not said. The verse does not give it, and neither do I.

And here is the plainest repetition of the sūra. Verses one hundred and seventy-four to one hundred and seventy-five and verses one hundred and seventy-eight to one hundred and seventy-nine are almost exactly the same:

A difference of two words. This is a fact that can be verified from the text.

And there are two verses in between (176-177) — the repetition, then, is not idle; it sets up a frame:

A warning has been set between the two commands, that is. This is a widespread structure in the Qurʾān, and in al-Wāqiʿa a note was entered for the same structure (the repetition of verse 74 = 96): the repetition draws a block boundary.

I record this as my own reading: the abṣirhum ("watch them") of the first command has an object; in the second the object has dropped: abṣir ("watch"). In the second command, that is, what is to be watched is not specified. The first says to look at them, the second only to look. This is an observation about the structure; the grammarians issue no firm ruling on a difference of sense.

Tawalla — root و-ل-ي, Form V: to turn away. And the verb had occurred in the ninetieth verse: fa-tawallaw ʿanhu mudbirīn — Abraham's people had turned away from him.

The same verb, the same preposition (ʿan), the opposite direction. This is a fact that can be verified from the text.

And at al-Dhāriyāt 51/54 the same command was treated: fa-tawalla ʿanhum fa-mā anta bi-malūm. I rely on that treatment. The difference here: in al-Dhāriyāt a consolation follows the command ("you are not to be blamed"); in al-Ṣāffāt a term is given ("for a time").

Ḥattā ḥīn — "for a time". And ḥīn for the third time in the sūra (148, 174, 178). The table was given in the section on the hundred and forty-eighth verse.

I record this as my own reading: the command is not an abandonment but a postponement. Ḥattā (until) announces a limit. And the term is left indefinite (ḥīn is indefinite). Not "leave them", then, but "leave them for now".

Abṣara — root ب-ص-ر, Form IV: to see, to watch. Baṣar — the eye, sight; baṣīra — inward sight. The root was treated at al-Dhāriyāt 51/21 (a-fa-lā tubṣirūn) and in al-Qiyāma.

And a point of word order is worth noting: the same root is used both in the command and in the threat.

• abṣir — an imperative, to the Prophet.
• yubṣirūn — an imperfect, about them.

That is: "you watch — and they too will see." Both sides will do the same act; at different times.

And a comparison with the hundred and seventieth verse:

The same mould (fa-sawfa + imperfect), three times, two different verbs. The sūra's last block sets knowing and seeing side by side. This is a countable fact.

Istaʿjala — root ع-ج-ل, Form X: to ask that a thing come quickly. ʿAjala — to want a thing before its time. The root was treated at al-Dhāriyāt 51/14, 59 (tastaʿjilūn, fa-lā yastaʿjilūn) and in al-Shūrā.

A point of word order: a-fa-bi-ʿadhābinā yastaʿjilūn — the prepositional phrase has been brought forward. The ordinary order would have been a-fa-yastaʿjilūna bi-ʿadhābinā. The bringing forward creates emphasis: "is it Our punishment they seek to hasten?"

I record this as my own reading: the question is a question of astonishment. To ask for a thing no one would think of asking for — and this accords with the bearing at the start of the sūra: in the twelfth verse they were mocking, in the fifteenth they were saying "sorcery". The mockery turns at the end into a challenge.

And this verse is one of the most concrete images in the sūra.

Nazala — root ن-ز-ل: to come down, to alight. And the use of the word in this context is important: nazala bi- in Arabic means "to alight in a place, to encamp there" — the arriving and alighting of a traveller.

And the word nuzul analysed in al-Wāqiʿa is from this root: the first hospitality set out for a guest on his arrival. In the sixty-second verse khayrun nuzulan was said.

The sūra uses the same root twice, then, and in both there is an idea of alighting:

This is a fact read off the choice of words.

Sāḥa — root س-و-ح: the open space before a house or a settlement, a courtyard, a square.

And the word occurs only here in the Qurʾān.

I record this as my own reading: the choice of word announces a distance. The punishment does not come down "upon them"; it comes down into their courtyard — that is, before the door. This is the picture of an army encamping before a settlement, and in Arabic this is expressed exactly as nazala bi-sāḥatihim. The next word completes it: ṣabāḥ.

Sāʾa — in Arabic the verb of dispraise (fiʿl al-dhamm). Its opposite is niʿma. And in the seventy-fifth verse fa-la-niʿma'l-mujībūn had occurred.

The same kind of verb (praise / dispraise), at the two ends of the sūra. This is a textual datum.

Ṣabāḥ — root ص-ب-ح. And the use of the word here is connected with the language of war in Arabic, and this is worth noting: among the Arabs raids were most often made at dawn, and ṣabbaḥa'l-qawma meant "he made a dawn raid upon the people". For this reason the word ṣabāḥ in this context carries the suggestion of "the hour of the raid".

And at al-Qamar 54/38 the same root occurred in the same context: wa laqad ṣabbaḥahum bukratan ʿadhābun mustaqirr. And in the hundred and thirty-seventh verse muṣbiḥīn was said of the ruin of the people of Lot.

Three occurrences, the same root, the same hour:

This is a countable fact about a word.

Al-mundharīn — root ن-ذ-ر, a passive participle: those warned. And the word for the second time in the sūra (73, 177). In the section on the seventy-third verse the difference mundhirīn / mundharīn was given in a table.

I record this as my own reading: in the seventy-third verse it was said "look how the end of those warned turned out", and thereafter the accounts of six prophets were recounted. In the hundred and seventy-seventh the same word returns, and this time it is used of the addressee himself. The sūra's sequence of prophets is thus set between two occurrences of the word mundharīn. This is a frame that can be verified from the text.