Tafsir Zone - Surah 69: al-Haqqah (The Manifest Reality)

Tafsir Zone

Surah al-Haqqah 69:44
 

Overview (Verse 44 - 52)

As the surah draws to its conclusion, it issues a terrifying threat to anyone who fabricates something about the very serious matter of faith. The threat is issued so as to affirm the only possible scenario of the Prophet being very truthful and honest in delivering the message entrusted to him. The proof is that God has not punished him severely as He would have done so had the Prophet been anything other than that:

Had he attributed some fabrications to Us, We would indeed have seized him by the right hand and cut off his life-vein, and none of you could have saved him. (Verses 44-47)

The import of these verses is confirmation that Muhammad (peace be upon him) only told them the truth. Had he invented something other than what was revealed to him from on high, God would have killed him in the way the verses describe. Since this did not take place, the inevitable conclusion is that he was truthful.

Yet this confirmation is given in a scene that goes much further than the actual statement, adding some fearsome connotations, action and life. We see here the violent, scary action of someone being seized by the right hand and his life-vein being cut. It makes a clear impression of God's limitless power and mankind's utter weakness in comparison.
 
It adds a suggestion that this question of faith is so serious that it allows no complacency or leniency towards anyone, not even Muhammad in his close relation with God. Furthermore, these verses carry a strong beat, spreading an air of fear and submission to God.

The surah concludes with a statement of the true nature of the Qur'an:

This [Qur’an] is indeed a reminder to the God-fearing. We well know that among you are some who deny its truth. Yet it will be a cause of hitter regret for the unbelievers. It is indeed truth absolute. (Verses 48-51)

This Qur'an reminds God-fearing hearts and they remember. The truth the Qur'an states is ingrained in people's hearts, but the reminder brings it to the fore in the minds of those who are God-fearing. Others continue to be preoccupied, unaware, and as such they benefit nothing by the reminder that this book, the Qur'an, provides. It is a fact that the God-fearing find in the Qur'an life, light, knowledge and remembrance, but none of these is experienced by other people.

"We well know that among you are some who deny its truth." (Verse 49) Yet this is of no consequence, and it alters nothing of the reality. Those who reject the truth are of no importance whatsoever. "Yet it will be a cause of bitter regret for the unbelievers." (Verse 50) It elevates the status of the believers and brings down the unbelievers. It establishes the truth and undermines the falsehood to which the unbelievers cling. Moreover, it provides the argument against them when they face the reckoning on the Day of Judgement. They will lament their fate to which their rejection of the truth of the Qur'an has led them. Thus, it is a source of bitter regret for all unbelievers in this life and in the life to come.

In the face of all denials and rejection by the unbelievers, the Qur'an is "indeed truth absolute." (Verse 51) It is not merely the truth, but the truth absolute, reconfirmed in absolute terms. In fact, every word in the Qur'an is profoundly true; every verse carries enough evidence that it originates with God, who Himself is the Truth.

At this point, an instruction is given from on high to the noble Messenger. It comes at the right time and during the right situation: "Extol then, the glory of the name of your Lord, the Supreme." (Verse 52)
 
This is the most suitable action as it reflects acknowledgement of God's glory and man's position as God's servant. To glorify God is the feeling that a believer experiences after the last statement explaining the nature of the Qur'an is given and after the long discussion of God Almighty's greatness.