Surah Abasa (80) Word Translation - Verse 1 - 28
Quran and Hadith
After the completion of Surah Naaziat, we will now move on to word-to-word translation of Surah Abasa.
Below is the
brief introduction of this Surah.
Name
The Surah is so designated after the word `abasa with which it opens.
Period of Revelation
The commentators and traditionists are unanimous about the occasion of the revelation of this Surah. According to them, once some big chiefs of Makkah were sitting in the Holy Prophet's assembly and he was earnestly engaged in trying to persuade them to accept Islam. At that very point, a blind man, named Ibn Umm Maktum, approached him to seek explanation of some point concerning Islam. The Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) disliked his interruption and ignored him. Thereupon Allah sent down this Surah. From this historical incident the period of the revelation of this Surah can be precisely determined.
Theme and Subject MatterIn view of the apparent style with which the discourse opens, one feels that
in this Surah Allah has expressed His displeasure against the Holy Prophet (upon
whom be peace) for his treating the blind man with indifference and attending to
the big chiefs exclusively. But when the whole Surah is considered objectively,
one finds that the displeasure, in fact, has been expressed against the
disbelieving Quraish, who because of their arrogant attitude and indifference to
the truth, were rejecting with contempt the message of truth being conveyed by
the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace). Then, besides teaching him the correct
method of preaching, the error of the method that he was adopting at the start
of his mission has also been pointed out.
His treating the blind man with neglect and disregard and devoting all his attention to the Quraish chiefs was not for the reason that he regarded the rich as noble and a poor blind man as contemptible, and, God forbid, there was some rudeness in his manner for which Allah reproved him. But, as a matter of fact, when a caller to Truth embarks on his mission of conveying his message to the people, he naturally wants the most influential people of society to accept his message so that his task becomes easy, for even if his invitation spreads among the poor and weak people, it cannot make much difference. Almost the same attitude had the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) also adopted in the beginning, his motive being only sincerity and a desire to promote his mission and not any idea of respect for the big people and hatred for the small people. But Allah made him realize that that was not the correct method of extending invitation to Islam, but from his mission's point of view, every man, who was a seeker after truth, was important, even if he was weak, or poor, and every man, who was heedless to the truth, was unimportant, even if he occupied a high position in society. Therefore, he should openly proclaim and convey the teachings of Islam to all and sundry, but the people who were really worthy of his attention, were those who were inclined to accept the Truth, and his sublime and noble message was too high to be presented before those haughty people who in their arrogance and vanity thought that they did not stand in need of him but rather he stood in need of them.
Please see the
attached file for word-to-word translation of verses 1-28 of this Surah.
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