Tafsir of Surah An-Najm - Verse 62

A Warning and Exhortation, the Order to prostrate and to be humble

Allah said,

هَـذَا نَذِيرٌ

(This is a warner) in reference to Muhammad ﷺ ,

مِّنَ النُّذُرِ الاٍّوْلَى

(from the warners of old.) means, just like the warners of old, he was sent as a Messenger as they were sent as Messengers. Allah the Exalted said,

قُلْ مَا كُنتُ بِدْعاً مِّنَ الرُّسُلِ

(Say: "I am not a new thing among the Messengers.")(46:9) Allah said;

أَزِفَتِ الاٌّزِفَةُ

(The Azifah draws near.) that which is near, the Day of Resurrection, has drawn nearer,

لَيْسَ لَهَا مِن دُونِ اللَّهِ كَاشِفَةٌ

(None besides Allah can avert it.) no one besides Allah can prevent it from coming, nor does anyone know when it will come, except Him. The warner is eager to convey his knowledge of the imminence of a calamity, so that it does not befall those to whom he is a warner. As He said;

إِنِّينَذِيرٌ لَّكُمْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ عَذَابٍ شَدِيدٍ

(He is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment.) (34:46) And in the Hadith:

«أَنَا النَّذِيرُ الْعُرْيَان»

(I am the naked warner,) meaning, I was in such a hurry to warn against the evil I saw coming, that I did not wear anything. In this case, one rushes to warn his people in such haste that he will be naked. This meaning befits the meaning of the A0yah,

أَزِفَتِ الاٌّزِفَةُ

(the Azifah draws near.), in reference to the nearing Day of Resurrection. Allah said in the beginning of the Surah:

اقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ

(The Hour has drawn near.)(54:1) Imam Ahmad recorded that Sahl bin Sa`d said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«إِيَّاكُمْ وَمُحَقَّرَاتِ الذُّنُوبِ، فَإِنَّمَا مَثَلُ مُحَقَّرَاتِ الذُّنُوبِ كَمَثَلِ قَوْمٍ نَزَلُوا بِبَطْنِ وَادٍ، فَجَاءَ ذَا بِعُودٍ وَجَاءَ ذَا بِعُودٍ، حَتْى أَنْضَجُوا خُبْزَتَهُمْ، وَإِنَّ مُحَقَّرَاتِ الذُّنُوبِ، مَتَى يُؤْخَذُ بِهَا صَاحِبُهَا، تُهْلِكُه»

(Beware of small sins! The example of the effect of small sin is that of people who settled near the bottom of a valley. One of them brought a piece of wood, and another brought another piece of wood, until they cooked their bread! Verily, small sins will destroy its companion, if one is held accountable for them.) Allah the Exalted admonishes the idolators because they hear the Qur'an, yet they turn away from it in heedless play,

تَعْجَبُونَ

(wonder) doubting that it is true.

وَتَضْحَكُونَ

(And you laugh) in jest and mock at it,

وَلاَ تَبْكُونَ

(and weep not,) just as those who believe in it weep,

وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلاٌّذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا

(And they fall down on their faces weeping and it increases their humility.)(17:109) Allah said;

وَأَنتُمْ سَـمِدُونَ

(While you are Samidun.) Sufyan Ath-Thawri reported that his father narrated that Ibn `Abbas said about Samidun, "Singing; in Yemenite dialect `Ismid for us' means `Sing for us."' `Ikrimah said something similar. In another narration from Ibn `Abbas, he said that,

سَـمِدُونَ

(Samidun) means, "Turning away." Similar was reported from Mujahid and `Ikrimah. Allah the Exalted ordered His servants to prostrate to Him, worship Him according to the way of His Messenger, and to fulfill the requirement of Tawhid and sincerity,

فَاسْجُدُواْ لِلَّهِ وَاعْبُدُواْ

(So fall you down in prostration to Allah and worship Him.) meaning, with submission, sincerity, and Tawhid. Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Ma`mar said that `Abdul-Warith said that Ayyub said that `Ikrimah said that, Ibn `Abbas said, "The Prophet prostrated upon reciting An-Najm and the Muslims, idolators, Jinns and mankind who were present prostrated along with him." Only Muslim collected this Hadith. Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Muttalib bin Abi Wada`ah said, "While in Makkah, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ once recited Surat An-Najm, then prostrated along with all those who were with him at the time. I raised my head, however, and I refused to prostrate." Al-Muttalib had not embraced Islam yet, but ever since he became Muslim, he would never hear anyone recite this Surah until the end, without prostrating with whomever was prostrating after reciting it. An-Nasa'i also collected this Hadith in the Book of Al-Bukhari, excluding prayer in his Sunan. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat An-Najm. All praise and thanks are due to Allah.

فَاسْجُدُوا لِلَّـهِ وَاعْبُدُوا۩ ﴿62﴾ (Now, fall down in prostration and worship [ Allah ]... 53:62). It means that preceding verses have a lesson for everyone who considers them seriously that he should worship Allah and bow down before him in humbleness.

It is recorded in Bukhari on the authority of Sayyidna Ibn ` Abbas ؓ that when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse he prostrated, and all those around him also prostrated along with him-Muslims, pagans, Jinns and mankind. Another report from ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ ، as recorded in Bukhari and Muslim, narrates that when the Holy Prophet ﷺ finished reciting the Surah before a mixed gathering of Muslims and disbelievers, and, along with his followers, he prostrated himself on the ground, the disbelievers too prostrated, except one old Quraishi man who took a handful of soil and, having applied it on his forehead said, 'This is enough for me.' ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ said that he saw this man later on killed as a disbeliever. Following the example of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، the Muslims were expected to prostrate. As far as the idolaters are concerned, having been profoundly impressed with the solemnity of the occasion and being overawed by the august recitation of the Qur'anic words, as well as by the Divine Majesty and Glory, might also have fallen in prostration. However, since this prostration was performed in the state of disbelief, it did not carry any reward, but it did leave a deep impression on them; and as a result of this impact, they all later on embraced the Islamic faith, except one person who died in the state of kufr, because he arrogantly refrained from performing the sajdah.

Sahihain record a report from Sayyidna Zaid Ibn Thabit ؓ to the effect that he recited the entire Surah An-Najm in the presence of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، but he [ the Holy Prophet ﷺ ] did not perform the sajdah. It does not necessarily follow from this that the sajdah is not obligatory or compulsory. It is possible that at that particular moment, he did not have his ablution or there must have been some other legitimate reason for not performing the sajdah. In such situations, it is not obligatory to perform the sajdah forthwith. It can be delayed until the reason has ceased. And Allah, the Pure and Exalted, knows best!

Surah An-Najm, through the help and grace of Allah, the Pure, the exalted, ended on Friday night 1st Rabi`-uth-Thani 1391, in one week. Allah willing, this chapter will be followed by Surah Al-Qamar. Allah grants success!

Al-hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah An-Najm

Ends here

The history of the prophets as related in the Quran shows that the denial of Truth and its fatal result are as close to each other as two fingers of the same hand. If a man has the ability to comprehend, as soon as he indulges in denial of the Truth and becomes arrogant, he will sense that God’s wrath is about to descend on him; he will consequently give up the way of arrogance and adopt the way of obedience. But man is so intoxicated that he is unable to see things which are right in front of him.