سُوْرَةُ قٓ
Surah Qaaf (50) — Ayah 1
قٓ ۚ وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ ٱلْمَجِيدِ ﴿1﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
Qâf. [These letters (Qâf, etc.) are one of the miracles of the Qur’ân, and none but Allâh (Alone) knows their meanings]. By the Glorious Qur’ân.
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
قٓ ۚ
qaf
Qaf
وَٱلْقُرْءَانِ
wal-qur'āni
By the Quran
ٱلْمَجِيدِ
l-majīdi
the Glorious
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim — Hafiz Abdus Salam Bin Muhammad Bhutvi
Tafsir al-Quran al-Karim is a 4-volume Quran commentary by Hafiz Abdus Salam bin Muhammad Bhutvi, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar and Sheikh ul-Hadith from Pakistan. Based on over 45 years of teaching and research, this tafsir follows the methodology of Tafsir bil-Ma'thur — interpreting the Quran through authentic Hadith, statements of the Companions, and the understanding of the early generations (Salaf). It is distinguished by its complete avoidance of Israeliyyat (Judeo-Christian narratives) and unverified reports. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him) said: “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would generally recite this surah on occasions of large gatherings, such as Eid and Jumu‘ah. In addition, he would also recite it in the Fajr prayer, because it contains mention of the beginning of creation, resurrection, revival, the Hereafter, standing (for judgment), reckoning, Paradise, Hell, reward, punishment, encouragement and warning.” (Ibn Kathir) ‘Ubaydullah bin ‘Abdullah narrates that ‘Umar bin Khattab (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Abu Waqqid al-Laythi (may Allah be pleased with him): “What would the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) recite in the Eid al-Adha and Eid al-Fitr prayers?” He said: “He (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite {’’ قٓ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْمَجِيْدِ ‘‘} and {’’ اِقْتَرَبَتِ السَّاعَةُ ‘‘} in both of these prayers.” [ مسلم، صلاۃ العیدین، باب ما یقرأ بہ في صلاۃ العیدین : ۸۹۱ ] Umm Hisham bint Harithah bin Nu‘man (may Allah be pleased with her) said: “I memorized Surah Qaf only by hearing it from the blessed tongue of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), as he would recite it every Friday while delivering the sermon on the pulpit.” [ مسلم، الجمعۃ، باب تخفیف الصلاۃ و الخطبۃ : ۸۷۳ ] Jabir bin Samurah (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: [ إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ كَانَ يَقْرَأُ فِي الْفَجْرِبِ « قٓ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْمَجِيْدِ» وَكَانَ صَلَاتُهُ بَعْدُ تَخْفِيْفًا ] [ مسلم، الصلاۃ، باب القراءۃ في الصبح : ۴۵۸ ] “The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) would recite Surah Qaf in the Fajr prayer, yet his prayer would still be light.” Some scholars have translated {’’ وَكَانَ صَلَاتُهُ بَعْدُ تَخْفِيْفًا ‘‘} to mean that the subsequent prayers after it would be light.
(Ayah 1) ➊ { قٓ:} The commentator Ibn Kathir said: {’’ قٓ ‘‘} is among the disjointed letters mentioned at the beginning of some surahs, as Allah the Exalted said: {’’ صٓ ‘‘، ’’ نٓ ‘‘، ’’ الٓمّٓ ‘‘، ’’ حٰمٓ ‘‘، ’’ طٰسٓ ‘‘} and so on. This is the statement of Mujahid. We have already discussed this at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah, so there is no need to repeat it. (In our tafsir as well, this has been discussed at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah.) It is narrated from some of the Salaf that they said: {’’ قٓ ‘‘} is a mountain that surrounds the entire earth, called Mount Qaf. It appears (and Allah knows best) that this is from the myths of Bani Isra’il, which some people adopted thinking it permissible to take such narrations from Bani Isra’il that we neither affirm nor deny. In my view, this and similar things are fabrications of the enemies of religion and heretics among Bani Isra’il, through which they wanted to cast doubts in people’s hearts about their religion. Just as in our Ummah, despite the presence of great scholars, memorizers, and imams, false narrations were fabricated and attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), even though not much time had passed. So what would be the case with Bani Isra’il, among whom there were very few memorizers who could scrutinize, wine was drunk, and their scholars would alter and distort the words and meanings of Allah’s speech and His verses. The Lawgiver, by saying {’’حَدِّثُوْا عَنْ بَنِيْ إِسْرَائِيْلَ وَلاَ حَرَجَ‘‘} (Narrate from Bani Isra’il and there is no harm), only permitted those narrations which are rationally possible; as for those things which are rationally impossible and clearly false, they are not included in this statement.” (Ibn Kathir) For the explanation of {’’ حَدِّثُوْا عَنْ بَنِيْ إِسْرَائِيْلَ وَلاَ حَرَجَ ‘‘} given by Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him), see the introduction to this tafsir regarding Isra’iliyyat.
After this, Ibn Kathir narrated a report from Ibn Abi Hatim and refuted it, the summary of which is that Allah the Exalted created a sea behind this earth which surrounds it, then behind that He created a mountain called Mount Qaf, above which is the sky of this world. Similarly, there are seven earths, each with a sea and a Mount Qaf behind it. In short, it is a lengthy narration that is clearly contrary to reason, transmission, and observation. If Qaf were really the name of a mountain, it would have been written as “Qaf” instead of {’’ قٓ ‘‘}. It appears that the tales of Mount Qaf and its fairies became popular among Muslims due to such narrations, and because they were transmitted in books of tafsir, atheists and irreligious people found an opportunity to object to Islam and the Qur’an and Sunnah, even though both the Qur’an and Sunnah are free from such nonsense. Only those with ill intentions and bad character object to Islam by taking the words of careless commentators who merely copy others, this is not the way of the people of research.
➋ { وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْمَجِيْدِ:} An oath is taken to emphasize something, and that emphasis is either due to the greatness of the thing by which the oath is taken, such as Allah the Exalted and His beautiful names, or because the thing sworn by serves as evidence and proof for what is being affirmed by the oath. Here, Allah the Exalted has sworn by the Qur’an due to its great majesty and honor, and also because the Qur’an is proof of your (O Prophet) being a true Messenger. The response to the oath is omitted, but is understood from the next verse: « بَلْ عَجِبُوْۤا اَنْ جَآءَهُمْ مُّنْذِرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَقَالَ الْكٰفِرُوْنَ هٰذَا شَيْءٌ عَجِيْبٌ ». In the next verse, the first thing mentioned about which the disbelievers express amazement is how a messenger has been sent to them from among themselves; they thought it should have been an angel. The response to the oath would be a sentence with the meaning: {’’ إِنَّكَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ حَقًّا وَ مَا رَدُّوْا أَمْرَكَ بِحُجَّةٍ وَلَا كَذَّبُوْكَ بِبُرْهَانٍ ‘‘} That is, this magnificent Qur’an is proof that you are the true Messenger of Allah, and the disbelievers did not deny your prophethood based on any evidence or argument, but merely because they were amazed that a warner had come to them from among themselves. In Surah Ya-Sin, the response to such an oath is not omitted but explicitly mentioned, as He said: «يٰسٓ (1) وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْحَكِيْمِ (2) اِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِيْنَ » [ یٰسٓ :۱ تا ۳ ] “{يٰسٓ۔} By the wise Qur’an! Indeed, you are among the messengers.” Allah the Exalted has mentioned and refuted this amazement and doubt of the disbelievers in many places. (See Bani Isra’il: 94) In Surah Sad as well, the response to {’’ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ ‘‘} is omitted, but is understood from the next verse: « بَلِ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فِيْ عِزَّةٍ وَّ شِقَاقٍ».
(Ayah 1) ➊ { قٓ:} The commentator Ibn Kathir said: {’’ قٓ ‘‘} is among the disjointed letters mentioned at the beginning of some surahs, as Allah the Exalted said: {’’ صٓ ‘‘، ’’ نٓ ‘‘، ’’ الٓمّٓ ‘‘، ’’ حٰمٓ ‘‘، ’’ طٰسٓ ‘‘} and so on. This is the statement of Mujahid. We have already discussed this at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah, so there is no need to repeat it. (In our tafsir as well, this has been discussed at the beginning of Surah al-Baqarah.) It is narrated from some of the Salaf that they said: {’’ قٓ ‘‘} is a mountain that surrounds the entire earth, called Mount Qaf. It appears (and Allah knows best) that this is from the myths of Bani Isra’il, which some people adopted thinking it permissible to take such narrations from Bani Isra’il that we neither affirm nor deny. In my view, this and similar things are fabrications of the enemies of religion and heretics among Bani Isra’il, through which they wanted to cast doubts in people’s hearts about their religion. Just as in our Ummah, despite the presence of great scholars, memorizers, and imams, false narrations were fabricated and attributed to the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him), even though not much time had passed. So what would be the case with Bani Isra’il, among whom there were very few memorizers who could scrutinize, wine was drunk, and their scholars would alter and distort the words and meanings of Allah’s speech and His verses. The Lawgiver, by saying {’’حَدِّثُوْا عَنْ بَنِيْ إِسْرَائِيْلَ وَلاَ حَرَجَ‘‘} (Narrate from Bani Isra’il and there is no harm), only permitted those narrations which are rationally possible; as for those things which are rationally impossible and clearly false, they are not included in this statement.” (Ibn Kathir) For the explanation of {’’ حَدِّثُوْا عَنْ بَنِيْ إِسْرَائِيْلَ وَلاَ حَرَجَ ‘‘} given by Ibn Hibban (may Allah have mercy on him), see the introduction to this tafsir regarding Isra’iliyyat.
After this, Ibn Kathir narrated a report from Ibn Abi Hatim and refuted it, the summary of which is that Allah the Exalted created a sea behind this earth which surrounds it, then behind that He created a mountain called Mount Qaf, above which is the sky of this world. Similarly, there are seven earths, each with a sea and a Mount Qaf behind it. In short, it is a lengthy narration that is clearly contrary to reason, transmission, and observation. If Qaf were really the name of a mountain, it would have been written as “Qaf” instead of {’’ قٓ ‘‘}. It appears that the tales of Mount Qaf and its fairies became popular among Muslims due to such narrations, and because they were transmitted in books of tafsir, atheists and irreligious people found an opportunity to object to Islam and the Qur’an and Sunnah, even though both the Qur’an and Sunnah are free from such nonsense. Only those with ill intentions and bad character object to Islam by taking the words of careless commentators who merely copy others, this is not the way of the people of research.
➋ { وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْمَجِيْدِ:} An oath is taken to emphasize something, and that emphasis is either due to the greatness of the thing by which the oath is taken, such as Allah the Exalted and His beautiful names, or because the thing sworn by serves as evidence and proof for what is being affirmed by the oath. Here, Allah the Exalted has sworn by the Qur’an due to its great majesty and honor, and also because the Qur’an is proof of your (O Prophet) being a true Messenger. The response to the oath is omitted, but is understood from the next verse: « بَلْ عَجِبُوْۤا اَنْ جَآءَهُمْ مُّنْذِرٌ مِّنْهُمْ فَقَالَ الْكٰفِرُوْنَ هٰذَا شَيْءٌ عَجِيْبٌ ». In the next verse, the first thing mentioned about which the disbelievers express amazement is how a messenger has been sent to them from among themselves; they thought it should have been an angel. The response to the oath would be a sentence with the meaning: {’’ إِنَّكَ رَسُوْلُ اللّٰهِ حَقًّا وَ مَا رَدُّوْا أَمْرَكَ بِحُجَّةٍ وَلَا كَذَّبُوْكَ بِبُرْهَانٍ ‘‘} That is, this magnificent Qur’an is proof that you are the true Messenger of Allah, and the disbelievers did not deny your prophethood based on any evidence or argument, but merely because they were amazed that a warner had come to them from among themselves. In Surah Ya-Sin, the response to such an oath is not omitted but explicitly mentioned, as He said: «يٰسٓ (1) وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ الْحَكِيْمِ (2) اِنَّكَ لَمِنَ الْمُرْسَلِيْنَ » [ یٰسٓ :۱ تا ۳ ] “{يٰسٓ۔} By the wise Qur’an! Indeed, you are among the messengers.” Allah the Exalted has mentioned and refuted this amazement and doubt of the disbelievers in many places. (See Bani Isra’il: 94) In Surah Sad as well, the response to {’’ وَ الْقُرْاٰنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ ‘‘} is omitted, but is understood from the next verse: « بَلِ الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوْا فِيْ عِزَّةٍ وَّ شِقَاقٍ».
