Commentary on the Koran: Surah 74 (No. Q074)

Pickthall Translation with Bible Quotes from the English Standard Version unless otherwise noted.

Introduction

Al-Mudath-thir takes its name from a word in verse 1 meaning “The Enveloped” or “Cloaked One”. The traditions assert that the Prophet wrapped himself in his cloak at the time of his “revelatory trances” or meditation when he was given these Surahs. His first revelation was given in Surah 96:1-5 and about six months later he was given this Surah which was considered to be the beginning of the public mission of the Prophet some three years after his initial calling and education in 608 CE. Thus by the beginning of the Sacred year at the New Moon of Abib 611 CE the church had begun its mission to the Arabs at Becca as the Council of the Muhammad.

The tradition was that he again saw the Angel Gabriel who appeared to him on Mt Hira in the first instance and he wrapped himself in his cloak to be given this Second Message.

The sequence of the Surahs here follows the texts of the passage of authority to the church from the Jinn and then the Lord’s Supper and Passover which confers the Holy Spirit to the direct manifestation of the messages of God to the prophets of the church council.

Another opinion is that by this Surah he was directly ordered to begin the Mission to the Arabs at Becca in the Querysh. No matter what the case he did indeed begin the public mission with this Surah. Pickthall notes both views. Tradition held that until this point he had done his teaching privately among his family and intimates. The fact is that he had to be taught by his wife’s family concerning the faith and he was assisted by the body of the church. It is beyond doubt that he had to become a baptised member of the Church of God to understand the Scriptures and the Sabbatarian Unitarian Faith displayed in the Koran.

The Chronology below will detail the sequence of the Revelation and cast more light on what he was given and when he was given it.

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74.1. O thou enveloped in thy cloak,

74.2. Arise and warn!

Isaiah 3:11 Woe to the wicked! It shall be ill with him, for what his hands have dealt out shall be done to him.

Ezekiel 3:17-19 "Son of man, I have appointed you a watchman to the house of Israel; whenever you hear a word from My mouth, warn them from Me. ¹⁸"When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. ¹⁹"Yet if you have warned the wicked and he does not turn from his wickedness or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered yourself. (NASB)

Ezekiel 18:4-9 “Behold, all souls are Mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is Mine. The soul who sins will die. ⁵“But if a man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, ⁶and does not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor’s wife or approach a woman during her menstrual period— ⁷if a man does not oppress anyone, but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, ⁸if he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his hand from iniquity and executes true justice between man and man, ⁹if he walks in My statutes and My ordinances so as to deal faithfully—he is righteous and will surely live,” declares the Lord GOD.

Ezekiel 18:20-22, 24 ²⁰“The person who sins will die. The son will not bear the punishment for the father’s iniquity, nor will the father bear the punishment for the son’s iniquity; the righteousness of the righteous will be upon himself, and the wickedness of the wicked will be upon himself. ²¹“But if the wicked man turns from all his sins which he has committed and observes all My statutes and practices justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die. ²²“All his transgressions which he has committed will not be remembered against him; because of his righteousness which he has practiced, he will live.

²⁴“But when a righteous man turns away from his righteousness, commits iniquity and does according to all the abominations that a wicked man does, will he live? All his righteous deeds which he has done will not be remembered for his treachery which he has committed and his sin which he has committed; for them he will die. (NASB)

Ezekiel 33:7-9 “Now as for you, son of man, I have appointed you a watchman for the house of Israel; so you will hear a message from My mouth and give them warning from Me. ⁸“When I say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require from your hand. ⁹“But if you on your part warn a wicked man to turn from his way and he does not turn from his way, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your life. (NASB)

John 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

Mark 16:15-16 And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. ¹⁶Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.

74.3. Thy Lord magnify,

Psalm 34:3 Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!

Psalm 96:2 Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.

Psalm 103:1 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name!

Psalm 145:21 My mouth will speak the praise of the LORD, and let all flesh bless his holy name forever and ever.

Psalm 150:6 Let everything that has breath praise the LORD! Praise the LORD!

74.4. Thy raiment purify,

Refer to James 1:27 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 30 (No. Q030) at ayat 30.

Psalm 119:1-2 Blessed are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD! ²Blessed are those who keep his testimonies, who seek him with their whole heart,

Isaiah 1:17 learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow’s cause.

Romans 2:13 For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Revelation 3:4-5 Yet you have still a few names in Sardis, people who have not soiled their garments, and they will walk with me in white, for they are worthy. ⁵The one who conquers will be clothed thus in white garments, and I will never blot his name out of the book of life. I will confess his name before my Father and before his angels.

Revelation 3:18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see.

Revelation 6:11 Then they were each given a white robe and told to rest a little longer, until the number of their fellow servants and their brothers should be complete, who were to be killed as they themselves had been.

74.5. Pollution shun!

74.6. And show not favour, seeking wordly gain!

Ephesians 5:3 But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; (NASB)

Colossians 3:5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry.

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

1Timothy 6:6-8 But godliness with contentment is great gain, ⁷for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

74.7. For the sake of thy Lord, be patient!

Romans 2:7 to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life;

Romans 12:12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.

Hebrews 10:36 Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God's will. Then you will receive all that he has promised. (NLT)

Revelation 14:12 Here is the patience of the saints, they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. (ERV)

74.8. For when the trumpet shall sound,

74.9. Surely that day will be a day of anguish,

74.10. Not of ease, for disbelievers.

Matthew 24:30-31 Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. ³¹And he will send out his angels with a loud trumpet call, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.

Isaiah 22:5 For the Lord GOD of hosts has a day of tumult and trampling and confusion in the valley of vision, a battering down of walls and a shouting to the mountains.

Joel 2:11 The LORD utters his voice before his army, for his camp is exceedingly great; he who executes his word is powerful. For the day of the LORD is great and very awesome; who can endure it?

Zephaniah 1:15 A day of wrath is that day, a day of distress and anguish, a day of ruin and devastation, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and thick darkness,

Proverbs 1:27 when terror strikes you like a storm and your calamity comes like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you.

Romans 2:8 but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

74.11. Leave Me (to deal) with him whom I created lonely,

Job 1:21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Job 10:9-11 'Remember now, that You have made me as clay; And would You turn me into dust again? ¹⁰Did You not pour me out like milk And curdle me like cheese; ¹¹Clothe me with skin and flesh, And knit me together with bones and sinews? (NASB)

74.12. And then bestowed upon him ample means,

Leviticus 26:4 then I will give you your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.

Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD will open to you his good treasury, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season and to bless all the work of your hands. And you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow.

Psalm 85:12 Yes, the LORD will give what is good, and our land will yield its increase.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

74.13. And sons abiding in his presence

Psalm 127:3-5 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. ⁴Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth. ⁵Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

Psalm 128:3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table.

Psalm 144:12 May our sons in their youth be like plants full grown, our daughters like corner pillars cut for the structure of a palace;

74.14. And made (life) smooth for him.

Psalm 17:13-14 is applicable to ayats 12 to 14 above.

Psalm 17:13-14 Arise, O LORD, confront him, bring him low; Deliver my soul from the wicked with Your sword, ¹⁴From men with Your hand, O LORD, From men of the world, whose portion is in this life, And whose belly You fill with Your treasure; They are satisfied with children, And leave their abundance to their babes (NASB)

Job 21:23-24 "One dies in his full strength, Being wholly at ease and satisfied; ²⁴His sides are filled out with fat, And the marrow of his bones is moist, (NASB)

74.15. Yet he desireth that I should give more.

See 1Timothy 6:9-10 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 64 (No. Q064) at ayat 15.

Jude 1:16 These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage.

Proverbs 27:20 Sheol and Abaddon are never satisfied, and never satisfied are the eyes of man.

74.16. Nay! For lo! he hath been stubborn to Our revelations.

Psalm 52:7 “See the man who would not make God his refuge, but trusted in the abundance of his riches and sought refuge in his own destruction!”

Isaiah 5:21 Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!

Isaiah 47:10 You felt secure in your wickedness; you said, “No one sees me”; your wisdom and your knowledge led you astray, and you said in your heart, “I am, and there is no one besides me.”

Romans 8:7 For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God’s law; indeed, it cannot.

Refer to 1Corinthians 2:14 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 30 (No. Q030) at ayat 6 and Ephesians 4:18 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 39 (No. Q039) at ayat 22.

74.17. On him I shall impose a fearful doom.

See Romans 2:8 in at ayat 10 above.

Psalm 35:8 Let destruction come upon him when he does not know it! And let the net that he hid ensnare him; let him fall into it—to his destruction!

Psalm 55:23 But you, O God, will cast them down into the pit of destruction; men of blood and treachery shall not live out half their days. But I will trust in you.

74.18. For lo! he did consider; then he planned –

74.19. (Self-)destroyed is he, how he planned!

74.20. Again (self-)destroyed is he, how he planned! –

See Isaiah 3:11 at ayat 74.2 above.

Psalm 10:2 In arrogance the wicked hotly pursue the poor; let them be caught in the schemes that they have devised.

Jeremiah 5:28-29 they have grown fat and sleek. They know no bounds in deeds of evil; they judge not with justice the cause of the fatherless, to make it prosper, and they do not defend the rights of the needy. ²⁹Shall I not punish them for these things? declares the LORD, and shall I not avenge myself on a nation such as this?”

74.21. Then looked he,

74.22. Then frowned he and showed displeasure.

74.23. Then turned he away in pride

Psalm 10:7 His mouth is filled with cursing and deceit and oppression; under his tongue are mischief and iniquity.

Psalm 109:18 He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!

Psalm 10:4 In the pride of his face the wicked does not seek him; all his thoughts are, “There is no God.”

74.24. And said: This is naught else than magic from of old;

74.25. This is naught else than speech of mortal man.

Whoever speaks what is not commonly accepted among their peers is considered mad. They prefer to follow in the traditions of their ancestors of old.

Refer to 1Corinthians 2:14 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 30 (No. Q030) at ayat 6.

Matthew 11:18 For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’

John 10:20 Many of them said, “He has a demon, and is insane; why listen to him?”

74.26. Him shall I fling unto the burning.

74.27. - Ah, what will convey unto thee what that burning is! –

74.28. It leaveth naught; it spareth naught

74.29. It shrivelleth the man.

Read Revelation 20:14-15 as quoted in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 17 (No. Q017) at ayat 15 and Daniel 12:2 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 24 (No. Q024) at ayat 42.

Isaiah 66:24 “And they shall go out and look on the dead bodies of the men who have rebelled against me. For their worm shall not die, their fire shall not be quenched, and they shall be an abhorrence to all flesh.”

These following verses from Psalm 73 relate to ayats 12 to 29

Psalm 73:3-12 For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. ⁴For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek. ⁵They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind. ⁶Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment. ⁷Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies. ⁸They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression. ⁹They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth. ¹⁰Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them. ¹¹And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?” ¹²Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.

Psalm 73:18-20 Truly you set them in slippery places; you make them fall to ruin. ¹⁹How they are destroyed in a moment, swept away utterly by terrors! ²⁰Like a dream when one awakes, O Lord, when you rouse yourself, you despise them as phantoms.

The texts above refer to the sequence of Judgment to 19 and then to overall judgment at 29. The elect and the Host are given command of the Lake of Fire at the Judgment and also Judgment of the Demons or Jinn (Judgment of the Demons (No. 080); cf. also 1 Cor. 6:3).

74.30. Above it are nineteen.

74.31. We have appointed only angels to be wardens of the Fire, and their number have We made to be a stumbling-block for those who disbelieve; that those to whom the Scripture hath been given may have certainty, and that believers may increase in faith; and that those to whom the Scripture hath been given and believers may not doubt; and that those in whose hearts there is disease, and disbelievers, may say: What meaneth Allah by this similitude? Thus Allah sendeth astray whom He will, and whom He will He guideth. None knoweth the hosts of thy Lord save Him. This is naught else than a Reminder unto mortals.

From ayat 74.30 it may be deduced that there are nineteen angels assigned as guardians of the Lake of Fire as there are nineteen years in one time cycle and the personal judgment of the elect is at 19 Years and then 29 years or time sequences for larger grouping. Thirty is the completed number of prophecy from New Moon to the New Moon conjunction of the prophetic month.

Refer to John 12:40 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 17 (No. Q017) at ayat 17.46; 2Corinthians 4:4 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 24 (No. Q024) at ayat 40 and 2Timothy 3:16-17 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 30 (No. Q030) at ayat 30.

1Corinthians 1:23-24 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.

Hebrews 3:6, 14 ⁶but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house, if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.

¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

1Corinthians 1:7-8 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ⁸who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Philippians 2:12 So then, my beloved, even as ye have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; (ERV)

Romans 9:18 So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

Isaiah 40:26 Lift up your eyes on high and see: who created these? He who brings out their host by number, calling them all by name; by the greatness of his might and because he is strong in power, not one is missing.

The revelations bring to us an awareness of the reality of the human condition. We are nothing without God. There is no salvation without Him. Scripture is the basic instruction that we need to incorporate into our daily lives in our walk with God. This was the First Public Surah of the Koran. So the references to the Scriptures can, by reason, only refer to the Bible texts.

74.32. Nay, by the Moon

74.33. And the night when it withdraweth

74.34. And the dawn when it shineth forth,

74.35. Lo! this is one of the greatest (portents)

74.36. As a warning unto men,

74.37. Unto him of you who will advance or hang back.

74.38. Every soul is a pledge for its own deeds;

74.39. Save those who will stand on the right hand.

Maulana Muhammad Ali in his fn 37a to ayat 37 above says” The light of Truth would shine forth, we are told in the above verses, but not without a grave misfortune to those who refuse to go forward, and this is a warning. Those who go forward, on the other hand, will not be affected by that, the gravest of misfortunes, for the people of the right hand will be in Gardens, every soul being pledged for what it earns. The prophetical strain adopted here regarding the doom of the opponents is continued to the end of the chapter.”

The division of the Called and Chosen the Called but not Chosen is given at the outset of this first public message to the Arabs.

See Isaiah 8:20 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 49 (No. Q049) at ayat 6 and John 14:6 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 33 (No. Q033) at ayat 4.

John 3:21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Titus 1:1-2 Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God’s elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness, ²in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began.

Habakkuk 2:14 For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.

Psalm 22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.

Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine: the soul who sins shall die.

The truth will continue to advance until it enlightens all of God’s creation. That would indeed be a great miracle. First the elect attain eternal life in the First Resurrection and then a thousand years later all who have lived of the Adamic creation will be raised in the Second Resurrection to face corrective training and reeducation to lead them to repentance. Hopefully all will be reconciled to God as He does not desire that any flesh should perish.

74.40. In gardens they will ask one another

74.41. Concerning the guilty:

74.42. What hath brought you to this burning?

74.43. They will answer: We were not of those who prayed

74.44. Nor did we feed the wretched.

74.45. We used to wade (in vain dispute) with (all) waders,

74.46. And we used to deny the Day of Judgment,

74.47. Till the Inevitable came unto us.

74.48. The mediation of no mediators will avail them then.

74.49. Why now turn they away from the Admonishment,

74.50. As they were frightened asses

74.51. Fleeing from a lion?

74.52. Nay, but everyone of them desireth that he should be given open pages (from Allah).

74.53. Nay, verily. They fear not the Hereafter.

74.54. Nay, verily. Lo! this is an Admonishment.

74.55. So whosoever will may heed.

74.56. And they will not heed unless Allah willeth (it). He is the fount of fear. He is the fount of Mercy.

This text is clear reference to the Second Resurrection and the Lake of Fire as its end punishment (cf. Revelation chapter 20).

See Mark 16:16 at ayat 2 and Romans 9:18 at ayat 31 above.

Refer also to Revelation 20:11-15 as quoted in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 17 (No. Q017) at ayat 15; John 5:28-29 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 21 (No. Q021) at ayat 47 and Lamentations 3:22-23 in Commentary on the Koran: Surah 24 (No. Q024) at ayat 10.

2Peter 3:3-4, 7, 9 ³knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. ⁴ They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.”

⁷But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. ⁹The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.

Matthew 25:41-46 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. ⁴²For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, ⁴³I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ ⁴⁴Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ ⁴⁵Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ ⁴⁶And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Romans 8:28-30 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. ²⁹For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

Isaiah 8:13 But the LORD of hosts, him you shall honor as holy. Let him be your fear, and let him be your dread.

Psalm 76:7 But you, you are to be feared! Who can stand before you when once your anger is roused?

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