[1] (In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful)

The meaning

More explanation

[2] 1. [I swear] by the sky [of Nineveh] and [its] 'night visitant'!^a

[3] 2. But can you imagine what such 'night visitant' was!?^b

[Then God – be glorified – explained what that ‘night visitant’ was, so He said:]

[4] 3. It was the comet with bright light.^c

[5] 4. There will not be [an angel] for every soul to guard it [when the punishment will come.]^d

^{1 a} This is a past oath, by the sky of Nineveh i.e. Mosul [in Iraq]; the ‘night visitant’ is that which passed by it at night.

^{2 b} It means: had you seen it, you would have seen a great terror and a terrifying event.

^{3 c} The comet, by which God swore, He sent against the people of Nineveh to burn and terminate them, but when they saw it from far distance, they turned repentant to God, asked forgiveness for their sins, repented to their Lord and supplicated Him; so He accepted their repentance and averted the chastisement from them, and the comet got away to fall in the desert in an uninhabited place.

This is confirmed by His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 10: 98, which means:

([Of all those past nations who disbelieved and were destroyed] if only there had been a community that believed [before the coming of the torment], its belief would have profited them,

except Jonah's people: when [they saw the torment coming on them], they believed [so at that time] We drew off the torment of disgrace from them in the life of the World, and We gave them 'comfort and respite' till the time [of their death appointment.])

It is in fact a threatening and warning for the associaters, which implies: If you do not believe in Me and believe My messenger, I will send against you some of such comets which will terminate you, as did I send against the people of Nineveh, when they denied My messenger Jonah.

^{4 d} It means: Not every soul has a guardian to protect it from the jinn (or the genie) and devils, when it will die and by its death it will go to the world of souls, but the ‘guardians’ are special for the pious.

While the prophets, apostles and martyrs in the way of God: they do not need the guardians, because they will go to the ethereal heavens: to the paradises.

So the ‘guardians’ are three categories:

è One kind of them is special for guarding the guides in the life of the World, from the hurting of the jinn (or genies), devils, and evil spirits; the indication of this is His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 13: 11, which means:

(For him [: the guide], there are pursuing [angels] from before and behind him, who guard [that guide] from the am'r of God.)

It means: For the guide there are guarding-angels to protect him from the jinn (or genies), devils and evil spirits; the ‘guide’ is mentioned in His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 13: 8, which means:

(You [Mohammed] are only a warner, and for every [erring] people [did We send] their guide.)

è The second kind: they are the writers who write the deeds of people in the life of the World and record their words; the indication of this is His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 82: 9-12, which means:

(But in fact you [disbelievers] give the lie to the ‘Judgment and Requital’. Yet, there are [some] recording [angels] in charge of you, [that are] honorable [before God], and writers [of your deeds and words.] They are aware of all that you do.)

è The third kind: they protect the pious following their death and their going to the world of souls: they protect them from the jinn (or the genie), devils and evil spirits until they bring them to the Paradise of Refuge; they are two for every righteous and God-fearing man; this is according to His saying – be glorified – expressing the words of the angels, in the Quran 41: 31, which means:

(We were your guardian [angels] in the life of the World and [now] in the ‘Afterlife’.)

It means: We took care about your affairs in the life of the World as do we in the Next Life following your death.

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[6] 5. Now let man [who denies Our might] consider from what he was created.

[7] 6. He was created from a gushing [seminal] fluid.

[8] 7. Issuing from between the back [bone of man] and the chest bones [of woman.]^a

[9] 8. Certainly, He is Most Able to return him back [as a fluid.]^b

[Then God – be glorified – said:]

[10] 9. On the day when secret [deeds of man] shall be scrutinized.^c

[11] 10. And he will have neither power [with which to avoid God’s chastisement] nor helper [to help him against God.]

^{7 a} i.e. it issues from the body of man, then collects in two glands near the bladder, and in the sexual intercourse it gets out of them, with gushing, to be poured in the womb of woman.

^{8 b} The meaning: His might is not limited to resurrecting dead bodies, but even if He likes to return them back as fluid as they were in the beginning, He can do that and is All-Able to do it.

^{9 c} i.e. the deeds which man did secretly, will be scrutinized: so if he does righteous deeds in secret then he will be one of the people of Paradise, even though he does major destructive sins.

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[Then God – be glorified – swore by the heaven and the earth, which in fact is an oath of threatening and warning: implying the destruction [of the heaven and the earth], so He said:]

[12] 11. By the [gaseous] heaven that shall return back [to its initial state of smoke.]^a

[13] 12. And the earth that [shall] break up.^b

[14] 13. Surely, this [Quran] is a conclusive word^c.

[15] 14. It is no frivolity^d.

[16] 15. The [associaters] are devising their schemes [against you, Mohammed.]

[17] 16. But, I [too] am scheming [My] schemes [to terminate them completely.]^e

[18] 17. So wait for the disbelievers: and give them respite for a little while^f.

^{11 a} It means: The heaven will crack up, and these gases will mix up with each other to become a thick smoke as was it before, as in His saying – be glorified – in the Quran 41: 11, which means:

(Then He tended to [build] the sky [of the earth] and it had been smoke.)

^{12 b} It means: It used to crack or break, for it broke in the past and became nine pieces after being one piece. And it will crack or break up on Doomsday, i.e. will be cut up and strewn about in the space and become meteorites.

The word ‘crack’ is used for the glass and for every hard thing, but it is not used for clothes; for clothes the word used is ‘tear’.

^{13 c} i.e. separating or discriminating between the truth and the falsehood.

^{14 d} But it is serious.

^{16 e} It means: I am preparing for them the means of destruction and ruining, until I will terminate them completely while they are unaware.

^{17 f} And We will help you to overcome and defeat them.

By God's help, the interpretation of the soora 86 of the Quran is completed;

So (praise be to God: Lord of the worlds.)

[2] 1. وَالسَّمَاء وَالطَّارِقِ

[3] 2. وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الطَّارِقُ

[4] 3. النَّجْمُ الثَّاقِبُ

[5] 4. إِن كُلُّ نَفْسٍ لَّمَّا عَلَيْهَا حَافِظٌ

[6] 5. فَلْيَنظُرِ الْإِنسَانُ مِمَّ خُلِقَ

[7] 6. خُلِقَ مِن مَّاء دَافِقٍ

[8] 7. يَخْرُجُ مِن بَيْنِ الصُّلْبِ وَالتَّرَائِبِ

[9] 8. إِنَّهُ عَلَى رَجْعِهِ لَقَادِرٌ

[10] 9. يَوْمَ تُبْلَى السَّرَائِرُ

[11] 10. فَمَا لَهُ مِن قُوَّةٍ وَلَا نَاصِرٍ

[12] 11. وَالسَّمَاء ذَاتِ الرَّجْعِ

[13] 12. وَالْأَرْضِ ذَاتِ الصَّدْعِ

[14] 13. إِنَّهُ لَقَوْلٌ فَصْلٌ

[15] 14. وَمَا هُوَ بِالْهَزْلِ

[16] 15. إِنَّهُمْ يَكِيدُونَ كَيْدًا

[18] 17. فَمَهِّلِ الْكَافِرِينَ أَمْهِلْهُمْ رُوَيْدًا