Ar-Rahman

Ar-Raḥmān[1] (Arabic: الرحمان‎, "The Merciful"[2]) is the 55th Chapter (Surah) of the Qur'an with 78 verses (āyāt).

For other uses, see Al rahman (disambiguation) and A. R. Rahman.
"Q55" redirects here. For the bus service, see Q55 (New York City bus).
Sura 55 of the Quran
الرحمان
Ar Rahman
Rahman
ClassificationMedinan
Other namesMost Gracious
PositionJuzʼ 27
No. of Rukus3
No. of verses78
No. of words352
No. of letters1585
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The title of the surah, Ar-Rahmaan, appears in verse 1 and means "The Most Beneficent". The divine appellation "ar-Rahman" also appears in the opening formula which precedes every surah except Sura 9 ("In the Name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy"). English translations of the surah’s title include "The Most Gracious", [3] "The All Merciful",[4] "The Lord of Mercy",[5] "The Beneficent", and "The Mercy-Giving". In the fourth century CE south Arabian pagan inscriptions started to be replaced by monotheistic expressions, using the term rahmān.[6]

There is disagreement over whether Ar-Rahman ought to be categorized as a surah of the Meccan or Medinan period. Theodor Nöldeke and Carl Ernst have categorized it among the surahs of the early Meccan period (in accordance with its short ayah length), but Abdel Haleem has categorized it in his translation as Medinan,[7][8] although most Muslim scholars place Sūrat ar-Rahman in the Meccan period.[9][10] According to the traditional Egyptian chronology, Ar-Rahman was the 97th surah revealed.[11] Nöldeke places it earlier, at 43,[12] while Ernst suggests that it was the fifth surah revealed.[13]

Structure

Ar-Rahman is composed entirely in saj’, the rhymed, accent-based prose characteristic of early Arabic poetry.[14]

The most notable structural feature of Ar-Rahman is the refrain "Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?"[15] (or, in Arberry’s rendering, "O which of your Lord's bounties will you and you deny?"[16]), which is repeated 31 times in the 78 verses. Chapter 55 is composed of 26 couplets, 4 tercets, and an introductory stanza of 13 verses all ending with this refrain. The final couplet is followed by a blessing of God’s name.

Thematically, Ar-Rahman can be divided into roughly three units.

  • Verses 1-30 expound upon natural displays of Allah’s creative power and mercy in showering those who inhabit the earth with blessings.
  • Verses 31-45 describe the final judgment and the terrible punishment that will be inflicted upon sinners.
  • Verses 46-78, by contrast, detail the delights that await the pious in paradise.

Content

One of the chapter's main aims is to chastise mankind and jinn for their lack of gratitude towards God. Verses 1-30 describe some of the resources (fruits, palm trees, husked grain, fragrant plants, fresh and salt water, pearls, ships) that God has provided out of clay and smokeless fire (55:14), and set down under a sky illuminated by the twin risings of the sun and moon (55:17).

Verses 1-4 recount that God taught mankind how to communicate and even gave him the Qur'an to guide him on the path to righteousness. The refrain, "Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?", chastises for failing to acknowledge their indebtedness to God. The punishment that awaits the ungrateful is described in verses 35-45. For the remainder of the chapter, the delights of the gardens of paradise (replete with shading branches, flowing springs, fruit, maidens, couches, cushions, and fine carpets) are lyrically described, punctuated throughout by the refrain.

The surah also exemplifies the Qur'an’s tendency to be self-referential and self-validating, as when in verse 2 it emphasizes the fact that Allah taught the Qur'an to man out of mercy.

In terms of theological developments, Ar-Rahman introduces a three-tiered classification of men and jinn:

  • the best of believers ("those near to God", the muqarrabīn who will ascend to the higher garden of paradise),
  • the ordinary believers ("those at his right", the ashāt al-yamīn who will enjoy the second garden of paradise), and
  • the disbelievers (who will be punished in Hell).

This division is echoed in the following chapter (Al-Waqi’a).

The surah is dominated stylistically by pairs. To begin with, it is addressed to a dual audience of mankind and jinn: in Haleem’s translation of the refrain "Which, then, of your Lord’s blessings do you both deny?", "both" is understood to refer to men and jinn (likewise for the "you and you" in Arberry’s rendering). Natural phenomena are also referred to in pairs: for example, "the sun and the moon" (55:5), "the stars and the trees" (55:6), "the two risings and the two settings [of the sun and the moon]" (55:17), and "the two bodies of [fresh and salt] water" (55:19). In addition, paradise is described as consisting of two double gardens (55:62), each of which contain a pair of springs (55:50, 55:66) and fruit in pairs (55:52).

Verses

Q55:70-77 Houri
Main article: Houri
See also: Al-Waqi'a § Verse 56:22

55:70-77 Therein (Gardens) will be Khayrat Hisan (good); Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny! Houri (beautiful, fair females) guarded in pavilions; Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny! Whom never deflowered a human before nor Jinn. Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny! Reclining on green Rafraf (cushions) and rich beautiful `Abqariy. (rich carpets). Then which of the blessings of your Lord will you both deny![1]:55:70–77[17]

Muhammad Asad asserts that the "noun hur - rendered as 'companions pure' - is a plural of both ahwar (masculine) and hawra' (female), either of which describes a person distinguished by hawar', which latter term primarily denotes 'intense whiteness of the eyeballs and lustrous black of the iris'. Asad as well as Yusuf Ali & Pickthall translate this verse as:[18][19][20]

In these [gardens] will be [all] things most excellent and beautiful. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? [There the blest will live with their] companions pure and modest, in pavillions [splendid] -which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? -[companions] whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?[In such a paradise will they dwell,] reclining upon meadows green and carpets rich in beauty. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? Hallowed be thy Sustainer's name, full of majesty and glory!

According to Ibn Kathir, the believer will be given a tent 60 miles wide, made of pearl, such that his wives will not see each other. The believer will visit them all.[1]:55:70–77 The Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an says that they (the Houri) are good and righteous virgins and are intended to have intercourse only with their husbands.[21]

Hadith

Owing, perhaps, to the sura’s poetic beauty, it is often regarded as the 'beauty of the Quran', in accordance with a hadith: Abdullah ibn Mas'ud (R.A.) reported that Muhammad said, "Everything has an adornment, and the adornment of the Qur'an is Surah ar Rahman" [Bayhaqi in Shuab al Eiman].

gollark: I expect it'll come out as a nasty gray.
gollark: No.
gollark: Just use this.
gollark: What do you WANT me to make?
gollark: I would recommend just using the black-on-white version.

References
  1. Ibn Kathir. "Tafsir Ibn Kathir (English): Surah Al Rahman". Quran 4 U. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  2. George Sale translation
  3. The Message of the Qur’an, English edition, Muhammad Asad (The Book Foundation)
  4. The Koran, trans. A. J. Arberry (Oxford Islamic Studies Online), Q55.
  5. The Qur’an, trans. M. A. S. Abdel Haleem (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010), 353.
  6. Robert Schick, Archaeology and the Quran, Encyclopaedia of the Qur'an
  7. Haleem, The Qur’an, 353.
  8. Theodor Nöldeke: Geschichte des Qorans. Verlag der Dieterichschen Buchhandlung, Göttingen, 1860, pp. 107-108 ff.
  9. The Message of the Quran, M. Asad, 1982, Introduction Surah ar-Rahman. Although most of the commentators regard this surah as a Meccan revelation, Zamakhshari and (among the later scholars) Suyuti ascribe it to the Medina period. Baydawi leaves the question open, and adds that parts of it may have been revealed before and parts after the Prophet's hijrah to Medina. Some authorities are of the opinion that it followed immediately upon surah 13 ("Thunder"): an opinion which is not very helpful since that surah, too, cannot be assigned to either of the two periods with any degree of certainty.
  10. "Directorate of Religious Affairs, Introduction Surah ar-Rahman". [Translation] This Surah was revealed in the Meccan Period. [Original] Mekke döneminde inmiştir.
  11. Carl Ernst, How to Read the Qur'an (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2011), 40.
  12. Ernst, How to Read the Qur'an, 44.
  13. Ernst, How to Read the Qur'an, 215.
  14. "Rhyming Prose", in Encyclopaedia of the Qur’an, ed. Jane Dammen McAuliffe (Leiden: Brill, 2001).
  15. Haleem, The Qur’an, 353.
  16. Arberry, The Koran, Q55:15.
  17. "AYAH ar-Rahman 55:70". Islam Awakened. Retrieved 27 January 2020.
  18. The Message of the Quran, Muhammad Asad, 1982, Commentary on Surah 55:70-77, 56:22. In these [gardens] will be [all] things most excellent and beautiful. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? [There the blest will live with their] companions pure and modest, in pavillions [splendid] -which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? -[companions] whom neither man nor invisible being will have touched ere then. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow?[In such a paradise will they dwell,] reclining upon meadows green and carpets rich in beauty. Which, then, of your Sustainer's powers can you disavow? Hallowed be thy Sustainer's name, full of majesty and glory!
  19. The Holy Quran, Yusuf Ali, Surah 55:70-77. Companions restrained (as to their glances) in (goodly) pavilions.
  20. The Quran, tranl. by Pickthall, Surah 55:70-77. Fair ones, close guarded in pavilions
  21. "An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an vol. 17". Al Islam.org. p. 367. Retrieved 27 January 2020.


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