54. Sūrat al-Qamar

٥٤۔ سُورَةُ القَمَر

54.2 We have made the Quran easy to understand the admonition, so is there any who would take the admonition?

٥٤۔٢ مقطع في سُورَةُ القَمَر

quran:54:9

The people of Noah denied before them, and they denied Our servant and said, "A madman," and he was repelled.  

The people of Noah denied (kadhdhabat has feminine inflection on account of the import ˹referring to a feminine noun˺, qawm, ‘tribe’) before them, before Quraysh. Thus they denied Our servant, Noah, and said, ‘A madman!’, and he was reviled: they repulsed him with insults and in other ways.
القرآن:٥٤:٩

كَذَّبَتْ قَبْلَهُمْ قَوْمُ نُوحٍ فَكَذَّبُوا عَبْدَنَا وَقَالُوا مَجْنُونٌ وَازْدُجِرَ  

{كذَّبت قبلهم} قبل قريش {قوم نوح} تأنيث الفعل لمعنى قوم {فكذبوا عبدنا} نوحا {وقالوا مجنون وازدجر} انتهروه بالسب وغيره.
quran:54:10

So he invoked his Lord, "Indeed, I am overpowered, so help."  

And so he invoked his Lord, ˹saying,˺ ‘I have been (annī, to be understood as bi-annī) overcome, so help ˹me˺!’
القرآن:٥٤:١٠

فَدَعَا رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَغْلُوبٌ فَانْتَصِرْ  

{فدعا ربه أني} بالفتح، أي بأني {مغلوب فانتصر}.
quran:54:11

Then We opened the gates of the heaven with rain pouring down  

Then We opened (read fa-fatahnā or fa-fattahnā) the gates of the heaven with torrential waters, ˹waters˺ pouring down intensely,
القرآن:٥٤:١١

فَفَتَحْنَا أَبْوَابَ السَّمَاءِ بِمَاءٍ مُنْهَمِرٍ  

{ففتحنا} بالتخفيف والتشديد {أبواب السماء بماءٍ منهمر} منصب انصبابا شديدا.
quran:54:12

And caused the earth to burst with springs, and the waters met for a matter already predestined.  

and We made the earth burst forth with springs, that flowed forth, and the waters, the waters of the heaven and the earth, met for a purpose, a circumstance, that was preordained, ˹a matter˺ which had been decreed since pre-eternity, namely, their destruction by drowning.
القرآن:٥٤:١٢

وَفَجَّرْنَا الْأَرْضَ عُيُونًا فَالْتَقَى الْمَاءُ عَلَىٰ أَمْرٍ قَدْ قُدِرَ  

{وفجرنا الأرض عيونا} تنبع {فالتقى الماء} ماء السماء والأرض {على أمر} حال {قد قُدِر} قضي به في الأزل وهو هلاكهم غرقا.
quran:54:13

And We carried him on a ˹construction of˺ planks and nails,  

And We bore him, that is, Noah, on one, a ship, ˹made˺ of planks and nails (dusur is what boards are fastened down with of nails and the like; the singular is disār, similar ˹in pattern˺ to ˹kutub˺ kitāb, ‘book’),
القرآن:٥٤:١٣

وَحَمَلْنَاهُ عَلَىٰ ذَاتِ أَلْوَاحٍ وَدُسُرٍ  

{وحملناه} أي نوحا {على} سفينة {ذات ألواح ودُسر} وهو ما تشد به الألواح من المسامير وغيرها وأحدها دسار ككتاب.
quran:54:14

Sailing under Our observation as reward for he who had been denied.  

sailing before Our eyes, that is, in Our sights, in other words, ˹it was being˺ protected, as retaliation (jazā’an is in the accusative because of the implied verbal clause, that is to say, ‘they were drowned by way of revenge’) for ˹the sake of˺ him who was rejected, namely, Noah, peace be upon him (a variant reading ˹for passive kufira˺ has kafara, ‘him who disbelieved’, in other words, they were drowned as a punishment for them).
القرآن:٥٤:١٤

تَجْرِي بِأَعْيُنِنَا جَزَاءً لِمَنْ كَانَ كُفِرَ  

{تجري بأعيننا} بمرأى منا، أي محفوظة {جزاءً} منصوب بفعل مقدر، أي أغرقوا انتصارا {لمن كان كفر} وهو نوح عليه السلام، وقرئ كفر بالبناء للفاعل، أي أغرقوا عقابا.
quran:54:15

And We left it as a sign, so is there any who will remember?  

And verily We left it, We preserved this ˹deed˺, as a sign, for whomever might be admonished by it, in other words, the news of this ˹deed˺ became widely-known and endured. So is there anyone who will remember?, ˹anyone who˺ will take heed from, or be admonished by, it? (muddakir is actually mudhtakir, but the tā’ has been replaced with a dāl, likewise the dhāl, and it ˹the dāl˺ has been assimilated with it ˹the other dāl˺).
القرآن:٥٤:١٥

وَلَقَدْ تَرَكْنَاهَا آيَةً فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ  

{ولقد تركناها} أبقينا هذه الفعلة {آية} لمن يعتبر بها، أي شاع خبرها واستمر {فهل من مدَّكر} معتبر ومتعظ بها وأصله مذتكر أبدلت التاء دالا مهملة وكذا المعجمة وأدغمت فيها.
quran:54:16

And how ˹severe˺ were My punishment and warning.  

How ˹dreadful˺ then were My chastisement and My warnings? (this is an interrogative meant as an affirmative; kayfa, ‘how’, is the predicate of kāna, ‘was’, and it is here being used to inquire about a ‘state’; the intention is to prompt those who are being addressed to affirm the fact that God’s chastisement of those who denied Noah was fully deserved).
القرآن:٥٤:١٦

فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ  

{فكيف كان عذابي ونُذُر} أي إنذاري استفهام تقرير، وكيف خبر كان وهي للسؤال عن الحال والمعنى حمل المخاطبين على الإقرار بوقوع عذابه تعالى بالمكذبين لنوح موقعه.
quran:54:17

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?  

And verily We have made the Qur’ān easy to remember, We have facilitated its memorisation and disposed it to serve as a ˹source of˺ remembrance. So is there anyone who remember?, ˹anyone who˺ will be admonished by it and memorise it? (the interrogative here is intended as an imperative: in other words, memorise it and be admonished by it; none of God’s scriptures is memorised by heart other than it ˹the Qur’ān˺).
القرآن:٥٤:١٧

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ  

{ولقد يسرنا القرآن للذكر} سهلناه للحفظ وهيأناه للتذكر {فهل من مدكر} متعظ به وحافظ له والاستفهام بمعنى الأمر، أي احفظوا واتعظوا به وليس يحفظ من كتب الله عن ظهر القلب غيره.
quran:54:18

Aad denied; and how ˹severe˺ were My punishment and warning.  

‘Ād denied, their prophet Hūd and so they were chastised. How then were My chastisement and My warnings?, ˹how then was˺ My warning them of the chastisement before it was sent down? In other words, it was justified, and He explains this ˹chastisement˺ by saying:
القرآن:٥٤:١٨

كَذَّبَتْ عَادٌ فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ  

{كذبت عاد} نبيهم هودا فعذبوا {فكيف كان عذابي ونذر} إنذاري لهم بالعذاب قبل نزوله أي وقع موقعه وقد بينه بقوله.
quran:54:19

Indeed, We sent upon them a screaming wind on a day of continuous misfortune,  

Indeed We unleashed upon them a clamorous wind, intensely noisy, on a day of prolonged ill fortune, (nahsin mustamirr means) either one of continuous ill fortune, or one of severe ill fortune — and this was the last Wednesday of the month —
القرآن:٥٤:١٩

إِنَّا أَرْسَلْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ رِيحًا صَرْصَرًا فِي يَوْمِ نَحْسٍ مُسْتَمِرٍّ  

{إنا أرسلنا عليهم ريحا صرْصرا} أي شديدة الصوت {في يوم نحس} شؤم {مستمر} دائم الشؤم أو قويه وكان يوم الأربعاء آخر الشهر.
quran:54:20

Extracting the people as if they were trunks of palm trees uprooted.  

tearing people away, wrenching them from the holes in the ground in which they had been embedded and flinging them down ˹to the ground˺ head first, thereby crushing their necks and severing ˹their˺ heads from ˹their˺ bodies, as if they were, ˹while lying˺ in this mentioned state, trunks of uprooted palm-trees, severed and thrown on the ground — they are likened to palm-trees because of their tallness (nakhlun, ‘palm-trees’, is masculine here but feminine in ˹sūrat˺ al-Hāqqa, nakhlun khāwiya, ‘fallen down ˹or hollow˺ palm-trees’, ˹Q. 69:7˺, in order to harmonise with the end-rhyme of the verses in both instances).
القرآن:٥٤:٢٠

تَنْزِعُ النَّاسَ كَأَنَّهُمْ أَعْجَازُ نَخْلٍ مُنْقَعِرٍ  

{تنزع الناس} تقلعهم من حفر الأرض المندسين فيها وتصرعهم على رءوسهم فتدق رقابهم فتبين الرأس عن الجسد {كأنهم} وحالهم ما ذكر {أعجاز} أصول {نخل منقعر} منقطع ساقط على الأرض وشبهوا بالنخل لطولهم وذكر هنا وأنث في الحاقة (نخل خاوية) مراعاة للفواصل في الموضعين.
quran:54:21

And how ˹severe˺ were My punishment and warning.  

How then were My chastisement and My warnings?
القرآن:٥٤:٢١

فَكَيْفَ كَانَ عَذَابِي وَنُذُرِ  

{فكيف كان عذابي ونذر}.
quran:54:22

And We have certainly made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, so is there any who will remember?  

And verily We have made the Qur’ān easy to remember. So is there anyone who will remember?
القرآن:٥٤:٢٢

وَلَقَدْ يَسَّرْنَا الْقُرْآنَ لِلذِّكْرِ فَهَلْ مِنْ مُدَّكِرٍ  

{ولقد يسرنا القرآن للذكر فهل من مدكر}.