Exegesis of Verses (9 - 22) of Surat al-Qamar.

The Shaykh : Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and peace upon our Prophet Muhammad, the Seal of the Prophets and the Imam of the righteous, and upon his family and his Companions, and those who follow them with excellence until the Day of Judgment.
As for what follows:
This is the eighty-third session after the one hundredth of the known sessions: namely, the Open Door session, which takes place every Thursday, and this Thursday is the third of the month of Safar, 1419 AH.
We begin this session, as is customary, by speaking about what Allah Mighty and Majestic has facilitated regarding the verses of Surat al-Qamar where we left off. For Allah Glorified and Exalted is He mentioned the story of Noah in a concise manner, and He said, Exalted and Majestic is He:
Meaning: We carried Noah and his family, except for those among them about whom the decree had already passed, and Allah the Exalted commanded him to carry in it two of every pair, and those who believed with him, and none believed with him except a few.
He carried him on a vessel with planks and rivets, meaning: on a vessel with planks and rivets. Noah, peace and blessings be upon him, was building it when his people would pass by and mock him, so he would say: .
This vessel is described by Allah as having planks, and "planks" is an indefinite plural indicating two things: the first is the multitude of its planks, and the second is the greatness and strength of these planks. It is fitting for a vessel that carries humans on its back to have great planks and rivets. "Rivets" means nails, and it is said that "rivets" refers to what the timbers are bound with, which is broader than nails because timbers may be bound with nails or with ropes. The important point is that the fastening of these planks to one another was strong. Allah Glorified and Exalted is He mentioned the material of the vessel's construction, that it was of timbers and nails or the bindings that bind those timbers, so that this would be an instruction for humans to build vessels in this manner.
Meaning: it moves upon this great water that reached the tops of the mountains, where the water of the earth and the water of the sky met. "Moves" means: it travels upon this water.
Meaning: and We see it with Our eyes and We protect it and We preserve it.
Also, in His saying , the preposition "with" indicates accompaniment, meaning: that the eye of Allah Mighty and Majestic accompanies this vessel, so He sees it, Exalted and Majestic is He, and protects it and preserves it, because it is a vessel built with the piety of Allah Mighty and Majestic and the salvation of His awliya (close friends of Allah) from the drowning that encompassed His enemies.
"Reward" means: recompense. Meaning: for the one who was disbelieved in, and he is Noah, peace and blessings be upon him. So Allah Mighty and Majestic made clear that the salvation of Noah by this vessel was a reward for him, and Allah Glorified and Exalted is He rewards the doers of good with more than their good.
: The pronoun "ha" has been a subject of disagreement among the exegetes. Is the meaning that We have left this story, which is the story of Noah and the drowning of his people, as a sign for those who come after them? This is one view.
The second view: We have left it, meaning: the vessel, and the intended meaning is the genus, i.e., the genus of this vessel, which We have left as a sign for those after Noah. Both matters are possible, and the rule in exegesis is: "If a verse allows for two meanings that do not contradict each other, and neither is stronger than the other, then it is to be understood as both meanings together", so we say:
That Allah left the story as a sign and a lesson for those who come after Noah, and He left the vessel as a sign and a lesson, so that those who come after him may build something like it. And it is indicated for this view, and that it is not impossible, that pronouns sometimes refer to the genus rather than the individual, similar to the saying of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He: We created man from a drop of clay. Who is intended by "man"?
Adam. It is not Adam who was made a drop in a secure place, but rather man, which is the genus of Adam and his descendants, the sons of Adam. And similarly, according to some scholars, it is not the lamps in the sky that the devils are pelted with, but rather shooting stars that emerge from them and the devils are pelted with them.
The important point is that His saying: has two meanings. Say it for me, my brother!

The questioner : I?

The Shaykh : Yes, indeed.

The questioner : The pronoun refers to the vessel, or to the genus of the vessel.

The Shaykh : Yes, and does the verse include both meanings?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : Yes, may Allah bless you.
"Is there any one who will remember?" The interrogation here is for the purpose of arousing interest, meaning: is there anyone who will remember and take a lesson from what happened to the deniers of the messengers, namely their destruction and ruin? And it is said that the interrogation is for the purpose of command, and the meaning is: so remember.
And whether we say it is for arousing interest or for command, it is obligatory upon us to remember and to fear the punishment of Allah Blessed and Exalted is He. And the punishment of Allah the Exalted for this nation specifically cannot encompass them all, but it may encompass specific regions that are taken by punishment for what the fools among them did, as Allah the Exalted said: .
: "How" here is for magnification and wonder, meaning: how great is the punishment and the warning? And it is said that the interrogation is for affirmation, meaning: that Allah affirms to us the punishment and the warning.
But the first meaning is greater, that it is for magnification and exaltation, meaning: how great is My punishment that descends upon My enemies, and how great is My warning that warns and threatens with punishment that will descend upon whoever defies. So this punishment that occurred with the people of Noah, a punishment that occurred, what is it considered to be for us?
It is among the warnings that frighten us from defying the command of Allah and His Messenger.
: "We made it easy" means: We facilitated it. And the Qur'an is the book of Allah that was revealed to Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him, and it is called the Qur'an because it is read, i.e., recited.
And His saying: , some said: its meaning is for memorization, and that the Qur'an is made easy for whoever wants to memorize it. And it is said that the intended meaning of "remembrance" is remembering and taking a lesson, meaning: that whoever reads the Qur'an to remember and take a lesson, it is made easy for him, and he takes a lesson and benefits. And this meaning is closer to the truth, by the evidence of His saying: , meaning: is there anyone who will remember? Even though Allah Glorified and Exalted is He made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, is it not fitting for us, since Allah has made the Qur'an easy for remembrance, that we take a lesson and remember?
Yes, this is what is fitting.
This second nation is among those whom Allah narrated to us in this noble surah, and it follows the people of Noah generally, though it may precede them, as in Surat al-Dhariyat. But the general rule is that the story of Noah is the first in the stories of the prophets, because he is the first prophet sent to the earth.
And they are the people of Hud, as He, the Exalted, said: They denied their prophet Hud, peace and blessings be upon him. And they were severe and strong, and they boasted of their severity and strength, and they said: who is stronger than us in strength? Allah the Exalted said: He says here: And the answer is: it was severe, great, and it fell in its place. So the interrogation is therefore for magnification, exaltation, and affirmation, which is that the punishment of Allah was great and it fell in its place. Its warnings, meaning its signs, were also great and fell in their place. So by what did Allah destroy them?
Allah destroyed them with the gentlest thing, which is the wind that fills the horizons, and yet a person does not feel it because it is soft and gentle, and a person passes through it easily. Our current location where we are is full of air, is it not?

The questioner : Yes.

The Shaykh : And yet we pass through it and do not feel it, so it is among the gentlest of things.
Allah destroyed 'Ad, who boasted of their strength, with this wind, as Allah Mighty and Majestic said here: : The sentence here is affirmed with "inna" (indeed), and "We sent" means: the Lord Mighty and Majestic Himself, meaning that Allah means Himself by His saying "We sent," and the plural pronoun is for exaltation.
: Meaning: upon 'Ad. : Meaning: having a roaring sound due to its power and severity, such that the mere emergence of it is heard with a roar, even if it does not collide with what necessitates a roar, because it is very strong and great. And it is the western wind that came from the west to 'Ad, so they said: , and they had been afflicted with drought for years before that. So when it came with its darkness and greatness and its roaring, they said: this is a cloud that will rain for us. But the matter was the opposite; it was a wind with painful punishment, it was a barren wind, with no rain in it and no hope that rain would come from it. So here He, the Exalted, says: Which wind is it?

The questioner : The western wind.

The Shaykh : The western wind, which comes from the direction of the west, "sar-sar" meaning: having a severe sound and roaring due to its power and speed.
: On a day of misfortune, meaning: on a day of ill-omen.
It was continuous with regard to 'Aad, not at all times. The day on which they were destroyed was not in itself a day of continuous ill-omen, but for these people it was a day of continuous ill-omen, as Allah the Exalted said regarding the people of Noah: . These people were destroyed by the wind and then entered the Fire. So the ill-omen, meaning misfortune, was continuous with them; the punishment of the Hereafter is connected to the punishment of this world.
means that it seized them with severity and strength and lifted them up to the sky. We ask Allah for safety! Some of them said that it lifted them up until the person disappeared from view due to their height, then it threw them to the ground. When they fell to the ground, they fell on the tops of their heads, and then the head separated from the body due to the severity of the impact.
As if, in their state of falling to the ground: "A'jaz" means the base or root. The date palm is well known, and "munqari'" means fallen from its root. That is, they were like date palms that had fallen from their roots, with their trunks remaining. Why did they become like the bases of date palms?
Because they had no heads, as the exegetes said, since their heads had separated due to the severity of the impact. So, glory to the Mighty, the Majestic! These people, the most vigorous and strongest, reached this state by a wind from Allah, Mighty and Majestic.
And here I ask: here it says , and in Surat al-Haqqah: . The meaning is close, but from the eloquence of the Qur'an is that the speech in it follows a single pattern. So there: is appropriate for the rhyming endings in al-Haqqah, is it not?
But here is appropriate for the rhyming endings in Surat al-Qamar, because the coherence and consistency of the speech are part of the perfection of its eloquence.
: Allah the Exalted repeated this at the end of every story so that we strive to remember the Qur'an, reflect upon the Qur'an, and understand it, because it has been made easy. And the sentence, as you see, is confirmed by three confirmers:
The oath, the lam, and "qad," which indicates encouragement to remember the Qur'an and to be reminded by it.
We hope that Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, will make us and you among those who are reminded of the Book of Allah, Mighty and Majestic. He is capable of all things. And now, since twenty-five minutes remain, we will allocate them to questions, starting with Al-Ayyam.