QAYYŪM AL-ASMĀ'
Part LXXX
[80]
سورة الزوال
Sūrat al-Zawal (The Surah of the Declining Sun).
on
Qur'an 12:79.
Preliminary Notes
The title of QA (80) the Sūrat al-Zawāl (The Sūrah of the Declension) utilizes a verbal-noun which occurs only once in the Qur’ān. Derived from a verb zāla = `to go away, deviate, remove, decline’ (see Kassis, Concordance 1983:1332) it most likely indicates the going down or `declension’ of the sun understood figuratively. Within this 80th QA. sūrah, the word zuwāl occurs twice, once in the following address to the believers:
يا ايّها المؤمنون
اتلوا من الكتاب فی بدوالزّوال سبحان اللّه و لا اله الّا اللّه الحمد للّه الّذی لم يتّخذ صاحبة و لاولدا و لم يكن له شريك فی الملك و لم يكن له ولیّ من الذّلّ و كبّره تكبيراً
O Thou Believers!
Recite ye from the Book (al-kitāb) at the beginning of the declension [of the Sun], `Subḥān-Allāh (Praised be God)! No God is there except God! Praised be to God Who in no wise adopts any consort [wife, mate] (ṣāḥiba) [cf. Q. 6:101] neither [takes for Himself] a Son (walad an cf. Jesus, cf. Q. 2:116). There is not for Him any partner (sharīk) in the [earthly] dominion (al-mulk) And there is not with respect to Him any [intimate] associate [partner] (walī) [to protect Him] from abasement [ignominy] (al-dhull). So extol Him with [befitting] magnification! (kabbiruhu takbīr an ) [= Q. 17:111b].”
And once also in an address to denizens or the “People of the Throne”
يا اهل العرش
اسمعوا ندائی من مركز الشّمس الطّالعة من مشرق الباب انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا هو قد اختصصت بالحقّ ذكر الذّكر فی مطلع الشّمس و مغربها و علی الزّوال مركزها صلّوا عليه كما يصلّی الرّحمن لعبده و الملئكة حافّون حول الذّكر بذكره و هو اللّه كان بكلّ شیء شهيداً
“O Thou People of the Throne!
"Hearken ye unto My Call from the meridian [central point] of the Sun (markaz al-shams), [as] dawning forth from the East of the Gate (mashriq al-bāb)! [Exclaiming] `I am indeed God, Who, no God is there save Him. I, in very truth, have indeed singled out the remembrance of the [messianic] Dhikr (dhikr al-dhikr) at [the time of] the Dawning-Forth of the Sun (fī maṭla` al-shams) as well as with its [western] setting (maghribihā) and at [the time of] its declension (`alā al-zawāl) at the [noon time] meridian [central position at noon] (markazihā). So utter ye blessings upon it just as the All-Merciful (God) does with respect to His servant and whereat the angelic hosts (al-malā’ikat) do circumambulate about the [messianic] Dhikr in remembrance of him (bi-dhikihi). And He is God Who hath ever been Witness unto everything (bi-kulla shay’ shahīd an)."
It is the case then that a thorough analysis of the Sūrah titles necessitates a study of the larger body of all of the 111 sūrahs of the QA as well as of its use as an item of Islamic-Shi`i-Shaykhi vocabulary as well as instances of its use by the Bab in his various writings of the post 1260-1844 period. Post QA uses of sūrah title vocabulary will of course often serve to clarify its basic and developed meanings.
Translation Stephen N. Lambden
1982-2016
[1]
بسم اللّه الرّحمن الرّحيم
In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
[2]
"He said, 'God forbid that we should take any other but him in whose possession we found the goods; for if we did so, we would be evildoers.'" (Q. 12:79, trans. Arberry).
[3]
كهيعص
K-H-Y-`-Ṣ
195
[Abjad 1+5+10+70+90=195]
[4] [5] [6]
يا ايّها المؤمنون
اتلوا من الكتاب فی بدوالزّوال سبحان اللّه و لا اله الّا اللّه الحمد للّه الّذی لم يتّخذ صاحبة و لاولدا و لم يكن له شريك فی الملك و لم يكن له ولیّ من الذّلّ و كبّره تكبيراً
O Thou Believers!
Recite ye from the Book (al-kitāb) at the beginning of the declension [of the Sun], `Subḥān-Allāh (Praised be God)! No God is there except God! Praised be to God Who in no wise adopts any consort [wife, mate] (ṣāḥiba) [cf. Q. 6:101] neither [takes for Himself] a Son (walad an cf. Jesus, cf. Q. 2:116). There is not for Him any partner (sharīk) in the [earthly] dominion (al-mulk) And there is not with respect to Him any [intimate] associate [partner] (walī) [to protect Him] from abasement [ignominy] (al-dhull). So extol Him with [befitting] magnification! (kabbiruhu takbīr an ) [= Q. 17:111b].”
يا اهل العرش
اسمعوا ندائی من مركز الشّمس الطّالعة من مشرق الباب انّی انا اللّه الّذی لا اله الّا هو قد اختصصت بالحقّ ذكر الذّكر فی مطلع الشّمس و مغربها و علی الزّوال مركزها صلّوا عليه كما يصلّی الرّحمن لعبده و الملئكة حافّون حول الذّكر بذكره و هو اللّه كان بكلّ شیء شهيداً
“O Thou People of the Throne!
"Hearken ye unto My Call from the meridian [central point] of the Sun (markaz al-shams), [as] dawning forth from the East of the Gate (mashriq al-bāb)! [Exclaiming] `I am indeed God, Who, no God is there save Him. I, in very truth, have indeed singled out the remembrance of the [messianic] Dhikr (dhikr al-dhikr) at [the time of] the Dawning-Forth of the Sun (fī maṭla` al-shams) as well as with its [western] setting (maghribihā) and at [the time of] its declension (`alā al-zawāl) at the [noon time] meridian [central position at noon] (markazihā). So utter ye blessings upon it just as the All-Merciful (God) does with respect to His servant and whereat the angelic hosts (al-malā’ikat) do circumambulate about the [messianic] Dhikr in remembrance of him (bi-dhikihi). And He is God Who hath ever been Witness unto everything (bi-kulli shay’ shahīd an)."
[7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [16] [17] [19] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [31] [32] [33] [34] [35] [36] [37] [38] [39] [40] [41] [42]
