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fa-lammā balagha maʿahu s-saʿya qāla yā-bunayya ʾinnī ʾarā fī l-manāmi ʾannī ʾadhbaḥuka fa-nẓur mādhā tarā qāla yā-ʾabati fʿal mā tuʾmaru sa-tajidunī ʾin shāʾa llāhu mina ṣ-ṣābirīna
When he was old enough to assist in his endeavour, he said, ‘My son! I see in dreams that I am sacrificing you. See what you think.’ He said, ‘Father! Do whatever you have been commanded. If Allah wishes, you will find me to be patient.’
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah As-Saffat – Verses 99-102
99. “And he said: ‘Verily, I am going unto my Lord, He will guide me’.”
100. “My Lord! Grant me a righteous (son)!”
101. “So We gave him the glad tidings of a forbearing boy,”
102. “And when he (the son) reached (the age of working) with him he said: ‘O my son! Verily I see in a dream that I shall sacrifice you. Now see what is your view. He said: ‘O’ my father! Do what you are commanded; you will find me, Allah willing, of the patient ones’.”
A righteous son is one of the Divine remittals, and one of prophets’ supplications is for it, and he is the best helper along side the path of the movement of the family toward Allah. The former verses indicated that, after fulfilling his duty of prophecy in Babylon, Abraham emigrated from that place. His first beseech from Allah was that He would give him a righteous son, because he had had no child until that day. The first verse of the verses under discussion talks about the acceptance of this prayer of Abraham.
It says:
In fact, there are three glad tidings in this sentence: the glad tiding of a son, the glad tiding of reaching the son to the age of adolescence, and the glad tiding of the good quality of being for bearing. Upon the commentary of the Arabic word /halim/ it is said that he is the one who does not haste in any action before its proper time, while he has its ability; and does not haste in the retribution of the guilty. He has a great spirit, and can control his emotions.
Raqib in Mufradat says that: the term /hilm/ means: forbearing at the time of commotion of anger, and since this status originates from wisdom, it has sometimes been used in the sense of intellect, too, else the real meaning of /hilm/ is the same thing which was said at the beginning. By the way, it is understood from this quality that Allah has given the glad tiding of the existence of this son until he reaches an age that he can be qualified by ‘forbearing’. As we will recite in the following verses, he proved the rank of his being forbearing at the time of the event of ‘sacrifice’. Also, Abraham showed his being forbearing both at that time and at the time of the fire accident.
It is interesting that the word /halim/ (forbearing) has been used fifteen times in the Qur’an, and is often used as an attribution for Allah, except in two cases which has been mentioned in the word of Allah as a quality for Abraham and his son, and in one occurrence it is a quality for Shu‘ayb from the tongue of others. As some commentators believe, the Arabic word /qulam/ (boy) is used for any child before reaching the age of adolescence, while some others have used it for the child who is more than ten years old and has not reached the age of puberty.
By the different meanings which have come in the Arabic language, it can be understood that /qulam/ is an age between childhood and youth that is usually meant into adolescence. Then, in the next verse, the Qur’an implies that at last according to the glad tiding of Allah, the promised son of Abraham was born, and enlightened the heart of the father who was waiting for a righteous son and was expectant for many years. This child passed his childhood and reached the age of adolescence.
Here, the Qur’an says:
That is, he reached a stage in which he could work and struggle in the different affairs of life, accompanying his father and helping him. Some commentators believe that the Qur’anic word /sa‘y/ here means worship and working for Allah. This term, of course, has a vast meaning and encompasses this concept, too, but it is not restricted to it. And the application of the Arabic word /ma‘ahu/ (with him) shows that its purpose is his assistance to the father in the affairs of life.
However, as some of the commentators have said, at that time his son was thirteen years old when Abraham sees a wonderful dream which denotes the beginning of another great trial in respect to this respectable prophet. In his dream he sees that he was ordered from the side of Allah to sacrifice his only son by his own hand and to cut his head. Being very terrified, Abraham awoke. He knew that the prophets’ dream was true and it was far from the Satanic temptations. Yet the same dream was repeated two times more, which was an emphasis on the necessity of that action as well as its urgency.
It is said that at the first time Abraham saw this dream in the night of ‘Tarwiyah’ (the eighth night of Zil-Hajjah), and on the night of ‘Arafah and the night of Feast of Sacrifice (the ninth and tenth of Zil-Hajjah) the dream was repeated, so there remained no doubt for him that it was the decisive command of Allah. Abraham, who had repeatedly become successful in the hard trials of Allah, this time again he must obey the command of Allah, either, and kill the son for whom he waited for a lifetime and now he was a handsome adolescent by his own hand.
But, before anything else, he ought to make the son prepared for this action. So, Abraham, addressing him, informed him as follows:
The son, who was as a copy of the father, the donator, and had learnt the lesson of patience and perseverance, and faith in his father’s school during his short lifetime, happily and eagerly accepted that Divine commandment, and explicitly and with conclusiveness, answered as follows:
How expressive and meaningful the sentences of the father and son are! And how many delicate things there are inside them! From one side, the father suggests the subject of sacrifice to his thirteen-year-old son and asks his view about it. He considers independent personality and freedom of decision for him, because he does never intend to deceive his son and blindly invites him to this great field of trial. He wishes that the son may also participate in this excellent struggle willingly and, like the father tastes the pleasure of submission and contentment.
On the other side, the son intends that the father would be firm in his decision, then he does not say ‘sacrifice me’, but he says:
and that he submits to His commandment. The son specially addresses the father by the phrase: ‘O my father!’ in order to show that this subject does not decrease the least from the affection between father and son, since the commandment of Allah (s.w.t.) prevails over everything. And, on the third side, he keeps the state of courtesy at the presence of Allah in the best form. He never relies on the power of his own faith, will, and decision, but he relies on the divine will and providence of Allah and, through this sentence, he seeks success, perseverance and steadfastness from Him.
And thus both father and son (as) pass completely and successfully the first stage of this great examination.