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wa-mā huwa bi-qawli shāʿirin qalīlan mā tuʾminūna
and it is not the speech of a poet. Little is the faith that you have!
— Ali Quli Qarai
69Al-ḤāqqahالحاقةVerse 41 of 52
The Reality69. Al-Ḥāqqahالحاقة
al-Ḥāqqah
The Reality
MeccanVerse 41 of 52
Surah al-Haqqa – Verses 38-43
38. So, I swear by whatever you see,
39. And by whatever you see not,
40. That this Qur’an is the word of a noble Messenger.
41. It is not the word of a poet. Little is that you believe!
42. Nor is it the word of a soothsayer. Little is that you remember!
43. But this is the word sent down by the Lord of the worlds.
Resuming the discussions mentioned in the preceding blessed Verses regarding Resurrection and the fates of the believers and disbelievers, the blessed Verses in question clearly treat of the Holy Qur’an and Prophetic Call, so that the discussions on Prophetic Call and Resurrection complement each other. The blessed Verses 38 and 39 say:
It is commonly held that the Arabic particle la in such instances are non-lexical and emphatic. Instances of swearing by Allah’s Name and otherwise abound in the Holy Qur’an. The clauses
are of a broad semantic scope embracing whatever is seen or not seen by mankind. In other words, it encompasses all the world of "intuitive perception" and the "unseen." Qur’an exegetes have suggested other possibilities regarding the exegesis of the twain blessed Verses, e.g.
and
make references to the world of creation and the Creator, outward and inward Bounties, mankind and angels, bodies and spirits, or this world and the Hereafter. However, as it was mentioned above, the broad semantic range of the twain impedes the restriction of its contextual meaning. Therefore, the visible and the invisible are embraced by the oath, though its reference to God Almighty is rather a remote possibility, since juxtaposition of the Creator and the creation would rather be unbefitting, particularly owing to the fact that the Arabic particle ma is applied to insensible beings.
It is worthy of note, however, that the expression clearly reflects that many a thing may not be seen by the outward eyes. Modern science supports the argument as per which intelligible constitute a limited number of entities and what lies beyond the horizon of perception, e.g. colors, sounds, tastes, and waves, exceed further in terms of number. Astronomers maintain that approximately five thousand celestial bodies are visible, though the invisible bodies exceed billions in number. The sound waves audible to man are limited, but there are thousands of sound waves inaudible to mankind. The colors perceptible to us are seven in number, though it is a proven fact that innumerable color spectra of ultraviolet and infrared imperceptible to human eyes.
Likewise, the world is imbued with innumerable microscopic organisms thousands of which are contained in a drop of water. It would be quite unfortunate to be confined in the perceptible world unaware of or belying what lies beyond perception. The world of spirits, proven by rational and even experiential proofs, constitutes an expanse far greater than our physical world. Thus, how may one confine himself within the perceptible world? The blessed Verse 40 treats of the apodosis of such great and unique oath, saying that this Qur’an is the word of a noble Messenger (S). The Arabic word rasul herein indubitably connotes the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S) rather than Gabriel, since the following blessed Verse in clearly indicative of such implication.
We know that the Holy Qur’an is the Word of God Almighty, but the Noble Prophet (S) is the one who imparted it, hence the emphasis laid on his Prophetic Call. Thus, the Divine Message is conveyed by the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S). The blessed Verse 41 is saying that this Qur’an is not the word of a poet, though little is that you believe. The next blessed Verse says:
These two blessed Verses refute the unfounded ascriptions to the Noble Prophet (S) by the polytheists and opponents in alleging that he is a poet and the Qur’anic Verses are poetry. They also claimed at times that he was a soothsayer intending to say that he was in contact with jinn and devils to whom they revealed the secrets of the unseen by words embellished by rhythm and rhyme. By such unfounded claims they meant that the Qur’an contained intelligence regarding the unseen and it was adorned with rhythmical sentences. They were unaware of the fact that the words of the Noble Prophet (S) and those of soothsayers and poets were essentially different in nature.
It is also noteworthy that the clauses
and
herein ensure those who witness Divine Revelation through its clear tokens but call it poetry and poetry and fail to believe in it. The blessed Verse 43 lays particular emphasis on the same by saying that this Qur’an is revealed by the Lord of the worlds, hence it is neither poetry, nor soothsaying, nor the product of the Noble Prophet’s (S) thought, nor the word of Gabriel, but it is Divine Revelation sent down unto the pure heart of the Noble Prophet (S).
There are eleven Qur’anic attestations of the same theme with slight variations. It is also worthy of note that the Holy Qur’an was revealed in time, since the Arabic word tanzil implies the Revelation of the Holy Qur’an in time in its entirety within a period of twenty three years following its Revelation in its entirety unto the Noble Prophet’s (S) heart on the night of Ordainment (qadr) wherewith Divine Injunctions were imparted to the people through the Noble Prophet of the Islamic faith (S).