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ka-ʾannahum ḥumurun mustanfiratun
as if they were terrified asses
— Ali Quli Qarai
74Al-MuddathirالمدثرVerse 50 of 56
The Cloaked One74. Al-Muddathirالمدثر
al-Muddaththir
The Cloaked One
MeccanVerse 50 of 56
74Al-MuddathirالمدثرVerse 50 of 56
The Cloaked One
as if they were terrified asses
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Mudaththir – Verses 49-51
49. Then, why do they turn away from the reminder?
50. As if they were frightened wild asses,
51. Fleeting from lions.
The blessed Verses in question proceeds with the dire fate of the sinners and the people of Hell clearly reflecting that such obdurate disbelievers’ are afraid of hearing the word of Truth and any reminder and admonition. The blessed Verse 49 asks:
Is it not surprising that they reject the cure of the Holy Qur’an? The blessed Verses 50 and 51 say:
The Arabic nominal form humur the plural of himar, denoting "ass," though it herein connotes "wild ass," taking the contextual meaning of the blessed Verse into account which includes "lions" or "hunters." In other words, the nominal form encompasses a broad semantic scope including the domestic and wild kinds of asses. The Arabic nominal form qaswara, derived from the root q-s-r ("vanquish, overcome") is an attribute of lion, though it is also taken to imply "archer" and "hunter" as well. However, the former sense is more befitting herein.
It is said that the wild ass is strikingly afraid of the lion, such that upon hearing the lion’s roar, it fleets away madly, particularly upon noticing a lion’s approach, they scatter away surprisingly. The animal is afraid of anything owing to its wildness, let alone its ferocious enemy, the lion. At any rate, the blessed Verses in question reflect a very eloquent expression of the polytheists’ fear of the life giving Qur’anic Verses. These polytheists are herein likened to wild asses, devoid of understanding that owing to their wildness, they are afraid of anything, whereas they hear nothing but the reminder aiming at their awakening.