Chapter 86  At-Tariq (The Night Visitor)   
      
      
   Description: A short powerful chapter that guides us through the wonders of   
   creation and asks us to ponder and heed the message.   
   Introduction   
      
   This is one of the short chapters found at the end of the Quran.  Some of   
   these chapters contain stern warnings to the reader.  Think.  Reflect.    
   Ponder.  Consider.  It was revealed in Mecca at a time when the disbelievers   
   were doing everything in their    
   power to defeat and disrupt the message brought by Prophet Muhammad, may the   
   mercy and blessings of God be upon him.  The Night Visitor takes its name from   
   a word in the first verse.  There are seventeen short verses that discuss two   
   themes; that man    
   must appear before God and that the Quran is the decisive indisputable word of   
   God.   
      
   Verses 1 - 3 An oath   
      
   This chapter opens with an oath.  God swears by the heaven or the sky.  The   
   Arabic word used generally means everything above us, it is an infinite term.    
   Thus He swears by everything above us, and by the night visitor.  The word for   
   night visitor, at-   
   Tariq means anything that travels at night.  Just as the reader is pondering   
   what a night visitor might be God is also asking a question.  What will make   
   you understand what the night visitor is? That is, what will explain the night   
   visitor to you? We    
   are given the impression that it is serious, perhaps even beyond explanation.    
   It is, we are then told, the star of piecing brightness.  A star whose light   
   penetrates or cuts through the darkness.   
      
   Verses 4 - 7 Ponder the miracles   
      
   There is a watcher over every soul.   God watches over every star in the   
   galaxy and every human being.  The stars in this instance can be thought of as   
   evidence to the fact that each soul has a watcher, an angel guarding them.    
   Generally the scholars do    
   not think of this in the same way western literature thinks of an angel   
   watching and protecting a person's every move.  Rather it is more like an   
   angel to watch over the recording of deeds.    
      
   Humankind is then asked to consider how he has been brought into existence.    
   God says reflect deeply about your own creation.  Each life begins from fluid   
   ejected.  Life begins, God says, from what gushes out.  This is consistent   
   with the imagery of the    
   chapter.  Just as the star pierces through the darkness the fluid of life   
   gushes forth.  Ponder the miracle of human existence, a fluid ejected and then   
   a life emerging fully formed from between the backbone and the ribs.   
      
   God asks us first to look around, outside ourselves and ponder the wonders of   
   the universe then He asks us to look inside, to contemplate the wonders   
   involved in the creation of a human being.   
      
   Verses 8 - 10  Secrets laid bare   
      
   God is certainly able to bring a human being back to life after death.  On the   
   Day of Judgement, sometimes called the Day of Resurrection, human beings will   
   emerge from the grave.  On that Day secrets will be laid bare.  The rhythm and   
   images continue.     
   The light pierces, the fluid gushes and now the earth splits.  What has been   
   created once can surely be created again.  On that Day the human being will   
   have neither power nor someone to help him.  When the secrets are examined   
   people will not be able to    
   escape the consequences of their deeds by their own power, or with help from   
   somebody else.    
      
   Verses 11 - 14  And in conclusion another oath   
      
   Now God swears another oath.   He swears by the sky that sends down rain and   
   by the earth that is forever bulging with new growth.  When the rain comes, it   
   penetrates the earth however it soon dries out.  The water evaporates and then   
   returns to earth in    
   the familiar water cycle.  The rain is recurring and the earth cracks open   
   over and over again for plant life to emerge.  Every plant that appears has   
   ripped open the earth; another impregnation that pierces and gushes forth.     
   The rain gushes forth and    
   the plant life pierces the earth.   This is a serious task and so too is the   
   Quran.  It is also sent down and the truths it contains are not play or jest -   
   they are a stern warning of an unavoidable reality.  It is decisive and not to   
   be taken lightly.   
      
   Verses 15 - 17 The best of planners is God   
      
   God say that they (the unbelievers of Mecca) are plotting and scheming.  They   
   are devising whatever plots they can to defeat the message of the Quran.  They   
   are creating doubts in people's minds and making false statements about   
   Prophet Muhammad.  God is    
   also plotting.  He is planning that none of their devices will succeed.   They   
   will be utterly defeated.  God has a plan that will overtake and obliterate   
   all of their plans.  Do not be hasty in revenge He tells Prophet Muhammad;   
   leave them alone for a    
   while and you will see what becomes of them and their schemes.  Do not be   
   angry, deal with them gently for God has it all in hand; for He alone holds   
   the power in the beginning and in the end.    
      
      
      
   http://www.islamreligion.com/articles/10906/chapter-86-at-tariq-night-visitor/   
      
   Thank you   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)