Quran Universe
38:1

صٓۚ وَٱلۡقُرۡءَانِ ذِي ٱلذِّكۡرِ

Sad waalqurani thee alththikri

Sad. By the Qur'an containing reminder...

Word by word
  1. صٓۚSaad
  2. وَٱلۡقُرۡءَانِBy the Quran
  3. ذِيfull (of) reminder
  4. ٱلذِّكۡرِfull (of) reminder
Sad · 38:1Makkah

Sad. Then an oath by a Book full of reminding.

Pausing before a surah about stubborn pride

How the surah opens
Sada letterits meaning is with Allah
then
By the Quranfull of remindingfull of honor
What the Book is
old wordssomething to own, not hear
a reminderbenefit here and after

The surah opens with the single letter Sad. Its meaning is known to Allah. Then comes an oath by the Quran, which Ibn Kathir explains as a reminder and a benefit for people in this life and the next, and also a Book of high honor. Both meanings fit together.

You open the app on the bus, half reading, thumb ready to scroll. A single letter sits there that you cannot decode. That is the point: stop, and listen to what comes next. A reminder only works on someone who slows down.

I already know what the Quran says, more or less.

It is a reminder, and a reminder needs me to pause and actually pay attention.

Try this

Before you read today, sit still for ten seconds and ask: what do I need reminding of?

Related21:1038:14
Simplified reflection. Read the tafsir for scholarship.draft
Tafsir Ibn Kathir

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

ص ۚ وَالْقُرْآنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ - بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ - كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ قَرْنٍ فَنَادَوْا وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(1. Sad. By the Qur'an full of reminding.)(2. Those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition.)(3. How many a generation have We destroyed before them! And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.)

We have already discussed the separate letters in the the beginning of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Baqarah, and there is no need to repeat it here.

وَالْقُرْآنِ ذِي الذِّكْرِ

(By the Qur'an full of reminding.) means, by the Qur'an which includes all that is in it as a reminder and a benefit to people in this life and the Hereafter. Ad-Dahhak said that the Ayah,

ذِي الذِّكْرِ

(full of reminding.) is like the Ayah,

لَقَدْ أَنْزَلْنَا إِلَيْكُمْ كِتَابًا فِيهِ ذِكْرُكُمْ ۖ

(Indeed, We have sent down for you (O mankind) a Book in which there is Dhikrukum)(21:10). i.e., your reminder. This was also the view of Qatadah and of Ibn Jarir. Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, Sa'id bin Jubayr, Isma'il bin Abi Khalid, Ibn 'Uyaynah, Abu Husayn, Abu Salih and As-Suddi said:

ذِي الذِّكْرِ

(full of reminding.) "Full of honor," i.e., of high standing. There is no contradiction between the two views, because it is a noble Book which includes reminders and leaves no excuse and brings warnings. The reason for this oath is to be found in the Ayah:

إِنْ كُلٌّ إِلَّا كَذَّبَ الرُّسُلَ فَحَقَّ عِقَابِ

(Not one of them but denied the Messengers; therefore My torment was justified.)(38:14). Qatadah said, "The reason for it is to be found in the Ayah:

بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ

(Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition)." This was the view favored by Ibn Jarir.

بَلِ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا فِي عِزَّةٍ وَشِقَاقٍ

(Nay, those who disbelieve are in false pride and opposition.) means, in this Qur'an there is a reminder for those who will be reminded and a lesson for those who will learn a lesson, but the disbelievers will not benefit from it because they

فِي عِزَّةٍ 

(are in false pride) meaning, arrogance and tribalism,

وَشِقَاقٍ

(and opposition.) means, they are stubbornly opposed to it and go against it. Then Allah scares them with news of how the nations who came before them were destroyed because of their opposition to the Messengers and their disbelief in the Scriptures that were revealed from heaven. Allah says:

كَمْ أَهْلَكْنَا مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ مِنْ قَرْنٍ

(How many a generation have We destroyed before them!) meaning, disbelieving nations.

 فَنَادَوْا 

(And they cried out) means, when the punishment came to them, they called for help and cried out to Allah, but that did not save them at all. This is like the Ayat:

فَلَمَّا أَحَسُّوا بَأْسَنَا إِذَا هُمْ مِنْهَا يَرْكُضُونَ - لَا تَرْكُضُوا وَارْجِعُوا إِلَىٰ مَا أُتْرِفْتُمْ فِيهِ وَمَسَاكِنِكُمْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُسْأَلُونَ

(Then, when they perceived (saw) Our torment, behold, they (tried to) flee from it. Flee not, but return to that wherein you lived a luxurious life, and to your homes, in order that you may be questioned.)(21:12-13).

Abu Dawud At-Tayalisi recorded that At-Tamimi said, "I asked Ibn 'Abbas, may Allah be pleased with him, about the Ayah:

فَنَادَوْا وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) He said that it was not the time for them to call or flee or escape. Muhammad bin Ka'b said, concerning the Ayah:

فَنَادَوْا وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "They called for Tawhid when their lives were over, and they resorted to repentance when their lives were over."

Qatadah said, "When they saw the punishment, they wanted to repent when there was no longer time to call out." Mujahid said:

فَنَادَوْا وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(And they cried out when there was no longer time for escape.) "It was not the time to flee or escape." Allah says:

وَلَاتَ حِينَ مَنَاصٍ

(when there was no longer time for escape.) meaning, there was no time to escape or run away; and Allah knows best.