Ta Seen. These are verses of the Qur’an, a clear, elucidating book; a guidance and joyful tidings to the believers who attend regularly to prayers and pay their zakah, and who firmly believe in the life to come. (The Ants; Al-Naml: 27: 1-3)
This surah was revealed in Makkah shortly after Surah 26, The Poets, and it follows the same pattern: An introduction and conclusion which together spell out the subject matter. In between there are several historical accounts that emphasize the main theme and elucidate it. Theses histories highlight certain aspects which help draw parallels between the attitudes of the unbelievers in Makkah on the one hand and their predecessors among other communities on the other. Thus, the surah shows a pattern that the advocates of Islam in any generation need to contemplate.
As in all Makkan surahs, the main theme is faith: To believe in God and worship Him alone without partners, and to believe in the resurrection as well as reward and punishment in the hereafter. It also includes believing in God’s revelations, and that all matters that are beyond our faculties of perception, or ghayb, belong to God. They are known to none other than Him. The main theme also includes the belief in God’s attributes: He alone is the Creator and Provider, and all blessings come from Him only. Hence, gratitude is due to Him for all that He gives us. Moreover, He is the Almighty who grants us all our faculties, abilities and power.
The historical accounts given in the surah confirm these issues and portray the fate of those who deny them and the happy end of those who believe in them. Immediately after the opening we have a short account of Moses that describes his citing of a fire as he traveled at night in the desert, his approach toward it and how he was addressed from on high. It refers to the message he was required to deliver to Pharaoh. The surah then immediately proceeds to state that Pharaoh and his people denied the truth of the signs God sent them although they were certain at heart that these were true. It also refers to the fate of those who knowingly deny the truth: “Within their souls they knew them to be true, yet they, in their wickedness and arrogance, rejected them. Consider, then, what happened in the end to the evil-doers.” (Verse 14) The same was the attitude the unbelievers in Makkah adopted toward the Qur’an, which they knew to be truly God’s revelation.
We then have a reference to the blessings God bestowed on David and Solomon (peace be upon them both). This precedes Solomon’s story with the ant, the hoopoe and the Queen of Sheba. The story highlights that David and Solomon were truly thankful for the favors God granted them, which included knowledge, kingdom and prophethood, in addition to making the jinn and the birds subservient to Solomon, doing his bidding. Again the story highlights here the basics of faith preached by all God’s messengers. The account gives special treatment to how the Queen of Sheba and her people received the message of Solomon, who is only a servant of God, and contrasts this with the reception the Quraysh gave to God’s message preached by the Prophet Muhammad. The Quraysh denied the message and described it as false while the others accepted the faith. Yet it was God who gave Solomon all the knowledge, kingdom and power he had. It is God who knows and owns everything. When compared with those of God, Solomon’s kingdom and knowledge are no more than a drop in the ocean.
Then follows an account of Prophet Salih and his Thamud people. What is highlighted in this surah is the conspiracy some of the evildoers among his people concocted against Salih and his household, plotting to kill him at night. It shows how God foiled their plot, saved Salih and the believers, and destroyed Thamud together with the conspirators. “their dwellings are now empty.” (Verse 52) The Quraysh also plotted against the Prophet Muhammad and conspired to kill him at night.
The last of the historical accounts in this surah is that of Lot, and it tells how his people planned to drive him and those who believed in him out of their town under the pretext that they “kept themselves pure”. It tells us of their end after Lot and his group left them to their fate: “We rained on the others a rain of destruction. Dire indeed is such rain which fell on those who were forewarned.” (Verse 58) The Quraysh also considered driving the Prophet out of their city, shortly before he left them to migrate to Madinah.
When this historical part is over, the surah begins its comments with the verse: “Say: All praise be to God, and peace be upon His servants whom He has chosen. Who is more worthy: God or the false (deities) they associate with Him?” (Verse 59) The surah then takes us on a round that includes some of the great scenes of the universe, and some of the deep aspects of the human soul, showing us the work of the great Maker, Planner, Creator, Sustainer who alone knows what lies beyond the reach of any created being’s perception, and to whom we shall all return. It then tells us about one of the aspects that signal the coming of the Last Hour, adding some scenes of the Day of Judgment and the fate that awaits those who deny it.
The surah concludes on a note that fits well with its subject matter and its ambience: “I am only bidden to worship the Lord of this City who has made it sacred. To Him all things belong. And I am bidden to be one of those who submit themselves (to God). And to recite the Qur’an. So whoever chooses to follow the right path does so for his own benefit; and if any chooses to go astray, say: I am only a warner. And say: All praise is due to God. He will indeed make you see His signs, and you will recognize them. Your Lord is never heedless of what you do.” (Verses 91-93)