Sūrah Al-Burūj The Constellations

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr

The People of the Trench (85:4–9): A king in Yemen (Dhū Nuwās) converted his people to Judaism and then pressured the Christian community of Najrān to apostatize. When they refused, he dug trenches, filled them with fire, and threw the believers in. A young boy who was being trained as a sorcerer believed through miracles and he too was thrown in. The believers went into the fire willingly rather than abandon their faith. Ibn Kathīr: they are cursed in this surah and their punishment in the hereafter is worse than the fire they lit. But the believers who died are with Allah their patient martyrdom is their greatest achievement.

Allah the Forgiving, the Loving (85:14–15): "And He is the Forgiving, the Loving Owner of the Glorious Throne Effecter of what He intends." Ibn Kathīr: Al-Wadūd (the Loving) one of the rare direct statements that Allah loves His servants. Combined with Al-Ghafūr (the Forgiving) the God who forgives sin is also the God who loves the sinner who returns. This combination is unique to Islam divine love and divine forgiveness paired as inseparable attributes.

• The believers who held firm (85:10): "Indeed those who have tortured the believing men and believing women and then have not repented for them is the punishment of Hell, and for them is the punishment of burning." Ibn Kathīr: repentance was still available the door was not closed even for the murderers of the believers. But they did not repent. Divine justice is precise: they burned others, so burning awaits them.
• The Lawḥ al-Maḥfūẓ (85:22): "But this is an honoured Qurʾān in a Preserved Tablet." Ibn Kathīr: the Qurʾān exists in eternal form in the Preserved Tablet before any creation. What was revealed to the Prophet ﷺ is an exact transmission from this eternal original nothing was added or removed.
• The victory of the martyrs (85:11): "Indeed those who have believed and done righteous deeds for them are gardens beneath which rivers flow. That is the great attainment." Ibn Kathīr: the martyrs of the trench their bodies burned, but their souls are in Paradise. The greatest attainment of the human is exactly this: to be among those to whom Paradise belongs.
• The power of Allah (85:12–13): "Indeed the assault of your Lord is severe indeed it is He who originates and repeats." Ibn Kathīr: bāshu l-lāhi (Allah's seizure) is more severe than any human punishment those who tortured the believers will face something far more severe in return.
• The boy who submitted to martyrdom (85, tradition): Ibn Kathīr tells the full story: the boy who was being trained as a sorcerer showed signs of being a prophet himself. He told the king the only way to kill him was to say: "In the name of the Lord of this boy." The king said it publicly the people said it too and converted. The king had the trench dug and threw them in. The believers went willingly.