Al-Waqi'ah · Makki · ayah 10 of 96

Al-Waqi'ah 56:10

وَٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ ٱلسَّـٰبِقُونَ

“And the forerunners, the forerunners[1611] -”

Saheeh International

Essence

The third rank is named twice and asked about not at all: the foremost, the foremost, with no question left for anyone to answer.

A reflection

Why the word is simply said twice

The two ayat before this one were built the same way. Name the rank, then ask the unanswerable question about it. This one breaks the pattern, and the break is the content.

No question. Just the word, twice.

The commentators take the construction apart and offer three readings, and they are careful to say which they prefer.

The first treats the second word as plain emphasis, with the real statement arriving in the next ayah: those are the ones brought near.

The second treats the two words as a complete sentence, subject and predicate, the way Arabic says "Zayd is Zayd". A poet's line is quoted for it: I am Abu'l-Najm, and my poetry is my poetry. On the surface that means: you already know what my poetry is, no description needed.

But one commentary pushes further and calls this reading the most just and sound of the three. Saying a thing is itself can point in a second direction. Not that the subject is famous, but that no account of it would be possible. Imagine asking a man about the king, and being told: I know nothing of the king except that he is a king.

On that hearing, the foremost cannot be reported except by themselves. What they are is beyond what human knowledge takes in.

The third reading splits the two words. The foremost to good in this world are the foremost to the Garden in the next.

And then the question nobody asks. Why not "the foremost, and what are the foremost", matching the two ayat before? One commentary answers it precisely. The wondering question is put to somebody who might claim to know: if you understand, explain. Here no such claim is in play. The matter is built from the start on the hearer's admitted incapacity, so there is nothing to ask.

Which means the three ranks are introduced in three different grammatical registers. A question for the right. The same question for the left. For the foremost, silence with a name in it.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.