Al-Haaqqa (The Reality)

48. And this is a Reminder for the God fearing.

49. And We know that there are some amongst you that belie it,

50. And it shall entail regret for the disbelievers.

51. And it is an absolute truth with certitude.

52. Thus, glorify the Name of your Lord, the Most Great.

The blessed Verse 48 further emphasizes that the Holy Qur’an is certainly some admonition to the God fearing, since they are prepared to be absolved of their sins and tread the path of Truth, since they seek the Truth. However, those who have not attained to such degree of fearing God Almighty may never avail themselves of Qur’anic teachings. The profound and extraordinary impression engendered by the Holy Qur’an serves as further evidence of its veracity.

The blessed Verse 49 is saying that God Almighty is All-Aware that some people belie Divine Revelation, though such obdurate denial may never affect its veracity, since the God fearing and seekers of Truth are reminded by it and notice the reflection of Divine Signs in it and thereby tread steadfastly on the Path of Allah.

Thus, in the same manner that availing oneself of some brilliant light requires opening one’s eyes, one is supposed to open up his heart in order to avail oneself of the Light of the Holy Qur’an.

The blessed Verse 50 is saying that the Holy Qur’an shall lead to the disbelievers’ regret. They belie it today, but tomorrow, on the Day of Emergence or Day of Disclosure, which is the Day of Regret, they shall comprehend that they have lost such great Bounty owing to their obduracy and have thereby caused so many excruciating torments for themselves. They shall compare the exalted positions of the believers and their disgrace and shall regret, biting their own hands in a rage.

The same motive is attested elsewhere in the Holy Qur’an¹ :

“And remember the Day when the wrong doer shall bite at his hands, saying: ‘Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger.’”

Impeding others from falsely imagining that entertaining doubts or belying of the opponents have a touch of certainty on their side, the blessed Verse 51 says:

“And it is an absolute truth with certitude.”

The Arabic term

haqq al-yaqin (“absolute truth”) is regarded by some Qur’an exegetes as a genitive construction denoting reference to oneself, since the Truth is the essence of certitude (‘ayn al-yaqin) and vice versa; as it is said masjid al-jami‘ (“mosque of congregation”) and yawm al-khamis (“the fifth day, i.e. Thursday”) which are instances of appositive genitive (idhafa bayaniyya).

However, it would be further befitting the contextual meaning to say that it is an instance of the relation between the qualified and the qualifier. In other words, the Holy Qur’an is Absolute Certitude. Certitude consists of different degrees, at times engendered by rational arguments, an instance of which is some smoke observed from afar engendering the certitude as to the existence of fire, despite not having seen the fire per se.

This is termed knowledge by certitude (‘ilm al-yaqin). We may at times approach the fire and perceive its flames through our visual sense and thereby reinforce our certitude, which is termed the essence of certitude (‘ayn al-yaqin).

We may even approach further and touch the flames and thereby attain to a higher degree of certitude, termed haqq al-yaqin (“absolute truth”). Now, the blessed Verse in question is saying that the Holy Qur’an is of the last type of certitude, i.e. absolute truth, though it is denied by those blind in their hearts.

The blessed Verse 52 which is the closing Verse of the Chapter is saying that thus, glorify your Lord the Greatest and glorify him of any defect or flaw. It is worthy of note that the Holy Qur’an is depicted by four Attributes: it is sent down by the Lord of the Words; it is a Reminder for the God fearing; it leads disbelievers to regret their lost opportunities; and it is the absolute Truth. They address everybody, the God fearing, the disbelievers, and those close to God Almighty respectively.

Now, let us turn toward a few traditions concerning the greatness and significance of glorification.

According to a Prophetic tradition:

“One of the most loved words before God Almighty is to say: 'Praise be to my Lord Who is Glorified.”2

It is narrated from the Noble Prophet (S) as saying:

“One who glorifies God Almighty thirty times a times, He will remove seventy kinds of afflictions from him the least of which is poverty.3

In this vein, the Commander of the Faithful, Imam ‘Ali (as) is reported as saying:

“Saying 'Glorified is Allah' fills half of the scale of deeds, saying 'Praise be to Allah' brims the scale of deeds, and saying 'Allah is the Greatest' fills the distance between the heaven and the earth.”4

It is narrated from Allah’s Messenger (S) as saying:

“One who utters 'Glorified is the Great Allah and Praised is He' makes a palm tree grow for him in Paradise.”5

It is also narrated from Allah’s Messenger (S) on the authority of ‘À’isha that Allah’s Messenger (S), before his demise, repeatedly uttered:

“O Lord! Glorified are You! I praise You and ask You for forgiveness.”6