Sūra al-Insān (Arabic: سورة الإنسان) or Sūra Hal Atā ( سورة هل أتی) or Sūra al-Dahr (سورة الدهر) is the seventy sixth sura of the Qur’an in accordance to the order of its compilation and the ninety sixth sura in the order of revelation. It is a Madani sura of the Qur’an.
According to Shi’a and some Sunni exegetes of the Qur’an, the eighth verse of this sura which is known as al-It’am Verse is a characterization of a virtue of Imam ‘Ali (a), Fatima al-Zahra (a), Imam al-Hasan (a), Imam al-Husayn (a), and their housemaid, Fidda. They fasted for three consecutive days because of their nadhr, but they gave their breakfast (iftar) to a poor person, an orphan, and a prisoner despite their hunger.
Introduction
- Naming
This sura is known as “al-Insan”, “Hal Ata”, and “al-Dahr”. It is also called, “al-Abrar” (Arabic: الأبرار, good people), because the word, “al-abrar”, has occurred in its fifth verse and verses six through twenty two specify the characteristics of “abrar”. Over half of the sura is concerned with the characterization of such people.
- Place and Order of Revelation
Order: in the order of compilation, it is the seventy sixth sura of the Qur’an, and in the order of revelation, it is the ninety eighth verse of the Qur’an. It is a Madani sura.
- Number of Verses and Other Features
Without any disagreements among the exegetes of the Qur’an, this sura has thirty one verses, 243 words, and 1089 letters.
Verses of this sura are short; it counts as a short Qur’anic sura occurring in the middle of the fourth hizb of the twenty ninth juz’ of the Qur’an.
Content
Sura al-Insan begins with the story of the human creation, his tests by God, and his freedom in choosing his path.
The verse eighteen of the sura is concerned with the blessings bestowed by God to human beings on Dooms Day. According to ‘Allama Tabataba’i, the sura aims to count the various blessings bestowed to good people.
The sura goes on to call the Prophet (s) to be patient. It then issues five important orders to the Prophet (s):
- (1) to be patient in the propagation and execution of divine rulings,
- (2) not follow the whims of sinners and unbelievers,
- (3) to remember God in the morning and the evening (in order to have enough power to tolerate huge troubles),
- (4) to prostrate for God at nights, and
- (5) to praise the Lord during long nights.
The sura continues to remind that unbelievers love the hasty life of this world, while they leave a “heavy day” behind them.
The sura ends with a classification of human beings into those who receive the divine mercy, and those for whom God has prepared a painful punishment.
