RationalWiki:Annotated Qur'an/The Merciful

Annotated Qur'an
Sura 55: The Merciful
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Qur'an 55:1 The Compassionate.	Qur'an 55:1 Notes Which definition of this word would describe a god who dooms many of his own creation to eternal torture before they even have the chance to exist? On that note, what does compassion really mean to a single god who has no equals in any way?

Qur'an 55:2 Has taught the Quran.

Qur'an 55:2 Notes He sent an angel named Gabriel (or Jibreel) to send the message to some man named Muhammed. This man reportedly received those revelations in ways very similar to epileptic fits. Muhammed then spread the message to others in such a way that leaves so much doubt that we still have the same revelations that he received from his epilepsy divine revelations. That... or Muhammed himself taught the Quran and gave the credit to Allah.

Qur'an 55:3 He created man.	Qur'an 55:3 Notes Prove that he was, indeed, the one who created man. Whether he orchestrated evolution or made the evidence look like humans evolved to the world's foremost evolutionary biologists, he left very little evidence that he was indeed the same god as Allah.

Qur'an 55:4 And taught him clear expression.	Qur'an 55:4 Notes This book suffers from a total lack of clarity in any language, especially the original language.

Qur'an 55:5 The sun and the moon move according to plan.	Qur'an 55:5 Notes Why would we believe that Allah in particular is the one who planned this?

Qur'an 55:6 And the stars and the trees prostrate themselves.	Qur'an 55:6 Notes Trees sway in the wind, though they never seem to prostrate. To date, not a single astronomer has seen a star prostrate and reported any evidence of such an event. This must be an example of the clarity of this book.

Qur'an 55:7 And the sky, He raised; and He set up the balance.	Qur'an 55:7 Notes The sky is not a solid thing which can be raised... is it? Is the sky supposed to be a firmament on a flat earth? What balance would be needed? Either way, scientists have yet to find a sky that can be lifted. Scientists have known for centuries that the sky is not a tangible object to be lifted.

Qur'an 55:8 So do not transgress in the balance.	Qur'an 55:8 Notes The clarity of this book strikes again.

Qur'an 55:9 But maintain the weights with justice, and do not violate the balance.	Qur'an 55:9 Notes This verse and the previous verse need not be separate verses.

Qur'an 55:10 And the earth; He set up for the creatures.	Qur'an 55:10 Notes Rather, the creatures adapted for life on the earth. Even if someone specifically made an earth on which creatures could live, how can anyone know that this someone is a conscious, sentient being who does things intentionally, let alone Allah in particular?

Qur'an 55:11 In it are fruits, and palms in clusters.	Qur'an 55:11 Notes Anyone who lives near fruit-bearing trees and palm trees can see that. Why does Allah need to dedicate an entire verse to make such an obvious claim.

Qur'an 55:12 And grains in the blades, and fragrant plants.	Qur'an 55:12 Notes This knowledge is known to anyone who has ever cultivated grains or fragrant plants. This knowledge is known to anyone who has ever seen these plants. This deserves to be its own verse?

Qur'an 55:13 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:13 Notes I will not deny the marvels themselves. Rather, I will deny the idea that this specific lord out of thousands of deities is responsible for them. I can look at the trees until I see every single kind of tree in the world. How am I to know that Allah specifically created any of them, let alone all of them?

Qur'an 55:14 He created man from hard clay, like bricks.	Qur'an 55:14 Notes When he says "man", he is talking about golems and not humans. At no stage in any human's life does anyone seem to be made of clay. Not embryos, not newborn babies, not adults. This is stated as a fact and not a metaphor with a mother's womb being the kiln in which this clay is fired. Has the prophet Muhammed ever seen anyone working with clay to make anything?

Qur'an 55:15 And created the jinn from a fusion of fire.	Qur'an 55:15 Notes At the very least, we can demonstrate the existence of humans to debunk the previous verse. Jinn are not even demonstrably real.

Qur'an 55:16 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:16 Notes My answer to this question remains. How many times are you going to list things in this world and ask the same question?

Qur'an 55:17 Lord of the two Easts and Lord of the two Wests.	Qur'an 55:17 Notes Two Easts? Two Wests? What is this perfectly clear verse saying?

Qur'an 55:18 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:18 Notes At least give us more than a single verse before asking this same question. For reference, poetic works can use repeated lines like this well. I am not criticizing every single written work to employ this device. However, a flawed question is not worth asking once, let alone multiple times.

Qur'an 55:19 He merged the two seas, converging together.	Qur'an 55:19 Notes Which two seas?

Qur'an 55:20 Between them is a barrier, which they do not overrun.	Qur'an 55:20 Notes Is the author talking about seas which do not merge because of wildly different salinity levels? In that case, the separation is not from a barrier but because of chemistry. Even then, the two different bodies of water can indeed mix with each other, though this is a lot slower than bodies of water which do not experience this phenomenon.

Qur'an 55:21 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:21 Notes I will deny the humans being made like golems, the jinn in their entirety, and the supposed barrier keeping waters from mixing.

Qur'an 55:22 From them emerge pearls and coral.	Qur'an 55:22 Notes This seems like it should be immediately before verse 55:20 without verse 55:21 interrupting.

Qur'an 55:23 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:23 Notes Give us marvels that are demonstrably from the same lord named Allah mentioned by this book and then I will see which of them I accept or deny.

Qur'an 55:24 His are the ships, raised above the sea like landmarks.	Qur'an 55:24 Notes Clarity? Where art thou? Are you talking about islands? Icebergs? Actual man-made ships? What specifically does this verse reference?

Qur'an 55:25 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:25 Notes The aforementioned ships, perhaps? I would need to know what that verse specifically references to answer this question.

Qur'an 55:26 Everyone upon it is perishing.	Qur'an 55:26 Notes Everyone everywhere is prone to perishing. Immortality has not been demonstrated for anyone.

Qur'an 55:27 But will remain the Presence of your Lord, Full of Majesty and Splendor.	Qur'an 55:27 Notes It would need to exist in order to remain.

Qur'an 55:28 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:28 Notes The eternal everlasting presence of this specific lord, or this lord's existence whatsoever.

Qur'an 55:29 Everyone in the heavens and the earth asks Him. Every day He is managing.	Qur'an 55:29 Notes I do not ask him. So many atheists live their lives without asking him.

Qur'an 55:30 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:30 Notes The marvel that everybody in the heavens and the earth even acknowledge the existence of such a being.

Qur'an 55:31 We will attend to you, O prominent two.	Qur'an 55:31 Notes Can you do that in such a way that you prove your own existence instead of wallowing in divine hiddenness?

Qur'an 55:32 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:32 Notes One of the prominent two

Qur'an 55:33 O society of jinn and humans! If you can pass through the bounds of the heavens and the earth, go ahead and pass. But you will not pass except with authorization.	Qur'an 55:33 Notes Is the sky really a solid firmament? Does that firmament have border patrol? Thank you for authorizing 99.99% of people inside a capable aircraft to pass through these bounds.

Qur'an 55:34 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:34 Notes This time, I will deny the border patrol of the heavens.

Qur'an 55:35 You will be bombarded with flares of fire and brass, and you will not succeed.	Qur'an 55:35 Notes We will not be able to survive this firebombing campaign, or will these specific missiles be more powerful than the most powerful nukes in our time? Either way, why would you do that and when do you plan on doing it to us?

Qur'an 55:36 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:36 Notes The answer to this question should be obvious.

Qur'an 55:37 When the sky splits apart, and becomes rose, like paint.	Qur'an 55:37 Notes Different translations provide different metaphors here. Is this meant to be literal or metaphorical? Either way, this is the answer to the question in the next verse.

Qur'an 55:38 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:38 Notes Stop repeating yourself. You do not look any more majestic and marvelous for asking so confidently so many times in the same chapter. This seriously implies that the different heavens are distinct entities. Does this verse reference the different layers of the atmosphere?

Qur'an 55:39 On that Day, no human and no jinn will be asked about his sins.	Qur'an 55:39 Notes Sins are an arbitrary concept based purely on the whims of this deity.

Qur'an 55:40 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:40 Notes Fun fact: Before the printing press, scribes would need to copy scripture by hand. So many scribes spent so much of their lives copying these verses by hand, and the sheer repetition does not make that task easier.

Qur'an 55:41 The guilty will be recognized by their marks; they will be taken by the forelocks and the feet.	Qur'an 55:41 Notes More threats from a loving god

Qur'an 55:42 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:42 Notes Just look at the previous verse.

Qur'an 55:43 This is Hell that the guilty denied.	Qur'an 55:43 Notes This is Hell that the unconvinced people had no idea really existed. What makes it any more real than Valhalla or any other afterlife in any other religion?

Qur'an 55:44 They circulate between it and between a seething bath.	Qur'an 55:44 Notes More threats from the loving god

Qur'an 55:45 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:45 Notes These threats are not marvels.

Qur'an 55:46 But for him who feared the standing of his Lord are two gardens.	Qur'an 55:46 Notes Only two gardens? This certainly beats infinite torture, but still?

Qur'an 55:47 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:47 Notes Anything after death, at least until Allah provides us with evidence and allows us to believe it.

Qur'an 55:48 Full of varieties.	Qur'an 55:48 Notes The gardens are varied! Wow! Did this short verse need to be its own verse? Could it not have been appended to verse 55:56 as a single verse uninterrupted by the same repeated verse?

Qur'an 55:49 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:49 Notes The variety in the garden

Qur'an 55:50 In them are two flowing springs.	Qur'an 55:50 Notes Literary tip: When talking about everything in heaven, you can bring everything together without interrupting every thought with the same tired old question.

Qur'an 55:51 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:51 Notes Any author trying to write a beautiful book should know this.

Qur'an 55:52 In them are fruits of every kind, in pairs.	Qur'an 55:52 Notes How many pairs? Is it just a single pair for each kind of fruit? They probably grow back, but that still sounds underwhelming for a paradise.

Qur'an 55:53 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:53 Notes The lord has no marvels.

Qur'an 55:54 Reclining on furnishings lined with brocade, and the fruits of the two gardens are near at hand.	Qur'an 55:54 Notes I like brocade, but this still seems like a ridiculously mundane reward so far even for peasants in Arabia at the time.

Qur'an 55:55 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:55 Notes Add the brocade to my previous answers to this question.

Qur'an 55:56 In them are maidens restraining their glances, untouched before by any man or jinn.	Qur'an 55:56 Notes We get virgins? Do the women get to enjoy these virgin maidens too? Either way, appealing to lust is more appealing even if it also seems like a cheap worldly reward.

Qur'an 55:57 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:57 Notes The virgin maidens who apparently belong to me, even if they are mindless sex slaves who will always consent to anything and everything that anyone in heaven will want

Qur'an 55:58 As though they were rubies and corals.	Qur'an 55:58 Notes Literally comparing women to objects, unless the rubies and corals are separate from the virgins

Qur'an 55:59 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:59 Notes Rubies and corals are also added to the list.

Qur'an 55:60 Is the reward of goodness anything but goodness?	Qur'an 55:60 Notes Define goodness in a clear and non-contradictory way.

Qur'an 55:61 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:61 Notes I will deny this nebulous, ambiguous concept of goodness.

Qur'an 55:62 And beneath them are two gardens.	Qur'an 55:62 Notes Beneath the gardens? Beneath the maidens? Clarity is important in a message meant for everybody.

Qur'an 55:63 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:63 Notes This pair of gardens as well

Qur'an 55:64 Deep green.	Qur'an 55:64 Notes Green may be my favorite color, but I can get plenty of that in this world.

Qur'an 55:65 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:65 Notes Are you going to make me add my favorite color to the list?

Qur'an 55:66 In them are two gushing springs.	Qur'an 55:66 Notes Springs are nice. They are mundane, but I like them.

Qur'an 55:67 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:67 Notes Add the springs to the list.

Qur'an 55:68 In them are fruits, and date-palms, and pomegranates.	Qur'an 55:68 Notes Hopefully more than two of each kind

Qur'an 55:69 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:69 Notes If this book can be so repetitive in its questions, then I can be so repetitive in my answers.

Qur'an 55:70 In them are good and beautiful ones.	Qur'an 55:70 Notes Springs? Fruits? Maidens? Ones?

Qur'an 55:71 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:71 Notes Whatever the previous verse references

Qur'an 55:72 Companions, secluded in the tents.	Qur'an 55:72 Notes Why would I want companions to be secluded in tents? What kind of reward is that?

Qur'an 55:73 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:73 Notes Companions secluded in tents

Qur'an 55:74 Whom no human has touched before, nor jinn.	Qur'an 55:74 Notes So wait, are those more virgins? I would want to treat them better than just that.

Qur'an 55:75 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:75 Notes At this point, I decided to deny this god's creativity whatsoever.

Qur'an 55:76 Reclining on green cushions, and exquisite carpets.	Qur'an 55:76 Notes Both of these things exist in this world and are not that hard to acquire.

Qur'an 55:77 So which of your Lord’s marvels will you deny?	Qur'an 55:77 Notes I will thankfully *not* deny that this is the last occurrence of this tired verse. Why did it need to repeat itself 31 times? Did the author have a quota?

Qur'an 55:78 Blessed be the name of your Lord, Full of Majesty and Splendor.	Qur'an 55:78 Notes Blessed be he who decided to end this chapter with anything, *anything* other than that... repeated... verse...