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RationalWiki:Annotated Qur'an/Those Who Pull Out

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Annotated Qur'an
Sura 79: Those Who Pull Out
Word-by-word translation
Alternate translations and related tafsirs
Alternate translations
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Qur'an 79:1[edit]

By those who snatch violently.

Qur'an 79:1 Notes[edit]

By those who snatch what violently?

Qur'an 79:2[edit]

And those who remove gently.

Qur'an 79:2 Notes[edit]

What is this verse talking about exactly? Will later verses provide crystal-clear context? Various translations and commentaries state that this refers to the transfer of souls, but how is that obvious from the text itself?

Qur'an 79:3[edit]

And those who glide smoothly.

Qur'an 79:3 Notes[edit]

Do these verses have any actual meaning or are they just carried by poetic beauty that gets lost in translation?

Qur'an 79:4[edit]

And those who race swiftly.

Qur'an 79:4 Notes[edit]

What is this talking about? Where in this supposedly perfected book is the context to make these words make sense?

Qur'an 79:5[edit]

And those who regulate events.

Qur'an 79:5 Notes[edit]

They should make sense without external context and when translated to any language.

Qur'an 79:6[edit]

On the Day when the Quake quakes.

Qur'an 79:6 Notes[edit]

This can be assumed to refer to earthquakes, though this book is not clear enough for any reader to be sure. According to these aforementioned commentaries, this is referring to a trumpet that blasts to indicate the end of this world and the beginning of the afterlife, but how is that not clear from the book itself?

Qur'an 79:7[edit]

And is followed by the Successor.

Qur'an 79:7 Notes[edit]

The trumpet will blast again.

Qur'an 79:8[edit]

Hearts on that Day will be pounding.

Qur'an 79:8 Notes[edit]

This is supposed to mark the destruction of the entire world. Would physical hearts still exist? This could refer to souls, but has anyone actually proven the existence of souls?

Qur'an 79:9[edit]

Their sights downcast.

Qur'an 79:9 Notes[edit]

Evidently, people will continue existing and feel a flurry of emotions on this chaotic day.

Qur'an 79:10[edit]

They say, “Are we to be restored to the original condition?

Qur'an 79:10 Notes[edit]

This is a valid question. To date, nobody who died came back to life with their original body after said body was destroyed in a world-ending blast. What reason does anybody have to believe that such a cataclysm is even possible?

Qur'an 79:11[edit]

When we have become hollow bones?”

Qur'an 79:11 Notes[edit]

Yes. That is hard to believe.

Qur'an 79:12[edit]

They say, “This is a losing proposition.”

Qur'an 79:12 Notes[edit]

Are they saying that this is unbelievable or that this would be a huge loss for them in the afterlife if it could even happen?

Qur'an 79:13[edit]

But it will be only a single nudge.

Qur'an 79:13 Notes[edit]

A single nudge can resurrect the dead?

Qur'an 79:14[edit]

And they will be awake.

Qur'an 79:14 Notes[edit]

How does that even remotely seem possible?

Qur'an 79:15[edit]

Has the story of Moses reached you?

Qur'an 79:15 Notes[edit]

Yes, and it seems to be nothing more than a story.

Qur'an 79:16[edit]

When His Lord called out to him in the sacred valley of Tuwa.

Qur'an 79:16 Notes[edit]

This valley may exist, but that is not evidence for this story being true.

Qur'an 79:17[edit]

“Go to Pharaoh—he has transgressed.”

Qur'an 79:17 Notes[edit]

Which Pharaoh? Egypt had so many pharaohs, all of whom have more historical evidence supporting them than Moses.

Qur'an 79:18[edit]

And say, “Do you care to be cleansed?

Qur'an 79:18 Notes[edit]

I would have my suspicions if I were a king and some random individual asked to cleanse me, whatever that means. This means that Moses offered to cleanse Pharaoh of his sins. However, is this really an effective strategy to get a presumably tyrannical ruler to stop being so tyrannical and oppressive?

Qur'an 79:19[edit]

And I will guide you to your Lord, and you will turn reverent.”

Qur'an 79:19 Notes[edit]

Will you prove that your lord even exists, Moses?

Qur'an 79:20[edit]

He showed him the Greatest Miracle.

Qur'an 79:20 Notes[edit]

Sadly, nobody can verify that this was even a miracle or that Moses even exists as described in this religion.

Qur'an 79:21[edit]

But he denied and defied.

Qur'an 79:21 Notes[edit]

Possibly because not even this Pharaoh saw any real evidence.

Qur'an 79:22[edit]

Then turned his back, and tried.

Qur'an 79:22 Notes[edit]

Perhaps he should have convincing evidence that this "Lord" even exists and that Moses isn't just some cult leader.

Qur'an 79:23[edit]

And gathered and proclaimed.

Qur'an 79:23 Notes[edit]

People exist. People can prove that they exist.

Qur'an 79:24[edit]

He said, “I am your Lord, the most high.”

Qur'an 79:24 Notes[edit]

He said that while presenting infinitely more evidence for his existence than God ever could. He was there and speaking to them in person. He didn't rely on someone else to tell people that he exists.

Qur'an 79:25[edit]

So God seized him with an exemplary punishment, in the last and in the first.

Qur'an 79:25 Notes[edit]

For... rational skepticism? This story could suggest that Pharaoh got punished for being a brutal dictator, but a more obvious interpretation is that he got punished for not believing Moses at his utterly ridiculous word.

Qur'an 79:26[edit]

In this is a lesson for whoever fears.

Qur'an 79:26 Notes[edit]

God, the Most Merciful and Most Forgiving, wants people to fear his merciless unforgiving wrath.

Qur'an 79:27[edit]

Are you more difficult to create, or the heaven? He constructed it.

Qur'an 79:27 Notes[edit]

God should prove that he even exists, much less that he created anything. This book constantly claims that God created the world and all those who inhabit it, but where is the evidence supporting such claims?

Qur'an 79:28[edit]

He raised its masses, and proportioned it.

Qur'an 79:28 Notes[edit]

Again, what evidence does anyone have that God did anything.

Qur'an 79:29[edit]

And He dimmed its night, and brought out its daylight.

Qur'an 79:29 Notes[edit]

Night and daylight are the results of the round earth orbiting a faraway star known as the sun. Allah claims to have created the earth and the sun. Does he know how his own creations work?

Qur'an 79:30[edit]

And the earth after that He spread.

Qur'an 79:30 Notes[edit]

The original Arabic wording in this verse is ambiguous, but it sounds a lot like God spread a flat earth and not the round earth to which all the evidence points.

Qur'an 79:31[edit]

And from it, He produced its water and its pasture.

Qur'an 79:31 Notes[edit]

Again, he needs to prove that he did anything at any point.

Qur'an 79:32[edit]

And the mountains, He anchored.

Qur'an 79:32 Notes[edit]

The mountains are not separate things to be anchored to the earth.

Qur'an 79:33[edit]

A source of enjoyment for you and for your animals.

Qur'an 79:33 Notes[edit]

Considering that most of the planet is inhospitable to human life and that living on even the hospitable parts can be difficult, I have to take this claim with a grain of Lot's wife.

Qur'an 79:34[edit]

But when the Great Cataclysm arrives.

Qur'an 79:34 Notes[edit]

What evidence can we find that "the Great Cataclysm" will ever happen or is even possible?

Qur'an 79:35[edit]

A Day when man will remember what he has endeavored.

Qur'an 79:35 Notes[edit]

Or a day when man will cease to exist because humans don't typically reanimate long after they died. Souls could make that happen, but they need to exist.

Qur'an 79:36[edit]

And Hell will be displayed to whoever sees.

Qur'an 79:36 Notes[edit]

Hell, the place created by a "Most Merciful" and "Most Forgiving" god. Many humans would be willing to forgive everybody and not subject them to endless torture, so these humans are infinitely more merciful than this pathetic excuse for a god.

Qur'an 79:37[edit]

As for him who was defiant.

Qur'an 79:37 Notes[edit]

As for him who failed to believe impossible fairytales with insufficient evidence...

Qur'an 79:38[edit]

And preferred the life of this world.

Qur'an 79:38 Notes[edit]

And preferred the only life that demonstrably exists...

Qur'an 79:39[edit]

Then Hell is the shelter.

Qur'an 79:39 Notes[edit]

Mercy? Forgiveness? What are those?

Qur'an 79:40[edit]

But as for him who feared the Standing of his Lord, and restrained the self from desires.

Qur'an 79:40 Notes[edit]

Glad to get this stick out of the way and get a carrot instead.

Qur'an 79:41[edit]

Then Paradise is the shelter.

Qur'an 79:41 Notes[edit]

God could just create a paradise for everyone and not have any tribulations of this life or horrific hell in the next.

Qur'an 79:42[edit]

They ask you about the Hour, “When will it take place?”

Qur'an 79:42 Notes[edit]

This is a perfectly valid question.

Qur'an 79:43[edit]

You have no knowledge of it.

Qur'an 79:43 Notes[edit]

Frankly, neither does the cosmic idiot known as God.

Qur'an 79:44[edit]

To your Lord is its finality.

Qur'an 79:44 Notes[edit]

So said the Lord himself.

Qur'an 79:45[edit]

You are just a warner for whoever dreads it.

Qur'an 79:45 Notes[edit]

Muhammad acted like he was far more than "just a warner" and even commanded people to obey his every command in this very book. Allah could just give us the warning himself if this threat really did need to exist, which it most certainly does not.

Qur'an 79:46[edit]

On the Day when they witness it—as though they only stayed an evening, or its morning.

Qur'an 79:46 Notes[edit]

What even is time?