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Sura 38
Aya 1

Chapter 38

ṢādṢād ( ص )

88 verses • revealed at Meccan

»The surah that opens with the single discrete Arabic letter Ṣād. It takes its name from the letter Ṣād, as mentioned in verse 1. This surah mentions previous prophets in support and encouragement for Muḥammad, and makes a clear link between the arrogance displayed by the disbelievers of Mecca, previous generations, and Iblis, the original rebel. The first and last verses assert the truth and nobility of the Quran.«

The surah is also known as Saad

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

Yusuf Ali: In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1
ص ۚ وَالقُرآنِ ذِي الذِّكرِ

Yusuf Ali

Sad:1 By the Qur-ān, Full of Admonition:2 (This is the Truth).
  • Sad is a letter of the Arabic alphabet. It is used here as an Abbreviated Letter, for which see Appendix 1 (at the end of Sūra 2:). See also the second para, of n. 989 to 7:1 for this particular letter. No dogmatism is permissible in trying to interpret Abbreviated Letters. But it is suggested that it may stand for Qisas (“Stories”), in which the dominant consonant is s. For this Sūra is concerned mainly with the stones of David and Solomon as illustrative of the relative positions of spiritual and worldly power. Sale’s note: “It may stand for Solomon”: is a real howler: for in Arabic the letter Sad does not occur at all in the name of Solomon.
  • Full of admonition: the word dhikr is far more comprehensive than any single word or phrase that lean think of in English: it implies (1) remembrance in a spirit of reverence; (2) recital, celebrating the praises of God; (3) teaching, admonition, warning; (4) Message, Revelation, as in Ahl at dhikr, “those who possess the Message” 16:43, and n. 2069). In Sufi phraseology it implies mystical enlightenment, both the aspiration and the attainment, for in the highest spiritual atmosphere, the two are one. Devotional exercises are also called dhikr, with reference to meaning (2) above.