THE
TAFSIR SURAT AL-KAWTHAR
OF SAYYID `ALI MUHAMMAD, THE BAB
The Tafsīr
Sūrat al-Kawthar or `Commentary on the Surah of the Fount of Abundance'
of the Bāb is one of the most important early Tafsir works of the
Bāb. It expounds in detail and often in a non-literal, letter by
letter hermeneutical fashion, the brief (three verse) probably Meccan
108th Surah of the Qur'ān. This Surah reads, with the English
translation of A. J. Arberry (d. 1969) and a little transliteration
added, as follows:
CVIII THE SURAT AL-KAWTHAR -SURAH OF ABUNDANCE.
بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمنِ الرَّحِيم
[1]
In the
Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate
إِنَّا أَعْطَيْنَاكَ الْكَوْثَر
[2]
Surely We have given thee abundance
al-kawthar
فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ
so pray unto thy Lord and
sacrifice
[3]
إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ
الْأَبْتَرُ
Surely he that hates thee, he is
the one cut off.
The Surat a-Kawthar (Qur'an 103)
in In
Islamic Tafsir literatures
The qur'anic hapax legomenon (a word occurring once only)
الْكَوْثَر
al-Kawthar
means "abundance" and is derived from an Arabic root (K-W-TH-R) meaning to be
"plentiful", "abundant", etc . It is given a variety of
interpretations in Islamic Qur'an commentaries and other related
writings. Western scholars and academics have variously translated
kawthar and many Islamic authorities
reckon Kawthar to be indicative of a celestial stream or river (nahr)
located within or about Paradise.
Some Islamic Tafsir literatures spell out the
circumstances of the
revelation of the
Sūrat al-Kawthar.
In, for example, the Tafsir al-Qur'ān al-`azīm ("The Commentary upon the Mighty
Qur'an") of
Abu'l-Fiḍā' Ismā'il Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373) the
following ḥadith is recorded along with various comments upon the meaning of
Q. 108:1 :
Imam Aḥmad [ibn Ḥanbal]
(d. 241/855)... narrated that Anas Ibn Mālik said:
`[One time] the Messenger of God was falling deep asleep,
slumbering, when he [suddenly] raised up his head wreathed with smiles.
[At that moment] either he said to them [his Companions], or they said to him,
"Why did you laugh?". Then he [Muhammad] said: "A
certain Surah
has been revealed to me." Then he [Muhammad] recited: "In the Name of God,
the Merciful, the Compassionate. Surely We have given thee
Abundance" (al-Kawthar), etc., until its end (= Q. 108:1-3),
Then he said [to his associates] : "What do you
understand by al-Kawthar?" They replied:
"God and His Messenger are best informed"
whereupon he
[Muhammad] said:
`It [Kawthar] is a
River (nahr) given unto me by my Lord (
أَعطَاْنيهَ
cf. Q. 108:1a) [located] in Paradise (al-jannat). Within
it is abundant goodness (khayr kathīr, cf. kawthar). My
[Islamic] community (ummatī) will be held back from it
until the Day of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyāma).
Its [drinking] vessels (āniya) are [as numerous
as] the stars (al-kawakib) though it inhibits the servant
(al-`abd) from attaining thereto [in order to drink] save I
[Muhammad] should exclaim: "O Lord! This one is of my community
(ummatī)", although it will yet be declared to him, "You
have no knowledge of what [Islamic norms] they
established after you!"
[The above] was related by Imam Aḥmad [ibn Hanbal]
(d. 241/855) according to a threefold chain to
transmission (isnād). And the following is [a clarification] of
its successive ideas.
It is [clear that these details were] set forth relative to
the nature of the
حوض
[the
eschatological ḥawḍ = a `water basin' / `pool' /
'reservoir' or 'pool' to be established on] the Day
of Resurrection (yawm al-qiyāma). There gushes forth
within it two waterways [canals] (mīzābān) from heaven
(min samā'), from the River of Kawthar (min nahr al-kawthar).
Related thereto are [drinking] vessels (āniya) as numerous
as the stars of heaven (nujūm al-samā'). This ḥadith was
related by Muslim, Abū Dāwūd and al-Nasā'ī from Tarīq Muhammad
al-Fuḍayl ( )
and `Alī ibn Musir (
) both of whom related from al-Mukhtar ibn Fulful (
), from Anas ADD HERE.
Many Qur'an reciters (qurrā' ) have taken this as proof that the
Sūrah was revealed in Madinah, while many jurists (fuqahā՝ )
have deduced from it that the Bismillah is an integral part of
the Sūrah and that it was revealed along with it. As for
the words of God: "Verily, we have given you Al-Kawthar"
(Q. 108:1) it has already been mentioned that al-Kawthar is a
river in Paradise and that Imam Aḥmad [ibn Hanbal] (d. 241/855)
has narrated, on the authority of Anas, that he recited this
Sūrah and then he said:
`The
Messenger of God said: "I have been given al-Kawthar and
it is a flowing river in Paradise which does not flow
along a normal channel, but instead its banks are domes
of pearl and I struck its earth with my hand and it was
a strong-smelling musk, and its pebbles were pearls."
Ibn Jarīr [al-Tabari] has narrated on the Qur'an reciters (qurrā) authority of Anas, that he asked the
Messenger of God about al-Kawthar and he said:
"It is α
river in Paradise, given to me by my Lord, whose colour is
whiter than milk and whose taste is sweeter than honey; upon it
are birds whose necks are like those of camels." 'Umar said: "O
Messenger of God! It is an ostrich." He replied: "Its meat is
more delicate and tender than that, O 'Umar."
[Isma'il] al-Bukhārī (
) relates on the authority of Ibn 'Abbās (d.
), that he said
al-Kawthar is the blessings bestowed on the Messenger by
God. Abū Bishr then told Sa'īd Ibn Jubair (who narrated this
from Ibn 'Abbās):
"But people say that it is a river in
Paradise." Sa'īd replied: "The river in Paradise is from the
blessings of this world and the Hereafter." And it has been
confirmed that Ibn 'Abbās also explained it [al-Kawthar] as
being a river.
Ibn Jarīr narrates on the authority of Ibn 'Abbās that he said:
"al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise, its banks are of gold and
silver and its bed is of precious stones and pearls and its
water is whiter than snow and sweeter than honey."
Something
very similar was narrated on the authority of Ibn Umar and al-Tirmidhī
narrates something like it in a ADD form (mawquf
). While Aḥmad [ibn Hanbal] (d. XXX/855) has narrated it
in a marfű' form.
That is, since We have given you
such blessings in this world and in the hereafter, including the
River described previously, then devote your obligatory and your
optional prayers to your Lord alone, likewise your
sacrifices and all your acts of worship. Worship Him alone,
without associating any partners with Him and sacrifice in His
Name alone, without associating any partners with Him, as in the
Words of Allah"
(Ibn Kathir,
Tafsīr
al-qur'ān al-'azim,
1420/2000, pp. 2037-40; partly revised corrected trans. from
1420/1999:252-256)
The Surat a-Kawthar of the Bab
The Tafsīr Sūrat al-Kawthar of the Bab is a wholly Arabic work
in approximately 200-250 pages and was written during the Bāb's
confinement in Shiraz for Sayyid Yaḥyā Dārābī who came to be entitled
Vaḥīd or Wāḥid (the Single, One, Unique) (see Dawn-Breakers,
174-6). While copies of this work were destroyed early on more than a
dozen mss. remain (MacEoin, Sources, 71) although
the several page, pre-fixed introductory sermon (khutba) is not so
well-preserved.
In his Tafsīr ṣūrat al-kawthar
(Commentary on Qur'ān sūra 108) the Bāb, (apart from
alloting a variety of meaning to the individual letters
which make up this word) identifies kawthar with the
Prophet Muhammad, Imām `Alī, Fāṭima, Ḥasan,
Ḥusayn and the
other Shī`ī Imāms, in the light of its signifying the "Water
of Life" (mā' al-ḥayawān) which flows into and
sustains inner human realities (Refer,
Tafsīr ṣūrat
al-kawthar ,
Browne Coll. MS Or F.10[7]), fols. 16(b)ff; 34(b)ff; 96ff).
In certain
mss. the Tafsir Surat al-Kawthar commences with the basmala and the
following words:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله الذی جعل طراز الواح كتاب الفلق فی كل ما
فتق
واستفرق واستنطق طراز الازل الذی لاحت واضائت
بهد ما شيئت وعينت ثم قدرت وقضت قبل ما اذنت و
اجلت واحكمت ثم تلاحت واستلاحت بها افاق سمإ العمإ
فی اجمة اللاهوت ليتذوت بها حقايق اهل الميثاق فی يوم
الوثاق ثم تعالت واستعالت بها افاق سمإ البهإ فی اجمة
الجبروت ليوحد بها اعلی مشاعر اهل الافتراق فی يوم الذی
التفت الساق بالساق ثم تلئلئت واستلئلئت بها ذاتيات
جواهر افاق سمإ الثنإ فی اجمة الملكوت ليعين افئدة
اهل الوفاق فی يوم الذی يفصل بين كل شیٌ نور شمس
الازل فی كل ايقان واشراق ثم تلجلجت واستلجلجت بها
كينونيات من سكن من قبل ويوجد فی جر الهوإ من بعد فی
اجمة الناسوت ليعلن بها حقايق اهل الشقاق فی يوم
الفراق
...
Praised
be to God, who hath made the ornament of the scriptural Tablets (alwāḥ)
to be the Book of the Day Break [Dawning] (kitāb al-falaq) [ which
is operative] within everything such that it is cleft asunder and split
apart for He did enunciate the [reality of the] Ornament of Pre-eternity (ṭaraz
al-azal) which shone forth and radiated CHECK TEXT
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله الذی جعل طراز الواح كتاب الفلق فی كل ما
فتق
واستفرق واستنطق طراز الازل الذی لاحت واضائت
بهد ما شيئت وعينت ثم قدرت وقضت قبل ما اذنت و
اجلت واحكمت ثم تلاحت واستلاحت بها افاق سمإ العمإ
فی اجمة اللاهوت ليتذوت بها حقايق اهل الميثاق فی يوم
الوثاق ثم تعالت واستعالت بها افاق سمإ البهإ فی اجمة
الجبروت ليوحد بها اعلی مشاعر اهل الافتراق فی يوم الذی
التفت الساق بالساق ثم تلئلئت واستلئلئت بها ذاتيات
جواهر افاق سمإ الثنإ فی اجمة الملكوت ليعين افئدة
اهل الوفاق فی يوم الذی يفصل بين كل شیٌ نور شمس
الازل فی كل ايقان واشراق ثم تلجلجت واستلجلجت بها
كينونيات من سكن من قبل ويوجد فی جر الهوإ من بعد فی
اجمة الناسوت ليعلن بها حقايق اهل الشقاق فی يوم
الفراق وان اليوم فی حكم الباطن يكشف الساق بالساق
لان الرحمن قد وفی بما نزل فی القران ان اتقوا الله يجعل لكم
فرقانا ليحقق الحق باياته ويبطل عمل الذی امن ثم كفر
واطغی ثم ادبر ونطق بما لا نزل رب القدر وان الله قد
اخذه فی هذه الدّنيا بما اعرض وكفر وان اولهم قد اكتسبت
يداه بما فعل الحيوان وادبر وان ثانيهم قد عملت يداه
بما لا يرضی احد وانه اليوم فی ضلال وسعر وان ثالثهم قد اخدوا
فتری بما لا جعلناه له حكم فی الزبر وان الذی نصرهم بالغيب
قد عملت يداه بما لا يرضی ان يفعل ذو روح محتضر قل ان
موعدكم الصبح وما انا كذاب اشر فيومئذ ذو قوامس
سقر فان الله قد خلقكم بما قبلتم بقدر وكل صغير وكبير
فی كتاب مستطر وان اليوم كل المتقين فی جنات ونهر
ثم كل الكافرين فی ضلال وسعر اللهم انك لتعلم ان الان
قد نزل علّی كتاب مسطر ممن اراد ان يوزن قسطاس العدل
باعجاز نخل منقعر قل ان الان اتت الساعة ليحقق الحق
ويبطل عمل الذين قالوا ان هذا امر مستمر ولقد نزل الان
ايات السمإ بمإ منهمر و ؟ باذن الله من مإ الكوثر
عيونا ليلقی المإ اذا شإ الله علی قد قدر ولقد سئل
من صلی لربه ثم اراد ان يخسر من حكم ما ينزل الله ربك
فی
سورة الكوثر وان هذا كتابه الذی
نزل من عنده ثم
باذنه يستنطق الله يعلم من فی السموات ومن فی الارض وما كان
الناس فيه يختلفون من حيث لا يعلمون ولا يستعلم وان
الله يعلم ما فی السموات وما فی الارض وانه ليحكم بين الذين
قالوا ان شانئك هو الابتر قالوا وقوله العدل اذا لم
يتبع هواه ثك باذن الله يستقر بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
الحمد لله الذی نزل الكتاب
علی
محمد بالحق وارسله علی
[
۹۲
]
العالمين شاهدا ومنيرا ونذيرا
Kawthar in the writings of Baha'-Allah
كوثر حق از كاسه
دل گشته هويدا
kawthar-i haqq āz kāsah- dil gashtih huvīdā (??)
From the Goblet of the Heart the
Kawthar
("Fount") of Reality has appeared;
Bahā-Allāh in his Rashh-i `Ama' (line 8a cited
above) states that from the ADD , "Goblet of
the Heart" (kāsa ' dil) the ADD , "Kawthar of
Reality" (kawthar-i ḥaqq) has been
made manifest. The meaning is probably that the spring or fount of
real truth wells out from the centre of his being. It is a
kawthar as a Fount of "abundance" (see Qur'ān 108:1). In Islamic
literatures it is usually understood to signify a fountain
which gushes forth in Paradise. It occurs quite frequently
in Bābī-Bahā'ī acripture.
The word kawthar here is in
genitive relationship with ḥaqq which could be
translated in a variety of ways: "God", "Absolute Truth", or
"Reality", "Ultimate Reality" etc. It is very frequently
used in Bābī-Bahā'ī scripture though it is not always clear
how it is best translated. The first section of
Bahā-Allāh's Lawḥ-i ḥaqq (c. 1860-63) provides
good examples of the dhikr type (repetitive) use of
this important term.
The Lawh-i
ḥaqq
is published in Ishrāq Khāvarī (ed.) Ganj.. 37-40.
It should alao be noted that both the Bāb and Bahā'-Allah
claimed to be the manifestation of al-ḥaqq
(see, for example, QA LVII (fol.97), Lawh-i az bagh-i lāhī
(Ms where Bahā-Allāh at one point claims to have appeared
with the "Trumpet of `I am al-ḥaqq'
(bā ṣūr-i
anā al-ḥaqq)]).
Whatever the exact sense of kawthar-i ḥaqq, it is
would seen to indicate the `stream of spiritual reality'
that flows out of the heart of the Bābī Cause through
Bahā-Allāh.
Apart
from the Rashḥ-i `amā' reference there are a good many other
writings of Bahā-Allāh in which the word Kawthar is used in
the sense of his own person or the Bahā'ī revelation. In,
for example, his `Tablet to the Pope' (Pius IXth; c 1869)
Bahā-Allāh writes:
"O Pope! Rend the veils asunder. He who is the Lord of Lords
[Bahā-Allāh] is come.. On his right hand floweth the
Kawthar of grace (kawthar al-faήl) and on his left
the Salsabīl of justice (salsabīl al-`adl).
(Text
in Alwaḥ-i
nāzilah-yi khiṭāb
bi muluk wa ru'asā-yi ard
(Tehran 124 Badī`), pp.73-4; trans. (adapted) Shoghi
Effendi, PDC (Wilmette 1980), 31.)
