Al-Asr 103:3 - Linguistic Miracle

But for those who believed, did righteous deeds, then counseled each other with Ḥaqq and

counseled each other patiently.

The word Ṣāliḥāt is translated as ‘righteous deeds.’ It comes from the root ṣād lām ḥāʾ which was used for: ● Something free of defects ● For repairing something ● Reconciliation The core meaning of this root is for something to be sound and good in itself and to restore or repair something back to its original state after damage.⁸⁹ You can clearly see how it fits with the overall theme of the surah. Man is losing his light, damage is

being done to him. Ṣāliḥāt are actions that can repair and amend this damage and restore man back to his original glory.

Lastly, there are many ways to make plurals of a word in Arabic. Ṣāliḥāt is plural but its pattern is one that is used for something that despite being in plural, is relatively small in number. This suggests that these deeds that can repair the damage done to us are not many, they are just a few. We do not have to go to great lengths to fix ourselves. Only a few deeds will achieve this.

The first condition Allah mentions is of faith. Without belief and affirming faith in Allah and the Qurʾān, even ṣāliḥāt will be in vain and incapable of undoing the damage done. Once faith and ṣāliḥāt are achieved, the next step is to counsel others to do the same. Ḥaqq is normally translated as ‘truth.’ Its root meaning is of something being solid and firm90, and since truth is a solid and firm fact that does not change or alter, it came to be used for it. In this verse, ḥaqq means the religion of Islam as a whole because it is the firm and solid truth grounded in divine revelation. Secondly, it also refers to what has come previously in this surah because the phraseology of the last verse implies that man is in denial of the fact that he is in loss while the truth is the opposite. Hence, counselling others to ḥaqq means counselling others to the fact that they are in fact in loss and believing in Islam and doing ṣāliḥāt is the only way to get back on track.

Then patience is mentioned. Counselling others to patience is already implied by counselling others to Islam.⁹¹ Patience is being highlighted specifically. You must exert effort in emphasizing to others that patience is necessary. Believing in the truth will necessarily come with challenges and trials and one must endure them patiently. Secondly, it could also imply being patient from disobeying Allah and on being firm on ḥaqq. By this meaning it would imply a constant and stable condition of believing in the truth and of doing ṣāliḥāt, not a one off action. They counsel each other to first believe and do ṣāliḥāt, then they also counsel them to be stable and constant on this, not to be on and off.⁹² Connection to the Surahs Before and After it: 1. The Surah before it is surah al Takāthur which criticizes people for hoarding up wealth on top of other wealth unnecessarily while not fulfilling its due rights. When somebody hoards wealth in such a manner, he definitely increases in wealth but this surah says he is only increasing in loss. People are hoarding up wealth but actually they are only hoarding up loss over loss.

2. The Surah next to it is surah al Humazah which again criticizes people who hoard up wealth but it will also mention some other traits such as scorning, fault finding and backbiting. When people hoard up wealth unjustly they are actually hoarding up loss. This surah defines that loss. What type of loss did they hoard up? By developing other bad traits such as backbiting and becoming scorners, that the surah will mention.

⁸⁹ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 3, p. 1250
⁹⁰ Al-Muʿjam al-Ishtiqāqī al-Muʾaṣṣal li-Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p.466-467
⁹¹ Ibn ʿĀshūr, al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr, vol. 30, p.533
⁹² al-Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-Maʿānī, vol. 29, p. 311