| سورة الكوثر Sūrat al-Kawthar Abundance |
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Arabic text · Translations |
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| Classification | Meccan |
| Other names (Eng.) | Plenty, Good In Abundance |
| Position | Juz' 30 |
| Structure | 3 verses |
Sūrat al-Kawthar (Arabic: سورة الكوثر) ("Abundance") is the 108th sura of the Qur'an, and the shortest. There are several differing opinions as to the circumstances under which it was revealed. According to Ibn Ishaq, it was revealed in Makka, some time before the Isra and Miraj.
Contents |
بِسۡمِ اللّٰہِ الرَّحۡمٰنِ الرَّحِیۡمِ
English Translation by Muhammad Shameem, Mohammad Wali Raazi and Muhammad Taqi Usmani:
(O Prophet,) surely We have given to you Al-Kauthar (a puddle in Paradise). [1] So, offer Salah (prayer) to your Lord, and sacrifice. [2] Surely it is your enemy whose traces are cut off. [3]
English Translation by Mohammed Marmaduke Pickthall:
Lo! We have given thee Abundance. [1] So pray unto they Lord, and sacrifice. [2] Lo! It is thy insulter (and not thou) who is without posterity. [3]
English Translation by Yusuf Ali:
To thee have We granted the Fount (of Abundance). [1] Therefore to thy Lord turn in Prayer and Sacrifice. [2] For he who hateth thee, he will be cut off (from Future Hope). [3]
1. Inna a'taynaka al-kawthar
2. Fa-salli li-Rabbika wanhar
3. Inna shaani-aka huwal abtar
Translation:
1. Indeed, We have granted you, [O Muhammad], al-Kawthar.
2. So pray to your Lord and sacrifice to Him Alone [i.e. by way of slaughter of animal livestock].
3. Indeed, your enemy will always be in destitute (cut-off).
Tradition has it that al-Kawthar (from a root meaning "the river in paradise"), a word that occurs only once in the Qur'an, is the name of a river in Paradise. On Yaum al-Qiyamah (the Day of Judgement) all of those who truly believe in Allah will be led to al-Kawthar where they will drink only once, and will never hunger or thirst again.
Linguistic Definition of Kawthar:
Kawthar - (faww'al - through hyperbolisation /mubalaghah /maximization).
Hyperbolise/Mubalaghah مبالغة : [to empower a word to its maximum in its meaning (i.e. muscle it up)] - say something in an extremely powerful way, with no exaggerations attached.
al Kawthar - katheer / kathra (to have plenty) - incredible loads of amounts, lots and lots and lots and lots.. of it.
Katheer كث ير has a Y [letter Ya] in it. KaWthar كوثر has a W [letter Waw] in it.
In Balaghah/Arabic Rhetoric - the Waw و is stronger than the Ya ي .
The 3 Steps:
1 - Kathra كثر means 'Alot'
2 - Katheer كثير emphasises - a lot more abundance than kathra.
3 - KaWthar كوثر = even more than Katheer - ABUNDANCE of A LOT.
This is used to describe khayr al katheer (Abundance of Good).
The Arabs used to describe anything in a lot of; quality, quantity, and it is very valuable that you have to guard it = al Kawthar.
I.e. al Jawhar min al Jahr (the Gem from the gems), al Nawfal min al Nafl etc.
When you say Katheer - it can refer to a lot of good or bad things.
KaWthar however, can only refer to good things. (kawthar is mutakhassas - specific, to good only.)
Everything Allah has given him is incredibly good, and it is in Abundance.
AL kawthar ال كوثر - the Abundance.
kawtharaN كوثرن[with taNween] - MANY different good things.
Because of the AL (the) - it refers to one thing.
Some have therefore argued that AL kawthar only refers to the Water in Paradise and Judgment Day, because it is only 1 AL kawthar. (based on the reports/athar which mention it).
However, when you refer to something with an adjective [i.e. saying 'You have been given a lot'] - without mentioning the Noun [i.e. without mentioning what you have been given a lot of'], then it can refer to many things, even if AL is mentioned next to it.
So Allah mentioned Al Kawthar (the Abundant Good). Abundant Good of what? It is not mentioned - so it is possible that it refers to many different types of good.
Plenty, Alot, kawthar, without a noun (object) opens possibilities for a lot of good in lots of different forms.
Narrations in regard to the Meaning of al Kawthar;
Can be found in; Tafsir ibn Kathir Ma'arif al Qur'an
Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj, Abu Dawud and An-Nasa'i, all recorded from Anas ibn Malik that he said, "While we were with the Messenger of Allah in the Masjid, he dozed off into a slumber. Then he lifted his head smiling. We said, `O Messenger of Allah! What has caused you to laugh' He said,
«لَقَدْ أُنْزِلَتْ عَلَيَّ آنِفًا سُورَة» (Verily, a Surah was just revealed to me.) Then he recited,
[إِنَّآ أَعْطَيْنَـكَ الْكَوْثَرَ - فَصَلِّ لِرَبِّكَ وَانْحَرْ - إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ ]
(Verily, We have granted you Al-Kawthar. Therefore turn in prayer to your Lord and sacrifice. For he who hates you, he will be cut off.) Then he said,
«أَتَدْرُونَ مَا الْكَوْثَرُ؟»
(Do you all know what is Al-Kawthar) We said, `Allah and His Messenger know best.' He said,
«فَإِنَّهُ نَهَرٌ وَعَدَنِيهِ رَبِّي عَزَّ وَجَلَّ،عَلَيْهِ خَيْرٌ كَثِيرٌ، هُوَ حَوْضٌ تَرِدُ عَلَيْهِ أُمَّتِي يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، آنِيَتُهُ عَدَدُ النُّجُومِ فِي السَّمَاءِ، فَيُخْتَلَجُ الْعَبْدُ مِنْهُمْ فَأَقُولُ: رَبِّ إِنَّهُ مِنْ أُمَّتِي، فَيَقُولُ: إِنَّكَ لَا تَدْرِي مَا أَحْدَثَ بَعْدَك»
(Verily, it is a river that my Lord, the Mighty and Majestic, has promised me and it has abundant goodness. It is a pond where my Ummah will be brought to on the Day of Judgement. Its containers are as numerous as the stars in the sky. Then a servant of Allah from among them will be (prevented from it) and I will say: "O Lord! Verily, he is from my Ummah (followers). Then He (Allah) will say: "Verily, you do not know what he introduced (or innovated) after you.) This is the wording of Muslim. Ahmad recorded this Hadith from Muhammad bin Fudayl, who reported from Al-Mukhtar bin Fulful, who reported it from Anas bin Malik. Imam Ahmad also recorded from Anas that the Messenger of Allah said,
«دَخَلْتُ الْجَنَّةَ فَإِذَا أَنَا بِنَهْرٍ حَافَتَاهُ خِيَامُ اللُّؤْلُؤِ، فَضَرَبْتُ بِيَدِي إِلَى مَا يَجْرِي فِيهِ الْمَاءُ، فَإِذَا مِسْكٌ أَذْفَرُ، قُلْتُ: مَاهَذَا يَا جِبْرِيلُ؟ قَالَ: هَذَا الْكَوْثَرُ الَّذِي أَعْطَاكَهُ اللهُ عَزَّ وَجَل»
(I entered Paradise and I came to a river whose banks had tents made of pearls. So I thrust my hand into its flowing water and found that it was the strongest (smell) of musk. So I asked, "O Jibril! What is this He replied, "This is Al-Kawthar which Allah, the Mighty and Majestic has given you.) Muhammad al-Bukhari recorded this in his Sahih, and so did Muslim, on the authority of Anas bin Malik. In their version Anas said, "When the Prophet was taken up to the heaven, he said,
«أَتَيْتُ عَلَى نَهْرٍ حَافَتَاهُ قِبَابُ اللُّؤْلُؤِ الْمُجَوَّفِ فَقُلْتُ: مَا هَذَا يَا جِبْرِيلُ؟ قَالَ: هَذَا الْكَوْثَر» (I came to a river whose banks had domes of hollowed pearl. I said: "O Jibril! What is this He replied: "This is Al-Kawthar.) This is the wording of Al-Bukhari. Ahmad recorded from Anas that a man said, "O Messenger of Allah! What is Al-Kawthar He replied,
«هُوَ نَهْرٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ أَعْطَانِيهِ رَبِّي، لَهُوَ أَشَدُّ بَيَاضًا مِنَ اللَّبَنِ، وَأَحْلَى مِنَ الْعَسَلِ، فِيهِ طُيُورٌ أَعْنَاقُهَا كَأَعْنَاقِ الْجُزُر» (It is a river in Paradise which my Lord has given me. It is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey. There are birds in it whose necks are (long) like carrots.) `Umar said, "O Messenger of Allah! Verily, they (the birds) will be beautiful. The Prophet replied,
«آكِلُهَا أَنْعَمُ مِنْهَا يَا عُمَر» (The one who eats them (i.e., the people of Paradise) will be more beautiful than them, O `Umar.) Al-Bukhari recorded from Sa'id ibn Jubayr that `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas said about Al-Kawthar, "It is the good which Allah gave to him (the Prophet). Abu Bishr said, "I said to Sa`id bin Jubayr, `Verily, people are claiming that it is a river in Paradise. Sa`id replied, `The river which is in Paradise is part of the goodness which Allah gave him. Al-Bukhari also recorded from Sa`id bin Jubayr that Ibn `Abbas said, "Al-Kawthar is the abundant goodness. This explanation includes the river and other things as well. Because the word Al-Kawthar comes from the word Kathrah (abundance) and it (Al-Kawthar) linguistically means an abundance of goodness. So from this goodness is the river (in Paradise). Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal recorded from `Abd Allah ibn `Umar that the Messenger of Allah said, «الْكَوْثَرُ نَهْرٌ فِي الْجَنَّةِ حَافَتَاهُ مِنْ ذَهَبٍ، وَالْمَاءُ يَجْرِي عَلَى اللُّؤْلُؤِ، وَمَاؤُهُ أَشَدُّ بَيَاضًا مِنَ اللَّبَنِ، وَأَحْلَى مِنَ الْعَسَل» (Al-Kawthar is a river in Paradise whose banks are of gold and it runs over pearls. Its water is whiter than milk and sweeter than honey.) This Hadith was recorded in this manner by Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ibn Abi Hatim and Ibn Jarir. At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih.
From Tafseer ibn Katheer - Surah Kawthar; http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=108&tid=59319
al Qurtubi comments in Jami' al Ahkam: Even the narrations of standing at the (mawqif) pond (called kawthar) are many, just as the amount of narrations suggesting al Kawthar is the river in Paradise.
So al Kawthar could refer to both the pond outside Paradise on Judgment Day, and the river in Paradise.
It is possible that this river was called Kawthar because of the huge numbers of the followers from the Ummah (nation) of Prophet Muhammad (O Allah make us of them) who will drink from it.
O Allah make us from them, ameen.
Or maybe because of the benefits and because of plenty (katheer) of water is flowing from it.
Ibn Abbas and Sa'eed ibn Jubair; It is the great good which Allah has granted exclusively to His Messenger.
Sa'eed bin Jubair was narrating this to Abu Bishr, so Abu Bishr asked; But the people assume this is a river in Paradise?
Sa'eed: bin Jubair The river Allah gave his Messenger in Paradise, is also part of the good abundance (kawthar) Allah has given him.
The Abundant Good which Allah gave to His Messenger includes:
Mentioned by ash-Shawkani and al Aloosi:
1 -وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍ - surely you (O Muhammad) are upon a great moral character. (Surat al-Qalam 68:4)
The Muslims should be proud of their Messenger, that whatever he did - he did in the best way. We should not feel apologetic.
2 -Nubuwwah and Risala (Prophethood and Messengership) - carrying the final Book and Words of Allah to mankind up till the Day of Judgment.
3 - وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَاكَ إِلَّا رَحْمَةً لِّلْعَالَمِينَ - and We did not send you as a Messenger, except as a mercy to all the worlds. (Al-Anbiya 21:107)
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The Qur'an - Sura 108 | Next sura: Al-Kafirun |
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