A Key to Wisdom - Ta'wīl of the Sūratu'l-Kawthar
Ta'wīl of the Sūratu'l-Kawthar
Tags: Kawthar, Salat, Camel, Nahr, Suratu'l-Kawthar
In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful
"Verily We have given you the Kawthar; so do salāt to your Lord and make the camel nahr. Verily it is your enemy who is childless."
Al-Kawthar: Kawthar means abundant good, a spring in Paradise, the man who has many children and grandchildren and the chief who does good deeds and favours in abundance. Here by Kawthar is meant the one who has progeny in abundance, because the subject-matter shows clearly that the purpose in this Sūrah is to contrast the one with children to the one without children.
As-salat: It means the ritual prayer (namāz), prayer (du`ā), praise, tasbīh (to believe that God is free from all attributes), mercy, blessings, to meet, to follow and the elevation of intellect towards God. But here by "salli" is meant the da`wat of the true religion, namely, to invite people to it, as Pīr Nāsir-i Khusraw in the Wajh-i Dīn says: "Ta'wīl-i namāz da`wat ast (the ta'wīl of namāz (salāt) is da`wat)".
Camel: It is the example of the Nātiq in many respects, one of which is that, just as among animals the camel alone is capable of carrying an extremely heavy burden with amazing patience, endurance and toughness, similarly, among human beings it is the Nātiq, who is the Perfect Man, who with his determination, patience and perseverance, carries the heavy burden of the Divine command from this world to the next.
Nahr: It means to tear or slit the chest and heart of a camel before slaughtering it, in order to drain the blood. The ta'wīl of this is the appointment of the Asās by the Nātiq on completion of the rank of nātiqhood.
When one of the enemies of the Holy Prophet due to his ignorance, enmity and disbelief taunted him: "Muhammad does not have male issue and thus this claimant of Prophethood will have no Wasī or successor", God sent this Sūrah and rejecting this taunt of the infidel, consoled His Prophet in this way: "O Muhammad! We have given you the Kawthar, namely, the man with abundant offspring, who is yours in every respect and he is `Alī al-Murtazā. He will be your Wasī and successor and the Imams from his continued chain of progeny will be called your progeny and they will illumine your beloved religion exoterically and esoterically with the lamps of knowledge and wisdom till the Day of Resurrection. Thus do not worry about the taunts of enemies and continue the da`wat of the true religion and appoint `Alī to the rank of Asās and be sure that it is not you, but your enemy who is without issue. That is, none of his children will survive".
Wa's-salām!
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