The term used is ‘evil progeny,’ rendered in different translations of the verse as ‘accursed tree,’ when it reads “When We said to you, ‘Indeed your Lord comprehends all mankind,’ We did not appoint the vision that We showed you except as a test for the people and the tree cursed in the Qurʾān. We deter them, but it only increases them in great rebellion.” (17:60) The verse relates a dream by the Prophet (AS).
What is the ‘accursed tree’ which had been considered by God as an evaluation to test people? No place in the Quran did the God curse any ‘tree’ or ‘progeny.’ Some of interpreters believe the ‘tree’ is the same as the Zaqqum tree which appears in verse 62 of Surah Saffat: “Is this a better hospitality, or the Zaqqum tree?” (37:62). But in the verse, it just says that it is a measure of testing people and no mentions are made to ‘being accursed;’ some others still believe that the literal translation of the Arabic shajarah would lead nowhere, and support the idea that it should be translated as progeny, which had been to the most probability meant by God. In verses 24 and 26 of Surah Ibrahim, “Have you not regarded how Allah has drawn a parable? A good word is like a good tree: its roots are steady and its branches are in the sky.” (14:24) and “And the parable of a bad word is that of a bad tree: uprooted from the ground, it has no stability,” (14:26) the ‘good tree’ and ‘bad tree’ are mentioned to distinguish between good and evil.
Contemporary interpreters, notable among whom Allameh Tabatabaei, believe it is accurately to be understood as ‘progeny’ and ‘genealogy,’ an interpretation with many examples in Arabic literature, as in ‘he is of good genealogy,’ designating the individual described with originality of birth and social status. The term has precedent in traditions of the Prophet and Shia Imams. Prophet (AS) addressed Ali (AS) with this: “I and thou are from the same [shajarah] genealogy.” Examples thus indicate a different meaning than the word’s literal meaning of ‘tree.’ But what families had been designated as ‘evil’ or ‘accursed’ for their deeds?
According to Nemooneh Interpretation of Quran, in both Sunni and Shia exegetes, the dream of the Prophet (AS) is cited as the reason behind the verse. Prophet Muhammad (AS) once saw a dream where apes were swarming his pulpit. This angered the Prophet (AS). The dream is authentic to the testimony of many of Arab historians and Sunni traditionists such as Khateeb al-Baghdadi, Termedi, al-Tabarani, Beihaqi, bin Mordoviya and Shia exegete Sheikh Koleini. The dream thus had been widely interpreted by both Shias and Sunnis as the ascendancy of the Umayyad family after the demise of the Prophet to the other world. Umayyad were notorious in their breaking the sacrosanct rules of Islam and are believed to have created a deviation from the correct Islamic practice.
Now, modern parallel of Evil Progeny drawn in message of Leader of Revolution for Al Saud dynasty represents the same deviation in world of Islam which has sowed discord and caused Fitna among Muslims by its acts and words. Saudi Arabia is a close ally to the United States and Zionist regime and actively supports, funds and arms Al-Qaeda and ISIL, is red-handed in killing of innocent civilians in Yemen, and displayed monumental incompetence in the case of Mina stampede in September 2015, and before that, in the crane collapse, which totally killed more than 6,000 hajj pilgrims along with 1987 opening fire on rallying hajj pilgrims from Iran and other countries.
Translated by Samad Habibi
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