ثُلَّةٌ مِّنَ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ · وَقَلِيلٌ مِّنَ ٱلْءَاخِرِينَ
Thullatun mina'l-awwalīn · Wa qalīlun mina'l-ākhirīn "A throng of the earlier ones, and few of the later ones."
Its sense: the equivalent the lexicographers commonly give is a company, a body, a numerous group. How large a number the word conveys is disputed: some lexicographers say "a very great crowd", others "an indefinite group".
| Derivation | Explanation |
|---|---|
| ث-ل-ل | Thalla — to pull down, to overthrow (thulla ʿarshuhu — his throne was overthrown); and also to heap up. On this account thulla is "a heaped-up company" |
| A separate noun | A noun settled directly in the sense of "a body of people"; its tie to the root is weak |
I issue no settled etymological judgement. Both approaches are found in the lexicons. What is certain is that the word conveys a body of people; the verse already makes this plain by setting it in contrast with qalīl in verse 14.
Root: ق-ل-ل. Fewness. In the section on al-Muzzammil the three uses of this word within that sūra were tabulated; I do not repeat the analysis there.
The contrast in the word order is plain: thulla / qalīl. The one is multitude, the other fewness. And both come indefinite — no number is given, no ratio.
This is one of the most disputed places in the sūra, and the dispute will sharpen two verses later (39-40).
| View | Who the awwalīn are | Who the ākhirīn are |
|---|---|---|
| Communities | The communities of the past prophets — from Adam to the last prophet | The community of the last prophet |
| The generations of this community | The first Muslims, the generation of the Companions | Later generations |
| General | The early periods of humankind | The late periods of humankind |
The first view is the most widespread, and its ground is this: in verses 49-50 the sūra will use the same two words — "Say: the earlier ones and the later ones will all be gathered to the appointment of a known day" — and there the sense is plainly all humankind. The same pair, in the same sense, within the same sūra.
The second view is maintained in the classical sources too, and its ground is that being "few" would be a heavy verdict for the last community. This is a ground of sense, not a ground of wording.
I state my preference — the first view, on the strength of the indication within the sūra; it is not binding.
| The sābiqūn (13-14) | The aṣḥābu'l-yamīn (39-40) | |
|---|---|---|
| Of the earlier ones | ثُلَّةٌ — a throng | ثُلَّةٌ — a throng |
| Of the later ones | وَقَلِيلٌ — few | وَثُلَّةٌ — a throng |
The two pairs of verses are almost identical and differ in a single word. For the first group the later ones are qalīl, for the second thulla.
- Most of those who go ahead are of the earlier ones; few of the later ones enter this group.
- The men of the right, on the other hand, are numerous from both sides.
This asymmetry is the sūra's own datum and is a datum that calls for explanation. The explanations that stand out in the classical sources are these:
| Explanation | Its logic | Its weak side |
|---|---|---|
| The highest rank is always few | The sābiqūn are the narrowest group; it is harder to enter a narrow group later, because being first is itself a kind of precedence | It does not by itself explain why the fewness falls specifically on "the later ones" |
| The worth of being first | Those who answer a call first stand in a different position from those who answer after the call has become established | This depends on the reading that takes "the earlier ones" to be the first Muslims |
| The multitude of prophets | If the awwalīn are all the past communities, then among them are the prophets and those who first followed them; a numerically larger pool | The comparison of numbers is not in the text |
Notice — the only group that diminishes is the group whose measure is "going ahead." For the men of the right the ratio does not change.
Going ahead is by definition a relative business: you are ahead of someone. To be a man of the right is not relative; it is the crossing of a threshold. On a measure that is relative, the possibility of a latecomer's being in front narrows structurally — because the front has already been taken.
This is a reading, not the claim of the text, and I must add this too: the verse gives no reason. It only sets down two ratios.
In the classical exegeses a report is transmitted to this effect: when verses 13-14 came down they weighed heavily on the Muslims, and then verses 39-40 came down and relieved them.
I issue no judgement about the chain of this report and I do not give its source, because I do not know it with certainty. What I record is that the report is widely mentioned in the literature of exegesis in connection with these two pairs of verses.
And this must be stated: whether the report is sound or not, the order of the two pairs of verses in the text does the same work. First a narrow door is shown, then a wide one. The sūra dispels the distress within itself.
In the section on al-Qiyāma this note was entered: when the Qurʾān classifies people it generally states no ratio — it says "certain faces", and gives no number.
Al-Wāqiʿa is the exception to that general practice, and this must be written plainly. Here the language of ratio is used: thulla and qalīl.
1. What is given is not a number but two indefinite quantities: "a throng" and "few". 2. There is no percentage, no fraction, no absolute figure. 3. The two quantities take their meaning relative to one another; on their own they say nothing.
Al-Wāqiʿa does not give a ratio, that is; it makes a comparison. This does not conflict with the practice recorded in al-Qiyāma: the Qurʾān still does not say how many there are.
And this distinction has a practical consequence: no reckoning such as "the percentage of the saved" can be built on these verses. The prohibition on number-reckoning has held in this commentary from the beginning and holds here too.
These two pairs of verses touch one of the most exploited areas of religious texts: the question of who will be saved.
One. They give a ratio but no identity. They say "few", but they do not say "these are the few". A person reading this verse does not learn which side he himself is on.
Two. By giving two different ratios they limit the fear of being "the few". Had the sūra given only 13-14, the picture would have been one-sided. Verses 39 and 40 widen that picture: the narrow door is the door of the highest group; it is not the door of salvation.
Missing this distinction leads to an error that is seen today as well: taking the conditions of the highest rank for the conditions of salvation. By counting the two groups separately the sūra prevents this.