PT.7 AL- ;MA:IDA CH.5

84. And when they hear what hasbeen revealed to this Messenger, thouseest their eyes overflow with tears,because of the truth which they haverecognized. They say, a'Our Lord, webelieve, so write us down among thosewho bear witness.7u

85. 'And why should we not believein Allah and in the truth which hascome to UB, while Owe earnestly wishthat our Lord should include us aroongthe righteous people 1 '715

~~;~ ~J "J~'t .~t.~.~1t t:!~. r~'" -r ~'~..i ,A"IMY~"u~\ ;J ~ ~,-' ~.."J.,.J"~.",,,,1' "'''/r~'''' 7..,'". '1 ", "..A.lt~ I. 4.0 JJt~ .

. ...'=J-,,~ ~ ,,~~,rt ~~, .

"", \ ",:'1 \/.I' r/".9~~ r''''' fV~/

@~d~' """

~ t,; ~ \ t,;;u~" \ .~

~ )-" , J1... ~~ ~q ~ r~(,,~~" ct.L~: !. 0r~1 f"o'-'~ ~I..I~. --'.. ;.~3J 0 \,;J\.4-,

:.'~LI ~,-~

'''~ \,n v'." V1 -

,

.,9, ;" ~"

~~

Q~\ .-~ ,M \::i ~1J,j. t .V' It;" '--.~" .. '-.:)

a3 : 54, 194. °26 : 52.

the epistles of the Holy Propbet were treatedhy the King of Persia, wbo was a heatben, andby HeracHus, Emperor of the Eastern RomanEmpire, who was a Christ-ian. The formertore the letter to pieces, while the latter receivedit respectfully and even evinced some incli.nation towards Islam.

So long as the above qualities formed dis-tinctive features of the Christian character,Muslims generalJy met with fairer treatmentat their hands. But as time passed, thesequalities gradually took leave of them l'nd nowthere are very f~w among Christian divines andreligious lea.derg who are engaged in real andhonest religious research, withdrawing fromthe cares of the world and taking an activeand living interest in spiritual mutters.ChristilJn scholars began to meddle in politicsin the 13tb or 14th century, witl, the result

.that they became hostile to Islam.

714. Commentary:

The description given in this verse of some of_t~e Christians. of the tillie of the Holy Prophetapplies to an those wpo have a real hankeringafter truth and are ready to Booept it whereverthoy find it, The verse bas a180 been appJied

to Na.jiishi in particu!ar. ~\'hen Ja'f'ar, acousin of the Holy Prophet :md the spokesmanof Muslim reful~ees to Abyssinia, tried to ma.keclear their attitude towards Jasus and to dispelthe suspicion caused by the Mecean emissariesabout the allei~ed derogatory language usedby tbe Quran cOl'cerning Jesus and read toNaja.shi t1e oji>ening versE'S of the chapterMaryam, the latter, along with such of hiscompanions as feared Ood, W&Svisibly m~lVedand tears rolled down his cheekA and he saidin a voice full of pathos that that exactly wasllis belief about Jesus, and that he did notlook upon him by even a twig more thall that(Hisham, i. 305,306).

715. Commentary:

The verse may be regarded as constitutingthe substance of the words, referred to inthe preceding 'V'ersc, which Najishi spoke tothose of his courtiers who remonstrated withhim, saying !bat Jesus was God, and not ahuman being as reprel'ented in the Quran, andurged him to deliver tbe Muslim refugees tothe MeceanB. At this Najiisbi is reported tohave said tha.t nothing could prevel\t bim fromaccepting the trntb,

~l

CH.5 AL-MA'IDA PT.1

'?",,,

~I 9

~ I"',,'\ ".",." ,,~ w/W"

~f/ '", ,'/ ~..I.:

~./

',".:J . ,.~~~~ ~ @\ ~.. ..r""

\",// ,.""

. :" ~- ,,-

"::':'~"...:!"\'\:'/~! /i.~:; ':"" ~e.,-,,~,.~ ~.J "'~~'"

/~

86. So aAllah rewarded them, forwhat they said, with gardena beneathwhich stJ;eams flow. There.inshall theyabide; and that is the reward of thosewho do good.

87. And bthose who have disbelievedand rejected Our Signs, these are theywho are the inmates of Hell.

R.12 ' .88. O

.

ye who beheve I cmake not ~~,~ ~.nr/_.'.'''\''''''''

/ "'.I" ",..:, V!.:r,:"unlawful the good things which Allah ("'4UI~' \..O~ ~~~~, ~~\ ~~has made lawful for YOU, and do not

~ , ..., , , ~, J>,."'''7' ~;''' ,';'9"'",transgress. Surely, Allah loves not the e~.~'~~4L\~~6~,;

transgressors. 716 '"

~ '~i~~~,I~G \,'2t:\'Hr~'jJ\" D

~~ . L~ "..;..~ )~~~,..J G9 ,

- / I ,.I' I.P~'. ,~ 'J~t~'~;]~j.\;~t~j~~~;

""", 'J'"@CJ-*jo~~,

90. eAllah will not call you to account !5!\...~,~, ,-(:'f""/~ 'J,r ". ,~.t ",1",

for such of your oaths as are vain, but \~~~)~'"t\ ~~~~~\~.~He will call you to account for the

~ '" -""~~

~ aJ. ~. k. ",

" /.'" Jf ",' ( ... io!' "r"."7 .. ".. f/.oaths whICh you ta e III earnest. Its. I

i~ ~~I :t...)..

CI~~~~ ~expiation, then, is the feeding of ten .."

" '". ;.

poor persons with such average food ''';.~'''' I''''../'('''/I);.l.i l ", "_l~ r'" I "'''1

.,

as you feed your families with, or the /~ ~ rv~ -' .." '='~ lA~--' ~clothing of them or the freeing of a !.."(~7~1I! J.I:"'':I~:~

'(;'~ ''''",.,.I'/.,,-/:,:,,'

neck. But whoso finds not the 'f!"OOn&VI..A>~.)41t1 ~ ~ ~~ ~ ~jshal.l f~st for three days. That IS the",. .1 ...:"~~ ",,/- '''', ", "')"'" / .9. ,,,expIatIon of your oaths when you have ~ ~ ~~t ~I-,~ Ijt~~1sworn them. And do keep your oaths.'" ..

'.1.

" ,. ..Thus does Allah explain to you His

CD~'~.r~-'''' ~, ,~ '~t ~..-',

Signs that you may be grateful,rt17 C>J /~ '''''' ~ 41J ~asee 2 : 26. b5: 87; 6: 50; 7 : 37; 22 : 58. clO: 60. d2: 169 ; 8 : 70; 16: 115. 82: 226.

89. And "eat of that which Allah hasprovided for you of what is lawful andgood.. And fear Allah in whom youbelieve.

716. ~ommentary:Just as the making of a forbidden thing

lawful is an act of excess and tra.nsgres!\ion,simi,larJy the dec1aril\g of a good and lawfulthing to be unlawful, or practically treating itas such, is an act of sin. Both these acts areacts of transgression. 'l'he versc m.ay ltave afignrative sense also. In this case the expression,

make not unlawful the good things v)/tich Allahhas made lawful for you, would mean" do notshut the door of Hod's favours on yourselvesby rejecting the F'rophet of Islam."

717. ~ommentary:

The verb ~ ('lllJfada) is the inten~ive formof oW('agada) for which see 5 : 2. It conveY3

648

PT.7 AL-;MA"IDA CH.s

91. Oye who believe t awine and the Jr"'~i.l~i""'~"tr-'" {!" ,''''':' r"'~f,:"game of hazard and idols and bdivining ~~~ ",.. ~-~ ~~,~ ctcJtl~.~a.rrows are only an abomina tion of, 1 ,,, I "'-

/. tJ"

.. ~".So h I ~., .{~L.,::t ,\"'~ ... fJ.. 7 ~"

Satan's hand1wofk. 8. un eae lone" ~~\j~\~~~J~~j~H-,of thtnn that you may prosper.?!8

.,.,'"

<9~~.G2 : 220 ; 5 : 92. 65: 4.

the idea of greater deliberation and solemniiy.Hence the expreBsion ~I&.~I fJM.~. (oathswhich you take in earnest) would really mean,oaths which you swear so]enuuy anddeliberately.

The use of the word J " 1 (average) meansboth' middle' (i.e. averagp) and' best' (see2 : 14:4) and is thus Dleant to imply that anoath may be regarded as expiated if ten poormen are fed with food the expiator ordinarilyprov~des for bis family, but that it is betterto feed them with the best food with which hefeOOs his own family.

The pronount..

(their) in ~Jf (theirclothing) may refer either to families or topoor persons. In the former c...se, the sentencewould read, "the clothing (of ten poor men)with the average (or the best) kind of clothingwhich you provide for your families." In thelatter case, it would simply mean, "the clothingof ten poor men."

The verse should not be taken as' describingthree different ways by which a person canexpiate a broken oath. The different waysare intendp-d to represent three progressivestages of expiation, the third alternative beingbetter than the second, an.d the second betterthan the first.

The ill.jnnct\on to expiate oaths does not meanthat they may be broken with impunity andthen exp\ated. The prescription of penaltieil ismerely meant to meet a possible eventuality.But oaths contrary to Islamic Law are no

oaths. They JUust be broken. Then there areoaths that pertain to the rights of individuals.'l'hese cannot bla expiated even by adoptingany of the above.mentioned three courses. If,for instance, a man promises on oath to giveto a person a certain sum of money, and thenbreaks his oath, and makes the prescribedexpiation, tIte expiation will not absolve himfrom his obligation to make the promisedpayment. He must pay the man the promisedsum, Dotwithstnnding the expiation. Theexpiation wi!J only atone for the sin hecommitted a~lIjnd God by brer.Jdng his oath.

718. Importanlt Words:

AI,,?I (wine and gaInes of huard).See note on 2: 220.

(i j ~ I" "':'\,.;I (idols and divining arrows).See note on 5 : 4.

rJ': J (abomination) is derived from c.J"":.Jwhicb means, it was or became unclean or di;rtyor filthy or disHked or hated; he performed abad or evil or abominable action. ~ J means,it made a sound or noise. ~ J means,dirt or filth; or a dirty or filthy thing; anythingor any action tha.t is disliked or hated for itsuncleanness 01 filthiness; a sin or crime; anaction that leads 1~0punishment; punishment;unbelief and infidelity; suggestiOl\ of the devil(I.ane & Aqrah).

(::ommentary :See 2: 220 & 5: 4. Almost all the meanings

of ~ J are applicable here.

649

CfJ.s I\L-)fA'IDA t>.T.' 7

92. Sata,11 desires only to createenmity and. hatred among you bymeans of wine and the game of hazard,and to keep you back from the re-membrance of Allah and from Prayer.But will you keep back 1719

.93. And aobey Allah and obey the

Messenger, and be on your guard. Butif you turn away, then know that bonOur Messenger" lies only the clearoonveyance of the message.720

<'/.""''''' \~''';;~;''''''~ ""' ~ ""''' "' t:;'~~ -' \~ . ~~ /.,\ ~ 't. \ I.A.J.J

. . t~..\..:I! -.., .. ..~.. ;iI

""' ~' ~, ~"'{I'" ,"', . ~C;::j "~ ~ ~"":"'I'~" '. I..-'"".. J~~; ..J""'''''''~~''''''.i-:~'C:.'\~, ,.' k~~~ ...\ ~ i~1 ~ ."dI>I..i)~ 7 t",.

"''''

~~.

,�I. :~\'!{ '\ '''J/.' J:", ~, L\,� /~I \ '!L\ '",-:lie) l')~JI ~J' ~ ) 4ij ~-'

e>.~.~"il 1\1, (;J 'J'" 'I~ CS,~ij~ C7 ;~)~

a3 : 133; 4: 70; 64: 13. b5: 100; 16: 83; 36: 18; 64: 1:3.

719. Commentary:After stating that the four things men.tioned

in the previous verse.. are an ~J (abomina-tion) in one sense or another, the present verseconfines itself to two of the four mentionedthings-wine an<1games of hazard-and givesadditional reasons against tl.em. These reason8are, as stated in the veri!e, four in number andrest on political, social, spiritual and liocio.religious grounds, this being hinted in. the words"enmity ana hatred and keeping back from theremembran.c6 of Allah and from Prayer." Thei.n.terrogation in the clause, But will you keepback

"emhod.ies a strong admonition. not to

do the thing, the use of the i,nterrogative formbeing the most effective fortn of exhortation.See also 2 : 220.720. Commentary:The words, be on YO'llrguard, may either mean,

U you should be on your guard agaicst evils "

or they may si~~nify that if you obey Allahand obey tIle Prophet. the resQlt will be thatyou will he able to guard yourselves againstevi1.

The concluding part of the verse means thatthe duty of al\Iessenger of God i,sonly to conveyto men His comTuanrlments. It forms no parr;of his work to force them to follow IJ;m. Thisexposes the absurdity of the objection. thatla!am enjoins the use of force for its propaga-tion. Elsewhere the Quran says: Thet'e .hould beno compulsion in religiun (2 : 257). Bot]] theseverses and many similar others were revealedat Medina when a state of war existed betweendisbelievers and helievers, which dearly showsthat the Holy Pmphettook up arms only toddend himself a.lId Ilia followers and not topropagate hia religion at the. point of tllesword, as is often maliciomJy aHeged by theopponents of }s];m\.

.

650

PT.7 AL-]\fNIDA ClI.S

94. On those who believe and dogood works there shall be no sin forwhat they eat, provided they fear Godand believe and do good works, andagain fear God and believe, yet againfeai' God and do good. And Allahloves thQse wlw do good ,721

&(!t,.., t ~I' II~" I'hl "..:'- 1::- ~"""L.~ -,~I~JjI~,~.",""

"1fII....

I If ,-I ;' ",-~Il#"" I'/t 'I''':' l4,ot (J_~~~,,'-'~.J~ J,.~..,

. I .

'J'J.. j,"J~""~ "~'''',

~'. "~I,,, 9""",,1~ ","\' \ .' f III t ..» .." I. ,.. I

..if I III ... ,...'4U;)~ ,) ~ ~ JF -' ~..A-J

e."''' ,J'

~~,..~,

721. Commentary:The yerse does not mean, a.s may be wrongly

inferred,that if a person believes and doe~goQd works, he can take any food. On thecontra.ry, it purports to lay down a C'onditionthe observanC'e of which can secnre a persona~ain8t using a forbidden food, i.e., a foodwhich is calculated to do him physical orspiritual harm. 'l'he condition is that heshould fear God and believe and do good works;and it is evi,dent tllat those who really fellfGod and believe in Hi;In and do good workscan never think of eating forbidden food.Indeed, a person may eat anything, if }Jigpartaking of it leads. to his becoming piousand God-fearipg; and it is clear that suchfood, the eating of wh~ch makes a personpious and God-fearing, cannot but be pureal\d clean, for it is only clean food. whi~h canbring a.bout such a. result.

l'wo important pr~nciples enterge from thisverse: (a) that the things of this world havingbeen made for t}-!euse and benefit of man are,as. a rule, pure and clean; the forbidden thing5be~g only exceptions; (b) that clean al\d purefood exercises a benefic~al ~n.fluence on man'sspiritual development, wh}le unclean andimpure food produces &n~oveJ'8e effectupon it.

:Moreover, the verse lays down. three stagesof spiritual progress for believers. In thefirst stage, believers fear God and believeand do good works, while in the secondetage they fear God and believe, their beliefbeing at this sta.ge so strong as to become anatural and constant sonrce of good workswbich become as it were part and parcel oftheir belief, and i,n the third and final stagethey fear G<>dani! do good to others whichis not possible without perfect belief and good'works, the mention of both of which hasconsequently been here left out as being under.stood. Thus the words" and do good works"have been omitted in the description of thesecond stage, while the words" and believe"ha\o-e been replaced with the words" an<}dogood" in the description of the thirdstage.

It should be noted that the expression \.JAiI(fear God) whiph has been repeated three timesill tb.(j verse under COUlll~ent1.<;pecu.liar to theArabiplanguage and gives a very VII-stmeaning,the root idea underlying the word being "to beever watchful and to be ever taking God forshelter" (see 2: 3). Similarly the e,xpression\.J:'-\ (do good) is very vast in i~s significancefoJ' which see 2 ; 1!3,

.

~~

'"~I'

CH.5

R. 13

AL~~A'IDA PT.1

~, -:. t~ ~\~)~~)(!"i ~'J1\r;!:(r",.. ~ '->;. ." ~~... ~..~(1 :""l\;:t:Jft~ ;,t; v:;j1Jc:s...~ ~ ..~ ~ ~~..

L ." L ".I'"~{1' I ~ \

.~(

-: <It! '" I..., /~ ~~r@ u& ~)~~~I~ . u..I" . ,,' "iI' ~.. ~

95. 0 ye who believe! Allah willsurely try you in a little matter: thegame which your hands and yourlances can reach, so that aAllah maydistinguish those who fear Him insecret. Whoso, therefore, will transgressafter this shall have a grievouspunishment. 722

9~. Oyewh~ believe! bkill.no~game j,r,,~ '!~f/ J~~t"£~"'!'!/I~~;tlr;!:~NhIle you are III a state of pIlgrImage. /OJ> ~.> .. ~ !J4oOI:/."Jj ~..And. whoso amongst you kills it /oN F' (.-" -: ;.:

""J ,f; -{I''''

,,,, ...intentionally, its compensation is a ~J;;~J.::r~~\J~~:t~~~Jquadruped like unto that which he has """ tkilled, as determined by two just men a~I~\~!'\f~ .,t'ZItJJ;~j ~~.~~I\from among you, the same to be ",. ~... ~ ~ ,-- "brought as an offering to the Ka'ba; r~r ~\tl

. J'''/ "/hr., ,r;,;~'rf?';or as an expiation he shall have to feed ~~.~.) ~.>I ~:/'\Jtb r.J\.A)"ta n!l'mber of poor persons, or fast an

/

..

f"."

.

-'''/1.-:.

/

.". ~.

~.9I r..;' b ''' J'''v'' ~"1.I'\'

eqUIvalent number of day~, so that he .)\p~) ~ It ~I ~ f~1 ~J "'J~may taste the penalty of hIS deed. cAs.' (, \ j,'for the past, Allah forgives it; but ~ ~'fi Y;,F~I'" to ~\ ' ft~[1whoso reverts to it, Allah will punish . ~ ./. .." '>." "0,, ..

him for his offence. And Allah isMighty, Lord of retribution. 723

a57 : 26. b5 : 2, 97. °2 : 276.

722. ~ommentaJ:Y:

As hunt~ng is ordinarily done in a jungle whereone is generally alone and where there is nonebeside God to observe one's breaking divinecommandments, tbe verse fittingly mentipnshunting to illustrate 15)'Aior God-fearingness.While engaged in hunting, ma.n's abstentionfrom violating divine commandn\ents wouldshow tbat he has really done so ~nt of the fearof God. It is thus that, by an outward act,the inner condition of a man's heart maybecome revealed.

The verse also se;rves as an introduction tothe commandment that fonows in the nextverse and prepares believers for the acceptance

of an injunction which ran counter tothe prevalent practice.

723. Important Words:

r IA:iI (retribution) is derived from ~.They 8a! ~ t i.e.

.he exa?ted venge_a~~«:

upon hIm; he pUlllshed hIm. "..:...A:i'means, I took vengeance on him; I inflictedpenal retribution on him or I punished him.rIA:; I thus means, vengeance, punishmentor penal retribution (Lane & Aqrab). Seealso ~\: 5 and 5 : 60.

~ommentary :

If a man kills game, when he is in the stateof r\.rl (pilgrimage), he should give as com-pensation a like animal to be taken to Meeufor sacrifice. For instance, if the game killedbv him is a. deer. he ehould offer a goat. Iithe like of the game killed cannot be founo

652

P,T.7 AL-~A~IDA ~H.5

97. The game of the sea and t1;Le '"~~~~~/, .~t,J:~ !~~eating thereof have been made .lawful J '. '.J~ ...;NJ '"

. for you as a provisio;u for you an~ the ~.

JJ'!.'!r/.~i' '." ~~ "".''''~''''[!;.j.': t.ravell~8; but aforbldden to you 18t~e \.8? f"")\A-:J:',~ .. ~-l?'J J) ..'game of the .lan.d as long as you are m

' "~,, ,... t't' "& state of pIlgrImage. And fear Allah @Q'~ cl.:Jt ~J.1, 4»' ydt.JtQ whom you shall be gathere~. 7U . "'..... "; .

. 98: hAllahhas made the Ka'ba, the" ~~'J "'~\C::j\ t~t ~~.jM.'InvIOlableHouse, as a means of support .J.u: ."

...",~ .' ~I . .

and uplift for mankind, a.

8.a18

.

0 the ~f~t.~\\~V~-;;t t"""",.",

"'.

""",,,,' ",,1

sacred. Month .and the o~erUlg8.and ~~) w~ ~ (')~\.J !PJ\~'the cammals w~th collars. Tha.t IS so

.,."

.

that J:°~ may know that Allah k~°'Y8 S\;~lf'<.i~.JQ>~j\J~ '1~i,$i., what 18In the heavens and what 18In '" .." ~ .the earth, and that Allah knows all ~~ ~.

.

1. T/I."'

.

1.

things well. 72& 0 .. rr~ @,

a5 : 2, 96. c5: 3.62; 126; 3: 97-98.

then an animal costing approximately as muchas the gatne killed should be offered, or failingthat, the pilgrinl should spend the eatim&tedprice of the game in feeding tbe poor, whichis two J.. per head according to som{'tbeohrgians and one t."" according to otbers,a J..being roughly two handfuls of corn, while a

t'"'is four times as much as a J.o. If, however,tbe pilgrim is unable to do even that, he shouldfast for as many days as the number of thepoor he could f{'ed with the estimated priceDf the game ki1l{'d. The faRting and thefeeding of the poor, a8 the case may be, shouldpreferably be done at Mecca.

'124. . Comtuentary :

The word ~ (sea) he,e indudes rivers,streams, lakes, ponds, etc. See 7 : 139.

As, duriDgthe time of Pilgrimage, hunting OJ1J.nd is likely to prove inconvenient and evendangerous to pilgrims visiting the Ka'ba,whereas the catching of sea-game does notinterfere with traffic, so the former has beenprohibited and the latter allowed.

725. Important Words:\.1; (m.ea~Bof support and uplift) ii thenouD,~infin.itivefrom (I; D;leaning, he ~OOQup, or he stood still. They say ~JOJ,tf~i.e. he (the husband) sqppo.rted or DJainotained the woman. t.~!.1.; ~rli mef,na, hemanaged it (an atTair, etc.) perfectly. l..YtherefQre signifie8, n~eans of suppnft aDduplift (Lan{', Aqrab & Zamakhshari). Seealso 4 : 6.

~ommentary :God hr-s mt-de PjJgrimage to the Ka'b-

a. sign for the progress and prosperity ofMuslims. So long a8 th~y will continue 100perform Pilgrimage, God's grace wit! t6f1unucto attend them. But it is regrettable thatwealthy Muslims have now generally.grownnegligent in this respect, with the result thattbeir glory has departed.

Pilgrimage is a means of support for men ina material sense also. Muslims froul. aJ}partsof tbe world visit the Ka'ba and this serve8as a. means of support for the people of H~c..Abral>aru left his wjfe Hagar and his~n

",

G53

CH.5 AL-~A'IDA P.T. i

99. aKnow that Allah is severe inpunishment and that Allah is alsoMost Forgiving and Merciful.726

100. bOn the Messenger lies only theconveying of the message. And cAllahknows"what you reveal and what youhide.727

19''''I

"'''' f"- ~,., ,,~I

""'~'''',.JP~\~\ J ~~'~~dL\ d\~tJ. tj., ".@~j

'".. 9

!r" .9""""',~ I' J.'~J \ j\ J ""..\'.~ f...

(':')J~\A~4U\ -' . ~I')Y'Y \A

~'" j~&; r" '"0(.:,) \..0-'

b16:83; 36:18; 64:13. c2:78;6:4; 11:6; 16:20.a15 : 50-51.

Ishmael in the wilderness of PiIoraIJ,near Mecca,appinently to die from starvation. But Godmade provision Dot only for Hagar and Ishmaelin that barren and bleak des{'rt but also fortheir posterity for all time to come. See alsoeh. 106. But to say that the promise thatthe Pilgrimage will continue to prove a meansof subsistence for Meccans only is to limit itsvast scope and application. It certainly is llotconfined to the people of Mecca but encompassesall mankind. It is clear from the verse thatnot only will the Pilgrimage to Mecca with itsattendant rites continue till the end of time,but that the world itself will last only gO10Dgas the Pilgrimage to the Ka'ba continues andthat it will come to an end when tbePilgrimage ceases to be performed. This isindeed a great prophecy; for there have beeDmaI\Y places in the world which were theresorts of pilgrims in their OWl\.time but whichhave long ceased to be so and are now desertedand forgotten. But the Ka~ba is mea.nt toremain for all time" an inviolable houRe anda means of support and uplift for tru\nkind."

726. . (;ommentary:The divine attributes of Forgiveness and

MeIeY are given great prominence in the QuranMy merC'gencompasses all things, says the Hol:Book (7: 157). Therefore. whenever Go!warns people of His punishment in the QuranHe makes it a point to remind them of Hiattributes of Forgiven.ess and Mercy also, thushow~ng that these attributes predominatover His other attributes and only awaitgesture of goodn.ess On the part of man tshow thelnselves.

727. Commentary:.

This verse sheds Borne ligbt on the responsjbility al~d duty of a Prophet. With thdeliverance of the message entrusted toProphet his duty ends, and he is not respolsible if, in spite of his cleeI' wiJ,rnings. thpeople reject his mission. He has Dot beegiV{,Ilthe power to fOfce them to believe. Ifact, rach divine message serves as a guidancfor the people to whom it is given. If thelive up to it and repent of their evil way:they find God Forgiving aDd Merciful; btif they persist in their wicked practices. theare punished and God makes another peopJtake their place.

6S4

PT.7 AL-MA>lbA Ctt.5

,

'

101. Say, '2'The bad and the goodare not alike', even though the abun-dance of the bad may cause thee towonder. So fear Allah, 0 men ofunderstanding, that you may prosper p2S

4: 102. 0 ye who believe! bask notabout things which, if revealed to you,would cause you trouble; though if youask about' them while the Quran isbeing sent down, they will be revealedto you. Allah has left them out. AndAIJah is Most Forgiving and Forbear-.jng.729

'W:"~ /,1 "'..,, ",,,,, ".,,,,~ ., 9

M:' 1--:\'\,1~,'" ~\<s.~.,.\~ (~a ~ y~ .. ~ ..:,. -r-: ~

". '",

'''''.. r",~"" 'f."" '~r~'r-""""'c- I ,~w"ltJ \J41\ \ N_~~\~:"

...;; ,.,J.. ~ ,. ..~

t.".. ." ", ,,..

~C)~ ~v ,. I";.~ "." , f'/!.:"'''''''~'''' ""'

,"'''~ ~\ V{'fi',

,;o>J ~ ~~:;~ \~ r ". ~ !.;.ol~~ ~¥.

'a., ,,,.

& 9.;.."

}Sj'Z!!. ..a/.,

~T

\ .."1,"" ~; \~,' .. .,

\ "., ~T''t

/OIl.. J '..i. ~. ,." d J ,-V ~ -,- . "

@~,~#-:&\1~~I~~~

a2 : 268. b2 : 109.

728. Commentary:

B::~ingnaturally influC1\ccd by his environment,maD is prone to fol1ow and imitate what othersQO,particularly when they happen to be in themajority. This verse, however, is a warningagaiust ul1thinking an{1 blind following of themajority. l'he real criterion by which theworth of a thing is to be judged is not howmany people do it but what good it contains;and, God being the source of all good, t,he onlytrue and unfailing test is, as the verse puts it,cj';; or God-fearingness.

assisted by his own God-given intellectualpowers and faculties. It is to matters relatingto minor details that the present verse refersand God warns the Faithful that the habit ofasking questions about such matters will dothem more harm than good.

As a matter of fact, God, in His infinite wisdom,leaves sufficien.t room. for individuals to exerciseElud develop their power of judgement andtbeir reasoning faculty. When man is c;.on-fronted with situations and circumstan.cesabout which he finds no definite and clear-cutguidance ~I\ the Quran, or in the practice orsayh\gs of the Holy Prophet, he has to

'fhe v'~rse is important, as it shedg light on :find a way fOl himse! in order to meet themthe principle underlying the Shari'at i.e. as best he, can, keeping a1ways in viewthe code of divine Jaws. The bases of the guiding and unalterable l)ri,nciple thatthe Islamic l3hari'at are threefold: (1) the nothing is to be 'done which runs counter toLaw embodied in the Quran, (2) Bunnah any Quranic injunction or to the establishedor the practice of the Holy Prophet~ and practice and the authentic sayings of the Roly(3) the il:Jjunctions and precepts contaiJ\ed in Prophet. Islam is tbus not a bard and fasthis sayings. These three sources of Islamic code of laws, for it does not lay downLaw deal with all the fundamental problem/! rigid injunctions regarding minor and ever~of man, but minor details are left to be thought changing details. On the contrary, it a1rordsout by wan himself in the light of the above. 811fficiclltscope for individuals to exercisc t.hMrthree torch-bearers of guidance. aided and judgement in order to adapt an 'injunction of

655

729. Commentary:

CH.S AL-;MNIDA P,T.7

103. aA people before' you askedabout such things, but then theybecame disbelievers therein. 730

104. bAllah has not ordained any'Bahira' or 'Sa'iba' or 'Wasila' or,

lJami'; but those who di~believeforge a lie against Allah, and most ofthem do not make use of their under-standing. 731

r~ . t'" ""''''', ~ 'I. ,t",,~ ,... t1'::=f-:~f"" ,~

~ ~ ~ ~ ~",P~Ww ~Q"" .'t'\b<.:l~

",'"

~ ",,~~~~~ ~~\J;;~~ .."iJ~.J~.~ . ." ~ "".I /. .J ,,,.,'" ~"'/. "~

; ))

~",,,,

.' \ '\~-", ... \'

.

" ""'~\ \ "I 1M ~ ","~ ~C)~~.!'- ~~';.J,~..;J~

",~ :::; 0 ' ,'~f~ J,;.ff

@c>", .. Q~ \.J y~'

a2: 109.,

bl); 137.

a general na.ture to meet a new and changedsituation. The basic principles, however, areunchangeable. But as details continue tochange, 1s1an1 has not resorted to rigid legis-lation with regard to minor details and hasforbidden Muslims to ask for legislation regard-ing them. Indeed, it was about filling up thesevery details to meet new and altered conditionsthat 'the Holy Prophet said ~J ~..I ~~I

. i.e. "the differel1.ce of opinion among myfollowers is, indeed, a source of mercy." 'I'hisbadith meant that as it had been left to Muslimsto chalk out a way for themselves with regardto such minor details about which no definitepronouncement is to be foun.d in the Shari'at,there was bound to be a difference of opinionamong Muslim theologians about them, but thatthis difference would prove a blessing for them,becauae it would afford opportunities for theexer~ise and cultivation of their rea.'$on~I1gfaculties as well as a suitabJe and flexible lawabout ever-changing details.

The reader will see that this verse also inci-dentally refutes the allegations of those who8ay that the laws of Islam, being rigid andunchangeable, afford DO room for the exerciseof individual judgement, and that they fetterhumanity Corall t.ime to hard anci fast rules andare thus calcul~ted to impede the intellectualadvancement of man rather than help it.

The expression, which if re'vealed to you wouldcause you trouble, means that if God or HieProphet had legislated about minor dctail~and had 110t left such matters to individul~)discretion so that people might fonnuli\te lawsconcerning them. accorc1ing to their own judge.ment and their own circumstances, the}would have found it troublesome and thEdevelopment of man.'s intellect would hav£become seriously hampered.

730. Commentary:

Unnecessary questioning about minor detail!amI seeking legislation on them is always t<the detriIMnt of the questioner himself. IIlimits his discretion and fetters his judgementbesides bindillg lain1 and hilt co-religionists tl

unnecessary and hksome h.>gislation. Th.ISl'aclite~ are repo!ted in the Quran to hBV'put unnecessary questions to 1\loses in reglLrlto minor details with the result that the~created difficulties for thems~lve8 a.nd becammore and more perplexed and confounotJ'a.nd entled with breaking the commandmentof God and drawing His displeasure 0tbt'IJ\selves (e.g. 2 : 109).

731. Important Words:

8.J<!: (Babira) is derived from ~ whicmeans, be cut or slit lengthwiBc; he split c

cla\'c. JJalrira was a name given by t1

656

PT. 7 AL-MA'IDA

conceivedpagan Arabs to a camel (or a goat) which theylet loose to feed, after slitting its ears. Theword may be applied both to males andfemales, but in practice it was only the femalesthat were thus let loose to pasture where theyliked. T;hey were dedicated. to some god andtheir milk was not used, nor their back. Thedescription of Babira varied among differenttribes.

~/... (Sii'iba) is derived from -,../... whichmeans, it or he went away at random or wentwherever it or he liked. ~ I,.. was a namegiven to a she-camel sot free to go wherevershe pleased. She was generally let loose asan offering to the gods when one recoveredfrom ,a sickne~s or returned safe from a journey.Often a she-camel having given birth to 10female young. ones was let loose to pasturewhere she would, and she was not ridden norwas her milk. drunk except by her young.

~.J:

(Wa§ila) is derived from ~.J whichmeans, he connected or joined. ':to/.J wasthe name given to a Iilie-camel that was letloose in the ll8I)"}eof a god after she had givenbirth to seven female young ones consecutively.If, at the seventh birth, she bore.a pair, maleand female, each of the latter was ~lso let 10086.

rl.- (Qami) is derived from r.? They say~, ..? I i.e. he prohibited the thing;or he protected it; or' defended' it againstencroachment, invasion or attack. r ~ .

whichis re&lly c.fl- -therefore, means' a stallioncamel that has hiS backprobibited or inte~-dicted to be used for bearing a rider or carryinga burden; such camel was neither ridden norshorn of ~ fur ; . he was left at liberty and wasnot debarred from pasturage or from water.

.The word is also used about a stallion camel

CR. 5

whose offspring's offspring has(Lane).

Commentary:

Mter having said that minor matters anddetails should be left to man to legislate as hethinks proper, the Quran, in the present verse,fittingly draws our attention to the fact thatsuch freedom and discretion cannot be allowedto man in fundamentals and things of import'"ance, because in such matters unanimity isessential and divergence of opinion may proveimmensely harmful. The verse under commentgives an illustration to show that human intellectcannot be trusted with the making of la ws onfundamental matters, for, if left to itself, it islikely to make laws that would lead man toperdition.' .An instanoe of such laws is givenin this verse. It is really Christians for whomthe address in this 'verse is meant; but insteadof drawing attention to the laws devised andinvented by Christians, theQuran very wiselyrefers here to certain practices of the paganArabs, for one canmore easily see a mote inanother man's eye1;han a beam in one's own.The Arabs used to let loose the animals

.mentioned in the verse in honour of their idols.Besides being based on disbelief and

.

superstition, the practice was also highly foolish.The animals thus let loose wrought great havocwherever they went. They devastated fieldcrops and gardens and killed children. TheQuran refers to the letting loose of these animalsas an example of man-made laws and warnsChristians who question the wisdom and blessingof a revealed Law to learn a lesson from thedegrading practices to which tho pagan Arabshad fallen victim because they had no revealedLaw to guide them.

65Z

.CH.5 AL-MA'IDA PT. 7

105. And awhen it is said to themJ"-\" '.~.\ 1~~"lvJ\t~

.~~~ i,: '~I"'Come to what Allah has revealed, "J Q.UUJ' ~ ~ ~ ~ )"J

and to the Messenger,' they' say, ~l"'r~/f;,' .;"r~"""'r,,~~~~,~r~ J "'''\''Sufficient for us is that wherein'y-,\\iJo~I~~~~\.o.. !;\i)~~we found our fathers.' What! even ,~~~"" .; """",;, ,,~I "f~though their fathers had no knowledge 8C);~~j~d~~~J~\ c.:.>e

and no guidance 1732 .' .

106. 0 ye who believe! be heedful '~'r'.9""'~"Q~"~ "'''I,,~:t,r~{;of your own selves. bHe who goes ~ ~ ~j ".

.. \.,'.. ~\ ~~ ~...

astray cannot harni you when you f.~~L~'''' J' \J';'I.1.'~'~\\'t\ ""'-yourselves are rightly gUided. To Allah \ :18..=:0 .:,>A~ ' ~ ,tI"cjJD

will you all return; then will He ...... , ",# ~ ~ ~ ",~disclose to YOUwhat YOUused to do.733 fu:\ ~\' .~: ". "

, ~..' ,

. ~CJ~ .."'.'

;;

a2: 171; 31: 22. b2: 138.

732. CommentM'Y:

It is indeed strange that when science andknowledge advance and new discoveries andnew inventions are made, people are quick tothrow overboard worn-out ideas and theoriestenaciously held by their forefathers andhasten to accept and benefit by the newinventions and disc,overies ; but when a Prophetbrings to them a. new guida.nce from God, theyrefuse to accept it on the ground tha.t it doesnot agree with the beliefs and ideas held bytheir ancel;!tors and with their own time-honoured notions and theorieEl. How foolishis this attitude and how lame and absurd theexcuse for the rejection of divine truths 1 Thisis how the Quran exposes the untenability ofthe position of the rejectors of truth.

733. Commentary:

This verse tells us that though man cansacrifice his worldly interests for the sake ofothers, yet he cannot so sacrifice bis beliefsand religious principles. In religious mattersour duty is only to show people the right pathand exhort them to follow it; but we shouldnot ruin or wrong oUr souls for their sake. Itca~not profit mankind nor ourselves if we lose

our own soul in trying to save others. The body

may be sacrificed but not the soul. Christiansabandoned some of the fundamental principlesof their religion, hoping to win over certainheathen nations to Christianity. But in doingso they lost the truth and struck ~ very badbargain.

The verse, however, should not be understoodto mean that we should not preach the truthto others, and should confine our attention tosaving our own souls only and have no thoughtfor others. In fact, the Quran enjoins' uponevery Muslim to try bis utmost to make otherssee the truth, because firstly, it is our duty topropagate the truth; and secondly, placed aswe are, we cannot properly save ourselvesunless we also save those among whom welive. What the verse, therefore, means isthat our duty is only to preach the truthto others. If they accept it, well and good;but if in spite of our efforts, they refuse to beweaned from their evil course, their rejectionof the truth will do us no harm. But in nocircumstances should we compromise ourprinciples in order to win others over to ourway of thinking. That would be ruining ourown souls to save others.

There is an Qadith to the effect that once thl!

~" -,

PT. 7 AL-MA' IDA (:H.5

107. 0 ye who believe!. the right 15-:# "'1" 1 ~-!."~ ,"!;';'~, V9.:'Uevidence among you, when death r~\..Jb>bl ~..,IS') ~t cf..1.!: ~..presents tself to one of you, at the; 1. ., t"..., 0".

f k.

b t.

f .,~ /(! IIJ;

,h~ . :.

, "'"-<',.;" /","", \~Ime 0 ma mg a eques, IS 0 two ~~ J&,~) ~

~""" ~~.-"'"Just men from among you; or of two.,. '? "

?thers ~ot from among you, if you .be ~?-;" ~?~,,~ "!~\6' ,~ ~ C)I-:I

Journeymg m the land and the calamIty'" iF.;J ";,/,o'.P ~ ~.;#.. ~of death befall you. You shall detain '.,;(, \:,~;:,~.Jt~~'

.

' \~., '~~lithem both after Prayer for giving ~ ~ ~ 9.)'¥ .~.""fJA ".

evidence;and, if you doubt, they shall. ",,, "." ", ."" ,,,

both swear by Allah, saying: 'We ~ <.S~jAj, 0\ dL~ CJ' 'q.ij~}\take not in exchange for this any price, I ~

. " . ...",. ~., ....

even though he be a near re~ation, r1,~i"4~~j;~'\~~~~3~and ((we conceal not the testImony" ~ -'enjoined by Allah; surely, in that case, c'" :'~il -'. J \~\~\we shall be among the sinners.'734 \!:;1~ ;I ~ ~, .,

a2 : 141,284.

Holy Prophet explained this verse as meaningthat you should preach the truth nnder allcircumstances but when you see that the personto whom. you preach the truth persists infollowing his own evil inclinations and doesnot listen to you, then your duty will ha.veeaded by your having duly preached to hi,mthe truth. and in this case his evil practiceswould do you no harm, if only you YDurselvesscrupulously follow the truth (Tirrnidhi, ch.Dn TaJlir).

'I'h{' words, lie UJltOgoes a~tray cannot Itarm youwhen YOIlyourselves are rightly guidecl. may also.

mean that if you do. the right sort of preachingand try to find the right way of apprDach to aperSDn and even then he dDes not accept thetruth, then his going astray will not harmyou and you will not be held respDnsiblefor it. In this case the words. 1Dhen youyourselves are rightly guided, would mean, "ifyou succeed in finding out the right way ofpreaching and put in the right sort ofeffort."

734. Commentary:

See collective nDte o.n {}: 109 below.

659

AL-;MA'IDACH.5

108. But if it be discovered that thetwo witnesses are guilty of sin, thentwo others shall take their place fromamong those against whom the formertwo witnesses-who were in a betterposition to give true evidence-sinfully deposed, and the two latterwitnesses shall swear by Allah, saying,'Surely, our testimony is truer thanthe testimony of the former two, andwe have not been unfair in any way;for then, indeed, we should be of theunjust.'735

109. Thus it is more likely that theywill give evidence according to factsor that they will fear that other oathswill be taken after their oaths. Andfear Allah and hearken. And Allahguides not the disobedient people.736

n.7

I ,~/. I~r~ ~,,!

\~ \ (~~", ~j'", ". 'J "r-:~ & III ~ \)

n. ..\"

.. .' ~,,~.)j>'"

~C)...

I 7.9:'. !I~"" ~: '~,/~, /' -'" '" ~~r(.'"..~~..,I' .:~\ "wJJ\ ..~ \.Q..4'-f;",~-..i ",..'/JJ

"," ~ ~. it' V"~j .'J """'r;''''/'' \

f/,�f.;-'~"l"~:;"

~.(/, r/9'~:1 ~r

w~ ~)~ ~ ~ ~ \:.,;~ .. 4Uu.. ," ;I'-" ;,

/" ~ ,/ ~ 1- '"'/8~\~ \,)J~J

~~~~~ ;;~f~~~~ ~ J~ ~j1>,9,1'",;,~9" '"

J.., . r," , ,/(fJf"'"

/,/,'/\~~ $\ yi)!-,~",~.\ ~ ~~.I 3.i ~\

t/, ,., ,/' ,,,, /0' ,t;:qI~\ '" -;;\\ \S. \ '"

\ ~ /"'\ ",u ..". ", ~ -'"'" ~. a..U -' (

I

735. Important Words:,.j\}J' (the two who were in a better position)

is derived from J , being the dual of J J \which means. One more worthy or morecom.petent or more entitled or m.ore deservingor better fitted or having a better claim to doa thing, etc. (Lane). See also 4: 136.

WI ~, (the two are guilty of ",in) and

r~ ~I (against whom they ~infullydeposed). The word ~\ is derived from

~ which means, it was or became suitableto the requirements of wisdom, justice, rightand truth; it was or becaroe right, proper,correct or true; it became established as atruth. ~\ means) he o.emanded it as hisright or due; he had a right or title or claimto it; he deserved or merited it. 'l'hey sayWI J...A...Ii.e. he did what necessitated sin;or he was guilty of a s1n and deserved it beivgsaid of him that he was a sinner. 'rheexpression ~ added to the word J~ I mean!!.. against them," the particle ~ sometimes

meaning" against." ~;:.JI ~ ~Im.eans, he has a right to it in preferenceto the purchaser. i.e., he has a better claim toit as against the buyer. The words ~ ~,therl'fore, would mean. they (the twowitI1.e~es who were in a.better position to wvetrue evidence) gave false evidence aga.inst theirjust rights, seeking to deprive them (heirs ofthe deceased) of theit rights by giving falseevidence against them.

Commentary:

See collective note On 5 : 109 below.

736. Commentary:

The Arabie words ~I&-, ~ .jl&) ~i

rendered as "otber oaths will be taken aftertheir oaths t. literally mea.n: (1) "oaths winbe repea.ted i.e. taken again. after theiroaths"; or (2) II their oaths will be rejectedafter their (other witnesses') oaths:' thesignificance iu both cases being practicallythe same. i.e.. the oaths of the first two

660

PT. 7 AL- MA'IDA CH.S

witnesses will bewitnesses caned inoath.

l'he purport of this and the preceding twoverses is that when a person is about to makehis will at the time of his death, he sbould baveas witnesscs to his statement two just men,who should .estify to the valirlity of his wiJIafter his dcath. But if death comeB upon aperson suddenly when he is away from homeand no Muslim witnesses are 8t hand, thentwo trustworthy non-Muslims may be asked toserve as witnesseR. If, however, the veracityof the witncsses is c:alled into question by theheirs of the deceased, the former should beasked to prove their truthfulness by a statementon oath nlade after the time of Prayer. Butif the persons in wh08e fe,vour the wi!! wasmade have goorJ reason to belie\'e that thewitnesses have been guilty ')f perjury, thenthey can state on oath thuttheir statement istrner than that of thc two witnesses, and inthat care the Qa~i or judge, if sati!lfied, wiUgive his d~cree in their favour.

An incident is reported to have occurred inthe days of the Holy Prophet which throws80m~ light on the verses under comment. AMuslim who died away from home entrustedhis goods to two men before his death andasked them to deliver the same to his heirs atMedina. On receiving the goods the heirsCound that a silver bowl was missing. Thetwo lUcnwere thereupon called upon to explainthe los8 of the bowl, but they denied aU know-ledge of it on oath. La.ter, the heirs of thedeceased person happened to see the bowl withsome persons at Mecca who told them t.l1nt ithad been sold to them by the two men to whomthe deceased had entrusted his property.Thereupon the two men were again summoned,a.nd in their presen('e the heirs of the deceased

rejected and two otherto give true evidence on

stated on oath that the bowl was theirs, where-upon it was handed over to them (Manthfir).

The Prayer meIltioned in 5 : 107 above maybe any Prayer but preferably it should be tbe<Af' or late afternoon Prayer, because it wasafter this Prayer that the Holy Prophetsununoned the two witnesses to whom referencehas been made above and who were believedto have stolen the silver bowl. The time afterPrayer has been chosen with a view to inspiringwitneBBes with ideas of piety and God-fearing.nessand inclining their minds totruth!u}ness. Ifthe witnesses be non-Muslims, then they may becalled upon to swear after the tim.e of theirown worshi!), so that the solemnity of the hourmay incline them to make a true statement,becausc the worship of God is calculated toexercise a purifying influence on t1e humanlliind and m.en fresh from Prayer ere exppctedto fear God and make a true statement. .

.

,The word cJV.J1(the two who were in a better

position) occurring in 5 : 108 above is the dualof JJI which mAans more competent ormore worthy. It refers to the first two witnessesand signifies that these two were in a betterposition to give true evidence, being the personswho were with the deceased at the time of hisdeath and in WhOS8presence tbe will was madeand to whom the property was entrusted to behanded over to the heirs of the deceased. Theexpression also serves as a sort of veiled reproachto them tl1at, in spite of being in a betterposition and more competpnt to give trueevidence, they stumbled and drifted awayfrom truth.

The second two witnesses should be fromamong the deceased person's heirs whom thp.first two witnesses deprived of their right bybearing faIse witness regarding the wiIJ of thedeceased.

661

AL- MA'IDA PT. 7CH.S

R. 15 110. Think of the day when aAllahwill assemble the Messengers and say,'What reply was made to you 1 ' Theywill say, 'We have no knowledge, itis only Thou Who art the Knower ofhidden things' ;737

,!\r~;! .J~r.l J'''!/{ t'~\\'~ ?n" n".~'0~\\J "'~ Ij>"y 4!1\~..PX

""., ,~/ ",,,,,,"'" t~-:''''' ...@~~I,..o~~' ~} J.'..:.J~~,

a7 : 7 ; 28: 66.

737. ~ommentary:

The words, We ha1le no knowledge; it is onlyThou Who art the Knower oj hidden thi'YI9., con-sti tute both a 'Jort of veiled recommendation anda glorification of God. The l~rophets will, inefl'ect, say, " The people did indeed reject 113;but Tholl art the Knower of secrets. We donot know wbat was in their minds and whetherthey rejected ns frOID their hearts or onlyexpreBsed disbelief out of the fear of others.It is, therefore, for l'hee to decide whattheir real attitude was and what treatmentshould be meted out to them." This recom-mendation seems to run counter to 4:: 42,which shows that the Prophets wiU bear witnessagainst their people. The study of the relevantverses, however, shows that the occasions aredifferent. The a.bove-mentioned reply of theProphets wiH be made when in the beginningGod will question them in a genera] Wi!Y ;

wbereas t;he tendering of evidence wiH comeat a later stage when God will call upon themdefinitely to come forward and give the requiredevidence about those who rejected them. There

is, thus, no real conflict between the two Yers~s.

The answer giv.en by the Pro!,hets is also inharmony with tIle dignity of God and consti.tutcs an act. of His glorification on the part ofthe Prophets. God perfectly knows whatreply the l)co})le made to the Prophet!:', but,in spite of this, He will a~k the Prophets to saywhat answer they were giyen by the people,ae if He Himself was not aware of that answer.The Prophets, therefore, will yeryappropriatelyremove this apparent implication of ignoranceon the p:ut of God, by attributing all knowledgeto Him.

The answer of the Prophets also implies thatthe object of God's ql1~stion was not to elicitinformation from them or to supplem.ent Hisown knowledge. for He knew wha.t answer theywere given. In fa.ct, there was some otherpurpose behind His question which was thatthey shonhlgive their testimony agaipst tlledisbelievcrs, as iF!clear from 4: 42, a.nd thuscarry ont the clivil'e cODlTIIarulrcferred to inthe latter verse.

662

PT.? AL-;MA' IDA CH.S

Ill. ,When Allah will say, "0 Jesus,Bon of Mary, remember My favour

. upon thee and upon thy mother; whenaI strengthened thee with the spirit ofholiness so that bthou didst speak to thepeople in the cradle and when of middleage; and when cI taught thee the Bookand Wisdom and the Torah and theGospel; and when rlthou didst fashionout a creation out of clay, in the like-ness of a bird, by My command; thenthou didst breathe into it a new spiritand it became a soaring being by Mycommand; and thou didst heal thenight-blind and the leprous by Mycommand; and when thou didst raisethe dead by My command; and wheneI restrained the children of Israel fromputting thee to death when thou didstcome to them with clear Signs; andthose who disbelieved from amongthem said, 'This is nothing but cleardeception;

, "738

~\;I/ 'It''',

~~.):I """".. ",,, '1..J""'r(.

~

.. ..." .) ~Y' ,,-I ~. 4\.)1 (; 31,.. I .,. ,'" ,

't7~ ~ 7-:''' .,,~\: .,..." .. ,,0....

~ lt~1 ~Jt~~I.)t ~~~.~ ~~It"? cl9~ .,

\ ...r:~.1': ,..." . 'f::"~ ~I !; M" ~;--'~-'~, J U"'\:JI. .. ,;...

."~\\~ ~~~~I"'~'�.,-~~(t'''~q ~"~~~~)".J ~, ~ ~-"",.J \,"

,

"'~L't~t':~~ '.~~:'~"'1~;Sn4~~.)...:-~ d ..;~ ~""';',.. ~

!.,,," ''I!., ~,."r ,...",;., ,"'~" ~ ""J~I c!f.)~-' ~';x~~~H.J ~)J1 r.5jJ~,,'~~ ? -:;l~"'"(', V' "\

-;:...~r~\"'" f.;~

~.)J ~~p.:.>-',,~ ,),.><J.)...~

';11=' :, ?~~ \'9~-r-:"c3I J""'~~G~,,~~;~ ~~~, ::::,{j'~(j.,

f\ij\,...l ... .::a...'.:.;:/"WtI'!~ ..r-::

a2 : 88; 2: 254. b3: 47. C3: 49. d3: 50. 85: 12.

738. Commentary:

In the clanse, thou didst speak to tke peQple intke cradle and wkf/n of middle age, the act ofspeaking in the cradle signifies speaking wordsof wisdom and piety in childhood. This sortof speaking on the part of J esns reBected grea.tcredit on his mother, who, herself being wiseand pious, brought him up as a wise and piouschild. And the speaking of good words inroiddle age shows that not only was Mary apious woman, but Jesus too was a righteousman so that even when he was of middle ageand was no lon.ger under tbe direct influenceof his !nother, he spoke words of piety aud

wisdom to men. See also 3~:47 &:,3 : 49, 50.where similar works of Jesus i.e. the creationof birds and the quickening of the dead, etc.havo been discussed.

Protection similar to that alluded to in thelatter part of this verse in the words, 1 restrainedlhe children of Israel from putting thee to death.was promised to the Holy Prophet as wen(5: 6S). This promise met with a remarkablefulfilment. Though even at Mecca his ]ifewas in consta.nt danger, at Medina that dangervery much increased. The Holy Prophet ledm.3.nyexpeditionsin person and several 3tteItlptswere made on his life. At {71)udhe was severelywounded and at I:IUl1ain he was left aloneamong a large host of blood-thirsty archers.Yet amidst all these dangNfi he remained safe,and after having triumphed over his eueroiespassed away peacefuHy in his house at Medina.The reference in the present verse is to theattempts of the Jews t.o kill Jesus on th'e Cross,from which accursed death Ood delivered him.

The word!'!. I restrainecl the children of 1 sraet,

663

CH.5 AL- ~A'IDA PT. 7

112. And when aI in~pired thedisciples of J esU8 to believe in Meand in My Messenger, they said,' We

.

believe and bear Thou witness that wehave submitted.'739

113. When the disciples said, '0Jesus, son of Mary, is thy Lord able tosend down to us a table spread withfood from heaven 1 " he said, 'FearAllah, if you are believers' ;740

114. They said, 'We desire that wemay eat of it, and that our hearts beat rest and that we may know thatthou hast spoken truth to U8, andthat we may be witnesses thereto.'T41

~.l~, , ,,~ ~, I ,,, , .. I"'" ,~"

,,,,,"~~~-'~~'C)' ~J~~ J~~-,\ j}~

.. ~, r"'''f~,," "r.:"I""9.r~@~~ ci't~1 J~' !;\~

9 ".,,,,,, ..~'j.;:::.J\~"",,,, ~~: "'?I ~.,~ ,,,,,' J/r::: ~

~~~y4~J ~.~y.)'-9J\ ~)I..", - "

~,j~f~\~i*~j~~~;" ~""9.

j",., L III .'

.

." ~"l'1~~~ .

0 @~ ..",;'J~~ ,

li~~ ~4~ ~.."'\~~'" r~ ?"'IZU ?\&.;J. \A~~J .~~J~~ ~ ..~~\

Q\~' ~ ~t" ~'f',, ~I;:"(0"" "'-:: "",~'WCl: . 'o~ c).) U.N:>~ ,0,1 ~

tI~4I \wi'" .. ...,

Q3:53-5.1; 61 :15.

should not, however, be understood to meanthat Jesus Buffered even no persecution. ::.t thehands of his enemies. A similar exprel'siollhas bet>n used with regard to eady Muslims inthe QUTan (5: 12) but it is a. well-known factthat thl:'Y had to p888 through grievous trialsand tribulatioDs. The expression thlJS onlymeans that the enemy will fail to kill JesuE',whom God will protect from being destroyed.

739. Important Words:

The verb ~.J\ (inspired) does not. aiwaysmeaD verbal revelation. It sometimes simplymeans to mapire a persoIl. with an idea, or tosuggest it to him; and it is in this sense thatthe word is used here. The word has also beenused with reference to the bee (16 : (9).

b\A,l.1 (di'Jciples). See 3: 63.

740. Commentary:

The word'!, 8end down '0 us a table ,preaa uith/ood lro,,& beaven, show that it was Dot a singleme&t that the disciples of Jesue asked for,

but a permanent provision of BUetena-ncewhich

might be had without any trouble or hardship.The words" from helJ.vcn" denote a thingthat ie obtained without trouble and is sureand lasting.

741. Commentary:

The disciples of Jesus have, in this verse,mentioned four objects which the fulfilmentof the prayer of .Jesus about the food asked forwas meant to serve: (1) that they might eatthereof and their hunger might be sstisfi.€d;(2) that their minds might be at rest. This al80shows that they d('eired a permanent provisionof sustenance because a single meal could notput their miDds at rest or relieve them ofanxiety about tbeir livelihood in futnre so thatthey might be able to preach the messafe ofGod free from all care and devote themselvesfully to the service of .religiou; (3) that theprophecy of .JAsuscontained in 3 : 50 might befulfilled; and <{) that they migH becomewitnesses to the fulfilment of his prayer andof the truth of their religion, and people might

know that God helps and favouJ1I those who

664

------

CH.5PT. 7 AL- ;MA'IDA

115. Said Jesus, son of Mary, '0Allah, our Lord, send down to us atable from heaven spread with food-that it may be to us a festival, to thefirst of us and to the last of us, and aSign from Thee; and provide sustenancefor us, for Thou art the best ofsustainers.'742

116. Allah said, ' Surely, I will sendit down to you; but whosoever of youdisbelieves afterwards,-I will surelypunish them with a punishmentwherewith I will not punish any otherof the peoples.'743

~/.r:~ J

'; ~,I'V:::,/ ~,I'V:::,/

~,I //~-", ". " J'f(...

14" "''':':'' \ ~ I, ~ ~&'.Vt .. ~. -.~, \. ~yoO~ ~-;.-..

~ I r~ I '/ ~ V( ,~ ~

~\"'G 'l/tr~,~\,;J ." ~ ~I ':'10..~ ~ .J,.J." ..; <.:) ~ ~

'1

\ 9"//";"r~~''''''C-J;;@Wj;~~I-,~j}., $..,,;

JI'~ ..

""

~O.,/

~., ~,,-:~

.,9. // (~~,:,~9 ..~ \ '~ IJ""'r~.., ? ~,.;;.. ~..., "O"P4,,4U '"""

..""

.. ",

t / . ~//'1..9 ~,,'--7..~(/ ~ :',I'':;'~~Ij)

@~\~\~, ~~\ ~.& .~1~; ~

prosperity and gralldeur in such measure as hasno parallel in the history of any other religion.But with the advent of the like of Jesns in theperson of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, inIslam, the snn is indeed nearing its setting OD"th~ laqt of the Christians," who can DOWsave tbemselves only by identifying tbemselveswith him wbo has con!e in the spirit andpower of their Master.

743. CommentarJT:This verse shows that Jesus approved of the This verse also makes it clear that the ;.11"1..

wi~h of his disciples and therefore, while (the table spread with food) did not mean apraying, he included him.'!elf among them. meal that was actua.l1y to descend from heaven,

The words, that it may be to us afestlttal, to the for such miracles are never shown, it beingfirst of 118and to the last of us, embody 8 great impossible to disbeliieve after one has witn'C\8sedprophecy. Tbere were to be two periods of the wonderful phenomenou~of a table Bet outprosperity and progress for the Christian with food aetllalty descending from on high.peoples, as the word ~ (featival) literally The punishment. referred to in the verse ismeaning" a . ay which returns," RhfJwf:I. The ~be same as is mentioned in 19 : 91.first, ,vas to be in the time immediately after Ohristians did "disbelieve afterwards" and theJesus, while the s~coDclwas to be in the Latter threatened punishment has already made itsDays; and the period between these two was to appearance. The last and the presentbe marked by decay and decline. And this is World War, along with their repercussions,exactly what is more clearly referred to in the constitute one pb"e of the fulfilment ofwords, to the first of us and to tIle last (If us. this prophecy, and God knows what dreadfulOhristian peoples were granted worldly good in forms the fulfilment of this great prophecy isabundance in the early ages i.e. before the rise decreed to take in future and what dire visits.-of Islam, and now in the Latter Days i.e. after tions are yet in store for Ohristians in this worldthe decline of IsI~IU, ~hey h~ve had material and in the next.

665

are devoted to the sen-ice of His religion. Thehistory of tbe early Ohristian Church shows thatGod did a.ctually make extraordinary provisionfor the 8llstenance of those who devoted theirlives to the preaehing of the message of Jesus.Na.y, even now Christiau8, tllOugh they havedrifted far away from the truth, are enjoyingan extra good table spread witb food.

742. Commentary:

CH.S AL-MA'IDA PT. 7

R. 16 117. And when Allah will say, "0Jesus, son of Mary, didst thou say tomen, 'Take me and my mother for twogods beside Allah,''' he will answer,"Holy art Thou. I could never saythat to which I had no right. If I hadsaid it, Thou wouldst have surelyknown it. Thou knowest what is inmy mind, and I know not what is inThy mind. aIt is only Thou 'Who artthe Knower of hidden things.744

---"---~-"----- '-'---' ~ '-------

f"" ~/,...'''/'',''''''''' \, I

'':' 'J'''{~~\''~~" ~\~ ~~d. ~..:W ~)...,

'" ", ,--: ...,

~\~I~!.'J/'r-::J.~ "., ..~ ~\, """ "",.,J. -:.

~ \i @\ ~ ");..0 ~ ~"\, Lb~'.'"

,,'" v/ ",..""

\..>""" ", ", , j,~""~" ~'/"z [/

J"'-!" "", '" '~.9.

""r....

~"\\ ~-=~. U' "I~\ d '-' ~ l.o"-'"",~, #t' .. '7 It' ..

' \~./,, :- '~" r"" ,./,/J,~J;. .,/'" ( '.

.,~,~~~ ~\.4~ "" Wi,; d..:$

" ,II' ,~ "','"""

.1/''',. ...@~~'/,~\.:..i\ ~l ~ '-!~

U5:1l0; 9:78;34;49.

744. Important Words:

The words J iJJ~ t. (1 could not) may beinterpreted in various ways, such as, it was notfittiug or proper for me to do so; or it did notbebove me; or it was beyond my power orpositi.on ; or it was impossible for me; or I hadno right to do so, etc. See also 3: 80.

~ (mind) means, am.ong other things,knowledge; purpose or intention (I,ane). Seealso 3: 29.

Commentary :

1'he expression, Holy art Thou, besi,deshintingthat it is only God Who is free from error,(~mbodiesa beautiful reply on the part of Jesusto the question put to him by God \n thewords, didst thou say to men, Take me andmymother for two gods, which seemed to imply asort. of reproach :1.ndan expression of dis-pleasure. The rCJ}lyof Jesus appears to bes01l1ethinglike this: "I was only Thy humbleMessenger, 0 God, UH'reforc I couId not. aRk

men to take me and my mother as gods besid~Thee, for if I had done so, that would have beena reflection on Thee that Thou didst choose asThy .Messenger a person who turned faithless toThee and asked his followers to take him a.ndhis motber as gods beside Thee. But Thychoice, 0 God, cannot be wrong; hence it wasimpossible that T, a Messenger of Thine, shouldhave bidden men take me and my mother asgods, and Thine own all-embracing knowledge,0 God, is a teRtimony of my innocence."

The word ~ (mind) when used about

God implies Uintention." Tbus the lastsentence of the: verse would mea.n, "I do notknow what Thou meanest by this queRtion.Thou, being All-Knowing, well knowesttbat I did not say so; hence, I fail tounderstand th(~ object or purpose of Thyquestion." This reply of Je!lus show!! that inhis hea.rt he wa.s afraid that Borne shortcomingin the executiou of his duty migbt have dis-plc:'\'led the Almi,~hty.

666

PT. 7 AL-MA!IDA CH.5

US. "I s3:id nothi~g to. them .,,,,,,,,'",

"..., ,.:::,"""'; ~ "J;""!.except ~hat w~lCh Thou dIdst command ~ clL\ ~41 ~\ ~~Jt ~ ~1;&J CJ; ~me- a WorshIp Allah, my Lord and # .-I

your Lord.' And I was a witness over ~);~~L:~(f~~~1;~~~"';'them as long as I remained among ",,""

""\-,,--::- J ~~-'

them, but since bThou ,didst cause me. r;,tl ~--::~r"~ """":'11/~"~.

t".".::,,,~to die, Thou hast been the watcher y: ~I.;;J.J

"u~y ~I" ~~

over them; and Thou art witness over tj .. ,..all things. 745 @>~ ~ :.

"",f$M

119. "If Thou punish them, theyare Thy servants; and if TJlOu forgiveth~m, Thou surely art the Mighty, the\VIse."746

clJ~~"'~~ "I""''G~'~ ',':~ ",,,:,,!,,~

.. rJ~ (;)...J 50.).,,~... ~~ <.:J1

.,,,?i' ,,/' ,,,8~'.J~\ ~\.." '"

a5:73; 19:37. b3:56; 19:16.

745. Important Words:t.Hj(Thou didst cause me to die). See

2 : 235 & :3: 56.Commentary:j'or the corroboration of the first sentence

of this verse i.e. the teaching of Jesus aboutthe worship of God alone see Matt. 4: 10 &Luke 4 : 8.

Tile latter portion of the verde conclusivelyproves two things: (1) that Jesus is dead andnot alive, as supposed by most of present-dayMuslims; (2) that he is not to retnrn to thisearth a. second time in his own person. Theinference is beyond any shadow of doubt. Fromthe verse it is clear that no interval intervenedbetween Jesus' life on this earth and his death.

- As long as he was alive, he kept a careful watehover his followers and saw to it that thy didnot deviate from the right path, but he did notknow what occurred to them after his death.l'his shows: (1) that it was by death and notby his supposed ascension to heaven that Jesnsbecame separated from his people, and (2) thatit was only after his death that his people deifiedhim. Now, as his followers have already gone

astray, it dcfin.itcly follows tllat Jesus is dead,for, as t!1e verse po~nts out, it was after hisdeath that he began to be worshipped asGod.

Similarly, the fact, that th~ verse speaks of.Jesns as f-xpressing ignorance of his followershaving taken him and his mother for go(J1\afterhe had left them, proves that he is not to comeback to this e~rth. For, if he were to comeback to this earth and sce with his own eyes thecorruption of his followers, he couhJ not expressignorance of his deification by 1is people. .

In that case the answer of Jesus pleading hieignol1lDcc ,volt1d amount to a veritable lie.'rhus the verse definitely and cleady provesthat Jesus is dead and that he ,viJI nevercome back to this world. For deb~ileddiscus~ion of the q,uestion of the death ofJesus and his non-ascension to heavens withhis physical body see, 3: 56 &,4: ]59.

746. Commentary:

. This verse corlgt.itutt~8 a most pathetic appealby Jesus to God on behalf of his followers; andthe succeeding verse provides tbe divine answertG that appeal.

w

CH.5 AL-~NIDA PT. 7

120. Allah will say, 'This is a daywhen only the truthful shall profit bytheir truthfulness. For them areGardens beneath which streams flow;therein shall they abide for ever. aAllahis well pleased with them, and they arewell pleased with Him; that indeedis the great triumph.'747

121. bTo Allah belongs the kingdomof the heavens and the earth and what-ever is in them; and He has powerover all things.748

J."j ~.~ '":'-~I ,~~... .,6'-' \~I,~ J""'C'~

"'~;~,/,~&@I ~

,"I'''''' ~ ... ~I

""'''~7 ''''11"", ,

"'.. ~,:"'" .,,'"~...;# ~~ ;# ~LS"~~A

~",H~.I.'''''''' (~."""", ".,...,~ ",.J.~N~.,~~~ ~~.J.J~ ciUlC$j'..JIwl.... ..

~' "', fI,,,,.e . \ ~-';1\..". ~~

'l~"" "'.b~ ".r"'... ",i t" ;~~.'I !li9..""~~.J~~w-'U:)/,)9 ~~t:.

,

tj. ... ,&.'t

~.1.

6f-.ij 'f~.." ..",

a9 : 100; 58: 23 ; 98: 9. b5 : 18, 41 ; 42: 150; 48: 15.

747. Commentary:

The words, This i3 a day, refer to the Day ofJudgement, which shows that tIle questionmentioned in 5: 117 above will be put to Jesuson the Day of Judgement i.e. after he will havepaid his supposed I!eoond visit to the earth,as is alleged by thos€> who believe in hisascension to, and desoent from, heaven.

The word cctruthful" used in the versehints that as the followers of Jesus did not

,,,prove truthful they could not hope to benefitby divine mercy. The word really refers toM11!ilims, who were true to the teachings oftheir Prophet. They b'.}1ieved as he taughtthem to believe. and acted as he taught themto act, and were trne to their God. Theword may also refer to tbe followers of Ahmad.

the Promised Messiah, who was raised as theJ;.o or like of ,Te~us. God. as it were, says,

" We sent two Messiahs, the followers of theone drifted away from his teachings andbegan to look upon him as God. but thefollowers of the other Messiah were trne tohis teachings. So this day only the truthof the truthful shall profit them."

748. Commentary:The verse forms a. fitting sequel to a SOra in

which the errors of be Christian people a.reeffectively exposed and demolished. It also-contains a veiled declaration that as Christianawill set a very ba.d example of Ie belief" and

" action," so their glory will not last and Godwill finally transfer His II kingdom" to thosewhQ a.re more desen'illg of it.

~

-

CHAPTERAL-AN'AM

6

(Revealed before H,ijra)

Title and Date of Revelation

This Sura belongs to the Meccan period. According to most accounts, the whole of it

was revealed in one portion; and as reported by some traditionists, as many as 70,000 angels stoodguard when it was being revealed, which points to the high position it holds among the QuranicBuras and the special protection which was afforded to its subject-matter. The Sura probablyderives its title from the subject dealt with in vv. 137-139 where cattle (the word An'iimmeaning cattle) have been condemned as one of the main causes of idolatry. At anotherplace the Quran says that idolatry makes idolaters sink so low a8 to render them, as itwere, like mere cattle (25 : 45).

Subject.~atter

In this Sura there is a change in' the trea tment of the subject-matter from that ofthe previous Suras. It contains a refutation of religions other than the Israelite. It startswith the refutation of the Zoroastri~n faith, which believes in the duality of godhead-in two separate gods of good and evil. The Quran exposes this doctrine by declaring that boththe powers of doing good and evil are in reality two links of the same chain, one remainingincomplete without the other; so they cannot be said to ha Ve been creB,ted by two different gods.Light and darkness are indeed the creation of the same God and, instead of pointing to the dualityof the godhead, they really constitute a I!trong argument in favour oof its oneness and possel!l!a peculiar affinity with the creation of man and his natural powerl! and faculties.

The Bura proceeds to discuss the important I!ubject that evil is born of the wrong use ofGod-given facultiel!; and whenever men cease to make a right use of thero, God raises a Prophet toteach them their right Use. :But, instead of receiving a patient and reYerent hearing, he receive!!mockery and derision, in spite of the fact that such mockery has alwaYI! led to disastro~; results.

Further on, in the second section (Ruku'), the Sura says that delay in divine punishmentoyertaking disbelievers often makes them all the more intrepid, though this delay is alway!! due

to God's mercy and not to His inability to call them to account as and when He likes. Thenit proceeds to say that the seVere persecution to which the Prophet and Ius followers are Bubjectedcan neYer result in a weakening of their connection with God, becauBe their belief in God iebased on true realization of His attributes which they impart to other!! by means of the Signsthat God shows at their hands. In view of these Signs, how can those gifted with sightfollow those who are deprived of it 1 In the third Ruku' it is said that disbeliever!! should notworry as to whether the Prophet is true or false, because God has taken it upon Himself to

detltroya false prophet. The patent fact, however,is that whereas the faith of believersis

669

unflinching and steadfast, disbelievers never hesitate to disown their idolatrous beliefs wheneverthey are overtaken by misfortunes. The absurdity of their position is further exposed when it is

noticed that while they say to the Prophet that they cannot give up the ways and usages oftheir forefathers, they base their own rejection of the Prophets on the plea that the latter merelyimitate their forefathers, forgetting the plain logic that if idolatry is the result of following inthe footsteps of forefathers, belief in the. Oneness of God cannot be the result of similarimitation.

In the fourth RuM!" light is thrown on the subject that irreligiousness is born of lack offaith in life after death or in the possibility of the establishment of real connection with God.This dual lack of faith makes the disbeliever bold in his rejection of truth. But believers areadmonished not to be disheartened by this attitude of disbelievers, because all Prophets of Godhave been treated like that. The opposition to the Prophets on the part of disbelievers is in factbnt natural, because only those people seek God who possess some natural kinship with spiritualmatters, for the deaf in spirit cannot hear the voice of God. These people witness Sign afterSign and yet disbelieve and reject them and continue to repeat, parrot-like, that no Sign has

been shown to them. Such disbelievers are warned that now only the Sign of punishmentremains for them to witness and when that Sign comes, they will forget all their boastful rejec-tion of truth. In the fifth Ruku' it is stated that in the time of the former Prophets disbelieversadopted a similar attitude till punishment overtook them. But God is not quick in sendingpunishment. Disbelievers were granted respite in the past; similarly respite is being granted

to them now. Messengers of God are both bearers of glad tidings and warners. They first seekto bring the people to the right path by giving them glad tidings. It is only when the latterwilfully shut the door of guidance upon themselves that warning comes into operation.

The Stira further proceeds to say in the 6th Ruku' that only those who have fear of Godin their hearts can accept the truth, and the Prophet is told to address his appeal to them.For the others, it is necessary that fear of God be first created in their hearts so thatarguments and reasons may benefit them. Further, it is most essential for the progress of

Islam that special attention be paid to the spiritual training of believers, whether richor poor, because since the Prophet is mortal and must die, only the community of thebelievers remains behind to preach and propagate the divine message. In the 7th and 8th

Ruku's the Holy Prophet is asked to tell disbelievers that they are foolish to find faultwith him merely because the promised punishment does not speedily overtake them. Thesending of punishment is outside his province and lies entirely in the hand of God Who sends

it whenever He thinks fit and opportune. Moreover, the sender of the punishment should alsobe the knower of the unseen. He should know fully the future of man, because he whodoes not possess the knowledge of what the future holds in its bosom is likely to punish aperson who, being at present the enemy of truth, may be deserving of punishment today, but

may be destined to effect a true reformation in himself tomorrow. So the sending of thepunishment or the deferring thereof is God's own work. Towards the end of the Ruku' it i:s

sta.ted that when God alone knows the unseen, it is unwise not to preach the truth to a personwho may appear to be an enemy of truth, because in the unlimited knowledge of God he may,be destined to accept the truth at some future time.

670

--

In the ninth RuM' the falsity of ploytheilltic {loctrines has been exposed by means of Ilnrgument which the Plltriarch Abraham had with his people and which has been dealt with at

Bome length in this Ruku'. The next two sections d,escribe how God bestowed favours and bless-ings on Abraha.m and his descendants because they.believed in God's Oneness and strove hard

to establish it in the world. In the twelfth Ruku' we are told that the mission ~f God'sMessengers never fails. Like ram-water, it gives fertility and freshness to a soil spiritually bleakand barren. The thirteenth Ruku' deals with the supreme subject that it is impossible to attainto God and have His true realization unless He reveals Himself to men. It is therefore necessarythat divine Messengers should appear time after time, because it is through them that God revealsHimself to the world. Believers are further admonished that though the beliefs and ideals ofidolaters are false, they should have due regard for their susceptibilities when holding a discoursewith them about their beliefs and doctrines. In the 14th Ruku', however, we are told that forthe .attainment of true faith, a corresponding wholesome change of heart is a sine qua non.

Without such a change, even Signs and miracles prove of no avail. In this connection someobjections of disbelievers have been mentioned and refuted. The same subject is continued anddeveloped in the next four sections (15-18) and the attention of believers is drawn to yetmore foolish objections of disbelievers. In the 19th section a contrast is .drawn betweenIslamic teaching, which answers and satisfies the demands of reason and justice, and the doctrines~nd practices of idolaters, which are based on neither reason nor lugument. The latter aretold that, in view of this contrast, they cannot legitimately deny the necessity of divinerevelation.

In the last section we are told that the Quran has been revealed to raise and honour eventhose nations to whom no revealed Book has so far been sent so that they may not {eel low anddebased before the People of the Book. The Message of the Quran, unlike that of formerrevealed Scriptures, is for the whole of mankind and it seeks to establish a real and permanentpeace between different sections of humanity as well as between man and his Creator.

671

CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

'J"-:~~... ~~I ~..,,~. ~<1'-;. ... ~~. tU~

1. aIn the name ofGracious, the Merciful. 749

2. All praise belongs to Allah Whocreated'the heavens and the earth andbrought into being darkness and light;yet bthose who disbelieve, set up equalsto their Lord. 749A

Allah, the~ ...'

I

~\\ . '~~\, ~\ ,\..~J' ~jl,-~

1""""/ / ,/~

.

.~ I ~,. ~Jf ~.~ ~,~/",~-'w")~lj9~1 w($'~t ~ ~t

0/ ,

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~'I/.

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1~yJ.,.l ;;. ~ ~V<J ~ tJ.J~ J ~",""" ~." ~ ",

aSee 1: 1. b6: 151 ; 27 : 61.

749. Commentary:

See' under 1 : 1.

749A. ImporlantWords:

J-:, (brought into being) is sometimesused synonymously with J.l>. i.e. he created,but whereas J.l>. gives the sense of creatinga thing after measuring and designing it, J-:-signifies the making of a thing in a particularstate or condition, or constituting or appointingit for a definite purpose (Lane).

Commentary:

The practice of attributing co-partners to Godis based on two different theories. One class ofpeople hold that God has delegated His power8to certain beings. Among the people of thisclass the most prominent are the Hindus.Another class of men who ascribe co-partnersto God think that evil cannot proceed fromGod and, therefore, there must be some othersource of evil. So they seek a separate godwhom they look upon as a source of evil orof darkness. This class of people is representedby Zoroastrians, who believe in a spiritof evil or darkness called Ahriman, a deityregarded as the equal of the creator Ormuzd,the spirit of good or light. The verse refutesboth these doctrines.

By saying, All prai~e belong~ to Allah Whocreated the heaveM ani/, the earth, the Quran

~

refutes the first..mentioned class of 1neh. WhenGod has created all things and when He Himselfcan do everything and to Him belongs allpraise, what need is there for Him to entrustpart of His work to other beings ¥ Oneentrusts one's work to others when one cannotdo it single-handed or when one desires topass one's time in idleness, which is an act ofdispraise. But God, being above all this, hasno need of transferring His powers to otherbeings. These words also refute the Christiandoctrine of Trinity; for if each of the threepersons of Trinity is equally omnipotent andworthy of perfect praise, what need is there forthe other two ¥ On the contrary, if only all thethree combinedl can do the work and nonecan do it singly, God cannot be considered tobe worthy of :tll praise.

By saying, and brought into beingdarkness and light, the Quran refute!J thesecond class of men. The words, All praisebelongs to Alla:h, must be read with thispart of the verse also, thus hinting thateven "darkness," i.e., things which aregenerally looked upon as evil, such as death,disease, misery and afHiction, are also thingsfor which praisel is due to God. In fact, everykind of "darkness" has its uses. Directly orindirectly it is meant for the good of man andfor his general advancement. Now when evenapparently evil things are meant for the

672

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CB. 6

3.' ciRe it is Who created you fromclay, and then He decreed a term.And -there is banother term fixed withHim., Yet you doubt !750

~ "'b~;; -;:!~...~t..?" !~.1~ '~('.J . ;i>J~~~cSfJJyb9 '"

"""9,(."~ .".,,,, ,~ (..., -?""..ec>-,...~~,~ ZS~ ~

4. And cHe is Allah, th,

e God, both .,'~ . 'l~.b. ",i1:. ~ ,...~~~.\\J ~I-:'l '"in the heavens and in the earth. He ~>-::~.~.J.;; ~-'9 ,.,..:r-~

knows your inside and your outside. ,.,~~..~r'" ~""0"'" .-

And He knows what you earn.751 0~." \..0 ..,,~k-,

b71 : 5.a15 : 27 ; 23: 13; 32: 8; 37: 12 ; 38: 72. c:13:85.

ultimate good of man, the natural conclusionwould be that half of the things meant for ,thegood of men are created by one god and theother half byan.other, which is simply absurd.

As for the good underlying appan'ntly evilthing!!, it may be hinted tbat the difficultiesand troubles which beset man serve as a meansof turning him to virtue, and of his attainingdivine favours and bounties. ']'ake death forinstance. If a man should not di.e but shouldremain alive Jor ever, he could not achieve theblessings of Heaven, which embody the n:t,ostperfect favours of God. On the other band,these favours cannot be giyen to man in thislift' ; for, if they were given to him here, theywould become apparent to all; in that casethere would remain no veil and no secrecy andconsequently there would remain DO merit infaith. A perRon deserves credit for his faithonly when there is some secrecy about thething in which he is called upon to believe.

750. Commentary:The creation of man rcf<.>rredto in the words~

Who created yov, is meant as an illustration ofthe light mentioned in the previous verse, whilethe decreeing cf a term, i.c., the ordainingof death, is meant as an illustration of"darknesl)." 1'he verse ascribes both theseacts ,to God, as acts of mercy, thus refutingthose who believe in two separate gods, oneof evil and the other of good.

The word!!. there is another t6rm Fd with

673

Him. refer to the Day of Judgement or ofResurrection when men, after passing throughthe gate of death, will recehTetheh rewardsfrom their I.ord. '

751. Commcn1ary:The words, both in the heavens and in the earl/i,

do not mean that God's person pervades theheavens and the eluth. What is meant is thatthe knowledge and power of God compreht'ndthe entire universe. The Quranitself explainsthis by the words that follow i.e., He knowsyour ins£deand your out.~ide.

The latter part of the verse points out thata being cannot be looked upon as perfect ifhis knowledge or power is defective. But.such is not the case with God. Both Hisknowledge and power are perfect. Thisis what is hinted in the words, lie know.~ 1J.lhatyou earn, which convey a twofold i,dea; (i)that God is ..;\.ll-Knowing, and (2) that He wiJJrequite men according to their deeds which.ill other words, mClms that He is AlI.Powerful.Hence, as both the knowledge and power ofGod are perfect, it; follows that 110d is perfect,knowing everything and possessing the powerof doing everything. So He does Dot standin need of entrusting any part of His workto other beings :md taking them as Hishelpers or co-partnerE'.

Again, the above.jlluoted words also show thatit is God Who punishes evil. Now, when thepunishment of evil is from God, it is foolish to

CH.6 AL-AN' AM PT. '1

5. And athere comes not to them r~?"\~r~.:" '" ..II,. ~\ ., lit ., ':r~ r...'"any Sign of the Signs of their Lord, ~!.9~;Jl\'~;) ~.I~~.. ~~)J \A.J

but the y turn awa y from it.752"". ."

@~~""

.~. So bthey rejected the truth when., "..f" ~ ,,"~:"", "-.

r,,f~( ::""r "''-;1' ,,,,:".It came to them; but soon shall come ~)~ u~ ~,~ \,;iJ~~ ~~ ~to them the tidings of that at which'"

... "they mocked.753 r.j\ :''' ~~.:J 4J I,~r~r" \~';'l.'"

\2/ C).J ~;; .. I;.:;r tU..o ~ r

7. See they not how many a gene-ration We have destroyed before them?eWe had establjshed them in the earthas We have established you not, anddWe sent the clouds over them, pouringdown abundant rain; and We ,causedstreams to flow beneath them; thendid We destroy them because of theirsins' and raised up after them anothergeneration.764

,;0;,

~~)~~~~§~;:;J'.

~' ,"" :("::;'1\ (;_L:,n)J~ ~

JJ:J '\ f", . ,,,, .,," >'CW ~I..J . ."J>I\.:.0~.J ~\, I)

". ,,~

~' '",

''''f-:'' ,"., ,,/ 1 "/' (",~"'l.Ph.l-". I";~~ IS.".

'II'..

r""~

'"p" " ~~..;J . ':.JJ).~

0-:' ~.'rt'~., '/(., t~k~N, ,~J.d~ Iu>, ~~ ~ vI.;J!.J~'yw,,,,,( ;.

a21 : 3; 26: 6; :!6: H.~~--- ~-' ~_.__.._--_.. ~- ~ +~

~_._-

b26 : 7. C46 :27. dll:5:);71:12.

thi.n.k tbat the god of evil must be some otherbeing.

752. Comn\entary:

An in!portant evidence of the knowledge andpower of God are the prophecies which Hereveals to His Messengers and the aid andhelp wbich He vouchsafes them against over-whelming odrls. These are called Signs l:ere.Thus, in order to prove the perfect knowledgeand power of God, the verse refers to thepowerful SignR which God was showing to de-lhonstrate the truth of the Holy Prophet andthe wonderful way in which He was helping him.

753. "Important Words:_1;;1(tidings) is the plural of \; which means,

DewRor tidings. The word is generaUy nsed inthe Qnran about important news relating toSOlDegreat event (Aqrab & Kulliyat).

Commentary:

The words, .1thall come, imply that theimrx>rtant "tidings" referred to in the versc

were ordained to come to the .Meccans fromouts~de. The words, which were revealed atl\fec~a, thus contain a veiled prophecy tothe etIect that the Holy Prophet will haveto flee from Mecca and that, after his flight,the Meccans will go out and fight hi.m butthat they will be routed, and the news of tllcgreat success of the Holy Prophet or, to quotethe expression of the Quran, the tiding$ oj thatat ~I)hich tltey 'rlocked, will reach the Meccansfrom outside. This prophecy was fulfilled ina wonderful way at the famous Battle of Boor,thus showing that God possesses hoth perfectknowledge and perfect power.

754. Important Words:

~v-i (gcueratioll). The verb form of the word,i.e., ~v-i (qarant~)means, he connected or linkedor coupled or joineo. ~~ means, one's equalin a.ge, i.e., connected with the saDle age; ageneration of men succeeding or precedinganother generation, as if both were conjoined ;l)eople of one time; peol)Ie of a time among

674

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

8. And if We Jlad sent down to theea writing upon parchment and theyhad felt it with their hands, even thenthe disbelievers would have surelysaid, 'This is nothing but manifestsorcery.'755

9. And they say, a'Why has not anangel been sent down to him l' Andif We had sent down an angel, thematter would have been settled, andthen they would not have beengranted a respite.756

-------

,"''' r~' /. '" "';,

'"~~~ ~',;\~U"!l!:;"'"~ ~ ~~. ~t"\'"..~..;.~ ~ ~ ~ ." - 'f~ .J

0 ?' 'c 1~ ~, f I : t'i"'.91t'~~;r, J""f(.~~ ,J-;'.;J,,~ o,,>~ ~"!) w

~,.,

r~~; 't,;'t'; ",' Lri."" "",,, ,,~'" .1ro::;"... &'8", ~I, ~d J'O\.)r,,'I~"f~., -.. 'JI ~!.)' .J... ~ .....

;' ,'~:~..:i "':.

9,,,,G)~-,~.~..-OJ .>O~t

a2 : 211 ; 25: 8.~ ~-~ ~-

whom there appears a Prophet. CJ.j means

an associate, comrade or companion (I.ane &Aqrab).

Commentary :

'fhe vers{' predicts that the enemies of the Holy}}rophet shaH be destroyed like the enemiesof the former Prophets. Even within theconfines of Arabia there had been people whowere visited with divine punishment in con-:<equence of their opposition to their respe(,tiveProphets who appeared in by-gone times.Among them were the tribes, Tubbac, 'Ad,Thamtid and others whose stories werecurrent among tbe Arabs.

The words, as We have establislted you not, douot mean that the world is retrogressing. '£befact is that although the world is progressingas a whol{', yet some of the older nationswhich rose to the heights of civilization illtheir time were so advanced in certainbr;i.nc}'es of art and science that in thesespecific branches they have so far not beenl'qualled by the generations that followed.'11ake, for instance, the ancient F gyptians.The modern age, in spite of the marvels it haswrought in the domain of science, still gazeswith wonder at some of t}Je works of ancientEgyptian civi1ization. Similarly, there w{'rcpeople among the Arabs who ct\rved wonderful

fortre:;~es Ollt of rocks. Thus every pC°1'i(;that ever attained to the heights of civili~atiOl.J,enjoyed a certain, distinction which is notshared by other nlttions. By using tnisexpression, the Quran. means to say: Whenthese powerful people were destroyed in spiteof their .mastery of .certain branches ofknowledge, how can your arts save you fromdestruction?

755. Important Words:\yu..j (parchmen.t) means, paper; a roll

or scroll of paper; anything one writes upon;a writing or hook;; a butt or target (Lane).

Commentary:The words, and thE~y!,ail feZt it 'with t!leir kandB,

mean, " and they had n~ade sure that it was aheavenly thing aud not an eal:thIy ODe." Thewords also embody a beautiful allusion to thespiritual blindness of the people. B",iDg blind,they cannot see; !~Othey have to feel withtheir hands.

The verse aignifies tl}at when a man giveshims('lf up to doubting, nothing, however clearand manifest, can convince him.

756. Commentary:The queation, Whl1 has not an anger.been &,3nt

doum to him, implies a desire on ihepart of the

67S

CR. 6 At-AN'AM PT. 1

10. And if We had appointed asMessenger an angel, We would havemade him appear as a man; and thusWe would have made confused tothem th'l t which they are themselvesmaking confused.'i57

II. And surely aha ve the Messengersbeen mocked at before thee, but thatwhich they mocked at encompassedthose of them who scoffed.758

R. 2 12. Say, b'Go about in the earth, andsee what was the end of thoee whotreated the Prophets as liars.'759

"--'

;o~ ~~~J'-:.~,;' ,I'N{, ~l: "" "-" ""~.. . . -'~..>~ ~;J-,,. ~ ;~~"G U(0<.:) . ..

"

", ',~~<.~ ~ '

.,J1.' ~.'!." h,W

..-~YJ ;.~ ,,' ~ ~ ~(>.r" -'

f:."':.j~".f,l \"1.r9r;..,,~ , "." kQD~J?r-:.;'t ~o \A~~~ ~, ,4

';,f"

~

~ ':'..~",~,.."!. .'''' .

", 'I

'l.;.~' ~ I I .., ..M"\\<.3 \ \:.:., <;> ..!.'~ .J>J UJ);;

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".. ~'fr\~. \\!!.J ..~"

''--' -

' "'-'-'.'--~----a21 : J2. b3 : 138; 22: 17 ; 27 : 70"-- ~-------------_,_,--'--'~-~-~'-' "_.

~ ..-------

disbelievers to be visit£'d by an angel whomthey might see and he thus convinced of thedivine mission of the Prophet. The Quranexposes their folly by replying that althoughthe angels of God do come to tbe Prophet, yetwhen they visit disbelievers and are seen bythem, t,lwy invariably come with divinepunishment. Such angels appeareti at theBattle of Badr, when, to quote the expressionof the Quran, the matter was decided (2: 211).See also the succeeding VE.'rse.

757. Commettlary:

Another possiblt form of the appemanee ofan angel is tha.t he be sent to tILis worldItS a Messenger. But this could not improve

thiu"s; for in that case, to make his missionto mankind worth anything, he shouldappea.r in the form of a man; hut if he were toappear to them in tDe form of a man, then thepeople would entertain the same doubts abouthis ]Jeavcn]y mission as thpy were now doir\gabout that of the Holy l'rophet.

been mocked a' before thee, imply a hin,t thatthe demand of disbelievers regarding the com-ing of an angel i,S:really nothing but a mockery.'I'he verse also contain.s a prophecy about thedestruction of the enemies of the Holy Prophet.The en.euries of the former Prophets laughedthem to scorn. an,d, were consequently pUJ1ishedby God, the very object of their mockerybecoming the mea.ns of their destruction. TheeneInies of the Holy Prophet were also scoOingat him an.d so they too would m.eet with theS3-me fate which befell their predecessors.

759. Commentary:

When the disbdievers were told, in reply totheir dem.and for the com~ng of an angpl,thatdisbelievers saw angels only whPI\ they camewith pnnishmen1~ from God, the disbelieversarrogantly sai(l, " Let thE.'fficome with it then."'fhe verse tells them that such foolhardydema.nds were made by their predecessors also;

758. Commentary: so lE.'tthem go ahout in the land and see wha.i

rl'he wurds, .Arullt 81J'rely have tlw Messengers was the end of such people.

676

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

'I~""~'.,,( .,,,,, .'~

~\.:J~t~,. .))\" c.:J~~~",;~~:~, to::

. h'~~"> .>" ~ ~~

"".. ., 'f/ ~ """

.,,,C "I~)\~ JI" -:,,'" I.'a~\\ ~)..,;1;1'.." \"'~.", ." ~ ~ .,

" " "'v"'/' 'J"',!'''-';, """.,,, Jo.,

0~~~.6~~\h~~\~

13. Say,' To whom belongs what isin the heavens and the earth l' Say,'To Allah.' aHe has taken upon Himselfto show mercy. bHe will certainly con-tinue to assemble you till the Day ofResurrection. There is no doubt init. Those who ruin their souls willnot believe.760

14. To Him belongs whatever dwells ~~r.it~~1"9" ~r".f,( (;'i\. ~~ r" (

.""in the night and the day. And He is \!!Jr: (?;- ~.JJ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ \..0 qJ"

the All-Hearing, the All-Knowing.761

a6:55; 7: 157.~._--_._--

760. Important Words:

~ 1 1)",.>- (who ruin their souls).I) ~ is derived from ",.>- which means, helost; he suffered 3. lOBs; he went astray; hebecame lost; he perished (Lane). From theabove it is clear that the word . ~is reallyintransitive. The transitive use of the wordin the verse is merely apparent. In fact whenthe Quran says ~ II),... it docs not mea.n,they m:tde their souls suffer, but, that theysuffered with rega.rd to themselves, i.e., theythemsdves suffered. The correct transitiveform of the word is r> (khasara), i.e., hecau3ed to perish, and not ~ (khasira).,i.e.,he suffered or he was lost, which the Quranha.s used. 'I'his peculiar use of the word isintended to inten.sify the meaning. Thus thewords ~ I I) ~ tJ}11 would really read!"f-iill) r> J IJr> tJ}II,i.e.,thosewhosuffereda loss and caused their souls to perish. For tIlesake of cOfi\'~nience, however, the expressionhas b~en rend~red in the text as. those who,"it& their 80ul8. For a somewhat similarexpression, i.e., ~ ~ see Lisan where thatexpression ha.s been fully dealt with.

Commentary:

Here God first puts a question, and thenHimself answers it. Thi3 form has also beehemplQyed elsewhere in the Quran. It iRmeant

6'17

b3:IO; 4:88; .15:2'7.---'-.-.----

to bring out the disbelievers' extreme weD.knessof faith and make them rea1izl\it.

All that is ~n tht' heavens and the earth belongsto Allah; so the enemies of Faith also belongto God. No one wonld like to destroy thatwhich belongs to him, much less would Godlike to do so, for He is Merciful and hasmade mercy binding on Himself. So He isgiving the enemies of the Holy Prophet timeto repent. He is putting off punishment sothat they may turn to Him aud repent oftheir sins. Hence, instead of demandingpunishment, let them ask forgiveness andbenefit by His mercy.

It should be noted that disbelief &lone doesnot bring punishment upon men in this life.So fa.r as sim.ple disbelief is concerned, the caseof the believers a.nd the disbelievers will bedecided on the Day of Judgement when an willbe assembled together and God's judgementwill be pronounced. It is only the ex~remewickedn 'os of men. and their active oppositionto the Prophets of God that hastens punishmentfor them in this life. So the verse exhortsdisbelievers not to demand puu\shm('ut but~ather to repent, so that God may have mercyon them.

761. Commentary:

Not only have darknp.88 and light been m_de

CR. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

15. Say, 'Shall I take any pro-tector other than Allah, athe Maker ofthe heavens and the earth, bWho feedsand is not fed l' Say, c'I have beeneommanded to he tJ{e first of thosewho submit'. And be thou not ofthose who associate partners withGod.762

16. Say, 'Of a truth, dI fear, if I ~ '''',-:'''j' !.",;';" ~r.-::';': ,~disobey my I,ord, the punishment of ""f;~t~~ :1'~ C)l"",~\ U! Jian awful day.'763

,i'

."', II"'. U~ r~,' 9. "';",

"',"'" "t.t'~~\~9~\~\i~, ~, ;&\#' J'")~ ,,"' , ,--'II" ." I

~y'c>\~~I~:HJ;% ~;~~.J~"'~r'

.' ~

:..'j \ ' h',,~ '~"1'''''''''n,

~~~.. ~a~~.J~'~Jj\

--.C6 : 164; 39: 13.a12 : 102; 14: 11; 35: 2; 39: 47. b20: 133; 51: 58-[,9.

dlO: ]6; 39: 14.

by God (6: 2), but, as the present verse puts

it. all that dwells in. tllem also helongs to HiJn.'fhis shows that both darkness and light havebeen made with a purpose. Now when God isthe Master of all that dw'ells in darkn.esf\ andlight, how could He ent.rust His own possessior~to other beings t

As pointed out under 6: 2 above, ev('n dark-ness and aftlictions. have their advantages. Godinvolves lien in darkness and sends downafRictiOJ~s so tbat their character may beperfected and they may pray to God and Helnu.y hear them, for He is All-Hearing. Andif there is nO time for men to pray or they donot know or do not realize the danger andconsequently do not pray, even then God isAll-Knowing and may come to thei;r helpwithout their praying for it.

762. Important Words:

)-tt (Maker) is derived from ~. Theysay.;'; ,i.e.. he clove or split or rent it; hecreated it or brought it into existence; or heoriginated it. ~')J means, he ma.de thedough into bread without If>svening it. )J Imeans, he broke the fast. ).Ail and,)aAmean, it. became cleft, or split or rent. . ~ Imeans, the natural conatitution with whioh achild i8 created. ;'~when used about

God, means the. Originator or the Creator orthe Maker (Taj).

Commentary:

The question in the first part of the verseimplies that. as God alone is the Maker of theheavens and the earth and a.<;it is He aloneWho feeds all without being fed by anybody,therefore there is none worthy of being takenas protector bU'~He. None else is worthy ofbeing worshipped as God.

'rhe words, WhoJeeds, refutal' the godhea.d ofthose lifeless objects which men have takenfor gods. They a.dmittedly feed none, butGod feeds all; hence these objects are notworthy of he~ng taken as gods.

.

The words. is no' fed, negative tI,e godheadof those living beings who have beel\ d.eifiedby men. They stand in need of food, but God.needs no food; hence they cannot be go~.

763. Commentary:

This verse is a.n expression of the supremeindependence of God. 1'he Holy Prophet ismade to say, " 0 men,it is indeed strange thatyou should not fear the punishment of Godwhile I, who am a Prophet of God, fear Hispunishment if I disobey Him." This is anemphatic way of exhottiDg men to avoid

W~

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

17. He from whom it is averted onthat day, GOd indeed has had mercyon him. And that indeed is a manifesttriumplI. 764

18. And aif Allah touch thee withaffliction, there is none that can removeit but He; and if He touch thee withhappiness, then He has power to doaU that He wills.766

19. And bHe is Supreme over Hisservants; and He is the Wise, theAll-Aware. 766

-!f.i, ~It'. ",Jo~~' '-::<. \ "'./ j~". Z""'.'"

J~ ~,).J ;.>I..W~~-~u~c.:ro

@Mt-':0-, ~ ;-0:

"', ",

J.~~" t ~ ~~'~ ":r:.--,. ~,~ .~.~ ~!~;- ..;J

" ". ~-;.. -

'W{~~ ~~~ ~,I~-:~~_-:

.~\:.~.~ ~~;e;""-~

~ ~ f.,F' .:n;r, ~ ii' ..

, .".~,

J'j. f., ""'" r::~ ,d"GY~~-.j\" " ( "~.)~.. '~\iJ\~-,

~ .." ~J I" .,,~~ ,

GIG; 108. b6; 62.

disobedience of GOll. The expression does not,imply that the Holy Prophet islik~Jyto disobeyGed or even that it is possible for him to do so.'It issimply meant to conv~ncedisbelievers thatGod is a.bove a.Il and none call dare disobeyHim with impunity.

764. ,Gommentary:The word ~I~ (that) may either refer to

the" averting of punishment" or to "mercy",for both" meroy" anf! the" averting ofp\mishment" are ID.anifesttriumphs.

765. Commentary:It is his own aotions tha.t are the cause of aU

harm tha.t befalls a man. The words, if JUahtouch,,!Ieewith aj/U,ctilm.therefore do not meanthat God "is the ca.use of affliction. TIley aremeant to convey the idea that God being thefirst cause of all things, everything that happensin the universe is in a way attributable toHim. l'he expression is also intended to hintthat it is God alone Who can remove mltn'safflictions.

H8ppinctIS indeed comeI' from God, Whois the real source of an good. 1'his is why,when speaking of happiness coming"to man,the <luran uses tbe expression, lIe has power to

do all that lJ e wiUs.

766. Important Words:

~Ii (Supreme) i" derived from ~. 'l'heysay .~, .:.e., he overcame, conquered orsubjected him; or he became superior in poweror force to him. It also means, he oppressedhim; or he forced or compelled him. So ~Iimeans, Ol!e who overcomes, cOI,quers orsubdues. ~ iiiI and J ItAII are attributes ofGod, meaning, the Subduer of Hia creaturesby His sovereign Iluthority and power, andthe Disposer of themal! He pleases (Lane).

Commentarl;

'I'be attribute ~,!All (Supreme) docs rotimply any injustice 011the part of God. Allthings being His servants, He does notsubdue anything which does not belong toH~m and is not His creation. This refutesthose who allege that matter and soul are co.existent with God fmd are not His creation.If they were not th{~creation of God, He hadno right to subdue or rule over them. Hence,those who allege that matter and soul are notthe creation of God, attribute to Him an actof injustice; for in that case we would hlloveto assume that God has subdued such thingsas are not Ilia creation. .

679

CH. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

., "/~,,~~,

~' It"~,,,~ J.."~~ ", i~. ~ ~t ""2S)

..fl\ ~ .. .. ,~~. ..-' . -, . ($i' fS

~"..,' , ,.~,., .-: I j"''' , '" ."...~ -~~ .,

v.:.'-", \, :\ n \.a. II .~, ". "\;. ~ / ~~ ~ ~ ,.~-' -' J

~ ,'''''' ..,,'",; ., ,,,. .,,;'"1(",-""~(. ".,'~I;tL\ ~ a\\:»~ ~'Dc. ~;,,~

'"fi' , ;... ." ~ j".''''~ ." 10 ."..

~\ 1M ~t\ ~At.lt'j\ \': ~,,, ~'.\'¥; I~~\ .\,

'" -' 'V"'.:J- '"I..)W~ ~ ..y:.

~ "..,f- ~!.. ~ tr " ,.~,\!:i~~? -,""~ ~...

20. Say,,What thing is most

weighty as a witness.' Say, a'Allah isa witness between me and you. Andthis Quran has been revealed to meso that with it I may warn youand whomsoever it reaches. What!do you really bear witness that thereare .other gods beside Allah l' Say,'I bear not witness thereto.' Say,' Heis the One God, and certainly I am farremoved from that which you associatewith Him.'767

2L bThose to whom 'We gave the -:.,! ,,,f"'-',... r.~~'!

,"~, .9 ,t'::' ""

~;...

Book recognize him as they recognize<:>~~.~Q,.j~~. . ,,~\ ~~,

their s~ns. But ~hose who ruin their t",! l',./-: ,?"'."t ";'! --: ,;" ~'t"~.9j(~.;

souls wIll not beheve.'768 @~~~)'f'\'~I1.t~q~\~J.~\I

l

62: 147.4.1: 167 ; 13: 44 ; 29: 53.

767, Commentary:

God Himself a.nswers the question which Hehas put in the beginning of the verse; forthedisbelievers d.id not know hoW'to answer. Theycould not thinktbat God also could hear witnes~.The answer has been given by God in order t.oinstruct and teach believers.

Now the question is, how does God bearwitness! This verse and the next two mentionthree ways by which God bears witness to thetruth of the Holy Prophet. The first is bymean.s of thl} (~uran. This Quran has beenrevealed to me, the verse calls upon the HolyProphet to say, 80 t.~at with it 1 may warn youand whomsoever it reaches. These words signi.fythat whosoever opposes the Quran an.d ob!ltructsit will be visited by divine punishment. Thispunishment will constitute God's testimonyto the truth of the Holy Prophet. The secondand the thjrd ways by which God bears witnessare mentioned in the ver.;;es that follow.

768. Commentary:

This verse describes tbe second way by which

God bears testimony to the truth of the HolyProphet, i.e., through the previous Scriptures.The previous 1300ks contain prophecies whichclearly apply to lihe Holy Prophet a.nd definitelypoint him out as the Promised One, and it isby mean3 of these prop1ecies that God bearswitness to the truth of tIle Holy Prophet. Itm.ay be asked, if the People of the Bookrecognize the Holy Propbet as having come infulfilment of t.he prophecies contained intheir Scripture8, why do they not accepthim? 1'bis qut'stiort the Quran answers ill thewords, But those who ruin their souls will notbelieve, meaning that the People of the Bookwill not believe because their sonls arc lostand they have no sen.se of honesty and faithleft in them.

The words, Those to whom We gave theBook recognize kim as they recognize theirsons, are basecl on a very deep spiritualtntth. A Prophet, or for tbat matter anyobject of'faith, is not recognized in the beginningtas one recognizes the SUll 01' the moon. He isrecognized only as a father recognizes his 8on-with great prohability but not with dead

680

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CR. 6

&. 3 22. And awho is more unjust than hewho forges a lie against Allah or givesthe lie to His' Signs 1 Surely theunjust shall not prosper.769

23. And bthink of the day when Weshall gather them all together; thenshall We say to those who associatedpartners with God, 'Where are thepartners you spoke of, those whom yonused to assert 1'770

24. Then the end of their mischiefwill be naught save that they shallsay,

,By Allah, our Lord, we were not

idolaters.'771

,. ': 1-"...r~..7' 1~ I~.," 'I'~'"

.,,.,,uJ..> ';1 J~ 4L\IJ"~y..;,~~I ~". ." ", -"

I .,.,,.,. 1> 'r2 -:~' ':', ~ 1\1 ~\ ~.(.@I.:)

'".. .:J J'",,, .... ~...

;;;'(,.1" ". ~ J',!.~

-:: ~(t: ~ ...9'~.''": , '"

''y;-w'~~ ~~ ,~~~~.-,...

" .." ;':: ,!. ?1-',' :'wI

9t'~ ':. ,.'"@~~ y ~ c.r.~ ~ -'~..>-M' ~J

, j /~ 0''''' ~ " ~

r" r",.." .. I"" I~\"f:::.,

1;"

1

"/ w'..', ~~ "

.

'~\...0 '!.J;U-' :Y'"I.:) ;J",.-0e~' ~ --

1.iM.

" '.t"~-'r~~

&~~ I..;.)..~~

/16: 94; 7 : ::38; 10: Is; 11 :'19; 61 : 8. blO : 29.

certainty. Faith must always begin in theregion of the unseen.

769. Commentary:

Th~s verse mentions the third wn.y by meansof which God bears witness. ~r}tigkind oftestimony is based on human reason. Everysane man will testify that if a person claimsto speak in the name of God while God has notspoken to him, and he forges lies again.c;t Him,such a person is one of the grea.test culpritsand God must bring him to naught; for ifimpostors are allowed to prosper like trueProphets, there will remain no criterion todistinguish the true from the false, and the truthwill be lost. 80, in order to distinguish betweenthe true and the false, God must bring tonaught the false claimant. 1'hus the hardfact that C'n>dis helping the Prophet of Ic;lamand causing him to prosper in the teeth of allopposition and against heavy odds is 11cleartestimony from God to I,is bcing a trueProphet.

On the other ha.nd, those who reject trueProphets all.d treat them as impostors arealso among the greatest culprits who, hy reltson

of their opposing God's Messengers and leavingno stone unturned to bring to naught themovement set on foot by them, must incurGod's anger; and, instead of being permittedto destroy the heayenly movement, mustthemselves be destroyed. Thus, not onlyby granting suce:ess to the Holy Prophet hutalso by bringing about the destruction of hisenemies God is bearing witness to his truth.

770. Commentary:

The verb i.J.,..oj- (you used to assert) hasalways been used in the Quran with regard tofalsehood. It sig.nifies an assertion of whichone is not sure" ThuR i.J.,..o'/ r'

(youused to assert) would mean, ":rou assertedwit.h your tOllgues, while you had doubts inyour minda."

771. Commentary:

The verse means that on the Day ofJ udgementaU the mischief which dishliavers worked intheir life on earth will f"nd and nothing will beleft to them save to deny their having 6verattributed partners to God. Tbis denial willreally be a. confession oftheir helplessness anda form of petitioIi. ,for divine mercy.

681

CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

25. See how they lie againstthemselves. And athat which theyfabricated has' failed them.772

..

26. And among them are some bwhogive ear to thee; but eWe have putveils on their heartf!, that they shouldnot understand, and deafness in theirears. And even if they see every Sign,they would not believe therein, somuch so that when they come to thee,disputing with thee, those who dis-believe say,

,This is nothing but fables

of the ancients.'773

2'1. And they forbid others [0 believeit and themselves too they keep awayfrom it. And they ruin none but theirown selves; only"they perceive not.774

~ ~-- ---- ---~--------

blO : 4:1; 17 : 48.U7 : 54; 11 : 22.

\~(jt(1'~"":T1." ,~~""i\~ ~'-1r~;.h'~~~~UoQ.J~I~\ v.,)1" ~~:,

\ .. ,,!i... ~t

,;I"""''''''@C)-'~

., - ~"'~' ~~~~ , ' "".,":. .,-:, .".. ....:.",\Jr" . 5~ ~ H.1:! .~ ., -' -~... ..v-~.J, ..'

~.; It&., ,.,""'-. ,~, ,. '''~.-.::t::,"- '," (M ., .,.\

:,,,,, ...w \,~j!J~ \:>,,-,~.J~) ~-'21'~ c> .), .

'" "'~ "'" - "'(

"!)

'",.

I ~,:I~, ~d"b.'I(\ ~"'ltr~'1 ! ~ ~7:Gt Il'~~.M ~;. )",L::ii!::"iJ ~~ ~.. \.P

"'.. N", V"""'{.~' ,"""'-:f' ~;1 J~""crY~J~\~~\~)~~l ~~ ~~1 ~.

...~..!!'., -c..",. "''''', 1 ,,,,,, ~~'"CJ~c:)1~-~C)~-' ~C).m~-'

, , ,'.'" r'"

,. .,,,,. -!~"'--?"(r9CJ,~ \,.o.J~e.,.a)\~~

~ ~.-

CI7:47'; 41 :6.~ -~_.

--,"---,'---' '-'--"---"--'- -----------------

772. Commentary:Thfl words, they lie agatnst themselves, mean

that by denying that they ascribed co-partnersto God they will utter a lie which will provetheir guilt. By mal,ing t,his sta.tement they wiU,in other words, admit that a':\cribing co-partnersto God is an evil deed. Thus their very denialwill be a confession of their guilt.

The word'!, see how, express astonishment atthe way in whieh they, while trying to denythE" clJarg(', wiH be led into a con.fession ofgl1iIt.

Quran are not meant as " tales" or " stories"but aG "Signs,'" being prophecies of futureev(,nts which, wh(,11 fulfilled, will serve as

" Signs."

774. Commentary:

'fhe order in which the words have been putin this verse is worth notilJg. Disbelievers'forbidding others to listen to the Quran or tothe words of the Hol y Propbet implied 1hat t lIeytoo wcrl' keeping away from the Holy Prophetand the Quran. In spite of tJlis, their ownkeeping away has beenexpre9sly amI separatelymentioned ill the verse in order to show that

773. Commentary:they werl} afraid of beil!g influenced by

For an explanation of Hveils" and" dMfucss" the words of the Quran or t,be discourses ofsce 2: 8. the Hol.v Prophet. So great was their fearWhat tIle Qura.n calls U Signs" are described that they not onlY'forba.de others to go near the

by dil!QeHevers as mere "fables of the ancien.ts," Holy.Prophet but thewelves took special carewbfch saying of theirs is condemned by Hod. to remain alooffrom him, lest his words should'fhis shows that in the sight of God the stn1@s ca.ptivate their h~arts. 'rhis shows that theyof past Prophets ~I\d past na.tions given in the were aware of tbe grea.t inlluence which the

~2

PT. 7 AL-AN<AM CH.6

28. And if. thou couldst only seeawhen they are made to stand before theFire! bThey will say, 'Oh, would thatwe might be sent back! And then wewould not treat the Signs of our J.Jordas lies and we would be of thebelievers. '775

29. Nay, that which they used to 'J":t"J"" '9 """, ~r~f;" 'tj" "", i~conceal before has now become clear bb;'J ~ ~ ~~ ~~ \..O.".O.eJ \~ U-!to them. And if they were sent back, ,,,,,,

~'r""they would surely return to that wllich 6Gjo:st;~'\'\J ~~ ~ t,JbJthey are forbidden. And they are ,,,,'" ."

certainly liars. 776

"t.'" t'~,W'-r~~ r'.

~"-".,-," 1'''JI'''.I-. ..., I' \A,; \.tJ1 I~fti 'I ,.to'"

,-',}~.." y . "J~~-".J

", ,-''' " ~ r~.. r

""':11. '"~~~-. 'I.-:~ ..

., ". '" ~1 ~\,t wJJ;:j ,\1\!j' ..,,,,,., U'i:c.::J ~;, ;..~ .-, ...;

a4.6 : 35. bZ: 168; 23: 100-101 ; 26:] 03 ;

Qllran and the discourses of the Holy Prophetexercised on the minds of llearers. No wonderthat tIle disbelievers lookerl upon the Quran a~a U manifest magic" (34: 44.)

775. Important Words:1.,Ai.J (made to stand) iR derived from ...:M.J

which is both transitive aud intransitive,meaning, he or it paused or stood still or becamestutionary; or he made him or .it pause or standstill or becom(' stationary. ~...:M.J means,hp. comprehended or understood it. <CAi.l

4:i';J. means, I made him know or made bimacquainted with his o:fi"enceor I"in. ,)IJ/I...:M.J

means, he dedicated the nouse jrl the cause ofAllah; or he set it apart jnaliel~abJy for adefinite purpose. ~ :uJ (in the passivevoice) means, he was made to pause or standat or before it ; he was introduced into it andkne.w what was in jt; he was made to know itRurE'Iyand dE'finit.cly fl'iij).

Commentary:

l'he words ,)Ulj- 1.,Ai.J.)1 (WhI}D tbeyare made to sta.nd before the Fire) may alsomean, " when tile)' will bE' made to enter Ole

,39 : 59.

Fire to abide therein for long, or when tlteywill be made to know or realize the natureof the Fire."

776. Commentary:The words, has now become clerlf tQtkem, signify

that evrn the cnemies of God's Prophets havein t,heir minds a. c~Ttain consciollsltess of thet,ruth of the divine Messengers; but owing totheir bigotry, they try to suppress buch thoughtsand do uot make them known to anyone. Onthe Day of .Judgement, however, these latentthoughts which they tried to conceal wouldbecome appa.rent, and the truthfulness of tbeProphets, of which they }.ad dim consciousness,wfluld become manifest.

The word "liars" at 'the rnd of the verseimplies that, althougl. disbelievers would desire.to be sent back to this wodd so that they mightbelieve .in the Prophets and not reject them,yet if they were act,ually sent back to it, andthe same circumstances in which they Jivedbefore were createrl a,gain, even then they wouldagain act as they had acted before, rej~ctiDgthe Prophets as they had rejeoted them beforr.

683

ClI.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

30. And they say, a'There is nothing W':L~".:.'*1~ ,~. r/'r~."'i~!rn " "~~rt....except this our present life, and we ~~~"J~JJh':~~~1[tC)~~\i-,shall not be raised again.'777

31. And if thoucouldstonly see when J.~r \~t ~~I""'J""'r~.h It~ , '!'" ! ,

i't;....they are made to stand before their ~~~~ \:j~)~ ~J ),.1$.; ~JLord! bHe will say,

,Is not this second, ,9 ~;" ;..1.

" 9.life the truth ~' They will say, 'Yea, ~~ ~\~\ ti.'~ J~~(;z),~~~.by our Lord.' He will say, 'Then ,. . :..taste the punishment because you dis- J.. ,.,~ ;.believed.'778 \uc>., ~

R.4 32. cThose indeed are the losers whodeny the meeting with Allah, so muchso, that when the Hour shall come onthem unawares, they will say, d'O ourgrief for our neglecting this Hour!' Andthey shall bear their burdens on theirbacks. Surely, evil is that which theybear.779

,~ 'i'I"""

,,, ....., 1..~~ I~\ ::; ~..\~Ci1 t ' ~-:' ''-:''\ ~ ~~

~ . ),~~? ~ q~ ~v.;

~C6;;,(:J;~ ~ ~ c:s; '~ ~~ ~~~ ~(:J,

r/ t~\ 1.:dI "~\1 I~ "9""\~'i'-:'~;£.,-, ,.

~}o ;J ~}...~~~)~J d "..~J

""....

@c.:>J.J.t..-

a23 : 38; 44: 36; 45 : 25.--'---'-""-- .-- ~ _._' ~-'~---'.._'-~-------

777. Cmnmentary:The thiugs of this world and the enjoyments

ofthe present life are, in the sight of most men,so engrossing that they never pause to thinkof death or of the Hereafter. Would thatman could realize the object of his creation andsee the everlasting life beyon.d the grave!

778. Commentary:

The words ~.J J J! (Yea, by our Lord)Rpeak of deeply stirred feelinrs and em.body:\ pathetic, tbongh veiled, appeal for merey.But; the time for mercy is past and nothingbut tIJe grim reality of God's judgementnOW'awaits them.779. Important Words:

\:J,) (our neglecting) is derived from J,)(farrala) which again is derived from J,)(farala) which means, he went before or

preceded. (if), 4i. j,j means, the Rpcechor the words issuea from him pasti1y before

bJ6: 35. d2 : 168.CIO : 4[6.

reflection. ~ 1) means, he acted hastilyaDd unjustly towards him. d,j (farra!a-ku)means, he ll1ad,~him to precede; or he madehim to be before, or beforehand or first -orforemost. ,j,,) also means, he sent it before;him.self remaining beh~Jld it. .a j,) means,he left or forRook him; or he abstained ordesisted from it. .; j,) means, he neglectedit or he was rem.isswith respect to it; or hepreferred backwardness in it; or he failed todo, or fell shOJrtof doing, what he ought tohave done wi1';hrespect to it. 61"'/1

'"j,~'

mea.ng, he exceeded due bounds or just limitsin the matter. Thus..bt ~ (from j,) has

generally come to mean, .. faIling sbort of"and 1t)I (from j,)I) "exceeding properlimits" (Lane & Aqrab).

'/1 (surely) originally denotes an inteno-gation respecting a negative, or &.wish orreproof, or the asking for or requiring a. thing.It ie al110used as an inceptive particle giving

~

PT. 7 At.:-AN'AM ctt.6

33. And aworldlyl~fe is nothing but .-!.~.\~,"")'~:I'~i~~r;:~H !~ \ r"'''a sport and a pastime. And surely a$j~'J»-,~...,'.,; ~1~~1 ~.. \A-'bthe abode of the Hereafter is better for 1.

"" "''''/# ,,'" '" "-1;""those who are righteous. Will you not ~G.;\r~'G~: ~Jlj~then understand ~780' "

34. We know full well that verilycwhat they say grieves thee; for surelyit is not thee that they charge withfals~hood but it is the Signs of Allahthat the evil-doers reject.7S1

~/",~ r~ "~','."'", ::; -::\~~

,:,,{ ,:,,{, '/9'"

,,;

~ ~~\j~'I~~\(5vJ\~. ct '-L~.l':~", ~'''''

.. "~..,.,,.,, 1 I

""''''''.. 1\' ~~ II! I.\(~" ~\:''' .1~"@1.:J'~cLUl~v~ ~ ~

.," , "... ~ ..;'"

"~ Jr!",..

b7 : 170; ]2: 110. c15:98; ]6:104.a29 : 65 ; 47 : 37 ; 57 : 21.

" ' " ""~-------------

the sense of" now" or" why." It alsomeans, verily. truly or surely (Lane).

Commentary:The pronoun in t.; (this) may refer to Ue

"Honr" mentioned above. In that case

" neglecting this Hour" would mean that dis-believers never believed that the Hour wouldcome and never gave it a tbonght ; or it mayrefer to ~..\II (the earth) or to 1;.11 I I:i~(our present life) occurring in 6: 30 above.In this case the sentence would m'-'an thatthp.y acted negligently during their life enthis earth. '

The wordil, tlley shall bear their burdens ontheir backs. are intended to hint that theirbtlr(!ens would be exceedingly heavy.

780. Important Words:

~ (sport). The verb form ~.J means

lie pla.yedt sportp.d or jested; or he did all actwith the object of amusement or recreation orby way of jesting. It iEt often thp. opposite ofh: which means. he was serious or in earnest.So ~ means. play. sport or jest; amusementor recreation (Aqrab & J~ane).

~. (pastime) is derived from U. Theysay u U i.e.. he becam.e diverted fron!it so as to forget it. J-:)I~... JI ;,v.fI.: Lmeans. the woman became chf'erl!d witb, andwas diverted by1 the wscourBeof the man.

So ~ meanilt diversioD. pastime or sport;

what. occupies a man so as to divert him fromthat wl,ich would render him ~<ador serious;relief of the mind by such means as wisdomdoeR not reqnire (Lane & Li8iin).

Commentary:

The words, .And worldly life is "otlting but asport a.nil a pastime. d.o not IIlean tl'at life onthis earth i.s only a sport. What is meant isthat worldly life, i.e.. life engrossed in t]!Cthings of this world and passed in neglcdof the HereafteJt is nothing but a sport.:ElsewllCre (21 : l'7. 18) the Quran says thatGod has net created this world as ~ (sport)or ~ (pastime). Both annoUJlcements a,reequally correct. 'The words, .And u;orldly life isnothing bat a sport anci a l1astime. may alson~ean tbut the environments of this world arcsuch that, unless one is particularly watchful,one is liable to become negligent about thenext world. just as sports and pastimes oftenmake man negligent of his duties on earth.

781. Commenta:ry:

The verse signifies that tbp. Holy Prophet wasgrieved at ihe a.ttitude of disbf'lievers, notbecause they accused hinl of falsehood butbecause their denial of bim mcant the denialof the Signs of God. Tnus tb' grief of the HolyProphet was not ~rsonal. the cause of

his grief being that God was being denied. It

685

CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

35. And Messengers indeed have \'9,:f"r"'II~\,,'/"~ ~\I':; , II~"

,,,~~,,,,,,been rejected before thee; but notwith- ~~..~!.'~ ~~U""'.J ~~~:;standing their rejection and persecution t: '""

/. . 't:.,,, , ,,,T ,"they remained patient unti.l aOur help ~I~J~§~ \).PJ~I ~ !,';;t~came to them. bThere IS none thatcan change the words of Allah. And @~"",tc8~~~~"there have already come to thee .." ~ "':If. ~ .;. ~

tidings of past Messengers. 782

36. And if their aversion is grievousto thee, then, if thou art able to seek apassage into the earth ora ladder untoheaven and bring them a Sign, thoucanst do so. And chad Allah enforced

..His will, He could surely havebrought them together into theguidance. So be thou not of thosewho lack knowledge.783

9/,~"1"'(."\r~"'- \"" \ ~:I'

.'" "'~f"'r9' 1 "I'\\~ ~'-' ~'" ~fl do C)...)'-' /'"

~~~ .. .., ~ .;', ,... f~!.

.""""~'". r~;'f' ,>;' . '>"" .

(~~~ /.""'"~~ "I'~ ,. 4)"11 ,t) "".~\ -,,'" ~ ~ .J v;- .;J ~ \,;1;;--.

~ ~,\ ~i\ '\~ "'-::"~ 9~\ rl1i4'...J.~t

~ r.5V'J(:' ~ ~e f\:. dJ,) ~ J ~.. ~

, I " "" ~~ " ,~ l ~.! 't I" .. ., -:.O~-. ~ t:J.l

U2 : 215; 4.,./; 52. b6 : 116.--~ ~ ~' '._~'~-,-

"---

C5:49; 0:150;11: 119; ]3:32; 16:10.~ ~------

pamed him to see people denying God.He did Hot mind denial ofhimseJf, but he couldnot bp-ar to see men rejecting God and HisSign.,.

782. Commentary:

In ~.his verse God lovingly addresses the HolyProphet with word.s of comfort and solace, asif saying: ,. We know that thou art indeedpained to see people denying God, but the lawof God cannot be changed. We never compelmen to become helievers." 1he words, 1'herei.$ nQne tll.at can change the words oj Allah, referto this Yf>:ryJaw of God, whieh is unalterable.The law is twofoM: firltJy, tbat whenevera. Prophet of God appears, there are alwaysmen wl!O deny and opp~se him; lecorully,t;hat God never compels such men to accept thetruth. See 2 :257; 3: 21; 36 ~31.

783. Important Words:Ii4i (passage). JAi means, a hole or a

pa.ssage bored into or through the earth

and having an open.ing at tbe other end(Aqrab). See also 9 : 67.

.----------

w.. (ladder) is derived from r (saUama).They say ."J.., i.e., he made him safe andsecure. ~ I ."J.. ]I!.eans, he gave or delivl'red itto him. t- (8ullam) means, a ladder or series ofstairs or steps meant for ascending. It is soealled because it delivers one to the 1)lace towhich one desi:re;.: to go. The word alsosignifies, a means to a thing (Lane).

Commentary:.The word~, to seek a 11w~8age into the earth,

signify using worldly means, i.e., preaching andpropag~ting the truth in the earth in order tostrengtheu the ]iraith; and the word~, a ladderunto hea,:en, iml~ly using spiritual means, i.e.,offrring up prayers to God for the guidllonceof disbelievE-rs, etc. Prayer is indeed the ladderby which a mal1 can mount to heaven,

The Holy Prophet has bren told here tbat Godis not going to compel men to embrace Islam;if he desires their wltolesale conversionhe should assiduously follow the two prescribedcourS8S, one earthly and tlle other heavenly.

He should, on the one hand, devote himsf'lf

686

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

37. Only those can accept wholisten. And as for the dead, Allahwill raise them to life, then to Himshall they be brought back.784

38. And they say, a'Why has not aSign been sent down to him from llisLord ~' Say,' Surely, Allah has powerto send down a Sign, but most of themdo not lmow.'785

"'':../'''', ~~/~./ .b~' ",./"./.~' .-;

,,,,

"".,~ \2,~~~~ ~~i:JIJJ ~ .,,-w .-"" ..." ..."",

~G ,~~" cdl ~~~9~,\'.;y ~~ ~ dJ.I.

1/ "'j, /..",1' I~/""'/~'~, :-\ J; ~.. ".~ 'WId J" ~!, I..\f~/

<.:>'"

I."~ \J;; ..".. '-:! '.Y.!Y~ -'

y~J-c..:t~"t~; j~~! :, If~ r, (;/.) .. ~ c> IJ"' V- ~

~""~\!3 \:J ..ale: 2] ; 2fl :51.

vigorously to preaching and propagating thetruth; and, on the other, he should fervent,Iypray to God that He may guide mankind andhelp the caUS6 of Islam.

It goes without saying that the Holy Prophetacted upon beth these methods to the fullestextent, as a rt'sult of which God ht'lped thecaust' of Islam, 80 much so that withil1 a smallspace of time the wI-ole of Arabia wasconverted.

The word J"\..; (one lacking knowledgt:') ishere used only in the sense of onenot knowing or unacquaintt'd, and Iwtin the stronger sense of ignorant. It 1as he enused in this sense in other verses of the Qur:malso. For inst/.nce, we read in 2 : 27-1: "Onewho does not know them (the needy) thinksthem to he free from want ", i.e., those who'are unacquainted with the real condition ofthe poor think ihem to be well oft'. In theverse under comment the Holy Prophet Jlas beenexhorted not to remain unacquainted with thelaw of Go1 in this respect.

It should also be noted that, it was not byway of rebuke, &8BOlli.ehave thought, that theHoly Prcphet was asked to set'k a passage !ntothe earth or a ladder into the sky. The wordsbecome m.eaningless. if taken in that light.What is meant is simply the suggestion of two

way& of success. which, when acted upon,proved wonderfully effective.

784. Commentury:

~I'heverse signifies that t.}wse who are good ofheart and are willing to listen wiIheadily acceptthe trUth as the result of preaching. As forthose who are }JotentiaUy dead but. are fit forrejuvenation, God will quicken them with aSign and then they will listen and embraceIslam. Thus it w~s that when God showedHis Sign at the fan of Mecca, the whole ofArabia embraced Islam, and the word of Go(l\Vas fulfilled.

785. Commentary:

The words, Alla,'fJhas liofl'er to send rlcyu;na8igft, do not meau tJlat th~ugh God has thepower to send down a Sign, yet He will notaetuaHy do so. The w())'d ,).,)~ (havingpow!'r) used as active participle is intended todenote readiness to show the rt'quired powerand the clof'ing words of the verse support tbatinference.

The word ,).,)1;also embodies the sense ofmeasuring and determining (Lane). In thiss(>use the clause would mean that God isdevising means for the Buccess of Islam, forpeople are already joining Islam and swellingthe number of Muslims. This is a clear

68'l

CH.6 AL-AN'AM. PT. 1

39. aThere is not an animal thatcrawls in the earth, nor a bird thatflies on its two wings, but they arecommunities like you. bWe have left,outnQthing in the Book. Then totheir Lord shall they be gatheredtogether.786

~~9;~:if ~I,I . '~\\ .8": ~".;J::9.:~ -,,) Uf);; ~~. ;}~ )

>'/':.~~~, I~' r""t'''''~r;' JJJJ.'.r~~'''' (j,l'~;+J ,"L\II~ ~\ <J ~-"

IJ.' ~t \ ~t\, 'J ",

""

~ ~ ~;'

@G;~::.~~jJ\.. ,,,,,

"'"

all : 7,57. 616 : 90.

~ndication. of the will of God, but disbelieverswould n.ot ponder over it. The Quran makesthis po~t clear by suitable illustrations in. thefollowing verae.

786. Important Words:(, (communities), which is derived from

,I i.c., he betook himself to or aimed ator sought, is the plural of ~ I which meam,a way, course or JXlan.nerof acting or of conductor of life; religion, which is a course that menfollow; tbe followers of a reHgion; or a peopleto whom a PIOphet is sent, whether unbelieversor believers; a generation; a nation, a people,a race, a tribe or a family; a collective bodyof men. or of other living beings; a kind, genusor gen.erical dass; creatures of God. It fllsomean.s, a righteous man. who is an ohject ofimitation, being a model for others; or onewho follows the true religion; or a learned manwho lIas no equal in his time (Lane).

Jlt.1 (like) is the plural of ,,\:..(mathal) and J.o(mitltl), both being derived from the verb J:.o forwhicb see2:107. J:- (mathal) means, description,condition, state Or case; II.description. by wayof compariliion; similitude; argument or sign,etc. The word is also used in the sense of J.o(mithl) which means, a like; one similar to; thething itself i.e., the same as (Aqrab &,I..ane).

Commentary:

The Qura!! draws the attention of disbeli€veJ8

to the animals that move on. the earth and tothe birds that fly in the air., Even animals andbirds can understand by means of signs that aohange has taken place in the season, butdisbelievers are worse than t,hese; for the)'do not see the signs "hich indicate thatIslam is triUin.phin~ while disbelief is beatinga retreat. Even a dog can see whether itsmaster is angry or pleased; but disbelieverscannot see whether their IJord is clispleas('dwith them. 'rhus both the birds that fly inthe !1ir and the anim.als th~t movc on the earthare in. this respect better than disbelievers.

Incidentally, the verse also hints that even birdsand animals will be resurrected and requitecl fortheir actions like men. The resemblan.ce be-tween the requital of men and animals may nothe perfect, but it is still there. Some of thesayings of the Holy I'rophet also lend supportto this conc1u~ion ; for it is said ~n a 1}adith thatthe horned goat shall be made to pay penaltyto the goat without horns which it kills orinjures (Muslim, eh. on Tabrim al-:;ulm).

The last word.s of th~ verse i.e., We ha1)~leJto.,t nothing in aiCBook. Then to their Lord shallthey be gathered together, may aJso refer to disbe-lievers. In that case, this plU.'tof the verse, wouldmean that all the works of disbelievers will bepreserved and nothing will be Jeft out, and thatthey will finally be requited for their actions onthe Day of Resurredion.

688

PT., 7 AIrANCAM' -CH.6

~o. aThose who have .rejected Our '..- '~I~t . (9(1'~'-!.' r~,,'f I"'~'t-'...~:.:; ,..

SIgnsare deaf and dumb, In utter dark- ~,~~..;, ~ ~'t ~~ ~~')ness. Whom Allah wills He causes, f"?

" II>~ ." . N,to perish and whom He wills He places.b~& ~ (£~; ~ ~, 8 ~on the right path. ~ '" ." ~ ",", -

., ...",@~j; ~ ".

,tJ"'"

5

41. Say, b'What think ye ~ If thepunishment of Allah come upon you orthere come upon you the Hour, will")'oucall upon any other than Allah,if you ~re truthful ¥'787

42. Nay, cbut on Him alone will youcall; then will He remove that which'you call on Him to remove, if He please,and you will forget what you associatewith Him. 788

43. And indeed We sent Messengersto peoples before thee; then aweaftlicted them with poverty andadyersity. that they might humblethemselves. 789

, :v.-.:,'", /."',r!: .,,~/// l~

"r;.H-f'.JtfL\ ,-:,'~~'~" "..;.J\~.",,, "t~~,"t ,'-:: ~\""';""@~~~~ ~l.;)~w ~,~,

'l:::., " ,. "''''.,..' r,..J~~J ",~, '~ "", "1-:'

"\Z"'\cCJ~~\'~".. ~.\.Na\.>...~~

"""'""...till ~ '-'" ""..:;;r ..c:. ",' ...,,..L",,"Y .-r' "'''''''''''

~@~,;.? \,.oC)~.J .t~ .

~r:~V'!:~1~~ ? w "i",tt'l ~JJ;1"..~;.fY~~ ..." ~~ u" ~

",,,, "''':''.:'' "':r"~.....

\~I \ '@C'-""~~ ~ -'

a2:19,172; 27: 81-82 ; 30 : 53-04. C]O: 23-24.b6 : 48; 12:]08; 43: 67. d7 : 95.

787. Commentary: ,

The word "Hour" refers to the Hour of thedecisive. victory of Islam, or, in other words,.the fall of Mecca. Thus whereas "punishment"r&fers to ,ordinary affiictions, "Hour" referstothefu1al arid decisive event of the struggle.The question put in this verse is answered inthe next.

you are free" (Zurqani, ii. 328).

The words, you 'Wilt forget what you associatewitlt Him, were also signally fulfilled on thatday. At the fall of Mecca, the Meccans lostall faith in their gods, as Abii Sufyan and hiswife, Hind, and others frankly admitted in thepresence of the Holy Prophet. Ultimately,idolatry disappeared from Arabia.

788. Connnentary: 789. Commentary: .

The opening words of the verse. contain the The previous verses referred to divineanswer to the question put in the previous punishment in general. In this' verse itsverse. The words, then will He remove that which various forms have been mentioned~

. Many

1/fJUcall.on Him to remove,.were fulfilled by the have an erroneous idea of divine punish-general pardon which the Holy Prophet granted ment, which not unoften comes veil~ into d~believers' at the fall of Mecca. The the form of ordinary afllictionS. In fact,~morable words spoken by him on ,that aU financial and bodily misfortunes, e.g.,

occasion were: "Go, I forgive' you all.Qo, . poverty, disease, etc. are in one sense or

689

CH.,§ AL-AN'AM PT. 7

44. Why, then, when Our punish-ment came upon them, did they notgrow humble? But atheir hearts werehardened. and bSa.tan made all' thatthey did -seem fair to' them.79O

45. Then, when cthey forgot thatwith which they had been admonished,We ,open~d unto them the gates of allthings, until, when they' became-exultant at what they were given, dWesejzed ,them suddenly, and lo! theywere plunged in despair.7fH

,,~!t~.~/~;((/t',~~<.~t;-:~~, ~:[:~~~~-'--~~ .~;. ~/;.;J~

~;' ;. 1"~~~ 1

'9.r~r ..-..It~I . I'~~,.

/{.,-:..-{V~ .. ~t>~~~.~~,

Jb ~~I~ t11 ~ G1j (:;, ~ \it;I' ... "..

"- -" --" --- 1../

~ ,,/ ., 9'. t//, ,

.,.., If..- I" ~ I~I ::/ J.~:.~~~ ~)I~~-t".)...t2 ~

/ ~~ ,~'-:r-=

@'=J ,. ~ ~'J

46. eSothe last remnant of the peopleyJJ,~'_~J~~d~I-~~I';'I; ;:L~~

'who did wrong was cut off; and all ...'" "... 1-: ;, ~

praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of allthe worlds. 792 -

...,. '" ,",'@~I .. ....

,~_.,-~._----

a2:75; 57: 17. b6 :123; 8: 49; 16:64; 29:39. c5:14; 7:166.e7:73; 15:67.

d7 : 96; 39 :56.

another, punishments from God. They are notgenerally meant to destroy men but to makethem reform themselves and turn to God.

790. Commentary:

The words 'JJ (why not) are here used notto express mere interrogation but also to'express feelings of pity. Thus the "versesignifies, "They ought to have humbled them-selves before God; btit it is a pity that they'did not." -

The aftlictions were reany a mercy from God,but, instead of turning to God, the peoplebecame hard-hearted. When misfortunes befellthem, they ascribed them not to their owniniquitiea but to the Prophets.

,The words, all that they did, refer to the hostile

~ctivities of disbelievers.

791. Commentary:When disbe1ievers became hardened and

tfooted divine admonition as a thipg forgotten,God Jetthpm wander in their blind" traI\s-

gression. The words, We opened-unto them

the gates of all things, signify that God let themstray away and advance further and furtherinto the evil deeds in which they were engaged.Sometilnes the afllictions were removed fromthem for a time and they rejoiced to think -thatthey were right in thinking that the afflictionswere not due to their sins. Then the punish-mentof God suddenly seized them, and theygave themselves up to despair. Thus there aretwo kinds of ajiHictions that visit disbelievingpeople in the days of divine Messengers:(1) temporary afllictions that - come 3Swarnings and then pass away; (2) generaldisaster which finally over~akes and destroysthe wicked.

-

792. Important Woms,:J.I,) (last remnant) is derived from J.,)'

They say . J.,), i.e., he followed behind hisback; or he followed him with respect to place,time or rank. J.,)I means, he went turninghis back, or he turned. back. J.,) means, the

back or the hinder part; latter- or-the last part.

690

CH:.6.PT. 7 AL-AN'AM.

'4'(. Say, 'What think ye? aIf Allahshould take away your hearing andyour sight, and seal up your hearts,who is the god other than Allah whocould bring it back to you'? See howWe vary the Signs, yet they turnaway. 793

~~"'~~.

9 r ''''\

/ ,,~;y'':' -':"'./ ~ \ "..""" If.

r-'r">~ ~~ di)\ J.Q.\ ~,A~J\ v:J

" ~:> I (01 / ~ '9

~. ~h J,~'

,..t ~\},-: ~\:;,' ~ ~!z ../..., ~, .-",/

"'",/,~,~ \"}

~::;fQ>.~~~.~ ':,.') ~~I u~ .

'D '..;r-"" .'''' ~" ..

"-

-~-~~

a2: 8; 16: 109; 45: 24., ,

_._~ ,--------------

J 1~ means, person or thing following behindth~ back; last remains of a people; theroot, stock, race, or the like (Lane).

Commentary':

The words r~ I J.I~ r!:i (the last remnantof the people was cut off) mean: (1) thepeople were cut off to the last man, i.e.,the whole people were cut off; (2) the leaders ofthe people were cut off just as a tree is cutdown to its roots, the leaders occupyingthe position of the roots ;(3) the leaders'followers were cut off, i.e., the leaders weredeprived of their political power, for it is onthe strength .of their followers that thepolitical power of the leaders depends.

Apparently, there is vooccasion here forsayingr All praise belongs to Allah, for thesewords are spoken on an occasion when onereceives a favour from God and is thankful toHim.

'

When, however, one is afflicted with amisfonU1le, then the words. which suit theoccasion and which Muslims are biddento recite are ~ J""':l J .J I ~I .J .us~I i.e. Surely to

Allah we belong and to Hi~. shall we return. r.z: 157)~ The apparent incongruity is, how-

eve~, easily explained. The words .iiIJJ..I

-(",11 prai.se belongs to Allah) have been usedhere in order to point out that .the cutting-()ffof what is injurious is in fact a thing to feelgrateful for, and not a matter of regret. Whena limb becomes diseased and is incurable, weget it amputated and cheerfully pay the fee tothe surgeon for the operation, and also expressour thanks to him. JU5t as a diseasedlim.b

is amputated to save the rest of the body, itsometimes becomes necessary to cut off thatsection of mankind which has become corrupt,so that the infection may not spoil entirehumanity.

793. Commentar-y:

The preceding verse spoke of the punishmentthat cuts at the root. But there is a stage whenonly a part is affected, or even if the whole bodyis affected the disease is not deep-rooted andthere is yet time t() prevent the total loss of thebody. In its early stages a disease is generallycurable; but if it is not attended to in time, itmay be aggravated and become incurable.It is against such nt!'gligence that men arewarned in the present verse. Some men delayacceptance of divine Messengers. They waitfor more and more Signs, and go on postponingthe tendering of allegiance to the heavenlyMessengers until it :istoo late. The punishmentof God descends on the enemies of the Prophets;and those who do not make use of their inwardlight and prefer to wait for more and moreevidence of the truth of the divine Messengersalso perish with their enemies. So this verseW'arns those who are in the habit of delayingand postponing, and exhorts them to use theirinward light for the recognition of the divineMessenger, and expedite their acceptance ofhim lest delay should result in the totalextinction of their God-given faculties andthey should perish with the re.st. They shouldbe prompt to make use of their hearing, and

their eyes, and their hearts; for if they fail to

~l

CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 1

48. Say, 'What think ye 1 alf thepunishment of Allah come uponyou suddenly or openly, will any bedestroyed save the wrongdoingpeople 1'794

49. And bWe send not the Messengersbut as bearers of glad tidings and aswarners. So (:those who believe andreform themselves, on them shall comeno fear nor shall they grieve.795

50. And dthose who reject Our Signs,punishment will touch them, becausethey disobeyed.

,,1- - I"' ;!.z ~

.,..7

\ '~::':.i)..

, ' \./., '''', ' I

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,.I~-' . ;OJ I...J~

..~... .....s...>\ VII

I,"'!" 9 " 1-'

@~~I;'~I~}~.~~

1: ..'" _J ',,9 r ...;, .=J"~' :/!,il~"\"~\'~.~'"

d;>~--'~~~,,~~ ,.'-" -'"''' "

, J v/ " .4~ 4. °"."'~~~ \ '"/ /

"

.~:3.~ o.~~,,-,y/,,,~.>~ V--

/ ,1./ "/~~.Y~

\!'16~~~\ ' $>!~~~ t/~r~'J1\"Ijf ; . .~ ~ .. ;'.. ~ ~.~ <.1..,,'

'".,!. ??'"

@~~.

a6: 41; 10: 51; 12: 108; 43: 67. b4: 166; 5: 20; 18: 57. c5: 70; 7: 36.d3.: 12; 5: 11; 7: 37, 73; 10: 74 ; 22: 58.

make use of these faculties in time, theywill gradually become impaired and willfinally be lost; then no power will be ableto restore these faculties to them after theyhave been completely lost.

The words, how We vary the Signs, signify thatin order to make things perfectly clear, Godbrings the different aspects of Signs before thepeople, sometimes showing one kind of Signand sometimes another, so that all kinds ofpeople may be satisfied.

794. Commentary:

The word "suddenly" signifies the coming ofthe divine punishment without warning orprevious indication. The fall of Meccabelonged to this class of Signs.

The word "openly" implies giving a warning

beforehand so that such people as still retaininward light ana. have a desire to follow theguidance may become warned and may acceptthe truth without further delay, lest theyshould also perish along with the wrongdoers.

795. Commentary:All divine Messengers have a sort of dual

personality-a twofold misMion. They bringglad tidings for one daMMof men and warn~glifor otherl:!. Those who accept them receivetidings of blessmgs and those who reject themreceive warnings of punishments. Thosewho are weak should hasten to join theclass of men :ror whom glad tidings aremeant. '1'hey llavc no reason to fear ; for, &8the verse makes it clear, if they accept theProphets, "no fear shall come on them, norshall they grie'l"eI"

692

PT. 7 AL-AN' AM Cli.6

51. Say: a"I do not say to you:'I possess the treasures of Allah,' nordo I know the unseen; nor do I say toyou: '1 am an angel,' bI follow onlythat which is revealed to me." Say:'Can a blind man and one who sees bealike l' Will you not then reflect 1796

6 52. And warn thereby those whofear that they shall be gathered totheir Lord that they shall have nofriend nor intercessor beside Him, sothat they may become righteous. 797

/"'-'",

\ P t-o':,,,,~ ~ 9 "!1"'~ , 9

fJl\~;~\ ~~~J'~~ J~' ~J;~ g,~\c>'\t:~jt!~ j~~;~\

'"\ '"

'" ",~ ...

~r~~~~il~Jf~'~;~ ~ J ~dl J:,f

~/'&~~ ~~~~ &

II

~"/ J I~CJ-:2' ?\~~!.~ -:":tl~ ,.~,'"~.) ",:" ".~ i.:J~ ...;.jtjJ ",...)W.J

,,-"" ..."""'" '", '~:t ""'-;'';~'!I'"~'',''' ,~,; ",,'"

~.~}>~.)I,~.)~~~

/ ,~":,;'

@~~.

all : 32. blO: 16 ; 46 : 10.

796. Commental'y:

The words, 1 do not say to you, I posse.,s tIletreasures oj A.llah, imply that when the Quransays that the Messengers of God are theannouncers of glad tidings, this should notbe construed to mean that as soon as a personbelieves in a Prophet of God, he acquireswealth. He will have to wait for the favoursof God to come at their appointed time.

The words, nM do 1 say to you, 1 am anangel, here imply that it is not in the power ofthe Prophet to bring down punishment, for heis not "an angel of punishment."

After the above declarations it might beask~d what good there was in following theProphet when worldly favours took time incoming and when the Prophet was 80 powerle88against his enemies. The Quran answers thisimplied question by saying that the getting of atreasure was not the only boon which one coulddesire. The perfect guidance which was receivedthrough the Prophet was a great blessing initself; for those who accepted the guidance

"~l'e qke one who p086esBed eres, whilethoBe

.-- '-----

who rejected it were like one who had no eyesand the blind and the seeing could never bealike. These are ]tnatters to lie reflected uponand pondered over.

797. Commentary:

A warning can benefit only those who believein the danger theY' are warned against. If apeople do not belij~ve in the existence of thatwhich they a.re ask;ed to guard against, theexhortation will do no good. Hence, in thisverse, where the warning relates to the dangersof the Day of Resurrection, the Holy Prophetis bidden to warn not all mankind but onlythose who believe in the Day of Resurrectionthat they will have no friend or intercessor onthat awful day. As for those who do notbelieve in Resurrec'~ion, the way. of preachingwill be different-they will be first convincedof Resurrection and. then warned against itsdangers. Thus incidentally -the verse alsoteaches us how to ]preach. We should alwaysbase our arguments on things which the personsaddre88ed believe to be true so that our preach-ing may have the desired effect,

.

69~

CH.6 AL-AN'AM~------

53. And adrive not away those whocall upon their Lord morning andevening, bseeking His countenance.Thou art not at all accountable forthem nor are they at all accountablefor thee, that thou shouldst drivethem away and be of the unjust. 798

--------all : 30.

-------. ----------

798. I~portant VVords:;.JIJAlI (morning), which is often written

as ; \.Ii>the letter (.J) being silent, is derived

from '.l~ which means, he went forth orwent away in the early part of the morning,i:e., between daybreak and sunrise. So. ;.J I~or ; ,~ or ..J.l~ or ~ ~ means, early part

of the morning; the period between daybreakand sunrise; morning; first part of the day;forenoon (Lane).

..f,J I (evening) is derived from ~which means, he ate the ~vening meal; herepaired to (him, etc.) at night. ..f6- means,late part of the evening; evening; afternoon;time between sunset and nightfall. It alsomeans the time between the declining of thesun and sunset; also the time from the declin-ing of the sun to morning; night (Lane).

<IV:'J (His countenance). The word J.>;J alsomeans J~ \ u-Ai i.e. the thing itself (see2 : 113).

CommentaTY :

The words ..f.J IJ ;.J lJA!~ (morning and evening)taken in their wider significance cover,as shown under Important Words, practicallyall the 24 hours, excluding only the time inwhich the offering of Prayers is prohibited.Thus in one sense the two words taken togethercomprise both day and night, and in anotherthey indicate only morning and evening.

The words ~~J 0J~.J- (seeking His

PT. 7

/",,1.. I,"r 'J~//" "/,,1'.-: !L~"'/~~)S)~~~..> ~.r~ q~';~~.>~"1.'''" r"l " ,~\.:\"~.J:,~~""''''{9"~~;.~i~~' . .~I.:>-'~~

/!~" ":1L~::~"1. 'Ow~~~~" ~1.~~-'~.>~~~ .. . ~)-r- ...,.,

@~\~..,,-, ~bI8 : 29.

countenance) may also mean, "seekiDgGQd.Himself," for the expression b;:J also meaDS,"the thing itself". In that case, the claUSewould mean "they seek nothing but God, i.e.they seek God alone."

The words, thou 8hould,~tbe of the unjust, hintthat there are some men who look uponthemselves as being too great and disdain tojoin a movement set on' foot by ~ Prophet,because its adherents are mostly poor and donot belong to what is called higher society.They would join it only if the poorer adherentswere expelled. So, in order to demolish suchhopes on their part, God bids the HolyProphet decla]re that he would not driveaway his poor followers so that theso-called great might join his fold. Theprohibition does not mean that the HolyProphet actually used to drive away his poorerfollowers. It is only meant' asa reply and arebuff to the desires of the proud and thehaughty. They'are told that the bumble follow-ers of the Holy Prophet who remember Godmorning and evening or day and night cannotbe turned out for their sake.. The .Quran hasalready made the Holy Prophet say. I folknilonly that whick is rerealed to me (6: 51).. Sonow when the prohibition, drive not away thosewho call upon their Lord morning ana ecening,has 80 forcibly been revealed, the so~canedgreat should despair of the ,hUmble being ~rivenaway. So these words were revealed not .a8 a

reflection on the Holy Prophet whose kindnesS

~

.PT.. 7 AL-AN~AM

54. And in like manner have Wetried some of them by others, thatthey may say, a'Is it these whomAllah has favoured from among us~'Does not Allah know best those whoare grateful ~799

.

55. And when those who believe inOur Signs come to thee, say: 'Peacebe unto you, t bYour Lord has taken itupon Himself to show mercy, sothat cwhoso among you does evilignorantly, and repents thereafter andamenqs, then He is Most Forgivingand Mercjf'ul.'8oo

ClI.6

~.;;1""'

...

",J

~"9.

." . .,,,,,,,'/\£:';

.

>@.\~'/;

.""-~ '"L-;t\ '. M' S.

'"~,J;~ t~~~e~"'. '

~ ~G " ,~:,fb~?: "A1;J~ ~~~ 4'blu-: """'~ ".. a.u' ~I, "., (" ~~r

t;;J.cr.'~u~ -:,"" - "~I~:'

..

~!~ ~L.

~I~~-!.

~'.

~~.1, ~~b. (\ '""~,,,..;, I.;,;~j.?c.t.~ .Jo. ~",-,

d~\~tJ\}.;.~~~;$~'I' '"

~'

~1.' ~

IS

,,,(?G\f~':'"'\(~'''..J1'?''' Z .~

I~~. .. ~;u,~\.Jo~" "

tf.' ~ tJ1-!~ ~;r~ ~.:."' , '"@~ tr J.YJS-"U

\) c- ."

all : 28. b6: 13 ; 7: 157. C4: 18; 16: 120.

to the poor is so well: known but jn orderto shatter the hopes of the proud.

The wor~, Thou art not at all accountable forthem nor are they at aU accountable for thee, arealso meant to point to the same great truth.~ough the Prophet could not turn the poor outon account of. the humbleness of their positionyet it might be thought that he might turnthem out on ~ccount of some weakness on theirpart in respect of actions, but, besides the factthat in this respect the poor and the rich standon the same footing, the Law does not holdthe Pr~phet responsible for their actions,hence be cannot turn them out on this scoreeither, unless of course when some seriousoffence is committed by them.

. 799. Commentary:The words.

'. We hat'e tried some oj them by.others, refer to God's trying..the rich and thegreat by admitting the poor and the humbleinto the society of the followers of the Holy'Prophet~ The presence of the poor in the

",COmintI~ty ()f the believers served as a&ltuInbling~blook in the way of the rich and

69$

hindered the more haughty among them fromentering into the fellowship of Islam.

The rich and the great ask whether God hadchosen those poor men for His favours, as ifsaying, "Weare wea.lthy and rich, but God haspreferred the poor to us and has bestowed Hisfavour upon them r~!1.therthan upon us." GodanswerS the question by saying, "I gave themlittle but they have been thankful to Me evenfor that and have accepted My Messenger. Igave you much, but you have not been gratefuland have rejected My Messenger. Do not thepoor then deserve to be chosen for My favourin preference to you t' See also the precedingverse.

800~ Commentary:

The message conve~yed in the words. Peace beunto you, is the message of God which the HolyProphet is bidden to convey to believers; the"peace" spoken of Jis to come from GodHimself. It is with reference to this "peace"promised to believers in the present verse thatthey are enjoined to' greet one another

with the words ~ r')U I i.e., "may the

CH.6 AL-AN'AM n.1?6. And thus do We expound the t /: ill't,/ ~ ~'~:j '" ..'

I ~ j ~~1 'jh ! ~',. OfSIgns that. you may seek forgiveness~..t: ~ . ..~ ,.,-' ~~, ",

~VJ,) ~. and that the way of the sinners may IY

become manifest.80l

R.7 57. Say: 'I am forbidden to wor-ship those on whom you call besideAllah.' Say: a'l will not follow yourevil inclinations. In that case, I shallbecome lost and I shall not be of theguided.'802

58. Say: b'l take my stand on ac~ear evidence from my Lord and youreject 'it. That which you desire to behastened is not in my power. cThedecision rests with non~ but Allah.He explains the truth, and He isBest of judges.'BOO

"' / .,""~"., """"'", ~'t "',., \ ' "'\., .

\ . \':d..)~~~J:) \:jl,)J' ~\ d ~ U", U.:J//

'" "",...",

'"~ 9 ", /'"10'0 I

I"'''' 1-- 9''''", ,,/~~~/'/ t ~ r-:.j.~

\,..oj\.H~V:;~j.~\~\ l) IJ1 ~I

/" "","... r~'"@~.~\~~\., .. J.

"'~7- "", ,

(.)h~~;.\;~; jj~~X [J1Jc;... ... r

"'~~\ 9.. ~/ 1.,,1-.~, 11N :\ . \~ -:,,'\~::::$: \...

"-TV VOA? ~ ;;/~ 9/ I:-C)~\,Q

@~~9~"~~;

a5 : 50; 42: ]6 bll : 64; 12: 109. tl2: 41, 68.------

(promised) peace be on yon." The reader willhave noted that whereas the verse uses the wordsalam (peace), the word used in the formulaof mutual greeting is al-saliim (the peace).This is to point out that the greeting of peaceoft'ered is in conformity with the peace promisedin the verse under comment.

801. Commentary:

There is an ellipsis here, the words I)~(that you may seek forgiveness) or the wordsIp jU (that you may believe) may be takento be understood before the words ~~ J(and may become manifest).

802. Co~entary:This verse is connected with 6 : 53 above.

The Holy Prophet is here bidden to say to~believers what may be described as follows:"I have nothing to do with your gods and Itherefore cannot, for yonr sake, drive awaymy poor fo\lowers. They believe In One God,while you are idolaters. How can I then driveaway the believersin One God for the sake oftbose who disbelieve! You say that if you

join Islam, it will receive strength and supportfrom you. But, the truth is that if I followyour wishes, tIle result will be that I shallbecome lost and my movement will be ruinedrather than strengthened. Again, my missionis that men ma.y accept and follow guidance;but if I act upon your wishes, the result will bethat I myself will go astray. Then there willbe no Islam Imd no guidance. What thenshall I gain from your support 1"

803. Commentary :

The verse calls upon the Holy Prophet tosay to disbelie'Vers what may' be expreSsed asfollows: "Y ouare perversely sticking to yourerrors while I have clear evidence with me.You say, 'If Wf\are in error, why does not Godvisit us with punishment!' You must rememberthat it does not lie in my power to bring downpunishment. ][t is God alone Who sends downpunishment ou whomsoever and at whatevertime He wills and He is the Best of judges. Hewill justly decide the matter between rou and

me!'

696

PT,7 AL-ANiA1\{.

----

59. Say: a'If that which you desireto be hastened were in my power,surely the matter would be decidedbetween me and you. And Allahknows best the unjust.'8M

60. And with Him are the keys ofthe unseen; none knows them but He.And He knows whatsoever is in theland and in the sea. And there fallsnot a leaf but He knows it; nor isthere a grain in the darkness of theearth, nor anything green or dry, butis recorded in . a clear Book. 805

€lL6

"~il ,"_:.'~~ ~A~~" ~ ~\~.'g.".. ~ '->,,-. I;. ~~- ($~ ~ ~ W"'

I , ;,,,~,~' ";~~ / I~\

7... \; , ':';'" ;;v.,§) ..,,/ >~ @ .J ..' -' '<.:1~.;.

~/";;1:,, --:.

\r~~~'" .";' "...~ ( ,

".A>.'\' "I ~,?U a'~-'..J ~..;J" ...;J :".. L"/ "

~;;

~/ ..;/;.,

~~ f;""";" \ "':'i 'f'""I~ "',..A "'''"

-,,:-, ~\,t}\.O.. ,,? ~'"

\,;,I; .J~ .J;" ~[...;

". ,';"; .,,;,

.: IH~19 , ," ";';~'

"H1U~OIl

~,\1 ,\1\ ~'I\ ~.~..~.. ,J ~ !>-'J ~)J ~? .J

" ~./,' "'"~

..~- ," ~'�~.~ ~ ;~/,

a6: 9; 10: ]2.

804. Commentary:

This verse gives one of the reasons why it hasnot been placed in the power of Prophets tobring down punishment; The reason lies inthe fact that God alone knows who are justand who are unjust. Therefore, if the work ofpunishment be entrusted to human beings,who do not know the inner secrets of the heart,they may punish many who are not reallyunjust. 'Umar, for instance, was in thebeginning bitterly opposed to the Holy Prophet.But God knew that he would one day becomea zealous champion of Islam, so much so thathe would finally become the Second Successorof the Holy Prophet. Now, if the work of punish-ment had been entrusted to the Holy Prophet,he might have ~lected 'Umar for punishmentduring the period of his bitter opposition to thenew' Faith~ to the great loss to Islam. So onlya Being Who knows the hidden secrets of man'sheart can award punishment, for He aloneknows who is really deserving of punishmentand who not. There are many men who areoutwardly very meek, but in their hearts theyare not better than ravenous wolYes. Similarly,there are many who are outwardly very harsh

*DdI'tubbom, but they are good at heart. If

fI11.

it had been left to ,~he Prophets to punish theirenemies, they might have punished them muchsooner than God punishes them.

805. Commentar3r:

This verse gives a further reason why the workof punishment mU8t remain in the hands ofGod; it is God alone: with Whom are the keys ofthe unseen, i.e., it is He alone Who knows theunseen. None but He knows the secrets ofmen's hearts and therefore He alone is in aposition to punish.

The expressions" land," "sea", "falling ofa leaf", " grain in the darkness of the earth,"and" green or dry" are all descriptive of thevarious conditions of man. . The "sea",according to the Arab conception, is typicalof hardships, whereas" land" symbolizes. easeand comfort. Similarly, "the falling of aleaf" represents th.~ actions of man that arerendered vain and fruitless; whereasthe" grain in the darkness of the earth," ifleft unprotected, may become lost just asvirtue, if left uncaI'ed for, may become lost.Again, "the green or the dry" is also knownto God. A tree appears to U8 to be dry, but

when it is watered hy rain, it beco1Il6spea.

tlI.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

61. And aHe it is Who takes your&>uls by Right and knows that whichyou do by day; then He raises you upagain therein, that the appointed termmay be completed. Then to Him isyour return. Then will He inform youof what you used to do. 806

~'M"'''' ~~,

" \:;~)j"j' ,~t..d'-~~, ..-'~~~.C>~\.~J

;I~:' ~',

'.~IJ.,;;IJ~jA .:;.t;;' ,

':. r"~,r",oj ~ ~ \ ~.,..:...,..)~ u

~ ~ tt .."''''''11' .~ ~'-" ~

t J J.",." ~'~" '" /, "'1.~ , ,r

~,. ~~.. r"'_., 1."

" '"". , .,A" tf.ii\,.\ . ,-",

"

. ;.J - IJ ~~\J . . ;. - "..-,.,..-; ~:.;

" .."

-..--- ------

Similarly, a man sometimes appears to us to bedevoid of all spirituality, but when he is.watered with the water of divine mercy, hebecomes full of spiritual life.

The word ";"'tJ" (Book) also signifiesknowledge. Other instances of this usemay be seen in 30: 57 and 68: 48 wherethe words ":,,IAS" (lit. book) and;,; A(lit. they write) respectively mean "knowledge"and" they know". The Holy Prophet is alsoreported to have written to the people ofYemen, saying, ~I.:e' ~ ~~ fl.' ~ ..Ii: "I

have sent to you a writer, i.e., a man ofknowledge, from among my Companions"(Bil)ar, iii. 193). So the Arabic words renderedas "is recorded in a clear Book" may also betranslated as "is preserved in sure divineknowledge."

Thus, as God alone possesses the keys of theunseen and as all the conditions and actions ofman are known to Him alone, it is He only Whocan punish him. No one who is devoid ofperfect knowledge is qualified to punish.Again, God alone knows how far hardship orease influences the actions of a man. He aloneknows whether or not the good works done bya man have been rendered null and void throughthe operation of other causes. He alone knowsthe grains of virtue that lie embedded in theheart of man and whether or not these grainswill sprout forth and grow and thrive and bringforth fruit. He alone can tell whether a personwh~,. to all appearances, is "dry" and devoid

of all spiritual life, will turn" green" when

a39 : 43.

supplied with beavenly water or whether heis dead beyond revival. In short, God alonehas true knowledge of all things and aUconditions and all possibilities and allpotentialities, aud therefore He alone can saywhether a mau deserves to be punished or not.

806. Important Words:

f t,;.J.~ (who takes your souls). The

learned author of theill-Babr al-Mubi!says: "The word J,j (tawaffi), as iswell known, meanS, to cause to die,' but inthis verse it has been metaphorically used inthe sense of 'causing to sleep' ou account ofthe close resemblance between sleep anddeath." See a]lso 2: ~35 & 3: 56.

;.~.r: (you do) is derived from C.v"=.

They say 9-1/'''= i.e. he wounded him. c.~also means, he acquired, earned, worked ordid (Lane).

CommentaTY :

The subject that none but God is entitled toPllnish is continued in this verse, which saysthat God alone knows the condition of manby night and his actions by day, and all timesare subject to His control, and therefore it isHe alone Who knows the true character of thepious and the wicked, and consequently nonebut He is ina position to punish. Again, it isHe aloue Who knows the time most suited forthe death of 3. person aud therefore .He has'not entrusted tbe work of punishment to others.

The words, tbat the appointed term may be

completed, do not refer to any te.rmarbitrarily

we

PT. 7 AL-AN' AM "CH.6

. 8 '62. And aHe is Supreme over Hisservants, and bHe sends guardians towatch over you, until, when deathcomes to' apyone of you, Ourmessengers 'take his soul, and theyfail not.S07

63. Then are they returned to Allah,their true Lord. ,Surely, His is thejuqgement. And" He is the quickestof 'reckoners. 808 .

64. Say, c"Who delivers you fromthe calamities of ' the land and the sea,when you call upon Him in humilityand in secret,' saying" 'If He deliverus from this, we will surely be of thosewho' are grateful '1"809

~, "'~"'

~~ ,~' "9,r "9,r,

,,,, -t

"

"-:~~\';:,

~' , ~~,,.

-:JoAt;~ - ?" . . ¥ II ~.)~'"

~..1"::~ ~.""~ ... II"'..*"', -,.'"

.:;r ~.

" - ,"t'"~"', r.~ ;::/~: ~,."tl'.1t''''''''' t'f'' I~'

~...~~ ~ c:wy 0.)41' "o1'-.J.:>;~ .)/~

.. t ..-:' ,@C);b~~

""~ "'~';"'J.,

.:'.~.l~"4J":"" ~I J"'I..-!

I.~~'

,',

!'.~. tcU~' ~ ' ' ~~, 1.",»)~,T,..;/,

--" ",

",.' I" ,"'....<9~.t~t

(;":19 ,... ~

""" "

~ .. ~ .. ",,1,'''''''l; ..,t "'tt ~I ~ ~ ' ..,..." :' 1=,-:h)J~ .J,.,

'" ...~...,p..,"''''~ ~ ... 9 tJ ,...' "', .'

".' 1'''

Cr.J' ,.~"'-' "' ~'~ ...",,01 .

". I"" ~ '". . ...,.. ......:", "-' . ~ II. . ~'..,,,

"'. ~ ...""'~I..., ~~,

".~~~I ,...0\V." ~ ~.

a6: 19; 13: 17. b13 : 12; 82: 11.:-._~~--------

c1Q: 23; 17: 68; 29: 66 ; 31 : 33.

fixed by God. The" term" spoken of here God finally issues a decree, nothing can delayis determined by the fac'Q.lties and powers with it or' set it aside.which man is endowed from the time of his 808. Commentary:birth, and is liable to be increased or decreased

The reader should note that when speaking ofaccording as a right or wrong use is made of

death, the Quran uses the expression "Whenthe faculties granted to him. There' is no

death comes to anJone of you" (see the preced-reference here to the eternal knowledge

ing verse which uses the singular number),of God.

while in the present verse it refers to the

807. Co:nunentary: Resurrection of aUt men together by saying,

This verse provides another reason why God "Then are they returned to Allah." This

alone is entitled to punish. He is v"~is because whereas death comes to men

(Supreme), i.e., Powerful and Mighty over aU, individually and not to all men together, theResurrection of mankind will be simultaneoustherefore He can punish any of His creatures, and universal.whenever He thmks it proper. The powerful are

never in a "hurry to punish, for they know that 809. Commentary:they can punish whenever they will. Again, I.;:.i (in humility) is derived from t,,;it is God Himself Who 'guards His creatures which means, he was or. became lowl)., humble,and supports them, and it is through His grace or submissive; or he lowered, humbled orthat they enjoy security. So destruction can abased himself and petitioned for a gift; or hebefall them only when -He withdrnws His grace, was weak, slender or em,aciated. e."; alsoand He does 80 when He thinks it proper. means, it (a kid, etc.) took with its mouth the

The words, tkev fail n~, signify that when teat or dug of its mother. t;at means, he

fl:1!J

CH:d AL-AN'AM' PT; '7'

60. Say; 'Allah delivers you fromthem and from every distress, yet youassociate partners with Him.'810

66. Say, 'He has power to sendpunishment upon you from above youor from beneath your feet, or to con-found you by 'splitting you irtto sectsand make you taste the violence of oneanother.' See how We expound theSigns in various ways that they mayunderstand t811

~ ",; "',,':. ~

.-.:

~..~' ,;~~:~ ~I J ~

'J;!..., ~} U ,...0 ~. ,,..

dJ.11~ ~ ~ ,tIV"" ", ..;;,. JjJt1'

"', ,~ ~-!.

@~y~~

, .. f~ -:" ~( ;;"' ,, ,,"' ~

i',; J' r~~ ".", 9

'

'

~ulJ..." ~.I wi I:.". . .. ...\oJ ->~ ~ ~

~~ ',,�""~ '''''' ~ .,",I

\;t;.,~~"''''',; II" I~~-, j,'M, . .. J ".~.." tJI'..""

'" '

~,,"1. ~\i:"J. .'''' -,-"(:~ ~JJ~~ )'iU1 ~U". . ..",...J

'".,,,.,,,,

"..:1'-:" I"e<.:)~~ ~~I

lowered, humbled or abased himself; or headdressed himself with earnest or energeticsupplication. It also means, he writhed andcalled for aid (Lane).

~. (secretly) is derived from ~ which

means, it was or became unperceived,concealed, hidden, low or faint. They say

~ J:i i.e. he was slain secretly (Lane).

Commentary:

The word ..:...\.JI.; (calamities), literallymeaning" darkness," here signifies afflictions,calamities and misfortunes; for, with theArabs, darkness is a symbol of misfortune.Thus, a day of great misfortune is called "astarry day," because it is considered so darkas to make even stars visible in the firmament.

The reader should note that instead of saying'< openly" and" secretly", the Quran hereuses the words" humbly" and" secretly",substituting the word "humbly" for "openly",thus indicating that a prayer said openly isuseful only when it is offered in humility.

" Open" prayers may sometimes be offeredfrom a motive of display and show. Suchprayers are of no value. Prayers are efficaciousonly when offered with due humility.

810. COmmentary :

The words, from every distress, signify that

700

Allah may deliver you not only from theafflictions from which you pray to be rescuedbut also from other troubles for the removalof which you do not pray.

This and the preceding verse give the thirdreason why none beside God is in a position tosend down punishment. We are told thatnone but God Jl1earsthe prayers of men anddelivers them from the affiictions which befallthem. Now the Being Wbo hea'rs prayers andremoves afflictions should also be the BeingWho can send down punishment; for if there betwo different beings, then there is sure to beopposition and conflict between them.

811. Commentary:

This verse gives the fourth reason why nomortal possesses the power to bring down punish-ment upon men for their sins, and that it is Godalone Wbo possesses that power. This reasonconsists in the fact that the punishments whichmortals inflict ul.on others are merely externaland are limited in their character; while. thepunishments tha1&come from God,. are variedand far-extending. For instance, man can atmost kill another man and end his life, but thepunishment whi(:h God inflicts sometimesgrows in the very heart of man and causes

him great be~rt-buming and uneasme83 9f

.PT.~7 CH.6AI;.AN'~ .

67. And athy people have rejectedit, though it is the truth. Say, b'lam not a guardian over yoU.'8U

68. For every prophecy there is afixed time; and soon win you come tojplo~.813

69. And cwhen thou seestthose whoengage in vain discOurse c()'1'I,OOfflingOurSigns, then turn thou away from themuntil they engage in a discourse otherthan that. And if Satan cause thee toforget, then sit not, after recollection,with the unjust people. 814

/(.'I~ ' -:..f {." ", " £'~ A" ":?-~~J; ~\~-'!o ~~~VJ:".!.l"~"'"@~~

",,"""':: .-: ,""-:; .~-::::, 'J., c;'~ f.t,e~;.w~~J.)~~~

~"t~ ~ r~ ""

"-! ' -!" ", ~rl ~ 1"" \-:'1"<..:P-ff- ".. ~~~~C!.~ ~!) )".J

C-:. "/ .,,',,'/~ ," "'"~I"- b~ '~~~I '._~ .."'" ..J .'/:f +.." "'~~.~~

..-""..- 1(""

OJ. \

",,,.

~,., ""'/

~I"' ~ ",~~..iJJ ~~$. 'to t ~:v '"'--- "", . . .. ..#1"'.,

."!~ 11~ t,---tIJ

@~~>illa6 : 6. &39: 42; 42: 7. c4: 141.

mind. Such punishments, which ar& oftengreater than inere killing, cannot be inflictedby man. The Quran here refers to some of thekinds of punishment which God may send downon men.

Punishments" from above" signify famines,eart.hquakes, Hoods, hurricanes, the oppressionof the weak by the powerful, mental agony, etc.And punishments" from beneath" signifydiseases, pel'tilences, revolt by subject peoples,et{'. Then there is the punishment of discord,disunity and dissension which sometimes endin civil war. This is hinted in the words,,ooke you taste the violence of one another.

All t,hese different, forms of punishment areunder the control of God and none other;henc.e it is God alone Who has the real power ofsending down punishment upon men.

812. Commentary :

The pronoun" it " in the word8 "rejected it "refers either (1) to the matter under discussioni.e. it i8 God alone Who can send downpuni8hment, or (2) to the Quran, or (3) to

pUllishment. Taking the last meaning, the

word8 "it i8 the truth" would mean that thepromised puni8hment is 8ure to come.

The words,. I am not a guardian over you,imply that if now, when I have conveyed toyou the divine Message, the puni8hment of Godcome8, I cannot help it. I will not be able toprotect you from it. It is worthy of notethat whereas disbelievers are demandingpunishment, the Holy Prophet is expressingsympathy for them.

813. Commentary:

'fhe verse signifies that God, in His infinitewisdom, has fixed a time for the fulfilment ofevery prophecy. So the punishment that hasbeen promised to the rejectors of truth willalso come to pass in due time. Then will theyknow that it was not a false prophecy. Dis.believers demand that the divine punishmentshould come upon them at once. That canr.otbe ; for nothing that has a fixed time can comebefore its time.

814. Important Wards:

~ .r ~ (recollection) is the noun.infinitive

'701

..CH~'6 AL-AN'AM " cPT; 7

.70. And athose who are .righteous are

not at all accountable for them, buttheir duty is to admonish them, thatthey may fear GOd.815

.W~~~~~~~dJjI1~ .~.~- ,,-" "-~_.

.."1111' ~ JI'

.e~~~;~ ~~~ja6: 53.

from) ~ i.e. "he remembered, etc." for whichsee 2 : 41, 153, 201. (,$) ~ means, rememberingo~ recollecting; remembrance; the presenceof a thing in the mind; mentioning or relatinga thing; accepting of an exhortation; remindingor causing to remember; admonition. Thusthe word is used both intransitively andtransitively (Lane & Aqrab).

CommentaTY :

When the disbelievers, in reply to theirdemand for punishment, were told that therewas a time fixed for every. prophecy and thatthe punishment of God could .not come beforeits time, they began to laugh -at the prophecy.So the Quran calls upon the Holy Prophet and,through him, the believers to turn away fromthem, i.e., to quit their company and d.epart fromthe place, so that they might not provoke thefurther wrath of God by indulging in theirvain and insolent discourse. Believers aretold not to afford disbelievers an occasion tocommit further excesses by sitting in theircompany but to leave them at once on suchoccasions, so that they maybe induced to turnto other talk.

The words, turn thou away from them, may alsobe taken figuratively, signifying that you shouldoverlook and treat as unnoticed their actionof ridiculing and should not dispute with themabout it, so that they might drop the subjectand turn to some other topic. .

." Satan," .. for which see 2: 15, doe.s notalways mean the Evil .Spirit; the wordis also applied to other harmful things.

It has even been applied to" anger" and

" jealousy" in some of the sayings ofthe Holy Prophet. Here also it is used in

. the Sense of "anger" and the sentencewould thus mean, "if anger or wrath shouldcause you to forget the injunction to leavethe .company of such persons and to quitthe place ". This interpretation,however, will hold good only i» the case of menwho stand on a high level of righteousness.In the case of ordinary men, the word wouldbe taken to mean" evil suggestion" or

" negligence."

The word (,$)~ (recollection), as shownunder Important Words, means both

" recollection", i.e. remembering, and"reminding." Taking. it in the intransitivesense, the sentence would mean that whenyou recollect the injunction to quit theplace, you should do so forthwith. Taking theword (,$) ~ in. the sense of "reminding," thesentence would mean that before quitting theplace, you should remind the scoffers of theirmischievous conduct and tell them that it is anevil and dishonourable course which they followand that it is calculated to excite against themthe wrath of God.

It should also be remembered that really itis not the Holy Prophet but every believerthat is addressed in this verse.

815. Impo'l'tant Words.:

.(,$); (to admonish). .see. theverse.

preceding

100

PT."7 AL-AN'AM CH.:~

71. And let alone athose who taketheir religion to oe a sport and apastime, and whom worldly life hasbeguiled.. And admonish people therebylest a soul be consigned to perdition forwhat it has wrought. It shall have nohelper nor intercessor. beside Allah; .and even if jt offer every ransom, itshall not be accepted from it. Theseare they who have been delivered overto destruction for their own acts.bThey will have a drink of boiling water'and a grievous punishment, becausethey disbelieved.8u

';:-::~-=' ~9'''''~r~ -: .,7-;..\"''''''''w

.1 "' w':' . "'.'~ '~' ~~.) .\L~ ct. I) .....

..r~ ~ ~: l.'~ '.. .)J,

t::r~ rr,?-: j:~ ~I ~ ..('~ '" (:l! !., ,,'. ';'~ . CJ I~~.)'> .. JJI~~,

~ '''''' t.6'.1.~-:: r:,,, ~ .", f""'1, ~'\'.

,""

C> J ~..J-,~,,9JJ19.J.)~~~

" """, ~rl ~I~,.', .~

., ", -:; ,., 't'J.J"""'"C;,)'VoJ~-'

I> . vo;y)) I.J~ iJ' ~ .J.:ij..", ~ ", .. ~ ,

~t'~ 'I " .'. "( 't. 'I'''''~~~r !iJ.l!)..-,~~~y~~ . ~I \? ~ ~.

@G;~~~~~J &II"

a5 : 58; 7: fi2 ; 8: 36. blO :5.

816. Im.portant Words: Commentary:

J4(be consigned to perdition) is derived The context and the sense of the passagefrom ~ i.e. he prevented or prohibited or required the use of the words" thy religion,"debaned. ' J-!' besides giving the above- but theQuran uses the words" their religion ;,

mentioned meaning, also means, he gave in instead of "thy religion". This is to pointpledge; or gave in exchange. ~ I also out that it was for their own good that themeans, he gave him up to or he delivered him religion of Islam had been sent and that thevover to or he consigned him to destruction or were injuring themselves by rejecting it.':perdition or punishment (Lane & Aqrab). The words, admonish people thereby, signify

~'.J"~(drink) is derived from~.r i.e. he that if disbelievers are in a state of excitement

drank. ~I.r mean!), a drink or -beverage; any and it is found that admonition will provokeliquid which is drunk and not eaten or chewed. them all the more, then one should" let themThis is the original significance. Post-classical alone"; but if there is no fear of their beingwriters, however, sometimes use the word in provoked, then one should first admonish tht\mthe sense of ~,: (wine) also (Lane).

. and then quit their company. The pronoun

. (bo'lin te ) .d' d fr

in ~ (thereby) re.

fers to the Quran.(!" I g wa r IS enve om r Th . . .

i.e. it (water, etc.) became hot or very hot. . e verse also contams an exhortatIOn to

The 'w-ordis also used transitively, meaning, he believers not. to .get enraged at the scornful

~ea~ water, etc., or he heated .it fully..,r

re~arks ofdisbehe~ers. As it 'is t~ed~ty -of

~lme8ns, he melted the fat. .,...means, believers to admoDlsh and warn dISbelievers,

he wasli~ him with "hot water or~ conversely, therefore the former should ' patiently' endure

with cold water. ,(?' means, hot water or, the taunts of the latter;

conve1'8ely,cold water; sweat orperspiratioD. .As.show~ under Important Words, .the

The word al80 means a friend or a beloved word ,,!-i (consigned to perdition) mayPel8onroane). The last significance isprobably,_~also ~ean, "be given uP. or sunendered.~'based on-"""armth of feeling. Taking the word in the latter Bense,.'the

,703

AL-AN'AM' n.-~CH. ~

R.9 72. Say; a"Shall we call, besideAllah, upon that which can neitherprofit us nor harm us, and shall we beturned back on our heels after Allahhas guided us, like one whom the evilones entice awayleavi'f)!Jkimbewilderedin the land, and who has companion~who call him to guidance, saying,'Come to us' 1" Say: 'Surely, theguidance of - Allah is the only guidanceand we have been commanded tosubmit to the Lord of all the worlds. 817

\$t!/~/t;Z~~~\d;; : /' '':'' i~~ ~ .."

~ c.t' ~wt V"1, ,- -

tt'" " 'H.?'? "' , f" I" !\ "'" f"~ ~"--

~,;,;\,,;J W 0 d,1) \;y~ ~ \.:..J" t "'.,., ~,., . ~ )f J(, ,~/--'l~ /~,., ,,~, ., -:.!.,~t~v~~..>JJI ~ ~I 'U~t

, ,,9; "9 ., , -(,V'W\~~ ~ I~j,~I\~ \IJ"", 't5"":::

".

i,;,)" ,., t$~"

~J..!.

J~I~"1 ""~qri/j, 'J" /~'eI .." :.~~ ~.J ~~H ~

a21 : 67; 22: 74.

I!entence would mean, "admonish the peoplelest a soul be surrendered to what it haswrought," i.e., admonish them lest they begiven over to the evil works they are nowengaged in. viz., lest they continue in - theirevil condition. See also 2: 16. Taking theword in the former sense, i.e., as rendered in thetext, the sentence would mean, "admonishthem lest they be consigned to destruction orpunishment on account of the evil deeds whichthey have wrought."

The verse is addressed to believers and pointsout to them the urgent need of preachingthe truth to disbelievers. It calls upon believersto. picture to themselves the dire consequences

of their failure to preach the truth to disbelievingpeople. If they do not show disbelievers theright path, the result will be that the latterwill continue in their error and will bedelivered over to destruction on account oftheir sins, being reduced to a condition whenthey will_have no helper and no intercessorand when no compensation or ransom will beaccepted from them.

The" boiling water" mentioned in the versewill serve as a medicine to bring about a cure,while the" grievous. p~8hment" will. be.. in

the nature of an operation.-

817. Important Words:

..;-.;:..\ (entice away) is derived from IS~.

They say J~ 11S,jA i.e. the thing fell down

or came down (from a higher to a lowerplace). Conversely J~J;' J.:-.) I I.S.J'> means,

the man climbed the hill. ~) I':".J'> means,the wind blew. ~ J'" means, he loved anddesired it.

IS"""1 means, love of good or

evil; desire; inclination; evil inclination ordesire. .1';:"1 means, he took away allhis desire and reason leaving him confounded;he made his evil desires look fair in his eyes(Aqrab). .s.",..i also means, inclination ofthe soul or the mind to a thing; an object oflove; the inclination ofthe soul to that in whichthe animal appetites take delight, without anylawful invitation thereto; opinion swervingfrom the right way or from the truth (Lane).

.JI~ (bewildered) is derived from J t..

which means, he was or became dauled by athing at which he -looked so that he turnedaway his eyes from it; he wail or becameconfounded or perplexed and unable to seehis right course; he erred or lost his way. ..JI~means, in a state of confusion or perplexity.being unable to see his right course;, erring:having lost his :way (Lane).

704

PT. 7 AL-AN' AM ClI.6

73. "And we have been given thecommand: a'Observe Prayer and fearHim;

,and He it is to Whom you shan

be gathered."818

74. And bHe it is WhQ created theheavens and the earth in accordancewith the requirements of wisdom; andthe day He says,

,Be,' it .will. be. His

word is the truth, and IlIs wIll be thekingdom on the day .~when the trumpetwill be blown. He ~s dthe Knower ofthe unseen and the seen. And He ist,he 'Wise, the All-Aware. 819

r1 ~I '";'..1 \

~ J ~ 1.' /..1:1

~ <~ ~ , 11!"""'

1

.. ",

t "~... ~i.f;J~.J :S.,.oJ., ~ ~ ~ -'/'1<'~@(,:).J~

.. ",~ "nJ.:'.Jf "'. ~-;"il -' ~'~.I \ -:~I~., . li

t/J ~

~~.J '-f"~(.P.J).,-' 9 ~l>~ -~ -'~ ~/ :l~': '''" J!~~i\ '1"~ ~ ~~ ~j:~\~.~t dJ--, ~ w--"

C).. ~

I'"

/~.. .. /) \ b 9 j1 ",.,'J", f1 ~.D~ r-:"zil/ ~\ 7\' ~\.~...~ -' ...'>"b-'-' ~..~.J ~~

@~\~I".~ ~

' -'-' '--~ ' "--~ ~

~-, ~-~

a4-:78; ?2:79; 24:57. b14:2o; 16:4; 29:-15. c27:S~; 39:69.d9 :91; 13: 10; 23: 93; 39 :'J7; 59: 23.

~--~-' ""'--"~--'-' '-' ~--'-- ~-

Commentary:'['he opening clausi~ of tbe verse teaches by

rueal1S of an f.\xample how to preach the trl1th.It I)oints out that. the best way to preach is tobegin by exposing the errors of the opposiDgparty 801'1hinted in the words, neither profit tl<lnor harm tt~, and then to proceed to point outthe truth as hinted in the words, after Allah

1'~18gu.ideil 'Us.

The verse then gives an apt illustration toexpose the futility of !J.;:. i.e. attributingco-partners to God. It compares the C1t,seof IInidol-worshipper to that of a distraeted personwho has no fixed COUl'flCto pursue. Buch aperson first gOt)Sto one idol or to t!le tomb ofone saint and thf'n to anothf'r and has no~ertain.tv or conviction. But a true believf'1'haR, a fixed -purpOSQ and a fixed goal. lIealways prays to the One God with It deep-rooted conviction and does not wander aboutdistracted like an idolatf'r.

~~he reader will note that, true to its ownprinciple, the verse first exposes thp. error ofi,tolaters and then gives the teachings of Islam.

818. Commentary:

The concluding theme of the preceding verse

--.-----------

has been continueil in the pres<,nt one.

819. Commentary:

'!be word ~ (be) really denotes a simplecommand intel\ded to bring about a. change.When the word is used con.cerning a tIlingwbich does not exist, it naturally signifies thebringing into beiug something which God hl!sw.illed. When, however, the word is usedconcf'rning a tbing which already exists, tbenit generally means that the thing will come tonought when God so wills. 'rbus the sentencf',lle it is WIlDcreated. . . . . and tI,e daylle say... .Be'. it will be, signifies that {'very thingis in the power of God; 80 when Go<1issucs acommand- cODcerrung the breaking-up of thepower of disbelievers, it will surely come tonought.

The exprl'SSiOll, lIis word i.~ the truth, mea.nstIlat tbe prophecy mentioned above is a trueone and must come to paRS and nothing canstop it. See the meaning of ~ uDder2:148&3:4

The words, His will be the kingdom on the daywhen the trumpet will be blown, mean that thevisible kingdom of God will be estahliRhedwhen Islam triumphs and fah'e anu idolatrous

705

CR. 6 AL-AN'AM

75. And remember the time awhenAbraham said to his father, Azar:,

Dost thou take idols for gods ~ Surely,I see thee amI thy people in manifesterror.'820

'-~~--,- ~ ~---,_.

beliefs and practices vani~p. A Prophet ofGod is i.ndeed a trumpet, throul!;h wl10m tlIPvo;ce of Gou i1' hearn, and the s(ll11l(Jin~of thetrumpet is a symhol for t.he wide puh1icativnand est.ablishment of the tf'arhings hrOUg}ltby him. Thus the versf' meaps thn,t; wlwnthe te3ch\ngs of the Holy Prophet are widelypubliRbed and acceptf'u in the world and whenIslam flourishes and triumphR, then thnkingrlomof God will be visibly established on thc earthand on that day will idols be broken to pieces.

820. Important Words:,,:,,' (father) which is originall~ .1.' givse

the following meanings: a father; an ancestor;a paternal uncle. .t}, .1.' means, the- woman'shusband. IS)I.\ .1.' means, master or ownerof theuweHing (Lane). See also 4: 12.

.)jT (.lzar). For the discuss;on of the

word and the relationship of Azar withAbraham see under Commentary below. Theword ill considered by some to be of non-Arabicorigin, though in Arabic too it has a root. Thus.::.~ \ J jT means. the vegetation grew thickand strong. t')l. J jT means, he Rtrengthen-ed such and such a person. .J jT means, hesympathized with and helped him (Aqrah).The name, which thus appears to bf' attrihutive,was given to lzarprobably because hc hf>lpc(}

his people in establishing idol-worship.According to Mujahid, .1;r was originallythe name of an idol (Qadir).

Commentary:With this verge the Quran turns to an account

of Abraham, which is givf>n hue for tworeasons: Firstly, because it, is: the idolatrousQuraish t.hat are chiefly addressed in thl'se

PT. 7"-

~ \ ~~; 9 ~;" fI''' I / ,," I/o ro::

.,"~:'/t \ ~~" \ '.''''\ "\ ~~ ~I. ~ '\ J ~ .,

'UJ ~ )) ,;..' ;.-~Y!" .).."'" "

,;

~~. iI'~-?~ ~:;;&~n\~~..~ ~~ 7 ~/

_.~ ~...~.~----

a19 : 43.

verseR and they revered Abraham as t.lwirprogenitor and patriarch. Hence, by givingan account of Abraham, God wants to tell theQuraish that their great ancestor Abrahamwas also, like the Holy Prophet, opposed toi(lolatry, which shows that idol-worship is alater innovation. Secondly, hy means of thisaccount, God wants to impress upon idolaters

-the hollow and unsound foundation on. whichstands the helief and practice of idol-worshipand the absurd ideas which give rise toidolatry.

In, the present verse Abraham is rl'presentedas arguing with his ,,:,,' (father) on the subject,of idolatry. This ,,:,,' (father) is here namedlzar. Now we have to see in what relationthis man stood to Abraham and what was histrue 11am,e. Christian writers havf> criticize(lthe Quran on the ground that it calls Abraham'sfather by the name .lzar while his true namewas Terah. It is true that in Gen. 11: 26Abraham's father iR named Terah. But it isequally true that in I.uke 3: 34 Abraham iscalled the SOn of Thara and not Teralt. TIll'readl'r should note the chan.ge not only in thefirst consonant hut also in the vowel thatfollows. The Talmull also givl's the n,l.me ofAhraham'R fatlwr as Tharn. Eusehius, tbegreat Chnrcl1 historian, who has lwen rigbtlystylpfl the Father of Ecclesiastical History,giveR, in spite of Gen. 11 : 26 and Luke: 3 :34-,which could not hf> nnknown to him, Atharas the name of Abraham.'s father (Sale). Thi8clearly shows that evf'n am.ong tbe .Tews thereI'xist.ed no nnanimity as to the name ofAbraha.m's father. The fact that EuaebiuB

706

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

76. And th llS did We show Abrahamthe kingdom of the heavens and theoarth that he might be rightly guidedand that he might he of those whohave certainty of faith.821

.I I ~\ \ ~ ;~~ .. , \ ,

,~ ~ ~II ! 7

~ >+- ~ ,..o..\.Cb~ 45y ~~,;

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~

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~ ,~. .,~.. /@ ~>Jt i.:fiC>~)~J~IJ

followed neith{'r Gen. 1] : 26, nor Lukr 3: 34Rhows that hI' had strong reaRons to difft'r fromthef;e two ,.!ell-kiwwn sources. Thr correctform. thus :J.I)pears to be Alltar, which laterbecamr changrd into Tltarn or Temlt. Nowthe form. adoptrd by EusrbiUR is alm.ost,if not rxactly, tllf' same as giwn by theQllran. If thrre is any difff'rrl~cr, it is onlythat of prollunciat.ion; othf'rwisr hoth form~,i.e. AZIH and Athar, arf' identical. ChristianRhave ther('fore no rrason to quarrf'l with theQUr31l for calling Abraham'R fathf'r by thf'name Azu. It may also hI' noted thatAbraham'R fathrr iR also called Zarah in theTalm.ud (Sale) and Zarah is appro1.imatelythe s:\m.e as Azar. All this goes to prove notonly that the Qnran iRnot wronr, in palling thefather of Abraham by the nanw Azar butalso that the Quranic version is much morereliable than that of the Bible.

The next question we have to consider is that,of the r{'lationship in which Azar Rtood toAbraham. In the Quran he has been calledAbraham'R ,:-,1 (ab), a word appli{'d, aR shownunder Importal\t Word~, not only to father hutalso to nnr:lr, grandfather,rtc. who stand in theposition of a father. Froll\ the Qnran it appearst,lw.t Azar, though callen. t.J)(' ,:-,1 (fib) ofAhraham, waR not rrally hiR father. In 9 : 114we are told that Abraham han. marlr apromisr to .A.zar, his ,-:,,1Cab), to pray to Godfor hiR forgiveness hut when he came toknow that he was an etwmy of God, IJrahstainprl from praying for him and wa,<;:wtuaJly forbidden to 110 so (~ep also 26: P-7wItprp

.again A7.ar is Rpoken as thp ,-:,,1of

Abraharn). EJRPwhf'rp, howpvrr, t.hp Quranitself records a prayer of Abraham which

he offf'rerl in the last days of his life, after hehad built the Ka'ba. in company with his son,IRhmael. In this prayer, Abraham praYR forhis father and is not forhidden to pray for him;hut hpre Ahraham rloes not nse for him tht'word ,,:,,1 hut ..lIIJ (14: 42). Now, as hasalrearly hrrn Rtaterl, the word ,-:,,1 may beapplircl to a person other than the real fath{'r,hut the word ..lI1J (wiilid) which means" tIll'begetter" is applied to none but the actualfathrr. This clearly shows that .:{zar who hasbeen called th{' ,-:,,' Cab) of Abraham was adifferrnt person from the .\11.1 (wiilid) ofAhraham. He was prohably his uncle.

Some passages of the Bible also support thisconclusion. We are told that Abrahammarried Sarah, the daughter df Terah (Gen.20 : 12). This shows that Terah was not hiBreal father, for in that case he could not DlarryTerah's daughter, his own sister. It appearsthat his father being dead, he was broughtup by his uncle, .A.zar or Atha'f, who gavehim his dau~hter Sarah in marriag{'. As.A.7.arbrought up Abraham and was in theposition of a fathrr to him, the latter cameto be ascribprl to him as a son, and this It'dto the error of .Azar or Athar being takenas the real fathrr of Ahmham. A~ain, fromthe Talmud it appears that A7.ar prosffutf'rlAhraham and prpsented him befoff~ the kingfor tltp offf>nce of brraking idols. HAzarharl bprn the real father of Abraham, hI'woulrl not havp folJowprl Ruch a eonrse againsthis own son.

821. Important Words:..:.,)~]. (ki ngrlmn) is dprivN\ from .!.J.l.i.e.

he possessed complete ownership of, an.d power

707

CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

77. And when the .night darkenedupon him, he saw a star. He said:,

This is my Lord!' But when it set,he said: 'I like not those that set.'822'

78. And when he saw the moon risewith spreading light, he said, 'This ismy Lord.' But when it set, he said,'If my I.Jord guide me not, I shallsurely be of the people who goastray.' 823

79. And when he saw the sun risewith spreading light, he said: 'Thisis my Lord, this is the greatest.' Butwhen it set, he said, '0 my people,surely I am clear of that which youassociate with God.824

-r..",,, ~,J"'-r~",rq~§ '/ ~~" A:\." ,,/ lJ;~V' , ~ ~CW~ \ ~ \~ ,~~

~ .;I' . ~ ..".. v-.

~ .~, ,'"""'"

J" (-:'. ""/'-/

\.ill/"o.. .o\~\V ~ \:.\ ...

0 .."" ." 0 I ~

"""'&:,c,"'/~(,

J" r~r~ .f" "",,~ "" rJ;J:;\ .. . ~v'"~ V; \i,J~~"V- .. .

"~~\ ~~1~ ~v:- ~~) ~ j~

",...

-,.""*r : te~~\

.."

9/~.9/'"/

,J., ""

~.. ~'" J" r~?." r",~ :~.\\"," 8;~~I~(Jj\~ (;~jG :.

~~.

~ ,. ."~~ ~!r~..~"': \ ~'" J/r~ j;~IW~ ~. .., ~ ~..J. ~ ~~~~ ~.., \ .. .

'VI ~ ~ It' ,,"\'~

over. ':"J(l. means, sovereignty; dominion;great kingdom; power to deal with a thing asone likes; the place of holy spirits in theheavens (Aqrab). The word .:..,.,(1.. isspecifically used about the kingdom or dominionof God (Mufradiit). See also 1 : 4.

Commentary :The word';'.J0.. (kingdom), as shown above,

is peculiar to the dominion of God. Thusthe words, And thus did We show Abmhamthe kingdom of the heavens and the earth,mean, We showed Abraham the power andcontrol which We exercise over every partof the universe. Shihiib al~Din Suhrwardi,a great Muslim divine, says in his famouswork, the 'Awarif aZ-Ma'arif, that whena spiritual wayfarer reaches this stage, i.e.,when he is made to witness the sovereignty ofGod, he is, as it were, spiritually re-born andthat no person can be admitted into the presence

of God until he has attained this stage. When,however, a man has attained this stage ofcertainty and conviction, doubt cannot enterhis mind, for then he lives in the verypresence of God.

822. Important Words:

tY= (darkened) means, it covered up. Theysay ~1J:II1tY= or ~'~J:IIItY= i.e. thenight covered the thing up; or the nightthrew its covering of darkness over .the thing.J:III tY= m~ans, the night grew dark. See also2 : 26 & 6: 129.

Commentary:S~e collective note under 6 : 80 below.

823. Commentary:S(Jecollective note under 6 : 80 below.

824. Commentary:See collective note ur.d~r 6: 80 below.

7M

PT. 7 AL-AN' AM CR. 6

80. a' I have turned my face towardHim Who created the heavens and theearth, being ever inclined to God, andI am not of those who associate godswith God.' 825

--_U" ' ~ 0--"

~----_._--------

825. Commentary:Verses 77 to 80 contain an argument which

Abraham employed to bring home to hisidolatrous people the ab~urdity of their beliefin the godhead of the sun, the moon and thestars, which they worshipped (Jew. Ene.). Itis an error to infer from these versesthat Abraham was himself groping in thedark and did not know who his Godwas, that he took the evening star, themoon, and the sun for God one after anotherand, when each of them set in its turn, he gaveup his belief in their divinity and turned to theOne God, the Creator of heavens an.d earth.'fhe passage contains no less than eleven clearevidences to show that Abraham was not reallytaking these heavenly bodies for gods, but thathis object was to demonstrate to his people thevanity of their beliefs, step by step. Some ofthese evidences may be summed up as below:-

Firstly, the opening part of this passage. i.e.the first part of 6: 77 is connected with theIJrevious verses with the double particle Wi(and when) which denotes close sequence i.e.that which has been said in this passage isconnected with, and occurred immediatelyafter, what is related in the preceding verses.Now the preceding verses, i.e. vv. 75 and 76,clearly show Abraham as having attainfdcertainty and conviction of faith and as being afirm believer in one God and being advancedin spirituality. Thus placed and protected,he cannot be considered as groping in thedark like a blind man and wandering frem onedeity to another.Secondly, there is no sense in supposing

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'\I.P.)..)~ ~--p($~~.J~.J ~~

I\~ :" Q;J\ ': \::t~ ~0~~ ~,~ ,."..""

.

a3 : 21.

Abraham to have seen the star or the moonfor the first time that night. He belonged toa conununity which used to worship stars andhe m.ust have seen the stars many tim.es before.If he was really a star-worshipper, he oughtto have first imbibed the idea from what hehad heard from his father and others and notby seeing a star himself, and reflecting over it.Star-worship was not at all a new idea dis-covered by him by looking at a star. Thusthere is no doubt that Abraham's words, Thisis rYIi!J Ldrd, were not meant as an expressionof faith but simply as an argument againststar-worship. He assumed the star he saw tobe his Lord merely to expose its lordship after-wards on the basis of its setting and therebyto tell his people that they were wrong in takingthe star for their Lord.

Thirdly, when the star disappeared, Abrahamis reported to have said, I l'ike not tho.se thatset. Now Abraham certainly knew alreadythat the star must set; he must have alreadyseen it disappear times without number. Sothe argument, I loike not those that set, musthave already been familiar to his mind and hecould not take to worshipping the star in viewof this argument. In fact, what he wanted wasto use the argument against star-worshippersin a way that might prove effective. Sohe first assumed or supposed the star to beLis Lord and, when it disappeared, he hastenedto declare, I like not those that set. Similar wasthe case with the setting of the moon and theSUD. Of the sun he spoke the word" greater"or U grf'atest" ironically in ord('r to taunt hispeople for their foUy. It should be incidcntally

700

AL-AN'AM PT. iCH.6

81. Amlhiapeople argued with him. ~.-:." ~\;j"'..r:-!.\ J"\,;j,~"~(-:E."He said, 'Do you argue with me v..., ~;W ~ ;;~~ ~ a.:;. "concerning Allah when He has guided '1~:-.~,,~ :I , ("~;.. r" ? r-:'" -" ,. j, I,.me aright1 And.l fear .not that which ~~. c>'~1 ~ ~~? \,,0u\Qo. \,-' \:.t~YOU associate wIth HIm, unless my".. 10 /,... .

h.

M L ""~Qr""/"//I~,~ ~~/,\2""""""" ~ -"Lord WIlls anyt mg:. (1

~ or~ @0~~~, ~ ~ V'<J.V-~"j, J.;:"4..>comprehends all thmgs m HIS "',. '"knowledge. Will you not then beadmonished 1826

82. 'And why should I fear thatwhich you associate with God, whenyou fear not bto associate with Allahthat for which He has sent down toyou no authority l' Which, then, ofthe two parties has greater right tosecurity, if indeed you know 1

83. Those who believe and cmix notup their belief with injustice-it isthey who shall have peace, ami whoare rightly guided.

/~ ? ",,,,, '?t.:: ,,,-') ",,, /".(("~,~~~~ ~~;zl ~ u[' ~ :;..

~ ",'),. f A~ ~"~r~,' i9 ~ ,"" ~ JI'..l.

. '\~aLL '.. ':' ,~ ..' ';, ~~ ,,-;; 'j-M'

-P ,/..,,~!?(: 'l:~"~r '..",,, ,/~ ~,,.

@e>.;w~~~Jg.o)J~~,~~\ ~~

~j 1 it?" ,/.~, I' I, \?~~\" 1"~"'iUJJI~~~~ ../~...P'-'~ ../t """ 'I'" "

.91)"q

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a7 : 90. C31: 14.b7 : 34; 22: 72.

lloted here that Abraham did not use theword ...r I (greater or greatest) for the mOOllwhich was also greater than the evening star.'fhe omission is significant, as it clearly shows,that he was already intending to refer to theI!un a.fter disposing of the case of the moon.

Fourthly, if Abraham was really searching forGod and had sincerely taken the star, the moonand the sun, in turn, for his Lord, then theconclusion at which he ought to have naturallyarrived, after gradually rejecting the godheadof these three heavenly bodies, should havebeen that there was no God at all, but insteadof declaring that there was no God, Abrahamforthwith turned to his people sayi,ng, 0 mypeople, surely I am clear of that which YOlUas-sociate with God. I have turned my face toward

Him Who created the heavens and the ev,r~,being ever inclined to God. This shows thatAbraham already knew the true God and believ.ed in Him and was ::!imply trying gradually todraw his people towards Him. Lt:t the readeronly read the whole reply of Abraham (vv.81-83) and it will become crystal clear to himthat Abraham was not only familiar with thename of Allah and believed in Him but 0.180possessed a deep kl~owledge of His attributcs.

826. Commentary:

This and the following two versc8 dt:finitclyshow that the incident related in vv. 77-80above was purposely med by Abraham byway of argument; otherwise he himself was astaunch mOl\Qtheist and had dived deep intothe depths of divine love and knowledge.

7.10

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM

10 84. And that is Our argument which,

We gave to Abraham against his people.aWe exalt in degrees of rank whomsoWe please. Thy Lord is indeed Wise,All-Knowing.827

85. And bWe gave him Isaac andJacob; each did We guide aright, andNoah did We guide aright aforetime,and of his progeny, David and Solomonand Job and Joseph and Moses andAaroll. ~rhus do We reward those W]lOdo good.828

CH.6-~-----

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~~~l~"-; \1>}f{":. '-;;;.. IN& ..., ~j c> $-\,,;J~ l~~-»

~ , ,r~ ".s:"'~'rh' "T}J:,",,!.y., --:.1,

I(/ ~/...

by-, ..V,4).)by~-,~/ ~ ..!JJ

" " 9 &;~/ t,,1 P... ,,(... ,,"." '" ,.., , ,,,

"~ ~:.l.~.J )~\) ~-;:?.) ~-' . ~ ...Wb:~\I ~~j,,,

" '. ",."... "'..9,'" "'~~""'

I ';~ W -' I:,).J~.J~~ J L-QJ~-' y~ J

" ~;'~. ,?'i \ .'-:~~~~'<;.!!I.., - ,

a12:77. b29 : 28.

827. Commentary:This verse forms the concluding portion of

the passage (beginning with 6: 77 above)containing Abraham's argument with hispeople. It definitely settles the questionwhether Abraham gradually came to have afaith in God by taking one heavenly body afteranother for his Lord or whether it was a skiI-fully graduated argument by means of whichhe sought to demonstrate the error of his peoplein worshipping these heavenly bodies as gods.Says God, That is Oural'gument which We gaveto AlJraliam against /rtispeople. Thus, the Quranrefers to what has gone above as an "argument"which God Himself taught Abraham andwhich Abraham used with such great effectagainst Ilis people. This declaration by theQuran leaves not the slightest doubt thatAbraham was n,ot wandering about after falsegods but was trying to convince his people oftheir error by means of a very effective processof reasoning. This is why it is referred to inthe present verse in the light of a favour bythe Wise and AII-kn.owing God.

This verse, though. put in Rukr~' 10, reallyforms part of the preceding passage. It mustbe remembered that the division of the Quran

into 30 Paras (parts) and the division of tbeBuras (Chapters) into Ruku's (sections) was.not made by the Holy Prophet nor by hisCompanions, but was effected long a.fterwardsby Muslim scribes for providing facilit,y inreading, and for the convenience of referencc.III the time of the Holy Prophet there wereonly Buras and verses and nothing else.

828. Important Words:

":"...1.1(Ayyiib or Job), who is the hero of theBook of Job, is mentioned in, the Bible as livingin the land of Uz. Some authorities say tha.tthis is Idumea or Arabia Deserta; others fixMesopotamia as his country. It appears thatUz was somewhere in the north of Arabia.It is said that Job lived there before thedeparture of the Israelites from Egypt. Hethus lived before Moses or, as some say, he wasa compatriot of Moses, having received hisprophetic mission about 20 year.~ before him.Job was not an Israelite, having been descendedfrom E8all, the elder brother of Il"raeI. He ha.da very chequered career, being" tried" byGod in diverse ways; but he proved mostfaithful and righteous and was patient andsteadfast in the extreme. He still lives in thememQry of mankind a.s a. paragon of pat~ence

711

,CH.6 AL-AN'AM PT.?

(Jew. Ene. &, Encyclopaedia. of Islam)..)J'~ (David or Diiwud) has been taken to

mean: (1) beloved 01' friend; or (2) paternalnncle; or (3) beat of aU. King of Judah andIsrael, David, who was of hraeIite origin beingfrom the tribe of Judah, was founder of theJudean dynasty at Jerusalem. The date ofhis reign is generally fix.ed at about 1010-970B.C. He was a great warrior and a greatstatesman. His importance as the realbuilder of the Hebrew Kingdom can hardlybe over-estimated. Through him all thetribes of Israel from Da.n to Beershebabecame united and organized into a powerfulnation whose kingdom ex.tended from theEuphrates to the Nile. Towards the endof his life David had to buffer much at thehands of scheming slanderers, which deeplygrieved him. He has poured out his grief in hiscelebrated Psalms (Ene. Brit. & Enc. Bib.).The Quran, howev~r. absolves him fromthe charges imputed to him in the Bible(38: 19-26).

.;,l.J.. (Solomon) wa, the second son of David,& Bath-Sheba and the third king of Israel.He reigned from ab:mt 971 to 93] B.C. Hewas called Jedidiah (beloved of Yehovah) byNathan, the Prophet. But David was told byYehovah that his son's n'tme should beSolomon (peaceful). These two names arepredictive (;f the character of hi> reign. whic:}was bJth highly prosperous and peaceful.Besides his principal names, Jedidiah andSolomon, various others are assigned to him

, such as A!fUr (he who girt his loins), Bin(he who built the temple), Jakeh (he who"feigned over the world), ltkiel (he whounderstood the signs of God), aud Veal(he who could withstand them). The word.;,l.J.. may have been derived from the root ~which means, he was or became safe ,secure or in peace, or free from evils ofany kind. The fact that he ruled for the

long period of forty years shows that he

must have consolidated firmly the kingdomhe inherited from his father. He was agreat monarch and a wise judge. He greatlye:}..'tended and developed the trade andcommerce of his country and contractedfriendly alliances with foreign rulers. He wasthe master-builder among the Israelite kingsand is best known for his building of theTemple at J~rusalem, which is known as theTemple of Solomon and which became theQibla of the Ismelites for all time. Inspite of the prosperity of his kingdom.SJlomon's reign was not altogether happy.Plots were hatched against him by secretsocieties to bring about his downfall. TheSociety of the Free Masons is also believedto have dated from his reign. He wasfollowed by a worthless son (Ene. Eri. ; Enc.Bib. & Jew. Enc.). Like his fsther, David,SJlomon was the victim of much calumnyand blander from which the Quran hasexonerated him (2 : 103).

.;,J)I. (Aaron) who belonged to the tribe ofLevi, was the son of Amram and the ciderbrother of Moset'. who was three years youngerthan him, their sister Miriam being the eldestof the thr~e. Aaron was the traditionalfounder and head of the Jewi8h priesthoodand, in company with Mo~es. he led theIsraelites out of Egypt. Aaron and Moseswere jointly connnisl!ioned to deliver theIsraelit,es from the clutches of Pharaoll andto preach to them th~ message of the Onenessof God, though Moses was the senior Prophetand Aaron suboJdinate to him. While Moseswas both the religious and secular head,Al,rol1 rl'presented o}Jly the priestly func-tions of his tnbe. His duties were generallyministerial alld IJot directivE'. Aaron Wasknown for his eloquence and peri'uasi\'espeech and was of a mild. amiable disposition(Enc. Bib.; Ene. Bri. & Jew. Enc.).

Commentary:

This and the succeeding verses ten us that not

712

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

86. And tVe guided Zachariah and r" i. j, ~ ~ I ,'" "'::: ~

John and Jesus an? Elias; each one ~ J.b u.l;11~~J ~ -'~ j ~of them was of the vIrtuous.829

~ ",,, I@~\

' ""

only .Abraham but other Prophets also preachedagainst ;1r i.e. setting up associates withGod.

The present verse mentions the dcsctJudant&of Abraham to the second generation, naminga son (Isaac) and a grandson {Jacob or Israel}.The name of Ishmael, the eldest son ofAbraham, has been included in a sel.arategroup (6 : 8j below), and not in a subordin.ate

position under Abraham.

The reader should note that the Prophetsdescended from Noah have been divided in t1~present and the succeeding two Verse.. intothree diJTerent ~roups and to each group hasbeen added a separate description. The firstgroup referred to in the present verse comprisesDavid, Solomon, Job, Josepb, Moses andAaron-Prophets who were given power andprosl)erity, and who consequentlJ' were ableto do good to hUlnan beingf'!. Hence :membersof tbis group have been designated as ~ Ior doers of good, for througll the,r temporalpower and prosperity they were able to domaterial good to humanity. David andS'.>lomon were kin~s; Josepb and Job wereblessed with prosperity after they had beentried with afHictions which ther both bore wit.hextraordinary pa.tience. Mosl's lwd AaronenjoYt~d supreme authorit;r among their

pe°l'lc.

The second group (for which see (j : 86) consistsof Zacharial1, John, Jesus a11l1Elias. None oftht>,se pORscHsed temporal rower or worldlygoods; each Ii \-ed a humble and lowly life, somuch 80 that of mias it is said that hewas rarqly seen and generally livt'd in thewoods. Hence thev have been di:ff£'rel1Hatedin 6:86 as bf-t..n' i.e. virtuous. The first

three comprising the Becond group werecontemporaries; while Elias, thougb not acontemporary, bore a striking resemblan.ce to,John, who ca.-me in his spirit a.nd I)ower; so

he also has been classed with this grot.p.

The third group (meltt.ioned in 6: 87) consistsof Ishmael, Elisha, Jonah &ud Lot. 'fhey hadno worldly power, but God granted them graeeand excellence. It has been alleC1ed about<:)them that they cO'y-etedpower and riches. OfIshmael, we rend in the Bible: "He will bea wild man; .bis hano will be against everyman, and every man's hand against bim" (Gen.16 : 12). In the Talmud, Ishmael is r(:presentedas baving followed his father Abrah&m whenthe Jatter took Isaac out for sacrifice, rejoicingat the thougl:t that Ite would inllerit all thelands and herds. Of Elisha it is said that hecaused a king, who di,d not obey him, to beslain so that lie might trus gain politicalpower. Jonah was ilispleased with God,because he was disgraced by the Ilon-fu1filmelltof hiB prophecy, which, it is alleged, showedthat he sought power for himsdf. Of I.ot it isalleged that he coveted fertile pasture-lands:md was always quarrelling' with bis kinsman,Abraham. Thus all these Prophtts have beenaccused of coveting wealth and power. But,the Quran dtclares all t.hese charges to befalse. These Prophets were a group of heavenlyl)eople enjoying sJ}iritual communion withGod. They had 110 nef>d to be covetous orseekers of power;- for, as stated in (j : 87, Godha.d " exalted" them above the people.

829. Important Words:

U" ~I"(Elias or Elijah) who lived about 900 B.C.was a native of Gilead, a country on the easternbank of the Jordan. Accordingto the Bible,

713

CH. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

87. And We also guid€d Ishmael and ~~ " fI~'~/ "'."" t-;.}t" '1'-' ~I"Eli::;ha and Jonah and Lot: and (leach ~--' 1.\.0';--' u-->~-' .." ~,,)

one did We exalt above the people.83O / ;""@~\ ~ l1JJ

88. And We exalted some of theirfathers and their children and theirbrethren, and We chose them and Weguided them in the straight path.

-'9: ::"\"c , .\" :\"

, ..1 ...~/ , f,,'., .-

~~~~")~IC))r.;~~I~ J

GI '..:: ,~ t l" JI "~,;"...

"dA~ IoMAbl~ ~J \..10. ..J'.""

-- ~"..;I~ ;~;.~.J? '/

a2 : 48; 3: 34-35; 45 : 17.

he was translated to heaven (II Kings 2).We read in Malachi : "Behold, I will sendyou Elijah, the Prophet, before the com.ing ofthe great an.d dreadful day of the Lord" (4: 5).This prophecy, as interpreted by Jesus (Matt.11 : l4), was fulfilled in the person of John theBaptist, who was his forerunner and who came

" ill the spirit :\l~d power of Elijah." Similarly,the prophecy about the secOl~dadvent of JesushimscIf has been fulfilled in the person of Ahn\adof QadiaI~, the Proll~ised Messiah, who cameil~ the spirit and power of Jesus.

Commentary:

See 6: 85 above.

830. Important Words:

~ I (Elisha) was the sou of Shaphat, thedisciple and successor of Elijah. He was anative of Abehneholah, a village in GaIilee.He was taken from the plough and anointedby Elijah to be his successor. Directedby God, Elijah found him. in the fieldand threw his Inantle over him. Manymiracles are attributed to Elisha. Butneither the sanctity of his life nor the miracleshe wrought had the effect of reforming thenatiOl~at large. At length, worn out by hispublic al~d private labour, he breathed hislast at the age of rollety in 838 B.C.

~j. (Jonah), son of Amittai, was born inGa.th-hepher, in the tribe of Zebulun. He

lived either before or during the reign ofJeroboam lIor in the reign of Jehoahaz about850 B.C. He was an Israelite Prophet with aInissiOl~ to the people of Nineveh. J ollahprophesied the destruction of his people within40 days. But they repented and turntdto God with humble supp1icatioI~, whereuponthey were saved. This, however, upset Jonahwho, being ashamed to face his peol)le,ran away and, while crossing a sea, was throwninto the water and swallowed by a fish (;1"oDah1 : 17). Jonah reulained in the belly of thefish for three days and was then disgorged byit and saved. It is to this incident that Jesusreferred when he said that no miracle wouldbe shown to his people except that of Jonah(Matt. 16 : 4), meaniug that he would be put011the Cross but would be taken down alive andwould then be placed in the womb of the earthfor three days after which he would escapetherefrom, just as Jonah had escaped from thebell y of the fish.

Commentary:

See 6 : 85 above. The verse speaks of Lot asbeing" exalted above the people." Now ifthe word uJ,1.I1 (lit. the peoples) be takento signify" "all the peoples," it would beevidently wrong; for Lot lived in the time ofAbraham and was admittedly not superior tothe Pahiarch. Thus the word ~W I cannot

here signify even" the people of the age" as

714

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM

89. That is the guidance of Allah.He guides t.hereby those of His servantswhom He pleases. And aif they hadworshipped aught beside Him, surelyall they did would have been of noavail to them.831

90. It is these to l'whom We gave theHook and dominion and prophethood.But if these people are ungrateful forthem, it matters not, for We have nowentrusted them to a people who arenot ungrateful for them.832

~._~

a39 : 66.

CR. 6

~ (:s.: fw ~/ ~~ ?/ ~\ <S~~1I~'''a'} ..~ '"~...

"00~L!;~~*};~;J ~;.£t§~

~(!~I\//(9;I/ cliS\ .9j!f:~'\GJJ\~;\~~~-' ... ~ .,... k?.-:. /./ ,~ ~ // ~9" ~9" ., /

~9" ~~..r~. (;$'" . \ .~;. ~~~~ ~ . ~ C)~I~ ~ -'~ ~ ~ ~""- :::r

'"

~""J. ",[)~. .~#11'''-"

,

b45 : 17.~ ~-_.-

it has beel~ rendered elsewhere but simplyOf the people," i.e. a section thereof. In fact,the exaltation spoken of here refers only to thepeople to whom the Prophets mentioned ill theverse were sent.

831. Commentary:The verse siglufies that real aud true guidance

is that which was given to the Prophets namedin the above verses; they all preached against!J~ (idol-worship). The latter part of theverse hints that these Prophets did notassociate anything with God even before theywere sent as Prophets; otherwise they woulduot have been raised to that high spiritualrallk.

832. Commentary: ..The giving of a Book by God generaHy occurs

in two ways: Firstly, directly, as in the caseof Moses and the Holy Prophet of Islam.Secondly, il~directly, as in the case of thosel>rophets to whom no new Book was revealedand who only followed a Book that had beenrevealed to a previous Prophet. Thus of theTorah we are told in the Quran, Surely, We sentdown the Torah wherein was guidance and light.By it did the Prophets who were obedient toUs. judge for tke .Jews (5: 45). The above

quoted verse proves that there appearedmany Prophets anwng the Israelites towhom no new Book was revealed and whoonly followed the Torah. This statement ofthe Quran is also borne out by history, whiuhtells us that there were many Prophets amongthe Israelites to whom no Book was revealed.Hence, when the verse under comment says:It is these to whom We gave the Book, it doesnot mean that a Book waS given to everyProphet separately but only that every Prophetreceived knowledge of the divine Book. Anotherconsideration which lends support to the aboveconclusion is that the word" these" put inthe begil~ning of the verse not only refers tothe Prophets named in the foregoing verSCI:5,bu t also to some of their fathers and their childrenand their brethren (6: 88), and it is evident thatthe latter did not receive any new Book.

'fhere are also other verses of the Quran illwhich the expression. " We gave the Book"has been used in the sense of giving the Bookindirectly. Among others the reader is referredto 2:122; 2:147; 29:48 &45:17. It isof interest that in the last-mentioned verse,i.e. 45 : 17, not only the Book but all the threethings mentioned in th" verse under commenthave been spoken of as having been given to

715

CR. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

91. These it is whom Allah guidedaright, so follow thou their guidance.Say: 'I ask not of you any rewardfor it. This is naught but anadmonition for all mankind. '833

R. 11 92. And athey do not make a justestimate of Allah, when bthey say:'Allah has not revealed anything toany man.' Say: 'Who revealed theBook which Moses brought, a light andguidance for the people-though youtreat it as scraps of paper which youshow while you conceal much; and youhave been taught that which neitheryou nor your fathers knew? '-Say:,

Allah '. Then leave t.hem to amusethemselves with their vain discourse.834

~,-~---~-~ ~.__.

r'-:; .,!.J.., -:.: , J I , --: ,; , ", .::. - 9

~ J,::~~\ fY~ 4.U\c$J.Jb~~, ~Jtt ~ I~~. -,(1.:1 \

,,' ., "~'''''I& !(1,~.: I

@~L)'y:)..~C)~~ "".. ~I (I

J' ",I" -- 'r:'.',.., ~ ' , ,

v1LIJj\ ~\j~)l~~~~~\~)~~)~

"" ' t1: .""." ." ,,'''; .......~~J'jJ\ ~I JJI J; J; brsz~? ~

... ?

~ ' '''{

''''~ f-:'\~ 99""~' , ,"rI""" ~ "',"

7

'l>..,!yd.; .W; ' 1.5~.J~!J~~,.....

~9"""",,,,,{'~ .!..t?..~ ~".

/, ,9,9"'

.

\~(. "

,.9l;.l:.j" ''..Ok.,,' :. d~j~-'~~ , ..",,'

~;~~;~jj~~,~~j~;)f;~1;~~

@\:) . ..

r~ ~--~ ',_~_.~-

a22 : 75; 39 : 68.

the children of IsraeL The verse runs thus:And We gave the children of Israel the Book,and sovereignty, and prophethood, and Weprovided them with good things, and exalted themover the people of the time (45 : 17).

In short, when on the One hand we learn notonly from the Quean but also from lu!;torytlu~t there have been numy Prophets who didnot receive any new Book directly, and on thcother hand, we see that the cxpression, " 'Wegave the Book" has also been used in theQuran in the sense of giving a Book indirectly,the verse un.der comment camwt be inter-preted to mean that every Prophet was givena Book directly from God. Ml1s1imCommen-tators are agrced in holding that every Propht~twas not given a Book directly by God, andthat in the case of those Prophets to whom noBook was given directly, the words, "We gavethe Book", simply mean, "We gave themkn.owledge or understanding of the Book", or

" We made them inherit the Book."

b36 : 16; 67 : 10.

The word" people" in the latter portion ofthe verse refers to Muslims; and the pronoun

" thcm" at the end refers to the Book,dom;nion and prophethood m.en.tioned in theopening clause of the ver!;e.

833. Commentary:

The word!>,so follow tl,ou tlteir guidance, !Haybe taken to be addre!;sed either to the HolyProphet or to every Mu~lim. The fundamentalteaching of all Prophets is the saml'.

834. Commentary :In. this verse the Quran give!; the reason why

there are differences in religion. Differen<;esspring from ignorance, from a lack of truec!;tima.tion or true understanding, as indicatedby the words, tltey do not make ajust estimate ojAllah. Indeed, those who say that Allah has notrevealed an,ytMng to any man make a very poorestimate of His attributes. To hold such a viewabout God is highly derogatory to His glory

and most inconsistent with His attributes.

716

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CR. 6

93. And athis is a Book which Weh~ve revealed, fun of blessings, tofulfil that which preceded it, and toenable thee bto warn the Mother oftowns and those around her. Andthose who believe in the Hereafterbelieve therein and rthey strictlyohserve their Prayers.835

,~-~ --~ ~._-_.-

(/6 : 156; 21 : 51; 38: 30.,,~._~_.- ---'

" ~ ~---."'..-,- "--------

A'! regards religious beliefs, there were twoclasses of men in the days of the Holy Prophet.Firstly, there were those who denied revelationin toto. According to them, there had neverbeen any revelation in any age. Secondly,there were those who believed that there hadbeen revelation in the past, but that God hadsent no revelation in their own age. To thefirst-mentioned class belonged t,he i.ff.r-(idolaters) i.e. those who ascribed co-partnersto God and worshipped idols. To the secondclass belonged the People of the Book. As thewords, Allah has not 1'ewaZed anything to anyman, may mean, (l) that God has. neverre\'ealed anything to any man; or (2) that Hehas not revealed anything to any man'in thepresent age, so they may be ascribed to bothidol-worshippers and tIle People of the Book.In the foregoing verses only the former wereaddressed, but now the latter have also brenincluded in the address.

As regards the People of the Book, the Qura,nspecificaHy states: Say, Who rfflJealed the Bookwhich Moses brought, a light and guidance forthe people, though you treat it as scraps of paperwhich you show while you conceal much, i.e.,you have split up the Book of Moses into parta,disclosing one part and concealing the otherwhich contains prophecies and signs of then.dvent of the Holy Prophet. You deny theQuranic revelation, but your own Book containsevidence of its truth which you suppress.

If~e above reply, however, could not satisfy

/1" ., . -:. !.~ ", ~\'(,' 9 I~"" f9I,t',~ I ",.~ L>VJ\ "'~ ~ y,..o d.;J. ., i VJ.~.. '",; . ~., ~

""t~ \/f-:~t" ";,,,. .'~i \ -;.''''",""

A9...'.~~ -'\fbJ~if .J1.SY'l -",I)~.. ~~."~~

" "~t~,""" ~ ~'-! ;' ;"'.~i~ ~"~ ~J~... ~~) I

:-i.:)~~)~-, ;, cJ~)?

t.:)..""'t:.r/!~~~~---~--~

bi2: 8. C23-1O; 70: 24.._-~--

the idol-worshippers who did not believe inthe Book of Moses or, for that matter, In anyrevealed Book. The Quran, therefore, givesthem a rational answer. It says, And youhave been taught that which neither you nor YOU'Tfathers knew. This is an argument which ismeant to prove the divine origil1 of the Quranrationally and is meant not merely for thePeople of the Book bui also for idol-worshippers.The argument may be put thus: "If thisBook (the Quran) has not been revealed byGod, then who embodied in it such wise andcomprehensive teachings as were known neitherto you nor to your forefatherE-teachiugswhich it was beyond your power to produce?Such teachings could not proceed from a man.On1y God could give such teachings. "

The last words of the verse, i.e., leave them toamuse themselves with thei1' vain discourse, donot mean that you should abal1don preachingto disbelievers. The meaning is, "Tellthem and make clear to thf:'m that the Quranis the word of God, for it is superhuman andfn}] 0 f wisdom; but if they still IpeJsist in

ridiculing it, then leave them alone while theythus amuse themsf'lves." This injunction issimilar to the one given in 6 : 69 above.

835. Important Words:

~.I~ (full of blessings) is derived from !J.r.They say J..J:I !JJ. i.e. the camel kneeledand lay down on his chest with his legs folded.

~J. also II\pans,he or it was or became firm,

717

CH.6 AL-AN'AM~_._~--~

steady or steadfast. ~-:n J- ~J. (ban'aka)means. he prayed that such a one might beblessed. ~ ~)~ mean,s, he kept or apphed him.-

self cOUfltantly to it. ~.» I ~ J~ or 4i .», ~J~means, may God bless thee and make theeprosperous, or ma.y He continue to showerblessings on thee. .» I ~.)'l means, blessedis God; or hallowed is He; or far rem,ovedis H~ from every imperfection; or highlyexalted is He. U J. (barakat) means, a blessing;any good bestowed by God, particularly thatwhich continues and goes on increasing.It, also m~an'l, increa'le, abundance or plenty.~..>J. (birka) mealH~, a tan.k dug in the ground;a lake or pond; a place where water remainsand collects. ~J~ means, blessed; giftedwith ble~sing; aboun,ding in good (Lane).

rl (m.other), apart from its primary meaning,also signifies: sour!)e, origin, foundationor basis; support or cause of subsistence;the main or chief part of a thing; anything towhicb other things are collected .together Orjoined; place of collection or comprehensionor cOlubination of a thing. The. word is alsoapplied to inal\imate things, as the Arabs say;J~I i' i.e. the mother of the tree; or

i.J~lil i.e. the Milky Way, viz. the placewhere the stars are collected together in a greatmultitud.e. lS}l1 i' signifies, the motherof the towns; the luetropolis; Mecca, becauRe,being tile Qibla, it is the gathering-place ofmen, or beca.use of all towns it possesses thegreatest dignity. In fact, every city is thl'

i' of the smalllr t,owns a.round it (Lane).Mf'cca is called lS}l1 i' alf!o hecansl' it is thl'Aource of spiritual foofl for mankind.

Commentary:

This vprse fnrt.ller f'xplains thf' rational :1fgll-ment contained in the words, you hal'e been

PT. 7

taught that which neither .you nor your father8knew (see note on the preceding verse), andmakes it clear that it is the Qllran that thewords quoted above refer to. The present versementions four features of the Quran: (1) ithaA been sent by God; (2) it is fuB of blessingsas the word ~JI:- indicates, i.e., it is a Boakin which, like a ~">J. (a place where watercollects), are collected all the blessi)lgs of God;(3) it fulfils that which preceded it, i.e., it fulfilsthe prophecies contained in the previousScriptures; and (4) it has been revealed sothat the Holy Prophet may warn thereby theMother of towns and those around her. Theplace where a Prophet of God appears is called

" the mother of towns," for it is out of it thatmen drink Rpiritual milk, even as II.child sucksmilk from the breast of its mother. The words,those around her, are intended to include thewhole earth. The earth being round, all partsof it lie around the place where the HolyPropbet made bis appearance i.e. Mecca.Thus this verse also proves the universalmission of the Holy Propbet.

The words, those who believe in the Heretafterbelieve therein, signify that II. true believrr inthe life to come cannot but believe in theQuranic teaching. In fact, he who has realfaith in the life to come will always be anxiousto find out the truth in order to ensure hissalvation, and he who earnestly seeks aftertruth will necessarily be led to believe in theQuran, for as the Quran says: those who strivein Our cause-We will surely guide them in OU1ways (29: 70). Thus belief in the Quran isreally a criterion of true faith in the Day ofResurrection. Again, when a man comf'S tohave faith in the QnraD, be will naturally tryto mould IUiIactiollR accofrling to its teaching'!anJ will be constant in his Prayers.

il~

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM~ ~ ~

~---~-

94. And awho is more unj lIst thanhe who forges a lie against AlJah, orRays,. 'It has been revealed to me,'while nothing has been revealed tohim; and who says, 'I will senddown the like of that which A]J~h l)3,ssent down?' And if thou couldstonly see, when the wrongdoers are inthe agonies of death, and the angelsstreteh forth their hands, saying, 'Yieldup your souls. hThis day shaH you beawarded the punishment of disgrace,hecause of that which you spoke againstAUah falsely and because you turnedaway from His Signs with disdain.'836

CH.6

'""9

J"'rt""r~ ,1'

I1~ Ir."

"', 'Ill'" 7"'"~I ~J\~~~\~(S~'~~ld.J

"," 1."~ /. [(. .,/'" &"/' .

,... /

."'''''' '" "''''\:'-J"c.: J ~, 'u ~~4;)' ~ _'''1\~ ~ ~-' ~.',... ,.,...~ ,~.J'-'"

"', "'/.""

I'\'''' ",,,J., ",,,,,,,'-/

9;1\9j-~d~'~1lS"ii~.J ~I Jyil ~'"bp')''''~1''''' , ,,,--'

r""KJ'J""-''''II'' "".,,', 'IT,' w!I'\! .~" '''1;/'~ ~-t> ~,, ~. ~

.i~ /,,,~!..(.,~.:~/ .?!\ \ "' \/,/ /'-::>.~

iJ*" c.:J.Y~ ~\...:j ~ (:)YO' '-! 0.wc.>-'>?tJ""""

",.", % ::.

.

-:. I' ,'" !.,~y", ..",' ""~ ~~CU~ ~J~~--,~~~I

~-_._--

~ '-~-~ ~---~--~-

b46 : 21.a6 : 22; 7 : 38; 10: 18; 11 : 19; 61 : 8.

836. Commentary:

This verse gives another reason of the fact thatthe Quran is the revealed word of God. Ifthis Book, saye the verse, is not the word ofGod, then he who has forged this lie agai))stGod is the most guilty of men and cannot escapedivine punishment. But the verse also remindsdeniers or Jejectors that if the Quran is nota. forged Book but the word of God, as itactuaUy is, then they are as .great offenders asthe one who forges a lie against God. In thiscaRe, it will be they who will be visited withdivine punishment.

The second sentence, i.e., orsays, It has beenrevealed to me while notMng ltas been revealedto hi'm, may he taken as an exrlanation orelaboration of the first sentence, i.e. wlwforges alie ago,inst Allah; or the first sentence is general,while the second is particular. For instance,fa]';!>ly to ascribe any teachin~ to God willcome under the first category, and to claimfalRely that God has Rpoken to him particularwordR wiJ] COlnr under the second.

By Raying, I 1lJill,yend d01lJnthe like of tllatwhich Allah lla,y sent dO'uJn,a disbeliever onlyborrows the phraseology of those whom he

addresses, viz., believerR. Being a disbelif'Vrr indivine revelation. he does not be]jcvr that Godsends down anything, so he only quotes threxpression made use of by believers concrrp)ngdivine rrvcJation. Another instance of suchusage is to be met with in 5 : 44.

The word,'!, if thou couldst only see, signifythat if anyone should witness the tornwnt,-which the deniers of Prophets undergo whrntheir souls leave their bodies, he would at oncerealize how severe is the torment of those whoreject a divine Messenger. This torment if; notto be identified with the ordinary agonirs ofdeath, which are shared, undrr thr general Jawof naturp, hy rightl'ous and :unrighf,r.ous alike,but to the specific punishment, that clingB tothe rrjectors of Prophets from thp very monwntof their rlp:1.th. Thr "punishment of il.isgrace "mentioneil. in thl' latter part of the versrrl'fers, as thl' words" thiR day" indicatl',not to the pun.ishment of He]! hut to thrpunishment which sinners hegin to under-go immediately after death aT}i[ heforrthe Day of Resurrection. This is known asAJI ,,:,IJ. ('Adhab al-Qrthr) i.e. punis1nnent inthe grave, in l,glamic religious terminology.

719

cn.6 A!--AN'AM PT. 7

95. And now ayou come to Us one "~/ J/~\'/(i;'I-:Vf' \ ,/~f~'J~.;' ,~//

by one even as We created you at 1yA --'~~ l>.)i>'U~~~first, an~ you have left behind you

:~~ l~r//'r."y.,9 9 ~// .,-('!\// " .,!.~/"that whICh \Ve bestowed upon you, r\S.J'\J~ ~~-*;!>--'~~~~;;;and We see not with you your inter- ~

./

...

cessors of whom .you ass~rted that t~ey j,'~\~~\~dJj,;J~~!~were partners 1.V~thGod m your affaIrs. ~.., ";

Now.

you have been cut off from one t /'H""'!~".9(f~~ "T"'~/ ~ ~\f~f.,// II

another and tl)at which you presumed '~I.:J~;~";". ~)"... ~ I..\AI~

has failed yoU.837I.

R. 12. 96. V~rily, it is Al1ah Who causes ~ ~~\,; ~9 ;t"~I\/ ~\ !.\~~\ -:,tIle gram and the date-stones to ~ ~..., \.:.~.\;;1.Y"1.)

~ ~ \:)...

sprout. bHe brings forth the living 1//,' ~t,), "," ., , ~,'"

.,from the dead, and He is the hringer j~ ~\ b) ~\ ~ ~\\ ~~ ~ ~\forth of the dead from the living. That ""'" , .,1

is Allah; wherefore, ,then, are you ~ ;;~yturned back 1838

(lI8: 49. b3 : 28; 10: 32; 30: 20.

~ or grave being the name given to the placewhere souls are kept after death but beforeResurrection. Says the Holy Prophet: "Whenanyone dies, a window is opep.ed out for himin the grave facing Heaven or Hell as the casemay be" (M1i.jah, ch. On Qab1'). This is ofcourse not the final retribution but only pre.paratory to it.

837. Important Words:

~\:.JJ':' (bestowed on you) is derived fromJ!,.:. which m~a.ns. he became possessed ofservants, slaves and other depender.ts as wellas gifts, after having been without them.~t. .il1,Jy:- means, God conferred upon himproperty as a. favour. The noun J ~I means,

slaves, servants and other dependents, or cattle,camels, etc. given to one by God; a gift orgifts (Lane). The word signifies the bestowal ofthings meant for the betterment and progressof the person receiving the-m (Mufrad1i.t).

Commentary:

As shown under Important Words, J y:-. (bestowal)impliesthe givingof a thin~for the

nO

purpose of setting thing8 right or bettering thecon(lition of the recipient. Thus, the sentence.you have left beh'ind you that which We bestowedupon you, means, "We gave you certain thingsso that you might thereby improve yourspiritual condition, but you have left thelnbehind, i.e. you made no use of them, a.nd nowthe time for their U8e has passed away."

The words, We see not with you your intercessors,illl.ply that your hop:\ lay in your mediators,whom you supposed to

.be co-partners with

God and who, you imagined, would help you;but your connection with them is now com-pletely cut off and they are not here with youto render you ar1.Yhelp; they have failed youand become entirely lost to you.

838. Commentary:

The Quran now proceeds to give argumentsfrom nature to prove the need of revelationan.d divine guidance. Firstly, the attention ofman is drawn to the seeds and stonesfrom which trees sprout. How insignificantis the seed, but how it grows and develops

p~ '1 AL-AN'AM CR. 6

97. aIle ca.

uses the br,eak o,f day; :;il~~I-:'~ 1,1, '\~~,. ~fn,," ~\f{and bHe made the mght for rest ~'.) -' u-:! ~.J?2~~I(..)/\Jand cthe sun and the moon forreckoning time. That is the decree ofthe Mighty, the Wise,839

98. And He it is 1Whohas made the ;~ r~ . I"j;(1"!~I\i~ j~ ". ~1\..-1,.

stars for you that you may follow the ~,. ~ ~ /D~»>J . tS~~.-'

right direction with their help. amid- ..- I'" f"r "..~ .". j, .,,,.,.., . 9 ,the darknesses of the land and the sea, ~ ~ ~~\~~~\.)~\ ~\Va have explained the Signs in detail '7" ...' ...

for a people who pOSSBSSknowlcdge.84O @~~

, , ...' II., '/... Ifq "@> '\"'q.J~17 ~~. J.~t.:;~ ..." Y:..; ...) .

a113 : 2 ; b25 : 48; 78: 11 ; 55: 6.c 36 : 39-40 ; d16 : 17.

into a. big tree. Sim.ilarly, you look upon manas a contemptible thing and say, Allah hasnot revealed anything to any man (6: 92). Butman also, whom you imagine to be so despi-cable, is like a seed and is capable of growinginto something great.

'j'he words, He brings fortlt tlte living from thedead, signify that not unoften noble and greatmen are born of low and iII-bred parents. WIlYthen do you wonder and think it impossibletl;1at a righteous man should rise spirituallyal\d become recipient of divine favours!Your God has made man after the manner ofa seed. He has endowed him with manyfaculties and has made him capable of greatprogress. Why do you not then understandand see the truth!

839. Important Words:

t~ (reckoning) is the noun-infinitivefroln ~. They say ~ i.e. hellull~bered or counted or reckoned it. i.I\.-means, numbering, counting or reckoning; alflopunishlnent, calamity or affiiction with which0. :man is tried; the revolving firmament (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, He causes the break of day, signifythat just as God causes the dawn to break i.e.the night to change into day, similady He

brings men from. spiritual darkness into light.He takes them out of the darkness of disbeliefand sin into the light of faith and virtue.

The words, He made the night jor rest, /:lignifythat just as a n~an who works during the daygets tired an,d goes to sleep at night and thellgets refreshed, similarly the people amongwhom the Holy Prophet made his appearancehad had a long llight of rest, and so their powershad been, renewed. The Holy Prophet hadmade his appearance when the time was ripefor it and when the people, with their powersrefreshed, were best fitted for work and coUIdbenefit most by his advent. They were nowfull of energy and well able to ascend theheights of spirituality under his lead; and so itactually happened.

By referring to the sun and the moon in thisverse, the Quran draws the attention of thedeniers of revelation to the fact that, just asin the physical world the SUn and the mOOllare indispensable, being measures of time andsources of light, so are the ProphetH of Godindispensable in the spiritual world.

840. Commentary:

The argument embodied in this verse rUllSlike this: !' When God has made stars forguidance during the hours of night in the

721

CH.6- AL-AN'fi..M PT. .,

99. And He it is aWho has producedyou from a single person and there isfor you ba home and a lodging. Wehave explained the Signs in detail fora people who understand.841

t9",,~9""

, .~ ..

~?"'''''/.-'" ft

j;;-'~~J-:>~ ~~~ 8!J'JJ'~~)?"'~ ".::r-

,,,7~'-:' I'~\ II~~"" }.<9" '"..9"

~~~~~~~\ . w' ~ u~j

bll : 7.a4 : 3; 7 : 190; 39 : 7 ;~~ ,---,-,--'~"-'~' ~

,~---~

physical world, would He make no sta.rs for theguidal~ce of man in the spiritual world? Thespiritual welfare of man is much m.ore importanttha.n his physical welfare; so when God hascrea.ted means of guidance for the temporalwelfare of man, does it not ::;tand toreason that He should have also providedmeans for the spiritual guidance of crringhumanity? "811. Important Words:

~)kil (1w.::;produced you). The word kilis derived from ~ which means, he lived;he rose or became high or elevated; hegrew up; it became produced or originated.~, means, he created, produced or origin-

ated; he ra.ised or lifted (Lane).

~ (home) is derived from vi which means,

he or it settled or became fiCIn or fixed orestablished; or he or it remained or continued in.L place; or he or it re..ted; or he or it becamestill or quiet or stationary. ~I gives the samemeaning as above. It also means, it subsisted.

~ m.ea.ns;-place or time of settledness;or of permanence and continuance i.e. home;also a resting place (Lane).

t:';- (lodging) is derived from t:.1 (wada'a)or t..).1 (wadu'a) which means, he or it becamestill, quiet or at rest. ~~I t.:.1 (wada'a)means, he left off the thing. )It..~ t:.1means, he left the property with him as adeposit. ~.).J (wadda'a-hu) means, he badehim farewell; hz f;}rsook or de~erted him.)'1. ~.);"I IIleans, he entrusted him withproperty for safe custody. t:J.- meaIl8, adepository; a ,place of safety or security;

womb or the parlof the body in which the

child lies before its birth (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:The cxpfi-'ssiollS }i.- (home) amI t.) J.-

(lodging) besides giving distinct and indepclI-dent meanings are also sometimc!:' use(l togive identical meanings, being interclJangc-able. The Quran says _l:.i\. r~J)l1 t.i }>J i.e.And We cause what We will to remain in thewombs (22 : 6). Again it says.}:- ,/ J~IJ IJ.1i.e. and for yOU there is an abode in thelJarth (2: 37). From these two verses itappears t.hat according to the Qura1), "thewomb" of the mother and" the enth,"though places of t('mporary residence, arceach a JU- i.e. a resting-place or a homefor men. Corresponding to these, "the womb"may be called a t.~J.- i.e. a 10Clgingor adepository. 'rhe next world is truly a }i.-i.e. a home for man. In faot these are reallyrelative terms, the same place being hoth a}i.- and a t..)J- in reference to differentthings. Agail}, a place mr.y he called a }i.-(home) because one stays therein, and it maybe called a }i.- (lodging) hecause it providessecurity.

The verse signifies that wht'll God hasmultiplied humanity out of one individual,it Gould not be without a purpose. 'I'hcgreat object for which He }las oreated andmultiplied humall beings is that He has!tPpointed for them not only a period ofresidence on this earth but also an everla::;tinglife beyond the grave where the righteouswill meet the Lord-a. lofty goal to whichthey can rise under the guidance of divine

Messengers..

7~

PT. 7 AL':'AN'AM

100. And it is aHe Who sends downwater from the cloud; and We bringforth therewith every kind of growth;then We bring forth with thatgreen foliage wherefrom We produceclustered grain. And from the date-palm. out of its sheaths, come forthbunches hanging low. And We producetherewith bgardens of grapes, an~ ~heolive and. the pomegranate-smlll~rand dissimilar. Look at the fnutt,]lercof when it bears fruit, and theripening thereof. Surely, in this areSigns for a people who believe;842

- --~-~----

'--

tH.6.------_.-

\~.,," '-", ,,,,,,,--,, ,~4;'\j z:~~~(:~I\~ J';I cSJJ\~,;~

"

i.",,9,:,

\9 '" " .

c-: """f{~'-:'cJ '" r :

~. "~~'~7 ~;~~ ... .:Y' {y;,o o.

~ ,;(,,,,,~

. ,'" r~~"'''? 1-~\ . \ ~M'" ,~ \..:~\I ~

...

'l'W \ ~.."')C)~

"~~ ~j ."p.

~/ ~.9 ""r~ V~ I"'... ,!,'<.

\{,

r"""'"" ~"''''..-~ . . A (.;)\..0

--'(.:)--.I

; \ . u \.:.>\ ...A ~ .J:,.. ~ .~j' ~ ~ v" ~ .

b,..\ ~,; ,;:.'~ -""/:~J "T~9'9J,Ac:;.~""""'~~ II' \ ~ II'

.\ "\) :." .

I .. ...J~ .~'" I~"'~ ~~ ~-'"",.,9 ,,,,.- 11"j) ' ,. "e~~~~-~\~;1' ,)u,='d~~.:;;. \~~ ~u

""/ \willi'

u,'

-_."-'------ -----

be; : 142; I a : 5.a14:33; 16:11; 22:61; 35:2~.._, ,

-_.---. ' -----------

842. Important Words:

If';. (clustered) is derived from ~)J.They say ~).J i.e. he rode it or nwuuted it ;it got upon it or it became sU}JerincumbelltUPOll it. ~'j lUeans, it layonc part UpOIlanother; it was or became hea.ped or piled up.So ~ I;' n~eans, piled or clustered together

one above another (Aqrab).

Cb (sheaths) is froID. the verb tt. (lala'a) i.e. heor it rose or appeared or camc forth. i ~is what comes forth from the pa.lm tree andoecomes da.tes; the spathe or flowers of thepalm tree (Lal\C).

iJl.."u (bunches) is the plural of p whichill. derived from 1:.;. They say JII.II:.; i.e,he acquired and amassed property for himself.;; means, a bunch of dates (Aqrab).

.~ (the ripening thereof). e is from theverb e... (yaM'a). 'l'hey say ~I t!- i.e. thefruit became ripened a.nd fit for gathering;it (fruit, etc.) bechme red. ~~ means, the

ripe fruit. e is both the noun-ill.1initive fromthe verb e (yana'a) in which case it meansthe ripening of a fruit, and the plural of ~~in which case it means the ripe frUlts(Aqrab).

Commentary:

III this verse revelatiou is likened to mil~-water'and the verse al~swers the question why thereis discord and strife at the advent of ProphetS,jf revelatioI~ is indeed a blessing. The ver::;e

S!~ys that just as by min-water a.1I kinds ofvegetation grow up, both bad and good, accord-ing to the seeds lying concealed in the earth,sim.ilarly at the advent of divine revelation,men, sofar remaining mixed up, become dividedinto good and bad. The good ones accept theMessenger of God, help him and become piousand holy, like trees wJ1ichbear good fruit orlike shrubs which bring forth beautiful flowersor like herbs which give out a sweet odour;but there arc others-the bad oneH-whooppose the Prophet, persecute his followersand act corruptly in the earth. 'rhese are liketrees which bear bitter fruit or like flowerlesl>aI~d thorny bushes or like plant.s and herbswhich give out a bad smell.

'fhe words ~ ~ ..I'.f J ~ (similar and

dissimilar) imply that whereas some fruitaresemble each other, SOlnediffer frOIll others.This may apply either to fruits of differentkinds, which resemble one another in certainrespects and differ in others, or to fruits of the

723

CH.6 At-AN' AM PT. 7

101. And athey hold the Jinn to bepartners with Allah, although Hecreated them; and they falsely ascribeto Him sons and daughters without'any knowledge. Holy is He andexalted far above what they attributeto Him !8;i3

~'\ \'!./~"~~.- ~..J I;('i'-'~. .;. IJ~~.-

'\.J~'».) )~ .J.o~~~-,

~-Cc- .'~ '.:; -' ~~ I~ ~~

~":'r k''-.- -,,,

"~ ~ -.:...s.- ~ ~\:.,-' l.... ~",,,,,,;, ~ . ~~

t...,~ .-@t)~

a2:1l7; 9:31; 10:19.

:;a.me kind which, although rescmbling onea.nother il\ the main points, differ from oneanother in minor details, some tasting sweeterthan others and some varying in colour orsize. The same i:; the case with those whobelieve in the Prophets and follow divineguidance. Although they bear great resemblanceto one another, yet there are differencesuetwecn them, some heing morally andspiritually more ad.vanccd than others. Again,sollIC are advanced in on.e phase of spiritualgrowth, while others are advanced in another.Among the Companions of the Holy Prophet,too, we see that one uecame an Abii Bilkr,anuther an 'Dmar, and an.other an 'Dthma.n andyet another an 'AU and so on. Th~y attainedto different stages of spirituality and developeddifferent phases, according to their respectivenatural capacities and dispositions.

'fhe words, the ripening thereof, refer to animplicd obj~tion that might be raised by thedeniers ofrevelation.-namely, that even. thosewho accept divine revelation do I\ot all becomepurc a.nd holy. 'fhe above-quoted wordsanswcr this objection by pointing to the analogyof the ripening of fruit. The people are askedfirst to note the condition offruits when they areyet unripe and then see how sweet and deliciousthey become after becoming ripe. Just as it isUI\£a.ir to judge a fruit by an un ripe specimen,:similarly, it is unfair to find fault with thefruits of revelation on the basis of such in-dividuals as are. yet in the process of develop.ment and have not attained to perfection. The

724

verse points out that ill the beginning thereare bound to be weaknesses and shortcomingseven in believers just as there is bound tobe sourness in the taste of an unripe oruudeveloped fruit. So it is not just to denythe usefuh\ess of revelation on the basis ofweaknesses that are to be met .with inbelievers whose spiritual condition is Dot yetfully developed.

The verse must beautifully thaw:s attentiollto three impurtan.t points that can be deduccdfrom the analogy of the various kinds ofvegetation that grow as a rClmlt of rain:(1) that rain brings forth both gOOtl and badvegetation (believers and disbelievcrs) ; (2) thateven in good fruits (believers) some varietyis to be found i.e. poin.ts of sim.ilarityand dis-similarity; and (3) that in the earlystage of development even good fruits arcnot sweet and may even be I;our.

843. Important Words:

'*'(the linn) is derived from the verL iY:

i.e. he covered up or concealed. 1'he wordhere signifies such beings as remain aloof fromthe people, a:; if remaining concealed, e.g., kingsand other potentates. In its wider signi.ficancethe word extends tu angels and other hiddencreatures. See also 2 : 26; 6: 77 & 6: ]29.

I"';r (they falsely ascribe) is derived frolll.:;r. 'fhey say'; r i.e. he made a holeil\ it, or he cut it or tore it. ~J~I':;?, means,he traversed or crossed the land by journeyingso as to reach the furthest part thereof.

FT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH.6

. 13 102. 'lThe Originator of the heavensand the earth! How can He have aRon when He has no consort, and whenHe )las created everything a,nd }WRknowledge of an things ?844

103. bSnch is A]}ah, your JJord. Thereis no ow) bllt He, cthc Creator of :111~thingF;, so worship Him. And H(~ isGuardian ovor everything.84f'

~ ~\" (0,\~,~ ~\ 1..~~\,; o";~~\1 ~~~w.) 'U(:)~ <.JUf '.. ~. ".

~J. J c}:,~

~-='9

~""",; 1." [/ {'

::P9"" ,",;

"~.. ..' 'd.::>~ aj

..'. I.,.,~J ~ J... . ~

10 .$-.,-,0 ''1'1'" ~ :.'t!J~ ~

J.:'/' ... ,'J '"

,,9';. , ~ ~., I ~J. I

~Jb :~\~z.."'jl ~t'l ' ~J~I ~'"

~ ~"",;J.'"

~I ,(-:; ~"1. L1- Il~. ,d'; 1::1' 'J ,., f~e ~J ($' ~ U-~.J ~.J4-"a2:lJS. bW: I)~.

-~ ,~-~ ~~''

~ ... "--,------

"' ~'-~---~'--'---~ '-----.

,,:,AJI J.r means, he forged t\e lie. Sometimesthe word J.r even when used without aqualifying word means, he forged a lie, or helied, or he falsely ascribed something tol'Iomebody (Tiij).

Commentary:

'l'his ver,;e draw~ attention to the way in whichman stumbles when he rejects divine revelationand follows his own judgement and reason.It calls upon the reader to mark the differencehetween divine and man-made teachinb 1. Men.unguided by divine light and following theirown reason, have strayed so far away from thepath of rectitude that some suppose the linn(kings, etc.) to be co-partners with God, asdid the Egyptians in the time of Moses; whileothers attribute sons and daughters to Him,as do the Christians, who have deified Jesusan.d believe him to be the son of Gocl. AcOlnparison of these man-made teachings withthose revealed by God definitely proves then('('a of Ilivine revelation.

844. Important Words:

JJ" (soli) is fr01l\ the Vl'rh JJ" mr:min~, lJ(' or

slJ(' hrt.{ot. or hrought. forth a dlild or a youn~OIl(>. The word .t1" (waladun) or .t1" (wuldun)

or J1" (toaldun) is Vf':ry comprf'l]f'nsiYf> in it$nwaninJt. It not only si~nifies malt' IIndfema}l' but is also l1srd as singular or

,--~ -. -+ --"-, - -,---

t: 13 : J7 ; 39: 63.

plural, extending even to remotr off.~pring.Thus the word mrans, a child, a son, adaughter, or any young one; childrf'n,sons, daughters, or young 0)1(>1";also CJffsprint.{(Lanf').

Commentary:

After making a rf'ferenee toteachings, the Qurnn proc('rds toteachings.

There are only two ways by which one canhave a son, either by a wife or by adoption.As for the first way, God has no spouse, so Hecannot have a son. Christians call Jrsus theson of God, but they do not caJl Mary theconsort of God. If, however, Jesus was thf\son of God by adoption, then that does notentitle him to a higher spiritual status thanother human being.'!, for any other manmight as well have brrn adopted by God aRHis son. Again, as God is the Crf'ator ofeverything and posl!essf's J*rfN,t knowlf'dgl',He does not stand in neN} of R.I';on.

J)1un-madl'

givl' divin!'

845. Commentary:

God, being the Crf>ntor of all things ann heingGuardi:m over them, can alone be t.})e trueDeity. If there is anything whjth He bas notcrf>atl'cl or of whirl] HI' is not. the lUardian,thfHl He cannot be perff'ct.

725

CH. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

104. Eyes can not reach Him butHe reach€'s the eyes. And aHe is theIncomprehensible, t})CAll-Aware.846

", ;,~r;"~i ,~( "9

.""

.'" j'~'" ~¥ " ".

~ ,))~ ~ ~~~yb-'...) . ~, CUJJ.j~

@~\~II.." '.'"

a22 : 64 ; G7: 15.

846. Important Words ~4j.£ 'i (cannot. rf>acn Him). !oJJJi is derived

from ~J,)I whir.h again i!'! de:rivPcl from!1J,). They say O'"J,)I i.e. }w or it,attained, reached or overtook it. Jt, alsomeans, he perceived it.; or he at.tained know-Ipdge of it; or hl\ attained perfect knowledgeof it; or he comprehended. it.. TIle wordalso mean!'!, he or it. attained pubrrty ormaturity or ripeness (Lane).

J~I (eyrs) is the plural of J"""!which

means. eye or sight, or understanding or per-spicacjty ('Aqrab).

~ (Incomprehensible) is derived from~. ~.. They say J~I~ (laJuJa) i.e., thething wag or became smaH, thin or fine. .~ ~i.e. lalafa (with different vowel point on t1wcentral letter) means, he was kind, gent.Je awlaffectionate to him. ...AJ.1meanR : (1) gf>ntlf>,gracious, and kind; (2) subtle, abstruse orracondit~; (3) knower of the RubtletieRand obscurities of things. It is one of theattribute~ of God (Taj. Lisan & Aqrah).

Commentary:.

Some' persons may claim tlHlt t.}\(.y can knowor reach God by mean!'! of rea'lon or Ulifrr'r-standing alone. 'I'he Quran forcefully ref ritesthis idea by sayin~, Byes CGntu>treach Him..i.e.. human reason alont', unaided by divinehelp, is incapable of knowing or reaching

God. It. is God Himself Who reaches ther.ye!'! (viI. human understanding) and revealsHimself t.o man, i.e., God has. on the one hand.placed in lmman mind a power to searchafter and know Him. and, on the other He,8rnds down revelation to man, tht>rf>by makingHimsf'1f known to him. Revdation also helpsto kindle inhuman reason a light by mean!.' ofwhich man is enabled to know God:

The two dIvine attribute!" ~I (Iilcom.prehem.ible) and J':~I (All-Aware) JurniBh in .amost bl'autiful ma~ner the reas()n of the twoclaims mad~ in the opening words of theverse. The first claim is that Eyes cannQt reachHim, the corresponding reason being sta1.f>dtohr that He is Subtle 'and IncomprehRnsibleand, being so, He cannot bt>comprehended byh1nnlm reason alone. The second. claim i8 t,hatHe reache,~the eye,~, the corresponding reasonbeing stated to be that He is All-AtDareand, being i'0. He knows tbat mankind standsin need of knowing Him without which therecan be no spiritual life, so He Himself approacl1esman and reveals Himself to him. The twoclaims have thus been followed. in a perfectnatural, order. by two corresponding reasoD'!.The reader gJlould note what. wise orr]f>rgovern!'!the arrangf'ment oftbe wordsofthr Quran. Theyhave not been put together at random, buteach word haR been put in the most appropriateplace and is meant t.o fulfil a gr{>atpurpoSt\.

'l'lf}

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CH::6'

105. uproofs have indeed come toyou from your Lord; so whoever sees,it is for his own good; and whoeverbecomes bJind, it is to his own harm.And I am not a guardian over yoU.847

106. And bthusdo We vary the SignRthat the truth may become established,but the result is that they say, 'Thouhast learnt well;' and We vary the Signsthat We may explain it to a peoplewho have knowledge.818

107. cFollow that which lIas beenrevealed to thee from thy Lord; therei~ no god but He; and turn asidefrom the idolaters.

:i ?_-:\~h'V ~"'~ ~''- '".

'T~ffi1.

V'"''''~ I ~.."~. ~..-\>~I

'"...'J'D! ~ ;.t.)~.Y~ . .s-.

",..., J.

,.~~. :~'\" t\ \;' '" r-~" "': """. ~;@A'.';;~ .J~~'"

/' '""

? 7!)" ,.. 9,...9

M:/.

~I-:'.."~I '",...~ ,

,.\-.:.\, '", \.w . -:-:I~' ..-

~ -'~.) ~~..., '-J;; '-'.).bJ ~ -'-;'" .".. ",.. ", ",

,... , ,/,,,~"8C)~~~

",,'J ~ ,... I ~ c":"lou'" 7 ":I~

"~,""" , ~~~~~!4J!;J~;~~)~-"~&l

"'~("..p7 ,... .. ,.....

8~~!,.~, .o~1.. 6' ~ v--~

"7 : 204. hI: 59.----------

cw : 110; 33: 3.

847. Commentary:. The word j~ (proofs) also helps to explainthe words, He reaches the eyes, occurring in thepreceding verse and signi1i€s that God revealsproofs by means of which man becomes able toknow Hhn. By 'I proofs" is llere meant thedivine Signs and evidences sent by God.

The words, whoever sees, mean, whoever makesuse of his reason after proofs have been revealedto him by God. Similarly the words, whoeverbecomes blind, refer to such pers0)1s as shuttheir .eyes to aU truth and virtnaHy makethemselves blind.

The duty of the Holy Prophet deRCribrrl inthe words, 1 Ufn not a guardian over you, isonly to convey what is revealed by God;it is not his business to compel people tobe!ieve in God. Thus tIle Vf>rsealso providesa refutation of the baAeJrss chargf' that. IslamcountenancpscompulRionin the propagation ofreligion.

a48. lmportant Words:

':'-.1,) (t.hou hast leamt Wf>JI)is derived from\/".1,)which means, it became etraced, erased

or obliterated; or transitively, it effaced, erasedor obliterated. '-;I.JJI cJ"J,)means, the clothbecame old and worn out. Similarly,

'-;I.JJIU"J,)means, he rendered the cloth old antiworn out. '-;It3\)11)".1,)means, he read the bookor he read it repeatedly so as to remember it;or he made it easy to remember hy 1)111cbreading; or he learnt. or studied it (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse purports to say, " We have explaint'oOur teachings in variouR ways with the resultthat believerA have acquired pt'rfect beHef inthem, while disbeJievf'TA have rejected t,henl,saying, . You have learnt these teaching.'J fromJews and ChristiIH1Aand are now repeating themto us.''' The verb ':'-.1,) (thou hast leanlt weU)lIas thus been used here ironically. Takingthe transitive meaning of ':'-.1,) the clause wouldmean that disbelievers reject the t.eachings,sayjng, "You have read or recited the Signsand teacbings you claim to have brought. tous and we have heard them. That is t'Jjough;do not bother us any Ipore."

In fad, wl1PreSI!the teaehings oftha Quranbe!lefit those who acceptthemt they aerVe-

7'!l

CR. 6 AL-AN'AM PT. 7

108. And if Allah had enforced Hiswill, tb.ey would not have set up godswith God. And aWe have not madethee a keeper over them nor art thouover them a guardian.849

109. And revile not those whom theycall npon beside Allah, lest they, outof spite, revile Allah in their ignorance.Thus bunto every people have Wecaused their doing to seem fair. Thenunto their Lord is their return; andHe will inform them of what theyused to do.85O

,.~ ~ ,.. . I't:: ,,.- "I -,.,.~~~;b~~\~~\;lZi~;..,

I "t":.", ~ ",,/ - 1-

'. ~..~ ' ,a.'l:'~, ~"'t;~@ ~ ~~ ~....,

" '9",,.9 ,N .,,9.,

"""/.

"'~Jj" .. ..~ "~~\~).>~t)~~ct" ~ )

. .1/ "

\"/9

..9 r~~/ /AI :1"1. \. "'-: f.\~.,/~..w\ ILt ~ .

~w ~~ ~W- c:ti1t~ ~ ..J.. ~,. .." ;.,

"/J. ~y///

~'J~':-9{.", ,,-;,.,"" JI .." ~;~ ~j-4",c~].J ...~

",~~~

'fr~@(.:) .. !.,.Jt>~~.

"-a39 : 42: 42: 7 ; 88 : 23. b6 : 123; 9: 37; 10: 13; 27: 5; 40: 38; 49: 8.

the purpose of establighing the guilt accept the truth, the Holy Prophet also cannotof those who reject them so that they become compel anybody, for he is only a Me~sengeranswerable to God for their rejection. of God. The words ~ (keeper) and J(.J

849. Commentary: (guardian or disposer of affairs) aie intrnded tosignify that the Prophet is neither responsibleThe Arabic' words rendered' as, if .Allah hadfor the actions of disbeJievers lJOr is he the~f()1fced His will, they would not have set updisposer of their affairs. For a funer discussiongods with God, do not, and indeed cannot,ofthe words ~ and J(.J see 3: 174 & 11 : 58.mean, as SOme may suppose, that the idolaters

commit sins because God so wiHs. They only 850. Commentary:mean that God has made man a free agent in In the foregoing verses, the Quran has spokenmatters of faith and has not forced His will rather contemptuously of the utter helplessnesson him. If He had enforced His will and of the false deities whom people associate withcompE'lled man to believe and act rightly, man God. This might lead some Muslims to revile 011'could not have gone against His will. But in false deities of the polytheist.f\; thE' present veJs!'His infinite wisdom, He has made man a free warns them against following such a course. Godagent in this respect. The verse thus makes has denounced the idols in His rapacity as IIit clear that Allah does not compel any person judg(', and the denunciation of a jud~(' is notto accept the truth but leaves it to his option. considered as abuse, but as a necessary expressionIf He had thought of compelling tIle people, of opinion. This does not give oth('rs tlw rightHe would certainly have compelled them to to abuse the persons condemJwd by th(' H('avE'nlyfollow the truth; but in the interests of man Judge and ther('by offend tbeir f('elings, or thehimself it has not plf'asNl God to use feeHngs of thos(' who love and respect them.compulsion. The verse provid('s yet another reason for

The conduding words, We have,wt made tkee this noble teaching. It purports to say, ifa keepe.y over them, nor..an thOtS over them a you, 0 Muslims, revile disbelievers' falseguardian, are also intended to echo th(' same gods whom they treat with love aDd

truth, i.e., just as God does not compel man to reverencl', the result wiUbe tbat tbey

72§

PT. 7 AL-AN'AM CR. 6

llO. And they swear their strongestoaths by Allah that if there came tothem a Sign, they would surely believetherein. Say,' Surely, Signs are withAllah. But what should make yonundersta.nd tha.t when the Signs come,they wjJl not believe? '851

lll. And We shall confound theirhearts and their eyes, as they believednot therein at the first time, and(JWe shall leave them in tl}eir trans-gression to wander in distraction. 852

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will be excited by your abuse and wjJl retaliate byreviling God in return. The verse thu8 notonly inculcates respect for the feelings of othersbut also assures amity between nations andcommuDities. .

The expression ~j (have We caused to seemfair) signifies not that God has actua]]y beautifiedpvil actions but that He ha~ so created thenature of man (and in this law of God lies thesecret of man's progress) that when he goeson doing a thing for some length of time1 heacquires a liking for it, and his action be~nsto appear good in hi:::sight. So, in accordancewith this general law of Go(l, idolaters ]Javealso come to ]ike dleir worf/hip of idols, whichappears to them to he good and meritorions.

851. Important Words:

Ii I (8nrdy) is considered to he a compoundof cJl and to. It imports ff'f4rirtionof that

which it precedf's to that which fo]]ows it"givin'g the sense of " oll]Y." The QUfan says:.,~ ..:.~.L.aI1Ie'l i.e. the ~ada'qat (the Ilhn8) are

mea.nt only for t.])f' poor, etc. But the worddoes not always import, rf'stricf.ioJl but some-times only corroboration of aIJ affirmation,giving tIle sense of" verily" or " surely," asin tbe tradition ~I.;~)I iii i.e. vnj]y,(one form of) usury is in the deJay of payml'Jlt(Lane & Aqrab).

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Commentary:

The latter part of the verse may also berendered thus: Say," Surely, Sign~ are withA]]ah, and that (too is with AUah) whic]) will

make you know that when it comes, they willnot believe." In this rendering, the partideto rendered in the text as "what" wou1c1be taken as a relative pronoun, in the srnse of($.ij' i.e. " tl)at" and not as an interro-gative pronoun. According to this rendering,the words" and that (too is with AJJah) whichwiH make you know that whrn it comeR,they will not believe" would r{'fer to thepunislmwnt of God and the dause would meant]Jat not only arc oHJer Signs with God, but t}wSign of punis)mwnt, iR nlso wid) Him and t))atwhr)] that. Sign C01\Ors,you will Sf'r that, it. willdo t]}('J}) )]0 gooo.

852. Commentary:

Thr vcrse Hignifies that. w]len th<' Signs of Goocomr; tlH'Ywill do the disbe]ievrrs no good; Godwi]] turn away t]wir hearts and their r}"f'Rfromt}!~ Signs so that they wjJJ not bdiev(>. ThillturniJIg away of their ]iearts and t}Jeir eyl'sfrom t]le Signs of Ged wiJ] be th«' rf'su1tof their hasty d(>Jlial of the Signs of Godat t}H~very ont~<;f't,wbieh will have bardeh(>dthf'ir hearts and dl'priVl'd them of tbf.>power

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