وَلَقَدْ صَرَّفْنَا فِى هَٰذَا ٱلْقُرْءَانِ لِلنَّاسِ مِن كُلِّ مَثَلٍ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَٰنُ أَكْثَرَ شَىْءٍ جَدَلًا
17:42, 90.
16:5; 36:78.
Commentary:
The expression کان الانسان اکثر شیء جدلا (of all things man is most contentious) may have two explanations: (1) Of all God’s creation man has been endowed with reason and great intellectual faculties so that by making proper use of them he may develop and advance morally and spiritually and may know and realize his Creator. But he employs these faculties to reject truth and for other evil purposes and instead of making spiritual progress he descends to a yet lower state of morality. (2) Man is a victim of chronic misgivings and doubts which seldom find satisfaction. He is a confirmed sceptic and seeks to discover loopholes even in most convincing arguments.
The word الناس in the verse refers to mankind in general while الانسان refers to such men as have been mentioned in the foregoing verses. The verse means to say that the Quran has explained in different forms fully and completely all those matters which concern man’s moral and spiritual development but the people to whom reference has been made in the preceding verses refuse to benefit by these teachings.
17:42, 90.
16:5; 36:78.
The verse may mean: (a) Of all God’s creation man has been endowed with reason and intellectual faculties but regrettably he employs them to reject truth and for other evil purposes (b) or, it may mean that he is a victim of chronic misgivings and doubts, which seldom find satisfaction, and being a confirmed sceptic seeks to discover loopholes even in the most convincing arguments.