ق

See 1:1.

Commentary:

See 1:1.

56:78.

Important Words:

The letter ق (Qaf) may stand for the Divine attribute قادر or قدیر (Qadir or Qadir) which means, the Mighty God; or the letter may stand for القیامة حق i.e. the Resurrection is an undoubted reality. This is the last abbreviated letter used in the Quran and therefore possesses a special significance. For a detailed explanation, however, of the abbreviated letters (المقطعات) see 2:2 & 19:2.

The letter و (by) among other things may mean, 'by' or 'I swear' or 'I cite as witness or evidence.' See also 37:2.

المجید (Glorious) is derived from مجد (majada) which means, he was or became possessed of or characterized by glory, honour, dignity, nobility, etc. or he was or became glorious, in a state of honour, dignity; noble. مجدتالابل means, the camels fed in a land abounding with pasture, and satiated themselves therewith, or lighted upon abundant herbage. أمجدہ means, he made it (a gift) large or abundant. They say أمجدنا فلان قری i.e. such a one gave us a sufficient and superabundant entertainment. The Arabs say أمجدہ سباً و ذماً i.e. he reviled and dispraised him much. أمجد الدایة means, he gave the beast of carnage much fodder. Thus the primary signification of the root word is abundance or superabundance. مجد (majdun) means, glory, honour, dignity, nobility; (syn. شرف و عز & کرم) or ample glory, nobility, honour, dignity, etc., or the acquisition of glory, honour, etc., or acquired or personal glory, honour, etc., transmitted by one’s ancestors. مجید means, a man possessing or characterized by glory, honour, dignity; nobility. المجید as an epithet of God signifies the Glorious or Great in dignity, Who gives liberally or bountifully.مجید is also applied in the Quran as an epithet to the Throne (عرش) of God and to the Quran itself and signifies exalted, sublime, noble, glorious (Lane & Aqrab). Sec also 38:2. The words القرآن المجید thus may mean, the Glorious Quran, the great Quran, the Quran possessing great and abundant good. In the last sense the word مجیدmay be synonymous with مبارک which is also one of the epithets used by the Quran for itself (6:156). Elsewhere the Quran has been called the Quran full of wisdom (36:3), the Quran full of exhortation (38:2), the Noble Quran (56:78), the Quran which explains things fully (12:3).

Commentary:

The construction of this verse exactly resembles that of 38:2. Taking the abbreviated letter ق as signifying 'the Powerful God,' the versemay mean that the Powerful God swears by the Quran, or that He cites the Quran as witness, that by acting upon its teaching and making it a rule of their lives, its followers will achieve glory, greatness and spiritual and material grandeur. And by taking the letter as signifying القیامة حق i.e. the Resurrection is an undoubted reality, the verse would signify that Resurrection will certainly take place and that the Glorious Quran can be cited as an evidence to prove this claim. The proof consists in the fact: (1) that the Quran has made two claims, viz. that by acting upon its teaching the weak, oppressed and persecuted followers of the Holy Prophet will achieve glory, greatness and spiritual and material eminence and an honoured place in the comity of the world’s great nations; and (2) that Resurrection will undoubtedly take place. The fulfilment of the first prophecy, the verse implies, will substantiate and establish the truth of the second claim.

7:64.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that in spite of the fact that from time immemorial God has been sending His Messengers and Prophets to guide men to the path of truth and righteousness, the people, whenever there appeared a Prophet, wondered, and considered it highly improbable that God should commission as His Messenger an ordinary man from among themselves. This attitude of disbelievers towards Divine Messengers has been referred to at several other places also in the Quran (7:64; 10:3; 38:5).

13:6; 23:36; 27:68; 37:17.

Commentary:

Greater is the disbelievers’ wonder at the idea, says the verse, that when they are dead and are reduced to dust, they will get a new life.

Commentary:

The verse refutes the disbelievers’ objection mentioned in the preceding verse, viz. that when they are dead and reduced to broken bones and particles of dust they would be raised again. It is the physical body, says the verse, that disintegrates and perishes. The soul is imperishable and will be given a new body to account for the deeds done in this world which are recorded in "a Book that preserves everything." The verse may also mean that even the particles of objects which the earth disintegrates are well preserved in God’s knowledge. It may also signify that as complete knowledge about all the details of a thing presupposes the power to create it, and God being the Possessor of full knowledge of human anatomy and the process of its disintegration could recreate it after it had perished.

The verse may also signify that just as the earth corrupts and swallows up dead bodies, it also possesses the means of nourishing living ones.

Important Words:

مریج (state of confusion) is derived from مرج (maraja) which means, he mixed a thing with another thing or two things together. مرج الامر (marija) means, the affair became corrupt, spoiled, disordered or in a confused or disordered state. مرج الناسmeans, the people became confused so that they could not extricate themselves from their perplexity (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse means that though disbelievers always reject the Divine Message, their rejection or denial does not rest on sure ground. They are always in a confused state of mind. They do not know what they should make of the Message. They call it poetry, sorcery, the day-dreaming of an ambitious visionary, the confused vapourings of an unhinged mind, or the forgery of an impostor (21:6). But the Holy Prophet and his followers stand on the bedrock of certainty and sure knowledge.

15:17; 37:7; 41:13; 67:6.

Important Words:

فروج (flaws) is the plural of فرج which means, a cleft, an opening, a gap, and hence a flaw or defect (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This and the following few verses draw attention to the marvels of creation, the wonderful design in the universe, to the celestial firmament with its countless beautiful planets and stars, to earth and its wide expanse teeming with human and animal life, and points to the inevitable inference that the Great and Wise Designer, the Architect and the Controller, Who could bring into being this wonderful universe and who placed man at its centre, does possess the power to recreate the universe after its disintegration, and to give man a new life after he is dead.

13:4; 15:20; 31:11; 77:28.

27:61; 31:11.

Commentary:

It is logical to assume a purpose behind physical nature. The concept of God as Designer and Creator of all things gives a coherent and complete picture of origin, design and purpose. And the existence of a purpose behind the creation implies the existence of a life after death because the very idea that with the dissolution of its physical tabernacle the human soul suffers death militates against the whole design of God and the purpose in creating the universe.

24:44; 25:49.

Important Words:

باسقات (tall) is the plural of باسقة , fem. gen. of باسق which is act. part. from بسق. They say بسق النخل i.e. the palm trees were or became tall or exceedingly tall and full grown or they bore fruit. بسق علیھم means, he overcame them, excelled them or was superior to them. بسق فی علمه means, he excelled in his knowledge or learned the whole of it. بسقت الشمس means, the sun rose high. باسق الاخلاق means, a person endowed with noble, moral and mental qualities. نخلة باسقة means, an exceedingly tall palmtree or palm tree bearing fruit (Lane & Aqrab).

نضید or منضود (piled one above the other) is derived from نضد. They say نضد المتاع i.e. he put goods one upon the other or set them together in regular order or piled them up. تنضدت الاسنان means, the teeth were set in regular order (Lane & Aqrab).

25:50; 43:12.

Commentary:

The verse means that just as God sends down rain from heaven and causes a dry dead land to bloom and blossom and pulsate with a new vigorous life, and brings forth from the earth all sorts of flowers and fruits, similarly He can and will give a new life to man after he is dead so that he might account for and be rewarded or punished for the actions good or bad he might have done in this world.

9:70; 14:10; 38:13; 40:32.

Commentary:

For the People of Noah see 11:26-49; for اصحاب الرس (Companions of the Well) 25:39, and for Thamud 11:62-69.

Commentary:

For ‘Ad see 11:51-61.

15:79; 26:177; 38:14.

15:80; 26:140; 38:15.

Commentary:

For اصحاب الأیکة (Dwellers of the Wood) see 15:79 and for the People of Tubba‘ 44:38. The verse purports to say that the above-mentioned peoples were warned by their respective Prophets that if they rejected them, they would be punished in this world and would also have to account for their sins in the next. The first warning was literally fulfilled and, therefore, the second one is also bound to be fulfilled.

50:39.

Important Words:

عیینا (We have become weary) is derived from عی (‘ayya). They say عی بأمرہ او عن أمرہ i.e. he lacked power, strength or ability to perform or accomplish his affair; was unable to execute it through or found not the right way to do it. عی الامر means, he was ignorant of the affair. أعیا means, he was or became tired, fatigued or wearied عی فی منطقه means, he found not the right way to express himself (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In these verses "creation", besides its ordinary meaning, signifies spiritual awakening or revolution brought about by a Prophet among his people.

86:5.

Commentary:

Wonderful is God’s creation of the universe, but much more wonderful is the creation of man. The fact that man is master of his conduct and is responsible for his decisions is here put forward as another argument to support the inevitability of the Resurrection. In fact man’s life on Earth is "the seedbed of an eternal future".

Important Words:

یتلقی (will record) is derived from لقی. They say تلقی الشیء منه i.e. he received or got the thing; he learned it from him, hencepreserved or recorded it (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

According to some commentators the angel sitting on man’s right records his good actions and that on his left, his bad actions; the words 'on the right' standing for his good actions and 'on the left' for his bad actions. Every deed or spoken word leaves its impress in the atmosphere and thus is preserved. Elsewhere in the Quran it is stated that the limbs of man—his hands, feet and tongue—will bear witness against him on the Judgement Day. Thus different parts of a man’s body may also be the recorders referred to in the present verse as the two recording angels. See also 24:25; 36:66.

43:81; 82:11-12.

Important Words:

یلفظ (he utters) is aorist from لفظ. They say لفظه البحر i.e. the sea cast it forth upon the shore, لفظ فلان نفسه means, such a one died. لفظ القول او بالقول means, he uttered or spoke the word (Lane & Aqrab).

عتید (ready) is derived from عتد. They say عتد الشیء i.e. the thing was or became ready, at hand, prepared; it became great, big or bulky. عتید means, ready, at hand, near; bulky, big or great (Lane & Aqrab).