10:8, 12.

Commentary:

The disbelievers in their conceit and arrogance seem to be satisfied with nothing less than that angels should descend upon them or God Himself should speak to them to bear witness to the truth of the Prophet.

6:9,159.

Important Words:

حجرا محجورا (a strong barrier). حجر is derived from حجر (hajara) which means, he prevented, hindered, debarred, forbade or prohibited. They say لاحجرعنه i.e. there is no protection from him or it.حجر علیه means, the judge prohibited him from disposing of his property as he liked. حجر (hijrun) means, hindrance, barrier, protection, defence, prohibition, or prohibited, inviolable or sacred; any garden or walled garden; bosom; relationship that prohibits marriage; intellect or reason. ھذا حجر علیک means, this is forbidden to thee. An Arab would use the words حجرا محجورا when he is faced with a thing he does not like, meaning "let it remain away from me so that I should not suffer from it" (Lane, Mufradat & Aqrab). See also 6:139.

Commentary:

In reply to the first insolent demand the verse warns disbelievers that angels will certainly descend, but they will be angels of punishment and when they come, the disbelievers will hate the very sight of them and will pray that a strong barrier might be set up between them and the angels.

Commentary:

The second foolish demand of disbelievers was that God Himself should speak to them, bearing witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet. This demand, the verse purports to say, will be met by all their works being totally rendered null and void and by their being destroyed and scattered into thin air like particles of dust.

Commentary:

The verse signifies that whereas the work of disbelievers will be completely destroyed, the life of believers will be a life of perfect and perpetual calm and tranquillity. They will pass their days and nights in undisturbed composure and equanimity.

2:211.

Commentary:

The reference in the verse may be to the Battle of Badr when rain came as a welcome relief to Muslims, and angels descended in large numbers to help them. Elsewhere the Quran says that in the battlefield of Badr as many as five thousand angels descended to attack disbelievers (3:125-126). It further says, "God revealed to the angels, saying, ‘I am with you; so give firmness to those who believe. I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Smite, then, the upper parts of their necks, and smite off all finger-tips" (8:13).

6:74; 22:57.

Important Words:

عسیرا (hard) is derived from عسر which means, it was or became difficult, hard, hard to be borne or endured, hard to be done. حاجة عسیرة means, a want difficult of attainment. یوم عسیر means, a day of difficulties; a hard, distressful or calamitous day; an unfortunate or unlucky day (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The day of Badr was indeed a most distressful day for disbelievers. It was on that day that the foundations of Islam were firmly laid and the Quraish had realized to their bitter mortification and discomfiture that it had come to stay. They had not the faintest idea that a small band of only 313 men, without adequate arms, ammunition or implements of war, will inflict a most crushing defeat on them and "the glory of Kedar will depart forever". It was on the battlefield of Badr that the great fighters and leaders of the Quraish were killed. That battle has therefore rightly been called one of the greatest battles in history. In that battle the fate of Islam—in fact, the fate of humanity itself—hung in the balance and the victory of Islam was the triumph of humanity.

33:67; 67:11.

Important Words:

لیتنی (would that I). لیت is a word denoting a wish (signifying would that...; I wish that...), generally relating to a thing that is impossible, rarely possible; governing the subject in the accusative case and the predicate in the nominative case. They say لیت زیدا ذاھب i.e. would that Zaid were going. Sometimes it is used as doubly transitive, putting both the subject and the predicate in the accusative case. They say لیت زیداً قائما i.e. would that Zaid were standing. It is used to give intensiveness to the meaning. لیتنی فعلت کذا و کذا means, would that I had done so and so (Lane).

Commentary:

This and the following two verses depict the feeling of humiliation and regret that overwhelmed the disbelievers on the day of Badr. These verses may have general application also.

Important Words:

ویلتیٰ (woe is me). ویل means, the befalling of some calamity, misfortune or sorrow; punishment; perdition. The expression ویلک or ویل لکis used as a warning for some impending misfortune or calamity (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:80.

Important Words:

خذولا (one who always deserts) is derived from خذل. They say خذله or خذل عنه i.e. he abstained from, or neglected, aiding or assisting him; and held back from him; he left or forsook him or deserted him. خذول is the intensive form of خاذل and means, a great deserter or one who always deserts his friends (Lane & Mufradat).

Commentary:

The expression "my people" may apply to the Quraish of Mecca who were the Holy Prophet’s people and were the Quran’s immediate addressees. More appropriately the words may apply to all Muslims, who have discarded the Quran and have thrown it behind their backs. Perhaps never during the last 14 centuries the Quran was so much neglected and ignored by the Muslims as it is today. There is a saying of the Holy Prophet to the effect: "A time will come upon my people when there will remain nothing of Islam but its name and of the Quran but its words (Baihaqi, Shu‘abul-Iman). The present indeed is that time.

The emphasis on the word "this" in the expression "this Quran" is full of pathos. The Holy Prophet is represented here as saying that his people have discarded such a blessed book as this Quran in which there is light and guidance for them and which is God’s greatest boon for mankind and which has been revealed to raise them to the highest pinnacles of moral and spiritual eminence.

6:113.

17:107; 73:5.

11:121.

Important Words:

رتلناہ ترتیلا (We arranged it in the best form) is derived from رتل (ratala). They say رتل الشیء i.e. the thing was or became well arranged. رتل الکلام (rattala) means, he put together and arranged well the component parts of the speech or saying and made it distinct. ترتیل (inf. noun) in its original sense relates to the teeth, their being separate one from another. The addition of the infinitive to the verb رتلنا is done in order to intensify the sense (Lane).

Commentary:

The Quran was revealed piecemeal and at intervals. This was intended to serve two very useful purposes: (i) The interval between the revelation of different passages afforded the believers an opportunity to witness fulfilment of some of the prophecies made in the passages already revealed and thus their faith became strengthened and fortified. Further it was intended to answer the objections raised by disbelievers during the interval. (ii) When Muslims needed guidance on a particular occasion to meet a particular need, necessary and relevant verses were revealed. Besides, the revelation of the Quran was spread over a period of 23 years in order to enable the Companions of the Holy Prophet to remember, learn and assimilate it. Moreover, the Quran had anticipated one possible objection of disbelievers and its gradual revelation was intended to answer that objection. If it had been revealed at once and in the form of one complete book, the disbelievers could have said that the Holy Prophet had got it all prepared from somebody. Thus its gradual revelation at different times, on different occasions and under vastly different conditions and circumstances, effectively smashed this possible objection. Last of all there was a prophecy of Prophet Isaiah that the last Divine Book would be revealed piecemeal and at intervals. The prophecy is as follows:

"Whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breast? For it is precept upon precept; precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line; here a little and there a little: for with strange lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isaiah 28: 9-10).

The words, "We have arranged it in the best form," signify that whereas the Quran was revealed gradually and piecemeal to meet the needs of changing circumstances, it did not remain a collection of disorderly fragments but was given a perfect order and arrangement by Divine revelation. It may be noted here that the present order of the Quran is different from that in which it was originally revealed. It was revealed in an order which suited the needs and requirements of its immediate addressees and was arranged, under Divine direction, in an order which suited the permanent needs of humanity at large. Since both these kinds of needs were different, the two orders should necessarily have been different. It is indeed an outstanding miracle of the Quran that it was revealed in an order which was best suited for the needs of the period during which it was revealed and was arranged for permanent use in the order which was also best suited for humanity’s lasting needs.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that disbelievers can bring forward no objection which has not been already answered in the Quran and the answer has not been supported with excellent arguments contained in it. It is one of the distinctive features of the Quran in which it stands unique among all revealed Books that whenever it makes a claim about the existence of God, the truth of Islam, or about its own Divine origin, or any other related religious subject, it itself gives the required arguments to prove and substantiate the claim and looks towards no other agency for aid and assistance.

17:98.

5:61.

Commentary:

The words "will be gathered on their faces" may mean: (i) disbelievers will be gathered together and dragged on their faces into the fire of Hell; (ii) disbelievers will be gathered together when in a state of prostration with their faces on the ground and then dragged into Hell.

20:30-33; 26:16; 28:35.

Commentary:

The wages of sin is death. Opposition to God’s Prophets has always resulted in discomfiture and destruction of the enemies of truth. The present Surah cites examples of some such Prophets whose people defied them and persecuted them and by their evil deeds drew upon themselves Divine wrath. Pride of place in this connection is given in this Surah to Moses who was the greatest Prophet of Israel. He thought that the great mission with which he was entrusted was beyond his power. So he begged God to give him Aaron, his brother, as his assistant to help him in his great work. Thus Aaron was a subordinate Prophet to Moses. See also 20:30-35.

20:44; 26:16; 28:35-36.

18:30; 42:46.

9:70; 38:13; 50:13-15.

Important Words:

اصحاب الرس (People of the Well). They say رس البئر i.e. he dug the well. رس المیت means, he buried the dead body. رس بینھمmeans, he effected reconciliation between them. رس means, prelude, beginning; first symptoms of an illness or of love; mine; an old well; according to some the name of a valley (Lane & Aqrab). اصحاب الرس, therefore signifies, the People of the Well; the dwellers of a valley; a people a few of whose signs and marks remain after these have been gradually obliterated.

Commentary:

According to some رس was a town in Yamamah where one of the tribes of Thamud resided. According to others, these people were so called because they threw their Prophet into a well. They were the remnants of Thamud.

Important Words:

تبرنا تتبیرا (We utterly destroyed) is the transitive form of تبر (tabira) which means, he became destroyed. تبرہ (tabbarahu) means, he destroyed him; broke him into pieces annihilated him (Lane).

Commentary:

The truth is writ large on the face of history that opposition to God’s Prophets has invariably led to the destruction of those who oppose them. There had never lived a Prophet who was not opposed and persecuted and opposition to whose mission did not result in the ruin of his persecutors. Yet such is the tragedy of human affairs that opponents of the Prophets of God never benefit from the fate of their predecessors. In their own time every people to whom a Divine Messenger was sent traversed the same road which had led to ruin those who had opposed their Prophets before them. At first the people of the Holy Prophet also opposed and persecuted him and did not benefit from the example of the opponents of the former Prophets and consequently a part of them met the fate of their counterparts.

7:85; 27:59.

Commentary:

The reference in the word "the town" may be to Sodom, the town of Lot, which was situated on the way from Arabia to Syria.

نشور (to be raised) may also signify the hour of the triumph of Islam. The Quraish did not have the remotest idea that the cause of the Holy Prophet would or could ever triumph.

21:37.

Commentary:

In view of the extreme weakness and poverty of the Holy Prophet’s circumstances, the Quraish would jeeringly say, "Could not Allah find a better man to whom to entrust His mission?" The same objection of the Holy Prophet’s opponents has been mentioned elsewhere in the Quran in another form, viz. "why was not the Quran revealed to a man of some importance in the two towns?" (43:32).

45:24.

Commentary:

It is not only the worship of idols of wood and stone and those in the form of human beings that is condemned here. In fact it is his own desires, fancies and pre-conceived ideas, more than anything else, that man adores and it is these things that stand in the way of his accepting the truth. Intellectually man may have advanced far enough so as not to bow before stones and stars but he has not outgrown the worship of his false ideals, prejudices and pre-conceived ideas. It is these idols that lie enthroned in man’s heart whose worship is condemned here.

7:180.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that when in spite of his being endowed with the faculties of intellect and hearing which should help him to recognize and realize truth, man refuses to make proper use of these God-given faculties to see light, and instead chooses to grope in darkness, he comes down to the level of cattle, even lower than that, because cattle are not given the gift of discretion and discrimination while man is.

The verse also implies an allusion to the great reformation brought about by the Holy Prophet in the lives of his people. They were no better than animals and beasts. They worshipped images and held foolish and superstitious ideas. They gambled and drank and indulged in extreme sexual excesses and depleted and destroyed their manhood by fighting for generations about trivialities. They had no idea of moral virtues or at best had a very low concept of them and did not know economics or statecraft. Such were the people among whom the Holy Prophet Muhammad was raised and history bears witness to the fact that he wrought a wonderful reformation among them. From the dregs of humanity they rose to be its cream.

16:49.

Important Words:

دلیلا (guide) is derived from دل. They say دل علیه i.e. he directed him or rightly directed him or guided him to it. دلیلtherefore, means, a director or a right director to that which is sought or desired; a guide; a thing by which one is rightly directed or guided i.e. an evidence, argument or a proof; a sign set up for the knowledge of a thing indicated (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

While the preceding few verses referred to the prophetic mission of the Holy Prophet, the verse under comment speaks in figurative language of the rise, progress and power of Islam and illustrates this fact by drawing attention to a phenomenon of nature. When the sun is behind an object, its shadow lengthens. Similarly, when God is at the back of a people, their power and influence increases. The present Surah was revealed at Mecca when Islam being yet in infancy, its very fate seemed to hang in the balance on account of the relentless persecution to which the weak and defenceless Muslims were subjected. In metaphorical language the verse seems to warn disbelievers that the weak state of Islam should not deceive them into thinking that they would succeed in exterminating it. God is at its back and therefore its shadow would continue to expand and extend till it would reach the ends of the earth and nations of the world will seek and find solace and comfort under it. "The sun" in the verse symbolises Islam or the Holy Prophet. For a fuller explanation of this verse see 16:49.

Commentary:

The verse refers to the decline of Islam after it would have reached its zenith. While "shade" in the preceding verse symbolized power and influence, its "drawing in" in the present verse signifies decline and decay.

6:97; 78:11.

Important Words:

سباتاً (rest) is derived from سبت which means, he rested; and was or became quiet, still or motionless. سبت (sabata) means, he was or became affected with the kind of sleep termed سبات, or he swooned. سبات primarily signifies rest and hence sleep or heavy sleep or sleep that is hardly perceptible, like a swoon; or the commencement of sleep in the head until it reaches the heart or the sleep of one who is sick, i.e. light sleep (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

'Night' in the verse represents the night of spiritual darkness, i.e. the period of spiritual darkness before the advent of a Prophet or a Divine Reformer; and 'day' symbolizes spiritual dawn when a Divine Reformer has already made his appearance. The verse purports to say that the night of spiritual darkness that had enveloped the world, particularly Arabia, before the advent of the Holy Prophet is about to end and the sun of spiritual light has already arisen to illumine the whole world.

Commentary:

The words, "has made the day a means of rise and progress," may refer to the advent of a Divine Reformer when through him his followers rise from the sleep of spiritual sluggishness and make great progress.

7:59; 15:23; 24:44.

Commentary:

The verse continuing the theme of its predecessor speaks of the appearance of the Holy Prophet and likens his advent to the coming of rain. Just as in the physical world breezes herald the approach of rain, and twilight that of dawn, similarly in the spiritual world certain signs of spiritual awakening take place before the appearance of a Divine Reformer, and there is a certain revolt in the air against the existing corrupt state of affairs. Before the Holy Prophet was commissioned as a Divine Messenger, there had appeared a class of men who had declared their faith in the Unity of God and had discarded the worship of idols and had preached against it. They were known as hanif, i.e. those inclined to God. They acted as harbingers who gave the glad tidings that a great Messenger of God was about to appear.

"Rain" in the verse is spoken of as God’s mercy and elsewhere in the Quran the Holy Prophet has also been referred to as رحمة للعالمین i.e. mercy for all the worlds (21:108).

Commentary:

Arabia before the Holy Prophet’s appearance was a spiritually dead land. Heavenly rain in the form of the Quranic revelation descended upon it and the whole country began to pulsate and vibrate with a new life and in turn imparted a new life to the world around it.

The words, "cattle and men" refer to two classes of men. Those who had become morally so depraved as apparently to be beyond redemption have been described as "cattle" and those who were spiritually somewhat better have been described as "men" in this verse. The former have already been referred to in v. 45 above. Both these classes of people drank deep at the fountain which the Holy Prophet caused to flow and by drinking of the Quranic elixir they got a new and everlasting life.

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet’s Message was for the whole world. The verse purports to say that God could have raised a Messenger in every town but the Holy Prophet’s time was not the time for raising tribal Prophets, because by the improvement in the means of communication nations of the world had become united into one people. The oneness of humanity required one Prophet for the whole of mankind and such was Muhammad, the Holy Prophet of Islam.

Commentary:

This verse throws a flood of light on the Islamic conception of jihad which unfortunately has been much misunderstood, alike by the adversaries and the so-called followers of Islam. The great and real jihad, according to this verse, is to preach the Message of the Quran. Thus to strive for the propagation of Islam and the dissemination and diffusion of its teachings is the jihad which the Muslims are enjoined always to carry on with unabated zeal. The jihad with the sword which the Holy Prophet and early Muslims had to wage under their own peculiar circumstances was a passing phase. Those who sought to destroy Islam by the sword themselves perished by the sword. Unless a people wage war against Muslims in order to exterminate Islam, no fight in which Muslims are engaged is called jihad, but to fight in defence of one’s hearth and home is also a very sacred duty and those who are killed in such a fight also die the death of martyrs, according to a saying of the Holy Prophet, viz. من قتل دون ماله و عرضه فھو شھید i.e. he who is killed while defending his property and honour is a martyr (Bukhari Kitabu1-Mazalim wal-Ghasb).

It is worthy of note that this Surah was revealed at Mecca when only a few persons of no high social standing had accepted Islam and even those few individuals were being severely persecuted and the fate of the new Faith itself was hanging in the balance. It was then out of the question even remotely to refer to jihad with the sword. In fact, jihad with the sword was only a side issue of the Prophet’s activities. The Holy Prophet’s real jihad consisted in unceasing fight against the forces of darkness and he waged this jihad with unabated zeal and undiminished vigour as long as he lived and this jihad will continue to be relentlessly waged by his true followers till the end of time, not with the sword but with the Quran. It is to this jihad that the verse under comment refers and it is this jihad to which the Holy Prophet referred when on returning from an expedition he is reported to have said رجعنا من الجھاد الاصغر الی الجھاد الاکبر i.e. we have returned from the smaller jihad to the greater jihad (Raddul-Muhtar). See also 22:40.

35:13; 55:20, 21.

Important Words:

مرج (caused to flow) means, he mixed two things together. مرج الشیء بالشیء means, he mixed one thing with another. مرج الدابةmeans, he sent a beast to pasture wherever it would. They say مرج لسانه فی اعراض الناس i.e. he let go his tongue in abusing people and backbiting them. مرج البحرین means, He (God) has mixed the two seas; He has let them flow freely (Lane & Aqrab).

فرات (sweet) is derived from فرت (faruta). They say فرت الماء i.e. the water was or became sweet or very sweet. فرات applied to water means sweet, very sweet or of the sweetest kind that which subdues thirst by its excessive sweetness (Lane & Aqrab).

أجاج (bitter) is derived from أج . They say أجت النار i.e. the fire burned or burned brightly or fiercely. أج الماء means, the water was or became saltish or bitter. أجاج means, anything burning to the mouth whether saltish bitter or hot. ماء أجاج means, water that burns by its saltishness; or salt water or very bitter water like the water of the sea, or water of which no use is made for drinking or for watering seed-product or other purposes; or very hot water (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradat). See also 21:97.

برزخ (partition) is a thing that intervenes between any two things; a bar; an obstruction; or a thing that separates two things i.e. a partition (Lane). See also 23:101.

Commentary:

Taking "two waters" in the verse to represent the true religion and the false one, the verse signifies that both Islam, the true religion, and other corrupted faiths will continue to exist side by side, the former yielding sweet fruit and slaking the thirst of the spiritual wayfarers and the latter barren and bitter, incapable of producing any good results.

The "two waters" may also signify the water of the sea and that of the river. The former is saltish and bitter to taste while the latter is drinkable and sweet. When the sweet water of the river flows into the sea and becomes mixed with its saltish water, it also becomes bitter. As long as these two waters keep themselves separate, they have different tastes. Similarly, when the teaching of a true religion becomes mixed up with the teachings of false religions, it loses its sweetness and usefulness. But God has so ordained that in spite of its close proximity to false religions Islam will never lose its sweet taste as God has taken upon Himself to protect and guard it (15:10). There is an unbridgeable barrier between the two which keeps them apart. Or the word بحر meaning both river and sea, the verse may signify that under the system instituted by God rivers are fed by rain and snow and their water is always fresh, and though they fall into the sea, sea water is always saltish and bitter. This is in effect an illustration of Divine guidance, which when it is constantly reinforced by fresh revelation remains fresh, sweet and life-giving, but when it becomes stale, it loses all value.

24:46; 32:9.

Important Words:

نسباً (kindred by descent). They say نسبه i.e. he mentioned his (i.e. another person’s) relationship (lineage or genealogy); he traced up his (i.e. another person’s) lineage to his greatest ancestor; he asked him to tell him his lineage or genealogy. نسبه الی فلان means, he referred or attributed his lineage or origin to such a one. نسب means, origin, genealogy, pedigree, parentage with respect to father and mother or with respect to father only (Lane).

صھر (kindred by marriage) is derived from صھر (sahara). They say صھر الشیء i.e. he brought or drew the thing to him. صھر القوم او بالقوم او صھر فیھم اوالیھم means, he took to himself a wife from among the people. أصھر الیھم or أصھر بھم means, he connected himself with them; and became or made himself, an object of inviolable respect, by a covenant of mutual protection or by relationship or by marriage. صھر means, relationship; nearness with respect to kindred; a kinsman or kinswoman of a man’s wife; and of a woman’s husband or the father or brother or other kinsman of a woman’s husband and the father or brother or other kinsman of a man’s wife; the sacred tie of relationship by marriage (Lane & Aqrab).