See 1:1.

Commentary:

See 1:1.

40:2; 41:2; 42:2; 43:2; 44:2; 45:2.

Commentary:

For general treatment of abbreviated letters see 2:2 & 19:2. Verses 40:2, 42:2 & 45:2, however, deal particularly with the letters حم which, as in the preceding six chapters, are placed at the beginning of the present Surah. These letters may be taken as standing for one of the following pairs of Divine attributes, i.e. حمید مجید (Praiseworthy, and Lord of honour), حی قیوم (Living, Self-Subsisting and All-Sustaining), منزل الکتاب، حافظ الکتاب (Guardian of the Book and Revealer of the Book). These Divine attributes, as also others that are represented by these abbreviated letters, have a strong bearing on the subject matter of the Surah. Unity of God, refutation and denunciation of idolatry, Divine revelation, with special reference to the revelation of the Quran, life after death and the triumph of truth over falsehood are some of the important topics dealt with in the seven Surahs of the حم group, as Divine attributes represented by these abbreviated letters indicate.

20:5; 32:3; 36:6; 40:3; 45:3.

Commentary:

The verse signifies that the Message of this Book—the Quran—is bound to succeed as it has been revealed by God Who is Mighty. And because its Revealer is the Wise God, it contains the quintessence of the accumulated wisdom of saints and seers of the past ages and is also the compendium of the imperishable teachings of all revealed Scriptures.

21:17; 38:28; 44:39.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that the creation of heavens and the earth is intended to serve an eternal purpose which is to serve man who is, God’s noblest handiwork, and the aim and object of whose life is to develop in himself Divine attributes. For the attainment by man of this grand and sublime object, God raised His Messengers in all times and among all peoples. To these Messengers He revealed Himself, and to them He gave His teaching. The greatest and noblest of these Divine Messengers was the Holy Prophet Muhammad, and the last and most complete and perfect code of Divine laws is the Quran.

The creation of the heavens and the earth also establishes the eternal truth that there is only One Designer, Creator and Controller of the universe. It constitutes an unassailable argument against idolatry.

The words "for an appointed time" signify that the universe had a beginning and will also have an end. It is to this great truth that the verses, "All that is on it will pass away. And there will remain only the Person of thy Lord, Master of Glory and Honour" (55:27-28), refer.

35:41.

Important Words:

أثارة (vestige) is the inf. noun from أثر and means, a remain or relic of a thing; a trace; sign or mark; vestige or track; a footprint; impression or mark made by the foot of a man upon the ground (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

With this verse begins a systematic refutation and condemnation of شرک i.e. idolatry. It means to say that only that Being can command adoration and is fit to be worshipped Who as the Architect and Creator of the universe controls our destinies. But the false gods of idolaters not only have not created anything but are themselves created. They do not even possess any power to harm or benefit themselves, nor have they any power over death, life or Resurrection (25:4). Then what title or right have they to man’s worship of them? The verse further says that in reality no authority except that of a revealed Scripture can form the basis for determining whether a certain belief is right or wrong. The words "Or some vestige of knowledge in your support" signify that human science and reason as well lend no support to idolatrous beliefs or practices. Thus this little verse embodies three very strong and cogent arguments to repudiate and demolish polytheistic and idolatrous doctrines.

10:30.

Important Words:

The verse embodies yet another very convincing argument against idol worship. Islam presents a Living God Who listens to the prayers of His devotees and has given proof of this fact in every age. He reveals Himself to His true votaries by accepting their prayers and consoles them in the hour of distress by speaking to them words of comfort. How encouraging and hope-raising are the Quranic words: "And when My servants ask thee about Me, say, I am near. I answer the prayer of the supplicant when he prays to Me" (2:187). Other religions hold out no such promise to their followers. Let them cry hoarse, the Quran says, their false gods will never answer their prayer because they do not possess any such power. Of what use, then, is that deity which is deaf and dumb and hears and answers not the agonised cries of its votaries?

6:23; 10:29.

Commentary:

In this verse the votaries of false gods are told that not only will their gods not answer their prayers unto the Day of Resurrection, but will disown them on that awful day when they (the idolaters) will be made to face the consequences of their idolatrous beliefs and practices.

34:44; 61:7.

11:36.

Commentary:

After effectively refuting شرک (idolatry) in the preceding few verses, the Surah, in the present verse, proceeds to deal with the next important topic—Divine revelation. It purports to say that forging lies about God, being a fatal poison, is bound to bring about the spiritual death and destruction of the forger. This is the significance of the words: "You cannot avail me aught against Allah." The words, "Sufficient is He for a witness between me and you," signify that "if I am a forger of lies against God, He would not let me go unpunished, but if you reject the Message of Truth, you too will have to suffer the evil consequences of your rejection."

The expression من اللّٰه means: (a) in opposition to Allah; (b) from the punishment of Allah.

6:51; 7:204; 10:16; 33:3.

Commentary:

بدعاً (new) is derived from بدع which means, he originated a thing or brought it into existence for the first time, the thing not having existed before, and not after the similitude of anything pre-existing. They say فلان بدع فی ھذا الامر i.e. such a one is the first person to do this thing. بدع means, first; new; a first doer of a thing; novel; a thing existing for the first time; an innovator (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:118.

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet is here enjoined to tell his people that his being raised as a Divine Messenger was not a new thing. He was no innovator. They were already conversant with the phenomenon of prophethood. God had been raising His Messengers during the ages when people forsook the path of righteousness. He had raised Prophets in their neighbourhood, and, now, He had selected them for the bestowal of this great gift. They should, therefore, judge the Holy Prophet by the criteria by which the former Prophets were judged. The Holy Prophet is further asked to tell them that though there was no doubt that ultimately his cause would triumph, he was not vouchsafed the knowledge of the vicissitudes of circumstances through which he himself would have to pass during the intervening period, nor did he know how God would treat his opponents. His mission was confined to delivering the Divine Message to them and to warn them that if they did not behave they would come to grief.

11:18; 61:7.

Commentary:

The witness from among the Children of Israel is Moses. It is to his prophecy concerning the advent of the Holy Prophet that reference has been made in this verse. The prophecy is to this effect:

I will raise them up a Prophet from among their brethren like unto thee, and will put My words in his mouth; and he shall speak unto them all that I shall command him. And it shall come to pass that whosoever will not hearken unto My words which he shall speak in My name, I will require it of him (Deut. 18:l8-19).

See also 11:18.

The reference in the words 'a witness from among the Children of Israel' could not be, as generally misunderstood, to ‘Abdullah bin Salam, a learned Jew, because ‘Abdullah had accepted Islam in Medina while this Surah was revealed at Mecca.

11:28.

Commentary:

One of the great impediments that stand in the way of truth being accepted by disbelievers is conceit and arrogance. Since it is the poor people and those not high placed in life and generally not conversant with current material sciences, who first accept the Divine Message, the so-called learned and wealthy people regard it beneath their dignity to associate themselves with the humble and lowly believers. It is to this proud attitude of disbelievers that the verse refers. It depicts conceited and arrogant disbelievers as saying to believers, that if there had been any good in the new Teaching, they (disbelievers), who were better placed in life and possessed better knowledge, could not have been outstripped by the former in accepting it, and that, as it was an old, old lie, they could not accept it.

28:44.

20:114; 42:8; 43:4.

Commentary:

Verse 11 above referred to the appearance of a Prophet among the Ishmaelites. The present verse refers to Arabia as the scene of the advent of the Prophet who was to be the like of Moses and to the Book (the Quran) which was to fulfil the prophecies contained in the Book of Moses and which also was to supersede it. The relevant prophecy is as follows:

The burden upon Arabia. In the forest in Arabia shall ye lodge, O ye travelling companies of Dedanim. The inhabitants of the land of Tema brought water to him that was thirsty, they presented with their bread him that fled (Isaiah 21: 13-15).

See also 26:198.

41:31.

Commentary:

What fear or grief, even under the severest trial, can possibly disturb the equanimity and mental poise of a true believer, who possesses an invincible faith that Allah, the Creator and Lord of the whole universe, is at his back? It is this certain faith that has caused the Faithful in all ages to lay down their lives smilingly in the cause of Truth. Such believers have been called محسنین (doers of good) in verse 13 above. They abide in the Garden of heavenly bliss and bask in the sun of God’s love. See also 41:31.

6:152; 19:33; 29:9.

27:20.

Important Words:

أشد (full maturity) is derived from شد. They say شد الشیء i.e. he made the thing hard, firm, compact, strong, or he bound it fast. أشد (ashudd) means, physical and intellectual and also spiritual maturity as gives evidence of rectitude of conduct or course of life; firmness or soundness of judgement produced by experience. (Lane).

Commentary:

The word seems to have been used in the sense of spiritual maturity in the present verse and in 12:23; and in the sense of intellectual and physical maturity in 6:153 and 18:83. Generally, Divine Messengers are invested with their divine mission at the age of forty. The belief that Jesus was made a Prophet at the age of 33 seems to be an historical anachronism, as recent research into Christian history has proved his birth to have taken place about six years earlier than generally understood (Enc. Brit. under "Chronicle").

أوزعنی (grant me the power) is derived from وزع. They say وزع فلاناً او بفلان i.e. he hindered or led or drove forth such a one and restrained him; he urged or incited such a one. أوزع اللّٰه فلانا means, God inspired or granted such a one the power to do a thing. See also 27:18.

In verse 13 above a brief reference has been made to محسنین (doers of good). The present verse enjoins a believer to do good (احسان) to all his fellow beings, irrespective of caste, colour or clime, starting, however, with his parents, the mother having secured a special mention, as also in 31:15 because "she bears him with pain, and brings him forth with pain".

In 31:15, it was stated that the weaning of a child takes two years, but in the verse under comment the combined period of pregnancy and suckling is given as thirty months which leaves six months as the period of gestation, and that seems to be the period during which a pregnant woman feels the burden of pregnancy, the fourth month being the time when she begins to have such a feeling.

17:109; 19:62; 73:19.

Important Words:

نتجاوز (We shall overlook) is derived from جاز.They say جاز المکان او جاوزہ i.e. he passed along the place and left it behind. جاوز الحدmeans, he exceeded the proper limit or became extravagant or exorbitant. تجاوز عن ذنبه means, he overlooked sin; he forgave him. (Lane).

Commentary:

In verse 16, reference was made to a class of men who spend their God-given gifts in the service of noble causes in order to win the pleasure of God, and who are anxious that they might be succeeded by a generation who should carry on their noble work. The verse under comment speaks of those unfortunate people who are born of good and righteous parents and are brought up in very healthy environments and yet lead a life of disbelief and sin.

3:138; 7:39; 13:31; 41:26.

6:133.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that all the works, good or evil, of the two classes of men mentioned in vv. 16 and 18 above, will be properly judged and weighed, and, while being requited, their motives and intentions and all relevant circumstances, will be taken into consideration, as the Divine law of compensation works in this way that whereas the reward of a good deed is many times greater than the deed itself, the punishment of the evil deed is proportionate to the deed committed.

6:94.

Commentary:

When confronted with the consequences of their evil deeds, the disbelievers will be told on the Day of Reckoning that as they had fully exploited and drained to dregs the material gifts that God had bestowed upon them and had used them not in the service of good causes but to further their own sordid ends, they should be prepared to suffer disgrace and ignominy as a fit requital for their misdeeds.

7:66; 11:51.

Commentary:

‘Ad was not the name of one tribe but of a group of tribes. The tribe has been called ‘Adi Iram in the Quran (89:8). They were a highly powerful and cultured people and had specialized in architecture. They ruled over rich and fertile territories in Yemen. As a result of their rejection of the Prophet Hud, and their wicked and immoral deeds, they were destroyed by a violent wind which continued to lash them for seven consecutive days, burying their chief cities under heaps of sand and dust. For detailed notes on ‘Ad see 11:51 and 26:124.

7:71.

Important Words:

لتأفکنا (that thou turn us away) is derived from أفک (afaka). أفکه means, he changed his or its condition or manner of being; he turned him or it away or back from a thing by lying; he perverted his judgement; he deceived or beguiled him; he lied or said what was untrue (Lane & Aqrab). Almost all these meanings are applicable here.

11:34.

Commentary:

When tauntingly asked by his people, when and how they would be punished for rejecting him, Hud pleaded ignorance of the time and manner of the Divine punishment. But he warned them at the same time that Divine punishment was sure to overtake them and that if they had some wisdom left with them they should have read the writing on the wall because the rejection of Divine Message never goes unpunished. This is the significance of the words: "but I see you to be a very ignorant people."

41:17.

Important Words:

عارض (cloud) is the act. part. from عرض They say عرض الشیء i.e. he showed, manifested, presented the thing. عارض means, anything showing its breadth or side, hence appearing; a collection of clouds extending sideways in the horizon or a collection of clouds that come over in the sky unexpectedly or appear like a mountain; a gift appearing from a person (Lane & Aqrab).

Whereas the word ریح (wind) has been used in the Quran both in a good and a bad sense, its plural always is used in a good sense.

7:73.

Commentary:

As mentioned above, the Adites were specially advanced in architecture. They built monuments on high places and erected palatial buildings. They had their summer residences, their factories and mechanical works. But they were so completely destroyed that it seemed that they had never existed and only the ruined remnants of their once lofty and strongly-built dwellings could be seen.

6:7; 7:11.

11:9; 21:42.

Important Words:

أفئدة (hearts) is the plural of فؤاد which is derived from فاد. They say فادہ, i.e. he or it hit, struck, smote or hurt his فؤاد i.e. heart. فاد اللحم فی النار means, he roasted the flesh meat in the fire. فؤاد is synonymous with قلب both meaning heart, mind or intellect. In the Quran, too, both these words have been used synonymously. In 28:11, both the words have been used together, signifying the heart. It is the context which determines where any of these words is used in the sense of mind or heart. Some authors, however, make a distinction between فؤاد and قلب; the latter is said to have a more special signification than the former which is said to be the غشاء or the وعاء of the قلب or the middle or the interior thereof. They say طار فؤادہ i.e. his mind or intellect or courage tied (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse also shows that the Adites were a very powerful and prosperous people. Their dominions extended over vast areas.

Commentary:

The reference in the words "We did destroy townships round about you" is to the destruction of the once very powerful and prosperous people of ‘Ad and of Tubba’ who held sway over vast territories in the south of Arabia. To the northwest, the complete ruin of the Thamud tribe held out a severe warning and on the shores of the Dead Sea were situated the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah which were turned upside down on account of the vice indulged in by them. The destruction of all these places constituted an eye-opener to the Meccans. If they did not eschew their evil ways and continued to reject the Divine Message, they would meet with no better fate. As the Quran, the final Law for all mankind, was revealed at Mecca, the words, ما حولکم من القریٰ may also signify the whole world.

The Quran reverts again and again to the fundamental problems of faith, morals and other kindred subjects, and deals with them from different angles and points of view in order to satisfy doubts and misgivings of men of varied attitudes, mental make-up or outlook on life. People of shallow thinking and prejudiced minds may call it a repetition, but in fact it is the right approach to different human problems.

42:47.

Important Words:

قرباناً (seeking nearness) is infinitive noun from قرب. They say قرب الیه ومنه i.e. he was or became near to him or it. قرب للّٰه قرباناً(qarraba): he made an offering to God. قربان means, an offering or oblation; a sacrifice; anything by means of which one seeks nearness to God; a near or favourite associate or companion (Lane & Aqrab). The word has been used in the latter sense in 39:4.

Commentary:

The verse contains a very challenging argument against idolatry and drives home to polytheists the futility of their idolatrous beliefs and practices, saying that their false gods can never help them in time of need while the True Almighty God comes to the rescue of His servants when they are in distress and call for His help.

72:2.

Important Words:

نفراً (a party) is derived from نفر (nafara) which means, he ran away at random; he broke loose and went hither and thither; he became separated and returned to a distance. نفر (nafarun) means, a number of men from three to ten or less than ten; a man’s people or tribe consisting of his near relations (Lane).

Commentary:

The party of men referred to in the verse were the Jews of Nusaybin or, as some say, from Mosul or Nineveh in Iraq. Being apprehensive of the Meccans’ opposition, they met the Holy Prophet at night and after listening to the Quran and to the Holy Prophet’s discourse, they converted to Islam and carried the new Message to their people who also readily accepted it. The next verse leaves no doubt that they were Jews and seemed to be the leaders of their people (Bayan, vol. 8). See also 72:2.

72:2-3.

Commentary:

This verse clearly shows that the party of men mentioned in the previous verse were Jews because they spoke of the Quran as "the Book which has been sent down after Moses".

72:14.

Commentary:

This and the next verse contain some basic arguments which establish the truth of the claims of a Divine Reformer. First, people are cleansed of sins and impurities and become a model of virtue and righteousness through the Teaching revealed to him and by his own ennobling example.

72:16.

Commentary:

Secondly, the Divine Reformer does eventually succeed in his mission as it is God’s unalterable Decree and Law that Truth must prevail and falsehood must come to an evil end. The disbelievers cannot alter this Divine decree, try as they might. The gods which they adore leave them in the lurch when they are confronted with the consequences of their wicked deeds.