حَیَّ

7:55; 13:4; 22:62; 35:14; 39:6; 57:7.

6:96; 10:32; 30:20.

Commentary:

This and the preceding verse point to the immutable divine law that nations rise and fall as they conform to, or defy, the will of God, Who is the source of all power and glory. They also refer to the fulfilment of a great prophecy. A nation which had enjoyed temporal and spiritual sovereignty for a long time was going to be abased, because it had persistently violated the divine law and had become spiritually dead; and in place of it another nation, till now very low in the scale of humanity, was going to be raised to the highest pinnacle of temporal and spiritual power. The sovereignty or kingdom mentioned in the preceding verse refers to both the temporal and spiritual kingdom which was promised to the progeny of Abraham and which the Israelites had enjoyed for a long time. That kingdom was now going to be transferred to the House of Ishmael to find its completest manifestation in Islam. A living nation had suffered death and another, as good as dead, had arisen into life.

The word النھار (day) represents prosperity and power, and اللیل (night) signifies the loss of power combined with decline and decadence. By using this simile, the Quran draws attention to the fact that a people who wish that the night of woes and miseries should never overtake them and that they should ever continue to enjoy the day of prosperity and glory, should so place themselves in front of the Divine Sun as to continue to be illuminated by its ever-effulgent light. In this connection it may also be noted that the Quranic expression, Thou makest the night pass into the day and makest the day pass into the night, does not merely signify "the" alternate ending and beginning of day and: night, but also the conversion of part of the day into night and vice versa, thus hinting at the lengthening of the one at the cost of the other.

The clause, And Thou givest to whomsoever thou pleasest without measure, holds out a promise to Muslims that the glory of Islam will be unparalleled and will last forever. Islam will never be displaced as a religion and Muslims will always continue to be one of the most exalted peoples of the earth till the end of time. The appearance of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, at a time when the temporal power of Islam was at its lowest ebb and Muslims had also become morally and spiritually degenerate, was in fulfilment of this very promise. Through him Islam has found a new life. It will now bloom and blossom till whole nations shall come under its spiritual sway, and Muslims shall regain their pristine glory and shall become the most dominant people on the face of the earth.

3:28; 10:32; 30:20.

Commentary:

The Quran now proceeds to give arguments from nature to prove the need of revelation and Divine guidance. Firstly, the attention of man is drawn to the seeds and stones from which trees sprout. How insignificant is the seed, but how it grows and develops into a big tree. Similarly, you look upon man as a contemptible thing and say, Allah has not revealed anything to any man (6:92). But man also, whom you imagine to be so despicable, is like a seed and is capable of growing into something great.

The words, He brings forth the living from the dead, signify that not unoften noble and great men are born of low and ill-bred parents. Why then do you wonder and think it impossible that a righteous man should rise spiritually and become recipient of divine favours? Your God has made man after the manner of a seed. He has endowed him with many faculties and has made him capable of great progress. Why do you not then understand and see the truth?

Commentary:

In this verse and those that follow, the Quran describes how God arranged and planned to bring about an encounter at Badr between believers and disbelievers, so that He might thereby crush the power of the enemy and show a sign in support of Islam.

The verse begins with a graphic picture of the situation of the different parties at Badr and then proceeds to say that, if it had been left to the Muslims to appoint the time of the encounter, they would certainly have differed with regard to it and would have preferred to postpone the date of the first clash, for at that time they did not feel strong enough to meet their much more powerful and far better-equipped enemy in a field of battle. As, however, God’s object was to show a powerful sign, so He brought about the encounter at a time when the Muslims were still very weak and the enemy very strong. This was done so that the party, which had been proved to be in error and to be spiritually dead by means of clear reasons and arguments, might perish and the party, which had been proved to be spiritually alive and established on the firm basis of truth, might survive and live.

The Quran has mentioned, more than once, the Divine attribute of "All-Hearing" in connection with the Battle of Badr in order to allude to the fact that prayers had played a great part in bringing about the victory and that they can play a similar part again.

27:65; 34:25; 35:4.

3:28; 6:96.

See 10:4.

Commentary:

This verse explains in a beautiful manner the relation between Divine revelation and human reason. It says that all physical or spiritual sustenance is provided by heaven and earth acting in concert. Neither of them can do it singly. For example, if heaven should continue to send down rain but the earth should lack the necessary power and capacity for bringing forth vegetation, the rain would produce nothing. On the other hand, if no rain falls, then the fertility of the soil alone will not suffice to produce vegetation. Exactly in the same way human reason, which is like soil, cannot produce spiritual vegetation, which serves as spiritual food for man, unless the water of Divine revelation comes to its aid from heaven. It is, therefore, vain to hope that man can attain to God by the help of reason alone, without the aid of Divine revelation.

The verse proceeds to say that it is foolish to think that God should have given eyes and ears to men but should have failed to provide for them the task they were meant to perform. That task is provided through Divine guidance. Similarly, the verse draws our attention to the process of life and death in this world. Oftentimes the living come out of the dead and things which to all outward appearance are dead begin to show signs of life and vice versa. Is it not then possible that there should sometimes gush forth a fountain of life from a dead heart? When such a possibility exists, why should not God grant respite to the sinful so that such of them as possess the germs of life may revive?

The verse continues the argument in the words, And who governs all affairs?, meaning that it is inconceivable that a being who is entrusted with the conduct of an affair should himself seek to destroy it. No wise man can ever think of undoing his own handiwork. How then can God wish to destroy the universe which is the means for the manifestation of His powers and attributes? He would much rather save it than destroy it. This is why He is slow in punishing.

There exists an extremely beautiful and intelligent order in this verse. It begins with a reference to sustenance, which is the means of the preservation of life. Then it speaks of the organs of sight and hearing, which are the means of acquiring wisdom and knowledge. After that the verse speaks of the system of life and death, pointing to man’s power of action which naturally comes into operation after the acquirement of wisdom and understanding. Last of all, it speaks of the government or management of affairs which is needed when one begins to exercise the power of action, for تدبیرmeans, conducting an affair in an ordered and regulated manner and maintaining proper balance between different acts. In short, all the four means which are needed for the achievement of the purpose of man’s existence have been mentioned here in their natural order. Now can there be a being so unreasonable as to first create life and endow man with feelings and the necessary capabilities for work and also provide a well-regulated order in his actions, and then, having endowed him with all these gifts, leave him alone and give him no instructions to employ these great gifts for the attainment of a particular object? A man with even a grain of sense can see that such a thing is impossible. And it is equally impossible that, after having done all this, God should be hasty in bringing about destruction or awarding punishment.

Sometimes even Christian commentators of the Quran feel constrained to admire the beauty and force of its teachings. Commenting on this and the following few verses, the Rev. E.M. Wherry says: "This passage contains very cogent reasoning against idolaters. These teachings account for much of the success of Islam as a missionary religion." It is a pity, however, that even in the face of such admissions some Christian writers should have the hardihood to ascribe the success of Islam to the sword and the so-called "temptations" which Islam is alleged to have offered to its followers.

Commentary:

حیة (serpent). The Quran has used three different words for describing the turning of the rod of Moses into a serpent, viz.حیة as in the verse under comment; جان as in 27:11 and 28:32; and ثعبانas in 7:108 and 26:33. The word حیة is of general application and is used for all categories of serpents; جان means a small serpent; and ثعبان generally means a bulky and long serpent. These words apparently seem to have been used haphazardly at various places in the Quran, but in reality there is no haphazardness, or arbitrariness since the word جان has been used from the point of view of the serpent’s quick movements and ثعبان from the point of view of its large size. Moreover, when the mere fact of the turning of the rod into a serpent is mentioned the word حیة is used, but when the rod turns into a serpent in the presence of Moses alone the word جان (a small serpent) is used. When, however, the miracle of the rod turning into a serpent is shown in public before Pharaoh, the magicians and the people, the word ثعبان (a large and bulky serpent) is used. The significance of these different words on different occasions would be different. The word حیة (root-word حیی) signifies that a dead people (عصا) as, to all intents and purposes, the Israelites were, would receive a new and vigorous life through Moses and the word جان(a small, fast moving serpent) signifies that from a small and decadent community, they would make rapid progress and would become ثعبان (a large and bulky serpent) for Pharaoh and his people i.e. they would become the means and instrument of their destruction.

The verse purports to say, and the history of the Israelites bears testimony to the fact, that whenever Moses happened to become separated from his people they became, as it were, serpents i.e. they relapsed into idol-worship and other abominable practices.

For an exhaustive explanation of the miracle of the rod turning into a serpent and its spiritual significance see 7:108. Suffice it to say here that it was a vision which Moses had seen and in which Pharaoh, his courtiers and the magicians were also made to share. The rod did not actually turn into a serpent but was merely made to appear like one. It, therefore, contradicted or contravened no law of nature.

6:96; 10:32.

Commentary:

The present verse sums up the subject matter of the foregoing verses and points to the conclusion that a people who intellectually, morally and spiritually were as good as dead, by acting upon the teaching of the Quran not only became the teachers of mankind in physical sciences but became also its moral and spiritual preceptors. This phenomenon of the coming to life of a dead people is witnessed in the time of every Prophet and Divine Reformer and serves as a great proof in support of life after death.

Commentary:

The words, "they greet thee with which Allah has not greeted thee," may either mean that they go beyond proper limits in hypocritically praising thee, or that they invoke death and destruction upon thee. The words seem to refer to the evil practice of some of the Jews of Medina that when they came to see the Holy Prophet they, with a little twist of the tongue, would invoke curses upon him by saying السام علیک i.e. death to thee; instead of saluting him with the usual السلام علیک i.e. peace be upon thee (Bukhari). See also 2:105.