ROOT ط و ر

2:84, 94; 4:155.

7:172.

Important Words:

میثاق (covenant) is derived from وثق i.e. it was or became firm and established. اوثقه means, he made it firm and fast; he bound or tied it firmly and strongly. میثاق means, a firmly made promise; a covenant (Aqrab & Lane). It should be noted that every commandment of God has the force of a covenant for those who believe, because once an individual or a people believe in God and accept His guidance, they, as it were, enter into a covenant with Him that they will obey all His Commandments, a formal agreement not being necessary. See also 2:28.

رفعنا (We raised high) is derived from رفع which means, he raised or lifted a thing or person; he raised a person in rank, honour, position or dignity; he took a report or complaint to a person in authority (Mufradat & Aqrab). It also means, to make a thing tower above another standing beside it. We read in a hadith رفع لنا صخرة طویلة لھا ظل i.e. a big stone giving good shade was raised above us, i.e. we found ourselves beside a high shady stone (Bukhari, ch. on Hijrah).

فوق (above) is derived from فاق meaning, he surpassed it or him; he stood higher than it or him. Thus فوق is the opposite of "beneath" meaning "above", both literally and figuratively (Aqrab). It is also used to denote a place higher than that which one is occupying. The Quran says: اذجاءوکم من فوقکم i.e. when the enemy made a descent on you from a higher position (33:11).

الطور (the Mount) means: (1) a hill or mountain; (2) the mount Tur or Sinai (Mufradat & Aqrab). Thus, it is both a common and a proper name.

Commentary:

In this verse the Quran again reverts to the previous subject, i.e. the iniquities of the Israelites, but in a different field. The verse refers to the time when Moses went up the Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments and left his followers standing at the foot of the Mount (Exod. 19:17). So the covenant spoken of in the verse refers to the Ten Commandments which were given to Moses on this occasion.

The clause We raised high above you the Mount, does not mean that Mount Sinai was physically lifted up to hang over the heads of the Israelites. It only means that the covenant was taken at a time when the Israelites were standing at the foot of the mountain—a meaning quite consistent with the Arabic idiom as explained under Important Words. The raising of the Mount above the Israelites has been ascribed to God, because it was He Who had commanded them to come and stand at the foot of the Mount.

The verse may also refer to the scene when the Mount Sinai was terribly shaken with an earthquake, while the Israelites were camping near it (Exod. 19:18). On such an occasion the shaking of a high mountain peak appears as if it were hanging over the heads of those standing near it.

2:64; 4:155; 7:172.

Important Words:

اشربوا (were permeated with) is derived from شرب meaning, he drank. اشرب means, he was made to drink. The expression,اشرب فی قلبه حب فلان means, the love of such and such a person permeated his heart (Aqrab). The word is so used because love is like alcohol that intoxicates one who partakes of it. The clause, اشربوا فی قلوبھم العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the calf) must really be read as اشربوا فی قلوبھم حب العجل (lit. they were made to drink into their hearts the love of the calf), the word حب (love) being understood before the word عجل (calf).

Commentary:

For an explanation of the expression, raised high above you the Mount, see under 2:64.

The words, they said, We hear and we disobey, signify that they practically refused to obey God. They did not necessarily use these exact words; for the word, as pointed out under 2:31, sometimes conveys the sense not of actual speech but of practical conduct.

Reference to calf-worship in verse 93 is not a mere reiteration of what has been already said in verse 55; the incident has been mentioned here as an illustration of what has been said about the Jews in the previous verse. Their attention is drawn to their conduct in the days of Moses. When Moses was absent from them for a short time only, they took the image of a calf for their idol, although they had witnessed how God had helped Moses and had shown mighty Signs at his hands; and that at a time when they had given a solemn promise not to worship anything besides God. In spite of that promise, they showed active opposition to the commandments of God by their deeds.

In the concluding portion of the verse, it is pointed out that the Jews professed to believe in what was revealed to them by God, but their belief was of a strange character for in spite of it, they persisted in their opposition to the Prophets. If this was believing, then their faith was only leading them astray.

2:64, 94.

2:59; 7:162.

2:66; 4:48; 7:164; 16:125.

Commentary:

See and compare 2:59, 64, 66 & 4:48.

20:81; 28:31.

Important Words:

أیمن (right) is derived from یمن. They say یمن اللّٰه فلاناً i.e. God blessed such a one. أیمن means, (1) blessed; (2) right as opposed to left (Aqrab). The word أیمنmay qualify both جانبor الطور. For طور (Mount) see 2:64.

نجیاً (for special communion) is derived from نجا. They say نجا الرجل i.e. he discoursed secrets with the man, or simply he discoursed with him. ناجا الرجل means, he talked with the man in private, or he discoursed secretly with him. See also 4:115 & 12:81. نجیاً means, one with whom secrets are discoursed or simply one who is discoursed or talked with. It also means, one who walks quickly. الناقة النجیة means, a quick-footed she-camel (Aqrab).

Commentary:

According to the two meanings of الایمن given under "Important Words" above, the first part of the verse would mean:(a) We called him from the right side of the Mount; (b) We called him from the blessed side of the Mount; or (c) We called him from the side of the blessed Mount.

Taking into consideration all the three meanings of the word نجیا the expression قربناہ نجیاً would mean:(a) We drew him near to Us in order to hold a discourse with him, i.e. We selected him for Our special communion and for opening to him the avenues of divine knowledge and secrets of the unknown; (b) when We drew him near to Us, he came to Us hastening; (c) when We drew him near to Us, We Ourselves hastened to him. In the verse under comment the word الایمن has been used with regard to Moses while with regard to the Holy Prophet the word مبارک (blessed) is used. This word has a deeper and more comprehensive meaning than ایمن. The Quran has been called مبارک i.e. a blessed Book (6:93,156; 21:51). The place where the Holy Prophet was born was مبارک i.e. blessed (3:97), and so was his landing in Medina (23:30). The divinelight which he received has also been described as مبارک (blessed) (24:36) and the word of God came to him inلیلة مبارکة i.e. blessed night (44:4).

2:51; 14:7; 44:31-32.

19:53; 20:13; 28:31; 79:17.

Important Words:

المن (manna). They say من علیه i.e. he bestowed a favour on him. من which is infinitive noun signifies bestowing favour upon a man or doing good to him. المن means, (1) anything which comes to a man without much effort on his part; (2) a favour; (3) honeydew (Aqrab). Dr. Jesenius in his dictionary has also referred to المن as having been fromمن (manna) and means, a favour or bounty. See also 2:58.

السلوی is derived from سلا. They say سلا عن الشیء i.e. he was satiated with the thing. سلوی is (1) a whitish bird resembling a quail; (2) anything which gives a man satisfaction or contentment, (3) honey (Aqrab). See also 2:58.

Commentary:

The Israelites had lived long in bondage under the heartless tyranny of the Pharaohs and consequently had come to lose all those manly qualities that go to make a people hardy, brave and courageous. According to the divine scheme of things they were destined to conquer and rule over Canaan. Therefore after Moses had taken them out of Egypt they were made to live in the arid and barren region of Sinai in order that they might become used to a free and hard life and thus acquire and develop those qualities which were so essential for a great future that lay in store for them. But having lived in bondage for a long time they had lost all initiative and had become used to a life of lethargy and lassitude. So when they saw that they would have to live in the wilderness where no amenities of life were to be found and even food was lacking, they were utterly dismayed and fretted and fumed and quarrelled with Moses saying: "Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger" (Exod. 16:3). God heard the murmurings of the Israelites and commanded Moses to tell those ungrateful people: "At even ye shall eat flesh, and in the morning ye shall be filled with bread; and ye shall know that I am the Lord your God" (Exod. 16:12). And how this Divine promise was fulfilled has been described in the Bible as follows:

And it came to pass, that at even the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, it is manna: for they wist not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the Lord hath given you to eat. (Exod. 16:13-15).

This was the food which in answer to the murmurings of the Israelites God, out of His infinite grace and mercy, bestowed upon them in the wilderness of Sinai and which they were given without much effort or labour on their part, and which was found when stark hunger seemed to stare them in the face, and the fact of its having been found in that place and condition did, indeed, constitute a great miracle. It is to this incident that reference has been made in the verse under comment.

The manna has also been referred to in a saying of the Holy Prophet, viz. الکمأة من المن i.e. the truffle is one of the things included in the manna (Bukhari). In Lane’s Lexicon we have the following explanation for manna under the word ترنجبین (turanjabin): A kind of manna: the manna of the thorny plants called by the Arabs the haj, and hence by European botanists Alhagi; according to Dr. Boyle it is a sweetish juice which exudes from the Alhagi maurorum, crystallizes into small granular masses, and is usually distinguished by the name of Persian manna; a kind of dew that falls mostly in Khurasan and Mawara an-Nahr and in our country, mostly upon the haj; the best thereof is that which is fresh or moist and white (Ibn Sina), the من or manna mentioned in the Quran (p.306).

20:11; 27:8.

Important Words:

جذوة (burning brand) is derived from جذا. They say جذا علی الشیء i.e. he stood firmly upon a thing. جذوة means, a brand or firebrand; a thick piece of firewood not flaming; a piece of fire; a live coal. They say فلان جذوة شر i.e. such a one is a kindler or a piece of mischief (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Seclusion and solitude are very essential for meditation and communion with the Divine Being. Moses sought separation from his family, in fact from all worldly contacts and connections, in order that he might be blessed with communion with God.

20:12-13; 79:17.

32:4; 36:7.

Commentary:

The present verse continues the theme of the preceding two verses and purports to say that God spoke to Moses at the side of Mount Sinai, giving him the glad tidings that a Prophet like unto him would appear among the brethren of the Israelites (Deut. 18:18). It further implies that it was not possible for the Holy Prophet first to have caused Moses to make a prophecy concerning him and then to have claimed to have come in fulfilment of that prophecy. The verse emphasizes the fact that one Prophet (Moses) made a prophecy concerning another Prophet (the Holy Prophet) about two thousand years ago in a place far away from the scene of the activities of the latter, and that that prophecy was literally fulfilled in him. It proves beyond the shadow of a doubt that the maker of the prophecy, and he about whom the prophecy was made were both true Prophets of God.

95:3.

Commentary:

The particle واو may mean: "I swear" "I cite as witness;" etc. For the philosophy, importance and significance of oaths see 37:2; 51:2 & 91:2.

الطور (the Mount) stands for Mount Sinai. For a collective note on vv. 2-7 see v. 7 below.

23:13-15; 40:68.

Important Words:

اطوار (forms and conditions) is the plural of طور which, among other things, means, one time; quantity; measure; limit; state and condition; quality; capability; mode or manner. They say الناس اطوار i.e. people are of diverse sorts, of different conditions and forms; of various dispositions; capabilities; in different stages (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse may refer to the different stages and conditions of development through which the foetus passes—from the stage of a drop of sperm to that of a fully developed human being. This development of the foetus is fully described in 23:14-15.

The verse may also signify that God has endowed different persons with different natural capacities and capabilities and that the existence, growth and development of human society depends on this disparity of attitudes and physical conditions.

52:2.

Commentary:

See next verse. The word سینین being in the plural shows that there are several mountains of this name in that region. On one of these God manifested Himself to Moses.