ROOT غ ر ر

21:36; 29:58.

4:174; 35:31; 39:36.

Commentary:

Death is the most certain phenomenon in nature and yet man’s attitude toward it is of disregard and indifference. The worldly life has been here called a vain and illusory thing, because on the face of it, it appears to be a very attractive and sweet thing, but when one becomes engrossed in seeking its pleasures and profits, one finds it bitter and deceptive.

40:5.

Commentary:

The verse, besides relating to the time of the Holy Prophet, has also a most appropriate application to the present dazzling material progress of Christian nations in all departments of life, and warns Muslims not to be deceived or overawed by the glamour of this transitory and fleeting progress.

14:23; 17:65.

Important Words:

غرورا (vain things) is derived from غر. They say غرہ i.e. he deceived him; he beguiled him; he made him desire what was vain or false. غرور (ghurur) means, false or vain thing; vanity or what is false or vain; a deception; a thing by which one is deceived. غرور (gharur), (e.g. 31:34), with different vowel point, means, very deceitful, or what deceives one, the Devil; also the present world (Lane).

Commentary:

The promises made by Satan and the desires raised by him in the hearts of his votaries, as against the works and decrees of God, never materialize.

5:58; 7:52; 8:36.

10:5.

Important Words:

تبسل (be consigned to perdition) is derived from بسل i.e. he prevented or prohibited or debarred. ابسل besides giving the above-mentioned meaning, also means, he gave in pledge; or gave in exchange. ابسله also means, he gave him up to or he delivered him over to or he consigned him to destruction or perdition or punishment (Lane & Aqrab).

شراب (drink) is derived from شرب i.e. he drank. شراب means, a drink or beverage; any liquid which is drunk and not eaten or chewed. This is the original significance. Post-classical writers, however, sometimes use the word in the sense of خمر (wine) also (Lane).

حمیم (boiling water) is derived from حم i.e. it (water, etc.) became hot or very hot. The word is also used transitively, meaning, he heated water, etc. or he heated it fully. حم الشحمة means, he melted the fat. حمه means, he washed him with hot water or, conversely, with cold water. حمیم means, hot water or, conversely, cold water; sweat or perspiration. The word also means a friend or a beloved person (Lane). The last significance is probably based on warmth of feeling.

Commentary:

The context and the sense of the passage required the use of the words "thy religion," but the Quran uses the words "their religion" instead of "thy religion". This is to point out that it was for their own good that the religion of Islam had been sent and that they were injuring themselves by rejecting it.

The words, admonish people thereby, signify that if disbelievers are in a state of excitement and it is found that admonition will provoke them all the more, then one should "let them alone"; but if there is no fear of their being provoked, then one should first admonish them and then quit their company. The pronoun in به (thereby) refers to the Quran.

The verse also contains an exhortation to believers not to get enraged at the scornful remarks of disbelievers. As it is the duty of believers to admonish and warn disbelievers, therefore the former should patiently endure the taunts of the latter.

As shown under Important Words, the word تبسل (consigned to perdition) may also mean, "be given up or surrendered." Taking the word in the latter sense, the sentence would mean, "Admonish the people lest a soul be surrendered to what it has wrought," i.e. admonish them lest they be given over to the evil works they are now engaged in, viz. lest they continue in their evil condition. See also 2:16. Taking the word in the former sense, i.e. as rendered in the text, the sentence would mean, "Admonish them lest they be consigned to destruction or punishment on account of the evil deeds which they have wrought."

The verse is addressed to believers and points out to them the urgent need of preaching the truth to disbelievers. It calls upon believers to picture to themselves the dire consequences of their failure to preach the truth to disbelieving people. If they do not show disbelievers the right path, the result will be that the latter will continue in their error and will be delivered over to destruction on account of their sins, being reduced to a condition when they will have no helper and no intercessor and when no compensation or ransom will be accepted from them.

The "boiling water" mentioned in the verse will serve as a medicine to bring about a cure, while the "grievous punishment" will be in the nature of an operation.

25:32.

Important Words:

زخرف (gilded). They say زخرف البیت i.e. he adorned, decorated or embellished the house. زخرف الکلام means, he arranged or put into a right state the speech or language; he embellished it with lies, etc. زخرف means, gold; any ornament or decoration or embellishment; also anything adorned, decorated or embellished; anything embellished with false colouring or with lies (Aqrab).

For غرورا (in order to deceive) see 4:121.

Commentary:

The words, men and jinn, which occur in many verses of the Quran do not refer to two different species of God’s creatures, but only to two classes of human beings, i.e. "men" denoting the masses or the common folk, and jinn standing for the big people who often remain aloof from the common people and do not mix with them, practically remaining concealed from public gaze. See also 6:101.

Those of the common people and the big people who lead the opposition to the Prophets of God have been styled Shayatin (evil ones), for an explanation of which see note on 2:15. This word shows that those who lead lives of sin before the advent of a Prophet generally increase in sinfulness as a punishment for their evil deeds, so that when a Prophet makes his appearance, they assume the role of arch-enemies to him and become leaders of opposition. It is a law of God, in both the physical and spiritual worlds, that the powers of man develop in the direction in which they are exercised. So, as such men employ their powers in the wrong way, the result is that at the advent of a Prophet they become still greater sinners and become leaders of men in opposing the truth. Again, in order to augment their mischief, these leaders suggest, as hinted in the words, gilded speech, such arguments to one another as appear to be sound and true but are really false and hollow, and their object in suggesting such things is to deceive the weak-minded.

39:72; 40:51; 67:9-10.

7:38.

Commentary:

The words, Messengers from among yourselves, supply further evidence of the fact that the word jinn does not here refer to a separate creation but to only a section of human beings. We learn from the Quran that Moses and the Holy Prophet were sent as Messengers to jinn also (46:30-33; 72:2-16) and we find no trace of any separate Messengers having ever been raised from among jinn, which shows that the word jinn here refers only to a special class of men. It may also be noted here that this word when applied to the great and powerful persons from among men is generally used in a bad sense, being applied to the wicked among them.

2:37; 20:122.

2:169, 209; 6:143; 12:6; 20:118; 28:16; 35:7; 36:61.

Important Words:

دلھما (caused them to fall into disobedience) is derived from دلی or دلا. They say دلاالدلو i.e. he pulled or drew the bucket (of water) out of the well. دلاحاجته means, he sought or demanded the object of his want. ادلی الدلو means, he let down the bucket into the well to draw out water with it. دلی الشیء means, he let down the thing or he let it fall or he made it hang down. It also means, he brought or drew the thing near to another. دلاه بغرور means, he caused him to fall into disobedience by deceit; or he excited his cupidity with deceit and guile; or he caused him to fall into that which he desired without his knowledge and so exposed him to loss or injury (Lane). The expression, as used in this verse, shows that Satan deceived Adam and drew him and his wife to himself or to the forbidden tree by deceitful talk and thus caused them to fall into disobedience, while they knew not.

ورق (leaves) is both singular and plural and is noun from the verb ورق. They say ورق الشجر i.e. the tree put forth its leaves. اورق الرجل means, the man became rich; his wealth and money increased. ورق, therefore, means, leaves, foliage, parchment; sheet of paper; thin plate of metal; minted silver coins; the prime and freshness of a thing; the young lads of a community; any animal having life (Aqrab, Lane & Lisan).

Commentary:

Every person has certain weaknesses which are hidden even from himself but which become exposed at a time of strain and stress or when he is tempted and tried. For instance, some men are cowardly, but they are not generally conscious of their cowardice. When however, they encounter a danger, and their heart fails them, they realize their weakness. So it was when Adam was tempted and deceived by Satan that he became aware of his natural weaknesses. The Quran does not say that the weaknesses of Adam and his wife became known to other people, but that they became known to themselves.

The word سوأة (treated under 7:21 above) is not used here in the sense of "nakedness" but rather of "objects of shame" or "weakness", because no man’s nakedness is hidden from him. Some of Adam’s weaknesses were indeed hidden from him and he came to realize them when his enemy lured him away from his position of security. Before this he did his work, aided and helped by Divine grace which kept covered his failings and weaknesses; but when he allied himself with the family against which he had been warned, he was exposed and he realized, to his sorrow, how weak he was.

As Satan had succeeded in causing a split in the community and some of the weaker members had gone out of its fold, Adam gathered together the اوراق (leaves) of the garden, i.e. the youth of the community and began to reunite and reorganize his people with their help. It is generally the young men who, being mostly free from bias and regardless of dangers, follow and help the Prophets of God. Speaking of Moses, the Quran says: And none obeyed Moses, save some youths from among his people, because of the fear of Pharaoh and their chiefs (10:84).

It must be noted here that the being whom the Quran has represented as having refused to submit to Adam is called Iblis, while the person who tempted him is called Satan. This distinction is observed not only in the verse under comment, but in all the relevant verses throughout the Quran. This shows that, so far as this narrative is concerned, Satan and Iblis were two different persons. In fact, the word Shaitan (Satan) is applied not only to evil spirits but to certain human beings also who, on account of their evil nature and wicked deeds, become, as it were, fiends incarnate. Just as a man can advance in virtue and piety so as to become like an angel, similarly he may become morally so depraved and degenerate as to be called a devil. Thus the Shaitan, who tempted Adam and caused him to slip, was not an invisible evil spirit but a wicked man of flesh and blood, a devil from among human beings, a manifestation of Satan, and an agent of Iblis. He was a member of the family which Adam had been bidden to avoid. The Holy Prophet tells us that his name was Harith, literally meaning a farmer, (Tirmidhi, ch. on Tafsir) which is further evidence of his being a human being and not an evil spirit. See also 2:15 & 2:37.

Adam’s error lay in taking this man-devil for a well-wisher, although God had warned him against having anything to do with him.

5:58; 6:71.

45:35.

Commentary:

This verse qualifies the word "disbelievers" occurring in the preceding verse. The disbelievers spoken of at the end of that verse were convinced in their hearts of the truth of Islam but, as they took their religion as a pastime, they refused to listen to the dictates of reason and the voice of their conscience. So God forgot them even as they had forgotten the meeting of their Lord.

7:18.

4:121; 14:23.

Important Words:

استفزز (entice thou) is derived from فز which means, he was or became frightened. استفزmeans, it (fear) excited him to lightness, unsteady-ness; or it unsettled him; he incited or excited him to be promptly obedient and submissive to him; he deceived or beguiled him so as to cast him into destruction; he expelled him from his land; he slew him. The Quranic expression واستفزز من استطعت منھم بصوتک means, and excite thou to lightness and unsteadiness or unsettle thou whom thou canst with thy voice. And the expression وان کادوا لیستفزونک من الارض means, and verily they were near to unsettling thee from the land or, some say, they were near to frightening thee so as to excite thee to promptness of flight from the land (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse shows that man is by nature good. It is only when he falls a victim to satanic influences that he gives up the path of virtue for the ways of sin and iniquity. This Islamic conception of human nature is in striking contrast with that of Christianity according to which man is evil by nature and Jesus alone can redeem him from his original sin.

The verse describes the three kinds of devices that are adopted by the sons of darkness to entice men away from the right way: (1) They try to intimidate the poor and the weak by holding out threats of violence to them. This is the significance of the words, And entice…with thy voice. (2) They use more drastic measures against those who are not frightened away by verbal threats of violence by forming alliances against them and making a concerted attack upon them and persecuting and oppressing them in every way. This is the sense of the words, urge against them thy horsemen and footmen. (3) They seek to entice away the powerful and the more influential among the followers of a Prophet by offering to make them their leaders if only they give up his cause.

All these measures and stratagems have been adopted by the enemies of truth against the Prophets of God and their followers throughout the ages. But they have never succeeded in arresting or retarding the progress of truth.

2:124; 82:20.