ROOT ج د د

27:68; 37:17; 50:4.

36:9; 76:5.

Commentary:

This verse purports to say that it is no matter of wonder that God should have granted such miraculous success to the Holy Prophet and should have brought about moral and spiritual reformation through him. What really would be a subject for wonder would be that the world should become corrupt and God should take no steps to reform it or that disbelievers could not rise to a new life after having fallen spiritually. When the water of life comes, death must depart.

The words, these it is who shall have shackles round their necks, and they shall be the inmates of the Fire, contain a warning that those who despair of the grace of God must burn in the fire of regret and remorse and those who reject and abandon the ways of God in favour of their self-devised plans and schemes, which are like so many shackles round their necks, must come to grief. It is a pity, however, that instead of turning their attention to the propagation of Islam and prayer and spiritual regeneration, present-day Muslims insist on legalizing interest and insurance policies, etc.

6:74; 16:4; 29:45; 39:6.

4:134; 6:134; 35:17.

Commentary:

The verse embodies a severe warning for disbelievers to the effect that by opposing the Prophets they are seeking to frustrate God’s great purpose, which the world has been created to serve. Their very existence seems to belie and contradict that supreme object. Hence they cannot be allowed to succeed in their designs. They should not, therefore, delude themselves with the false notion that they are irreplaceable. Not only will they meet with destruction, but God has actually prepared "a new creation" in the form of the followers of His Prophet who will take their place and prove worthy successors of an unworthy generation.

17:99; 23:83; 37:17; 56:48.

Important Words:

رفاتا (broken particles). They say رفته i.e. he broke it; or broke it in pieces; he crushed, bruised, brayed or pounded it; he crumbled it or broke it into small pieces with his hand.

رفت عنقه means, he broke or crushed his neck. They say رفت الماء العطش i.e. the water broke the vehemence of thirst. رفات means, an old and decayed bone; or anything broken in pieces, crushed or crumbled or broken into small pieces; or broken or crumbled particles. The words ءاذا کنا عظاما ورفاتا mean, when we shall have become bones and broken particles (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In the preceding verses it was mentioned how believers would attain prosperity both in this life and in the next and disbelievers would suffer punishment. This verse gives expression to the very natural wonder and amazement of disbelievers that they would ever be raised to a new life after they had been dead.

18:107; 34:18.

17:50; 23:83; 36:79; 37:17; 56:48.

Commentary:

All disbelief is born of lack of belief in the life after death. Disbelievers rejected the word of God and thus rendered themselves deserving of punishment but this rejection of Divine revelation was due to a lack of belief in the life after death when they would have to render an account of their deeds. All rejection of religion and truth is, in fact, the result of denial of the next life. This is why the Quran has laid so much stress on the life after death and reverts to this all-important subject time and again.

18:106; 29:24; 30:17.

Commentary:

The argument has been put forward again and again in the Quran that if God can create and develop from mere earth a wonderful creation, He can also give man a new life after he is dead.

Important Words:

مزقتم (you are broken up) is derived from مزق which means, lie scattered or dispersed. مزق الثوب means, he tore the cloth in many places. مزق عرضه means, he rent or marred his honour or reputation. They say مزقھم کل مـمزق i.e. he dispersed them to all parts of the country. He (God) destroyed them thoroughly and completely (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In verse 4 disbelievers were warned that the time of the triumph of Islam and their own destruction was fast approaching. The word used in that verse to convey this warning was الساعة (the Hour). In the verse under comment the disbelievers are shown as vainly seeking to divert the subject of their defeat by pretending to take the word الساعة (the Hour) in the sense of the Day of Resurrection when they shall be broken up into pieces and not in the sense in which it has been used in v. 4. viz. the day of their defeat and destruction in this world. The verse may also mean that disbelievers accuse the Holy Prophet of seeking to create a community of his own by causing discord and disharmony in their ranks, and implies the answer that these people who brag so much of their unity were never a united people. Their talk of unity is an empty talk and their charge that the Holy Prophet seeks to create disunity among them is altogether fake and unfounded.

4:134; 6:134; 14:20.

Commentary:

The verse implies that God has decreed to bring into being a new creation, a new order through the Holy Prophet and "it is not at all difficult for Him to do so."

14:33; 22:6; 30:51; 45:6.

Important Words:

الوانھا (their colours) is the plural of لون which is substantive noun from لون (lawwana). They say لون الشیء i.e. he coloured the thing. لون الشیب فیه means, old age appeared in his hair. تلون الرجل means, the man became fickle minded. لون means, colour, exterior; form, shape; kind, sort, species (Aqrab & Lane).

جدد (streaks) is the plural of جدة which is derived from جد which means, it (a garment) was or became new; جدة (juddatun) means, a beaten way or road; a road leading to water; a main road; a sign; the bank or side of a river; the stripe or streak that is in the back of an ass differing from his general colour, a streak in anything as in a mountain, differing in colour from the rest of the mountain (Lane & Aqrab).

غرابیب سود (raven black). غرابیب is the plural of غربیب which is derived from غرب (ghariba) which means, he or it was or became black; or it was or became black on account of very hot wind. غربیب means, intensely black; of which the colour resembles the colour of a crow; when applied to an old man it means one whose hair is intensely black or whose hair does not become white or who blackens his white hair with dye. أسود غربیب means, intensely black. But if you say غرابیب سود you make the latter word a substitute for the former; because a word corroborative of one signifying a colour cannot precede, nor can the corroborative of any word; one of the most excellent kinds of grapes; a variety of grapes growing at At-Ta’if; intensely black; of the most excellent and most delicate and blackest of grapes. غرابیب سود relating to mountains, may mean streaks having black rocks.

Commentary:

The present and the next verse invite attention to the study of a wonderful phenomenon of nature which bears striking resemblance to a similar phenomenon in the spiritual realm. The verse purports to say that when rain falls upon dry and parched land it gives rise to a vast variety of crops, flowers and fruits of different colours, tastes, forms and kinds. The rainwater is the same, but the crops, flowers and fruits it produces are vastly different from one another. This difference is evidently due to the nature of the soil and the seed. Similarly, when Divine revelation, which at many places in the Quran has been likened to water, comes to a people, it produces different effects upon different men according to the soil of their hearts and the way in which they receive it. The same revelation which produced such paragons of righteousness and piety as Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, served only to increase Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah or Shaibah in wickedness and opposition to truth. The verse also signifies that the Faithful and the disbelievers are variously graded in goodness and evil. All believers were not like Abu Bakr and ‘Umar in righteousness, nor all disbelievers as wicked as Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah or Shaibah. The verse further says that the vast variety of colour and kind is not to be found only in plants but also in mountains and rocks as well. All of these wonderful phenomena point to an Intelligent and Powerful mind behind it.

50:39.

Important Words:

عیینا (We have become weary) is derived from عی (‘ayya). They say عی بأمرہ او عن أمرہ i.e. he lacked power, strength or ability to perform or accomplish his affair; was unable to execute it through or found not the right way to do it. عی الامر means, he was ignorant of the affair. أعیا means, he was or became tired, fatigued or wearied عی فی منطقه means, he found not the right way to express himself (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In these verses "creation", besides its ordinary meaning, signifies spiritual awakening or revolution brought about by a Prophet among his people.

17:112; 18:5; 25:3.