See 1:1.

38:68.

Important Words:

النبأ (the great Event) among other things means, an announcement of great utility which results either in great knowledge or predominance of opinion and which inspires awe and makes the heart tremble with fear (Lane, Kulliyyat & Raghib).

Commentary:

The addition of the qualifying word العظیم (great) to النبأ which itself means, a great news or event, bespeaks of the tremendous import of the event referred to here. The words النبأ العظیم are taken to signify either the Day of Reckoning or the predominance of the Quran over all revealed Scriptures and that of Islam over other Faiths and religious systems. The disbelievers (the verse purports to say) persuade themselves to believe that the predicted event will never take place. So they ask half-mockingly and half in doubt, when that event, so loudly proclaimed, will happen.

38:69-70.

Commentary:

The disbelievers do not believe that there will ever be a Day of Reckoning, or that Islam will ever predominate over other religions. Or the verse may mean that they hold divergent views about these things. Some of them call the Quran a jumble of ancient stories, others dub it as magic, yet others say that it is a forgery or at best the creation of the Holy Prophet’s own heated imagination. About the Holy Prophet also their views differ. Some call him a mad man, others a magician, and yet others a poet.

102:4-5.

Commentary:

The verse means that disbelievers are indulging in wild conjectures about the Resurrection, the Quran, and about the Holy Prophet’s future. But time will show that they suffered from illusions, and that the Holy Prophet was bound to succeed in his mission and, as a corollary, that what the Quran has said about the Day of Reckoning is also sure to happen.

2:23; 20:54; 27:62; 51:49.

36:37; 51:50; 75:40; 92:4.

Commentary:

In these verses (vv. 7-9) we are told that God has created the earth and in it all physical needs of man have been provided, and that He has created the mountains which constitute a storehouse of mineral wealth and serve as great reservoirs of water, and that God has created for man his mate in order that his progeny may continue. This shows that man’s life for whose sake all this machinery has been made is not without a definite purpose and that death is not the end of man; it is followed by a better and fuller life where human soul will make everlasting progress.

Important Words:

سبات (rest) is derived from سبت which means, he rested; he abstained from work. سبات signifies rest and hence sleep, or light or heavy sleep. It also means, a period; a long period, being syn. with دھر (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Nations and communities, after undergoing heavy sacrifices are disposed to take rest. Consequently there comes upon them a period of forgetfulness. This period is sometimes very long. Then a Divine Reformer appears and they are required again to make sacrifices for the cause of truth. Thus the circle continues. In fact, سبات (rest) is a great Divine gift. After a day’s hard work, sleep gives rest to man’s jaded nerves and tired limbs, and thus he is refreshed and replenished for the next day’s work.

6:97; 25:48; 28:74.

Commentary:

As it is difficult to distinguish between different things in the darkness of night, similarly, in the period of spiritual darkness, before the advent of a Divine Reformer, good and bad people remain mixed up, and it is after a Reformer’s appearance that the good people are separated from the bad people.

17:13; 28:74.

Commentary:

Just as man’s body regains new vigour and strength after restful sleep at night, similarly, after a long period of sloth and inertia in relation to spiritual matters a people become invigorated to make new sacrifices when a Divine Reformer appears among them.

23:18.

Commentary:

The reference in the verse seemingly being to the seven major planets of the solar system, of which the sun is the centre, the verse means that the fact that God has created such a vast, complex and flawless system for the service of man inevitably leads to the conclusion that man has been placed on the earth to serve a specific, albeit a very noble and sublime purpose. Seven heavens may also refer to seven stages of spiritual development of man mentioned in Surah Al-Mu’minun.

Important Words:

وھاج (bright) is derived from وھج. They say وھجت النار i.e. the fire burned or blazed. یوم وھج means, a hot day. وھاج means, burning very brightly; very hot; very shining (Lane & Aqrab).

6:7; 71:12; 80:26.

Important Words:

المعصرات (the dripping clouds) is derived from عصر which means, he pressed or squeezed the thing so as to force out its juice, etc. he aided or succoured or saved or preserved someone; he did some benefit to someone. They say أعصر السحاب i.e. the clouds were at the point of having rain pressed forth from them by the winds (Lane & Aqrab).

ثجاج (pouring forth abundantly) is derived from ثج. They say ثج الماء i.e. the water flowed or poured forth vehemently or much. مطر ثجاج means, rain pouring forth vehemently or much (Lane).

80:28-29.

80:30-31.

Commentary:

In these verses (7-17) some of the basic Divine bounties on which man’s physical sustenance mainly depends have been mentioned, the implication being that God Who has made such adequate arrangement for the physical sustenance of man could not have omitted to make a similar provision for his spiritual sustenance. The verses also point to a striking parallelism between the physical and the spiritual universes. Just as the sun is the centre of the whole solar system, similarly the Holy Prophet is the pivotal point of the spiritual universe. Like the physical universe the spiritual universe has its "earth", "mountains", "rivers", etc.

Commentary:

"The Day of Decision" may signify the Day of Resurrection or the day of the final and complete triumph of Truth and the utter defeat, discomfiture and destruction of the forces of darkness—the day of the Fall of Mecca which was the centre and citadel of idolatry in Arabia.

18:100; 20:103; 27:88; 36:52.

Commentary:

On the day of the Fall of Mecca the Quraish, as if by the blowing of the trumpet, were gathered before the Holy Prophet, before whom they placed their request that their tyrannies and transgressions might be forgiven and they might be accepted into the fold of Islam.

Commentary:

The verse means that at that time heavenly signs will be shown in large numbers in support of the righteous, and to the confusion of the wrongdoers.

18:48; 52:11; 81:4.

Commentary:

The verse signifies that men of power and position will lose their authority or influence; or that before the onrush of the conquests of Islam, great and firmly established empires will crumble like mounds of loose sand and will disappear so completely that it would seem that their erstwhile existence was only an optical illusion.

11:108.

Important Words:

أحقاب (Ages) is the plural of حقب which means, time; long time; a year or years; seventy years; eighty years or more (Lane & Mufradat).

Commentary:

To continue the metaphor, the verse may refer to the long centuries when Islam was in ascendance and its enemies continued to burn in the fire of malice and envy at the uninterrupted progress and prosperity of Muslims.

As referring to the punishment of Hell, the verse signifies that though its duration will be very, very long yet it will not be eternal, the word أحقابا as shown under Important Words signifying a limited period of time, however, long.

Important Words:

برد (sleep) is inf. noun from برد which means, he slept; he died; it became cool, etc. برد (bardun) means, coolness; pleasantness; enjoyment; comfort; ease; sleep (Lane & Aqrab).

6:71; 69:37.

Important Words:

غساق (stinking fluid intensely cold) means, ichor; the washings of wounds; intense cold that burns by reason of its coolness; cold and stinking. حمیم و غساق means, boiling fluid and intensely cold and stinking drink (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The turbulent pursuit of evil, and cold indifference towards virtue, of wrongdoers will take the form of boiling water and intensely cold and stinking drink.

Important Words:

یرجعون (feared) is formed from رجا . They say رجا الشیء i.e. he hoped to get the thing; he feared the thing (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The disbelievers did not believe in the Hereafter where they would be rewarded for their good deeds and had no apprehensions that they would be punished for their evil actions. Thus they lacked both the motives—hope and fear—which prompt a man to do good, and refrain from bad, deeds.

2:40; 7:36-37; 22:58; 30:17; 64:11.

36:13.

Commentary:

Invention of television, wireless and other kindred instruments has established the fact that not only man’s actions but even his spoken words can be preserved and reproduced. See also 24:25 & 36:66.

Commentary:

Divine punishment will continue to dog the footsteps of disbelievers. Punishments in various forms will be inflicted upon them one after the other. This is the meaning of the words: "We will give you no increase except in torment."