اشۡکُرُ

2:204; 8:46; 62:11.

Important Words:

فاذکرونی اذکرکم (so remember Me, I will remember you). The verb ذکرہ means, he remembered him; he bore it or him in mind; he spoke or talked of him. ذکر الله means, he remembered God; he glorified God and extolled His greatness; he prayed to Him or offered prayers to Him. ذکرہ الله means, God bestowed His favours on him; He called him to His presence to do him honour. The noun ذکر means, remembrance; mentioning or speaking of; eminence; honour; good name (Aqrab, Mufradat & Lane).

اشکروا (render thanks) is from شکر i.e. he thanked; he was grateful. شکر الله means, he acknowledged the beneficence of God, rendering Him obedience and abstaining from disobedience (Lane).

Commentary:

Remembrance of God on the part of man means, to remember Him with love and devotion, to carry out His behests, to bear in mind His attributes, to glorify Him and offer prayers to Him; and remembrance of man on the part of God signifies, God’s drawing him near to Himself, bestowing favours on him and making provision for his welfare. Thus we are here told that if we seek nearness to God, He will certainly draw us near to Himself. According to yet another meaning of the word ذکر i.e. honour and eminence, the verse would mean that if the Muslims will remember God, He will make them honoured and eminent in the world.

The expression, remember Me, I will remember you, can also mean that one who truly loves God will eventually attract the love of God. Remembrance is really born of love and is in a way synonymous with it. Indeed, nobody can remember an object more than a lover does the object of his love.

5:6; 16:115; 23:52; 40:65.

Commentary:

The injunction contained in the words, "eat of طیبات i.e. good, pure and wholesome things", indicates that Muslims are not allowed to use things which may, in any way, injure their physical or moral or spiritual health, though they may be حلال i.e. allowed by Law. The injunction is thus very important and far-reaching in its effect. The words, We have provided for you, further imply that Muslims are also not allowed to make use of things acquired by unfair and unlawful means. Only the things bestowed by God, i.e. those lawfully earned, are to be used.

2:169; 5:89; 8:70.

Commentary:

In the preceding two verses the disbelievers of Mecca were threatened with hunger and fear and in the present verse the Faithful are promised security and plenty. The verse further points out that whereas disbelievers used all sorts of means—good or bad—to earn wealth, the earnings of the Faithful would be good and lawful, and because their lives would be free from fear and anxiety, the food they eat would help their physical and mental growth.

10:19; 16:72; 22:72.

Important Words:

تخلقون أفکا (you forge lies). تخلقون is formed from خلق. They say خلقه i.e. he measured it, or he determined its measure, or proportion, he designed, or fashioned, or planned it; he made it according to a certain measure, or design; He (God) created it; He originated it; he forged a story or lie; he fabricated a saying. An Arab would say حدثنا فلان بأحادیث الخلق i.e. such a one related to us fictitious stories (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:50 & 26:138.

16:113.

Commentary:

The preceding verses having made a mention of the blessings and favours which God had bestowed upon the Israelites and which found their fullest expression in the highly prosperous reigns of David and Solomon, the present verse proceeds to refer to another very prosperous and happy people of their time—the people of Saba’. Saba’, as is mentioned under 27:23, was a city of Yemen situated about three days’ journey from San‘a’, also called Ma’arib.

"This town finds frequent reference in the Old Testament and in Greek, Roman and Arabic literature, especially in the South Arabian inscriptions. The Sabaeans were a highly civilized and prosperous people. The finds made in the country itself are in harmony with the various classical literary sources, which agree in showing that the Sabaeans attained the greatest importance of all Arab peoples of the pre-Muhammadan period, in particular of the four leading peoples of South Arabia who were known even to the Greeks. . .these still extant monuments of the once highly developed civilization, to which Sabaea mainly owed its historical importance...Agatharchides’s re-marks on the splendid buildings of the kings and private individuals in Saba’ and the descriptions of Sabaean castles by the Arabs are confirmed by the testimony of the inscriptions, which to a great extent commemorate the building of houses (palaces) and fortifications. Of public works built to assist agriculture like barriers and dams, the most celebrated was the dam of Ma’arib" (Enc. of Islam. vol. 4. p. 16).

Tirmidhi quotes a tradition on the authority of Farwah bin Malik that when asked whether Saba’ was the name of a land or of a woman, the Holy Prophet is reported to have said, 'It is neither the name of a land nor that of a woman but the name of a man in Yemen who had ten sons. Six of them remained in Yemen while four of them went to Syria. As for those who made Syria their home, they were Joham, Ghassan and Amila; and as for those who stayed back in Yemen they were Ash‘ariyyun, Himyar, Kandah, Madhpih and ‘Ammar. On being asked who were Ammar, the Prophet replied "Of them are Khath‘am and Bajilah"' (Taj).

The whole tenor of the verse shows that the Sabaeans were a highly prosperous and cultured people whom God had blessed in great abundance with all the comforts and amenities of life. The whole country seems to have been rendered very fertile by dams and other irrigation works and was full of gardens and streams.

According to Muir there were 70 stages or stops from Hadramaut to Aila on the road from Yemen to Syria. These stages even exist today. It was a very frequented and safe route, flanked on both sides by shady trees.