شَّجَرَةَ

7:20, 23; 20:117, 118.

Important Words:

شجرة (tree) is the singular of شجر (trees). It is derived from the verb شجر. The Arabs say شجرالامربینھم i.e. the affair or case became complicated and confused so as to be a subject of disagreement and difference between them. شجرة means, a tree, because of the intermixing or confusion of its branches. شجرة also signifies, the stock or origin of a man. They say, ھومن شجرة طیبة i.e. he is of a good stock or origin (Lane).

ظالمین (wrongdoers) is the plural of ظالم being derived from ظلم which means: (1) he put a thing in the wrong place or in a place not its own; (2) he made one suffer loss; (3) he transgressed or committed a wrong. A ظالم is thus one who does an inappropriate or improper thing; or one who commits a wrong; or one who makes someone suffer a loss (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The word جنة (garden) occurring in this verse does not refer to Heaven or Paradise but simply to the garden-like place where Adam was first made to live. It cannot refer to Heaven: firstly, because it was on the earth that Adam was made to live, as the words, I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth, occurring in 2:31 clearly indicate.

Secondly, Heaven is a place from which no one who once enters it will ever be expelled (15:49), whereas Adam was made to quit the جنة (garden) spoken of in this verse. This shows that the جنة or garden in which Adam first dwelt was a place on this very earth which was given this name on account of the fertility of its soil and the abundance of its verdure. Recent researches go to show that the place where Adam was made to dwell was the garden of Eden which lay near Babylon in Iraq or Assyria.

According to the Bible, the forbidden شجرة (tree) was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). But we learn from the Quran that after having eaten of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve became naked which means that, unlike knowledge which is a source of goodness, the tree was a source of evil, making Adam exhibit a weakness. The Quranic view is evidently correct, because to deprive man of knowledge was to defeat the very purpose for which he had been brought into being. The Quran and the Bible seem, however, to agree on the point that the tree was not a real one, but only a symbol, because no tree with either of the above characteristics, i.e. making a man naked or giving him knowledge of good or evil, exists on the face of the globe. So the tree must represent something else.

As explained above, the word شجرة also means a quarrel. Says the Quran: But no, by thy Lord, they are not believers until they make thee judge in all that is in dispute between them (4:66).

Elsewhere, the Quran makes mention of two kinds of شجرة (1) شجرة طیبة (good tree) and (2) شجرة خبیثة (evil tree) for which see 14:25 & 27. Pure things and pure teachings are likened to the former, and impure things and impure thoughts are likened to the latter. In the light of these explanations, the verse would mean: (1) that Adam was enjoined to avoid quarrels; (2) that he was warned against evil things, because although the verse does not specify evil or good, yet the prohibition cannot but refer to impure and evil things.

The expression, eat therefrom plentifully wherever you will, indicates that the place where Adam lived had not yet come under the jurisdiction of anybody and was what may be termed "God’s land" which was given to Adam who was thus made lord of all he surveyed.

The concluding clause, lest you be of ظالمین or wrongdoers, means that the result of approaching the prohibited شجرة would be that Adam would become one of those who do not observe propriety in their actions for, as explained under Important Words, ظلم means, putting a thing at a wrong place.

2:38; 20:118.

Commentary:

See 2:36.

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.

17:2.

Important Words:

احاط بالناس (has encompassed the people). احاط is derived from حاط. They say احاط به العدو i.e. the enemy surrounded him. احیط بفلان means, such a one was destroyed or his destruction drew near. احاط به علما means, he had a comprehensive or complete knowledge thereof, or he attained the utmost knowledge thereof. The Quranic expression ان ربک احاط بالناسmeans, verily thy Lord hath men in His grasp or power or hath destroyed them (Lane & Aqrab).

الشجرة الملعونة (the cursed tree). شجرة is the noun infinitive from شجر. They say شجر الامر بینھم i.e. the affair was or became confused or complicated so as to be a subject of disagreement or difference between them. شجرہ means, he tied it. شجرةmeans, a tree; the stock or origin of a man. They say ھو من شجرة طیبة i.e. he is of good stock or origin (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The reference in the words, When We said to thee, is to the Vision mentioned under v. 2 of this Surah. In that Vision the Holy Prophet saw himself leading all other Prophets in Prayers. The Vision implied that at some future time, the followers of those Prophets would join the fold of Islam. This is what is meant by the words, Thy Lord has encompassed the people. This general spread of Islam would follow in the wake of the worldwide disasters of which mention has been made in v. 59. The object of these disasters was to open the way for the propagation of Islam, to induce all men to rally round its banner and to demonstrate the futility of the present materialistic Western civilization to stand in its way. Some of these disasters have already taken place and others are waiting to shake the present order of things to its foundation.

The signs of these impending disasters are already in evidence everywhere in the world. They will be followed by conditions favourable to the general and widespread acceptance and expansion of Islam.

Commentators of the Quran have greatly differed as to what the expression الشجرة الملعونة (the accursed tree) means. According to some of them it means شجرة خبیثة (evil tree) mentioned in 14:27. The word خبیث (evil) meaning a thing devoid of all good is synonymous with ملعون (accursed) which means, far removed from good. But the word شجرةas shown under Important Words, also means, a family. According to this meaning of the word the expression الشجرة الملعونةappears to apply more appropriately to a people—the Jewish people—who have been repeatedly mentioned in the Quran as having been cursed by God (5:14, 61, 65, 79). The curse of God has dogged the footsteps of these unfortunate people from the time of the Prophet David right down to the present time. This interpretation of the expression finds additional support from the fact that the present Surah particularly deals with the Israelites as its very name, BaniIsra’il, suggests. The fact that the verse begins with a mention of the Vision in which the Holy Prophet saw himself leading the Israelite Prophets in Prayers in Jerusalem, the Centre of the Jewish Faith, lends further support to the assumption that by الشجرة الملعونة (cursed tree) is meant the Jewish people.

The verse speaks both of "the vision" and the Jewish people (the accursed tree) to whom that Vision specially refers as "a trial for men". The Jews have, throughout the ages, proved a source of much misery and distress for mankind, particularly for Muslims, under whose benign rule they have enjoyed more freedom and security than under any other people. The two World Wars have been the result directly or indirectly of the plots and machinations of the Jews. They led an organized opposition to the German people in the First Great War and the Second Great War was also the result of their widespread and highly organized propaganda against Hitler. In the Russian Revolution which, too, forms a part of the Divine punishment (v. 59) the Jews took a prominent part and some of its foremost leaders are Jews by blood. The Jewish machinations have now extended to Palestine and have turned this "land of the Prophets" into a veritable hot-bed of intrigue, murder and arson. But all their intrigues and efforts to go back to, and take possession of, Palestine, will meet with only temporary success because this country has been divinely decreed to remain in Muslim hands.