عَبۡدَ

Commentary:

The account of Zachariah precedes the account of Jesus. This is due to two very valid reasons. Yahya, the son of Zachariah, and John of the New Testament, was a harbinger of Jesus. He heralded Jesus’ advent and acted as his precursor to give to the Jews the glad tidings that their deliverer was about to make his appearance.

That Yahya or John was Jesus’ harbinger is apparent from the following prophecy of Prophet Malachi: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord" (Mal. 4:5). The words "the great and dreadful day" here signify the advent of Jesus. This is why when Jesus was asked where Elias was who was to come before him, he replied: "And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come" (Matt. 11:14). As according to Malachi’s prophecy Elias must have appeared before the coming of Jesus, it was in the fitness of things that while giving an account of Jesus, the Quran should have made a mention of Yahya. Secondly, Mary, the mother of Jesus, had unknowingly become the cause of Yahya’s birth. We are told (3:38, 39) how Zachariah was deeply moved by a pious reply of Mary and prayed to God to be blessed with a good child like her. Thus whereas Yahya became a harbinger of Jesus, Mary, Jesus’ mother having indirectly become the cause of the birth of Yahya may as well be said to have become a precursor of Yahya (John) himself. See also 3:38-42.

The words, "Thy Lord" in the sentence, "This is an account of the mercy of thy Lord," appear to be misplaced because whereas the account given in the following verses is that of the mercy of God shown to Zachariah the words "Thy Lord" seem to indicate as if some account is about to be given of God’s mercy to the Holy Prophet. In fact these words signify that the account of Divine mercy to Zachariah does imply a mercy to the Holy Prophet also. Prophet Yahya, as stated above, was a harbinger of Jesus and Jesus was a harbinger of the Holy Prophet. A description of the birth of Yahyafollowed by a somewhat detailed description of Jesus’ birth pointed to the fact that by the introduction of the life accounts of these two Prophets who, in a way, acted as his precursors, the minds of men were being prepared for the acceptance of the Holy Prophet of Islam by an implied reference to the following Biblical prophecies:

And as for Ishmael, I have heard thee. Behold I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful and will multiply him exceedingly; twelve princes shall he beget, and I will make him a great nation (Gen. 17:20);

I will raise them up a prophet from among their brethren, like unto thee; and I will put my words in his mouth (Deut. 18:18).

The pronoun "thy" may also possess an oblique but beautiful reference to Mecca, the birth-place of the Holy Prophet. Mecca like Zachariah’s wife was barren. For thousands of years it had not heard the voice of God. Now God’s mercy was about to dawn upon it. The barren valley of Mecca was about to give birth to the greatest of Adam’s sons. To this barrenness of Mecca reference is found in Isaiah 54:1.

Sing, O barren, thou that didst not bear; break forth into singing, and cry aloud, thou that didst not travail with child: for more are the children of the desolate than the children of the married wife, saith the Lord.

Commentary:

In this and the following several verses the Holy Prophet has been enjoined to bear patiently the jeers and sneers of disbelievers, like Prophets David, Solomon and Job who too had to face mockery and opposition from their enemies. These three Prophets possessed great power, influence and wealth and that is why perhaps they have always been mentioned together in the Quran.

See also 4:164, 6:85 & 21:80-84.

21:84.

Important Words:

نصب (toil) is derived from نصب (nasaba). They say نصبه المرض i.e. the disease pained him or tired him. نصب (nasiba) means, he was tired and fatigued. نصب فی الامر means, he exerted himself and laboured regarding the affair. نصب (nusbun) means, fatigue, toil, weariness, affliction, difficulty, distress, trouble, disease, misfortune, etc. (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In the present and the next three verses the language used is as fittingly metaphorical as that used in the preceding several verses. It seems that the Prophet Job lived in a country of which the ruler was, as the word الشیطان (the leader of mischief) shows, a cruel and tyrannical idol-worshipper, who opposed the monotheistic teaching of Job and severely persecuted him. Job had to leave his native land and take refuge in another country and as a result of this migration he was separated from his family and followers.

If the word الشیطان as some authorities hold, should signify شیطان الفلاة (satan of the desert) i.e. thirst, the verse would mean that Job in his long and tiresome journey had suffered from thirst and fatigue. According to some other authorities the reference in the word "Satan has afflicted me with toil and torment" is to a skin disease from which Prophet Job is said to have temporarily suffered and which left him very much exhausted.

See 39:24.

Commentary:

The verse reinforces and enlarges the argument given in vv. 33, 34 above, viz. that all the schemes and machinations of disbelievers cannot cause the Prophets any real harm. This forms another proof of the fact that God is at their back and His help and succour alone is sufficient for them and that the threats of disbelievers cannot intimidate them into giving up their mission.

6:35; 22:43; 35:26; 40:6.

23:26.

Commentary:

As briefly stated in the Introduction, almost the entire Surah is devoted to a discussion of the dreadful fate which the Rejecters of former Divine Prophets had met and this fact has been adduced as an argument to prove the truth of the Holy Prophet’s claim. The cases of the People of Noah, of the tribes of ‘Ad and Thamud and that of the people of Lot have received a special and somewhat detailed mention because these peoples lived on the confines of the Hijaz and the Quraish were quite familiar with their histories and had commercial relations with them. The people to whom Noah preached his Message lived in Iraq which lies to the north-east of Arabia, and the tribe of ‘Ad lived in Yemen and Hadramaut which form the southern part of it while the tribe of Thamud throve and flourished in the north-west of Arabia which extends from the Hijaz to Palestine and the ill-fated people of Lot lived in Sodom and Gommorah in Palestine.