مَتٰعٌ

7:21, 28; 20:121.

2:62; 7:25; 20:124.

7:25, 26; 20:56; 77:26, 27.

Important Words:

ازلھما (caused them both to slip). ازل derived from زل i.e. he slipped. ازل means: (1) he caused him to slip; (2) he turned him from the truth or from the right path (Aqrab). The word زل is sometimes used of slipping without intention (Mufradat).

اھبطوا (go forth) is derived from ھبط meaning, he descended or alighted or went down. But when the word is followed by the preposition من it generally means, he went forth or he departed. Thus ھبط من الوادی means, he went forth from the valley (Baqa). Arabic grammar, however, permits of the preposition being omitted. Thus the word اھبطوا in the present verse would mean, go forth or depart. Further on (in 2:39) we read اھبطوامنھا which means, go out of it or go forth from it.

مستقر (abode) is derived from استقر which again is derived from قر. They say قر فی المکان or استقر بالمکان i.e. he stayed or became established in the place; he adopted the place as his residence. So مستقر means, a place where one resides or abides for some length of time (Aqrab).

متاع (provision) is derived from متع. They say متعه الله بکذا. i.e. God made him profit by it for some length of time. So متاعmeans: (1) any of the necessaries of life like food, clothes and furniture; (2) goods of the world; (3) any short-lived profit that does not last for long (Aqrab). The word also means, deriving benefit from a thing for some length of time (Mufradat).

Commentary:

The pronoun "it" in, caused them both to slip by means of it, evidently refers to the شجرة or tree. The first two clauses of the verse mean that a satanic being enticed Adam and his spouse from the place where they were and thereby deprived them of the comforts they enjoyed. As explained in 2:35 above, it will be noted that he who beguiled and brought trouble on Adam was Shaitan and not Iblis who is spoken of as refusing to serve Adam. This distinction is to be found not only in the verse under comment but throughout the Quran which invariably speaks of Iblis while mentioning the incident of refusal to bow down through pride, and of Shaitan wherever mention is made of Adam being instigated to eat of the prohibited شجرة (tree). The distinction points to the conclusion that the word Shaitan does not here refer to Iblis, but to someone from among the fellow beings of Adam who was hostile to him. The inference is further supported by the verse: As to My servants, thou (O Iblis) shalt certainly have no power over them (17: 66). As Adam was a vicegerent of God, Iblis could have no power over him, and the being who beguiled him was someone else. Hence, in order to bring out this fact, the word Shaitan, which has a much wider significance than Iblis, has been used here.

The concluding words of the verse, i.e. for you there is an abode in the earth, also prove that the Quran lends no support to the idea of anybody ascending to the heavens alive, for the verse clearly fixes the earth as the lifelong abode of man. Thus the Quran rejects the idea that Jesus or, for that matter, anybody else ever went up to the heavens alive.

A short note here on the word 'satan' will not be out of place. As will be readily seen, the word 'satan' is of much wider significance than Iblis, for whereas Iblis is the name given to the Evil Spirit who belonged to the jinn and refused to serve Adam, thereafter becoming the leader of the forces of evil in the universe, the word 'satan' is used about any evil or harmful being or thing, whether a spirit or a human being or an animal or a disease or any other thing. Thus Iblis is a 'satan'; his comrades and associates are 'satans'; enemies of truth are 'satans'; mischievous men are 'satans', injurious animals are 'satans' and harmful diseases are 'satans'. The Quran, the Hadith and the Arabic literature are full of instances in which the word 'satan' has been freely used about one or all of these things. Thus the Quran says that there are 'satans' both among men and the jinn (6:113). Again, mischievous enemies of truth are also called 'satans' in the Quran (2:15). The Holy Prophet once used the name 'satan' about a thief who had repeatedly robbed Abu Hurairah (Bukhari). Similarly the Holy Prophet once said that a black street dog was a 'satan' (Majah). Again he once ordered his Companions to cover up their utensils containing food and drink lest 'satan' should find its way into them, evidently meaning harmful insects and germs (Majah). At another place the Holy Prophet exhorts his followers to clean their nostrils when they rise from sleep in the morning as 'satan' rests in them, hinting that harmful matter accumulates in the nostrils which, if not removed, may injure health (Muslim).

From the above instances it is clear that 'satan' is a very general term and is freely used about all evil or harmful beings or things. For the meaning of the word 'satan' see note on 2:15.

2:232; 65:3.

Commentary:

Just as the preceding verse bestowed an additional favour on widows, the present one bestows an additional favour on divorced women. The injunction is particularly essential in the case of divorced women, because in moments of bitterness, which is the inevitable aftermath of a dissolved marriage, people are liable to be unjust and cruel towards their former wives. The verse warns them not to lose sight of the fear of God on such occasions and to act towards their former spouses not only with justice but with positive benevolence and kindness.

Commentary:

The prosperity of Christian nations is only temporary, and the verse hints at the dreadful punishment which is in store for them and which has now actually begun to overtake them.

2:37, 39; 20:124.

Commentary:

The verse shows that Adam was commanded to migrate from the land of his birth because enmity and hatred had sprung up between different members of his community. This constitutes a further evidence of the fact that "the garden" which Adam was bidden to leave was not the Heaven or Paradise of the Quran, because, as the Quran itself tells us, Paradise is a place from which nobody is ever turned out (15:49), nor can Satan deceive or even approach anyone there. It appears that Adam migrated from Mesopotamia, the land of his birth, to a neighbouring land. The migration was perhaps a temporary one, and Adam may have returned to his native land not long after. Indeed, the words, a provision for a time, contain a veiled hint at the migration being a temporary one.

3:15, 198; 9:38; 16:118; 28:61; 40:40.

29:63; 30:38; 39:53.

10:8.

Important Words:

فی (as compared with) is a particle used in a vast variety of senses. It denotes inclusion or in-being either in relation to place or time, as in the sentences زید فی الدار i.e. Zaid is in the house, and فی ایام معدودات i.e. during a certain number of days. In many instances it may be rendered as "of" or "concerning" or "in respect of" as in اتحاجوننا فی الله i.e. do you argue with us concerning God. It also denotes concomitance and is sometimes synonymous with مع meaning, "among" as in ادخلو فی امم i.e. enter you with peoples. It also denotes the assigning of a cause, meaning, "on account of or because of" as in the words occurring in a saying of the Prophet ان امرأة دخلت فی النار فی ھرة حبستھا i.e. verily, a woman entered Hell because of a cat she kept confined without food (Muslim, Kitabul-Birr was-Silah). It is also synonymous with الی and علی as well as with من and is sometimes used to denote comparison, as in the sentence ما علمی فی بحرہ الا قطرة i.e. my knowledge is but a drop as compared with his knowledge which is like a sea (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The verse disabuses the minds of disbelievers of the wrong notion that by accepting Islam they would lose the material benefits they now enjoy and that the bliss of the next world which it promises is but an imaginary thing. By saying that the prosperity or poverty of this life are in the hands of God, the verse implies a subtle hint that God had already decreed that all this prosperity should be transferred from the enemies of the Holy Prophet to his followers and therefore their acceptance of him would not even entail any worldly loss for them. The verse, however, proceeds to say that if even the acceptance of the Prophet led to some loss of worldly good, it would not matter, for his teachings embody abiding and permanent principles and relate to the everlasting life of the Hereafter compared with which the things of this world are of no account. This is what is expressed in the words, the present life is but a temporary enjoyment as compared with that which is to come. Incidentally, the verse enunciates the great principle that intellectual and mental culture are superior to material progress, which always follows in the wake of intellectual advancement.

3:198; 4:78.

Commentary:

False claimants to Divine revelation may enjoy a limited respite but their life is sure to be cut short and before they have made any headway, they die an ignominious death. According to the Quran a person who falsely claims to have received Divine revelation and to have been entrusted with a Divine mission cannot enjoy a long respite—much less the period which the Holy Prophet lived after he laid claim to prophethood.

2:34; 21:111; 87:8.

Commentary:

The words "Allah knows what you reveal and what you conceal" signify that disregard of the above injunctions will lead to evils which you may know or the evils of which the consequences are beyond your ken and knowledge.

3:15, 198; 9:38; 16:118; 28:61.