ٱذْهَب

Commentary:

The companions of Moses perhaps never fell so low as on the present occasion. They were cowardly, faithless and slothful. Compare with this the noble example of the Companions of the Holy Prophet of Islam. There is a report to the effect that when the Holy Prophet, with a handful of his ill-equipped Companions, intended to go forth to meet the vastly superior and much better-equipped Meccan force at Badr, he consulted them about it. Thereupon one of he Companions stood up and addressed the Holy Prophet in the following memorable words, "We would not say to thee, O Prophet of God! as said the companions of Moses, 'Go thou and thy Lord and fight and here we sit'. On the contrary, O Prophet of the Lord! We are ever with thee and we will go with thee whither thou goest. We will fight the enemy on thy right and on thy left and in thy front and behind thy back; and we trust God that thou wilt see from us what will comfort thine eyes." The tradition says that when the Holy Prophet heard these words, his face beamed with delight; and no wonder (Bukhari & Hisham).

15:57; 39:54.

Commentary:

This verse leaves no doubt that God had informed Jacob not only of Joseph’s being alive but also of his being in Egypt. If Jacob had thought that Joseph had been devoured by a wolf or had perished in some other way, he could not at the present stage have bidden his sons search for him, particularly in Egypt.

The verse also lays down an infallible principle of success not only in spiritual but also in temporal matters viz. to avoid despair and despondency under all circumstances. Indeed, the root of most failures lies in despondency and despair. He who despairs of success can never attain his object. Indeed, he can never act as he ought to.

In the spiritual realm people who do not believe in the forgiveness of sins never feel the urge to exert themselves to the utmost and overcome them. Similarly, those who do not believe that human nature is pure and unsullied and that man has been endowed with great powers and faculties do not try to develop them to their utmost limit. The Holy Prophet inculcated this supreme lesson in his followers, saying that they should never give way to despair. He is reported to have said لکل داء دواء الاالموت i.e. For every disease there is a remedy, except death. Similarly, he said, من قال ھلك القوم فھو اھلکھم i.e. He who says that such and such people have perished, in fact he it is who causes them to perish (by creating a feeling of despair in them) (Muslim, Part II, vol. 2). Indeed all success lies in hope and action, not in vain and futile daydreaming which does not go beyond making castles in the air.

Important Words:

وجه (before) gives a number of meanings, e.g. face; the part of a thing facing one; direction etc., القی الشیء علی وجھه means, he put or placed the thing before or in front of him.

یات بصیرا (will come to know). بصیر means, seeing; endowed with mental perception; knowing (Lane).

Commentary:

Joseph gave his brothers his shirt to lay before their father, so that the sight of it might please him, as the sight of the first shirt had grieved him, and he might be induced to pray for his brothers and extend to them his pardon.

The words, he will come to know, mean that formerly Jacob had known only by Divine revelation that Joseph was alive and his knowledge was then only a matter of belief. Now, by actually seeing the shirt the belief would become converted into factual knowledge.

7:19; 15:43-44; 38:86.

Commentary:

The verse shows that the punishment of Hell will be mental and not physical. Punishment can suit every individual case only if it is mental. No two men’s mental condition is exactly alike, and if punishment be external, the same punishment cannot suit every case. It can do so only if it be mental and everybody should receive punishment according to the condition of his mind. Just as all kinds of trees receive their sustenance from the earth according to their particular needs and natures, similarly all sinners will suffer the torment of Hell according to their mental condition.

Commentary:

Moses now receives his commission to go to Pharaoh as a Messenger of God. The words, he has indeed exceeded all bounds, show that by his misdeeds Pharaoh had already incurred God’s wrath and had made himself deserving of Divine punishment. But, God, out of His mercy, sent Moses to him in order to warn him of the impending punishment if he did not give up his evil ways and to give him a last opportunity to repent and reform.

28:36.

Important Words:

لا تنیا (slacken not) is derived from ونی which means, he was or became languid, remiss, weak, feeble or faint. ونی فیه means, he entered upon a thing languidly or weakly; توانی فی الامر he flagged or was remiss in the affair; ونی عنه, he passed from it and left it (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, and slacken not in remembering Me, show that prayer and constant remembrance of God are greatly helpful in attaining success. They constitute the spiritual means which one must employ along with physical and material means for the furtherance and success of one’s cause. They are as essential as the physical means.

God’s command to Moses and Aaron to adopt these means, although He had promised them His help, makes it abundantly clear that the promise of Divine help does not absolve one of the obligation to use those means which God has created for the attainment of a certain object. God wants us to use all legitimate means that lie in our power for the accomplishment of our object and leave the rest to Him.

79:18.

Important Words:

ننسفنه (We will scatter it) is derived from نسف. They say نسف البناء i.e. he destroyed or uprooted the building from its foundation. نسف الجبال means, He broke the mountains into pieces. نسف الریحالشیء means, the wind uprooted or eradicated the thing and scattered it away (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words "touch me not" may signify one of the following: (a) that Samiri was punished with a rigorous social boycott for having misled the Israelites into calf-worship; (b) that he was afflicted with some contagious skin disease so that people avoided contact with him; or (c) that he suffered from hypochondriasis and consequently shunned the company of men.

The mentioning together of the cow and the river is significant because generally the nations that worship the cow are found to worship rivers also.

20:44; 26:16; 28:35-36.

28:36.

Important Words:

کلا means, no; by no means; on the contrary; by all means; at any rate; truly. The particle is also used to remonstrate with a person and to tell him that what he says is not correct, or it is used for rejecting the request of a person (Aqrab & Baqa).

Commentary:

In the preceding two verses Moses had made one request to God and one statement of fact. The request was that because he was not eloquent in speech the great task of conveying the Divine Message to Pharaoh might be entrusted to his brother, Aaron. And he had reinforced this request by the statement that the people of Pharaoh had a charge of murder against him and on that plea they might kill him. The particle کلا (by no means) may apply either to the request or to the statement of Moses. As applying to Moses’ request it may signify that his request for the transfer of the great mission to Aaron could not be granted and as applying to the statement it may signify that the people of Pharaoh would not be able to lay hands on him. Or the particle may signify both things at the same time, viz. that Moses himself would have to carry the great mission though his brother would also be appointed as his assistant and that he should not fear being killed by the people of Pharaoh because they would not be able to lay hands on him.