أَبْصَٰرُ

22:64; 67:15.

Important Words:

لاتدرکه (cannot reach Him). تدرك is derived from ادرك which again is derived fromدرك . They say ادركه i.e. he or it attained, reached or overtook it. It also means, he perceived it; or he attained knowledge of it; or he attained perfect knowledge of it; or he comprehended it. The word also means, he or it attained puberty or maturity or ripeness (Lane).

ابصار (eyes) is the plural of بصر which means, eye or sight, or understanding or perspicacity (Aqrab).

لطیف (Incomprehensible) is derived fromلطف . They say لطف الشئی (latufa), i.e. the thing was or became small, thin or fine. لطف به i.e. latafa (with different vowel point on the central letter) means, he was kind, gentle and affectionate to him. لطیفmeans (1) gentle, gracious, and kind; (2) subtle, abstruse or recondite; (3) knower of the subtleties and obscurities of things. It is one of the attributes of God (Taj, Lisan & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Some persons may claim that they can know or reach God by means of reason or understanding alone. The Quran forcefully refutes this idea by saying, Eyes cannot reach Him, i.e. human reason alone, unaided by Divine help, is incapable of knowing or reaching God. It is God Himself Who reaches the eyes (viz. human understanding) and reveals Himself to man, i.e. God has, on the one hand, placed in human mind a power to search after and know Him, and, on the other, He sends down revelation to man, thereby making Himself known to him. Revelation also helps to kindle in human reason a light by means of which man is enabled to know God.

The two Divine attributes اللطیف (Incomprehensible) and الخبیر (All-Aware) furnish in a most beautiful manner the reason of the two claims made in the opening words of the verse. The first claim is that Eyes cannot reach Him, the corresponding reason being stated to be that He is Subtle and Incomprehensible, and being so, He cannot be comprehended by human reason alone. The second claim is that He reaches the eyes, the corresponding reason being stated to be that He is All-Aware, and being so, He knows that mankind stands in need of knowing Him without which there can be no spiritual life, so He Himself approaches man and reveals Himself to him. The two claims have thus been followed, in a perfect natural order, by two corresponding reasons. The reader should note what wise order governs the arrangement of the words of the Quran. They have not been put together at random, but each word has been put in the most appropriate place and is meant to fulfil a great purpose.

23:95.

Commentary:

The passive voice used in the words, when their eyes are turned, shows that the eyes of the men on the elevated places will be made to turn towards the inmates of Hell by some higher power, i.e. God, with some definite purpose which was to provide occasion for making certain announcements.

The last sentence of the verse spoken by the men on the elevated places, i.e. Our Lord, put us not with the unjust people, does not show that those, who will utter these words, will yet be in a state of uncertainty and that their case will not yet have been decided. They are mere words of piety or of God-fearingness that even a Prophet would utter when he sees an object of God’s punishment.

Important Words:

تشخص (will fixedly stare) is derived from شخص which means, he or it rose; or, he or it became raised. شخص النجم means, the star rose and became visible on the horizon. They say شخص بصرہ i.e. his eyes became fixedly open; his eyes became raised; or his sight became stretched and raised. شخص المیت بصرہ means, the dying man raised his eyes, which became fixedly open. The Arabs say شخص به امر i.e. something happened to him and disquieted him as though he were raised from the ground by reason of his disquietude (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

With the preceding verse ended the prayer of Abraham, which was meant as an introduction for reverting to the subject of the Holy Prophet. Abraham had prayed that the worship of the One God might be established in Mecca through his progeny, particularly the Holy Prophet for whose appearance he had prayed to God (2:130). The conquest of Mecca, in which lay the Sacred House which had been built for the worship of the One God but which had now become the centre of idolatry, alone could fulfil this prayer. So the Holy Prophet is told here that he should not think that God is unaware of the actions of his enemies, who are now holding the House of God and are leaving no stone unturned to check the spread of Islam. He will certainly destroy the idolaters and establish His own worship in the land. The respite which was being granted to the Meccans was intended to afford them an opportunity to repent and mend their ways; and if they did not do so the day was not far off when, owing to the sudden consternation caused by Divine punishment, "the eyes will fixedly stare" in bewilderment. This graphic picture of the Fall of Mecca is continued in the following verse.

Commentary:

In verse 8 mention was made of the objection of disbelievers that, if the Prophet was not the subject of hallucination, it was impossible to explain that the angels which he said came to him with the Divine Message could not be seen by anyone of them. In answer to this objection it was pointed out, firstly, that angels descended on men according to their natural affinity and that, since disbelievers were the fit objects of punishment, only the angels of punishment could come to them (v. 9); secondly, that when God had afforded protection to the Messages of the previous Prophets, there was no reason why He should not have given His protection to the Message of the present claimant (v. 10); thirdly, that the mockery of disbelievers was nothing to be wondered at, since all disbelievers in their time extended the same treatment to their respective Prophets. In fact, disbelievers indulged in mockery to such an extent that they lost all fear of sin which, became as it were, second nature with them. The opponents of the Holy Prophet would meet with a similar fate (vv. 12, 13).

In the present verse another line of argument has been adopted, for in answer to the objection of disbelievers it is here said that not all men are in a position to understand all things, because understanding requires mental affinity on the part of him who wishes to understand. Disbelievers had become such strangers to spiritual matters that even if they were to undergo some of the spiritual experiences which the Holy Prophet had undergone and were to have some of the visions of the spiritual heights to which he rose, they would not believe and would only end by saying that they were subject to magic or witchcraft. The opening of "a door from heaven," spoken of in the preceding verse, refers to having spiritual experiences and "ascending through heaven" refers to visions of spiritual heights. The words "a door" i.e. not all doors but only one of the doors, are intended to hint that such people could only have passing experience of spiritual matters, which cannot conduce to any real spiritual advancement, the experience being intended only to provide them with proof of the truth of such spiritual matters.

The verse may also be taken to mean that when punishment is about to overtake disbelievers, they get frightened and say that if they were now saved from it, they would believe in the Divine Messenger. In this sense, the clause ولو فتحنا علیھم بابا من السماء (And even if We opened to them a door from heaven) occurring in the preceding verse would be taken to mean, "And if We open the door of Divine mercy and avert their punishment"; and the words فظلوا فیه یعرجون (and they began ascending through it) would mean "they, instead of turning to God, become engaged in the acquisition of material prosperity and comforts." The verse thus rebukes disbelievers that they have become so hard hearted that when they see punishment overtaking them, they repent; but when it is averted from them, they relapse into their old life of sin and engrossment in worldly pursuits.

14:43.

Commentary:

The words, the fulfilment of true promise draws nigh, refer to the destruction of the power of Gog and Magog and the triumph of Islam through the Promised Messiah whose advent by the consensus of Muslim scholarly opinion has been foretold in the verse, "He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of truth that He may cause it to prevail over all religions" (61:10). The domination of Gog and Magog will be followed by catastrophic occurrences in the world which eventually will result in the triumph of Islam and the vanquishment of the forces of falsehood and materialism as represented by Gog and Magog.

12:110; 30:10; 35:45; 40:22; 47:11.

Commentary:

The verse exhorts disbelievers to study the histories of and to learn a lesson from the fate of those people who rejected the former Prophets. It is also clear from this verse that the dead, the blind and the deaf spoken of here and elsewhere in the Quran are the spiritually blind, deaf and dead. See also 17:73.

63:10.

Commentary:

The verse constitutes a great testimonial to the righteousness and goodness of the Holy Prophet’s Companions and to their love for God and their liking for His remembrance. They are men, says the verse, of flesh and bones. They have their worldly ambitions and aspirations, their professions and avocations. They are not monks and hermits cut apart from the world. Yet amidst all their material pursuits and engagements they do not neglect to discharge their duties to God and man. This certificate of merit which the Companions of the Holy Prophet received from Allah, their Divine Lord and Master, has been referred to in several other places in the Quran, viz. "Those who, if We establish them in the earth will observe Prayer and pay the Zakah and enjoin good and forbid evil" (22:42), and "Their sides keep away from their beds; and they call upon their Lord in fear and hope, and spend out of what We have bestowed upon them" (32:17). It is because of this life of righteousness and service of humanity that "Allah was well pleased with them, and they were well pleased with Him" (58:23).

Commentary:

The verse constitutes a very revealing commentary on the mightiness of the forces of disbelief and the most desperate state in which Muslims were then placed. The disbelievers burst upon Medina from every direction.

The words, "from above you and from below you" mean, from the heights of Medina as well as from the plains.

The reference in the words "and you thought diverse thoughts about Allah," is to the hypocrites and the weak of faith among the Muslims. V. 13 makes it quite clear that the reference in the above words is only to these two.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that the inmates of Hell will say to one another, "What is the matter with us that we do not see here those men whom we looked down upon as of no consequence and whom we mocked and ridiculed in the earthly life. Did they not deserve our ridicule and were really good and godly men or are they in Hell but we do not see them?"

17:37; 24:25; 36:66.

Commentary:

The ears and eyes of the guilty will bear witness against them in three ways: (1) The evil consequences of the actions of disbelievers will take physical form in the next world and thus will be quite apparent for anyone to see. (2) The very organs of the bodies of disbelievers having been vitiated by misuse, their vitiate condition will bear witness against them; and (3) the words uttered by them and all the movement of the organs of their bodies, having been preserved, will be reproduced on the Last Day.