اٰتِ

Important Words:

عفریت (stalwart) is derived from عفر. They say عفرہ i.e. he covered him with dust; he threw him on the ground. عفرہ(‘affara) means, he humbled or abased him. عفریت is a word which is used for men, the jinn and the devils and means, (1) strong and powerful; (2) sharp, vigorous and effective in an affair, exceeding ordinary bounds therein with intelligence and sagacity; (3) a chief; (4) evil in disposition and malignant; (5) insolent and audacious in pride, and in acts of rebellion and (6) one who rolls his adversary in the dust (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, "I possess power therefor and I am trustworthy," indicate that the said ‘ifrit was a very high official who wielded great authority and was therefore quite confident of carrying out the orders of his master to his entire satisfaction within the time allotted to him.

The words مقامک (thy camp) signify the place where Solomon had encamped on his way to Saba’ and was waiting for his envoys to come back with the reply to his letter to the Queen of Sheba.

Important Words:

طرفک (thy noble messenger) is infinitive noun from طرف (tarafa). They say طرف فلان i.e. such a one saw. طرف عینه means, his eyes moved in order to see. طرف means, the extremity or end of anything; eye, look, glance, blinking; a noble or generous man in respect of ancestry; government revenue; a messenger from Yemen. کریم الطرفین means, noble in respect of both father and mother. اطراف الارض means, the noble or exalted and the learned men of the earth. اطراف الناس means, the lower orders of the people. علی طرف means, beside, aside or apart (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The phrase قبل ان یرتد الیک طرفک may mean, (1) before thy messenger from Yemen returns to thee; (2) before the nobleman whom thou hast sent comes back to thee from Yemen; (3) in the twinkling of an eye, i.e. in a very short time; (4) before the government revenue is deposited in the treasury. In the last-mentioned meaning of طرف the expression would mean, "I would need no more money, the money already in the government treasury would be quite sufficient to meet the expenses of constructing a throne for the queen."

The expression "who had knowledge of the book" seems to refer to one who knew the intricacies of finance. He might be Solomon’s finance minister.

In this and the previous verse two offers to make the throne for Solomon have been mentioned, one by the ‘Ifrit who offered to prepare the throne before Solomon had raised his camp and started back, and the other by "the man who had knowledge." The latter made a still better offer of finishing the throne before Solomon’s messenger came back with the reply to his letter from the Queen. The context shows that Solomon accepted the second offer because he wanted to have the throne finished before the Queen came to pay her respects to him as he was to stay at that place till she had come and the whole ceremony was over. The verse also implies that all sorts of men were employed by Solomon—men of knowledge and experience, skilled and unskilled labourers, craftsmen and technicians.

4:124; 6:161; 17:8; 41:47; 99:8-9.

Commentary:

The verse points to the divine law of compensation which in this life works in this way that whereas for good works God gives a reward many times greater than what the doer has earned, He punishes a bad deed with a punishment which is less than what the guilty person has incurred or at the most with a punishment proportionate to the evil deed which he has committed.

Commentary:

The expression "will escape Us" has been used in this verse in one of the following two senses:

(1) they will frustrate Our plan;

(2) they will escape Our punishment.

2:83; 3:58; 13:30; 22:57; 30:16; 35:8; 42:23; 47:13.

Commentary:

This verse gives a brief but very apt description of a Mujahid,—a true striver in the way of God. High and noble ideals and consistent and constant effort to carry out those ideals into actual practice is what in Islamic terminology is called Jihad, and the person who possesses these noble ideals and lives up to them is a Mujahid in the true sense of the word.

Man’s good actions are of different degrees. Some are better than others, yet some others are of the noblest quality. The expression لیجزیھم أحسن الذی کانوا یعملون signifies that God will reward all the good works of the believers whether good, better or of the highest quality as if they belonged to the last degree, i.e. He will reward the good deeds of a believer, taking the best of them as the basis of reward.

2:129.

See 2:153.

4:135; 42:21.

Important Words:

فاذکروا (celebrate praises of) is derived from ذکر which means, (1) he talked of him by way of praising him; (2) he remembered him in his heart (Aqrab & Mufradat). See also 2:41, 153.

او (or) is a preposition, used to convey a number of meanings, the more important being: (1) or; (2) and; (3) nay; (4) unless; (5) until (Aqrab & Lane).

خلاق (share) means, an abundant share in what is good (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The clause, celebrate the praises of Allah as you celebrated the praises of your fathers, points to a practice of pagan Arabs who used to gather together at a certain place in Mina after the performance of the rites of Pilgrimage and glorify their forefathers by reciting poems in their praise. Muslims are here bidden to glorify God instead, and praise Him as they used to praise their forefathers, and, the words "even more than that" have been added to emphasize that God’s praises should transcend all, for the word او (or) also means, "nay". It is also possible that the word ك (as) in the expression کذکرکم (as you celebrated praises) has been used only to denote general similarity without reference to degree, and the word او (or) has been used in the sense of "and". In this case the verse would mean that though in the general manner of praise your celebration of God’s praises may resemble the praises with which you glorified your fathers, in degree it should excel it, being اشد (stronger, loftier and firmer).

Here is a good example of how the Quran, while retaining some old customs, improved upon and, spiritualised them to serve the ends of Islam.

The clause, when you have performed the acts of worship prescribed for you, celebrate the praises of Allah as you celebrated the praises of your fathers or even more than that, has yet another meaning. As the word ذکر also means 'remembering' and the word اب (father) includes mother as well (12:101), the clause may also signify that the rites of Pilgrimage, if performed in the right spirit, should fill the heart of man with such love for God as to make him always remember Him just as a child remembers his parents. This is why the Quran begins the word اذکروا with the conjunction ف meaning "so" or "then", hinting that the result of the performance of the rites of Pilgrimage should be that a pilgrim should ever after remember his Creator with the fondness displayed by a child for his parents. But this is only the first stage. With holier men God’s love should be even greater, as the verse hints in the words, or even more than that. Says the Holy Prophet, "The sign of true faith is that a believer’s love for God and His Apostle should be greater than his love for any other being or thing" (Bukhari).

The concluding clause, i.e. of men there are some who say, 'Our Lord, grant us (good things) in this world, and such a one shall have no share in the Hereafter, points to the fact that if the pilgrim confines himself to the celebration of the praises of his fathers and forgets his Creator, he would be like a person who spends all his efforts in the pursuit of this world, even his prayers being confined to search after worldly things. Such a person shall evidently have no claim to the good things of the Hereafter. It is also significant that in this clause the Quran does not use the word حسنة (good things) with the words فی الدنیا (in this world) thereby hinting that such men generally make no distinction between the good things of this world and the bad things thereof, their sole object being the things of this world, irrespective of whether they are good or bad.

As explained under Important Words, the word خلاق (share) occurring in the clause, such a one shall have no share in the Hereafter, really means, "an abundant share in what is good". So the verse would really mean not that such a person will get only a small share in the Hereafter but that, by remaining engrossed in the things of this world, he will deprive himself of a big share and will get no share at all. As the Quran has to condense vast subjects in a small space, it purposely uses words and constructions that take the smallest space but convey the vastest meaning.

42:21.

Commentary:

In this verse God mentions that class of men whose efforts and wishes are not confined to this world only. They (1) seek the good things of this world and (2) seek the good things of the next world, and (3) try to be saved from the Fire which not only signifies the fire of Hell but also everything that is painful and is a source of heart-burning. It may be noted that here, unlike the preceding verse, God uses the word حسنة (good) with the words فی الدنیا (in this world), meaning that even virtuous men may seek the things of this world but they should always be good and not bad.

The prayer mentioned in this verse is indeed very comprehensive and may be used by men of all grades in all their spiritual and temporal requirements, and the Holy Prophet is reported to have used this prayer very often (Muslim, ch. on Dhikr) with a view to teaching his Companions that if and when they choose to seek both the good things of this world and of the next, they should pray like this.

The prayer has another significance also. The good things of this world and the good things of the Hereafter spoken of in this verse may both stand for spiritual blessings, the good things of this world standing for such spiritual blessings as a righteous man gets in this world and the good things of the next world standing for those which he will get in the Hereafter. In fact, the very words used in the verse point to that signification, for the Quranic words فی الدنیاحسنة do not mean "good things of this world" but simply "good in this world". In this case النارor "the Fire" would stand not for Hell, protection against which is, in fact, included in the good things of the next world, but for such trials and hardships as one may come across in this world in the struggle for spiritual advancement or in the effort to benefit others. It was in this sense that the Holy Prophet used this prayer with regard to himself; for personally he never sought even the good things of this world, though he always sought "good in this world".

9:60, 103, 104.

4:32; 8:30; 29:8; 64:10; 66:9.

Important Words:

یکفر (will remove) is derived from کفر (kaffara) which again is derived from کفر (kafara) for which see 2:7. They say کفر عنه سیئته i.e. (1) He (God) covered or removed, or did away with his sin; (2) He expiated his sin; (3) He effaced or obliterated his sin (Lane).

Commentary:

Islam has most wisely recommended both forms of giving alms, i.e. open and secret. By giving alms openly, a man sets a good example to others and many begin to imitate him. Secret alms-giving is in many cases better, because in this way one refrains from exposing the poverty of his brethren and there is also little occasion for pride in secret giving. It should be noted that the word خیر (better) occurring in the verse is qualified by the words "for You", while the word نعما (well and good) is not so qualified, which points to the fact that whereas secret giving to the poor is better for the giver, open giving may often be conducive to more good for the Community in general.

Again, the particle من (many) in the clause, "many of your sins" may, according to Arabic idiom, either be redundant and used merely for the sake of emphasis, or used in the sense of "many" or "some"; or it denotes ابتداءالغایة i.e. the commencement of the limit. Following these different senses and also keeping in view the different meanings of the word یکفر (will remove), the clause ویکفر عنکم من سیآتکم may be rendered in four different ways: (1) He (God) will certainly remove from you your sins. (2) He will remove from you many or some of your sins. (3) He will expiate many or some of your sins for you. (4) He will certainly obliterate, or efface from you, your sins.

In the first and the fourth rendering, the particle من has been treated as redundant, used for the sake of emphasis only, and therefore it has been omitted in the translation and the word "certainly" has been added. But if we take the word من in the sense of "many" or "some", the meaning of the sentence will be as given in the second and the third rendering.

In the case of the second rendering, the idea is that if we practise charity, those of our sins which are committed against the rights of God will be pardoned, but not those which are committed against the rights of men for which other acts of virtue have been recommended. In the case of the third rendering, the idea is that on the basis of charity practised in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran, God will so arrange that sins committed by the giver of charity, against the rights of men, will be pardoned by the very men who are sinned against.

But as it is possible that even after a man has been pardoned, his sins may continue to rankle in his own mind, so God has promised to show a further favour to those who practise charity according to the teachings of Islam. This promise is implied in the word یکفر (efface and obliterate) which is intended to hint that God will make them forget their sins and thus obliterate and efface from their minds all traces of the sins committed by them. This idea has been expressed in the last rendering. Thus a single small sentence has been so worded as to cover all the possible forms of forgiveness, from its lowest phase to its highest manifestation.

Important Words:

ذنوب (errors) which is of lighter significance and which generally refers to natural weaknesses and ordinary mistakes and omissions, may represent those dark recesses in us where the light of the sun does not properly reach; while سیأت(evils) which is a comparatively stronger word, may mean the clouds of dust which hide the light of the sun from our view. See also 2:81 & 3:17.

Commentary:

In 3:191 above, the word "day" in the expression, the alternation of the night and the day, is placed after the word "night," which points to the fact that the spiritual wayfarer, after having passed through the night of trials and sins, finally basks in the light of the spiritual Sun by accepting and following the Divine Crier. But, as the present verse points out, he is afraid lest his weaknesses should retard his progress or lest the dust of his sins and the clouds of his misdeeds should intervene and hide from him the light and warmth of the spiritual Sun, so he humbly prays to God to disperse the dust of his sins and drive away the clouds of his misdeeds.

The expression توفنا مع الابرار rendered as, in death number us with the righteous, literally means, cause us to die with the righteous, meaning, cause us to die when we are righteous or let not death come upon us except when we are righteous.

14:48; 40:52.