بُورًا

2:137; 3:85; 6:85-88.

17:56.

Commentary:

زبورا (a Book) signifies any writing or book; or a book that is confined to intellectual science exclusive of legal statutes or ordinances. الزبور signifies particularly the Book of the Psalms of David (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:185.

Commentary:

Typical Prophets have been mentioned here and in the succeeding verse to point out that the mission of the Prophet of Islam was not a new thing, the specific mention of زبور, the Book of wisdom given to David, in the present verse and of the Law-bearing revelation vouchsafed to Moses in the succeeding one, being both "Law" and "Wisdom".

2:254; 27:16.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that not only does God know all those peoples to whom Messengers were sent at different times and how they received the Divine Message but He knows also all the Prophets whether dead (in the heavens) or living (in the earth). He is aware of their stations and grades as well. He knows also what kind of a Prophet is needed at a particular time. In this connection special mention has been made of the Prophet David in order to warn Muslims that, like the Israelites who were punished after him for their iniquities and transgressions, they will be punished if they behave like them.

Muslims, however, did not profit by this timely warning. The power of the Israelites was broken by Nebuchadnezzar and all their glory departed. Similarly, the great and glorious Muslim Empire of Baghdad was destroyed by Hulagu Khan and the Abbasid glory and pomp vanished, leaving the Muslim world in mourning.

Commentary:

Pharaoh spoke of Moses as a victim of deception (v. 102), in order to lower him in the estimation of his people and to weaken his cause. But Moses warned Pharaoh that he would not succeed in his object because his people would certainly believe in him (Moses) and Pharaoh himself would come to a miserable end. The verse, in fact, implies a warning to the Meccans that, like Pharaoh who tried to defame and decry Moses, they would call the Holy Prophet a cheat and a victim of deception but like Pharaoh they would also fail in their designs and the Prophet would succeed.

14:50.

Important Words:

ثبورا (destruction) is infinitive-noun from ثبر which means, he perished; he suffered loss; he erred; he became lost. ثبرہmeans, he drove him away, he repelled him; he disappointed or frustrated his hope or desire; he cursed him; he confined, restrained or withheld him; God destroyed him with a destruction from which he could not rise. ثبور means, perdition; loss, going astray or becoming lost; woe; complete destruction, etc. (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

In the preceding verse the organs of sight and hearing were mentioned as feeling the pain of Divine punishment. The present verse, besides referring to the organs of touch, expresses the extreme bitterness of the disbelievers’ distress. When a man is in great distress he wishes that death should make a speedy end of him.

34:42.

Important Words:

بورا (ruined) is derived from بار which means, he or it perished. They say بارت السوق i.e. the market became dull. بار العمل means, the work became null and void. بارت الارض means, the land was or became uncultivated. The Arabic saying بادوا و باروا means, they became extinct and perished. بور means, a bad and corrupt man or people; a ruined man or people; a man or people in a state of perdition (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Wish being father to the thought, the hypocrites, whenever invited by the Prophet to join him in an expedition, entertained the fond hope that Muslims being very weak would never come back safe to their families. Therefore, on one pretext or another, they requested to be excused. But their wishful thinking, says the verse, always ended in frustration and severe disappointment, and the Muslims returned successful from almost every expedition.

Important Words:

ثبور (destruction) is derived from ثبر which means, he perished; he suffered loss; he erred; he became lost. ثبور means, loss, perdition; complete destruction, woe, etc. (Lane). See also 25:15.

Commentary:

When a man is in extreme distress, he desires death might end his life. The verse under comment describes this state of mind of the disbelievers. Face to face with Divine punishment in the form of blazing fire, the disbelievers will wish death to come upon them and "death will come to them from every direction but they will not die" (14:18).