جِبَالِ

Commentary:

Commentators differ as to whether the person referred to in this verse as Noah’s son was his real son or only a near relative. According to some, he was his stepson. Ibn Mas‘ud, Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Ibn Jubair and many other commentators, however, are inclined to view that he was Noah’s own son. But discussion of this subject seems to be super-fluous and unnecessary.

Christian annotators have question-ed the authenticity of this incident on the ground that it does not agree with the Biblical account. But the authenticity of the Bible itself as a historical record is open to doubt and it is unreasonable to accept or reject an incident on its authority alone.

7:75; 26:150.

Important Words:

کانوا ینحتون (they used to hew out). نحت means, he cut or hewed; or he formed or fashioned by cutting or paring or clipping. The Arabs say نحت علی الکرم (in the passive voice) i.e. he was fashioned after the model of generosity, viz. he was generous by nature (Lane).

بیوتا (houses) is the plural of بیت which is derived from بات i.e. he passed the night. بیت means, a chamber; a house or dwelling; a tent. It also means, a verse (Lane).

Commentary:

This verse shows that the tribe of Thamud were a civilized, powerful and rich people. They had separate summer and winter resorts and led secure and comfortable lives. Even when they went to the hills in summer for recreation and change of climate, and left their winter habitations, they felt free from attacks from any quarter. The words, they used to hew out houses in the mountains, are also intended to hint at the highly developed state of their architecture.

Commentary:

This verse gives a third example, which is clearer and more expressive than the previous two examples, of the need of Divine revelation. By وحی (inspiration or revelation), in this verse, is meant the natural instincts with which God has endowed all creatures. The verse contains the beautiful hint that the entire universe depends for its smooth and successful working on وحی whether manifest or hidden. In other words all things and creatures serve the purpose of their existence only by working according to their natural instincts and inborn faculties and aptitudes. The bee has been selected as a prominent example, because its wonderful organization and work impresses even a casual observer and is discernible by the naked eye. But the fact that, even the bee cannot improve upon its wonderful skill, work and organization shows that some other Being is the source and fountain-head of its skill and organization and that Being has imparted to it this skill, intelligence and knowledge.

The verse also draws attention to the fact that bees are of various kinds. Some make their hives in mountains, others make them in trees, and yet others make them in trellises. In the same way all men do not possess similar natural aptitudes and capabilities, neither are they of equal spiritual rank. Some rise high like lofty mountains while others are of comparatively lower spiritual status. Similarly, like the different colours, tastes and flavours of the honey produced by the bees, the revelations of various Prophets are also not of the same pattern. They differ in their quality and scope and the manner of their approach to the problems they have to deal with. The verse also implies that all great inventions have been due to وحی (Divine inspiration).

For the different kinds of وحی see 4:164; 5:112; 8:13; 16:69; 28:8 & 99:6.

Important Words:

اکنانا (places of shelter) is the plural of کن (kinnun) which is derived from کن (kanna). They say کن العلم فی نفسه i.e. he kept the knowledge secret in his heart.کن (kinnun) means, a place of retreat or concealment; the shelter of a wall; a thing which serves for veiling, covering or protecting (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse continues the theme of the preceding verse and enumerates some more Divine blessings, e.g., shades of trees, shelters in the mountains, trees that save men from the heat of the sun, armour that protects them in battle, etc. Disbelievers are told that all these Divine gifts and favours were bestowed upon them that they might live in peace and comfort and be grateful to God, but they have, instead, proved ungrateful to Him and have used them to frustrate His purpose. So they shall very soon reap the consequences of their ingratitude.

The expression لعلکم تسلمون (that you may submit to Him) may also mean that you may protect and save others from harm by means of these favours. Read in this sense the sentence would mean that these blessings were bestowed upon the Meccans in order that they might protect themselves and in gratitude to God protect others from harm, but they instead made these very favours the means of oppressing others.

56:6; 70:10; 101:6.

Important Words:

الجبال (mountains) is the plural of جبل (a mountain). Figuratively, the word جبل means, (1) chief of a tribe or community; (2) a learned man who towers above those around him (ھو جبل) i.e. he is like a mountain and does not move from his place); (3) a niggard; (4) a great hardship or calamity (Lane & Aqrab). See also 13:32.

The reference in the word الجبال (mountains) here is to the powerful Christian nations of the west. The prophecy contained in this verse is that these great powerful nations will be scattered as dust. The decline of the west has already begun. The last two World Wars have considerably weakened the hold of the West over the East and eastern nations are gradually coming into their own.

This decline of the West is too patent to be overlooked and western political thinkers themselves realize and admit it. The reader is referred to Spengler’s "Decline of the West", and Toynbee’s "A Study of History". See also 18:8, 9.

7:75; 15:83.

Important Words:

فارھین (with great skill) is derived from فرہ (faruha) and فرہ (fariha). The former verb means, he was or became skilled or skilful; he was or became brisk, lively or active; he was or became beautiful. The latter i.e. فرہ (fariha) means, he exulted or rejoiced above measure, or he exulted greatly and behaved insolently and ungratefully, the letter ھ in this verb being substituted for the letter ح (Lane & Aqrab).

Important Words:

حملھا (bore it). حمله means, he bore or carried it, or carried it off or away; he gave him a beast upon which to ride. حمل بدینmeans, he bore or took upon himself the responsibility for the payment of debt. حمل الامانة means, he took upon himself or accepted the trust, or he betrayed the trust, he proved false to it (Lane & Aqrab). See also 7:177.

ظلوما (unjust) is the intensive form of ظالم which is active participle from ظلم which means, he did wrong or acted unjustly, wrongfully or tyrannically; he put the thing in a wrong place or in a place not its own. ظلمه means, he imposed upon him a thing that was beyond his power or ability (Lane & Aqrab). See also 2:36 & 17:60.

جھولا (neglectful) is the intensive form of جاھل which is active participle from جھل (jahila) which means, he was ignorant. جھل علیه means, he acted towards him in a silly and foolish manner and wrongly. جھل الحق means, he neglected or ignored the truth. جاھل means, ignorant, neglectful; foolish or silly and wrong in conduct (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse has presented commentators of the Quran with some difficulty. In view of different significations of the words used, the verse seems to be susceptible of the following interpretations:

(1) Taking the word حمل as meaning to accept, and امانة as signifying the trust of man’s love of God, the verse would mean that a great spiritual destiny awaited man. He was made God’s vicegerent on earth (2:31). He was gifted with the great capacities and powers to assimilate and manifest in his person Divine attributes and to become the image of his Creator. This was indeed a great trust which man, alone of all the universe, was found capable of discharging, other beings and things—the angels, the heavens, the earth and the mountains—being quite unequal to the task. They refused, as it were, to bear it. Man accepted this responsibility because he alone could discharge it, as he had been endowed with great natural qualities. He was capable of being ظلوم (unjust to himself) and جھول (neglectful of himself) i.e. he could be unjust to himself in the sense that he could bear any hardship and undergo any sacrifice for the sake of his Creator, and he was capable of being neglectful in the sense that in the discharge of his great and sacred trust he could be neglectful of his own interest and desire for a life of ease and comfort.

(2) Taking امانة (trust), however, in the sense of the Law of the Quran and الانسان signifying the perfect man, i.e. the Holy Prophet, the verse would mean that of all the denizens of the heavens, and earth, and of all great men, and leaders of thought, the Holy Prophet alone was found to be capable of being entrusted with the revelation of the most perfect and final Law—the Quran, because no other man, or being was endowed with those great qualities which were indispensable for the full and adequate discharge of this great responsibility.

(3) Taking حمل in the sense of betraying or proving false to a trust, the verse would mean that the trust of the divine law was imposed upon man and other terrestrial and celestial beings. All of them with the exception of man refused to betray this trust, i.e. they carried out fully and faithfully all the laws to which they were made subject. The whole nature was true to its laws and the angels also carried out their duties loyally and faithfully (16:51). It is man alone who having been endowed with discretion and volition defies and violates Divine commandments because he is unjust and neglects and ignores his duties and responsibilities. This meaning of the verse is supported by 41:12 wherein it is stated that the heavens and earth were commanded to carry out the laws that were imposed on them and they gave their willing and unconditional obedience to them.

14:33; 22:6; 30:51; 45:6.

Important Words:

الوانھا (their colours) is the plural of لون which is substantive noun from لون (lawwana). They say لون الشیء i.e. he coloured the thing. لون الشیب فیه means, old age appeared in his hair. تلون الرجل means, the man became fickle minded. لون means, colour, exterior; form, shape; kind, sort, species (Aqrab & Lane).

جدد (streaks) is the plural of جدة which is derived from جد which means, it (a garment) was or became new; جدة (juddatun) means, a beaten way or road; a road leading to water; a main road; a sign; the bank or side of a river; the stripe or streak that is in the back of an ass differing from his general colour, a streak in anything as in a mountain, differing in colour from the rest of the mountain (Lane & Aqrab).

غرابیب سود (raven black). غرابیب is the plural of غربیب which is derived from غرب (ghariba) which means, he or it was or became black; or it was or became black on account of very hot wind. غربیب means, intensely black; of which the colour resembles the colour of a crow; when applied to an old man it means one whose hair is intensely black or whose hair does not become white or who blackens his white hair with dye. أسود غربیب means, intensely black. But if you say غرابیب سود you make the latter word a substitute for the former; because a word corroborative of one signifying a colour cannot precede, nor can the corroborative of any word; one of the most excellent kinds of grapes; a variety of grapes growing at At-Ta’if; intensely black; of the most excellent and most delicate and blackest of grapes. غرابیب سود relating to mountains, may mean streaks having black rocks.

Commentary:

The present and the next verse invite attention to the study of a wonderful phenomenon of nature which bears striking resemblance to a similar phenomenon in the spiritual realm. The verse purports to say that when rain falls upon dry and parched land it gives rise to a vast variety of crops, flowers and fruits of different colours, tastes, forms and kinds. The rainwater is the same, but the crops, flowers and fruits it produces are vastly different from one another. This difference is evidently due to the nature of the soil and the seed. Similarly, when Divine revelation, which at many places in the Quran has been likened to water, comes to a people, it produces different effects upon different men according to the soil of their hearts and the way in which they receive it. The same revelation which produced such paragons of righteousness and piety as Abu Bakr and ‘Umar, served only to increase Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah or Shaibah in wickedness and opposition to truth. The verse also signifies that the Faithful and the disbelievers are variously graded in goodness and evil. All believers were not like Abu Bakr and ‘Umar in righteousness, nor all disbelievers as wicked as Abu Jahl, ‘Utbah or Shaibah. The verse further says that the vast variety of colour and kind is not to be found only in plants but also in mountains and rocks as well. All of these wonderful phenomena point to an Intelligent and Powerful mind behind it.

50:8.

Commentary:

The verse may signify that like mountains the believers are firm in their faith, or like mountains which secure the earth against earthquakes and violent commotions and render it stable, the righteous servants of God are the cause of the stability of the spiritual world. But for them the violent earthquakes of disbelief and sin should shake the spiritual earth to its foundations and cause great havoc in it.