سُوٓءُ

6:44; 13:34; 16:64; 27:25; 29:49; 35:9.

Important Words:

النسیء (the postponement) is the noun-substantive from نسأ meaning, he postponed or delayed a thing. They say انسأ اللّٰه اجلهi.e. God postponed the end of his life, viz. He prolonged his life. An Arab would say بایعه بنسیئة i.e. he sold it on credit, i.e. the payment was to be made at a future period. نسی therefore means, postponement; or the postponement of a month, i.e. the transfer of the sanctity of one month to a later month, a custom of the Arabs in their days of ignorance; the month which the Arabs so postponed; the postponement of the time of Pilgrimage, another custom of the Arabs; a postponement of the time of payment of a debt or of the price of a thing sold (Lane & Aqrab).

لیواطئوا (that they may agree in) is derived from واطا which is again derived from وطئی meaning, he trod upon it; he trampledupon it. They say, واطاہ علی الامر i.e. he agreed with him respecting the matter. تواطا القوم علی الامر means the people agreed with each other respecting the affair (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The reference in this verse, as shown under Important Words, is to a long-standing Arab custom. The three successive sacred months of Dhul-Qa‘dah, Dhul-Hijjah, and Muharram sometimes seemed to them too long a time to refrain from their predatory expeditions. In order, therefore, to free themselves from the restrictions of the sacred months, they sometimes treated a sacred month as an ordinary month and an ordinary month as sacred. This practice is denounced here because it involved fraud and interfered with the security of life guaranteed in these months. The procedure adopted for postponing the observance of a sacred month was generally something like this. When in the month of Dhul-Hijjah, the pilgrims returned from Mina, after having performed the ceremonies of Hajj, an influential man would arise from among the assembly and, according to Arab custom, would say, "I am he whose decree is not to be rejected." Thereupon, the assembly would request him to transfer the sanctity of the next month of Muharram to the following month (Safar). Thus, the sanctity of a month which God had made inviolable was violated with impunity. This artifice, however, was not resorted to every year, but only when it suited their interests or convenience, The Quran has condemned it as an impious innovation, and as evidence of the untrustworthiness of the pagan Arabs, implying that as they could not keep the ordinances of God, they could not be expected to remain true to their engagements with Muslims.

5:37; 39:48.

Important Words:

الحسنی (eternal good) being the feminine of الاحسن means, that which is better; or that which is best; victory; the good, final or ultimate state or condition ordained for the Faithful; Paradise; the view or vision of God (Lane). See also 10:27.

Commentary:

The verse says that those who accept the Message of God will finally achieve success and victory and will meet their Lord. Their intellectual powers will become sharpened. On the contrary, those who reject it will decline materially and morally till failure and ruin encompass them and no ransom will save them from the punishment of God.

The expression, that shall have an evil reckoning, means that the actions of disbelievers will result not to their liking. They will not be able to render a good account of the faculties with which God had endowed them to make spiritual progress but which they abused.

2:28.

Commentary:

Some persons sever ties of kinship; others violate the discipline of their community. Some oppose Divine Messengers, while others show lack of fellow-feeling, and yet others forsake God. All these are different forms of cutting asunder what Allah has commanded to be joined. Such people not only cut asunder what Allah has bidden to be joined but go a step further. They act corruptly in the earth viz. they perpetrate acts of injustice, and even oppose and act inimically towards those with whom they are bidden to establish a firm connection.

The words, on them is the curse of God, mean, as they cut off their connection with God, therefore they shall be removed far away from Him. The word لعنة (curse) which denotes removal from the presence of God, has not been used here by way of abuse, but only expresses an actual fact. See also 2:89.

16:64; 27:25; 29:39.

Commentary:

The words, "so let not thy soul waste away sighing for them," give an insight into the noble soul of the Holy Prophet—how anxious and eager he was to lead his people out of their evil ways and save them from the wrath of God. Another verse of the Quran, viz. "Haply thou wilt grieve thyself to death for sorrow after them if they believe not in this discourse" (18:7). Also constitutes an eloquent commentary on the solicitude and concern of the Holy Prophet for the spiritual well-being of his people and on his deep grief for their opposition to truth. But such is human ingratitude that from the very people for whom he felt and grieved so much, he received nothing but abuse, invective and ridicule.

28:39.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that all the evil designs of Pharaoh against Moses recoiled on his own head and ended only in his own ruin.

Commentary:

It seems that the people of Pharaoh had hatched a plot to kill the "believing man" or do him some other grievous injury. Not only did the plot itself fall through but a terrible punishment also encompassed the plotters.

13:26.

Commentary:

In the presence of such infallible witnesses as have been referred to in the preceding verse, no excuse, plea or defence on the part of wrongdoers will be of any avail to them.

11:29.

Commentary:

The preceding verse promised a bright future for Islam and the ultimate destruction of disbelief, at a time when the Prophet’s cause seemed quite hopeless. The verse under comment continues the theme and says that the outcome could not possibly be otherwise as the claim of the Holy Prophet was reinforced and substantiated by incontrovertible heavenly signs while disbelievers had nothing to their credit but wicked deeds and evil desires.