لَئِن

Important Words:

انـما (surely) is considered to be a compound of ان and ما . It imports restriction of that which it precedes to that which follows it, giving the sense of "only". The Quran says: انما الصدقات للفقراء i.e. the sadaqat (the alms) are meant only for the poor, etc. But the word does not always import restriction but sometimes only corroboration of an affirmation, giving the sense of "verily" or "surely", as in the tradition; انـما الربا فی النسیئة i.e. verily, (one form of) usury is in the delay of payment (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The latter part of the verse may also be rendered thus, "Say, 'Surely, Signs are with Allah, and that (too is with Allah) which will make you know that when it comes, they will not believe.'" In this rendering, the

particle ما rendered in the text as "what" would be taken as a relative pronoun, in the sense of الذی i.e. "that" and not as an interrogative pronoun. According to this rendering, the words "and that (too is with Allah) which will make you know that when it comes, they will not believe" would refer to the punishment of God and the clause would mean that not only are other signs with God, but the sign of punishment is also with Him and that when that sign comes, you will see that it will do them no good.

Commentary:

See collective note under 6:80 below.

43:50.

Commentary:

The words, according to that which He has promised to thee, may refer either to the promise which God made to Moses that He would listen to his prayers, or to the promise of God to forgive those who repented. The people of Pharaoh reminded Moses of these promises of God and asked him to pray to God in their behalf so that He might pardon them their sins and remove from them the punishments which had befallen them. The sentence may also mean, "pray for us to thy Lord, with the prayers which He has taught thee or in the way He has taught thee to pray."

Important Words:

سقط فی ایدیھم –– suqita (they were smitten with remorse). The word سقط (saqata) means, he or it fell down; or dropped down from a higher to a lower place. They say سقط فی کلامه i.e. he committed a mistake in his speech. سقط فلان عن عینی means, such a one fell from the place he held in my regard. سقط فی یدہ means, he repented of what he had done; or he grieved for, and regretted, an act of inadvertence done by him; or he became confounded or perplexed and unable to see his right course. So فلماسقط فی ایدیھم means, when they repented; or when they struck their hands upon their hands by reason of repentance; or when they repented greatly. The expression has also been read as سقط فی ایدیھم (saqata) meaning, سقط الندم فی ایدیھم i.e. shame and repentance fell into their hands (viz. their shame and repentance became apparent). The word سقط is intransitive but it is used in the verse as if it were transitive. Such apparently transitive use of the word is permissible in rare cases as in the expression تمرة مسقوطة i.e. a fallen date (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

A party of those who had taken the calf for worship repented and felt ashamed of their deed before Moses returned, and, therefore, they were saved. The other party did not repent and, therefore, perished. They are here spoken of as "losers".

3:116; 4:148.

Important Words:

شکرتم (you are grateful) is formed from شکر. They say, شکرالله or شکرلله i.e. he thanked God; or he praised God for His beneficence; or he was grateful to God; or he acknowledged the beneficence of God, and spoke of it largely, and acted in the manner incumbent on him in rendering Him obedience and abstaining from disobedience.

شکر (Shukr i.e. thankfulness) is of three kinds:

(1) with the heart or mind, which consists in forming an adequate idea of the benefit received;

(2) with the tongue, which consists in praising, eulogizing or commend-ing the benefactor; and

(3) with the limbs, which consists in requiting the benefit received according to what it deserves. It rests upon five foundations: (a) humility of him who renders it towards him to whom it is rendered; (b) his love of him; (c) his acknowledgment of his benefit; (d) his eulogizing him for it; and (e) his not making use of the benefit in a manner which he (who has conferred it) may dislike. This is شکر on the part of man. شکر on the part of God consists in forgiving a person or commending him, or regarding him with satisfaction, goodwill or favour, and hence necessarily recom-pensing or rewarding him. The expression شکرالله سعیه means, May God recompense or reward his work (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse enunciates the great principle that all advancement is bound up with شکر (thankfulness) which, as explained under Important Words, denotes acknowledgment of the benefits received. One can render true شکر to God only when one makes a right and proper use of His gifts. If right use is not made of divine gifts, the act of eulogizing God by man is mere verbal praising; it is not real شکر. Now, as the verse explains, the Merciful God has ordained that divine gifts increase by their proper use. If, for instance, one makes a right use of knowledge, which is a great divine gift, it is bound to increase. Similarly, if proper use is made of the organs of the body, they develop further. This divine law founded on God’s eternal mercy applies to all men irrespective of their caste, colour or creed. It holds equally good as regards both spiritual and material gifts. It operates not only in تقدیر عام (the general law of God) but also in تقدیر خاص (the special law of God).

21:69; 29:25; 37:98.

Important Words:

لارجمنک (I shall surely cut off all relations with thee) is derived from رجم. They say رجمه i.e. he stoned him to death; he murdered him; he accused or slandered him; he cursed him; he abused him; he drove him away; he cut off all relations with him (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:37.

ملیاً(a long while). They say ملیت فلاناً i.e. I was made to live long with such a one. تملی العیش means, he lived long. تملی بشیءmeans, he enjoyed a thing. ملیا means, a while or a long time. مرملی من اللیل means, a large part of the night passed away. انتظرہ ملیا means, he waited for him for a long time (Aqrab).

Commentary:

All the different meanings of the word رجم mentioned above, are applicable here. In spite of Abraham’s talking to his father with affection and considerateness, the latter lost his temper and told him to go away from him and leave him alone. This is often the case with those who have no arguments but only force to prove their claim.

Important Words:

مرجومین (stoned) is the plural of مرجوم which is derived from رجم. They say رجمه i.e. he pelted him with stones; he calumniated or slandered him; or abused him; he inveighed against him, he cursed him; he drove him away; he forsook him (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:37.

7:83; 27:57.

6:158.

Commentary:

The verse gives another argument to bring home to disbelievers the sense of the guilt of rejecting the Holy Prophet. It purports to say to them that they used to taunt the Jews and the Christians for rejecting their own Prophets and revelations; and, by assuming an air of superiority, used to say to the latter that if ever a Prophet of God appeared among them they would at once accept him. But now that the greatest of the Prophets has been raised among them, they are opposing and persecuting him.

Important Words:

نرجمنکم (We will certainly stone you) is derived from رجم. They say رجمه i.e. he pelted him with stones; he smote and killed him; he drove him and killed him; he drove him away; he cursed him; he reviled or abused him; he boycotted or excommunicated him (Lane & Aqrab). See also 19:47.

Commentary:

When as a result of their rejection of the Divine Message disbelievers are visited with heavenly punishment in the form of calamities and misfortunes, then instead of repenting and mending their ways, they seek to attribute those visitations to the "inauspicious" advent of the Prophet himself. Moses was taunted by the Israelites for having brought all the misfortunes with him in the words, "We were made to suffer before thou camest to us and even after thou camest to us (7:130). Similarly, all other Prophets were taunted and mocked by disbelievers. It is to this attitude of disbelievers that the words, "surely we augur evil fortune from you", refer.

Commentary:

In the course of a campaign, (probably the one against Banu Mustaliq) ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy, leader of the hypocrites of Medina, is reported to have said that on his return he, "the most honourable of the inhabitants of Medina," would drive out therefrom "the meanest of them," meaning thereby that he would drive out of Medina the Holy Prophet, along with the entire band of his followers. ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy was bitterly hostile to the Holy Prophet because his hopes of becoming the Chief of Medina were shattered by the Holy Prophet’s arrival on the scene. ‘Abdullah’s son heard of this vile boast of his father, and as the party returned to Medina, he drew his sword and barred his father’s entry into the town till he had confessed and declared that he himself was the meanest of the citizens of Medina and the Holy Prophet the most honourable of them. Thus his boast recoiled on his own head.

Important Words:

نسفعا (we shall seize him and drag him). سفعه means, he made a mark upon it with hot iron; he struck or slapped his face. سفع بناصیته means, he seized his forelock and dragged him (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verses (10-18) though generally applying to every haughty and hardened disbeliever, have been taken by some commentators to refer particularly to Abu Jahl, leader of the Quraish of Mecca. He was in the forefront in annoying, opposing and persecuting the Holy Prophet and the Muslims. Some of the slaves who had embraced Islam were dragged at his instance by the forelock in the streets of Mecca. After the defeat at Badr, the dead bodies of some of the leaders of the Quraish, Abu Jahl among them, were dragged by their forelocks and thrown into a pit dug for that purpose. That was a fit punishment for the treatment they had meted out to the helpless Muslims years before at Mecca.