يَمْكُرُ

17:17.

Commentary:

The verse is rather difficult to translate. Some translators make the word اکابر (great ones) the first object of the verb جعلنا (have We made) and the word مجرمیھا (its sinners) the second object. But the better rendering and one more befitting the context is to treat the words اکابر and مجرمیھا as مضاف and مضاف الیه making them jointly the first object of جعلنا and supplying the second object from the expression "in utter darkness" occurring in the preceding verse. Similarly the لام in لیمکروا is not لام تعلیل but لام عاقبة.

We are told in 6:113 above that it is the law of God that wicked leaders from among the common people and from among the big ones are always hostile to the Prophets of God. It is to these wicked leaders that the verse under comment refers. They are surrounded by utter darkness from which they never emerge (see the preceding verse).

28:49.

Commentary:

The verse embodies the last argument or the last excuse of disbelievers in the present discussion. They say, "We will never believe in Divine revelation until we also receive revelation like unto the revelation of the Messengers of God. If God speaks to them, let Him speak to us also."

God answers this foolish objection by saying: "It is not to every man that God speaks; He speaks only to him whom He finds worthy of it and whom He selects for the purpose." As for those who make themselves deserving of humiliation and abasement, they cannot be honoured with messages from God. Their doom is only "humiliation and a severe punishment."

3:55; 27:51.

Important Words:

یثبتوك (imprison thee) is derived from اثبت which is derived from ثبت which means, it continued or subsisted or endured; or it remained fixed or stationary; or it was or became constant, fast or established. اثبته means, he made it to continue or subsist or endure; or he made it to remain fixed or stationary. They say اثبته جراحة i.e. wound rendered him unable to move. ضربوہ حتی اثبتوه means, they beat him so as to render him motionless. اثبته بوثاق means, he made him fast with a bond so that he could not move. So لیثبتوك (liyuthbituka) or لیثبتوك (liyuthabbituka), which is another reading of the word, means, that they might inflict upon thee a wound by reason of which thou shouldst not be able to rise or move about; or that they might confine thee to thy place, i.e. imprison thee and prevent thy moving about (Lane).

Commentary:

The Holy Prophet bore resemblance to all Prophets of God. At the Battle of Badr, God showed a miracle, similar to the miracle of Moses (see 8:18 above), while the present verse refers to a sign which was like the signs of Jonah and Jesus. At Mecca, the Quraish had a council-room called Darun-Nadwah. There they used to hold their consultations against the Holy Prophet. When they learnt that Islam had spread to Medina, where converts to the new Faith were fleeing for refuge, Abu Jahl and other leaders of the Quraish held a meeting at Darun-Nadwah in order to consider some decisive step to put an end to the new Movement. Various proposals were made at the meeting. One was that the Holy Prophet should be put under confinement, i.e. imprisoned; another was that he should be expelled from the city; yet another was that suitable men belonging to all the different tribes of the Quraish should be selected, and these should make a joint attack on the Holy Prophet and slay him. This last proposal was finally agreed upon, and the Holy Prophet’s house was surrounded one dark night with the object of attacking him as soon as he came forth. But, being apprised by God of the coming danger, the Holy Prophet had already made arrangements with Abu Bakr to flee from Mecca that very night. He, therefore, caused his nephew ‘Ali to lie in his bed and prepared himself to leave. Those who had laid siege to the house occasionally peeped into the house and, mistaking ‘Ali for the Holy Prophet, waited patiently for him outside. While thus waiting, it so happened that the watchers were overpowered by sleep, and the Holy Prophet, availing himself of the opportunity, departed from the house unnoticed. Abu Bakr was already waiting for him at some distance, and the two, bidding farewell to their beloved city, repaired, according to a pre-arranged plan, to a cave in a difficult mountain-top outside Mecca, where they took shelter. When the bloodthirsty Meccans knew of his escape, they quickly prepared to pursue him. They actually followed him, tracing his steps, till they reached the very cave where the Holy Prophet and Abu Bakr were in hiding; but, as the report says, already a spider had spun its cobweb across the mouth of the cave. Thus confronted, it never occurred to them that the Holy Prophet had taken shelter in that out-of-the-way cave whose entrance looked as if it had not been used for a long time. They argued that the tracer who had brought them to the mouth of the cave was at fault and it so happened that none of them so much as glanced into the cave to make sure whether or not anybody was inside. Thus it was that God saved His beloved servant from the clutches of the ravenous wolves that so savagely pursued him. Being unable to find any further trace of him, they returned to Mecca. As, however, a heavy price was set on his head, and it was announced that whoever brought him, dead or alive, would have a reward of 100 camels, people pursued him in all directions; but here, too, God came to his help and none could lay hands on him. After remaining hidden in the cave for three days, the Holy Prophet and his devoted Companion resumed their flight to Medina and, avoiding the better-known tracks, hastened to their destination where the Muslim community of the Ansar and such of the Muhajirin as had already reached there accorded them a most cordial welcome.

Thus, the Quraish practically resorted to all the three plans that have been mentioned in the verse under comment: (1) they confined the Holy Prophet when they laid siege to his house at night; (2) they drove him from his native city; and (3) they attempted to carry out their resolution of Darun-Nadwah to put him to death. But God baffled every attempt of theirs, and he, who had fled from their town as a helpless fugitive, returned to them eight years later as an illustrious victor, at whose hands they cringingly sought, and readily obtained, pardon. They planned and plotted against him, as the verse says; but their plans and intrigues led to their own ruin. They drove him from their city, but his very flight led him to power and prosperity and proved the cause of their destruction. Sometime after the flight, a Meccan army proudly issued forth from Mecca and proceeded to Badr, a place near Medina, little dreaming that it was going to its own ruin. All this was arranged and decreed by God, Who is the best of planners. He so arranged that the army which had come forth with such pomp and display of power returned from Badr an utterly routed and disorderly rabble, leaving its proud leaders either dead on the battlefield or captives in the hands of those whom they hated and despised.

It should be noted that the word مکر (plan) used in this verse does not necessarily mean an evil plot. It is general in its significance, comprising both good and evil planning, according to the purpose for which it is contrived. The plots of the enemies of truth were, of course, evil; but God never has recourse to evil design. He planned things in such a way as to frustrate the evil designs of the enemy and make the cause of Islam triumph. The very fact that the Quran prefixes the word خیر (best) to the word ماکرین (planners) shows that the word has been used in a good sense with respect to God; for the word خیر (meaning good, better or best) is invariably prefixed to words which are used in a good sense. See also 3:55.

The present verse has been placed most fittingly between the verses relating to the Battle of Badr; for after speaking of that great battle, the Quran reminds the Holy Prophet and his Companions of the plots of the enemy against him and draws his attention to the wonderful way in which God had helped him at the time of his flight, frustrating the designs of the enemy and turning them to the advantage of Islam. He would do it again when needed and the Battle of Badr was another instance of the kind.

3:45; 11:50.

Commentary:

Having finished the life story of Joseph, the Surah beautifully turns to the people of Mecca, who were like brethren unto the Holy Prophet.

This verse thus makes it clear that this account of Joseph was not a mere story. It embodied mighty prophecies relating to the future of the Holy Prophet and of Islam, for, as pointed out in the course of comments on this chapter, many important events in the life of Joseph had their counterparts in the life of the Holy Prophet.

The word "they" in the clause, while they were plotting, refers not to the brothers of Joseph, but to the people of the Holy Prophet, who is told that what he had been listening to was "of the tidings of the unseen" embodying mighty prophecies over which no human being could have any control. These prophecies must, therefore, be regarded as emanating from God Who is the Knower of all secrets.

15:89, 98; 27:71.

Commentary:

In this verse, the word صبر (patience) has been used in a sense different from that in which it has been used in the previous verse. When permission was given to Muslims to take up arms against disbelievers, the Holy Prophet realized that Divine punishment was about to overtake the latter. His heart became filled with pity for them and he was much grieved. So in this verse God has comforted him by saying that these people have made themselves deserving of punishment and therefore he should be resigned to God’s decree.

This shows that the Prophet’s heart was full of the milk of human kindness, even for those from whom he had received abuse and injury.

The verse also signifies that the Prophet’s patience was not mere helpless and passive resignation to a condition which was beyond his control but was in perfect harmony with Divine decree, and it is only an act done under God’s command that brings spiritual credit to the doer.

15:89; 16:128.

27:51, 52; 35:44.

Important Words:

یبور (will perish) is derived from بار which means, he perished; it (commodity) was or became difficult of sale. They say بارت السوق i.e. the market became dull. بار العمل means, the work became or proved vain. بوار means perdition, destruction. The Arabs say نزلت البوار علی الکفار i.e. perdition overtook the disbelievers (Lane & Aqrab). See also 25:19.

Commentary:

The present verse continues the theme of its predecessor and proceeds to say that under the influence of the Holy Prophet, the Arabs will not only shed their evil ways and become paragons of piety and godliness but all honour and glory will also be theirs, and nations that now look down upon them and consider them beneath notice will bow down before them in humility. Their honour and glory will be the result of their true beliefs, noble ideals, and righteous conduct.

The pronoun ہ in the expression یرفعه may refer to العمل الصالح (righteous work). In that case the subject of the verb یرفع (exalts) is God, as shown in the text. Or it may refer to الکلم الطیب (good words). In that case the subject of the verb یرفع will be العمل الصالح (the righteous work).