اَللّٰہُ وَلِیُّ الَّذِیۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا یُخۡرِجُہُمۡ مِّنَ الظُّلُمٰتِ اِلَی النُّوۡرِ ۖ وَالَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡۤا اَوۡلِیَآؤُہُمُ الطّٰغُوۡتُ یُخۡرِجُوۡنَہُمۡ مِّنَ النُّوۡرِ اِلَی الظُّلُمٰتِ ۗ اُولٰٓئِکَ اَصۡحٰبُ النَّارِ ۖ ہُمۡ فِیۡہَا خٰلِدُوۡنَ

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

Allah is the friend of those who believe: He brings them out of every kind of darkness into light. And those who disbelieve, their friends are the transgressors who bring them out of light into every kind of darkness. These are the inmates of the Fire; therein shall they abide.

5:17

یَہۡدِیۡ بِہِ اللّٰہُ مَنِ اتَّبَعَ رِضۡوٰنَہٗ سُبُلَ السَّلٰمِ وَیُخۡرِجُہُمۡ مِّنَ الظُّلُمٰتِ اِلَی النُّوۡرِ بِاِذۡنِہٖ وَیَہۡدِیۡہِمۡ اِلٰی صِرٰطٍ مُّسۡتَقِیۡمٍ

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

Thereby does Allah guide those who seek His pleasure on the paths of peace, and leads them out of every kind of darkness into light by His will, and guides them to the right path.

6:96

۞ اِنَّ اللّٰہَ فَالِقُ الۡحَبِّ وَالنَّوٰی ۖ یُخۡرِجُ الۡحَیَّ مِنَ الۡمَیِّتِ وَمُخۡرِجُ الۡمَیِّتِ مِنَ الۡحَیِّ ۚ ذٰلِکُمُ اللّٰہُ ۖ فَاَنّٰی تُؤۡفَکُوۡنَ

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

Verily, it is Allah Who causes the grain and the date-stones to sprout. He brings forth the living from the dead, and He is the Bringer forth of the dead from the living. That is Allah; wherefore, then, are you turned back?

10:32

قُلۡ مَنۡ یَّرۡزُقُکُمۡ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ وَالۡاَرۡضِ اَمَّنۡ یَّمۡلِکُ السَّمۡعَ وَالۡاَبۡصٰرَ وَمَنۡ یُّخۡرِجُ الۡحَیَّ مِنَ الۡمَیِّتِ وَیُخۡرِجُ الۡمَیِّتَ مِنَ الۡحَیِّ وَمَنۡ یُّدَبِّرُ الۡاَمۡرَ ۚ فَسَیَقُوۡلُوۡنَ اللّٰہُ ۚ فَقُلۡ اَفَلَا تَتَّقُوۡنَ

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

Say, ‘Who provides sustenance for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who is it that has power over the ears and the eyes? And who brings forth the living from the dead and brings the dead out of the living? And who governs all affairs?’ They will say, ‘Allah’. Then say, ‘Will you not then seek His protection?’

English - Five Volume Translation

Say, [a]‘Who provides sustenance for you from the heaven and the earth? Or who is it that has power over the ears and the eyes? And [b]who brings forth the living from the dead and brings the dead out of the living? And [c]who governs all affairs?’ They will say, ‘Allah’. Then say, ‘Will you not then seek His protection?’[1307]

27:65; 34:25; 35:4.

3:28; 6:96.

See 10:4.

Commentary:

This verse explains in a beautiful manner the relation between Divine revelation and human reason. It says that all physical or spiritual sustenance is provided by heaven and earth acting in concert. Neither of them can do it singly. For example, if heaven should continue to send down rain but the earth should lack the necessary power and capacity for bringing forth vegetation, the rain would produce nothing. On the other hand, if no rain falls, then the fertility of the soil alone will not suffice to produce vegetation. Exactly in the same way human reason, which is like soil, cannot produce spiritual vegetation, which serves as spiritual food for man, unless the water of Divine revelation comes to its aid from heaven. It is, therefore, vain to hope that man can attain to God by the help of reason alone, without the aid of Divine revelation.

The verse proceeds to say that it is foolish to think that God should have given eyes and ears to men but should have failed to provide for them the task they were meant to perform. That task is provided through Divine guidance. Similarly, the verse draws our attention to the process of life and death in this world. Oftentimes the living come out of the dead and things which to all outward appearance are dead begin to show signs of life and vice versa. Is it not then possible that there should sometimes gush forth a fountain of life from a dead heart? When such a possibility exists, why should not God grant respite to the sinful so that such of them as possess the germs of life may revive?

The verse continues the argument in the words, And who governs all affairs?, meaning that it is inconceivable that a being who is entrusted with the conduct of an affair should himself seek to destroy it. No wise man can ever think of undoing his own handiwork. How then can God wish to destroy the universe which is the means for the manifestation of His powers and attributes? He would much rather save it than destroy it. This is why He is slow in punishing.

There exists an extremely beautiful and intelligent order in this verse. It begins with a reference to sustenance, which is the means of the preservation of life. Then it speaks of the organs of sight and hearing, which are the means of acquiring wisdom and knowledge. After that the verse speaks of the system of life and death, pointing to man’s power of action which naturally comes into operation after the acquirement of wisdom and understanding. Last of all, it speaks of the government or management of affairs which is needed when one begins to exercise the power of action, for تدبیرmeans, conducting an affair in an ordered and regulated manner and maintaining proper balance between different acts. In short, all the four means which are needed for the achievement of the purpose of man’s existence have been mentioned here in their natural order. Now can there be a being so unreasonable as to first create life and endow man with feelings and the necessary capabilities for work and also provide a well-regulated order in his actions, and then, having endowed him with all these gifts, leave him alone and give him no instructions to employ these great gifts for the attainment of a particular object? A man with even a grain of sense can see that such a thing is impossible. And it is equally impossible that, after having done all this, God should be hasty in bringing about destruction or awarding punishment.

Sometimes even Christian commentators of the Quran feel constrained to admire the beauty and force of its teachings. Commenting on this and the following few verses, the Rev. E.M. Wherry says: "This passage contains very cogent reasoning against idolaters. These teachings account for much of the success of Islam as a missionary religion." It is a pity, however, that even in the face of such admissions some Christian writers should have the hardihood to ascribe the success of Islam to the sword and the so-called "temptations" which Islam is alleged to have offered to its followers.

English - Five Volume Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

27:65; 34:25; 35:4.

3:28; 6:96.

See 10:4.

1307

Commentary:

8:31

وَاِذۡ یَمۡکُرُ بِکَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡا لِیُثۡبِتُوۡکَ اَوۡ یَقۡتُلُوۡکَ اَوۡ یُخۡرِجُوۡکَ ۚ وَیَمۡکُرُوۡنَ وَیَمۡکُرُ اللّٰہُ ۖ وَاللّٰہُ خَیۡرُ الۡمٰکِرِیۡنَ

English - Hazrat Molavi Sher Ali ^ra

And remember the time when the disbelievers plotted against thee that they might imprison thee or kill thee or expel thee. And they planned and Allah also planned, and Allah is the Best of planners.

English - Five Volume Translation

And remember the time when the disbelievers plotted against thee that they might imprison thee or kill thee or expel thee. And [a]they planned and Allah also planned, and Allah is the best of planners.[1119]

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.

English - Five Volume Commentary ^*

Cross Refs:

3:55; 27:51.

1119

Important Words:

Commentary: