Topic: Air
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أَلَمْ يَرَوْا۟ إِلَى ٱلطَّيْرِ مُسَخَّرَٰتٍ فِى جَوِّ ٱلسَّمَآءِ مَا يُمْسِكُهُنَّ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ ۗ إِنَّ فِى ذَٰلِكَ لَءَايَٰتٍ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
67:20.
67:20.
The verse only contains a reference to the punishment which was soon to overtake the disbelievers of Mecca. The keeping back of the birds signifies the withholding of the punishment that was in store for them. Arabic poetry abounds in verses where birds are spoken of as following in the rear of a victorious army to feed on the dead bodies of the enemy killed and left on the field of battle. And the hovering of birds, according to Arabic idiom, is symbolic of the defeat and destruction of a people (see 67:20). The present verse declares that God has withheld Muslims from waging war against disbelievers. But once they were given permission to fight the disbelievers will be defeated and destroyed and their dead bodies will be eaten by the birds which they see flying in the sky.
67:20.
Commentary:
Some commentators of the Quran erroneously consider that this verse alludes to the Almightiness of God Who has given the birds the power to fly in the air but there is no such allusion here to any such power and might of God. The verse only contains a reference to the punishment that was soon to overtake the disbelievers of Mecca. The keeping back of the birds signifies the withholding of the punishment that was in store for them. Arabic poetry abounds in verses where birds are spoken of as attending a victorious army to feed on the dead bodies of the enemy killed and left on the field of battle. The great poet Nabighah says:
اذا ما غدی بالجیش حلق فوقه
عصا ثب طیر تھتدی بالعصائب
i.e. When he marches out, flocks of birds attend his victorious army, knowing that he will surely defeat his enemy and thus would provide a good feast for them. So the hovering of birds according to Arabic idiom is symbolic of the defeat and destruction of a people. Verses 105:2-5 contain a clear reference to this significance of the Arabic idiom. The verse under comment means to say that God has withheld Muslims from waging war against disbelievers. But once they were given permission to fight, the disbelievers will be defeated and destroyed and their dead bodies will be eaten by the birds which they see flying in the sky.
a
67:20.
a
67:20.
1880
Commentary:
Some commentators of the Quran erroneously consider that this verse alludes to the Almightiness of God Who has given the birds the power to fly in the air but there is no such allusion here to any such power and might of God. The verse only contains a reference to the punishment that was soon to overtake the disbelievers of Mecca. The keeping back of the birds signifies the withholding of the punishment that was in store for them. Arabic poetry abounds in verses where birds are spoken of as attending a victorious army to feed on the dead bodies of the enemy killed and left on the field of battle. The great poet Nabighah says:
اذا ما غدی بالجیش حلق فوقه
عصا ثب طیر تھتدی بالعصائب
i.e. When he marches out, flocks of birds attend his victorious army, knowing that he will surely defeat his enemy and thus would provide a good feast for them. So the hovering of birds according to Arabic idiom is symbolic of the defeat and destruction of a people. Verses 105:2-5 contain a clear reference to this significance of the Arabic idiom. The verse under comment means to say that God has withheld Muslims from waging war against disbelievers. But once they were given permission to fight, the disbelievers will be defeated and destroyed and their dead bodies will be eaten by the birds which they see flying in the sky.
d
67:20.
1567
The verse only contains a reference to the punishment which was soon to overtake the disbelievers of Mecca. The keeping back of the birds signifies the withholding of the punishment that was in store for them. Arabic poetry abounds in verses where birds are spoken of as following in the rear of a victorious army to feed on the dead bodies of the enemy killed and left on the field of battle. And the hovering of birds, according to Arabic idiom, is symbolic of the defeat and destruction of a people (see 67:20). The present verse declares that God has withheld Muslims from waging war against disbelievers. But once they were given permission to fight the disbelievers will be defeated and destroyed and their dead bodies will be eaten by the birds which they see flying in the sky.