Topic: Revenge (Intaqam), Retribution

4:106; 5:49; 29:52; 39:3.

Important Words:

بالحق (containing the truth). الحق is derived from حق i.e. it was or became just, proper, right, true, authentic, genuine, substantial or real; or it was or became an established or confirmed truth or fact; or it was or became binding, incumbent or due. So حق means, a truth; an established fact; a right; equity and justice; a thing that is decreed or destined; a thing suitable to the requirements of wisdom, justice, truth and right. الحق is one of the names of God, meaning the Really Existing God; or the Creator according to the requirements of wisdom, justice and right. The word is also applied to the Quran and the religion of Islam (Lane). See also 2:181.

توراة (Torah) is believed to be a Hebrew word. In Arabic it is said to be derived from وری. They say وری النار i.e. the fire burnt. وری الزند means, he made the fire-producing wood or steel produce fire. وری الخبر means, he concealed the news. وری عن کذا means, he meant one thing but by using equivocal expressions made the listener think of another (Aqrab). In view of these significations of the word, توراة (Torah) is so called probably because in its pristine purity reading it and acting upon its teaching kindled in the heart of man the fire of Divine love. Possibly, the word also contains a hint that bright prophecies about the advent of the final Law-giving Prophet lie hidden in the Book. In Hebrew the root meaning of the word is "to teach", the word Torah meaning, "instruction or precept or law" (Gesenius). Torah is the name applied to the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. The name may have its origin in the popular Jewish belief that "the original Pentateuch, like everything celestial, consisted of fire, being written in block letters of flame upon a white ground of fire" (Jew. Enc. xii. 197). The name Torah is also sometimes applied to the Ten Commandments.

انجیل (Gospel) is probably of Greek origin from which the English form "Evangel" (good news) is derived. The word Evangel was formerly freely used in place of Gospel, but is now archaic. In Arabic نجله ابوہ (najalahu) means, his father begot him. نجل الشیء means, he laid bare or disclosed the thing. نجل الارض means, he tore open or ploughed the land for the purpose of sowing seed. نجل الرجل (najila) means, the man’s eyes were large and beautiful. The word انجیل which, according to Aqrab, is a Greek word underived from any Arabic root, means بشارة i.e. good news.

مصدقًا (fulfilling). See 2:42.

الفرقان (Discrimination). See 2:54.

Commentary:

The expression بالحق rendered as "containing the truth" (lit. "with truth") means:(1) that the Quran comprises true teachings which are based on eternal truth and are incapable of being successfully assailed; (2) that the Quran has been sent rightly, meaning that the first recipients of it were the fittest people to receive it; (3) that it has come in the fullness of time and fulfils a true need; (4) that it has come to stay and no effort on the part of its opponents can succeed in destroying or tampering with it. See Important Words above.

انجیل means "good news", and the Gospels are so called because they contained not only "good news" for those who accepted Jesus, but also because they contained prophecies about the advent of the Greatest of the Prophets whose coming Jesus described as the coming of the Lord Himself (Matt. 21:40) or as the advent of the kingdom of God (Mark 1:15). They also contain prophecies about the advent in the Latter Days of Jesus’ own counterpart, the Promised Messiah.

The word انجیل occurring in the verse does not refer to the present four Gospels which were written by the followers of Jesus long after his so-called crucifixion and which give merely an account of his life and teachings. The word refers to the actual revelation received by Jesus from God. The present Gospels do indeed contain a part of that revelation, but Divine words have become so mixed up with the sayings of Jesus himself that in many cases it is difficult to distinguish between the two. The Gospels contain a good deal of matter which is admittedly not of Divine origin.

The saying of the Holy Prophet, صدورھم اناجیلھم i.e. "the breasts of my Companions are like Gospels" (Lisan), sheds some light on the significance and position of the Gospels. This saying of the Prophet means that the breasts of his Companions were repositories of his life history and teachings which are indeed a great gospel. It may be inferred from this that the position of the present Gospels is analogous to that of the collections of Hadith, such as Bukhari, Muslim, etc.

The clause, He sent down the Torah and the Gospel before this as a guidance, means that before the Quran was revealed, the Torah and the Gospels provided spiritual guidance for men but that their place was now taken by the Quran which has come as a guidance for all time and all mankind.

2:54, 186; 8:42; 21:49; 25:2.

5:96; 14:48; 39:38.

Important Words:

ذوانتقام (Possessor of the power to requite). انتقام is the noun-infinitive from نقم i.e. he took vengeance. They say نقم منه or انتقم منه meaning, he wreaked vengeance on him; he punished him; he inflicted penal retribution on him for what he had done. نقمة and انتقام both mean, vengeance or penal retribution or punishment (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The words, and He has sent down the Discrimination, placed at the end of the verse refer to the Quran, the coming down of which has already been mentioned in the beginning of the verse. The idea has been repeated here to point out that the Quran has come to take the place of the previous scriptures, the word "Discrimination" also pointing to the same fact. The word may also refer to the heavenly signs vouchsafed to Islam to establish its truth.

For an explanation of the term مصدق (fulfilling) see 2:42.

After the coming down of the Quran as a "Discrimination" and as "fulfilling" what is in the previous scriptures, the persistent rejection of the Holy Prophet becomes indeed deserving of great punishment, and the verse points out that the God of Islam being "Mighty" and "Possessor of the power to requite", those who have rejected the truth must be prepared for divine requital.

5:2, 97.

Important Words:

انتقام (retribution) is derived from نقم. They say نقم الیه i.e. he exacted vengeance upon him; he punished him. انتقمت منهmeans, I took vengeance on him; I inflicted penal retribution on him or I punished him. انتقام thus means, vengeance, punishment or penal retribution (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:5 and 5:60.

Commentary:

If a man kills game, when he is in the state of احرام (pilgrimage), he should give as compensation a like animal to be taken to Mecca for sacrifice. For instance, if the game killed by him is a deer, he should offer a goat. If the like of the game killed cannot be found, then an animal costing approximately as much as the game killed should be offered, or failing that, the pilgrim should spend the estimated price of the game in feeding the poor, which is two مد per head according to some theologians and one صاع according to others, a مد being roughly two handfuls of corn while a صاع is four times as much as a مد. If, however, the pilgrim is unable to do even that, he should fast for as many days as the number of the poor he could feed with the estimated price of the game killed. The fasting and the feeding of the poor, as the case may be, should preferably be done at Mecca.

43:56.

Important Words:

الیم (sea) is substantive from یم or یمم. The Arabs say یم الرجل i.e. the man was thrown into the sea; or he was drowned in the sea. یم الساحلmeans, the water of the sea or the water of the river overflowed its banks. الیم means, the sea; or the sea of unknown or unreached depth; a great body of water either salt or sweet (Lisan). The Quran uses the word یم both in the sense of sea (as in the present verse) and in the sense of a great river as in 20:40. See also 7:139 below.

3:195; 10:104; 58:22.

Commentary:

The verse is addressed to the reader or to each and every individual from among the enemies of Islam. The Divine attributes mentioned in the verse refer to those enemies of Islam who were bent upon extirpating the small Muslim community. God assures the Holy Prophet that He will certainly punish those who seek to destroy Islam and will make the cause of truth triumph.

26:190; 38:15; 50:15.

Important Words:

امام (way) is derived from ام (amma). They say امه i.e. he repaired to or directed his course to him or it. امام inter alia, means, a road or way; a manifest road or way (Lane).

مبین (manifest) means, distinct from others; apparent; manifest; plain (Lane). See also 2:169.

Commentary:

Commentators differ as to the reference of the word "both" in this verse. Most of them take it as referring to the habitations of Lot and Shu‘aib, the account of the people of Lot having just preceded that of the people of Shu‘aib. But the more correct view seems to be that the word "both" refers to the habitations of "the People of the Wood" and "the People of Midian," reference to the latter being understood. The habitations of both lay on a much-frequented highway.

It may also be noted that in the case of the city of Lot the highway has been called سبیل مقیم i.e. the way that still exists (v. 77) signifying that it would continue to be used. Consequently that road has remained in constant use up to the present time. In the case of the habitation of اصحاب الایکة i.e. the People of the Wood, the road has been called امام مبین i.e. a manifest way. Consequently, the old road which connected Asia with Egypt has now ceased to be used by caravans, though, as the word مبین (manifest) hints, the track still remains.

10:104; 40:52; 58:22.

Commentary:

That the enemies of truth and the rejecters of the Divine Message have never prospered is writ large on the pages of history.

See 39:24.

Commentary:

The verse reinforces and enlarges the argument given in vv. 33, 34 above, viz. that all the schemes and machinations of disbelievers cannot cause the Prophets any real harm. This forms another proof of the fact that God is at their back and His help and succour alone is sufficient for them and that the threats of disbelievers cannot intimidate them into giving up their mission.

18:18.

Commentary:

Another fact which is writ large on the history of all religions is that those unfortunate people who incur Divine wrath by their persistent opposition to God’s Messengers never go unpunished.

7:137; 43:56.

13:41; 40:78.

Commentary:

This verse, like several other verses of the Quran, shows that Divine punishment was to come upon the disbelievers after the Holy Prophet had departed from among them; and so it came to pass.

40:46; 43:26.

Important Words:

آسفونا (they angered Us) is derived from أسف (asifa). They say أسف علیه i.e. he grieved intensely over it; he was angry with him. آسفه (asafahu) means, he angered him, he grieved him, he made him to grieve or lament (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The "great seizure" may refer to the defeat of the Quraish at the Battle of Badr or to the Fall of Mecca when all their glory departed and their pride was humbled in the dust. They came to the Holy Prophet (whom they had hounded out of Mecca only eight years before) begging for mercy.