ءَايَٰتِنَا

2:204; 8:46; 62:11.

Commentary:

The word کما meaning "even as" has been used to connect this verse with the preceding one by pointing out that God will bestow upon the believers the favours mentioned in the preceding verse even as, or just as, He has favoured them with a Prophet.

With a slight change in the arrangement of the words this verse refers to the work of the Holy Prophet in exactly the same words in which Abraham prayed to God about the appearance of a Prophet among the Meccans (2:130), which clearly shows that Abraham’s prayer had found fulfilment in the person of the Holy Prophet. The change in arrangement is that, while recounting the favours of God, this verse, unlike verse 2:130, mentions the work of purification before that of the teaching of the Book and Wisdom, because though in theory the teaching of the Book may come first, in actual practice purification is more important than the teaching of the Book and Wisdom; for whereas the former is the end, the latter is simply the means to that end.

Another difference between this verse and 2:130 is that whereas the latter ends with the words, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise, the former concludes with the words, And (he) teaches you that which you did not know. The reason for this change is not far to seek. Abraham had used the words, Surely, Thou art the Mighty, the Wise, in his prayer, meaning that God being Mighty, it was not difficult for Him to accept his prayer; and as He was also Wise, He knew best what the requirements of his posterity would be. But when God spoke of the actual fulfilment of this prayer, it was quite unnecessary to repeat these words. So in place of the above-quoted words, the words, (he) teaches you that which you did not know, have been added to signify: firstly, that, while accepting the prayer God had granted even more than Abraham had prayed for; and secondly, that the teachings of the Holy Prophet were far in advance of the teachings of the former Prophets and were such as the world really needed but had not so far known.

4:141.

Important Words:

ذکری (recollection) is the noun-infinitive from ذکر i.e. "he remembered, etc." for which see 2:41, 153, 201. ذکری means, remembering or recollecting; remembrance; the presence of a thing in the mind; mentioning or relating a thing; accepting of an exhortation; reminding or causing to remember; admonition. Thus the word is used both intransitively and transitively (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

When the disbelievers, in reply to their demand for punishment, were told that there was a time fixed for every prophecy and that the punishment of God could not come before its time, they began to laugh at the prophecy. So the Quran calls upon the Holy Prophet and, through him, the believers to turn away from them, i.e. to quit their company and depart from the place, so that they might not provoke the further wrath of God by indulging in their vain and insolent discourse. Believers are told not to afford disbelievers an occasion to commit further excesses by sitting in their company but to leave them at once on such occasions, so that they may be induced to turn to other talk.

The words, turn thou away from them, may also be taken figuratively, signifying that you should overlook and treat as unnoticed their action of ridiculing and should not dispute with them about it, so that they might drop the subject and turn to some other topic.

"Satan", for which see 2:15, does not always mean the Evil Spirit; the word is also applied to other harmful things.

It has even been applied to "anger" and "jealousy" in some of the sayings of the Holy Prophet. Here, also, it is used in the sense of "anger" and the sentence would thus mean, "if anger or wrath should cause you to forget the injunction to leave the company of such persons and to quit the place…" This interpretation, however, will hold good only in the case of men who stand on a high level of righteousness. In the case of ordinary men, the word would be taken to mean "evil suggestion" or "negligence".

The word ذکری (recollection), as shown under Important Words, means both "recollection", i.e. remembering, and "reminding." Taking it in the intransitive sense, the sentence would mean that when you recollect the injunction to quit the place, you should do so forthwith. Taking the word ذکری in the sense of "reminding," the sentence would mean that before quitting the place, you should remind the scoffers of their mischievous conduct and tell them that it is an evil and dishonourable course which they follow and that it is calculated to excite against them the wrath of God.

It should also be remembered that really it is not the Holy Prophet but every believer that is addressed in this verse.

35:43.

6:22; 7:38; 10:18.

Commentary:

The words, better guided, are either intended to express a possible idea on the part of the Arabs that the "two peoples" mentioned above did not faithfully act on Divine teachings or they merely express a possible feeling of regret that whereas others were granted Divine guidance, they were not. It must be said to the credit of the Arabs that when the Quran was revealed to the Holy Prophet, those of them that accepted it did follow it much more faithfully than the "two peoples" referred to above or for that matter any other people. Thus, when the Holy Prophet was attacked by the Quraish of Mecca at Badr and he summoned a council of his followers to consult them, the latter told him without demur that they would not, like the companions of Moses, say to him, Go, thou and thy Lord, and fight and here we sit (5:25), but would fight in his front and fight at his back and fight on his right and fight on his left, meaning that the enemy would not be permitted to reach him except over their dead bodies (Bukhari, ch. on Maghazi).

Important Words:

انسلخ (stepped away) is derived from سلخ. They say سلخ جلدھا i.e. he stripped off its skin. سلخت عنھا قمیصھا means, I pulled off or stripped off her shirt. سلخنا الشھر means, we passed the month, or passed forth from the month. One would say سلخ النبات i.e. the plant shed its foliage and became leafless and then became green again. انسلخ means, he or it became stripped, or he or it passed, or he quitted a thing entirely. They say انسلخت الحیة من قشرھا i.e. the serpent came off, or divested itself of, its slough. انسلخ منه means, he or it became altogether separated from it; or he or it quitted it entirely (Lane & Aqrab).

اتبعه (followed him up). اتبع is derived from تبع. They say تبعه i.e. he followed him or it, or he went or walked after him or it. اتبع besides giving the causative sense is also used like تبع in the sense of following. They say اتبعه i.e. he followed his footsteps; he sought him; also he overtook him (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse does not refer to any particular individual but may apply to all persons to whom God shows signs through a Prophet and who reject them. Similar expressions which do not refer to any particular individual, but are of general application, also occur elsewhere in the Quran (e.g. 2:18). The verse under comment has been applied to one Bal‘am bin Ba‘ura who, it is related, lived in the time of Moses. He is reported to have been a virtuous man, but pride turned his head and he ended in disgrace. But the verse also aptly describes also the case of Abu Jahl who had clearly seen and even admitted the truth of the Holy Prophet, but proudly and scornfully remarked that his people had never owed allegiance to the house of ‘Abd Manaf, a progenitor of the Holy Prophet. The verse may equally apply to ‘Abdullah bin Ubayy bin Salul, the arch-hypocrite, who witnessed many signs establishing the truth of the Holy Prophet and even apparently professed his faith in him, but at heart ever remained his implacable enemy.

10:12, 46; 25:22.

Important Words:

یرجون (look for) is derived from رجا which has two contrary meanings i.e. (1) he hoped, and (2) he feared. They say رجوته I hoped for him or it; and مارجوتك i.e. I feared not thee (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

It is a characteristic of the style of the Quran that it uses words and expressions that are apparently simple but embody a vast variety of meanings. As the Arabic language is most adapted to serve this purpose, God has bestowed upon it the honour of being the language of the Quran. رجا (looking for) is one such word and means both hope and fear. The use of this word in the present verse has therefore made it rich with deep meaning.

The study of human nature reveals the important fact that all human progress is bound up with the instincts of hope and fear. Our best efforts are inspired by one or other of these two instincts. Some persons labour and sweat, actuated by hopes of acquisition and aggrandizement; others work out of fear lest they should come to grief. The present verse contains an appeal to both classes. To those for whom the incentive to work is hope, the verse says, "Why don’t you hope to meet God and shape your conduct according to, and in anticipation of, that meeting; because on the hope of that meeting depends all your material prosperity as well as your moral and spiritual advancement." To those whom fear alone can incite to action, it says, "Why don’t you fear and try to escape God’s punishment which, if it overtakes you, will destroy you outright." Thus in one single word the Quran has exhorted to action both and, for that matter, all classes of men.

In the words, are content with the life of this world and feel at rest therewith, is beautifully given the Islamic point of view with regard to material progress. Islam is not opposed to the search for, or attainment of, material prosperity. What it disapproves is that one should make the acquisition of the things of this world the aim and end of one’s existence and should have no thought for the Hereafter. Secondly, Islam disapproves the idea that after one has attained prosperity, one should give up all further effort at making still more progress. As a matter of fact, the good of the Hereafter, coupled with material prosperity, is spoken of in the Quran as one of the favours of God and every Muslim is exhorted to pray for it (2:202).

The words, those who are heedless of Our Signs, throw further light on the subject, viz. that God is displeased with only those who are wholly engrossed in the pursuit of material things and consign all spiritual things to oblivion.

Commentary:

Divine rewards, indeed, are pregnant with deep import. Pharaoh believed at a time when his faith was nothing more than a body without a soul: therefore, God rescued only his body from destruction, not letting his soul benefit by it. The body was saved from destruction that it might serve as a lesson for the generations to come.

It is remarkable that the Quran alone speaks of this fact. The Bible makes no mention of it, nor does any book of history. But in how wonderful a manner the word of God- has proved true! After the lapse of more than 3,000 years the body of Pharaoh has been discovered and it now lies in a preserved state in a museum at Cairo. The body shows Pharaoh to have been a lean, short-bodied man, with a countenance expressive of anger and stupidity. How far removed is the present age from the time when Pharaoh lived; yet God the Almighty not only saved his body but has also preserved it to the present age.

This verse supplies very strong testimony to the Divine origin of the Quran and to its distinct superiority over the Bible. The Pentateuch professes to give the history of the time of Moses and it is claimed that it was written in his own time. Yet the Quran, which came about 2,000 years after the Torah, has mentioned some incidents (including the present one) which are not mentioned in the Bible but which subsequent events have proved to be true. This establishes the truth of the Quran and the unreliability of the Pentateuch beyond any shadow of doubt.

The verse also points to the supreme moral lesson that we should hasten to accept the truth as soon as it comes to us and should not vacillate or procrastinate, as Pharaoh did.

It further shows that God does not allow even the slightest act of virtue to go unrewarded. Pharaoh believed at the time of his death, when his faith was but a shell without a kernel, yet even that act was not allowed to go quite unrewarded, for, though his soul was lost, his body was saved. His body may now prove the means of guiding many to truth; possibly it may spiritually benefit him also. This is perhaps why the famous Muslim saint, Muhy-ud-Din ibn ‘Arabi, holds that Pharaoh may be spared the punishment of Hell. The idea may not be right but it certainly provides food for thought.

Some commentators are of the opinion that the name of the drowned Pharaoh was Rameses. But this does not appear to be right. Moses was certainly born in the time of Rameses II and was brought up by him (Exod. 1:11), but it was in the reign of his son, Merneptah (Meneptah), that he was entrusted with the mission of a Prophet (Exod. 2:23). See also Jew. Enc., vol. 8, page 500, & Enc. Bib., under Pharaoh and under Egypt.

Commentary:

In the foregoing verses three different peoples have been mentioned: (1) the people of Lot; (2) the people of Shu‘aib; and (3) the people of Salih. The order in which they have been mentioned is noteworthy. They have not been mentioned in their chronological order but in the order of the distance of their habitations from Mecca. The land of the people of Lot was the most distant of the three places and so it has been mentioned first. Next in order of distance were the people of Aikah, and they have been put next. Hijr being situated between Tabuk and Medina, the tribe of Thamud were the nearest of the three and it has consequently been mentioned last of all. In the order of time the people of Hijr preceded the people of Lot and the people of Aikah came last. This unusual order has been adopted in preference to the more natural one with a view to producing the greatest psychological effect, the tribe that was least known to the Arabs being mentioned first and the tribe which the Arabs knew best being mentioned last.

It may also be incidentally mentioned here that in this Surah mention has been made of those peoples in whom the art of writing was not much in vogue, and who were regarded by the Arabs as their ancestors. Adam is, of course, the common progenitor of mankind. Lot was a near relative of Abraham and as such, was among the ancestors of the Arabs. The tribe of Shu‘aib were cousins of the Ishmaelites, and became ultimately absorbed by them. The tribe of Thamud were a pure Arab tribe.

Important Words:

الکھف (the Cave). اکتھف الکھف means, he entered the cave. کھف means, a cave excavated out of a mountain in the form of a house; a spacious cave; a place of refuge (Aqrab).

الرقیم (the Inscription) is derived from رقم which means, he wrote a writing; he sealed, stamped, imprinted or impressed. رقم الکتاب means, he marked the writing with the dots or points, and made its letters distinct or plain.

رقمه (raqqama-hu) means, he figured, variegated or decorated the garment or piece of cloth and made it striped or marked it with stripes. رقمت الشیء means, I marked the thing so as to distinguish it from other things, as, for instance, by writing and the like. رقم البعیر means, he cauterized the camel. رقیم signifies any garment or piece of cloth figured, variegated or decorated with a certain or known figuring or decoration, such as is a mark; a book or writing. الرقیم means, the Inscription (Lane & Aqrab). For different accounts of this word see at the end of the commentary of the present verse.

Commentary:

The verse declares the Dwellers of the Cave to be no novel or out of the ordinary thing but as only one of the so many signs of God. There was nothing about them which might be considered a departure from the ordinary laws of nature. It is, however, very regrettable that while according to this verse the Dwellers of the Cave were no object of wonder but were only a sign of God, many commentators of the Quran have woven fantastic legends around them.

Who were these Dwellers of the Cave, where did they live and what were the conditions and circumstances under which they had to live, are some of the questions that have agitated the minds of commentators for hundreds of years. A good clue to the solution of these baffling questions is to be found in some of the stories related by Muslim historians, Ibn Ishaq being most prominent among them. These stories are summarized below:

1. Ibn Ishaq relates that when idolatry first found its way among Christians, those of them who were strict monotheists being sorely distressed over the condition of their coreligionists renounced their company. This happened in the time of the Roman Emperor Decius, who was a great persecutor of Christians. Some Christian young men who refused to worship idols were arrested and brought before him. He asked them to think over and revise their attitude and himself went on a journey. Instead of submitting to the Emperor’s command they sought safety in flight and took refuge in a cave. On his return from the journey the Emperor ordered these young men to be brought before him. They feared that they would be found out and killed. So they prayed long and fervently in the cave and had hardly finished their prayer when they fell into a deep sleep. Their belongings lay beside them and their dog kept watch at the entrance of the cave. The search for them brought their pursuers to the mouth of the cave but no one could muster enough courage to enter it. The Emperor was counselled to raise a wall before its mouth. He accepted the advice and the mouth of the cave was sealed up. (Ma‘ani, vol. v, p. 16).

2. There is another story to the effect that a disciple of Jesus arrived in a town of which the ruler had commanded that every newcomer, before entering the town, should prostrate himself before the idol at its entrance. The disciple refused to carry out the king’s command. On the contrary, he began to preach against idol-worship which led to many inhabitants of the town becoming Christians. One day, as the result of a scuffle between the king’s son and the owner of a hammam (bath) the former was killed. The owner of the hammam fled. Some young men who had embraced Christianity, apprehending arrest, also fled and along with a landlord, who too had embraced Christianity, took refuge in a cave. The story then proceeds as narrated above by Ibn Ishaq (Ma‘ani, vol. v, p. 19).

3. Ibn ‘Abbas is reported to have said that he was with Mu‘awiyah in an expedition against the Romans when they saw the cave in which اصحاب کھف (Dwellers of the Cave) were believed to have lived. Mu‘awiyah sent some of his men to enter the cave but a storm suddenly arose and prevented them from entering it. According to another narration Ibn‘Abbas is reported to have said that he had even seen the remains of اصحاب کھف which seemed to be 300 years old (Manthur; vol. 4, pp. 22, 214).

4. According to Abu Hayyan there is a cave in Spain which is supposed to contain the dead bodies of the Dwellers of the Cave and also of their dog. Ibn Abi ‘Attiyyah also claims to have seen the cave where according to him the corpses of اصحاب کھف have remained for four or five hundred years. He writes that there are to be found near Granada the ruins of a town which is called the town of Decius. It contains very weird tombs built of stones (Muhit, vol. 6, p. 102).

5. Identical accounts have been given by Ibn Kathir and by ‘Abdur Razzaq and Ibn Hatim in Durr-e-Manthur (vol. 4, p. 224). Some commentators of the Quran have gone so far as to give even the names of the Dwellers of the Cave. For instance, Ibn Kathir (vol. 6, p. 131) has, on the authority of Ibn ‘Abbas, given the names of these people and their number.

6. The memorable story of the "Seven Sleepers", as told by Gibbon in his Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, provides an important clue to the solution of the mystery that surrounds the Dwellers of the Cave. "When the Emperor Decius", says Gibbon, "persecuted the Christians, seven noble youths of Ephesus concealed themselves in a spacious cavern in the side of an adjacent mountain, where they were doomed to perish by the tyrant, who gave orders that the entrance should be firmly secured with a pile of huge stones. They immediately fell into a deep slumber, which was miraculously prolonged, without injuring the powers of life, during a period of one hundred and eighty-seven years. At the end of that time, the slaves of Adolius, to whom the inheritance of the mountain had descended, removed the stones, to supply materials for some rustic edifice; the light of the sun darted into the cavern, and the seven sleepers were permitted to awake. After a slumber, as they thought, of a few hours, they were pressed by the calls of hunger and resolved that Iamblichus, one of their members, should secretly return to the city to purchase bread for the use of his companions. The youth could no longer recognize the once familiar aspect of his native country; and his surprise was increased by the appearance of a large cross, triumphantly erected over the principal gate of Ephesus. His singular dress and obsolete language confounded the baker to whom he offered an ancient medal of Decius as the current coin of the empire; and Iamblichus, on the suspicion of a secret treasure, was dragged before the judge. Their mutual inquiries produced the amazing discovery that almost two centuries had elapsed since Iamblichus and his friends had escaped from the rage of a pagan tyrant. The bishop of Ephesus, the clergy, the magistrates, the people, and, it is said, the Emperor Theodosius himself, hastened to visit the cavern of the Seven Sleepers, who bestowed their benediction, related their story, and at the same instant peaceably expired" (chapter 33).

The story of the Dwellers of the Cave may also be taken to apply to Joseph of Arimathea and his companions. According to William of Malmesbury, Joseph was sent to Britain by St. Philip and having been given a small island in Somersetshire there constructed with twisted twigs the first Christian Church in Britain, afterwards to become the Abbey of Glastonbury. According to another account Joseph is said to have wandered into Britain in the year 63 A.D. …according to the legends which grew up under the care of the monk, the first Church of Glastonbury was a little wattled building erected by Joseph of Arimathea as the leader of the twelve apostles sent over to Britain from Gaul by St. Philip (Enc. Brit., 10th edition & 13th edition, under Joseph of Arimathaea & Glastonbury).

All these accounts may appear to be no more than picturesque legends or later interpolations or they may belong to the realm of poetry rather than genuine tradition but they do not seem to be completely devoid of all reality and are not without an undercurrent of truth. Anyhow, they possess a deep and far-reaching significance. Joseph of Arimathea may or may not have gone to England or that country may or may not be "the cave", under discussion, but the story of the Dwellers of the Cave does symbolize the story of the early persecution and later rise and expansion of Christianity.

Our recent research, however, assigns the catacombs at Rome rather than Glastonbury as the site of "the cave" and a study of early Christianity lends great weight to this research. Accounts of the Dwellers of the Cave given above by IbnIshaq and other historians also seem to substantiate and reinforce this recent theory.

From these accounts the following facts unmistakably emerge:

(1) That early Christians were believers in the Unity of God and that they suffered great persecution for their beliefs.

(2) That some of these Christians fearing persecution and death took refuge in a cave in the time of a king variously known as Dacyuse, Dacyanuse or, in Latin, Decius.

(3) That the persecutors of these Christians were idol-worshippers who sought to compel them to worship their own idols and offer sacrifices to them.

(4) That these young men came out of the cave in the time of a king named Nandusis or, as Gibbon says, Theodosius.

Now it is a well-known historical fact that early Christians had to suffer untold persecutions at the hands of the idolatrous Roman Emperors for their belief in the Oneness of God. This persecution began as early as in the time of the notorious Emperor Nero who is said to have set fire to Rome and fiddled while that great seat of learning and civilization was burning. It continued intermittently till the reign of the Emperor Constantine who became converted to Christianity and made it the religion of the State. According to Tacitus Nero inflicted most inhuman tortures upon Christians in order to shift the blame for the burning of Rome on to them. He caused them to be hanged, burned alive and thrown to hungry dogs. Even St. Peter is said to have met his death at this cruel Emperor’s hands. Tertullian states that Peter was crucified under Nero, and Origen adds that at his own request he was crucified head downwards…Early in the third century the grave of Peter and Paul was shown in the Vatican and their relics were moved to the catacombs in 258 A. D. Among the tombs to be lately discovered in the catacombs are some of those disciples whose names have been mentioned in the Gospels and with whom Peter is said to have stayed (Enc. Brit., Every Man’s Encyclopaedia, & Gibbon’s Roman Empire, under Peter, Catacombs & Nero, and Story of Rome by Norwood Young).

The persecution continued in the reign of Domitian. But it was not only tyrants like Nero and Domitian who persecuted Christians but great and virtuous princes like Trajan and Marcus Aurelius also punished these unoffending people with death, exile and imprisonment. They had, however, a brief respite of about forty years after which their persecution again began with renewed fury under the Emperor Decius. This time the persecution was so severe that compared with it the former condition was a state of perfect freedom and security. Decius wanted to restore the religion and institutions of ancient Rome and with this object in view he began a systematic extermination of Christianity. The edicts of Diocletian in 303 A.D., however, surpassed all anti-Christian measures. By these edicts Christian Churches in all the provinces of the empire were demolished, all their sacred books were publicly burnt and the property of the Church was confiscated and Christians were put out of the protection of the land (Gibbon’s Roman Empire).

To save themselves from this most cruel and inhuman persecution the helpless Christians had to seek refuge in concealment and from a study of the catacombs at Rome it appears that they proved havens of safety for them. These catacombs which have been referred to in the Quran as "the cave" were admirably suited to the needs of Christians who had to remain in concealment for long intervals. They had built schools and chapels and also buried the dead bodies of their saints and holy men in them. Though some of the statements as to the employment of the catacombs in times of persecution may have been somewhat exaggerated, we have clear evidence that they were used as places of refuge from the fury of the heathen, in which the believers—especially the bishops and clergy, who would naturally be the first objects of attack—might secrete themselves until the storm had blown over. This was a purpose for which they were admirably adapted both by the intricacy of their labyrinthine passages, in which anyone not possessing the clue would inevitably be lost, and the numerous small chambers and hiding places at different levels which might be passed unperceived in the dark by pursuers. As a rule also the catacombs had more than one entrance, and frequently communicated with a sand-quarry; so that while one entrance was carefully watched, the pursued might escape in a totally different direction by another. These catacombs have several stories which are connected with each other by a vast labyrinth of narrow galleries, interspersed with small chambers, excavated at successive levels. These dark, narrow and labyrinthic galleries have gone on for hundreds of miles. Padri Marchi has estimated the length of the galleries at from 800 to 900 miles and the number of interments at between 6,000,000 and 7,000,000. Martigny’s estimate is 587 miles and Northcote’s lower still, at not less than 350 miles (Enc. Brit., 9th edition, under Catacombs).

From the inscriptions on the tomb-stones in the catacombs it appears that the early Christians were strict monotheists. There is not a single word on the inscriptions which indicated that they believed in Jesus as God or the Son of God. He has been represented only as a shepherd or a Prophet of God, which he really was. Nor has Mary, his mother, been mentioned as anything more than a pious woman. The story of the tribe of the Prophet Jonah and that of Noah’s flood find repeated and prominent mention in the inscriptions and engravings. This clearly shows that early Christians regarded the Old Testament with greater respect than do present-day Christians. It also appears that Christians who took refuge in the catacombs kept dogs at their entrance which would announce the approach of strangers by their barking.

To be brief, the account of the Dwellers of the Cave constitutes a representation of the history of early Christians and shows how they conducted a vigorous campaign against idolatry and polytheistic beliefs and suffered untold persecutions for their belief in the Unity of God and how their successors ended by disowning almost all the fundamental doctrines of their Faith. The position of "the cave", however, is of secondary importance, though from the facts narrated above its description as given in v. 18 applies more fully and in greater detail and exactness to the catacombs at Rome than to any other place.

Similarly, very strange and widely divergent accounts of الرقیم (the Inscription) have been given by commentators. According to some it was a tablet of lead or copper or a slab of stone on which the names of the Dwellers of the Cave, their ancestry, etc., were inscribed. Some say it was the name of the town or village from which they came or the name of the mountain or valley in which that "cave" was situated, yet according to others it was the name of their dog or the coin which they used. Leaving aside the mental wanderings of commentators, these two words—"cave" and "inscription"––represent the two most prominent aspects of the Christian Faith, viz. that it began as a religion of renunciation and withdrawal from the world and ended by becoming a religion of entire engrossment in worldly affairs, a religion of business and trade in a world of writings and inscriptions. See also Tafsir-e-Kabir by Hadrat Khalifatul Masih II.

Commentary:

The sign of the rod was one of the greatest heavenly signs given to Moses. When Moses was entrusted with prophethood, the sign of the rod appeared (20:20). When he went to preach his message to Pharaoh, it was again the miracle of the rod that was shown to him and the sorcerers (20:70-74). When the Israelites wanted water, Moses was ordered to strike the rock with his rod (2:61), and when he had to cross the sea, God commanded him to strike it with his rod (26:64).

The verse may signify that after the signs of the "rod" and the "white hand", God promises to show to Moses yet greater Signs. One of these latter signs was that Pharaoh and his mighty hosts were drowned in the sea before the very eyes of the Israelites. According to the Quran, altogether 9 Signs were shown for Moses (7:131-134) whereas the Bible gives their number as 13. For a detailed discussion about the disparity in the account of the Bible and that of the Quran see 7:134 & 17:102. Suffice it to say here that the signs were really 9 in number; the Bible has only unnecessarily enlarged their number.

27:13-15; 43:48-49; 79:21-22.

Commentary:

The word أبی besides the meaning given in the text also means, he hated or disliked. According to this meaning the verse shows that Pharaoh not only rejected the Divine signs but also held them up to scorn and looked down upon them with contempt and disdain.

34:6, 39.

Commentary:

It is writ large on the pages of the history of all religions that in spite of all the ups and downs through which truth has to pass, it triumphs in the long run. The enemies of truth have never been able to impede its onward march. They cannot frustrate the Divine plan that truth must prevail.

17:47; 23:67-68; 39:46.

5:61.

Important Words:

یسطون (would attack) is formed from سطا. They say سطا به او علیه i.e. he sprang or rushed upon him and overpowered him; he made an assault or attack upon him. سطا الفرس means, the horse went at random or in a headlong manner, not obeying guidance; he went with wide step or raised his tail in running. سطا الماء means, the water was or became abundant (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse alludes to two more significant facts: (1) Ages passed and a long line of Prophets appeared after Moses and they preached their messages, yet none of these Prophets ever claimed to be "that Prophet" about whom Moses had made the prophecy mentioned in Deut. 18:18, till the Quran was revealed and it claimed that the grand prophecy of Moses had been fulfilled in the person of the Holy Prophet of Islam (73:16). (2) The words "And thou wast not a dweller among the people of Midian, rehearsing Our signs unto them" refer to a striking resemblance of the Holy Prophet with Moses. According to the prophecy (Deut. 18:18) the Promised Prophet was to be like unto Moses, and what greater similarity there could be between these two noble Prophets than that Moses had to flee for life from Egypt, where he was born and brought up, to Midian where for ten long years he lived among a strange people, and then went back to Egypt, armed with Divine authority to free and reclaim his depressed people, from the bondage of Pharaoh. Likewise the Prophet of Islam had to leave Mecca where he was born and brought up and then for ten years he lived in Medina among a people who were not of his kith and kin, and again in pursuance of Divine command marched forth to conquer Mecca at the head of an army of ten thousand saints to fulfil another prophecy of the Bible (Deut. 33:2).

6:132; 11:118; 20:135; 26:209.

Commentary:

Two laws have been enunciated in this verse: (1) No people are punished until God has first raised among them a Messenger who warns them of the impending punishment and exhorts them to repent and give up their evil ways. (2) No people are punished unless they have given themselves up to sin and iniquity and have completely closed the doors of repentance upon themselves.

The unusual frequency and universality of natural calamities in the form of famines, wars, earthquakes and epidemics during the last five or six decades call for the appearance of a Divine Messenger in the present time. That Divine Messenger appeared in the fullness of time in the person of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah and Holy Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement.

22:5; 34: 39.

22:52.

Commentary:

The verse purports to say that God has decreed that the new Faith shall prosper and triumph and all the efforts and machinations of disbelievers to retard or arrest its onward march will prove futile. The disbelievers will not be able to frustrate God’s purpose. On the contrary, their machinations will recoil on their own heads and they will be visited with Divine punishment.

38:29.

Important Words:

یلحدون (deviate) is formed from ألـحد which is derived from لـحد. They say ألـحد فی الدین i.e. he deviated or swerved from the right way with respect to religion, he impugned the religion (Lane & Aqrab). Thus the expression یلحدون فی آیاتنا signifies that disbelievers deviate from the right path with respect to our signs, i.e. they adopt a crooked attitude when they are invited to ponder over the signs of God. While outwardly they profess to be honest, in their heart of hearts they are insincere and crooked. See also 16:104.

51:21-22.

Important Words:

آفاق (farthest parts) is the plural of أفق which is derived from أفق (afaqa) which means, he went away at random or heedlessly. أفق (ufqun) means, a side; a remote side; a border or extremity of a land or of the earth and of the sky or the horizon of the sky and of the earth i.e. country, region; horizon, the wide world (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse repeats in most clear and emphatic terms the prophecy about the rapid spread of Islam which was made in the preceding verses. It purports to say that Islam would spread not only nearer home among the Arabs but in the remotest parts of the earth. The prophecy was made at a time (the present Surah was revealed early in Mecca) when Islam was struggling for its very existence and humanly speaking there was every likelihood of its tender plant being nipped in the bud. Yet within the brief space of a few years the whole of Arabia accepted Islam and before the dawn of the next century it had reached the farthest ends of the earth. The camel drivers of the Arabian desert became the teachers and leaders of mankind, spreading light and learning wherever they went.

22:4; 40:5.

2:232; 31:7.