نَزَّلۡنَا
Appears 5 times in Quran
Occurrences in Quran
Found 5 verses containing "نَزَّلۡنَا".
وَاِنۡ کُنۡتُمۡ فِیۡ رَیۡبٍ مِّمَّا نَزَّلۡنَا عَلٰی عَبۡدِنَا فَاۡتُوۡا بِسُوۡرَۃٍ مِّنۡ مِّثۡلِہٖ وَادۡعُوۡا شُہَدَآءَکُمۡ مِّنۡ دُوۡنِ اللّٰہِ اِنۡ کُنۡتُمۡ صٰدِقِیۡنَ
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
«古兰经» 无可比拟的优美绝伦的主题, 在五个不同的地方被述及, 即: 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89与52:34, 35中。五处中有两处 (2:24与10:39) 的挑战是相同的, 而在其余三处, 曾向不信道的人提出了三个不同的要求。初看, 三个不同地方的挑战的不同形式似乎不协调。其实并非如此。实际上, 这些经文内一定的要求是时常存在的, 挑战在穆圣时代, 甚至到现在, 在 «古兰经» 所述及的所有不同形式中都是开放的。
在解释这些不同形式挑战以前, 值得注意的是: «古兰经» 提到这些要求时, 始终不忘财产与权力。如前所述, 除了在本节经文中, 没有新的挑战, 而只是重复10:39 中的那个挑战, 由此得到一个肯定的结论:在财产与权力问题和创作像 «古兰经» 或其一部分的挑战之间存在着一种紧密的连系。这一连系在于这样一个事实:即 «古兰经» 是以一种无价之宝向不信道的人提出的。当不信道的人向穆圣要求各种物质财宝时 (11:13), 他告诉他们, 他的 «古兰经» 是他的无与伦比的财宝; 当他们问: “为什么没有一个天使同他一起来?” (11:13) 他回答他们说, 天使确已降临于他, 因为天使们的使命是带来主的启示, 而主的启示已赐给了他。因此, 这两种要求—对于财宝与天使降临的要求—已由天使带来的无与伦比的财宝 «古兰经» 全被满足了, 创作此类天经的挑战是为证明它的无可匹敌的素质而提出的。
现在可以把含有这项挑战的不同经文分开来看。17:89 中提出的最大一个要求, 要求不信道的人拿一本具有像 «古兰经» 全文那样包含多种多样素质的书来。那节经文中并不要求不信道的人把他们的文章做为主的言语陈述。他们可以拿出他们自己的文章并宣称它可与 «古兰经» 相提并论, 或甚至超过 古兰经»。但是, 由于当时提出那个挑战时, 全部 «古兰经» 尚未降下, 并不要求不信道的人当时当地写出像 «古兰经» 那样的经文; 这种挑战因此暗示他们永远也写不出像 «古兰经» 那样的文章, 既写不出当时那种形式的
«古兰经», 也将写不出像将要降示完整的 «古兰经»。而且, 此一挑战并不只局限於穆圣时代的不信道的人, 也可延续到所有时代抱有疑问的人以及评论家。在11:14 节经文中, 不信道的人们被约照写十章而不是写全部 «古兰经», 理由是, 那节经文中的问题并不全面涉及整部 «古兰经» 的完美而是仅涉及其部分的完美。不信道的人反对其中某些部分, 说它们有缺陷。因此, 未曾要求他们写出像全部 «古兰经» 那样一本完整的经典, 而只是用十章来替代他们认为有缺陷的那些 «古兰经» 部分, 这样就可检验它们主张的真实性。说到选择十章这个特定数目, 可以这么说, 因为在17:89 中, 全部 «古兰经» 被声称为一部完美无缺的经典, 反对 «古兰经» 的人就被约照写 «古兰经» 那样的全部经典; 但是在11:14 节经文中的问题是, 某些部分受到反对, 因此请他们挑选他们认为最有缺陷的十个部分, 然后写出类似那些部分的文章。在10:39 节中, 只要求不信教的人写出类似 «古兰经» 中的一章。这是因为, 不像上述的两节经文, 那节经文的挑战是支持 «古兰经» 本身所作出的一个宣称, 而不是驳斥不信教者的反对意见的。在10:38节经文中, «古兰经» 声称有五种非常显著的特点。为了支持这一声称, 10:39 节经文对那些否认或怀疑它的人们提出一个挑战, 要他们以同样完美的形式写出一个单章, 其中要含有像第十章所含有的这些素质。第五次挑战写出像 «古兰经» 那样的经典, 是在这节注释 (2:24) 经文中, 这节像10:39 节一样也约请不信道者写出诸如 «古兰经» 那样的一个单章。这个挑战是在
«古兰经» 被声称为引导正直的人达到精神进步最高阶段之后。不信道的人被告知, 假如他们对 «古兰经» 是源自安拉有怀疑的话, 他们应该写出一章, 使之可与 «古兰经» 对其信者那样产生精神影响方面相比拟。请看我会出版的英文较大版本的古兰注释 (The Larger Edition of Commentary, PP.58-62)。
以上解说可以表明, 这些约请不信教的人写出诸如 «古兰经» 的挑战十分明显而一一分开的, 这些挑战始终存在, 其中没有一个可以替代或取消另一个。可是, 由于 «古兰经» 包含崇高的思想, 必然要用最美丽的措词与最简洁朴实的风格来作为表示那些思想的工具; 否则它的主题就会含糊不清, 使人产生疑问, «古兰经» 的绝美经文就会损毁。这样, 不论用什么形式, 不论在哪一方面, 不信教的人所受到的写出类如 «古兰经» 的文章的挑战, 文体优美与措词雅致使之与 «古兰经» 媲美, 都形成其挑战的一部分。
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
The subject of the incomparable excellence of the Qur’an has been dealt with at five different places, i.e. in 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89 & 52:34, 35. In two of these five verses (2:24 & 10:39) the challenge is identical, while in the remaining three verses three separate and different demands have been made from disbelievers. At first sight this difference in the form of the challenge at different places seems to be incongruous. But it is not so. In fact, these verses contain certain demands which stand for all time. The challenge is open even today in all the different forms mentioned in the Qur’an as it was in the time of the Holy Prophet.
Before explaining the various forms of these challenges it is worth noting that their mention in the Qur’an is invariably accompanied by a reference to wealth and power, except in the present verse which, as already stated, does not contain a new challenge but only repeats the challenge made in 10:39. From this it may be safely concluded that there
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
Important Words:
عبد (servant). For the root meaning of the word see note under 1:5. As explained there, the verb عبد means, he showed complete submissiveness and humility; or he received the imprint of a thing. So عبد would mean a person who, through complete submission and humility to God, has become, as it were, an image of God. The word has been used here about the Holy Prophet by way of endearment and is expressive of the exalted position he holds in the sight of God.
شھداء (helpers) is the plural of شھید which is derived from شھد i.e. he was present; or he gave witness, etc. Thus شھیدmeans, one who is present; one who sees or witnesses; one who gives testimony or evidence; one who possesses much knowledge; one from whose knowledge nothing is hidden (Aqrab & Lane); also a helper (Mufradat). Following the last mentioned signification the word may also refer here to the Jews who were friends of the disbelievers (5:81) and spoke of the idolaters as being better guided in religion than those who believe (4:52).
Commentary:
In the preceding two verses the Quran gave its first commandment to the people. Having been thus directly addressed by God, the polytheistic disbelievers felt a natural reaction to repudiate the monotheistic teaching of the Quran, because they felt that its acceptance meant that they should give up their long cherished beliefs.
In the present verse God says that if the Quran created doubts and disquietude in their minds and is not worthy of acceptance, the disbelievers should produce one like it. If they cannot, then this very fact would prove them to be wrong.
The subject of the incomparable excellence of the Quran, has been dealt with at five different places in the Quran, i.e. in 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89; & 52:34, 35, and disbelievers have been challenged, to produce its equal.
In two of these five verses (2:24 & 10:39) the challenge is identical, while in the remaining three verses three separate and different demands have been made from disbelievers. Thus, to begin with the largest demand in 17:89, disbelievers are challenged to produce the like of the whole Quran, and they have been told that even if all jinn and men should join together, they would not be able to produce it. In 11:14 the challenge is limited to the production of ten chapters. In 2:24 and 10:39, however, it has been confined to one Surah only; while in 52:34-35, the condition of even one Surahhas been omitted and disbelievers have been given the option of producing even a single narration similar to any one narration (i.e. announcement) of the Quran. On the face of it, this difference in the form of the challenge at different places seems to be incongruent and to spring from a lack of harmony in the Quran. Some commentators have endeavoured to explain away this seeming incongruity by saying that it was due to the challenge having been made at different times. At first disbelievers were called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran. When they failed to do so, the challenge was whittled down to the production of the like of any ten chapters. When, however, they were unable to produce even ten chapters, the challenge was further reduced to the production of a single chapter; and, lastly, disbelievers were asked to produce even a single narration like any narration of the Quran. This explanation, however, does not seem to be satisfactory. The different Surahs containing these different challenges were revealed, in the following order: (1) 52:34, 35; (2) 17:89; (3) 11:14; (4) 10:39; (5) 2:24 (Rodwell). Now in Surah 52, the first to be revealed, the challenge is not qualified by any condition as regards size, disbelievers having been given the choice of producing even one single narration similar to any narration of the Quran. It is very strange that, whereas at first the challenge was unqualified and disbelievers were called upon to produce something comparable to any narration of the Quran, later it began to be hedged round by conditions and stipulations, first requiring disbelievers to produce the like of the whole book, then reducing the challenge to ten Surahs, and last of all reducing it to a single chapter. The order is most unnatural.
Moreover, some of the Surahs which contain this challenge were revealed on occasions so close to one another that some commentators have found it difficult to fix their order of priority with certainty. Hence it is unwise to settle this question on the basis of the chronological order of the Surahs containing this challenge.
Another point worth considering in this connection is that the verses in question do not mention any historical event but contain only a general challenge which stands for all time. Now the question is, in what form should the challenge be delivered to the world? Should disbelievers be called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran, or to produce ten Surahs like any ten Surahs of the Quran, or should they be called upon to bring forward the like of one Surah only or the like of any single piece of the Quran? If it is enough to make a demand for the like of a single piece of the Quran, why should a demand for the like of a Surah be made, and if it is enough to make a demand for the like of one Surah, the demand for the production of ten Surahs or, for that matter, for the whole of the Quran seems extravagant.
The fact is that these verses contain certain demands which stand for all time, and there is no need to enter into the question of their chronological order. The challenge can be made even today in all the different forms mentioned in the Quran as it was made at the time of the Holy Prophet.
Before explaining the various forms of these challenges it is worth noting that mention of them in the Quran is invariably accompanied by a reference to wealth and power, except in 2:24, which, as already stated, does not contain a new challenge but only repeats the challenge made in 10:39. From this it may be concluded that there exists a close connection between the question of wealth and power and the challenge for the production of the like of the Quran or a part thereof. This connection lies in the fact that the Quran has been held out to disbelievers as a priceless treasure. When disbelievers demanded material treasures from the Holy Prophet and asked, Wherefore has not a treasure been sent down to him (11:13), they were told in reply that he possessed a matchless treasure in the Quran. The same reply was repeated when disbelievers asked, Wherefore has not an angel come with him? (11:13). They were told in reply that angels did descend upon him; for their function was to bring the word of God, and the Divine Word had already been vouchsafed to him. Thus both the demand for a treasure and the demand for the descent of angels have been jointly met by offering the Quran as a matchless treasure brought down by angels, and the challenge to produce the like of the Quran has been put forward as a proof of its peerless quality.
Let us now take the different verses containing this challenge separately. The greatest demand is that made in 17:89, where disbelievers are required to bring a book like the whole of the Quran in all its manifold qualities. In this verse disbelievers are not required to represent their composition as the word of God. They may bring it forward as their own composition and declare it to be the equal of or, for that matter, better than the Quran. As, however, it was necessary to define in what respect the work to be produced was to resemble the Quran, the Quran says in the next verse, And of a truth We have (herein) set forth for mankind in various ways, all kinds of similitudes, but most of men would reject everything but disbelief (17:90), hinting thereby that if disbelievers reject the Divine origin of the Quran and believe it to be the work of the Prophet himself, then let them produce a book which, like the Quran, should possess the following excellences: (a) it should throw light on every essential subject pertaining to religion; (b) its discussion of these subjects should be exhaustive, offering detailed guidance on every question; (c) it should be free from all harm and contain nothing but good; and (d) it should aim not at the good of any particular people or community but at the well-being of all mankind, containing guidance for all temperaments and dispositions as well as for all circumstances and conditions. But as at the time when this challenge was made the whole of the Quran had not yet been revealed, disbelievers were not required to produce the like of the Quran there and then; and the challenge thus implied a prophecy that they would not be able to produce the like of it, neither in the form in which it then was nor when it became complete. Again, the challenge was not confined to the disbelievers of the Prophet’s time alone, but extended to doubters and critics of all times.
The second verse which contains a challenge is 11:14. In this verse the disbelievers’ objection that the Prophet had not come with a treasure, nor had an angel come to him, has been met by calling upon them to bring similar Surahswhich they should represent as the word of God. The latter demand, i.e. that pertaining to the representation of the required production as the word of God, has a reference to the objection of the disbelievers that no angel has come down to the Prophet. They are told that if no angel has really come to him and his claim to receive divine revelation through the medium of angels is false, then let them also produce ten Surahs, claiming, like him, that they have been brought down to them by angels, and then see what their end would be. If they had not the courage to forge a lie against God, how could they think that the Prophet could be guilty of such fabrication or, if he had dared to commit this forgery, why had he remained secure from God’s punishment?
The reason why the disbelievers in this verse have been called upon to produce ten Surahs and not the whole Quran is that the question here did not relate to the perfection of the Quran in all respects, but to that of only a portion of it. The disbelievers had objected to some parts of it being defective, as is evident from the words: They imagine that thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee (11:13). Hence, they have not been required here to bring a complete book like the whole Quran, but only ten Surahs in place of those parts of the Quran which they deem to be defective, in order that the truth of their assertion may be tested.
As for the selection of the specific number 10 for this purpose, it should be noted that in Arabic 10 represents a complete number. As the object was to refute the assertion of the disbelievers that certain portions of the Quran were defective, therefore the disbelievers were given the option of making as many as ten efforts to substantiate their claim. They were thus asked to produce ten Surahs not because they could produce less than that number but because the best way to refute their objection was to afford them several opportunities to substantiate the truth of their assertion. In short, since in 17:89 the whole Quran was claimed to be a perfect Book, its opponents were called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran; but since in 11:14 the point was that certain portions of it were objected to, so they were asked to choose ten such portions as appeared to them to be most defective and then, produce a composition even like those portions.
The third verse where the Quran has been declared to be matchless is 10:39. Here disbelievers have been called upon to produce the like of only one Surah of the Quran. This is so because, unlike the above-mentioned two verses, the challenge made in this verse is in support of a claim made by the Quran itself and not in refutation of any objection on the part of disbelievers. In the verses preceding 10:39, it was claimed that God possessed full authority over all things (see 10:32-36), and as a proof of this, in 10:38 the Quran was put forward as possessing the following excellences: (a) it contains teachings which could not be devised by man; (b) it has come in fulfilment of the prophecies contained in the previous Scriptures; (c) in it the imperfect teachings of the previous Scriptures have been perfected; (d) the word of God embodied in it has been made secure from being interpolated or tampered with by man; and (e) its teachings are meant for all men and all time. In support of this claim, verse 10:39 throws out a challenge to those who deny or doubt it to produce a single chapter containing these excellences in the same perfect form in which they are contained in this chapter, i.e. ch.10.
The verses 52:34, 35 contain the smallest of all demands. In these verses disbelievers are challenged to produce a single piece or a single announcement like any piece or announcement of the Quran. This demand also has been made in support of a claim made by the Quran itself and not in refutation of any objection on the part of disbelievers. Hence the smallness of the demand. The claim in question is made in the opening verses of chapter 52, i.e. Surah At-Tur, to the effect that the Quranic revelation which was promised to mankind through Moses on Mount Sinai, will continue to be written, read and published throughout the world and that its followers will continue to multiply and will comprise not only common men but persons of great spiritual and temporal eminence, and that the fountain of the new faith will continue to provide the water of eternal life to all the countries of the world so that the fulfilment of these prophecies will constitute a proof of the fact that there is a Day of Judgement. Thereafter the Quran proceeds in 52:34, 35 to challenge disbelievers that, if they look upon the revelation of the Quran to be a fabrication, then they should come forward and make a prophecy like the one made above. This challenge is unconditional and without qualification. Disbelievers are not required to represent what they produce as the word of God, nor is it laid down as a condition that their prophecy should be of their own devising. They may as they like either make a prophecy of their own devising or borrow it from any other Scripture. Again, disbelievers are not asked to bring forward as many prophecies as there are in the Quran—and these are legion—but to bring forward only one single prophecy similar to any one of the prophecies made in the beginning of the Surah. They are told that they will not be able to fulfil this demand, for such a prophecy could be made only by the Being Who is the Creator and Owner of the heavens and the earth, along with their treasures, and Who not only knows, but possesses mastery of, the unseen. This challenge also stands for all time.
The fifth challenge to produce a like of the Quran is contained in the verse under comment (2:24) and here also, as in 10:39, disbelievers have been called upon to bring a Surah like that of the Quran, not in refutation of any of their objections, but in support of a claim made by the Quran itself. In the case of the verse under comment this claim is stated in the beginning of the Surah in 2:3 which says: This is a perfect Book; there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the righteous. Similarly, 10:39 is also preceded with the words: there is no doubt about it (10:38). This shows that the challenge to produce a chapter like one of the Quran has special reference to the peculiarity which is described by the words, there is no doubt about it. The challenge given in the present Surah is preceded by the claim that the Quran is a guidance for those who fear God (2:3), which means that it guides the righteous to the highest stages of spiritual progress. Hence in the above challenge it has been declared that if disbelievers are in doubt as to the Divine origin of the Quran, then they should bring forward a Surah that may be comparable to the Quran in the spiritual influence it exercises over its followers.
One of the characteristics of the Quran is that, whatever chapter of it we may read, it casts a subtle and sublime spiritual influence over our minds. Thus, instead of creating doubts it dispels them and takes men to a stage where no doubt can possibly survive, which is the stage of communion with God. This stage can be attained only by the study of the Quran; no other Book can compare with it in this respect.
The above explanation will show that all these challenges calling upon disbelievers to produce the like of the Quran are quite distinct and separate one from another, and all of them stand for all time, none of them superseding or cancelling any other. The misconception that these challenges are one and the same seems to have arisen from the wrong notion that in all of them it is the elegance of the Quranic style and diction that has been held out as unique and incomparable and that it is such elegance of Arabic diction that disbelievers have been called upon to produce. But this is not the case. The challenges made in the five Surahs referred to above are not one or identical nor do they make the same demand; each has a distinct and separate demand of its own and it is in keeping with the nature of these demands that disbelievers have been called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran or a part of it.
The question now remains whether these demands also include a challenge to produce a work comparable to the Quran in elegance of style and diction. The answer is that they certainly do so, but only in an indirect way and not as a direct and fundamental demand, for sublime ideas can only be expressed in sublime language. As the Quran comprises sublime and lofty ideas, it was inevitable that the most beautiful diction and the most chaste style should have been employed as the vehicle for the expression of those ideas; otherwise, the subject matter was liable to remain obscure and doubtful and the perfect beauty of the Quran would have become marred. Thus, in whatever form and in whatever respect disbelievers have been challenged to produce a composition like the Quran, the demand for beauty of style and elegance of diction comparable to those of the Quran also forms a part of the challenge.
d
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
29Q
«古兰经» 无可比拟的优美绝伦的主题, 在五个不同的地方被述及, 即: 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89与52:34, 35中。五处中有两处 (2:24与10:39) 的挑战是相同的, 而在其余三处, 曾向不信道的人提出了三个不同的要求。初看, 三个不同地方的挑战的不同形式似乎不协调。其实并非如此。实际上, 这些经文内一定的要求是时常存在的, 挑战在穆圣时代, 甚至到现在, 在 «古兰经» 所述及的所有不同形式中都是开放的。
在解释这些不同形式挑战以前, 值得注意的是: «古兰经» 提到这些要求时, 始终不忘财产与权力。如前所述, 除了在本节经文中, 没有新的挑战, 而只是重复10:39 中的那个挑战, 由此得到一个肯定的结论:在财产与权力问题和创作像 «古兰经» 或其一部分的挑战之间存在着一种紧密的连系。这一连系在于这样一个事实:即 «古兰经» 是以一种无价之宝向不信道的人提出的。当不信道的人向穆圣要求各种物质财宝时 (11:13), 他告诉他们, 他的 «古兰经» 是他的无与伦比的财宝; 当他们问: “为什么没有一个天使同他一起来?” (11:13) 他回答他们说, 天使确已降临于他, 因为天使们的使命是带来主的启示, 而主的启示已赐给了他。因此, 这两种要求—对于财宝与天使降临的要求—已由天使带来的无与伦比的财宝 «古兰经» 全被满足了, 创作此类天经的挑战是为证明它的无可匹敌的素质而提出的。
现在可以把含有这项挑战的不同经文分开来看。17:89 中提出的最大一个要求, 要求不信道的人拿一本具有像 «古兰经» 全文那样包含多种多样素质的书来。那节经文中并不要求不信道的人把他们的文章做为主的言语陈述。他们可以拿出他们自己的文章并宣称它可与 «古兰经» 相提并论, 或甚至超过 古兰经»。但是, 由于当时提出那个挑战时, 全部 «古兰经» 尚未降下, 并不要求不信道的人当时当地写出像 «古兰经» 那样的经文; 这种挑战因此暗示他们永远也写不出像 «古兰经» 那样的文章, 既写不出当时那种形式的
«古兰经», 也将写不出像将要降示完整的 «古兰经»。而且, 此一挑战并不只局限於穆圣时代的不信道的人, 也可延续到所有时代抱有疑问的人以及评论家。在11:14 节经文中, 不信道的人们被约照写十章而不是写全部 «古兰经», 理由是, 那节经文中的问题并不全面涉及整部 «古兰经» 的完美而是仅涉及其部分的完美。不信道的人反对其中某些部分, 说它们有缺陷。因此, 未曾要求他们写出像全部 «古兰经» 那样一本完整的经典, 而只是用十章来替代他们认为有缺陷的那些 «古兰经» 部分, 这样就可检验它们主张的真实性。说到选择十章这个特定数目, 可以这么说, 因为在17:89 中, 全部 «古兰经» 被声称为一部完美无缺的经典, 反对 «古兰经» 的人就被约照写 «古兰经» 那样的全部经典; 但是在11:14 节经文中的问题是, 某些部分受到反对, 因此请他们挑选他们认为最有缺陷的十个部分, 然后写出类似那些部分的文章。在10:39 节中, 只要求不信教的人写出类似 «古兰经» 中的一章。这是因为, 不像上述的两节经文, 那节经文的挑战是支持 «古兰经» 本身所作出的一个宣称, 而不是驳斥不信教者的反对意见的。在10:38节经文中, «古兰经» 声称有五种非常显著的特点。为了支持这一声称, 10:39 节经文对那些否认或怀疑它的人们提出一个挑战, 要他们以同样完美的形式写出一个单章, 其中要含有像第十章所含有的这些素质。第五次挑战写出像 «古兰经» 那样的经典, 是在这节注释 (2:24) 经文中, 这节像10:39 节一样也约请不信道者写出诸如 «古兰经» 那样的一个单章。这个挑战是在
«古兰经» 被声称为引导正直的人达到精神进步最高阶段之后。不信道的人被告知, 假如他们对 «古兰经» 是源自安拉有怀疑的话, 他们应该写出一章, 使之可与 «古兰经» 对其信者那样产生精神影响方面相比拟。请看我会出版的英文较大版本的古兰注释 (The Larger Edition of Commentary, PP.58-62)。
以上解说可以表明, 这些约请不信教的人写出诸如 «古兰经» 的挑战十分明显而一一分开的, 这些挑战始终存在, 其中没有一个可以替代或取消另一个。可是, 由于 «古兰经» 包含崇高的思想, 必然要用最美丽的措词与最简洁朴实的风格来作为表示那些思想的工具; 否则它的主题就会含糊不清, 使人产生疑问, «古兰经» 的绝美经文就会损毁。这样, 不论用什么形式, 不论在哪一方面, 不信教的人所受到的写出类如 «古兰经» 的文章的挑战, 文体优美与措词雅致使之与 «古兰经» 媲美, 都形成其挑战的一部分。
a
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
30
Important Words:
عبد (servant). For the root meaning of the word see note under 1:5. As explained there, the verb عبد means, he showed complete submissiveness and humility; or he received the imprint of a thing. So عبد would mean a person who, through complete submission and humility to God, has become, as it were, an image of God. The word has been used here about the Holy Prophet by way of endearment and is expressive of the exalted position he holds in the sight of God.
شھداء (helpers) is the plural of شھید which is derived from شھد i.e. he was present; or he gave witness, etc. Thus شھیدmeans, one who is present; one who sees or witnesses; one who gives testimony or evidence; one who possesses much knowledge; one from whose knowledge nothing is hidden (Aqrab & Lane); also a helper (Mufradat). Following the last mentioned signification the word may also refer here to the Jews who were friends of the disbelievers (5:81) and spoke of the idolaters as being better guided in religion than those who believe (4:52).
Commentary:
In the preceding two verses the Quran gave its first commandment to the people. Having been thus directly addressed by God, the polytheistic disbelievers felt a natural reaction to repudiate the monotheistic teaching of the Quran, because they felt that its acceptance meant that they should give up their long cherished beliefs.
In the present verse God says that if the Quran created doubts and disquietude in their minds and is not worthy of acceptance, the disbelievers should produce one like it. If they cannot, then this very fact would prove them to be wrong.
The subject of the incomparable excellence of the Quran, has been dealt with at five different places in the Quran, i.e. in 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89; & 52:34, 35, and disbelievers have been challenged, to produce its equal.
In two of these five verses (2:24 & 10:39) the challenge is identical, while in the remaining three verses three separate and different demands have been made from disbelievers. Thus, to begin with the largest demand in 17:89, disbelievers are challenged to produce the like of the whole Quran, and they have been told that even if all jinn and men should join together, they would not be able to produce it. In 11:14 the challenge is limited to the production of ten chapters. In 2:24 and 10:39, however, it has been confined to one Surah only; while in 52:34-35, the condition of even one Surahhas been omitted and disbelievers have been given the option of producing even a single narration similar to any one narration (i.e. announcement) of the Quran. On the face of it, this difference in the form of the challenge at different places seems to be incongruent and to spring from a lack of harmony in the Quran. Some commentators have endeavoured to explain away this seeming incongruity by saying that it was due to the challenge having been made at different times. At first disbelievers were called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran. When they failed to do so, the challenge was whittled down to the production of the like of any ten chapters. When, however, they were unable to produce even ten chapters, the challenge was further reduced to the production of a single chapter; and, lastly, disbelievers were asked to produce even a single narration like any narration of the Quran. This explanation, however, does not seem to be satisfactory. The different Surahs containing these different challenges were revealed, in the following order: (1) 52:34, 35; (2) 17:89; (3) 11:14; (4) 10:39; (5) 2:24 (Rodwell). Now in Surah 52, the first to be revealed, the challenge is not qualified by any condition as regards size, disbelievers having been given the choice of producing even one single narration similar to any narration of the Quran. It is very strange that, whereas at first the challenge was unqualified and disbelievers were called upon to produce something comparable to any narration of the Quran, later it began to be hedged round by conditions and stipulations, first requiring disbelievers to produce the like of the whole book, then reducing the challenge to ten Surahs, and last of all reducing it to a single chapter. The order is most unnatural.
Moreover, some of the Surahs which contain this challenge were revealed on occasions so close to one another that some commentators have found it difficult to fix their order of priority with certainty. Hence it is unwise to settle this question on the basis of the chronological order of the Surahs containing this challenge.
Another point worth considering in this connection is that the verses in question do not mention any historical event but contain only a general challenge which stands for all time. Now the question is, in what form should the challenge be delivered to the world? Should disbelievers be called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran, or to produce ten Surahs like any ten Surahs of the Quran, or should they be called upon to bring forward the like of one Surah only or the like of any single piece of the Quran? If it is enough to make a demand for the like of a single piece of the Quran, why should a demand for the like of a Surah be made, and if it is enough to make a demand for the like of one Surah, the demand for the production of ten Surahs or, for that matter, for the whole of the Quran seems extravagant.
The fact is that these verses contain certain demands which stand for all time, and there is no need to enter into the question of their chronological order. The challenge can be made even today in all the different forms mentioned in the Quran as it was made at the time of the Holy Prophet.
Before explaining the various forms of these challenges it is worth noting that mention of them in the Quran is invariably accompanied by a reference to wealth and power, except in 2:24, which, as already stated, does not contain a new challenge but only repeats the challenge made in 10:39. From this it may be concluded that there exists a close connection between the question of wealth and power and the challenge for the production of the like of the Quran or a part thereof. This connection lies in the fact that the Quran has been held out to disbelievers as a priceless treasure. When disbelievers demanded material treasures from the Holy Prophet and asked, Wherefore has not a treasure been sent down to him (11:13), they were told in reply that he possessed a matchless treasure in the Quran. The same reply was repeated when disbelievers asked, Wherefore has not an angel come with him? (11:13). They were told in reply that angels did descend upon him; for their function was to bring the word of God, and the Divine Word had already been vouchsafed to him. Thus both the demand for a treasure and the demand for the descent of angels have been jointly met by offering the Quran as a matchless treasure brought down by angels, and the challenge to produce the like of the Quran has been put forward as a proof of its peerless quality.
Let us now take the different verses containing this challenge separately. The greatest demand is that made in 17:89, where disbelievers are required to bring a book like the whole of the Quran in all its manifold qualities. In this verse disbelievers are not required to represent their composition as the word of God. They may bring it forward as their own composition and declare it to be the equal of or, for that matter, better than the Quran. As, however, it was necessary to define in what respect the work to be produced was to resemble the Quran, the Quran says in the next verse, And of a truth We have (herein) set forth for mankind in various ways, all kinds of similitudes, but most of men would reject everything but disbelief (17:90), hinting thereby that if disbelievers reject the Divine origin of the Quran and believe it to be the work of the Prophet himself, then let them produce a book which, like the Quran, should possess the following excellences: (a) it should throw light on every essential subject pertaining to religion; (b) its discussion of these subjects should be exhaustive, offering detailed guidance on every question; (c) it should be free from all harm and contain nothing but good; and (d) it should aim not at the good of any particular people or community but at the well-being of all mankind, containing guidance for all temperaments and dispositions as well as for all circumstances and conditions. But as at the time when this challenge was made the whole of the Quran had not yet been revealed, disbelievers were not required to produce the like of the Quran there and then; and the challenge thus implied a prophecy that they would not be able to produce the like of it, neither in the form in which it then was nor when it became complete. Again, the challenge was not confined to the disbelievers of the Prophet’s time alone, but extended to doubters and critics of all times.
The second verse which contains a challenge is 11:14. In this verse the disbelievers’ objection that the Prophet had not come with a treasure, nor had an angel come to him, has been met by calling upon them to bring similar Surahswhich they should represent as the word of God. The latter demand, i.e. that pertaining to the representation of the required production as the word of God, has a reference to the objection of the disbelievers that no angel has come down to the Prophet. They are told that if no angel has really come to him and his claim to receive divine revelation through the medium of angels is false, then let them also produce ten Surahs, claiming, like him, that they have been brought down to them by angels, and then see what their end would be. If they had not the courage to forge a lie against God, how could they think that the Prophet could be guilty of such fabrication or, if he had dared to commit this forgery, why had he remained secure from God’s punishment?
The reason why the disbelievers in this verse have been called upon to produce ten Surahs and not the whole Quran is that the question here did not relate to the perfection of the Quran in all respects, but to that of only a portion of it. The disbelievers had objected to some parts of it being defective, as is evident from the words: They imagine that thou art now perhaps going to abandon part of that which has been revealed to thee (11:13). Hence, they have not been required here to bring a complete book like the whole Quran, but only ten Surahs in place of those parts of the Quran which they deem to be defective, in order that the truth of their assertion may be tested.
As for the selection of the specific number 10 for this purpose, it should be noted that in Arabic 10 represents a complete number. As the object was to refute the assertion of the disbelievers that certain portions of the Quran were defective, therefore the disbelievers were given the option of making as many as ten efforts to substantiate their claim. They were thus asked to produce ten Surahs not because they could produce less than that number but because the best way to refute their objection was to afford them several opportunities to substantiate the truth of their assertion. In short, since in 17:89 the whole Quran was claimed to be a perfect Book, its opponents were called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran; but since in 11:14 the point was that certain portions of it were objected to, so they were asked to choose ten such portions as appeared to them to be most defective and then, produce a composition even like those portions.
The third verse where the Quran has been declared to be matchless is 10:39. Here disbelievers have been called upon to produce the like of only one Surah of the Quran. This is so because, unlike the above-mentioned two verses, the challenge made in this verse is in support of a claim made by the Quran itself and not in refutation of any objection on the part of disbelievers. In the verses preceding 10:39, it was claimed that God possessed full authority over all things (see 10:32-36), and as a proof of this, in 10:38 the Quran was put forward as possessing the following excellences: (a) it contains teachings which could not be devised by man; (b) it has come in fulfilment of the prophecies contained in the previous Scriptures; (c) in it the imperfect teachings of the previous Scriptures have been perfected; (d) the word of God embodied in it has been made secure from being interpolated or tampered with by man; and (e) its teachings are meant for all men and all time. In support of this claim, verse 10:39 throws out a challenge to those who deny or doubt it to produce a single chapter containing these excellences in the same perfect form in which they are contained in this chapter, i.e. ch.10.
The verses 52:34, 35 contain the smallest of all demands. In these verses disbelievers are challenged to produce a single piece or a single announcement like any piece or announcement of the Quran. This demand also has been made in support of a claim made by the Quran itself and not in refutation of any objection on the part of disbelievers. Hence the smallness of the demand. The claim in question is made in the opening verses of chapter 52, i.e. Surah At-Tur, to the effect that the Quranic revelation which was promised to mankind through Moses on Mount Sinai, will continue to be written, read and published throughout the world and that its followers will continue to multiply and will comprise not only common men but persons of great spiritual and temporal eminence, and that the fountain of the new faith will continue to provide the water of eternal life to all the countries of the world so that the fulfilment of these prophecies will constitute a proof of the fact that there is a Day of Judgement. Thereafter the Quran proceeds in 52:34, 35 to challenge disbelievers that, if they look upon the revelation of the Quran to be a fabrication, then they should come forward and make a prophecy like the one made above. This challenge is unconditional and without qualification. Disbelievers are not required to represent what they produce as the word of God, nor is it laid down as a condition that their prophecy should be of their own devising. They may as they like either make a prophecy of their own devising or borrow it from any other Scripture. Again, disbelievers are not asked to bring forward as many prophecies as there are in the Quran—and these are legion—but to bring forward only one single prophecy similar to any one of the prophecies made in the beginning of the Surah. They are told that they will not be able to fulfil this demand, for such a prophecy could be made only by the Being Who is the Creator and Owner of the heavens and the earth, along with their treasures, and Who not only knows, but possesses mastery of, the unseen. This challenge also stands for all time.
The fifth challenge to produce a like of the Quran is contained in the verse under comment (2:24) and here also, as in 10:39, disbelievers have been called upon to bring a Surah like that of the Quran, not in refutation of any of their objections, but in support of a claim made by the Quran itself. In the case of the verse under comment this claim is stated in the beginning of the Surah in 2:3 which says: This is a perfect Book; there is no doubt in it; it is a guidance for the righteous. Similarly, 10:39 is also preceded with the words: there is no doubt about it (10:38). This shows that the challenge to produce a chapter like one of the Quran has special reference to the peculiarity which is described by the words, there is no doubt about it. The challenge given in the present Surah is preceded by the claim that the Quran is a guidance for those who fear God (2:3), which means that it guides the righteous to the highest stages of spiritual progress. Hence in the above challenge it has been declared that if disbelievers are in doubt as to the Divine origin of the Quran, then they should bring forward a Surah that may be comparable to the Quran in the spiritual influence it exercises over its followers.
One of the characteristics of the Quran is that, whatever chapter of it we may read, it casts a subtle and sublime spiritual influence over our minds. Thus, instead of creating doubts it dispels them and takes men to a stage where no doubt can possibly survive, which is the stage of communion with God. This stage can be attained only by the study of the Quran; no other Book can compare with it in this respect.
The above explanation will show that all these challenges calling upon disbelievers to produce the like of the Quran are quite distinct and separate one from another, and all of them stand for all time, none of them superseding or cancelling any other. The misconception that these challenges are one and the same seems to have arisen from the wrong notion that in all of them it is the elegance of the Quranic style and diction that has been held out as unique and incomparable and that it is such elegance of Arabic diction that disbelievers have been called upon to produce. But this is not the case. The challenges made in the five Surahs referred to above are not one or identical nor do they make the same demand; each has a distinct and separate demand of its own and it is in keeping with the nature of these demands that disbelievers have been called upon to produce the like of the whole Quran or a part of it.
The question now remains whether these demands also include a challenge to produce a work comparable to the Quran in elegance of style and diction. The answer is that they certainly do so, but only in an indirect way and not as a direct and fundamental demand, for sublime ideas can only be expressed in sublime language. As the Quran comprises sublime and lofty ideas, it was inevitable that the most beautiful diction and the most chaste style should have been employed as the vehicle for the expression of those ideas; otherwise, the subject matter was liable to remain obscure and doubtful and the perfect beauty of the Quran would have become marred. Thus, in whatever form and in whatever respect disbelievers have been challenged to produce a composition like the Quran, the demand for beauty of style and elegance of diction comparable to those of the Quran also forms a part of the challenge.
d
10:39; 11:14; 17:89; 52:35.
44
The subject of the incomparable excellence of the Qur’an has been dealt with at five different places, i.e. in 2:24; 10:39; 11:14; 17:89 & 52:34, 35. In two of these five verses (2:24 & 10:39) the challenge is identical, while in the remaining three verses three separate and different demands have been made from disbelievers. At first sight this difference in the form of the challenge at different places seems to be incongruous. But it is not so. In fact, these verses contain certain demands which stand for all time. The challenge is open even today in all the different forms mentioned in the Qur’an as it was in the time of the Holy Prophet.
Before explaining the various forms of these challenges it is worth noting that their mention in the Qur’an is invariably accompanied by a reference to wealth and power, except in the present verse which, as already stated, does not contain a new challenge but only repeats the challenge made in 10:39. From this it may be safely concluded that there
یٰۤاَیُّہَا الَّذِیۡنَ اُوۡتُوا الۡکِتٰبَ اٰمِنُوۡا بِمَا نَزَّلۡنَا مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعَکُمۡ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِ اَنۡ نَّطۡمِسَ وُجُوۡہًا فَنَرُدَّہَا عَلٰۤی اَدۡبَارِہَاۤ اَوۡ نَلۡعَنَہُمۡ کَمَا لَعَنَّاۤ اَصۡحٰبَ السَّبۡتِ ۚ وَکَانَ اَمۡرُ اللّٰہِ مَفۡعُوۡلًا
وَجْہٌ کے معنے قوم کے سردار کے ہوتے ہیں اور طمس کے معنے ہلاک کرنے کے ہوتے ہیں۔ عربی کے لحاظ سے قرآن مجیدنے تنوین کو کافی سمجھا ہے مگر ہم نے ترجمہ میں ’’تم میں سے‘‘ کے الفاظ بڑھا دئیے ہیں۔
یعنی خطرناک شکست دیں جس سے ان کا سب جوش ٹھنڈا ہو جائے۔
یہ لعنت جس کا ذکر اس آیت میں ہے اس کا تفصیلی ذکر سورۃ اعراف آیت ۱۶۴ تا ۱۶۷ میں آتا ہے۔
10:89.
2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.
The words signify that (1) either of the two punishments would befall the Jews; (2) some of them would be visited with one kind of punishment and others with the other.
10:89.
2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.
Important Words:
وجوھا (leaders) is the plural of وجه which gives a number of meanings: face; the outward appearance of a person or thing; the front or the side that confronts the eyes of the looker; the first part of a thing; the leader or chief of a people; motive or intention, etc. (Aqrab).
Commentary:
This verse contains two prophecies concerning the Jews: (1) God will destroy their leaders, and they will be vanquished and "turned on their backs", i.e. banished from and turned out of their country; (2) God will curse them as He had cursed the people who profaned the Sabbath. The words embodying the two prophecies are joined together by the conjunction او(or) not to express doubt but to show that either of the two punishments was to befall the Jews; or that some of them were to be visited with one kind of punishment and others with another. The expression: We will turn them on their backs, does not mean, as some commentators have thought, "We will physically disfigure them and put their faces on their backs." This meaning, besides being against Arabic idiom, is entirely uncorroborated by history. If the word وجوہ is taken in the sense of "faces", then the whole sentence will be taken in a figurative sense, signifying total transformation or ruin.
The verse also makes it clear that when speaking of the profaners of the Sabbath as having been turned into apes (2:66; 5:61; 7:164-169), the verses referred to do not mean that they were actually and physically transformed into apes; for, as the present verse shows, the same prophecy was made concerning the Jews who opposed the Holy Prophet and they were never actually transformed into apes.
e
10:89.
f
2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.
1
وَجْہٌ کے معنے قوم کے سردار کے ہوتے ہیں اور طمس کے معنے ہلاک کرنے کے ہوتے ہیں۔ عربی کے لحاظ سے قرآن مجیدنے تنوین کو کافی سمجھا ہے مگر ہم نے ترجمہ میں ’’تم میں سے‘‘ کے الفاظ بڑھا دئیے ہیں۔
2
یعنی خطرناک شکست دیں جس سے ان کا سب جوش ٹھنڈا ہو جائے۔
3
یہ لعنت جس کا ذکر اس آیت میں ہے اس کا تفصیلی ذکر سورۃ اعراف آیت ۱۶۴ تا ۱۶۷ میں آتا ہے۔
a
10:89.
b
2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.
522
Important Words:
وجوھا (leaders) is the plural of وجه which gives a number of meanings: face; the outward appearance of a person or thing; the front or the side that confronts the eyes of the looker; the first part of a thing; the leader or chief of a people; motive or intention, etc. (Aqrab).
Commentary:
This verse contains two prophecies concerning the Jews: (1) God will destroy their leaders, and they will be vanquished and "turned on their backs", i.e. banished from and turned out of their country; (2) God will curse them as He had cursed the people who profaned the Sabbath. The words embodying the two prophecies are joined together by the conjunction او(or) not to express doubt but to show that either of the two punishments was to befall the Jews; or that some of them were to be visited with one kind of punishment and others with another. The expression: We will turn them on their backs, does not mean, as some commentators have thought, "We will physically disfigure them and put their faces on their backs." This meaning, besides being against Arabic idiom, is entirely uncorroborated by history. If the word وجوہ is taken in the sense of "faces", then the whole sentence will be taken in a figurative sense, signifying total transformation or ruin.
The verse also makes it clear that when speaking of the profaners of the Sabbath as having been turned into apes (2:66; 5:61; 7:164-169), the verses referred to do not mean that they were actually and physically transformed into apes; for, as the present verse shows, the same prophecy was made concerning the Jews who opposed the Holy Prophet and they were never actually transformed into apes.
c
10:89.
d
2:66; 4:155; 7:164; 16:125.
614
The words signify that (1) either of the two punishments would befall the Jews; (2) some of them would be visited with one kind of punishment and others with the other.
وَلَوۡ نَزَّلۡنَا عَلَیۡکَ کِتٰبًا فِیۡ قِرۡطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوۡہُ بِاَیۡدِیۡہِمۡ لَقَالَ الَّذِیۡنَ کَفَرُوۡۤا اِنۡ ہٰذَاۤ اِلَّا سِحۡرٌ مُّبِیۡنٌ
They had made sure that it was a heavenly and not an earthly thing.
Important Words:
قرطاس (parchment) means paper; a roll or scroll of paper; anything one writes upon; a writing or book; a butt or target (Lane).
Commentary:
The words, and they had felt it with their hands, mean, "and they had made sure that it was a heavenly thing and not an earthly one". The words also embody a beautiful allusion to the spiritual blindness of the people. Being blind, they cannot see; so they have to feel with their hands.
The verse signifies that when a man gives himself up to doubting, nothing, however clear and manifest, can convince him.
755
Important Words:
قرطاس (parchment) means paper; a roll or scroll of paper; anything one writes upon; a writing or book; a butt or target (Lane).
Commentary:
The words, and they had felt it with their hands, mean, "and they had made sure that it was a heavenly thing and not an earthly one". The words also embody a beautiful allusion to the spiritual blindness of the people. Being blind, they cannot see; so they have to feel with their hands.
The verse signifies that when a man gives himself up to doubting, nothing, however clear and manifest, can convince him.
825
They had made sure that it was a heavenly and not an earthly thing.
اِنَّا نَحۡنُ نَزَّلۡنَا الذِّکۡرَ وَاِنَّا لَہٗ لَحٰفِظُوۡنَ
36:70; 65:11.
本节经文中作出的有关保护与保存 «古兰经» 的诺言已实现得如此出色, 因而即使没有其他证据, 单是这个事实就足以证实此经起源于安拉。本节经文在麦加降示 (Noldeke)。当时穆圣及其追随者们的生命极其危险, 敌人能较易地厄杀新宗教 (的信仰)。正是在那时, 不信的人受到挑战, 要他们用最恶劣的手段来毁灭新宗教 (的信仰), 并且警告不信的人, 安拉定会挫败他们的一切阴谋。因为安拉自己就是这一宗教的保护者。这一挑战是公开和明确的, 而敌人是强大、残忍的。然而 «古兰经» 仍然非常安全, 没遭到任何破坏和窜改, 并且总是享有绝对安全和保护。任何其他启示的天经都没有 «古兰经» 这一特征。威廉•米尔 (William Muir) 爵士是臭名昭著的一个对伊斯兰教抱有敌意的批评家。他说: “根据最有力的推测, 我们可以肯定地说, «古兰经» 中的每一节经文都是真正由穆罕默德本人讲的、没有经人改动过的文章。……从另一方面看, 其形式和内容都受到保护, 因此我们获得穆罕默德本人发表和应用的经文。……将其纯洁的经文与我们圣经中的各种经文作比较, 则是在不相似的事物之间进行比较。” (Introduction to ‘The Life of Mohammad’) 德国伟大的东方学专家, 诺尔德克 (Noldeke) 教授写的内容如下: “欧洲学者企图证明 «古兰经» 内容以后曾经被窜改, 但他们失败了。” (Enc. Brit.) 几年前, 明格那博士 (Dr. Mingana) 未能找出 «古兰经» 经文纯洁性的岔子, 却相反赞同 «古兰经» 所宣称的真理: 在一切启示的天经中, 只有 «古兰经» 完全没被窜改。(参见《大版本的注释本》 1263-1266页)
36:70; 65:11.
The promise about the protection and preservation of the Qur’an made in this verse has been so remarkably fulfilled that even if there had been no other proof, this fact alone would have sufficed to establish its Divine origin. This Surah was revealed at Mecca (Noldeke) when the life of the Holy Prophet and his followers was extremely precarious and the enemy could easily crush the new Faith. It was then that disbelievers were challenged to do their worst to destroy it and were warned that God would frustrate all their designs because He Himself was its Guardian. The challenge was open and unequivocal and the enemy strong and ruthless, and yet the Qur’an remained safe against corruption and interpolation and tampering with and has ever continued to enjoy perfect security. This distinction of the Qur’an is not shared by any other revealed Book. Sir William Muir, the notoriously hostile critic of Islam, says: 'We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Qur’an is the
36:70; 65:11.
Commentary:
This verse furnishes a powerful proof of the truth of the Quran and of its Divine origin. In fact, the promise about the preservation of the Quran made in this verse has been so remarkably fulfilled that even if there had been no other proof of the truth of Islam, this alone would have sufficed to establish its Divine origin.
Verse 8 contains the demand mockingly made by disbelievers that if the Quran were really as grand a Book as it was claimed to be, it ought to have descended under the guardianship of angels. This ridicule of disbelievers has been answered in the present verse, which emphatically says that the Quran is indeed a sublime Book and that God Himself has undertaken to act as its Guardian and that He will always protect it against every kind of corruption and interference. And in order that this promise about the protection of the Quran may gain still more force, particles expressive of special emphasis, such as انا (verily We) and نحن (Ourself) and again انا followed by ل (most surely) have been used in this verse. Thus the claim has been made in the most emphatic and forceful language.
The statement that God Himself is the Guardian of the Quran does not mean that angels do not guard it. They also do so, for when the master himself is guarding a thing, the servants must also be necessarily engaged in that service. By saying, most surely We will be its Guardian, God, however, points to the fact that there are certain peculiarities of the Quran which it is beyond the power of angels to guard and, therefore, God Himself has undertaken to do that work.
This Surah was revealed at Mecca. According to Ibn Hisham, it was revealed in the fourth year of the Holy Prophet’s ministry. Sprenger, Rodwell and Nöldeke all agree that it belongs to the Meccan period. Now it is a well-known fact that during the Meccan period, the life of the Holy Prophet and his followers was extremely precarious. They did not even know how to save themselves or where to hide themselves. For no less than three years the Prophet and his few helpless followers were virtually imprisoned in the Shi‘b (valley) of Abu Talib from where they could not venture out. They were under a ban. Is it not then astonishing that when the very lives of Muslims were in peril and the enemy was so strong that he could easily crush the new Faith, disbelievers were challenged to do all that lay in their power to destroy the Quran, and were told that God would frustrate all their designs because He Himself was its Guardian? The challenge was open and unequivocal and the enemy strong and ruthless. But what was the result? The Prophet and his Companions not only remained safe and sound but thrived and prospered and the number of converts continued to swell and the Quran remained safe against all corruption and has ever continued to enjoy perfect security. This distinctive feature of the Quran has not been shared by any other book revealed to any other Prophet.
Sir William Muir, the well-known critic of Islam, says about the Quran: "We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Quran is the genuine and unaltered composition of Mohammad himself." Again, "There is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess the text which Mohammad himself gave forth and used." Again, "To compare (as the Muslims are fond of doing) their pure text with the various readings of our Scriptures, is to compare things between which there is no analogy." (Introduction to "The Life of Mahomet"). Prof. Nöldeke, the great German Orientalist writes as follows: "Slight clerical errors there may have been, but the Quran of Othman contains none but genuine elements, though sometimes in very strange order. Efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed." (Enc. Brit.). Professor Nicholson, says in his "Literary History of the Arabs": "Here (in the Quran) we have materials of unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development of Islam—such mater-ials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient religion."
The importance of this security of the Quranic text is further enhanced when we compare it with other revealed Scriptures. The Quran was revealed among an illiterate people, while most other Scriptures were revealed among peoples who were comparatively more literate and therefore better qualified to preserve the purity of their Scriptures. Yet they failed to do so, while the Quran, the most widely read of all revealed Scriptures, enjoys complete immunity from all sorts of corruption. This miraculous preservation of the Quranic text is no mere accident. It has been brought about by the special providence of God in accordance with an openly declared prophecy of the Quran.
The means adopted to safeguard the purity of the text of the Quran have been briefly referred to in verse 2 in the memorable words الکتاب (the Written Book) and قرآن مبین (the Illuminating Recital) signifying: (a) That every verse of the Quran was committed to writing as soon as it was revealed and this writing was most tenaciously preserved. (b) That it was committed to memory as soon as revealed by a number of Muslims. And this pious practice has increasingly continued so much so that in the past centuries hundreds of thousands of Muslims have had the entire Quran literally on the tips of their tongues. Add to this the fact that from the very beginning of Islam the recital of parts of the Quran in the five daily Prayers was made obligatory.
The following additional factors also very materially contributed to the preservation of the Quran:
(1) God has inspired the Muslims with an extraordinary love for the Quran. They enjoy the reading of the Book even if they do not understand the meaning of the text. This leads to its being preserved in their hearts.
(2) The rhythm of the Quran is so sweet and its language so charming and so easy to learn and the construction of its sentences so beautiful that it can be committed to memory with great ease.
(3) God so ordained that immediately after the Quranic revelation became complete, it spread far and wide, to the remotest corners of the world, among all nations and all peoples, so that it became practically impossible for anyone to tamper with its text.
(4) From the beginning the Quran formed for Muslims the basis of all the sciences and learning they acquired and developed with a view to serving it. Various branches of knowledge such as Grammar, Rhetoric, History, Philosophy and Logic were cultivated and developed by Muslims for the sake of a better understanding of their holy Book.
(5) God has preserved Arabic, the language of the Quran, as a living language, while the languages of all other revealed Books, which were not meant to last forever, have become practically dead.
Again, it is not only the text of the Quran that has been preserved intact by God. He has provided for the preservation of its spirit also. This has been done by raising divinely inspired Reformers among the Muslims from time to time. These Reformers, known in Islamic terminology as Mujaddids, receive revelations from God and interpret and explain the true meaning of the Quranic text. Such Reformers appeared among the followers of other religions also, but that was only for so long as such scriptures served as guides for their followers. After the advent of Islam, however, all other religious systems and their scriptures, which were intended only for specific periods and specific peoples, became abrogated and divinely inspired Reformers ceased to appear among them. Now, therefore, the Quran alone among all revealed Scriptures of the world holds the field as a living Book and hence divinely inspired Reformers now appear only among the followers of Islam. In our own time God has raised Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, to demon-strate the truth and excellence of the Quran in a manner unparalleled in the history of Islam. Ahmad’s present-ation of Islam is not like one praying for a hearing, as was the vogue among the apologetic school of Muslim writers, but as a victor challenging the protagonists of all other religious systems and the so-called Modernists and Higher Critics to find fault with any teaching of Islam; and also as a judge passing his judgement upon them. The appearance of such Reformers in itself constitutes proof of the living power of a religion and its Scripture inasmuch as they are really the fruit of their religion and their appearance proves its efficacy.
The question here arises, if the Scriptures revealed to the previous Prophets have not been preserved in their original purity, what guarantee is there to believe that the Quran would enjoy permanent security? In this connection it should be noted that the promise of protection made by God in this verse mentions the word الذکر (rendered in the text as "this Exhortation") and not the Quran or any other word; and herein lies the answer to the above question. For, to become deserving of the permanent protection of God it is essential that the Divine revelation should be الذکر of which the necessary attributes are: (1) that it should establish a close and permanent relationship between man and his Maker, inspiring in the former constant remembrance of God, the word ذکر meaning remembering; and (2) that it should elevate man to a state where God may also remember him or in other words favour him with His words and with heavenly help, the word ذکر also means eminence. The verse under comment thus purports to mean that God undertakes to protect any Scripture so long as it serves the above two purposes. But when, through changes in the conditions and circumstances of man, any Scripture ceases to perform these functions and God, in His infallible wisdom, deems it necessary to reveal another Scripture, He naturally ceases to extend His protection to earlier revelations. The question as to when any particular Scripture at any particular time ceases to serve the above-mentioned purposes has to be decided on facts. It is a fact beyond doubt that at the present time no religion other than Islam can claim that there is among its followers anyone who fulfils in his person the conditions mentioned above, viz. attainment of such nearness to God that God begins to speak to him and manifests His special powers for his sake. Such a claim can be made only by a follower of the Quran. As stated above Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, has made this claim in our own time and has proved by powerful heavenly signs that his claim is founded on fact and God is helping his cause wonderfully. It is, therefore, natural that Muslims should claim and believe that now the protection of God is a privilege enjoyed by the Quran alone.
As regards the future, our belief based upon promises made in the Quran is that whenever Muslims forget, or fall away from, the teachings of the Quran, God will, by raising heavenly Reformers, restore to them their faith in its pristine purity. The teachings of the Quran will thus remain effective for all time and will ever continue to enjoy Divine help and protection.
b
36:70; 65:11.
654
本节经文中作出的有关保护与保存 «古兰经» 的诺言已实现得如此出色, 因而即使没有其他证据, 单是这个事实就足以证实此经起源于安拉。本节经文在麦加降示 (Noldeke)。当时穆圣及其追随者们的生命极其危险, 敌人能较易地厄杀新宗教 (的信仰)。正是在那时, 不信的人受到挑战, 要他们用最恶劣的手段来毁灭新宗教 (的信仰), 并且警告不信的人, 安拉定会挫败他们的一切阴谋。因为安拉自己就是这一宗教的保护者。这一挑战是公开和明确的, 而敌人是强大、残忍的。然而 «古兰经» 仍然非常安全, 没遭到任何破坏和窜改, 并且总是享有绝对安全和保护。任何其他启示的天经都没有 «古兰经» 这一特征。威廉•米尔 (William Muir) 爵士是臭名昭著的一个对伊斯兰教抱有敌意的批评家。他说: “根据最有力的推测, 我们可以肯定地说, «古兰经» 中的每一节经文都是真正由穆罕默德本人讲的、没有经人改动过的文章。……从另一方面看, 其形式和内容都受到保护, 因此我们获得穆罕默德本人发表和应用的经文。……将其纯洁的经文与我们圣经中的各种经文作比较, 则是在不相似的事物之间进行比较。” (Introduction to ‘The Life of Mohammad’) 德国伟大的东方学专家, 诺尔德克 (Noldeke) 教授写的内容如下: “欧洲学者企图证明 «古兰经» 内容以后曾经被窜改, 但他们失败了。” (Enc. Brit.) 几年前, 明格那博士 (Dr. Mingana) 未能找出 «古兰经» 经文纯洁性的岔子, 却相反赞同 «古兰经» 所宣称的真理: 在一切启示的天经中, 只有 «古兰经» 完全没被窜改。(参见《大版本的注释本》 1263-1266页)
b
36:70; 65:11.
1716
Commentary:
This verse furnishes a powerful proof of the truth of the Quran and of its Divine origin. In fact, the promise about the preservation of the Quran made in this verse has been so remarkably fulfilled that even if there had been no other proof of the truth of Islam, this alone would have sufficed to establish its Divine origin.
Verse 8 contains the demand mockingly made by disbelievers that if the Quran were really as grand a Book as it was claimed to be, it ought to have descended under the guardianship of angels. This ridicule of disbelievers has been answered in the present verse, which emphatically says that the Quran is indeed a sublime Book and that God Himself has undertaken to act as its Guardian and that He will always protect it against every kind of corruption and interference. And in order that this promise about the protection of the Quran may gain still more force, particles expressive of special emphasis, such as انا (verily We) and نحن (Ourself) and again انا followed by ل (most surely) have been used in this verse. Thus the claim has been made in the most emphatic and forceful language.
The statement that God Himself is the Guardian of the Quran does not mean that angels do not guard it. They also do so, for when the master himself is guarding a thing, the servants must also be necessarily engaged in that service. By saying, most surely We will be its Guardian, God, however, points to the fact that there are certain peculiarities of the Quran which it is beyond the power of angels to guard and, therefore, God Himself has undertaken to do that work.
This Surah was revealed at Mecca. According to Ibn Hisham, it was revealed in the fourth year of the Holy Prophet’s ministry. Sprenger, Rodwell and Nöldeke all agree that it belongs to the Meccan period. Now it is a well-known fact that during the Meccan period, the life of the Holy Prophet and his followers was extremely precarious. They did not even know how to save themselves or where to hide themselves. For no less than three years the Prophet and his few helpless followers were virtually imprisoned in the Shi‘b (valley) of Abu Talib from where they could not venture out. They were under a ban. Is it not then astonishing that when the very lives of Muslims were in peril and the enemy was so strong that he could easily crush the new Faith, disbelievers were challenged to do all that lay in their power to destroy the Quran, and were told that God would frustrate all their designs because He Himself was its Guardian? The challenge was open and unequivocal and the enemy strong and ruthless. But what was the result? The Prophet and his Companions not only remained safe and sound but thrived and prospered and the number of converts continued to swell and the Quran remained safe against all corruption and has ever continued to enjoy perfect security. This distinctive feature of the Quran has not been shared by any other book revealed to any other Prophet.
Sir William Muir, the well-known critic of Islam, says about the Quran: "We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Quran is the genuine and unaltered composition of Mohammad himself." Again, "There is otherwise every security, internal and external, that we possess the text which Mohammad himself gave forth and used." Again, "To compare (as the Muslims are fond of doing) their pure text with the various readings of our Scriptures, is to compare things between which there is no analogy." (Introduction to "The Life of Mahomet"). Prof. Nöldeke, the great German Orientalist writes as follows: "Slight clerical errors there may have been, but the Quran of Othman contains none but genuine elements, though sometimes in very strange order. Efforts of European scholars to prove the existence of later interpolations in the Quran have failed." (Enc. Brit.). Professor Nicholson, says in his "Literary History of the Arabs": "Here (in the Quran) we have materials of unique and incontestable authority for tracing the origin and early development of Islam—such mater-ials as do not exist in the case of Buddhism or Christianity or any other ancient religion."
The importance of this security of the Quranic text is further enhanced when we compare it with other revealed Scriptures. The Quran was revealed among an illiterate people, while most other Scriptures were revealed among peoples who were comparatively more literate and therefore better qualified to preserve the purity of their Scriptures. Yet they failed to do so, while the Quran, the most widely read of all revealed Scriptures, enjoys complete immunity from all sorts of corruption. This miraculous preservation of the Quranic text is no mere accident. It has been brought about by the special providence of God in accordance with an openly declared prophecy of the Quran.
The means adopted to safeguard the purity of the text of the Quran have been briefly referred to in verse 2 in the memorable words الکتاب (the Written Book) and قرآن مبین (the Illuminating Recital) signifying: (a) That every verse of the Quran was committed to writing as soon as it was revealed and this writing was most tenaciously preserved. (b) That it was committed to memory as soon as revealed by a number of Muslims. And this pious practice has increasingly continued so much so that in the past centuries hundreds of thousands of Muslims have had the entire Quran literally on the tips of their tongues. Add to this the fact that from the very beginning of Islam the recital of parts of the Quran in the five daily Prayers was made obligatory.
The following additional factors also very materially contributed to the preservation of the Quran:
(1) God has inspired the Muslims with an extraordinary love for the Quran. They enjoy the reading of the Book even if they do not understand the meaning of the text. This leads to its being preserved in their hearts.
(2) The rhythm of the Quran is so sweet and its language so charming and so easy to learn and the construction of its sentences so beautiful that it can be committed to memory with great ease.
(3) God so ordained that immediately after the Quranic revelation became complete, it spread far and wide, to the remotest corners of the world, among all nations and all peoples, so that it became practically impossible for anyone to tamper with its text.
(4) From the beginning the Quran formed for Muslims the basis of all the sciences and learning they acquired and developed with a view to serving it. Various branches of knowledge such as Grammar, Rhetoric, History, Philosophy and Logic were cultivated and developed by Muslims for the sake of a better understanding of their holy Book.
(5) God has preserved Arabic, the language of the Quran, as a living language, while the languages of all other revealed Books, which were not meant to last forever, have become practically dead.
Again, it is not only the text of the Quran that has been preserved intact by God. He has provided for the preservation of its spirit also. This has been done by raising divinely inspired Reformers among the Muslims from time to time. These Reformers, known in Islamic terminology as Mujaddids, receive revelations from God and interpret and explain the true meaning of the Quranic text. Such Reformers appeared among the followers of other religions also, but that was only for so long as such scriptures served as guides for their followers. After the advent of Islam, however, all other religious systems and their scriptures, which were intended only for specific periods and specific peoples, became abrogated and divinely inspired Reformers ceased to appear among them. Now, therefore, the Quran alone among all revealed Scriptures of the world holds the field as a living Book and hence divinely inspired Reformers now appear only among the followers of Islam. In our own time God has raised Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, Founder of the Ahmadiyya Movement, to demon-strate the truth and excellence of the Quran in a manner unparalleled in the history of Islam. Ahmad’s present-ation of Islam is not like one praying for a hearing, as was the vogue among the apologetic school of Muslim writers, but as a victor challenging the protagonists of all other religious systems and the so-called Modernists and Higher Critics to find fault with any teaching of Islam; and also as a judge passing his judgement upon them. The appearance of such Reformers in itself constitutes proof of the living power of a religion and its Scripture inasmuch as they are really the fruit of their religion and their appearance proves its efficacy.
The question here arises, if the Scriptures revealed to the previous Prophets have not been preserved in their original purity, what guarantee is there to believe that the Quran would enjoy permanent security? In this connection it should be noted that the promise of protection made by God in this verse mentions the word الذکر (rendered in the text as "this Exhortation") and not the Quran or any other word; and herein lies the answer to the above question. For, to become deserving of the permanent protection of God it is essential that the Divine revelation should be الذکر of which the necessary attributes are: (1) that it should establish a close and permanent relationship between man and his Maker, inspiring in the former constant remembrance of God, the word ذکر meaning remembering; and (2) that it should elevate man to a state where God may also remember him or in other words favour him with His words and with heavenly help, the word ذکر also means eminence. The verse under comment thus purports to mean that God undertakes to protect any Scripture so long as it serves the above two purposes. But when, through changes in the conditions and circumstances of man, any Scripture ceases to perform these functions and God, in His infallible wisdom, deems it necessary to reveal another Scripture, He naturally ceases to extend His protection to earlier revelations. The question as to when any particular Scripture at any particular time ceases to serve the above-mentioned purposes has to be decided on facts. It is a fact beyond doubt that at the present time no religion other than Islam can claim that there is among its followers anyone who fulfils in his person the conditions mentioned above, viz. attainment of such nearness to God that God begins to speak to him and manifests His special powers for his sake. Such a claim can be made only by a follower of the Quran. As stated above Ahmad, the Promised Messiah, has made this claim in our own time and has proved by powerful heavenly signs that his claim is founded on fact and God is helping his cause wonderfully. It is, therefore, natural that Muslims should claim and believe that now the protection of God is a privilege enjoyed by the Quran alone.
As regards the future, our belief based upon promises made in the Quran is that whenever Muslims forget, or fall away from, the teachings of the Quran, God will, by raising heavenly Reformers, restore to them their faith in its pristine purity. The teachings of the Quran will thus remain effective for all time and will ever continue to enjoy Divine help and protection.
e
36:70; 65:11.
1482
The promise about the protection and preservation of the Qur’an made in this verse has been so remarkably fulfilled that even if there had been no other proof, this fact alone would have sufficed to establish its Divine origin. This Surah was revealed at Mecca (Noldeke) when the life of the Holy Prophet and his followers was extremely precarious and the enemy could easily crush the new Faith. It was then that disbelievers were challenged to do their worst to destroy it and were warned that God would frustrate all their designs because He Himself was its Guardian. The challenge was open and unequivocal and the enemy strong and ruthless, and yet the Qur’an remained safe against corruption and interpolation and tampering with and has ever continued to enjoy perfect security. This distinction of the Qur’an is not shared by any other revealed Book. Sir William Muir, the notoriously hostile critic of Islam, says: 'We may, upon the strongest presumption, affirm that every verse in the Qur’an is the
اِنَّا نَحۡنُ نَزَّلۡنَا عَلَیۡکَ الۡقُرۡاٰنَ تَنۡزِیۡلًا
«古兰经» 是逐步地一点一点地启示的, 时间长达二十三年。这个逐步的过程有着双重目的。它有助于信者学习、记忆、吸收, 并有助于信者遵照 «古兰经» 教义塑造他们的人生。这种逐步的过程, 其目的也是为了满足变化着的环境的日益增大的要求, 以及加强穆斯林的信仰和信念, 因为在中间阶段他们就有机会目睹 «古兰经» 较早时候所作的预言的实现。«古兰经» 的逐步启示也实现了以下 «圣经» 上的预言 («以赛亚书» 28:10-13): “他居然还想一课一课、一行一行、一个字一个字的教导我们呢! 假如你们不听我的话, 上帝要打发外国人, 用奇异的语言来教训你们。他给你们安宁和舒适, 你们却拒绝听从他。现在上主要一课一课、一行一行、一个字一个字的教训你们了。” («以赛亚书» 28:10-13)
The Qur’an was revealed gradually and piecemeal. Its revelation spread over a period of 23 years. This gradual process served a double purpose. It helped believers to learn, remember and assimilate it and to mould their lives in accordance with its teachings. The gradual process was also intended to meet the increasing needs of changing circumstances and to strengthen the belief and conviction of Muslims, since, during the interval they had the opportunities to witness fulfilment of prophecies made earlier in the Qur’an. The piecemeal revelation of the Qur’an also fulfilled the following biblical prophecy:
"For, it is precept upon precept; line upon line, here a little and there a little; for, with strange lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isa. 28: 10).
Commentary:
The Quran was revealed gradually and piecemeal. Its revelation spread over a period of 23 years. This gradual process served two great purposes. It helped believers to learn, remember and assimilate it and to mould their lives in accordance with its teaching. The gradual process was also intended to meet the increasing needs of changing circumstances and to strengthen the belief and conviction of Muslims, since, during the interval, they had opportunities to witness fulfilment of prophecies made earlier in the Quran. The piecemeal revelation of the Quran also fulfilled the following Biblical prophecy, viz. "For it is precept upon precept; line upon line, here a little and there a little: for with strange lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isaiah 28:11). The construction of the verse and the words used in the Biblical prophecy are expressive of Divine purpose in the gradual revelation of the Quran.
1554
«古兰经» 是逐步地一点一点地启示的, 时间长达二十三年。这个逐步的过程有着双重目的。它有助于信者学习、记忆、吸收, 并有助于信者遵照 «古兰经» 教义塑造他们的人生。这种逐步的过程, 其目的也是为了满足变化着的环境的日益增大的要求, 以及加强穆斯林的信仰和信念, 因为在中间阶段他们就有机会目睹 «古兰经» 较早时候所作的预言的实现。«古兰经» 的逐步启示也实现了以下 «圣经» 上的预言 («以赛亚书» 28:10-13): “他居然还想一课一课、一行一行、一个字一个字的教导我们呢! 假如你们不听我的话, 上帝要打发外国人, 用奇异的语言来教训你们。他给你们安宁和舒适, 你们却拒绝听从他。现在上主要一课一课、一行一行、一个字一个字的教训你们了。” («以赛亚书» 28:10-13)
4494
Commentary:
The Quran was revealed gradually and piecemeal. Its revelation spread over a period of 23 years. This gradual process served two great purposes. It helped believers to learn, remember and assimilate it and to mould their lives in accordance with its teaching. The gradual process was also intended to meet the increasing needs of changing circumstances and to strengthen the belief and conviction of Muslims, since, during the interval, they had opportunities to witness fulfilment of prophecies made earlier in the Quran. The piecemeal revelation of the Quran also fulfilled the following Biblical prophecy, viz. "For it is precept upon precept; line upon line, here a little and there a little: for with strange lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isaiah 28:11). The construction of the verse and the words used in the Biblical prophecy are expressive of Divine purpose in the gradual revelation of the Quran.
3200
The Qur’an was revealed gradually and piecemeal. Its revelation spread over a period of 23 years. This gradual process served a double purpose. It helped believers to learn, remember and assimilate it and to mould their lives in accordance with its teachings. The gradual process was also intended to meet the increasing needs of changing circumstances and to strengthen the belief and conviction of Muslims, since, during the interval they had the opportunities to witness fulfilment of prophecies made earlier in the Qur’an. The piecemeal revelation of the Qur’an also fulfilled the following biblical prophecy:
"For, it is precept upon precept; line upon line, here a little and there a little; for, with strange lips and another tongue will he speak to this people" (Isa. 28: 10).