یَاۡتِیَ

3:101, 150; 4:90.

a5:14.

b5:53; 16:34.

Important Words:

فاعفوا (forgive) is derived from عفا. They say عفا عنه or عفا له or عفا ذنبه or عفا عن ذنبه meaning, he forgave and pardoned him and did not resort to punishment; he connived at his fault or offence. عفا الله عنه means, God obliterated the traces of his sin. عفا عن الشیء means, he withheld or restrained himself from it (Aqrab).

اصفحوا (turn away) is derived from صفح. They say صفح عنه meaning, he turned his face from it, he avoided it and left it alone; he pardoned him his sin. الصفح means, the side of a thing; or the side of a face, i.e. the cheek, etc. (Aqrab).

امر (decree). The verb امر means, he commanded or he enjoined or he asked. So امر means, a command; an order; a decree; a judgement; an affair; a thing; a condition or state; an event. امرالله means, the promised or the decreed punishment of God (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

By manifold devices, some of which have been referred to above, the Jews wished to lead the Muslims astray, and their designs had their basis in jealousy. Muslims are exhorted not to quarrel with them but to wait patiently in a spirit of forbearance, till God Himself should finally decide the matter.

As explained under Important Words above, there is a subtle distinction between the meanings of عفو (forgive) and صفح(turn away). Whereas the former means, abstaining from punishment, the latter signifies, turning one’s face away or leaving a thing alone. By using the words together, God exhorts Muslims not only to forgive the Jews and refrain from punishing them for their overt hostile acts and covert machinations, but to leave them alone and remain aloof from them till God Himself opened out a way for them, which He eventually did, as soon afterwards the Jews themselves declared war against the Muslims.

It is wrong to think that the words, till Allah brings His decree, refer to aggressive war. It is God’s general decree or judgement that is meant here, as may be inferred from the words that follow, viz. surely, Allah has the power to do all that He wills. Some of the Jews embraced Islam and the rest perished as a result of divine punishment.

The phrase, out of envy from themselves, means that the Holy Prophet had done nothing to excite their jealousy, but that it was their own evil nature that had given rise to it. The disease of حسد (jealousy) originated in their own hearts and had no infection from outside.

2:211; 16:34.

Commentary:

The "coming of angels" here refers to the punishment of the people through wars; for, in the Quran the coming of angels has been mentioned in connection with the battles that took place between Muslims and their enemies (3:125, 126 & 8:10).

The term "coming of the Lord" with regard to disbelievers has been used in the Quran to express death and destruction (2:211). The words thus refer to the punishment of death that was to overtake the enemies of Islam in other ways than by war. In fact, when an offender is spoken of as having been summoned before God, it is only for punishment.

The "coming of the Signs" refers to punishments such as famines, pestilences, etc.

Finally, the verse makes it clear that believing at the time when a man is visited by punishment can do him no good. The verse mentions two conditions under which faith is of no avail: firstly, the faith of the man who believes at the time when he is overtaken by punishment; secondly, the faith of the man who has earned no good by his faith, i.e. he whose faith is not accompanied by good works and righteous deeds. The verse does not mean that faith will benefit nobody when the signs of God come. What it means is that at the time when the sign of punishment comes, faith will not avail those for whom this punishment is meant.

Commentary:

The idolaters were closely connected with Muslims by ties of blood and relationship. Muslims are plainly told in this verse that these relationships and other worldly considerations of wealth, trade and property should not be allowed to stand in the way when a dearer relationship and a nobler cause and more vital considerations demanded their sacrifice. Love of kith and kin and worldly possessions should not be permitted to hinder the Faithful from serving the cause of Islam. The judgement of God mentioned at the end of the verse came after the death of the Holy Prophet when "the disobedient people," i.e. those who had joined the fold of Islam for worldly considerations, revolted and were punished by God through Abu Bakr, the First Khalifah.

3:155; 30:5.

22:56.

Important Words:

الجبال (mountains) is the plural of الجبل (the mountain). Figuratively, the wordجبل means: (1) chief of a tribe or community; (2) a learned man towering above those around him; (3) great hardship or calamity (Aqrab).

قطعت (be cut asunder) is formed from قطع (qatta‘a) which is derived from قطع (qata‘a), the former being the intensified form of the latter. They say قطع الشیء i.e. he cut the thing; or he cut it asunder. قطع النھر means, he crossed or went across the river. قطع الطیر means, the birds migrated or journeyed from colder regions to warmer ones. قطعه بالحجة means, he silenced him in argument (Aqrab).

یایئس (come to know) is derived from یئس which means (1) he despaired of the thing; (2) he knew. An Arab would say قد یئست انك رجل صدق i.e. I have known that thou art a good man. The clause افلم یایئس الذین آمنوا means, have not the believers yet come to know? The expression یئست المرأة means, the woman became barren i.e. despaired of bearing children (Lane & Aqrab).

قارعة (disaster) is derived from قرع. They say قرع الباب i.e. he knocked at the door. قرع الرجل means, he beat the man. قرعه امرmeans, the affair came on him all of a sudden. القارعة means, great calamity; sudden calamity; the Day of Resurrection or of Judgement; an army marching forth quickly and striking the enemy quickly (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

The words, And if there were a Quran by which mountains could be moved or by which the earth could be cut asunder or by which the dead could be spoken to, they would not believe in it, do not mean that the Quran does not possess these qualities but that even when these wonderful attributes of the Quran were demonstrated, disbelievers would not believe. A construction similar to the one used in this verse occurs in a saying of the Holy Prophet who is reported to have said, لو کان الایمان معلقا بالثر یا لنا له رجل من ابناء فارس i.e. if faith were to ascend to the Pleiades, a man from among the sons of Persia would bring it back (Bukhari, Kitabut-Tafsir). This hadith does not mean that faith would not ascend to the Pleiades, or that a man from among the sons of Persia would not bring it back. On the contrary, it is a prophecy which foretold the disappearance of faith from the earth and its restoration in the latter days by a man from among the children of Persia. Incidentally, it may be noted here that this great prophecy was fulfilled by the appearance of Ahmad,the Promised Messiah, whose family was of Persian origin. But to revert to the subject. A description of the great powers and qualities of the Quran as given in the present verse also implies the hard-heartedness and uncompromising hostility of disbelievers to the divine truth.

Taken literally, the expression, by which mountains could be moved, would mean that the Quran contains prophecies of earthquakes of such severity as will virtually remove parts of mountains from their places. The Quran does indeed predict great upheavals (Surah 99).

Figuratively, the word "mountain" may mean, great hardships and difficulties. In this sense, the description in the verse fitly applies to the Quran, because it solves all political, social, economic, moral and spiritual problems in a way that no other religious Scripture does. The word also means "learned men" among a people, or their "chiefs." According to this meaning of the word also, the description is quite applicable to the Quran, for with its advent, the old leaders of the people and the learned among them disappeared. The system of government underwent a complete transformation and hereditary kingship was replaced by Khilafat i.e. a representative form of government. The old learning, which was founded on superstition and capricious fear, was superseded by one based on experiment, observation and a knowledge of the properties of things. The Quran abounds in verses exhorting men to make use of reason and reflection rather than indulge in superstitious notions, and enjoins them to make a close study of the objects of nature. The whole universe, says the Quran, has been created for the benefit of man, who is repeatedly urged to compel it into his service. The Quran, in short, abrogated the old order of things and inculcated a new approach to the various human problems.

The expression, by which the earth could be cut asunder, figuratively means that the Quran would speedily spread throughout the earth. Literally, the expression means that portions of land would be cut off from enemy territory and would pass into the possession of the believers. Both these things were fulfilled as predicted by the Quran, for it spread very quickly throughout the world, and whole countries fell into Muslim hands.

The words, by which the dead were spoken to, mean that dead and by-gone people should bear witness to the truth of the Quran, that is to say, the righteous forefathers of the living generation should testify to its Divine origin. This was also fulfilled. In the Old and the New Testaments, the "People of the Book" have evidence of the righteous men of old bearing witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet, yet they rejected that evidence. "The dead being spoken to" may also mean the appearance of the dead in dreams and visions and their bearing witness to the truth of the heavenly Messenger, but evil-minded people reject this evidence also. Both these things happened not only in the time of the Holy Prophet but also in the case of Ahmad, the Promised Messiah. The word "dead" also applies to the spiritually dead. The word has been used in this sense in the Quran (8:25). In this sense, the verse would mean that by means of the Quran those spiritually dead will not only be quickened into a new life, but will also be made to speak words of wisdom and will preach the Message of the Quran to the world.

The words, the matter rests entirely with Allah, mean that though these things may appear impossible, yet they will surely come to pass, because the Almighty God with Whom "the matter rests entirely" and to Whom nothing is impossible has Himself foretold their occurrence. To this Almightiness of God the attention of disbelievers is pointedly drawn in the words, Have not the believers yet come to know that if Allah had enforced His will, He could have surely guided all mankind? In the following sentence even the time is specified when these things will come to pass. The words, disaster shall not cease to befall them for what they have wrought or to alight near their home, until the promise of Allah comes to pass, mean, that calamity after calamity shall continue to befall the Meccans, and they shall suffer reverses one after another, till the prophecy relating to the utter destruction of their power is fulfilled. This prophecy met its fulfilment in a wonderful manner. In spite of the many signs the disbelievers had witnessed and the many reverses they had suffered at the hands of Muslims, they refused to see the truth till at the head of ten thousand devoted followers or, to use the words of the Bible, "ten thousand saints," the Holy Prophet marched towards Mecca and encamped "near their home," and with his triumphant entry into that city the power of pagan Arabia was completely broken and its glory departed forever and all vestige of unbelief and idolatry disappeared from the country.

2:211; 6:159; 7:54.

9:70; 16:119; 29:41; 30:10.

Commentary:

The expressions, "the coming of angels" and "the coming of God", when used with reference to disbelievers, always denote the coming of Divine punishment. By "the coming of angels" is meant the destruction of individual disbelievers, and by "the coming of God" their national ruin. The expression, the decree of thy Lord should come to pass, refers to the latter kind of punishment. See also 2:211.