یَّعۡقِلُوۡنَ

3:191; 10:7; 30:23; 45:6.

Important Words:

اختلاف (alternation) is derived from خلف. They say خلفه i.e. he or it was or became his or its successor. خلف الرجل means, he came after or remained after the man and stood in his place. اختلفه means, he followed him as his successor. اختلفوا means (1) they came one after another by turn; (2) they differed or disagreed (Aqrab).

الفلك (ships) is derived from the verb فلك meaning, it became round or circular. الفلك (al-fulk) means a ship, or a boat, probably because it looks round and shapeless when seen at sea from a distance. The word is both singular and plural. الفلك (al-falak) means, the vault of heaven or the firmament in which the stars move. This is also probably owing to the apparently round shape of the sky (Aqrab, Mufradat & Lane).

دابة (beast) is the active participle from دب which means, he or it crept or crawled or walked slowly like an ant or a reptile or a child or a weak or sickly person. دابة means, all such animals or insects as creep or crawl or walk slowly (Aqrab). The word is used about all moving animals, whether big or small, whether walking on two legs or on four legs or creeping on the belly, etc. (24:46). It is also used about beasts used for riding or for carrying burden, like the horse, the mule, the donkey, etc. (Lane).

المسخر (pressed into service) is the passive participle from سخر sakhkhara. They say سخره (sakhkhara-hu or سخره sakhara-hu, not سخر sakhira which gives a different meaning), i.e. (1) he employed him or imposed on him a task without compensation; (2) he subjugated him and made him subservient to himself. Thus مسخر is that who or which has been made subservient to another, being unable to free himself or itself from constraint (Aqrab).

Commentary:

This verse gives a twofold meaning, one literal and the other metaphorical. In the former sense, it supplies an argument in support of the existence of God referred to in the preceding verse. A careful study of the universe unfailingly points to a Creator on the one hand and to man being created with a definite object on the other. It also proves that, having created the world, God did not leave it alone but continues to watch over and control its affairs and is the First Cause of all change and every working in the universe. Heaven and earth, night and day (with alternating light and darkness), the supply of provisions, rainfall with its power of quickening and devastating, the means of communications, the blowing of winds, and shade and sunshine, all point to one controlling agency, God, the Maker of heavens and earth. And if God has done so much for the material requirements of man, He cannot be imagined to have neglected his spiritual needs which are much more important. Let all thinking men think and ponder and again think and ponder.

The Quran takes the universe as a whole to prove its theme. The objects of nature taken individually do not furnish such conclusive evidence of the existence of God as the whole universe taken together. The earth may be said to owe its existence to a fortuitous concourse of atoms, or a similar reason may be given for the origin of the sun and the moon and so on. But when the universe as one united whole and the deep order that permeates it are taken into consideration, it becomes impossible to escape the conclusion that this universe has not come into existence accidentally. Indeed, the consummate harmony that prevails throughout the universe, forcefully points to the fact that the whole system has been created and is being directed by one Intelligent Being Who is All-Powerful and All-Knowing.

Taken in the metaphorical sense, the ship mentioned in the verse will be taken to stand for Prophets who help men to cross the gulfs of carnal desires and materialistic concepts of things which separate men from God, rain being likened to God’s revelation which comes down like rain and gives life to the world after it has become dead. The clouds send down no new water. Water already exists in the vast oceans of the earth but, as it is impure, men cannot make use of it. God purifies it and changes it into clouds and then sends it back to earth in the form of pure rainwater. Similarly, by sending a new revelation God purifies beliefs, which, with the passage of time, get mixed up with false notions and superstitious ideas. It is inconceivable that God Who supplies man with fresh rainwater for the maintenance of his physical life should have omitted to supply him with heavenly water which is so necessary for the preservation of his spiritual life. Similarly, night and day stand for the alternating periods of light and darkness, it being hinted that the coming of the Holy Prophet heralds the dawn of a new day.

Moreover, by laying special emphasis on the study of the phenomena of nature in the verse under comment, the attention of disbelievers is also drawn to the fact that they could not possibly hope to succeed in their designs against the Holy Prophet, because the whole universe is controlled by God and is working in favour of His Prophet and in furthering his cause.

6:100; 16:12.

16:14; 39:22.

Important Words:

متجاورات (adjoining one another) is derived from تجاور which is derived from جاور which again is derived from جار which means, he or it declined or deviated. جاورہ means, he became his neighbour or he lived near him; he confined himself in a mosque, etc., occupying himself in prayer and religious meditation. تجاوروا means, they became mutual neighbours or they lived near together (Lane).

صنوان (growing together from one root) is the plural of صنو. They say اصنی النخل i.e. the palm-trees had pairs or triplets or more growing together from single roots. صنو means, one of a pair or of three or of more palm-trees or of any trees growing from one root; each being called the صنو of the other. The word also means, a brother by the same father or the same mother. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, عم الرجل صنو ابیه i.e. the paternal uncle of the man is the صنو of his father (Takmilah fis-Sihah) meaning that the stock of both is one. The Quranic words صنوان و غیر صنوان mean, palm-trees having one root and others having separate roots (Lane).

الاکل (fruit) is derived from اکل (akala). They say اکله i.e. he ate it. اکل (akl) which is the noun-infinitive means, the act of eating. اکل (ukul) means, what is eaten; any eatable; food; fruit; means of subsistence or ample means of subsistence; worldly good fortune; intelligence; judgement; firmness of intellect (Lane).

Commentary:

Disbelievers are told here that they should not think that, because the Holy Prophet is one of them and belongs to the same stock as they, he enjoyed no superiority over them. Do they not see, the verse says, that adjoining tracts of the same land possess different capacities and properties and produce different kinds of produce? A certain tract of land, for instance, grows one thing while the piece adjacent to it cannot grow it. Similarly, trees of one stock or one species growing in the same garden, not unoften, grow fruits of different quality. Why cannot the same thing happen among human beings?

The expression, they are watered with the same water, signifies that when trees watered with the same water bear fruits vastly different in taste and colour, why cannot the Holy Prophet, even though he lives in the same town and among the same people, excel them, especially when he is nourished in the elixir of Divine revelation and his opponents are brought up under the inspiration of Satan? The words also point to the fact that the same means employed by persons of different capabilities often produce different results. A sword in the hands of a person who does not know its use will be quite a different weapon in the hands of a seasoned and skilful warrior. So the superiority of the Holy Prophet over his opponents lies not only in his superior capacities but also in the way he makes use of the means at his disposal. AbuBakr and ‘Umar were ordinary citizens of Mecca who would have ended their days in oblivion but the magic touch of the Holy Prophet lifted them to the highest pinnacles of usefulness and glory.

7:55; 13:3; 14:34; 35:14; 39:6.

Commentary:

In this verse mention has been made of another class of Divine blessings viz. the world of inorganic matter, particularly of those things such as the sun, the moon and the stars which exercise a powerful influence upon the mental development of man, either directly or indirectly through the medium of the animal and vegetable worlds. This is why, after animals and vegetables, mention is here made of inorganic and inanimate things which also help the physical and mental sustenance and development of man. Mention has also been made of night and day, because the benefits that man derives from the alternation of night and day are directly bound with the influences of the sun, the moon and the stars.

One more interesting point to note here is that whereas in the foregoing verses where animals and vegetables have been mentioned God has used the expression خلق (He has created), in the present verse where the sun, the moon and the stars have been mentioned, the expression سخر (He has pressed into service) has been used. This is done to signify that in the case of animals and vegetables which man uses for his benefit he has to put in some effort to derive that benefit from them; therefore in consideration of this element of the personal effort of man the expression خلق (He has created) has been used. But as the advantages he receives from the sun, the moon and the stars and from the alternation of day and night are completely gratuitous and are without any effort on man’s part, the expression سخر (He has pressed into service) has been used

which signifies service without remuneration. Similarly, the use of the expression یعقلون (who make use of their reason) in this verse as against the expression یتفکرون (who reflect) in the previous verse is also significant. The reason for using these two different expressions is that whereas the word فکر (reflection) means mental cogitation relating to matters which are near at hand, the word عقل (reason) signifies mental cogitation relating to things both near and far. As the influence of inorganic matter upon the life and development of man is a thing which requires deep study and close observation to understand, the expression, یعقلون has been used in this verse. But as the phenomena of the animal and vegetable worlds are matters of common observation and can be studied and understood even by men of ordinary intelligence, the expression یتفکرون has been used in the preceding verse.

13:5; 16:12; 23:20; 36:35.

Commentary:

The verse means to say that when things created by God remain in their natural and unadulterated form they constitute pure, wholesome and invigorating food. But when man interferes with their natural use he corrupts them. Similarly, as long as Divine teaching remains intact, it is a source of great spiritual benefit, but when man interferes with it, it loses its usefulness and becomes harmful. The verse also points out that all wise and thoughtful persons can easily understand that everything is best suited for the purpose which it has been designed by God to serve and that to use it for any other purpose is only to destroy its usefulness. Similarly, it is not given to man to devise spiritual teachings or to interfere with those revealed by God without spoiling them or destroying their usefulness.

12:110; 30:10; 35:45; 40:22; 47:11.

Commentary:

The verse exhorts disbelievers to study the histories of and to learn a lesson from the fate of those people who rejected the former Prophets. It is also clear from this verse that the dead, the blind and the deaf spoken of here and elsewhere in the Quran are the spiritually blind, deaf and dead. See also 17:73.

15:76; 51:38.

13:13.

40:14; 42:29.

Commentary:

A part from the fact that lightning heralds rain which brings fertility and prosperity in its wake, it kills germs of many different diseases and eliminates worms that destroy crops. So, lightning not only causes fear but is also a source of manifold benefits to man. Every element of nature plays its allotted part in the divine scheme of things, thus bearing testimony to God’s existence, His great wisdom and power.

Commentary:

This verse contains a very effective argument against polytheism. It purports to say that when a master and slave are not equal though they are both human beings, and when the master would not share his wealth and property with his slave, how then could God, the sole Creator and Controller of all things, be equal to idols of wood and stone and how could He be regarded as sharing the control of the universe with anybody. See also 21:23.

2:165; 3:191; 10:7.

16:66; 22:6; 30:51; 35:28; 39:22.

Commentary:

This verse further says that as light follows darkness, similarly when spiritual darkness spreads over the entire earth, God creates new light in the form of a Prophet or Divine Reformer to whom He reveals Himself. And just as winds carry pollen from male to female trees in order to fecundate them, in the same way the spiritually elevating ideas that emanate from a Divine Reformer impregnate the minds of men and bring about spiritual revolution in them.