يَخْرُجُ

Commentary:

Rain produces different effects upon different plots of land according to their nature and quality; so does Divine revelation affect different men in different ways. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said that there are three kinds of land: (a) the good level land which, when watered by rain, absorbs the rain water and yields good vegetation and brings forth abundant fruit; (b) the land which, being low-lying and rocky, only collects the water of rain but does not absorb it and so brings forth no vegetation but provides drinking water for man and beast; (c) the high stony ground which neither collects the water of rain nor absorbs it, being useless both for the purpose of vegetation and as a storage for rainwater. Similarly, men are of three kinds: (1) Those who not only accept but also profit by Divine revelation. They are like the good level land which receives rain and yields good produce. (2) Those who do not themselves profit by the Divine revelation, but receive it and keep it stored up for others to benefit thereby. They are like that piece of land which yields no produce, but from which men and beasts benefit by the water collected during the rain. (3) Those who neither derive any benefit from the Divine revelation themselves nor keep it stored for the use of others. They are like that piece of land which neither yields any produce nor hoards up water so that men and beasts may drink from it.

Commentary:

The subject of the bee has been further elaborated in this verse. It says that God inspires the bee to collect its food from different fruits and flowers and then, by means of the mechanism provided in its body and by the methods revealed to it by God, it converts the collected food into honey. That honey possesses different colours and flavours but all its different varieties are highly useful for men. This fact suggests that revelation has continued to descend on Prophets at different times and that the teachings of one Prophet differed in detail from the teachings of another, nevertheless all these revelations had this essential common quality that they proved a means of moral and spiritual regeneration for the peoples for whom they were designed.

At various places in the Quran the same words have been used with reference to the Quranic revelation as have been used here with reference to honey. Honey provides a cure for the physical diseases of man and the most essential quality of the Quranic revelation also is that it is a cure for the spiritual maladies of man. See 10:58, 17:83 & 41:45.

The words, and follow the ways of thy Lord, suggest that it is possible for every man to become a recipient of Divinerevelation. The only condition he has to fulfil for this purpose is that he should obediently follow the path designed by God and not let his natural instincts become corrupt and vitiated. If he keeps his nature pure and unsullied and is guided by his natural instincts, in the course of time he becomes the recipient of revelation which may be compared to honey in its purity and usefulness.

The verse also implies that when all creatures have been granted وحی according to their respective natural capacities, though those capacities are very limited, it is inconceivable that man, who has been endowed with far greater natural powers and for whom unlimited avenues of spiritual progress have been kept open, should have remained deprived of this great blessing.

30:49.

13:14.

Important Words:

رکاماً (piles up) is derived from رکم. They say رکم الشیء i.e. he heaped up, piled up or accumulated the thing; he collected together the thing and put one part of it upon another. رکام means, clouds or sand collected together and piled up (Lane & Aqrab).

ودق (rain) is derived from the root ودق (wadaqa). They say ودق الیه i.e. he became near to him. ودق السماء means, it rained. ودق السیف means, the sword became sharp. الودق means, rain, violent or gentle (Lane & Aqrab).

سنا (flash) is infinitive noun from سنا (sana). They say سنت النار i.e. the fire became high in its light. سنا البرق means, the lightning shone, shone brightly or gleamed or shot up. سنا means, light, or the light of lightning; or light shining or diffusing itself and rising, a high light; shining of weapons (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse gives another simile about the spiritual development of man and about the changes and processes which it undergoes to reach its perfection. The knowledge of such changes and processes is essential to the spiritual pilgrim because without such knowledge he may not know what turnings and crossroads he may have to meet on the way and consequently may despair of success. The verse purports to say that man’s spiritual development is like the formation of clouds from vapours. It begins in this way. The sun of God’s love and grace shines upon that inexhaustible store of man’s capacity to receive and assimilate the Divine Word with which he has been endowed and then it raises vapours which are moved about by the winds of Divine mercy. Just as in the earlier stages the vapours are not visible, so does the change wrought in the pilgrim’s mind by the Sun of Divine love and grace remain unfelt in the earlier stages of his spiritual development with the result that the impatient spiritual wayfarer sometimes loses patience and gives up the endeavour in despair. The simile points out that like invisible vapours which assume a visible form, the change in man’s moral and spiritual progress under Divine mercy assumes a palpable form and begins to be dimly perceptible. But the character and nature of the change is still in a formative stage, where it has not yet attained fixity and strength enough to be helpful to others. The progress, however, continues till like vapours that condense and take the form of showers of rain and sometimes of hail, the God-intoxicated spiritual wayfarer, who has donned the mantle of a Divine Messenger, becomes بشیر i.e. the Bearer of good news for the believers and نذیر i.e. Warner for those who reject the heavenly messages. Even among the believers his influence is not uniform; some benefit by his precept and practice more than the others according to their natural aptitudes, as are the different parts of earth benefited by rain according to the nature of the soil.

Or the significance of the verse may be that for some the revealed Law serves as timely rain which proves highly beneficial and for others it takes the form of hail and storm which brings in its wake destruction and ruin.

24:44.

Important Words:

کسفا (pieces) is derived from کسف (kasafa). They say کسف الثوب i.e. he cut up the cloth. کسف أمله means, his hope was blasted. کسفة means, piece, fragment, part (Aqrab).

ودق (rain) is infinitive-noun from ودق (wadaqa). They say ودق السماء i.e. the cloud rained. ودق السیف means, the sword became sharp (Aqrab).

57:5.

Commentary:

This verse consists of four clauses. The first clause, "whatever goes into the earth" corresponds to the third clause, viz. "whatever descends from the heaven;" and the second clause, "and whatever comes forth from it," corresponds to the fourth clause, "whatever ascends into it." The allusion in this verse is to the subject dealt with in 32:6. The verse signifies that it is God alone Who knows what kind of teaching is needed in a particular age. Similarly, it is He Who knows when to take back to heaven the teaching which had descended from it, after it has been corrupted by the people, just as He takes water back to heaven in the form of vapours after it becomes corrupt, and sends it down in a purified form in the shape of rain. The words "whatever comes forth from it, and whatever descends from the heaven" may refer to the Word of God which is cast away by the people and is corrupted by them and then is taken up to heaven so that it may descend on earth in a purified state.

The words, "whatever goes into the earth and whatever comes forth from it," may also signify that whatever man shall sow, so shall he reap. Good actions produce good results and bad deeds lead to evil consequences.

The verse may also signify that God is aware of every phenomenon and every event, including the rise and fall of nations and peoples.

Commentary:

Curiously enough pearls and corals are found in both the Suez and Panama Canals. Spiritually speaking, the verse would signify that physical sciences and Divine revelation both contain treasures of inestimable value.

7:55; 11:8; 25:60; 32:5.

34:3

Commentary:

For a detailed note on the first part of this verse see7:55; 10:4 and 41:10-11, and for the latter part see 34:3. The six periods or stages of evolution referred to in the verse may be those of the ether, nebula, electrons, minerals, plants and animals. Very briefly, the verse may signify that after God had created the heavens and the earth in six periods or stages, He began to control and govern the universe through set laws, and that as He made provision for the physical sustenance and development of man, so did He make similar provision for his spiritual evolution. But God alone knew when a particular divine teaching was needed for a particular people; also when to take it back to heaven, i.e. to abrogate it, when it was corrupted and ceased to fulfil the spiritual needs of the people to whom it was given. And He alone knew when to reveal a new teaching. And now that God has revealed the Quran, He will be with the Muslims wheresoever they may be because to them is entrusted the preaching of the last Divine Message.

Commentary:

It is characteristic of the Quranic style that it substitutes mild or vague words or expressions for harsh and blunt ones. "From between the loins and the breastbones," is one of such euphemisms used by the Quran. Or the verse may mean that man is born of the water that comes out of the loins of his father and is fed by the breast of his mother.