ٱلْمُجْرِمِينَ

Commentary:

There is an ellipsis here, the words لتستغفروا (that you may seek forgiveness) or the words لتؤمنوا (that you may believe) may be taken to be understood before the words ولتستبین (and may become manifest).

6:134; 7:157.

Commentary:

The verse answers an implied objection of the Jews, viz. if God had forbidden them certain extra things, why was not the prohibition continued in Islam? The verse answers this objection by saying that whereas the divine law of punishment demanded that Jews should be punished, the law of mercy demanded that Muslims should be shown mercy. It was unfair to continue a special prohibition that had been imposed by way of punishment under a new dispensation.

7:37.

Important Words:

الجمل (camel) is the noun-infinitive from جمل. They say جمل الشیء i.e. he collected the thing. جمل الشھم means, he melted the fat. جمل (jamila) or جمل (jamula) with different vowel points at the central root letter, means, he was or became beautiful, goodly or pleasing in person or behaviour. جمل means, a he-camel; a full grown he-camel; a camel; palm-trees as being likened to the he-camel in respect of their tallness and bigness; a large sea fish or whale (Lane.) It also means a cable or a ship’s rope (Aqrab).

Commentary:

With this verse begins a description of the life after death, a brief reference to which was made in the three preceding verses.

Heaven is the lofty abode of true believers. The Holy Prophet used to say that it is the souls of the righteous that shall reside in the garden of Heaven, while those of the wicked shall descend into the pit of Hell.

The words, the gates of the spiritual firmament will not be opened for them, signify that rejecters of God’s signs are never vouchsafed the spiritual knowledge and the nearness of God granted to believers.

Though in the translation the word جمل has been rendered as 'camel' following a parallel expression in the New Testament (Matt. 19:24), yet the Arabic sentence may be better explained by using the word 'rope', for a rope rather than a camel bears a resemblance to the thread which is passed through the eye of a needle. The expression, until a camel (or a rope) goes through the eye of a needle, signifies that it will be impossible for rejecters of God’s Signs to enter Heaven.

26:174; 27:59.

Commentary:

It appears that there was a violent eruption, and burning matter was thrown out of the ground and buried the disbelieving people underneath it.

6:7; 20:129; 21:12.

Important Words:

القرون (the generations) is the plural of القرن which gives a number of meanings: (1) part or division of time; (2) people of one time; (3) a generation coming after another; (4) a people that is destroyed so as to leave no remnant behind it; a century (Aqrab and Lane).

Commentary:

This verse brings to light some eternal divine truths. One is that it is always a life of wrongdoing i.e. the contravention of the law of nature or that of Shari‘ah that brings about the downfall and destruction of a people. The entire history of the world bears eloquent testimony to this great truth. The other divine law hinted at in this verse is that Divine punishment does not overtake a people unless a Prophet of God first appears among them to warn them of their evil ways and of the Divine punishment that will come upon them, if they do not follow him and give up their wicked practices. Thus it is the mercy of God and not His punishment that is meant to be emphasized in this verse, because we are told that when God sees that a certain people have made themselves deserving of His punishment on account of their evil lives, He, out of His great mercy, sends to them a Prophet so that they may follow him and, by reforming themselves, escape the impending punishment and become heirs to His favours. It is only when they reject the Divine Messenger and instead of mending their ways, begin to persecute him that God sends down punishment on them.

Punishments again are of two kinds: (1) those that are the result of contravention of the laws of nature, and (2) those that come when the law of Shari‘ah is flouted. The latter class of punishments never occur unless a people begin to lead wicked lives and unless a Prophet is first made to appear among them. Punishments of this kind are known by certain characteristics. For instance, (a) their occurrence is generally foretold by previous announcements based on Divine revelation; (b) they assume the form of an unusual and extraordinary upheaval in nature such as a succession of earthquakes or the widespread outbreak of virulent epidemics; and (c) they occur after a Warner has made his appearance. The other class of punishments, such as the rise and fall of nations from natural causes, are due only to the contravention of the ordinary laws of nature. These must always be distinguished from the first-mentioned class of punishments.

2:215.

Important Words:

کذبوا (they had been told a lie) is the passive plural from کذب (kadhaba) which means, he lied; or he uttered a falsehood; or he said what was untrue whether intentionally or unintentionally; he found his hopes to be false or vain. کذبه الحدیث means, he gave him a false account of the thing and said what was untrue. They say کذب الرأی i.e. he imagined the thing contrary to its real state. An Arab would say کذبتك عینك i.e. thine eye showed thee that which had no reality i.e. thou wast deceived in the vision. They say کذبته نفسه i.e. his soul made him desire things and conceive hopes that did not come to pass. کذب الرجل(kudhiba) means, the man was told a lie or a falsehood or an untruth (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Like the preceding verse, the verse under comment speaks of both the Prophets and their opponents. The first sentence speaks of the Prophets of God, and the second of their enemies. The verse purports to say that the enemies of Prophets so continue to increase in wickedness and opposition to them that a stage is reached when the Prophets begin to think that those who were destined to believe had already believed and they despair of the rest. Their opponents, on the other hand, owing to the delay in the coming of Divine punishment, begin to feel secure in the thought that they will never be visited with any punishment and that the prophecies of the Prophets about their own final success and about the discomfiture of their enemies were so many pieces of falsehood. When matters come to such a pass, God’s help comes to the Prophets and the leaders of disbelief are destroyed.

This is exactly what happens at the advent of every Prophet. The hour of final reckoning is delayed so long that disbelievers begin to have a false sense of security. Then God comes to the succour of His Prophets and makes their cause prevail.

The words, when the Messengers despaired, cannot be taken to mean that the Prophet despair of the help of God. This inference is obviously wrong and is belied by v. 88 of this very Surah wherein we have, none despairs of Allah’s mercy save the unbelieving people. As a matter of fact, Prophets never despair of God’s help. They only sometimes despair of their people believing in them, and this happens when the latter continue turning a deaf ear to their preaching.

Similarly, the words, they thought that they had been told a lie, do not mean that the Prophets thought so. The words only mean that their enemies thought so. The Prophets cannot entertain any doubt about the truth of their prophecies and of the promises of ultimate success made to them by God. Their faith in God is invincible; it stands on the firm rock of certitude. The pronoun "they" thus refers, not to the Prophets, but to their opponents mentioned in the previous verse. According to Arabic idiom it is allowable to use in the same sentence pronouns referring to different antecedents when the nouns to which they refer are clear from the context. But if the pronoun "they" be taken to refer to the Prophets, the sentence, they thought that they had been told a lie, would mean that wishful thinking and overconfidence in the help of God had made the Prophets interpret the Word of God containing promises of success in such a way as to believe in the very early triumph of their cause which, however, was not so ordained by God. Thus their own minds, as it were, lied to them or held out to them false hopes, by placing on the Word of God an interpretation which it did not bear.

The words, they thought that they had been told a lie, may also mean that the hopes that the Prophets had entertained about the repentance of their opponents turned out to be false. When at a certain stage the hostility of their opponents temporarily slackened, the Prophets began to entertain the hope that they would repent of their past misdeeds and would accept the truth, but that hope turned out to be a delusion. Taken in this sense, these words also serve as an explanation of the words "the Messengers despaired." See the different meanings of the word کذبوا under Important Words.

38:39.

Important Words:

مقرنین (bound) is derived from قرن (qarrana) which is derived from قرن (qarana). They say قرن بین الشیء و الشیء i.e. he brought or placed the two things together. قرن الشیء با لشیء means, he bound the thing with the other, placing them together قرنه (qarrana-hu) means, he collected the thing together and bound it. The Arabs say قرنت الاساری فی الحبال i.e. the captives were bound together with ropes (Aqrab).

الاصفاد (chains) is the plural of الصفد which means: (1) a chain or anything with which a thing is bound or tied; (2) favour or gift bestowed on someone, perhaps because it, as it were, binds the receiver to the giver (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The rewards and punishments of the life to come will represent the disbelievers’ actions in the present life. As in this world sinners commit their deeds at the instigation or with the help of each other, therefore, in the life to come, they will be represented as shackled and bound together, the chains representing the misdeeds of the sinful.

26:201.

Commentary:

The pronoun "this" in the expression نسلکه (do We cause this to enter) refers to the practice of disbelievers of ridiculing Prophets mentioned in the previous verse. The verse under comment thus signifies that this evil habit of disbelievers springs from their own indulgence in sin and is not imported from outside. It states a general truth, viz. when a man does wrong, his natural aversion for sin is lessened and he gradually develops a liking for it which eventually takes deep root in his heart. It thus follows that the retribution of sin is not the result of some arbitrary action on the part of God but is the natural and inevitable consequence of the sinner’s own action.

3:31; 99:8-9.

39:70.

Commentary:

When Divine decree about the punishment of these iniquitous people comes into force, they will realize the baselessness of the misconception that their rule and dominion will last forever and they will begin to fear that the civilization and culture of which they were so proud will soon perish.

The words, What kind of a book is this. It leaves out nothing small or great but has recorded it, signify that disbelievers will be punished for all their past misdeeds. They will then know that God is the Lord and Ruler of heavens and earth and that He does not allow any action of man to go unrequited.

The clause, and thy Lord does not wrong any one, denotes that the punishment will be very severe and their end very bitter but it will all be the natural and inevitable consequence of their own evil doings; the Merciful God does not wrong any one.

39:72.

Important Words:

ورداً (a herd of thirsty camels) means, coming to or arriving at water; water to which one comes to drink; turn of coming to water; a number of camels or a herd of thirsty camels; birds arriving at water. See also 11:99.

نسوق (We shall drive) is derived from ساق. They say ساق الابل i.e. he drove the camels. ساق الحدیث means, he continued the talk endlessly; he went on relating the narrative. سائق means, a driver; or one who drives from behind while قائد is one who guides—a general or a leader. The expression نسوق المجرمین الی جھنم ورداً means, We will drive the sinners like beasts who come to water to slake their thirst (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Here the word نسوق (We shall drive) has been used about the sinners and means that they will be driven to Hell against their wish. But this word has also been used in the Quran about the righteous believers (39:74). But in that verse the word has been used in the sense of being conducted or carried. If, however, in 39:74 the word were taken to have been used in the sense of driving, then it would apply to the beasts which the righteous will be riding to go to Paradise and thus the meaning would be that the beasts which the righteous will be riding will be driven to Paradise.

18:100; 27:88; 36:52; 78:19.

Important Words:

زرقاً (blue-eyed) is the plural of ازرق and is derived from زرق which means, (1) he was blue-eyed or grey-eyed or of a greenish hue in the eye; (2) he was or became blind.زرقت او أزرقت عینه نحوی means, his eye turned towards me so that the white thereof appeared i.e. he looked askance at me on account of hatred or fear. أزرق is an epithet applied to a man having what is termed زرقة (blue colour) of the eye; blue-eyed; grey-eyed; blind from what is commonly termed as a cataract in the eye (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The allusion in this verse primarily seems to be to the Western Christian nations who have blue eyes and are spiritually blind and possess an undying hatred for Islam.

6:113.

Commentary:

The pronoun 'it' in the expression "thus have We caused it to enter" referring to the evil practice of the disbelievers of rejecting truth the verse purports to say that this bad habit of disbelievers has its roots in their own hearts and is born of their indulgence in sin and vice and does not come from outside. The verse, in fact, states a general truth that when a man indulges in sin his consciousness of it becomes blunted and in course of time he even comes to develop a liking for it. It is in this way that sin corrodes and vitiates "the hearts of the sinful."

Or the pronoun 'it' may refer to the Quran. In this sense the verse would mean that the truth of the Quran is made to enter into the hearts of disbelievers by means of the convincing proofs and arguments given in support of it. They become conscious of its truth but still they reject it.

16:37; 30:43; 40:83.

Commentary:

In this verse the disbelievers are warned that they will not be allowed to arrest or retard the progress of the Holy Prophet’s noble cause; on the contrary, by opposing him they will only bring ruin upon themselves. The lesson is writ large on the pages of history that denial of truth has always led disbelievers to destruction and desolation. In the next verse the Holy Prophet is consoled and comforted that he should not feel distressed because of the plots and conspiracies of his enemies, as their evil designs can do him no harm and will only recoil on their own heads.

Commentary:

That the enemies of truth and the rejecters of the Divine Message have never prospered is writ large on the pages of history.

7:41; 20:75.

7:73.

Commentary:

As mentioned above, the Adites were specially advanced in architecture. They built monuments on high places and erected palatial buildings. They had their summer residences, their factories and mechanical works. But they were so completely destroyed that it seemed that they had never existed and only the ruined remnants of their once lofty and strongly-built dwellings could be seen.

Commentary:

The disbelievers are described in v. 25 above as in the habit of saying in contempt and mockery that it would be madness on their part to give allegiance to or follow an ordinary man from among themselves. In the verse under comment tables are turned upon them, and they are told that rejection and not acceptance of a Divine Messenger is folly and madness.

Commentary:

The particle عن also means, 'from' (Lane).