.1 Although like all other enigmatic letters (muqattaat), it is also difficult to determine the meaning of the letter Suad, yet the interpretation of it given by Ibn Abbas and Dahhak is quite plausible. According to them, it implies: Sadiqun fiqauli- hi, or Sadaqa Muhammadun: Muhammad (peace be upon him) is truthful: whatever he says is the very truth.
2. The words dhidh-dhikr of the text can have two meanings: (1) Dhi sharaf: the noble Quran. (2) Dhi at-tadhkir: the Quran which is full of admonition, or the Quran which serves as a reminder, or arouses a heedless person.
3. If the interpretation given of suad by Ibn Abbas and Dahhak is accepted, the sentence would mean this: By this noble Quran, or by this Quran which is full of admonition, Muhammad (peace be upon him) is presenting the truth, but the people who persist in their denial, are in fact, involved in arrogance and stubbornness. And if Suad is taken as one of those enigmatic letters whose meaning cannot be determined, then the answer to the oath is omitted, which is indicated by “but” and the sentence following it. The meaning then would be: The reason for the denial of these disbelievers is not that the religion which is being presented before them is unsound, or that Muhammad (peace be upon him) has shown some slackness in the matter of presenting the truth before them, but their own boasting and bragging, their haughtiness and stubbornness, and this is borne out by this Quran itself, which is full of admonition. Every unbiased person who studies it will admit that full justice has been done in it to the task of making the people understand the truth.
4. That is, they are so foolish that when a man from their own kind and from their own clan and brotherhood, whom they knew well, was appointed to warn them, they wondered at it, whereas it would have been strange if some other kind of creature had been sent down from heaven to warn human beings, or an utter stranger had arisen among them suddenly and started functioning as a prophet. In that case they would have been perfectly justified to say: What an odd thing! How can this strange creature know our conditions and feelings and requirements that he should guide us? How can we test and find out the truth about the stranger who has suddenly arisen among us and know whether he is trustworthy or not? And how can we decide whether we should or should not believe in him when we have not judged and seen his character and personality?
5. The disbelievers used the word sahir (wizard, sorcerer, magician) for the Prophet (peace be upon him) in the sense that whoever came in contact with him was so influenced by him that he would become his follower like a possessed person. He would least mind severing of his connections with others or incurring material losses. The father would give up the son and the son would give up the father. The wife would separate from the husband and the husband would separate from the wife. One would at once be prepared to leave his country if so required. One would even be ready to pass through the severest persecutions for the sake of the faith. (For further details, see (Surah Al- Anbiya, Ayat 3 and E.N. 5) thereof).
6. The allusion is to the chiefs who got up and left Abu Talib when they had heard what the Prophet (peace be upon him) said.
7. “This thing”: the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) asking them to affirm faith in La-ilaha ill-Allah so as to overpower both Arabia and the adjoining lands.
8. What they meant to say was this: Muhammad has some vested interests. He is extending this invitation to us in order to subjugate us and rule us as his subjects.
9. That is, there have been our own elderly people in the recent past. There are Christians and Jews also living in our land and in the adjoining lands; and there are the Zoroastrians abounding in Iran and Iraq and eastern Arabia. None of them has ever preached that man should only believe in One Allah, Lord of the worlds, and in none else beside Him. No one can remain content with One God only. Everyone believes in the beloved ones of Allah also. They are All paying obeisance to them, making offerings at their shrines and praying for fulfillment of their needs and requirements. From one place people get children and from another provisions of life, and from yet another whatever they pray for. The whole world believes in their powers and capabilities, and those who have benefited from them tell how the needs of the people are being met and their difficulties being removed through their help and grace. Now this man is telling us a queer thing which we had never heard before. He says that none of these holy men has any share in Godhead and that Godhead wholly belongs only to Allah.
10. In other words Allah says: Muhammad, these people are not belying you but Me. As for your truthfulness, they had never doubted it before. Now that they are doubting it, it is because of My Admonition. Now that I have entrusted to you the mission of admonishing them, they have started doubting the truthfulness of the very person whose righteousness and piety they used to swear by. The same theme has also been discussed in (Surah Al-Anaam, Ayat 33 and E.N. 21) thereof.
11. This is an answer to this saying of the disbelievers: Was he the only (fit) person among us to whom Allah’s admonition should have been sent down? Allah says: It is for Us to decide whom We should choose and appoint as a Prophet and whom We should not. These people do not possess any power and authority to exercise choice in this regard. If they wish to attain such an authority, they should try to reach the divine Throne in order to obtain control over the office of sovereignty of the Universe, so that revelation should come down on him whom they regard as deserving their mercy and not on him whom We regard as fit for it. This theme has occurred at several places in the Quran, because the unbelieving Quraish again and again said: How did Muhammad (peace be upon him) become a Prophet? Did Allah find no better man among the principal leaders of the Quraish worthy of this office? (See (Surah Bani-Israil, Ayat 100); (Surah Az-Zukhruf, Ayats 31-32).
12. “There” implies the city of Makkah. That is, the time is coming when these people shall be humbled and routed in the very place where they are opposing and mocking you. Then, they will be standing, with heads hung down, before the same man whom they despise and refuse to recognize as a Prophet of Allah.
13. The use of dhul-autad (of the stakes) for Pharaoh is either in the sense that his kingdom was very strong as though a stake were firmly driven into the ground, or for the reason that wherever his large armies camped, pegs of the tents were seen driven into the ground on every side, or because he would torture and punish at the stakes anyone with whom he was angry. And possibly the stakes may imply the pyramids of Egypt which seem to be driven into the earth like the stakes.