S31. SURAH LUQMAN

NAME: In verse No.12, a mention is made of wisdom being given to Luqman. This allusion gives the Surah its name.
TIME OF REVELATION: It was revealed in Makkah and from the topics it is surmised that it should have been revealed a little before the revelation of Surah Ankaboot, when the polytheists were compelling their children to stick to their own religion.
CENTRAL THEME: In matters of belief man should use his own common sense and insight instead of following the dictates of his parents and the lead of his forefathers, and he should take guidance from those signs which prove and lead to the unity of Allah. Instead of wandering in the darkness of Ignorance, he should accept the light of divine Revelation, which would brighten his life and would lead him to success.
ORDER OF THE VERSES: Verses Nos. 1 to 5 constitute preamble which brings out the fact that Quran is a book full of wisdom, which beautifies the lives of its followers and they become the true worshippers of the one God and staunch believers in the Hereafter. In the ayat Nos. 6 to 11 those persons are warned of their evil fate who talk of Allah and His religion without having any knowledge, they go to astray themselves and also misguide others; moreover good tidings are given to those who accept faith and act righteously. In ayat Nos. 12 to 19 wise counsels and sagacious points of Luqman have been presented, which emanated from his mouth as a result of the wisdom bestowed on him by Allah. These are the same teachings which Quran itself presents. Ayat Nos. 20 to 32 guide to those signs that enlighten the path of monotheism and the Hereafter. Verses Nos. 33 and 34 are the concluding verses, which create a fright about the day of meeting with God, and the attributes of Allah being the Knower, and Aware of all things has been made clear, so that the information about the Hereafter, which He is giving should be believed.

31. SURAH LUQMAN

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.

1. Alif. Lam. Meem.1

2. These are the revelations of the Book full of wisdom.2

3. A guidance and a mercy to the righteous, 3

4. Those who establish salat, pay Zakat, and have full faith in the Hereafter. 4

5. These are the rightly guided and these are the successful people.5

6. And there are some people who buy literature6 of pleasure so that they may mislead (people) from Allah’s way, without knowledge,7 and may make fun of them (ayah); for such people there is shameful punishment.

7. And when to such a person Our revelations are recited, he turns away in pride as if he did not hear them, as if his ears were sealed8. So give him tidings of a painful punishment.

8. Verily, for those who believed and perform good acts, for them are Gardens of Delight,9

COMMENTARY

1. For the explanation of separate letters, please see Surah Baqarah Note No.1 and Surah Yunus Note No.1.
In this Surah “Alif” points to Ayat (Revelations), which are mentioned in ayat Nos. 2, 7, 31 and 32.
“Lam” hints at Luqman, whose mention occurs in ayat Nos. 11 and 13. And “Meem” refers to ‘Muhsineen’ (righteous), mentioned in Verse No.3.

2. For explanation, please see Surah Yunus Note No.2.

3. ’Muhsineen’, i.e. righteous, means those persons who not only follow diligently Allah’s command, having faith in them, but also fulfill their responsibilities efficiently and make their acts charming.

4. For explanation, please see Surah Baqarah Note No, 10.

5. For explanation, please see Surah Baqarah Notes Nos. 11,12.

6. ‘Lahval hadith’ (words that make one negligent) refers to, as is evident from reference to the context, that kind of composition (written or spoken) which makes people negligent of God and the Hereafter and which diverts attention from His signs and His revealed verses, And buying such a composition means to accept it as true and to adopt it in practice. Accordingly it is stated in Surah Baqarah :
“These are the people who have bartered guidance for darkness but their trade was not profitable and they have lost true direction.” -Surah Baqarah -16).
That is: They have given up guidance and have adopted misguidance or straying. In comparison with Quran, the thing which they had made their hobby and the material for their straying was the poetry that incited them to pleasure seeking in the world and fanned the flames of love and romance (As for poets, the erring follow them. -Shua’ra 224), aimless story-telling (talking nonsense by night-Surah Muminoon 67), and songs which the professional female slaves used to sing. These three things are included in the’ Lahval hadith’, for they are the things which make one negligent of God and the Hereafter. And Quran and songs are opposing and contrary things, Therefore, those who love songs have no interest in hearing Quran, although there is such a sweetness in Quran that it has no peer, and by hearing it such ecstasy and pleasure is experienced that the spirit is elevated, but this blissful taste can be enjoyed by only those who have a liking to hear Quran.
General commentators have taken ‘lahval hadith’ to mean song, and Hazrat Abdullah Bin Masood (R) says it means song and like things (Tafseer Tabari Vol.21, page 39- 40). Besides these other companions and Tabi’een also say the same thing. In the present time, the fondness and fascination for singing has taken the form of an epidemic. What a difference between the Islamic teachings concerning modesty which teaches that women should not talk with men with womanly charm (Surah Ahzab -32)
“and that they should not walk in such a way that the sound of their trinkets in the feet may be heard by men.” (Surah Noor-31)and the present practice of the women singing and dancing freely before men and men’s singing obscene songs with various kinds of musical instruments. Then the modern media of propagation: cinema, radio, television and video, etc., have completely won over the people and all this has created an ambience of such a nature that every house has become a cinema hall, and every child sings film songs. This has resulted in the elimination of the sense of shame and modesty, which has made illegal sex a common thing and women’s chastity is not safe. And the second loss is this that seriousness and sobriety are Missing and people have become vulgar. The third loss is that the sense of responsibility has been wounded drastically and carelessness has taken its place, and the greatest loss is that man has become neglectful of his purpose of life. Now he is neither prepared to listen to the Divine words nor talk of His remembrance or counsel. He is terribly involved in worshipping worldliness, and the fact is that the intoxication of singing is worse than the intoxication of wine. If the people had heard the Quran with the ears of their heart, they would have come to their senses.

7. The words which make one neglectful of God and the Hereafter have no relation with the real knowledge; it is the product of ignorance and ‘jahiliyah’ (unIslamic) .

8. For explanation, please see Surah An’am, Note No.44.

9. Points to the fact that those who devoted their time in collecting the wealth of faith and in bejewelling themselves with righteous acts, instead of wasting it in listening to singing and music and in aimless pastime, they will be rewarded with Gardens of Delight in the Hereafter where they will have happiness unlimited.
But if they press you to associate with Me what you know nothing of, do not obey them, be kind to them in this world, and follow the path of those who turn to Me. To Me you all will return, then I will inform you what you had been doing. (AL-Quran)

9. Wherein they will dwell for ever. This is Allah’s definite promise. He is the Mighty, the Wise.

10. He created the heavens without pillars as you see it 10, and set into the earth mountains so that it may not shake with you11, and dispersed therein all kinds of animals. And we sent down water from the sky and We caused (plants) of every goodly kind to grow therein.

11. This is the creation of Allah. Now show me what those beside Him (whom you worship) have created ? Nay, but the wrong-doers are in open error.

12. We bestowed wisdom on Luqman12 (saying): “Give thanks13 to Allah; and whoever gives thanks, gives it for (the good of) his soul. And whoever refuses, verily Allah is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of Praise.14

13. And (recall) when Luqman said to his son, when he was admonishing him: “O my son! Do not ascribe partners to Allah. Verily , ascribing partners (to Him) is a tremendous wrong.”15

14. And We16 enjoined upon man concerning his parents; his mother bore him in hardship upon hardship, and it took two years for weaning him; give thanks to Me and to your parents.17 (Ultimately) to Me is the return.

15. But if they press you to associate with Me what you know nothing of18, do not obey them19,be kind to them20 in this world, and follow the path of those who turn to Me21. To Me you all will return, then I will inform you what you had been doing.

10. For explanation, please see Surah Ra’d Note No.5.

11. For explanation, please see Surah Nahl, Note No.26.

12. Luqman is that personality of Arabia, which is famous for wisdom and sagacity. He is mentioned by the poets of Arabia. But since there was no custom of writing history among Arabs, his life history could not be compiled. As for the traditions, contradictory points have been narrated therein. Therefore, we have to rely on what is stated in Quran only, which shows that:
1. Luqman was a grateful slave of Allah.
2. Allah had given him wisdom and sagacity in abundance.
3. According to him polytheism was the greatest wrong.
4. He believed in perfect knowledge and perfect might of Allah, and in recompense for one’s acts.
5. The counsels which he gave to his son were very valuable and in fact they were a precious property for the Arabs, and now Quran has made its utility common for all.
6. His counsels also contain direction for establishing salat, which testify that these counsels of Luqman are taken from the teachings of prophets, and that they are not the result of mere thinking. Allah had given him wisdom, that is why he had absorbed the prophetic teachings in himself and related them in an effective manner.
By wisdom is meant that understanding which makes truth and justice as a foundation for creed and practice. Luqman was blessed with this understanding. For this reason such wise counsels were uttered by him. By this those Arabs who were the addressees of the Quran were supposed to be made to understand that among their forefathers was a wise man like Luqman, who was admired by them, and who was also disseminating the same teachings which the Quran was doing. Then why they do not follow this virtuous forefather of theirs and why do they insist on following those forefathers who have gone astray?

13. That is: The greatest wisdom is that man should become a grateful slave of the Lord. Gratefulness is this that man should admit from his heart the blessings and favours of Allah bestowed on himself, should admit it by his mouth, and should adopt an attitude according to it. Then knowledge, understanding and wisdom are great virtues and whoever has them he should appreciate them fully.

14. Allah does not in any way benefit from anybody’s becoming a grateful slave, nor does He lose anything from anybody’s becoming ungrateful to Him, because He does not need anything nor does His being worthy of praises depend on your praising Him. He is an epitome of best attributes, therefore, worthy of praises, whether anybody praises Him or not. However if anybody thanks Him and praises Him, then he does his duty and in this way he provides for his own success, and whoever refuses to thank Him, he provides a proof of his own disability to appreciate his duty, and he digs his own grave.

15. Polytheism is a great wrong, for it is opposed to that justice on which the system of the earth and the heavens has been established. Moreover it is a great dishonesty against the rights of Allah, because worship is the right of Allah alone and none else, as the polytheist considers some one other than Allah as worthy of worship. Besides, one who commits polytheism commits a very severe sin and thus commits a great wrong against one’s own self.
For further explanation, please see Surah An’am Note No.147. From the counsels of Luqman to his son for not committing polytheism it is not correct to think that his son was a polytheist, because further on he advises his son to establish prayer, which Shows that he was a Muslim, and Luqman advised him with emphasis to avoid polytheism so that there may develop in his son a firm religious awareness and his belief may be further strengthened. Thus we learn a lesson that first of all a father should give such a teaching to his children that would keep them away from polytheism and would strengthen the creed of monotheism in their minds.

16. The text of this ayah and that of the following one is the statement of Allah and is an addition to what Luqman has said. He would not have considered it fit to advise his son about meting out kind treatment to himself. But since it was a very important point, Allah stated it in His own words and filled in the gap.

17. Since mother undergoes suffering after suffering, during her days of pregnancy and later on, she is more deserving of kind treatment at the hands of her children. In a Hadith it is state:
“A person came to the Messenger of Allah, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, and said:
‘O Messenger of Allah! who is most worthy of kind treatment at my hands?
He replied: ‘Your mother.’ He asked: ‘After that who?’
He replied: ‘Your mother.’ He asked: ‘ After that, who?’
He replied: ‘Your mother.’ He asked’ After that, who?’
He replied: ‘Your father.’
“ In the ayah, direction is given to thank the parents, while at other places emphasis is laid on giving them kind treatment. From this it becomes clear that the parents are to be treated kindly in such a way that there should be emotional attachment with them and kind words should also flow from the tongue in their favour. But Allah’s thanks take precedence as is clear from the ayah.

18. For explanation, please see Surah Ankaboot, Note No.10.

19. For explanation, please see Surah Ankaboot Note. No.11.

20. Here the world means that circle of lawful things which are permitted by the Shariah, If the parents are Non-Muslims or infidels, this kind treatment can be meted out to them too, provided it does not necessitate going against any Shariah law.

21. That is: In the matter of faith, parents are not to be obeyed that it is not necessary that the children should also have the same religion which the parents have. The reality of religion is to turn towards Allah, therefore, the children should follow that path which the people of faith have followed by turning to Allah, and that path is the path of the prophets of Allah (Peace be upon them).
“O my son ! establish salat, enjoin good and forbid evil, and endure with patience whatever befalls you. Verily, it is of brave deeds. “Do not turn away from men with scorn, nor walk proudly on the earth. Verily Allah does not like the arrogant and the vainglorious. ”Be modest in your gait and keep your, voice low. Verily the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.”(AL-Quran)

16. (And Luqman said): “O my son! If a thing were as small as a grain of mustard seed, and if it were in a rock or in the heavens, or in the earth, Allah will bring it forth. Verily, Allah sees the minutest thing, is Aware22.

17. “O my son ! establish salat 23, enjoin good and forbid evil 24, and endure with patience whatever befalls you25. Verily, it is of brave deeds26.

18. “Do not turn away from men with scorn 27, nor walk proudly on the earth.28 Verily Allah does not like the arrogant29 and the vainglorious30.

19. ”Be modest in your gait 31 and keep your, voice low32. Verily the harshest of all voices is the voice of the ass.” 33

20. Do you not see 34 that Allah has made subservient to you whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth35 and lavished on you His visible and unseen favours36? Yet among people there are some who dispute concerning Allah without knowledge or guidance or illuminating scriptures 37.

21. And when it is said to them: “Follow what Allah has revealed,” they reply: “Nay, but we will follow which we found our forefathers38 following.” What! will they (follow),when Satan is inviting them to the raging Flame ? 39

22. Whoever surrenders himself to Allah and leads a righteous life40 has grasped the firmest support.41 All matters will ultimately return to Allah.

22.That is : Allah is such a Being who can see the minutest of things and knows every thing, and if a minute thing like the seed of the mustard grain is hidden at any place in the universe, it is known to Him, and whenever He would like it, He would take it out. And when nothing is hidden from him, then the lightest of man’s action is not unknown to Him, and on the Day of Resurrection He will, surely bring it forth. In the Surah Zilzal it is stated:
“Then whosoever has done an atom’s weight of good, wil1 see it. And whosoever has done an atom’s weight of evil, will see it.” -(Surah Zilzal-7-8).

23. As we have stated above, to establish salat is according to the teachings of the prophets. The wise sayings of Luqman are also derived from the prophetic teachings.
That is why the direction for establishing prayer was also included in that.

24. It is learnt that enjoining good and forbidding evil is the responsibility of every individual, and not merely the responsibility of the ulema or the learned people. As for the method of its fulfillment, it depends on an individual’s personal capability and circumstances.

25. Whoever will come forward to propagate virtue and prevent evil, will automatically encounter opposition, for people generally are not prepared to accept reform easily, and subject the reformers to trials and sufferings. Therefore in this field there is great need for patience and perseverance.

26. Since this work is very difficult, therefore it needs courage and determination. If a person has courage, he can unhesitatingly jump into the fire of Namrood (Nimrod), and if he has no courage, then he cannot even utter the truth for fear of ordinary dangers. A man’s firm determination can cut the chains of steel while his cowardice binds him into chains.

27. Turning away from the people is the sign of man’s pride and arrogance. If a man suffers from, superiority complex, then he does not care for others, and this is terrible bad manners.

28. For explanation please see Surah Bani Israil, Note No.50.

29. ‘Mukhtal’ means proud and self-conceited, These bad trails develop in a man as a result of his having wealth, power. Leadership, knowledge, technical knowledge, which affects his behaviour and also his way of walking. Therefore, in the hadith a severe warning is given on walking arrogantly, drawing his clothes.’
“Whoever will draw his clothes with him while walking. Allah will not look at him on the Day of Resurrection.” -(Sahihul Bukhari, Kitabul Libas).
This is the manner of the kings and proudy people that they let fall the lower part of their royal gowns to the ground and while walking draw it with them in an arrogant way. If the trousers or pants are also below the ankle, it also creates a sense of pride in the wearer. For this reason the Shariah has prescribed the limit that the said dress should not be below the ankle. The prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam has said:
“The part of the loin cloth which will be below the ankles will be in the Hellfire.” -(Mishkat-quoted by Bukhari).
From this we get the guideline that man should not wear such clothes as display a sense of pride in him.

30.’Fakhoor’ means one who displays his superiority over others. Only those people who are shallow recount their achievements before others, so that it may be appreciated by them. This is a mean habit, which is severely disliked by Allah.

31. Being modest in bearing means that man in his behaviour, movements and walking should be dignified. Man should not appear to be so lazy in an artificial manner nor should be so active as to appear undignified.
In a hadith running to join prayer has also been forbidden as it shows indignity:
“When you hear ‘Iqamah’(call for prayer), go with dignity and calmness for salat, do not run, then whatever part of the salat you get to join, offer that part of the salat, and whatever part is missed, complete it.” -(Sahih Bukhari -Kitab-ul- Azan).
This guideline is from the moral point of view, that is it should be man’s habit to be modest and balanced in his bearing, otherwise when necessity calls for it a man must run, e.g. for extinguishing fire, or for saving some one’s life or for capturing a Criminal, etc. For further explanation, please see Surah Furqan, Note No.91.
From this it is clear that dancing is an evil act, because it is totally contrary to modest bearing and is an open manifestation of indignity, whether it is a man’s dance or a woman’s dance, or whether it is accompanied by obscene songs or by qawwall, or in a state of semi-consciousness.

32. That is: In conversation your voice should be low. Talking in a loud voice is not a thing to be appreciated, but is a sign of insensibility, and shouting appears to be indulging in quarrel.
Lowness in the voice is a good attribute which has its own effectiveness. Lowness in the voice as part of the bearing or habit is from the point of view of general behaviour, otherwise when needed there is nothing wrong in raising the voice, e.g. when announcing something or giving lecture, or performing Azan, etc.

33. By calling it similar to the voice of the donkey, the unseemly and harsh voice has been put in a bad light for being hated. Nobody likes to hear the voice of a donkey, then a man, who has a moral existence, why should he sound like a donkey.
It may be noted that in Islam external and internal, both have significance, and both interact on one another. Good behaviour which is connected with man’s external parts, like low voice, low sight, modest bearing, etc. become the means of creating good and righteous feelings in his internal self, and bad behaviour becomes the means of creating evil feelings and passions in his internal self and mind. Similarly those attributes which are related to the inner self, like sincerity, love, sympathy, etc., improve and beautify habits and manners, while bad attributes like jealousy, rancour, etc., develop bad character.

34. In the foregoing ayah the counsels of Luqman were finished. Now the direction of the discussion turns towards tawheed.

35. “Sakhkhara” means made subservient to or made serviceable to. Allah has made a number of things subservient to man so that he may derive benefit from them as he may like, e.g. animals from whom he takes work as he likes and he can slaughter them also. Similarly vegetables and minerals, etc. which he uses as he likes. But many things like the heavenly bodies which are out of man’s reach are continually providing him benefit, e.g. the sun which is continually giving out heat and light for mankind find we do not know what benefits we are deriving from the Cosmic Rays which are spread out in the open space and we also do not know what work is being done for us by the heavenly bodies. But our observation shows that these heavenly bodies are doing a lot of good for mankind.

36. Visible favours means perceptible and known favours, and unseen favours means those favours which benefit man but about which he is not aware. In the present age how many new discoveries have been made by science which has shown that they render great service inside the human body, provide resistance against diseases, help in nourishment, but they were unknown to man before. These and other such things have now come to the knowledge of man. And there are countless such things which are still unknown to man.

37. That is: After driving benefits from the things mentioned, above, man should have become grateful to Allah, but there are many men who turn out to be ungrateful, and create disputes about His being the real benefactor and the only God. These discussions and debates, are not based on knowledge, nor on guidance, nor extracted from the pages of a divine scripture, but they are based merely on ignorance and superstition.
For the explanation of knowledge. see Surah Hajj Note No.5.
By guidance here is meant those signs of monotheism which are found in man’s own self and in the outside world, and especially the guidance which is made available in the teachings of the prophets. (Peace be upon them). And by the illuminating scripture is meant the Book which is revealed by God, and the qualifying word ‘illuminating’ shows that the said Book should be in the right condition, otherwise any mutilated book or amended scripture cannot illuminate the path of guidance completely. And so far as the ‘Ved’ and ‘Gita’ are concerned, there is no proof in these books to show that they have been revealed or sent down by God, and about the Vedas it is also not clear as to who was its compiler or presenter. Then the subjects of these books also do not give evidence of their being the words of God. Therefore, they cannot be presented as proof.

38. In other words we will stick to our ancestral religion and the religious culture.

39.That is: In the matter of religion, to follow the astray forefathers or the polytheistic national culture, leaving aside the Divine revelations, is to accept the invitation of Satan, for Satan invites to Hell and this path leads direct to Hell.

40. It has become clear that man should surrender himself in a conscious way to Allah and should develop beauty and efficiency in his practical life.

41. By firmest support (wurwatul wuthqa) is meant the religion of Allah, which strengthens relationship with Allah.

23. And whoever disbelieves, let not his disbelief grieve 42 you. To us they will return, then we will inform them what they have been doing. Verily Allah knows the secrets of (men’s) breasts.

24. We will give them life’s comforts for a little while,43 and then we will drive them to a severe punishment.

25. If you ask them: “Who created the heavens and the earth,” they would answer: “Allah.”44 Say: “Praise be to Allah!” But most of them do not know.45

26. To Allah belong whatever is in the heavens and the earth.Verily, Allah, He is Self-Sufficient, Worthy of Praise !

27. If all the trees in the earth were pens, and the sea (were ink), with seven more seas to replenish it, the words of Allah could never be finished. Verily, Allah is Mighty, Wise.46

28. Your creation and your resurrection47 are only as (the creation and the resurrection) of a single soul. Verily, Allah is Hearer, Seer.48

29. Do you not see that Allah causes the night to pass into the day and the day into the night,49 and has subdued the sun and the moon, each running to an appointed term?50 and Allah is aware of what you do.

30. That is so, because Allah, He is the Truth and which they invoke beside Him is the False,51 and that Allah, He is Sublime, Great.52

42. That is: When you had looked after their welfare fully and had not spared any efforts in explaining what was good for them, and if inspite of all this they stuck to their disbelief, then why should you grieve about them and for their fate, they will get what is coming to them.

43. That is: The respite which they got for deriving benefit is very little. Very soon they will have to leave that and go to the next world.

44. The polytheists of Arabia believed that Allah Only was the Creator.

45. When the creator of the universe is Allah, then He is only worthy of thanks and praise. But many people do not know this big truth, and because of this commit polytheism.

46. That is: If all the trees on the earth are made into pens, and the water of the ocean is made into ink and additional water of seven seas is added as ink, even then all this material will not be sufficient to record all the things about Allah’s might and wisdom. It is obvious that it is not possible to record the work done by every particle created by Allah from the first day of creation, but Allah’s knowledge is so vast that it encompasses everything. If a man tries to conceive correctly His greatness, then he will have no hesitation in accepting these facts, which Quran is presenting. For further explanation, please see Surah Kahf, Note No. 133.

47. For Allah creating innumerable persons is as easy as creating a single person. Similarly to resurrect all the persons is as easy as resurrecting a single person. By His command “Be”, the whole mankind came into existence, then why will not the dead rise again by His same command ‘Be’?

48. Hints at the fact that when He sees and hears every act of His slaves, why will He not give rewards for their good acts and punishment for their evil act

49. For explanation, please see Surah Aal-e- Imran, Note No.39.

50. For explanation, please see Surah Ra’d Note No.8.

51. That is: The sun and the moon are subdued because Allah has caused them to be subdued. Had they been gods, then they could not have been subdued, and if there were more then one God, then the system of this universe would not have worked with such a regularity. Therefore, it is a clear proof of the fact that Allah is the only God and there is no possibility of existence of any other god beside Him. Therefore, whoever is being invoked by these polytheists as their god is a contradiction reality.

52. Allah’s grandeur is unmatched and greatness is for Him only. For explanation, please see Surah Ra’d Note No.25.

31. Do you not see that the ships sail upon the ocean by Allah’s grace, that He may show you of His signs? Surely, there are signs in this for every steadfast, thankful man.53

32. And if a wave enshrouds them like awnings, they cry to Allah, making their faith54 (submission) pure for Him. Then when He brings them safe to land, some of them lose their balance.55 None denies Our signs except the treacherous56 and the ungrateful.

33. Mankind ! Fear your Lord, and fear the Day 57 when the parent shall not avail his child nor any child his parent.58 Verily, Allah’s promise is the very truth. Let not the life of the world deceive you, nor let any deceiver 59 beguile you concerning Allah.

34. Allah ! He has the knowledge of the Hour (of Doomsday).60 He sends down the rain61 and knows what is in the womb62. No person knows what he will earn tomorrow63, and no person knows in what land he will die64. Verily, Allah is Knower, Aware.

53. When a man sails in ship he is surrounded by dangers and in the event of a storm, the dangers enhance manifold. This is a pointer that life is full of dangers, and it is Allah only who brings out men from dangers. But this guideline is received by those persons only who keep their cool and patience in dangers and sufferings, that is those who have the courage to be firm after finding the truth. From another aspect it will be realised that ship or boat is a great blessing from Allah, because man gets lots of benefits from it. Similarly when the boat or ship gets out of storm safely, it is really Allah’s great favour, but only those people are attentive to this favour who recognise it and are grateful to Him.

54. For explanation, please see Surah Yunus, Note No.42.

55.That is: Only a few persons stick to this point that they should invoke Allah with a sense of submission and humility, making their faith pure for Him, but many people break their covenant.

56.’Khattar’i.e. treacherous or traitor that is one who breaks his covenant with Allah. The hint of the ayah is at the fact that when there was storm, they invoked Allah, and by calling Him and praying to Him submissively they had confirmed their slavery of Allah, but when Allah brought them out safely from the storm, they broke their covenant and denied His signs and revelations.

57. That is : Fear the day when you will be presented before Allah in the Hereafter, and when you will have to account for your acts.

58. Neither the son will be of any use to his parents nor the parents for their children. Every one should care for his own salvation. He should think by accepting which faith he can save his future life in the Hereafter and can save himself from the ultimate punishment. But the situation is very amazing. Children remain on the same religion which their parents give them, although this religion being false will take the parents to Hell, and the children too.

59. Means Satan, who is the greatest deceiver of men concerning Allah.

60. Nobody knows when the Hour of Doomsday will strike. Only Allah knows it. His wisdom desired that He need not disclose this hour to anyone. Therefore, it is useless to ask the Prophet or to enter into any discussion about it. Instead of wasting time in this discussion, man should try to make preparation for this hour, because Doomsday will surely occur at its appointed time.

61. Allah sends rain according to His own plans. Therefore, the knowledge of the fact as to where, when and how much rain would fall, is known to Allah only. Whatever estimates man may form on the basis of his experiences about the rainfall may be correct or wrong, In the present times the forecasts of the Meteorological department are also not always correct, besides its area of forecast is also limited. It is unable to forecast whether in the coming year there will be any floods or the coming year would be dry .All these things are known to Allah only.

62. The full knowledge of the foetus that is growing in the womb of a mother is with Allah, only. Only He knows whether it will go waste by abortion or it will grow to be a child, what will be its temperament and physical attributes, what will be its capabilities and its strength for activities, etc. All this and other similar details about foetus and Genes are known to Allah only. Nobody knows whether in the womb of a particular woman a personality like Plato is taking shape or whether a particular child will grow to be Allama Iqbal, nor does anybody know whether this child will do righteous acts in his life or would be a menace to the society. Allah who creates him also makes a plan (destiny) for him and only He has knowledge as to what kind of personality is taking shape in the womb of a particular mother, and what will be its future life. In the present age, by the progress of science it has become possible to know whether a particular foetus in a woman’s womb is male or female, but this partial knowledge does not clarify what is stated in this ayah and which we have clarified in the above lines. There is no reason to limit the meaning of this verse to cover only knowledge of the sex of the foetus. When man does not know the sex of the foetus in the earlier period of the pregnancy, but it is known after four or five months of pregnancy after a fluid test of Amniocentesis or by sonography.

63. By earning is meant not only the earning for livelihood but also good or evil acts. Nobody knows what is going to happen tomorrow, in what things he will be tested, and whether he will earn good or evil. In short, it may either be his livelihood or the earning of good or evil, man’s ignorance is such that he does not know what is going to happen with him tomorrow. But Allah knows it fully.

64. It is not necessary that a man may die where he lives. There have been innumerable cases where a man has gone to far off places for some work and breathed his last in a foreign land. Earlier he had never imagined that he would go to such a distant place and would die there. It is only Allah who knows the time of everyone’s death and where he would die. The purpose of the ayah is to show that there are a number of near and known things but man does not know what would happen next, but inspite of his ignorance, the things do take place at the appointed time. Then if the time of the Doomsday has not been made known to man, then it does not negate the occurrence of the Doomsday. it will occur at the appointed time inspite of man’s ignorance about it as all other things occur at the appointed time in spite of man’s ignorance. In the hadith these five things mentioned in the ayah have been termed as ‘Mafateehul Ghaib’ (keys of the unseen) -(Bukhari -Kitabut Tafseer).That is: These are the gates of the knowledge of the Unseen whose keys are with Allah alone.