1. Several Qur’anic surah’s open with an introductory statement of the kind we find here, the purpose of it being to identify the true source of the Qur’an. This introductory statement seems to be similar to the announcement made before the commencement of a radio station's broadcast, whereby its specifics are identified. Notwithstanding this apparent similarity, the Qur’anic declaration about its provenance is much more significant. For when it is proclaimed at the very outset of a Qur’anic surah that the message comes from the Lord of the Universe, this not only indicates the origin and true source of the Qur’an, but also amounts to making a colossal claim, to hurling a stupendous challenge and to issuing a grim warning to the audience.

It is declared right away that the Qur’an is not a product of the human mind; rather, itis the Word of God. This declaration instantly places a grave question before man: should he believe this claim as true, or should he reject it as false? If one affirms its Divine origin, one has to surrender oneself to it in obedience. In this case, one no longer enjoys the freedom to act as one pleases. On the other hand, if one rejects it, one exposes oneself to serious hazard. For, if the Qur’an indeed is the Word of God, one’s willful rejection of it will lead to eternal perdition. In this respect, this opening declaration puts one on high alert, impels one to pay full heed to the discourse, and, thereafter, prompts one to decide whether it is the Word of God or not. Here, however, it has not simply been stated that the Qur’an was revealed by the Lord of the Universe. Instead, the assertion is couched in highly emphatic terms: “This Book, beyond all doubt, was revealed by the Lord of the Universe”, a statement that leaves no room for uncertainty about its Divine provenance. Were one to consider this assertion in the circumstantial setting of the Qur’an’s revelation in the overall context of the Qur’an’s teaching, it is evident that the claim contains within itself its own supporting evidence. This was not hidden from the Qur’an’s immediate audience the Makkans. This because they were thoroughly familiar with the life and conduct of its recipient, the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) both before and after this Book was revealed to him. They knew him to be the most honest, trustworthy, earnest and sincere member of their community, one who possessed an absolutely unblemished character. It was also well-known to them that before expounding the Qur’an and claiming to be God’s Messenger, he had never uttered anything similar to what he suddenly began to expound after his designation as God’s Messenger.

They were also cognizant of the unmistakable difference between the Prophet's own utterances and the Qur’an. They knew that stylistically the two were poles apart. They also realized that it was impossible for someone to adopt and master both these distinct styles, one that characterized his own utterances and the other that characterized the Qur’an.

The miraculous features of the Qur’an as a literary text were also not lost on them. Being well-versed in their own language, Arabic, they could clearly perceive that the Qur’an was beyond the ability of their best poets and litterateurs to compose. The vast difference between the Qur’an and the compositions of their poets, soothsayers and orators was also quite apparent to them. They could fully appreciate how noble and sublime the contents of the Qur’an were. It was also beyond them to identify any selfish motive in the Book or in its recipient of the kind that is noticeable in the works and claims of imposters. Even after a microscopic scrutiny of the Prophet's life it was impossible for them to say that the Prophet's mission was motivated by any desire to acquire benefit for himself, his family, his clan, or his tribe. It was perfectly obvious that he had no personal axe to grind and no material benefit in. mind. Moreover, his audience also witnessed the wholesome changes that were manifest in the lives of those who were attracted towards and accepted the Prophet’s message.

Taken together, these facts constituted a strong argument to confirm the veracity of the Prophet's claim as God’s Messenger. Seen against this backdrop, it becomes clear how perfectly appropriate it was to assert that the Qur’an was, beyond all doubt, revealed by the Lord of the Universe.

The reasons for the assertion were so evident that explicitly adducing any further argument to support the assertion was unnecessary.

2. After making this introductory statement, the very first objection that the Makkan polytheists put forward against the Prophet Muhammad's claim to be God's Messenger is taken up for examination.

3. This is not merely an interrogative statement; it also expresses a strong sense of astonishment at the unbelievers’ implied charge that the Prophet (peace be on him) himself had fabricated the Qur’an. The purpose of the statement was to emphasize that the unbelievers were making an audacious claim, one that completely disregarded the myriad facts that established the Qur’an as God’s Word beyond all doubt, for it was simply out of the question that the Prophet (peace be on him) had made it up and then falsely attributed it to God. How come they felt no shame in making such absurd and baseless claims? Why were they not even deterred by what opinions others who thoroughly knew the Prophet (peace be on him) would think of them? After all, these people well knew the task in which he was engaged, the message he was giving to his people, and the Book he had brought.

4. In the previous verse (v. 2) it was deemed enough to say merely that this Book had, “beyond all doubt, been revealed by the Lord of the Universe”. The truth of the statement that the Qur’an had been revealed by God was so obvious that no further evidence was needed to reinforce it.

Likewise, in the present verse we find that in order to refute the allegation that it had been fabricated it was considered sufficient to simply say the Qur’an, that is the “Truth from your Lord”.

The reason for this is the same as has been explained in note 1 above.

People knew all there was to know about the great person who had brought the Book, the milieu and the dignified manner in which he expounded it. Moreover, the Makkans were also witnesses to the high literary quality of the Qur’an, to the sublimity of its content, and to its wholesome impact on the lives of the people who accepted the Prophet’s teachings. In view of all this, the Qur’an’s being the “Truth from your Lord” was so patently evident that it only needed to be so stated in order to repudiate the unbelievers’ allegations regarding its fabrication. Were one to proffer arguments to establish its Divine provenance, instead of strengthening that might in fact weaken the claim. This can be illustrated by the following example. Suppose the sun is shining and someone contends that it is both dark and night. Here, one does not need to adduce specious arguments to establish the manifest truth that the sun is shining. It is enough to respond to such a brazenly absurd contention by simply saying: “Do you claim this to be night, when a radiant, sunny day is right in front of you?” When something is so evident, any attempt to put forward logical and rational arguments to prove it, in fact fail to lend any support to it. If anything, the arguments might weaken the force of a simple statement expressing a very evident fact.

5. Apart from being the Truth and being from God, the other evidently distinct features of the Qur’an are its being based on wisdom and its being a blessing for those to whom it was addressed. The people of Arabia knew that no Messenger had come to them for centuries. They were also well aware that their nation had been subjected to ignorance, moral degeneration and backwardness for a long time. There was, then, no reason for them to be astonished at the advent of a Messenger in their midst for the purpose of directing them to the Right Way. In fact, the raising of a Messenger among them was what they sorely needed. God had fulfilled this need by sending the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him) and this was for their own good.

It is pertinent to note that the true faith preached earlier in Arabia was by the Prophets Hud and Salih (peace be on them). Both of them belonged to pre-historical times. However, around 2,500 years before the Prophet Muhammad’s advent, the Prophets Abraham and Ishmael (peace be on them) were sent to the people of Arabia. They were followed by the Prophet Shu‘ayb (peace be on him), who was the last Messenger raised among them before the advent of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him). However, two thousand years had already elapsed since the time of Shu‘ayb (peace be on him).

It was, therefore, quite justifiable to say that no warner had come to the people of Arabia. The present verse, however, does not mean quite literally that no warner had ever come to them; rather, the purpose of the statement is to stress that this had been the case for a very long time and so the people of Arabia were in need of a warner.

Here, another question arises and this ought to be resolved before proceeding further. While studying this verse one is likely to countenance the question: on what basis will the Arabs, who had lived during the centuries of Jahiliyah, a period during which no Messenger came to them, be called to account by God in the Hereafter? This because they did not know True Guidance from error. Hence, if they fell into error, how can they be held accountable for it? This problem is resolved when we bear in mind that while the people of Arabia of the Jahiliyah period might not have had an extensive knowledge of the true faith, they knew well enough that monotheism represents the truth and that the earlier Prophets never endorsed idolatry.

This was part of the Arab tradition, one that had come down to them from the Prophets of yore and in their own land. They also knew that monotheism was taught by the Prophets Moses, David, Solomon and Jesus (peace be on them) who were raised in lands adjacent to Arabia.

It was also well-known that the Arabs of the past had followed the Abrahamic faith, and that idolatry had been introduced among them at a much later date by ‘Amr ibn Luhayy.

Notwithstanding the prevalence of polytheism and idolatry in the Arabian Peninsula on the eve of the Prophet’s advent, there were still many noble souls in different parts of Arabia who proclaimed their adherence to monotheism. Such people publicly condemned sacrificial offerings made to idols. A little before the Prophet's advent, one comes across a large number of people of this orientation known as Hunafa’ such as Quss ibn Sa idah al-Iyadi, Umayyah ibn Abi al-Salt, Suwayd ibn ‘Amr al-Mustaliqi, Waki‘ ibn Salamah ibn Zuhayr al-Iyadi, ‘Amr ibn Jundub al-Juhani, Abu Qays Sarmah ibn Abi Anas, Zayd ibn ‘Amr ibn Nufayl, Waraqah ibn Nawfal, ‘Uthman ibn al-Huwayrith ibn Jahsh, ‘Amir ibn al-Zarb al-‘Adwani, ‘Allaf ibn Shihab al-Tamimi, al-Mutalammis ibn Umayyah al-Kinani, Zuhayr ibn Abi Sulma, Khalid ibn Sinan ibn Ghayth al-‘Absi, ‘Abd Allah al-Quda ‘I and others..

The hunafa’ openly proclaimed monotheism to be the true faith and strongly dissociated themselves from the creed of the Arab polytheists.

This, thus, indicates the impact of the vestiges of earlier Prophets’ teachings. Furthermore, the inscriptions discovered in the course of modern archaeological research in Yemen of the fourth and fifth centuries, confirm that a monotheistic creed had currency in South Arabia.

Adherents of this monotheistic faith recognized al-Rahmaan and the “Lord of the heavens and the earth” as the only True God. An inscription of 378 C.E., excavated from the ruins of a place of worship, reads as follows: “This place of worship has been built for the worship of God, the Lord of the heavens.” In another inscription of 465 C.E., we find the words of similar import: (29!) All this points to the vogue of monotheism and is an indication of belief in the Most Compassionate God. Another inscription of 512 C.E. was discovered at Zabad, which is located between the River Euphrates and Qinnasrin in northern Arabia. It reads as follows: “In the name of God.

There is no power except His and no thanks are due to any except to Him.” All this conclusively establishes that prior to the Prophet Muhammad’‘s advent the teachings of the earlier Prophets had not been altogether reduced to oblivion. Not all traces of the past had been erased. There was still much in Arabia to remind people that their God was One. (For further details see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. VII, al-Furqan 25: n. 84, pp. 40-41.)

6. Here, another objection put forward by the Makkan polytheists against the Prophet's call to monotheism is taken up for examination.

The Makkans were incensed by the Prophet’s denial of the Divinity of their idols and holy men and by his pronouncement that none besides the One True God was their deity. They were further incensed that he said no one other than He could dispose of their needs, heed their prayers, and remove their distresses, and that there was no Lord other than He Who had absolute power and authority.

7. For further elaboration see al-A ‘raf 7:54; Yunus 10:3 and al-Ra‘d 13:2.

8. Their true God is He Who created the heavens and the earth. The unbelievers are grossly mistaken in believing that anyone other than He has any share in the authority of God, the Creator of the Universe and of all that is in it. Everything and everyone other than God is necessarily a created being. Moreover, God has not retired from the scene after having created the Universe. He fully remains the Lord and Master, the Sovereign and Ruler of His Universe. How foolish it is, then, on the unbelievers’ part to consider created beings to be in control of their destiny! If God does not come to their rescue in their hour of distress, who has the power to rescue them? By the same token, if God seizes them with punishment, who has the power to secure their release? If God decides not to entertain someone's intercession, who has the power to thrust, that intercession on Him?

9. This means that a thousand years of man’s history are no more than a day in God’s reckoning. The tasks God entrusts His angels with on a particular day are completed by them before they are given further tasks for the following day. Such a day, however, is equal to a thousand years according to human computation.

This idea is also expressed in two other places in the Qur’an. One can better comprehend what is being said here by considering the relevant verses. The unbelieving Arabs used to say that the Prophet (peace be on him) had been warning them for years that their rejection of his call would bring about God’s scourge on them. Despite repeated statements to this effect over the course of several years, no scourge struck them. This even though they had repeatedly rejected the Prophet’s message in quite categorical terms. Had the Prophet’s warnings been true, they contented, they should have been annihilated long ago. The Qur’an responded to this by saying: “They ask you to hasten the punishment. Allah shall most certainly not fail His promise; but a Day with your Lord is a thousand years of your reckoning”, (al-Hajj 22:47). At another place, the Qur’an says: “A beseecher besought the visitation of chastisement, (a chastisement meant) for the unbelievers, one which none can avert; a chastisement from Allah, the Lord of the ascending steps, by which the angels and the spirit ascend to Him in one Day, the duration of which is fifty thousand years.

So, (O Prophet), persevere with gracious perseverance. Verily they think that the chastisement is far off, while We think that it is near at hand.” (Al-Ma rij 70:1-7.) These statements drive home the point that God’s decisions do not necessarily conform to human computations of time. If a nation is warned of disastrous consequences because of following a particular course of action, it would be altogether puerile to interpret this warning to mean that the evil consequence of its misconduct will invite a scourge upon it the very next day. The evil consequences of its misconduct might come to the surface not just after some months or some years, but possibly after centuries.

10. Creatures know only a little. Numerous things are beyond the ken of their knowledge. Of these creatures be they angels, jinn, prophets, saints or pious people — none is All-Knowing. Omniscience is an attribute that is exclusively God's. Everything is known to Him, be it something that happened in the past, or occurs today, or will take place in the future.

11. He is the One Who prevails over all else. There is no power to resist His will or to prevent the fulfilment of His command. Everything is subservient to God and none has the power to oppose Him.

12. Despite being Most Mighty and having overwhelming power, God does not wrong anyone; rather, He is Most Merciful and Most Clement towards His creatures.

13. God's creations in the Universe are innumerable. Of them, none ‘is flawed or blemished, or out of tune with the overall scheme of things.

On the contrary, each object has an elegance and grace of its own; each is well proportioned and in its proper place. God has created everything in the best shape and has invested it with the most suitable features. For instance, one cannot even imagine a better shape than that of eyes and ears for seeing and hearing: Air and water are also there for the purpose for which they have been created. Water is possessed of all the features required of it. Man cannot identify any flaw in God's grand design. Nor is it possible for him to suggest any improvement in His scheme of things.

14. God first brought man into being by an act of direct creation and then equipped him with procreative powers, thereby ensuring the continuity of the human race. God’s creative power was manifest first in investing the elements drawn from the earth with life, consciousness and reason as a result of which a species as wonderful as man came into being.

God’s next wondrous act was that He installed an amazing reproductive machinery within man’s own body. The structure and function of this machinery are simply mind-boggling.

This Qur’anic verse clearly affirms the direct creation of the first man.

Scientists under the spell of Darwin’s theory raise their eyebrows at the very notion of man’s direct creation. Yet they cannot deny the direct creation of the first living cell, if not of man then of other species of living beings. For in the absence of the direct creation of the first living cell, one would have to accept that life began by sheer accident. Even a single cell creature, notwithstanding its simple appearance, is so complex, delicate and replete with such wisdom that it would be patently foolish to consider it to have come into being accidentally rather than by God’s command.

Such a notion is much more unscientific and illogical than the concept of direct creation which the adherents of the theory of evolution find hard to digest. Furthermore, once it is affirmed that the first living cell came into existence by an act of direct creation, theories no difficulty in believing that the first member of every living species owes its existence to God’s direct creation, followed by varying forms of procreative arrangements.

This idea resolves all the vexing problems that emanate from the well-known missing links and other gaps that riddle the Darwinian theory of evolution. (For further discussion of the issue, see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. 1, Al ‘Imran 3: n. 54, p-260; Vol. II, al-Nisa’ 4: n. 1, p.5 and al-An ‘am 6: n. 63, p. 258; Vol. III, al-A ‘raf 7: nn. 10 and 145, pp. 7-10 and 107; Vol. IV, al-Hijr 15: n. 17, pp. 288-289; Vol. VI, al-Hajj 22: n.5, p.7, and al-Mu'minun 23: nn. 12-13, pp. 87-88.)

15. God causes the sperm microscopic though its volume is — to grow into a full-fledged human being along with his various limbs and internal organs.

16. The word “spirit” here does not merely denote the life owing to which the body of a living being is activated; rather, it signifies a specific essence comprised of intellect, consciousness, reason, discernment, choice and free-will. It is by dint of these that man is distinguished from all other species of earthly creatures and is invested with a specific personality, individuality, and God’s vicegerency.

God has identified that this “spirit” is His. This could be either in the sense in which any other thing is mentioned as belonging to its owner.

Alternatively, it might mean that the qualities of knowledge, reflection, cognition, volition, judgement and authority which characterize man are reflections of God’s qualities. These qualities are not derived from matter; rather, they are attributable to God Himself. Man’s knowledge is derived from God’s knowledge. Likewise, man’s wisdom and authority are also derived from God’s wisdom and authority. In other words, these qualities have no other source but God Himself. (For further explanation see Towards Understanding the Qur'an, Vol. IV, al-Hijr 15: nn. 17-19, pp. 288-290.)

17. There is great subtlety in this statement. Before mentioning God's breathing of His spirit into man, all references to him are in the third person — that God originally created-man from clay, that He then made man’s progeny from the extract of a mean fluid, and that He duly proportioned him. Even after all this was accomplished, man was still not worthy of being addressed by God. However, as soon as man was infused with God’s spirit, he assumed a distinct identity making him worthy of direct address from God. He is then told that God has “bestowed upon your ears and eyes and hearts”. This transition from the use of the third’ to the second person pronoun is significant.

The words “ears” and “eyes” here represent the means through which man obtains knowledge. Doubtlessly, man has also been endowed with the senses of taste, touch, and smell. Still, sight and hearing are more important than the other means of sense perception. Accordingly, the Qur’an speaks of these two as God’s great bounties. This is followed by mentioning that man has been granted qalb (heart), which indeed signifies “mind”.

In Qur’anic parlance qalb signifies the faculty that sifts and arranges the information acquired through the senses, draws conclusions from it, chooses one of various possible courses of action, and then decides to follow. it.

18. Man is told that he was not granted something so immensely valuable as spirit and other highly noble characteristics merely to enable him to live in the world like animals, pursuing a scheme of life that befits brutes. Instead, man was granted eyes so that he might have insight into the truth, rather than being blind to it. He was granted ears to pay heed to the call of the truth rather than being deaf to it. He was also granted a “heart” in order to comprehend the truth and choose the right course of thought and action rather than to pander to his animal instincts, or to use them to weave perfidious philosophies and chalk out programs of rebellion against his Creator. It is possible that after receiving all these enormous bounties from God, man might succumb to polytheism or atheism, or fall prey to deifying himself or any of God’s other creatures, or he may idolize his carnal desires and immerse himself in sensual pleasures. If he does any of these, this amounts to his declaring that he is altogether unworthy of the wonderful bounties he received from God, and further that instead of having been created as a human being he might as well have been created as a monkey, a wolf, a crocodile or a crow.

19. After having responded to the unbelievers’ objections to the doctrines of monotheism and Prophet hood, the discourse is now directed .at demolishing their misconceptions about the third major doctrine of Islam — the Hereafter. Verse 10 opens with the phrase “[And] they say”, which connects the present paragraph with the previous one. This implies that those who deny that human beings will be raised after death are the very same people who deny that Muhammad (peace be on him) is God’s Messenger and that God is the only deity.

20. There is a subtle gap between the earlier sentence and the present one. Readers are expected to fill this gap, which in fact comprises a great wealth of ideas. The earlier sentence records the unbelievers’ objection.

The objection is so absurd and preposterous that it is not even worthy of refutation. It is simply stated because its very mention is enough to establish its utter absurdity.

Objections to the doctrine of the Hereafter rest on two contentions and both are flawed, irrational. The unbelievers rejected the concept of resurrection, saying: “Shall we be created afresh after we have become lost in the earth?” But do the beings called “we” here really “become lost in the earth?” Let us consider this. As long as we are alive, several of our bodily limbs may be amputated. Nevertheless, the entity called “we” remains fully intact. No part of that entity is removed alongside the amputated bits. But once the essence of what “we” are comprised.

of is extracted from our body, then although we still see the body, the entity called “we” ceases to exist. Hence, once this happens, even the most ardent lover carries his beloved’s body and buries it. This because after death, the beloved has ceased to be. The lover, therefore, consigns the body, which had once housed his beloved, to the grave. So the very first premise of the unbelievers’ contention is baseless.

The unbelievers also posed the question: “Shall we be created afresh?” So doing, they expressed both astonishment and denial. Had they reflected even a little on what is meant by “we”, the very question would not have arisen. For how did “we” come into being? Did it not happen that earthly elements such as coal, iron and calcium carbonate were brought together to create that physical skeleton, which then became the locus of “our” existence? Then, what happens after death? Once “we” leave this skeleton, the material constituents of the body, which had been drawn from the earth, are returned to it. The question then is: cannot He Who originally provided a locus for “us”, by bringing together a few earthly elements, not provide “us” with the same kind of locus again by bringing together the same material constituents? If something happened once, what can prevent its recurrence? All this is pretty evident and one only has to use one’s common sense to easily grasp it. But why do the unbelievers not allow their minds to move in this direction? Why do they constantly invent baseless objections against the concept of Life after Death and the possible occurrence of the Hereafter? Disregarding all secondary matters, God indicates the basic reason for their flawed thinking by saying: “... they deny that they will meet their - Lord”. The pith of the matter is not that they find resurrection too weird to fathom or something they really feel deeply convinced to be beyond the range of the possible. What really prevents them from comprehending this concept is their overwhelming desire to lead an unbridled life, their inclination to commit as many sins as they wish, and to still leave the world without being called to account. Denial of resurrection comes in handy for all those who cherish such a licentious way of life.

21. The Qur’an tells the unbelievers that the true essence of their existence will not be lost in the earth. When the appointed time comes, the angel of death will seize a person’s essence in its fullness, allowing no part of it to be lost. The whole of it will be taken by the angel of death and he will subsequently place it before his Lord.

This verse throws light on a number of truths that merit serious consideration:

i. The verse clarifies that death is not a mechanical process; it is not like a watch that automatically comes to a standstill because its machine needs rewinding. On the contrary, God has appointed a special angel who seizes every person’s soul at an appointed time in the manner an official take something into his custody on behalf of the state.

We learn from other Qur’anic verses that the angel of death is assisted in his task by his staff who perform a variety of functions pertaining to bringing about death, extracting souls from people’s bodies and keeping them in their custody. We are also told that they treat the souls of righteous believers in one way and those of criminals in quite a different way. (For detailed information see al- Nisa’ 4:97, al-An ‘am 6:93; al-Nahl 16:28 and al-Waqi‘ah 56:83-94.)

ii. It also clarifies that death does not lead to man’s extinction. After being extracted from a person's body, the soul continues to exist. The Qur’an says: “The angel of death who has been charged with your souls shall gather you and then you shall be brought back to your Lord.” This clearly indicates that people’s souls will continue to exist, for obviously a non-existent thing cannot be placed in someone’s charge. The statement also implies that what has been taken charge of will remain intact with its custodian, the angel of death.

iii. It also indicates that what the angel of death seizes at the time of a man’s death is his “ego” rather than his biological being. Man’s ego lies at the core of his being. His ego is extracted intact, without subjecting it to any addition or diminution in respect of its essential features. Thereafter, it is this ego that is brought back to the Lord. It will be restored to anew body when man is resurrected on the Day of Judgement and will face God’s reckoning and receive reward or punishment.

22. The reference here is to the spectacle of the Hereafter when the human ego, after returning to the Lord, will stand before Him to face reckoning.

23. Had it been in God’s scheme of things to direct man to the Right Way after making him directly observe and experience the reality of the Hereafter, it would not have been necessary to put him through a long series of trials and tribulations in this world. In God’s scheme of things, however, it was necessary that man should be tested while the ultimate reality is hidden from him, and remains beyond the ken of his perception.

The reason being that man is expected to recognize the truth as a result of reflecting on God's Signs in his own being and in the Universe around him. God assists him in this regard by sending Messengers and Scriptures so that he is tested as to whether he avails himself of the guidance so sent him.

He is also tested on another count: this being whether, after knowing the truth, he is able to exercise due control over his baser self and remain free from the bondage of desires and worldly interests so as to accept the truth and mold his conduct accordingly. If he fails in these tests there would be no point in putting him to the same tests again. If he were sent back to the world after having witnessed the Day of Judgement and the Reckoning at first hand, he would in fact not be put to any test at all. Likewise, if his mind is purged of all that he had observed and he is returned to the world while the larger reality is still hidden from him, he will perform exactly as he did before, and the result is bound to be the same. (For further elaboration see Towards Understanding the Qur’an, Vol. 1, al-Baqarah 2: n. 228, pp. 163-164; Vol. II, al-An ‘am 6: nn. 6 and 141, pp. 217- 218 and 297-298; Vol. IV, al-Ra‘d 13, p. 218 and al-Hijr 15: n. 39, pp. 297-298; Vol. IV, Yunus 10: n. 26, pp. 24-25, and Vol. VI, al-Mu'minun 23: n. 91, p. 125.

24. The allusion here is to God’s address to Iblis at the time of Adam’s creation. The account in Siirah Sad 38: vv. 65 ff. which narrates the whole story of Adam’s creation mentions that Iblis refused to prostrate himself before Adam and sought respite till the Last Day during which time he would try to mislead Adam’s progeny. In response, God told him: “This is the truth - and I only speak the truth —I will certainly fil! Hell with you and with all those among them who follow you”, (Sad 38:84-85).

Here the word ajma‘in (all) is used. This does not mean, however, that all men and jinn will be hurled into Hell. What is rather stated is that devils and those human beings who follow them will all be consigned to Hell.

25. Engrossed in worldly pleasures as the unbelievers are, they completely forget that a day will come when they will have to return to their Lord.

26. The believers stand out for abjuring erroneous ideas and readily accepting God’s directives and humbly serving Him.

27. Rather than immerse themselves in an orgy of pleasures in the watches of the night, the believers devote themselves to worshipping their Lord. They are unlike those who need long nocturnal sessions of singing, dancing and entertainment of different kinds to get over the strains of their working days. By contrast, after they have worked hard to perform their duties during the day, they spend their nights in remembering and worshipping their Lord; they quiver for fear of Him, concentrate all their hopes in Him. The words “their sides forsake their beds” does not mean that they never go to sleep at night. The point is rather that they devote a good portion of the night to worshipping God.

28. The word “sustenance” in this context obviously means lawful, wholesome sustenance. Unlawfully earned sustenance is not reckoned in the Qur’an as sustenance granted by God.

Another distinguishing feature of believers is that they expend in charity out of the lawful sustenance bestowed on them by God, be it large or small. The believers never spend beyond what they have lawfully earned and refrain from having recourse to unlawful earnings to meet their needs.

29. The following hadith was narrated by Abu Hurayrah from the Prophet (peace be on him) and can be found in the Hadith collections" of Bukhari, Muslim, Tirmidhi and in the Musnad of Ahmad ibn Hanbal through several different chains of narration. “The Messenger of God said: God says: ‘I have prepared for My pious servants what no eye has ever seen, nor any ear ever heard, nor any man ever imagirted’.” (See. Bukhari, K. al-Tawhid, Bab: Yuriduna an yubaddilu Kalam Allah; Muslim, K al-Jannah ..., Bab: Sifat al-Jannah; Tirmidi, K. (Abwab) Tafsir al-Qur’an, Bab: Wa min Surat al-Sajdah; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 2, p. 313 — Ed.) A tradition embodying the same content but with slight verbal variations was narrated by Abu Sa ‘id al-Khudri, Mughirah ibn Shu bah and Sahl ibn Sa‘d al-Sa‘id, and is recorded by Muslim, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Jarir al-Tabari and Tirmidhi. (See Muslim, K. al-Jannah, Bab: Sifat al-Jannah; Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Musnad, vol. 5, p. 334; Tabari, Tafsir, K. al-Tafsir, Bab: Wa min Surat al-Sajdah. Ed.)

30. In this verse, the Qur’an employs two mutually opposed expressions: “those who believe and act righteously” and “the evil-doers”.

The people of the first group accept God as their Lord and sole deity and obey the law transmitted through His Messengers. By contrast, the evil-doers follow the path of rebellion, arrogate to themselves the right to behave as they please, and are prone to obey others than God.

31. The thought patterns and ways of living of the two groups are markedly different in this world. In like manner, the treatment that will be meted out to each of them by God in the Hereafter will be different.

32. For the believers, the Gardens of Paradise will not serve the purpose of occasional promenade; they will rather be the places where they will dwell forever.

33, “The greater chastisement” here refers to the chastisement to which the unbelievers and evil-doers will be subjected in the World-to-Come.

The verse, however, also speaks of “some chastisement” in this world, which refers to things like serious diseases, death of kith and kin, tragic accidents, and losses and failures of various types which people face in the course of their worldly lives. There are also storms, earthquakes, floods, epidemics, famines, riots, warfare’s and other calamities which befall a people collectively, sometimes affecting the lives of millions.

These calamities afflict people in order that they may take heed before the greater chastisement overtakes them. They should give up those patterns of thought and action that lead them to the immense chastisement of the Hereafter. In other words, God has not made man’s life in the world to be spent without care and concern. Man has not been granted an altogether smooth sail in this life. Calamities visit him so that he may purge his mind of the delusion that there is no power above him capable of causing harm.

God has so arranged the order of things in the world that individuals, nations and countries are periodically afflicted with devastating calamities in order to remind them of their utter helplessness and to impress upon them that there exists a pervasive supreme. power.

They are thus made to realize that their destiny is controlled by someone else other than themselves. This real power and authority rests with God, not with man. Whenever any calamity from God strikes man it becomes evident that he can neither avert it himself nor by invoking any jinn, spirit, or god. Far from being simply natural disasters, these calamities serve as warnings from God to dispel man’s misperceptions and prompt him to recognize the reality of things. By deriving lessons from these, man can mend his ways during his existence by embracing right beliefs and reforming his conduct. This alone will save him from the greater chastisement of the Hereafter.

34. “The Signs of the Lord” are quite pervasive and cover a pretty wide range. If one bears in mind the Qur’anic descriptions of these Signs, one will find they fall under the following six categories:

i. The Signs found in the wide expanses of the heavens and the earth and in the overall system underlying the workings of the Universe;

ii. The Signs manifest in man’s procreation, his structure, and his existence as a whole;

iii. The Signs found in man’s intuition, in his unconscious and subconscious, and in his moral conceptions;

iv. The Signs in the human experience of history.

v. The Signs manifest in the earthly and heavenly calamities that befall man, and

vi. Finally, the Signs that God has sent down through the agency of His Messengers in order to apprise man, in a reasonable and persuasive manner, of the truths that are corroborated by these Signs.

Taken together, these Signs consistently and emphatically impress upon man that he is neither without any God nor is he the servant of a multiplicity of gods. Rather, the only right course for him is to serve and worship the One True God. Furthermore, man has not been sent to this world as one who is absolutely free and unaccountable, as one endowed with the right to act as one pleases, nor as an irresponsible being accountable to no one. On the contrary, after man completes the term of his worldly life, he will return to his Lord with the record of his deeds to face God’s reckoning. Thereafter he will be rewarded or punished in light of his performance. Hence, it is in man’s own interest to follow the guidance sent to him by his Lord through His Prophets and as embodied in the Scriptures and to give up acting as though he were endowed with the right to act as he pleases.

Thus, all possible measures have been taken by God to direct man to the Right Way. The truth has been explained to him in a myriad of ways.

A whole range of Signs provide for his admonition. He has also been granted the faculties of sight, hearing and rational thinking. So if man then turns a blind eye to all these Signs, closes his ears to every instruction and admonition, and uses his head and heart to weave together warped philosophies of life, it would be no exaggeration to say that none is more criminal than man himself. Hence, when such a man returns to his Lord after completing his term of life, he certainly deserves a severe punishment for his rebellion.

35. This message, although apparently addressed to the Prophet (peace be on him), is meant to be directed to those who had doubts about his being God’s Messenger and the recipient of His Book. - From here on the discourse turns to the theme broached in the opening verses (vv. 2-3) of this surah. The Makkan unbelievers flatly denied that any Scripture had been granted by God to the Prophet (peace be on him). Rather, they accused him of having forged something which he subsequently ascribed to God. This is clearly refuted in the opening verses of the surah.

Here, a further answer to this objection is provided. The unbelievers had expressed astonishment at the very idea that God revealed any Book to the Prophet (peace be on him), dismissing such a notion as patently impossible. They wanted that all others should either deny this or at least consider it a doubtful proposition. However, the fact is that there was nothing unusual about God’s revelation of a heavenly Book to His Prophets. This was, after all, not the first instance of a Book being revealed.

Many Prophets had received Scriptures in the past, the best known example being the grant of the Torah to Moses (peace be on him). Hence, if a Scripture of the same kind was made available to the people of Arabia through the Prophet Muhammad (peace be on him), what was there that _ was so novel or weird about this to give rise to doubt and skepticism?

36. In the same way that the Torah was meant to guide the Children of Israel - a point already made in verse 3 of this surah — a Scripture has now been sent to guide the people of Arabia.

This statement can be better appreciated if it is viewed in its proper historical context. It is a fact of history - a fact with which the Makkan unbelievers were well acquainted — that the Children of Israel had been subjected to a life of great hardship and indignity for several centuries during their existence in Egypt. Then, God raised among them the Prophet Moses (peace be on him) and through him they were emancipated from the yoke of slavery. God also revealed His Book to Moses (peace be on him) and thanks to its blessings the Children of Israel rose, under its guidance, to become an illustrious nation. By alluding to this historical fact, the people of Arabia are being told that the Qur’an was their Book of guidance in the same way that the Torah had been revealed to provide guidance to the Children of Israel.

37. True, the Torah changed the course of the Israelites’ history. All this was not because a Heavenly Book was sent to them for the Book was not some kind of amulet that the Israelites wore around their necks and no sooner than they did so did they begin to scale the heights of greatness and glory. Instead, the fact is that the Israelites owed their historical achievements to the fact that they chose to believe in the teachings of God's Book that had come to them and because they followed its teaching with patience and perseverance. Furthermore, the leadership of the Israelites was entrusted to those who truly believed in the Scripture and who were not obsessed with the pursuit of worldly gain and pleasure. On the contrary, they resolutely braved every danger and endured every loss and suffering which came their way because of their devotion to the Truth. They vigorously resisted the promptings of carnal desires within themselves and valiantly fought against the enemies of the true faith without. It is only after they had done so that they were granted world leadership.

The purpose of highlighting all this is to warn the Arabian unbelievers that in the same way that the revelation of God’s Book to the Israelites determined their destiny, so too the destiny of the Arabian unbelievers would be determined by the revelation of God’s Book to them. Leadership would henceforth go to those who believed in God’s Book and who followed the Truth with patience and perseverance. As for those who turned away from it, their future was doomed.

38. This alludes to the rise of schisms, sectarian dissensions and bickering among the Children of Israel. This characterized their collective existence after they had lost firm religious faith, abandoned following their pious leaders, and immersed themselves in crass worldliness. One of the changes that came about among the Israelites is evident to the whole world— the ignominy and humiliation to which they were subjected in their long history. There is also another consequence of their back-sliding of which the world is not so much aware; this will only come to light on the Day of Judgement.

39. The unbelieving Arabs are evaluated to learn from the long historical record of the Israelites. It should have been abundantly clear to them that the fate of every nation among whom a Messenger is raised is contingent on the attitude it adopts towards him. Never was a nation that rejected its Messenger and called him a liar able to escape God's scourge. It is only the believers who escape God’s chastisement. As for — the unbelievers, they are always reduced to the level of an example to be learned from.

40. The context indicates that this was not put forward by way of an argument to confirm the Hereafter, though the Qur’an often employs it for that purpose. Instead, it was stated here to drive home the following point: a man who observes a sterile patch of land can hardly imagine that one day it will be in full bloom. Yet just one powerful downpour can change all that. In like manner, the unbelievers had dismissed Islam as a non-starter. Yet if God so wills, His power can make it flourish in the same way that a sterile patch of land flourishes, bringing forth abundant luxuriant vegetation.

41. The unbelievers persistently asked the Prophet (peace be on him) about when God’s help would come to him and when they would be annihilated. In effect, they asked: when will God judge between the believers and the unbelievers?

42. The unbelievers are told that God’s punishment is not something they should eagerly look forward to. Rather, they should avail themselves of the respite that they presently have, one that they can enjoy until they are confronted with God's punishment. For once this strikes them, there will be no escape. If they decide to follow faith after confronting God’s punishment, this is all too late and of no avail.