ROOT ن ط ق

Important Words:

بل is a particle of digression. Sometimes its meaning is either the cancellation of what precedes as in بل عباد مکرمون i.e. nay (or nay rather or nay but), they are honoured servants (21:27); or transition from one object of discourse to another as in بل تؤثرون الحیاة الدنیا i.e. but you prefer the present life (87:17). Sometimes it is also used to denote the passing from one subject to another without cancelling what precedes it and is syn. with و(and), as in بل ھو قرآن مجید i.e. And it is a glorious Quran. Thus بل means, but; and; surely or verily (Lane). Here it is used in the sense of إن (surely).

Commentary:

If the expression بل فعله کبیرھم ھذا is rendered as "somebody has surely done this," a stop will have to be placed after فعله and the words کبیرھم ھذا will be treated as an independent sentence meaning, "here is the chief" of them. This is the meaning we have adopted in the text and this seems to be the more correct meaning. Or the words بل فعله کبیرھم ھذا may have been spoken ironically or by way of mockery by Abraham as was his wont while talking to his idolatrous people. In that case the sense of the words would be something like this: "Why should have I done this, their chief here may have done it," meaning thereby that "the fact is too evident to warrant any questioning or to need any explanation that I have done this, i.e. I have broken the idols. If I had not done this, could this lifeless block of stone have done this?" In this verse Abraham seems to have rebuked his people for their idolatrous practices and brought home to them the futility of those practices, first by breaking the idols and then by challenging their votaries to ask those idols to tell them who had broken them.

The verse by implication points to one of the most important Divine attributes. Abraham confounded his idolatrous people by first breaking the idols and then by inferring therefrom that an idol which could not save itself from harm and which could not even answer the call of its worshippers was but a lifeless thing, fit to be thrown on the scrap-heap, and that his Lord was the Ever-living God Who answered and accepted the prayers of His servants. See also 20:90.

Important Words:

نکسوا علی رؤوسھم (their heads were made to hang low for shame). نکسوا is derived from نکس . They say نکسه or نکسه (nakkasahu) i.e. he turned it over or upside down; changed its manner of being or state; he turned it over upon its head. نکس رأسه means, he bent or lowered or hung down his head towards the ground for shame or by reason of abasement. نکس المریض means, illness returned or reverted to the sick man. نکس الرجل means, the man became weak and powerless (Lane, Aqrab & Ma‘ani). Thus the Quranic expression نکسوا علی رؤوسھم would mean, (a) they returned to their former state of disbelief, or wicked behaviour; (b) they reverted to disputation after they had taken the right course; (c) they hung down their heads in shame and were completely dumbfounded, or their heads were made to hang low for shame.

7:43.

17:14-15; 45:30; 69:20.

Important Words:

حق means, a truth; an established fact or truth which is undeniable; a thing that is decreed or destined; a right, equity and justice; a thing suitable to the requirements of justice, wisdom; etc. (Aqrab & Lane). See also 2:43, 148, 181; 3:4; 7:106. According to Imam Raghib the word الحق is also used in the sense of making the Shari‘ah complete and perfect. It is in this sense that it has been used in the verse, "He it is Who has sent His Messenger with the guidance and the Religion of Truth (دین الحق) that He may cause it to prevail over all religions (61:10).

Commentary:

In the preceding verse the believers were urged to excel one another in doing good deeds. The present verse tells us that the laws which God has laid down in the Quran for the moral and spiritual development of man are such as are within his power and capacity to act upon. They are suited to all conditions, circumstances, temperaments and dispositions. Thus the Shari‘ah is not a curse but a great blessing for man. Yet it is not given to every individual to act upon all its laws fully and completely. He is expected to live up to his ideals to the best of his power and he will only be called upon to account for the actions or deeds which were within his power to do or avoid, and all the conditions and circumstances under which he had to labour and toil will also be taken into consideration by God when measuring the worth of his actions and rewarding him. This supreme truth is pointed out in the Quranic words: الوزن یومئذ الحق, "And the weighing on that day will be true” (7:9).

The word کتاب (Book) in the clause کتاب ینطق بالحق, according to some commentators of the Quran signifies the record of man’s deeds and actions referred to in 50:19 or to "the guarded tablet" mentioned in 85:23, but in view of the meaning of the word حق as given by Raghib under "Important Words" above the expression "and with Us is a Book that speaks truth," may also signify (1) that the teaching embodied in the Quran is based on wisdom and is suited to all conditions, and circumstances, and to men of different temperaments and dispositions and is in agreement with the requirements of justice, equity and wisdom, and (2) that it is the last revealed Law for the whole of mankind and therefore can quite legitimately claim to enjoy superiority over all other Divine Books.

Important Words:

منطق (language) is derived from نطق which means, he spoke with sound and letters which made clear his meaning. نطق الکتابmeans, the book explained and made clear. Thus نطق (nutq) applies to both articulate and inarticulate speech and to the condition of a thing which is as significant as articulate speech. It is of two kinds: external, viz. spoken words; internal, viz. understanding. The word is also used with regard to animals and birds when the use is metaphorical (Aqrab & Mufradat).

For طیر (birds) see next verse.

Commentary:

Solomon was heir to both the temporal power and prophetic office and spiritual knowledge of his father, David. The word ورث (was heir) here has special reference to the spiritual heritage of David because whereas kingship and temporal power and property descend from father to son, prophethood does not. Birds and insects have their own means of communication. Migratory birds fly from one region to another with the change in weather. They fly in flocks and their flight is orderly. Similarly, ants live in communities and the bees have a well-regulated system of government. This could not be possible without there being some means of communication between them. This means of communication may be called their language. Prophets David and Solomon are stated here to have been taught the language of birds which may be taken as signifying that they had learnt how to make use of birds. The art of using birds for carrying messages from one place to another had been very much developed by Solomon and frequent use of it made in the management of the far-flung empire over which he ruled.

If the word طیر be taken to signify righteous men (3:50) who soar high into the spiritual firmament and attain nearness to God, the words "we have been taught the language of birds" would mean that David and Solomon knew the language in which God’s Elect speak i.e. they possessed the wisdom and knowledge that is given to highly spiritual men.

The expression "and we have had everything bestowed upon us," means that all things that were necessary to make the Israelites a strong and prosperous people were bestowed upon them in the reigns of David and Solomon. It clearly does not mean that every existing thing was given to them. The words point to no exclusive prerogative of these two Prophets. Identical words have been used with regard to the Queen of Saba’ (27:24).

Commentary:

The expression "they will be speechless" means, "they will not be able to put in a defence for their misdeeds." The charge against them being quite true and clear will be incapable of being defended and so the sentence of punishment will be passed against them.

Commentary:

At different places the Quran has pointed to one of the most distinctive attributes of a living God, viz. that He speaks to His chosen servants and listens to and answers their prayers. It is a dead and defunct deity, fit to be thrown away, that has not the power to speak or listen to and accept the prayers of his votaries. God has revealed Himself throughout the ages to His Elect through His actions and spoken word. Even now He has not ceased to reveal Himself and will never cease to do so. While rebuking the Israelites for taking the calf as their deity the Quran exposes the absurdity of their position in the words: "Did they not see that it spoke not to them nor guided them" (7:149). Again in 20:90 Moses is described as bringing home to the Israelites their folly for adopting the calf as their god in the words: Could they not see this simple fact that it returned to them no answer, and had not the power to do them either harm or good. In vv. 21:64 & 66 and in the verse under comment Abraham advances the same argument in repudiation of idol-worship, viz. that the false gods cannot speak. From all these verses it becomes clear that God ceases to be a living God and forfeits all right to our worship and adoration if He ceases to speak to us and does not listen to and accept our prayers. Those who think that God has now given up revealing Himself to His servants are guilty of a colossal mistake. Islam’s greatest superiority over all other religions lies in the fact that it has produced in every age men to whom God has spoken. In our own time He spoke to Ahmad, the Promised Messiah.

Commentary:

In the previous verse it was mentioned that the ears, eyes and skins of the guilty will give evidence against them. In this verse the first two organs have been omitted and only "the skins" are mentioned as having been given the power to speak. This is because the skin plays the most important part in man’s actions. It includes not only the sense of touch but also all the other senses. While the sins of the eyes and the ears are confined to seeing and hearing, the sins of "the skin" extend to all organs or limbs of the body.

17:15, 72; 69:20, 26; 83:21.

Commentary:

The expression کتابھا (its Book) mentioned in the previous verse has been substituted by the expression کتابنا (Our Book, i.e. Our Record) in the present verse, because the record of the deeds or actions of nations and individuals is preserved by God and they are judged and requited by Him accordingly. The word کتابھا may also signify their Shari‘ah, and the verse would then mean that every people would be judged according to their own Shari‘ah. See also 69:20, 26.

Commentary:

The verse means that the fact mentioned in the preceding verse is neither wishful thinking on the Holy Prophet’s part, nor is it a figment of his imagination, but is solid and hard truth as sure and true as "you speak". Or the verse may mean that the Quran is as undoubtedly God’s own revealed Word as "you speak."

Commentary:

See next verse.