عَيْنَ

5:45, 48.

Commentary:

As the law mentioned in this verse is clearly stated to have belonged to the Torah, though it is not to be found in the Bible as we now have it, the words, And whoso waives the right thereto, constitute clear evidence of the fact that the teaching about forgiveness of which Christians boast so much was no monopoly of the Gospels. It was contained in the Torah also, though at the same time there can be no denying the fact that the teachings of Moses lay extra stress on retaliation, as do those of Jesus on forgiveness and non-resistance.

Important Words:

ابیضت (became white) is derived from بیض which again is derived from باض. They say باضه i.e. he surpassed him in whiteness. بیض means, he whitened a thing or made it white. بیض السقاء means, he filled the skin with water or milk; or, contrarily, he emptied it. ابیض means, it was or became white. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن is used regarding a person who is stricken with grief and means, the world became dark for him or his eyes became white with grief. (Lane & Bihar).

Commentary:

In view of the meaning of the word ابیضت given under Important Words the verse cannot mean that Jacob became blind on account of excessive weeping. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن only means that his eyes became white because of grief; or (according to one meaning of the word) his eyes became filled with tears on account of grief. The interpretation of these words that Jacob’s eyes became blind is evidently wrong for the following reasons: (1) Arabic idiom does not bear it out, for the becoming white of eyes never means their becoming blind. (2) The Quran represents Jacob as displaying extraordinary patience, hinted at in his words when told that Joseph had been devoured by a wolf and also when Benjamin and Judah failed to return to him (vv. 19 & 84). Now, it is a strange sort of patience if he became blind on account of weeping for his sons. (3) It does not at all become a Prophet of God that he should go on bewailing and weeping for any worldly thing, however great, till he becomes blind. (4) The present verse itself tells us that Jacob was کـظیم i.e. he had succeeded in repressing his grief. This shows that he neither wept excessively nor became blind on account of it. (5) The expression ابیضت عیناه is used in Arabic only to express a person’s great grief and sorrow, and is never used about a person’s becoming blind through weeping and wailing.

20:132.

Important Words:

تمدن (stretch) is derived from مد which means, he strained, extended or stretched a thing. مدنظرہ الیه means, he stretched his eyes towards it (Aqrab).

ازواجا (some classes) is the plural of زوج which means, any sort of thing; sort or species i.e. class; one of a pair or couple of things; a thing having with it a thing of the same kind; a woman’s husband or a man’s wife (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, Stretch not thine eyes towards that what We have bestowed on some classes of them, do not mean that the Holy Prophet is here bidden not to covet the worldly possession of disbelievers, for such an interpretation is not only inconsistent with his dignity and nobility of character but also is in conflict with the clauses that immediately follow, viz.and grieve not over them and lower thy wing of mercy for the believers. The real significance of these words is that the Holy Prophet has here been told not to grieve over the fact that disbelievers, instead of feeling grateful to God Who had bestowed riches and prosperity on them, had incurred His wrath on account of their wickedness and now all their glory and power was going to depart and they were about to be destroyed. In fact, it had very much grieved the Holy Prophetthat the disbelievers whom God had blessed with such prosperity were going to be destroyed for their disobedience. He had wished and prayed that they should have believed in him and thus have inherited the spiritual blessings promised to his followers. But instead of this they disobeyed God and defied His Prophet and therefore were going to be destroyed as God had informed the Holy Prophet in the words: and the hour is sure to come (v. 86). This naturally caused much grief to the Holy Prophet who has been here bidden not to grieve for the Meccans, for they had made themselves deserving of this fate, but to devote his merciful attention to the up-bringing of the small community of believers and to look after their moral and spiritual welfare. Incidentally, this injunction also implied a veiled hint about the impending migration of the Holy Prophet and his followers to Medina; for it was not possible to train and bring up the small band of believers as pioneers of the new world order so long as they were in Mecca, where they had no freedom of action. The verse also hints that the Holy Prophet desired to delay and postpone his departure from Mecca out of a heartfelt desire to save the disbelievers, if possible. He is bidden here to wait no longer and prepare for departure.

The words, Stretch not thine eyes towards what We have bestowed on some classes of them, do not refer even to the Companions of the Holy Prophet, as suggested by some commentators, who assert that these words depict the mental condition of some of the Muslims at the time when they saw the caravans of the two Jewish tribes of Banu Quraizah and Banu Nadir laden with jewels, scents, etc. The fact that the whole Surah has been admitted by the consensus of scholarly opinion to have been revealed at Mecca, where there were no Jews, knocks the bottom out of this baseless insinuation.

21:82; 27:18; 38:37.

Important Words:

رواح (evening course) is derived from راح which means, he went or journeyed or worked. They say راح الیھم i.e. he went to them or he went to them in the evening; or did a thing in the evening or in the afternoon; he went or journeyed at any time. الرواح is the going or journeying in the last or latter part of the day; or the going or journeying at any time of the day or night. ریح means, the wind; a good or pure thing; mercy; aid against an enemy; victory or conquest: predominance and power; a turn of good fortune (Lane & Aqrab). See also 8:47.

Commentary:

The verse speaks volumes for the vast extent of Solomon’s dominions and the peace and prosperity which reigned in his empire. Solomon’s dominions extended from northern Syria along the coast of the eastern Mediterranean down to the Red Sea, along the Arabian Sea and up to the Persian Gulf. In fact, in Solomon’s time, the Israelite empire had reached its zenith in wealth, power and prestige as the word ریح which, among other things, means power and conquests, used in the verse, shows. The verse also shows that Solomon possessed a large mercantile navy:

"And King Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red Sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon. And they came to Ophire, and fetched from thence gold, four hundred and twenty tents and brought it to King Solomon" (1 Kings 9: 26-28).

Solomon’s foreign alliances formed the basis for foreign commercial relations. From the Egyptians he bought chariots and horses, which he sold to the Hittites and other people of the north. With the Phoenicians he united in maritime commerce, sending out a fleet once in three years from Ezion-geber, at the head of the Gulf of Akaba, to Ophire, presumably on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula. From this distant port, and others on the way, he derived fabulous amounts of gold and tropical products. These revenues gave him almost unlimited means for increasing the glory of his capital city and palace, and for the perfection of his civil and military organizations (Jew. Enc. vol. xi. p. 437).

The words, "And We caused a fount of molten copper to flow for him." signify the high stage to which industry and craftsmanship had developed under Solomon. He had erected factories in which copper was melted. In the Bible we have:

"Moreover, he made an altar of brass, twenty cubits the length thereof, and twenty cubits the breadth thereof and ten cubits the height thereof. Also he made a molten sea of ten cubits from brim to brim, round in compass and the height thereof was five cubits" (II Chronicles 4: 1-2).

The expression. "And of the jinn were some who worked under him" shows that Solomon had conquered and pressed into service wild and rebellious mountain tribes who worked for him day and night. Incidentally, the verse shows that Solomon’s rule was firm and strong. A reference to this is also to be found in the Bible in II Chronicles, 2: 18.

6:53; 7:206.

Commentary:

This verse lends further support to the fact that the preceding verses embody some very important prophecies. In fact, we are here told that at the time of the predominance and ascendancy of Christian nations there will be living in the world a people who, as true representatives of Islam, will be engaged night and day in prayer and Divine worship. The so-called Muslims will, at that time—the time of Imam Mahdi—pin all their hopes about the future political glory and greatness of Islam on the employment of material means and will look down upon the poor and politically unimportant followers of the Imam Mahdi for concentrating on prayer and worship. The verse warns Muslims that on prayer and Divine worship alone will depend the eventual salvation and success of Islam.

The verse further mentions the following three main causes of the misfortunes and miseries of Muslims at that time: (a) they will be neglectful of prayer and Divine worship; (b) love of the world will be their overpowering passion; and (c) they will be wholly lost in the pursuit of material comforts and a life of luxury. But their deliverance will lie in a complete change of their outlook and the programme of their life.

15:89; 26:206-208; 28:61-62.

Important Words:

زھرة (splendour) is noun-infinitive from زھر which means, it shone or glistened; it gave light or shone brightly; it was clear in colour; he was or became beautiful. زھرة الدنیا means, the beauty and splendour of the present world or life; the abundance of its goods or comforts; its goods, finery or beauty and splendour (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

All international jealousies and rivalries which result in wars and consequently in much human misery and bloodshed are the result, direct or indirect, of a mad hunger for material wealth and physical comforts. Muslims are warned not to cast covetous looks on the wealth and riches of other people and not to think that the acceptance of Islam by the wealthy people only will add to its glory and power and will accelerate its progress. On the contrary, material wealth will prove a source of great affliction and distress for nations hankering after it. In fact mad competition for the acquisition of wealth has brought all the misery to the world. Rivalries among western nations know no end and they have already caused two highly destructive wars and there is no knowing when humanity is to be thrown into the vortex of a third war, far more destructive than its two predecessors.

Commentary:

The "two fountains running freely" may be the spiritual embodiments of حقوق اللّٰه (the obligations owed to God) and حقوق العباد (the obligations a Muslim owes to his fellow beings) which the believers had fully and faithfully discharged in this life. The discharge of these two obligations would assume the form of two fountains in the Hereafter. As a true believer ceaselessly continues to discharge these obligations, the fountains have been depicted as constantly flowing.

Important Words:

نضاختان (gushing forth with water) is derived from نضخ. They say نضخ الماء i.e. the water gushed forth from the fountain or boiled forth vehemently. عین نضاخة means, a copious spring of water or a spring that gushes forth or boils forth copiously (Lane).

Commentary:

In the present verse and in v. 51۱ above two different descriptions of the fountains and springs promised to believers have been given. In v. 51 fountains promised to believers have been described as flowing freely and ceaselessly while in the present verse these springs are described as gushing forth with water. This signifies that believers to whom springs mentioned in v. 51 have been promised are of a higher spiritual status than believers to whom springs mentioned in the present verse have been promised; since believers of former category are engaged in doing good to others ceaselessly and freely without any idea or expectation of reward while those of the latter class do good works out of natural impulse but the doing of good is mainly confined to themselves.

Commentary:

The verse administers a severe rebuke to disbelievers. It seems to say to them: "Why can’t you understand the simple thing, that the wages of sin is death and that no spiritual life is left in you. Had you used common sense and what little amount of knowledge you possess, you would have seen a veritable Hell yawning before your eyes in this very life, i.e. you would have realized that your engrossment in the pursuit of pomp, circumstance and the material advantages of this temporary existence will cause your total ruin. But you give no thought to these stark realities of life. You do not believe that such a thing will ever happen, but the time is fast approaching when you will see Divine punishment overtaking you in the form of diverse calamities."

It may be stated here that there are three stages of certainty, viz. علم الیقین i.e." certainty by inference, عین الیقین i.e. "certainty by sight" and حق الیقین i.e. "certainty by realization." In the first stage a thing itself is not visible but from its visible effects a man can conclude that it exists. In the second stage not only the effects of a thing but the thing itself is visible, though its nature is not completely comprehended. In the third stage which is the stage of perfect realization or personal experience a man both through observation of the effects of a thing on others and through realization of its effect on himself, can have as complete an understanding of the nature of a thing as it is possible for him to have. These are also the stages of human knowledge with regard to Hell. A man can, by inference, attain certainty about the existence of Hell in this very life but it is after death that he will see it with his own eyes, though it is on the Day of Resurrection that a sinful man will have full realization of it by personally experiencing it.