عَٰقِبَةُ

7:79; 11:68.

Commentary:

The end of the plottings of the Meccan chiefs against the Holy Prophet as referred to above was that they themselves met with complete discomfiture and destruction.

16:37; 30:43; 40:83.

Commentary:

In this verse the disbelievers are warned that they will not be allowed to arrest or retard the progress of the Holy Prophet’s noble cause; on the contrary, by opposing him they will only bring ruin upon themselves. The lesson is writ large on the pages of history that denial of truth has always led disbelievers to destruction and desolation. In the next verse the Holy Prophet is consoled and comforted that he should not feel distressed because of the plots and conspiracies of his enemies, as their evil designs can do him no harm and will only recoil on their own heads.

Commentary:

The words, "the wrongdoers never prosper," lay down an immutable law of God and an infallible criterion to test the truth of a claimant to Divine revelation. The law is that a false claimant to Divine revelation or a false Prophet never succeeds in his mission. Sooner or later he must come to naught.

2:51; 7:137; 17:104; 20:79; 26:67; 79:26.

Commentary:

The use of the word یم (sea) in this verse and v. 8 above seems to suggest a curious coincidence. In order to save the child Moses from being killed by Pharaoh, Moses’ mother cast him into the یم from which he was later rescued. But Pharaoh and his mighty hosts while endeavouring to cross the یم in order to overtake the Israelites, were drowned. See also 20:79.

7:170; 16:31.

7:39; 13:31; 41:26; 46:19.

6:12; 12:110; 27:70.

Important Words:

سنن (dispensations) is the plural of سنة which is derived from سن. They say سنه i.e. he whetted or sharpened it (knife, appetite, etc.). سن العقده means, he undid the knot. سن الامر means, he made known or manifested the matter or the affair or the case. سن الشیء means, he shaped or formed or fashioned the thing. سن الطریقه means, he followed or pursued the way or course. سن علیھم سنة means, he established or instituted or prescribed for them a law or custom or mode of conduct. سنة means, (1) face or form; (2) way or course or rule of conduct; (3) way of acting instituted or pursued by a people and followed by others after them; (4) character or conduct or nature or disposition; (5) law or religious law or dispensation (Aqrab & Taj).

Commentary:

The clause, there have been many dispensations before you, means that there have gone before you men who followed different ways and possessed diverse characters; or there have passed before you many dispensations and many nations following different systems or laws. So you should journey in the earth and see what class of men were saved and who perished and what the end of those who persisted in evil was.

12:110; 22:47; 35:45; 47:11.

4:41; 9:70; 10:45; 18:50; 29:32.

Important Words:

أثاروا (tilled) is derived from ثار which means, it was or became raised or stirred up; it spread; it rose. ثار الماء means, the water flowed forth with force; it gushed forth. أثارہ means, he raised or roused him or it. أثار الارض means, he tilled the ground or land; he cultivated it by ploughing and sowing. أثار الفتنة بینھم means, he excited mischief amongst them (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse indicates that there had lived in the past people who had attained to a very high stage of civilization and culture; particularly they had made great progress in the art of architecture, mining and cultivation. Recent researches in archaeology have borne testimony to this fact. The Quran had referred to this fact fourteen hundred years ago.

3:138; 22:47; 27:70.

Commentary:

When the disbelievers were told, in reply to their demand for the coming of an angel, that disbelievers saw angels only when they came with punishment from God, the disbelievers arrogantly said, "Let them come with it then". The verse tells them that such foolhardy demands were made by their predecessors also; so let them go about in the land and see what was the end of such people.

16:37; 27:70; 40:83.

Commentary:

The verse warns disbelievers that their rejection of the Holy Prophet would lead them to ruin. The fact that the rejection and persecution of Divine Messengers has always resulted in the destruction of the rejecters is writ large on the pages of history.

2:113.

Commentary:

The words, "With Allah rests the end of all affairs." mean that it is God alone Who causes all actions to produce their results.