غَنِىٌّ

Important Words:

طرفک (thy noble messenger) is infinitive noun from طرف (tarafa). They say طرف فلان i.e. such a one saw. طرف عینه means, his eyes moved in order to see. طرف means, the extremity or end of anything; eye, look, glance, blinking; a noble or generous man in respect of ancestry; government revenue; a messenger from Yemen. کریم الطرفین means, noble in respect of both father and mother. اطراف الارض means, the noble or exalted and the learned men of the earth. اطراف الناس means, the lower orders of the people. علی طرف means, beside, aside or apart (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The phrase قبل ان یرتد الیک طرفک may mean, (1) before thy messenger from Yemen returns to thee; (2) before the nobleman whom thou hast sent comes back to thee from Yemen; (3) in the twinkling of an eye, i.e. in a very short time; (4) before the government revenue is deposited in the treasury. In the last-mentioned meaning of طرف the expression would mean, "I would need no more money, the money already in the government treasury would be quite sufficient to meet the expenses of constructing a throne for the queen."

The expression "who had knowledge of the book" seems to refer to one who knew the intricacies of finance. He might be Solomon’s finance minister.

In this and the previous verse two offers to make the throne for Solomon have been mentioned, one by the ‘Ifrit who offered to prepare the throne before Solomon had raised his camp and started back, and the other by "the man who had knowledge." The latter made a still better offer of finishing the throne before Solomon’s messenger came back with the reply to his letter from the Queen. The context shows that Solomon accepted the second offer because he wanted to have the throne finished before the Queen came to pay her respects to him as he was to stay at that place till she had come and the whole ceremony was over. The verse also implies that all sorts of men were employed by Solomon—men of knowledge and experience, skilled and unskilled labourers, craftsmen and technicians.

47:22.

Important Words:

غنی (Self-Sufficient) is from the verb غنی which means, he was or became free from want; he was in a state of competence or sufficiency; he was rich and wealthy. Thus غنی means, one free from want; one who is in a state of competence or sufficiency; one who is rich and wealthy. الغنی is one of the names of God, meaning the Self-Sufficient; One Who has no need of anyone in anything (Lane).

Commentary:

The divine attribute of Self-Sufficient has been used to suggest that if money spent in the cause of God is to be followed by "taunt" and "injury," it need not be spent at all, for He is Self-Sufficient. He needs no money. The order to spend is meant for the good of those who spend. So if the act of spending is abused and becomes a source of demoralization, God does not approve of such spending. The attribute حلیم (Forbearing) which also means "wise" and "intelligent" has been used here to suggest that the injunctions to spend money in the cause of God are given not because He stands in need of money but because He, the Wise God, knows that such acts are conducive to the good of man himself, the significance of "Forbearing" hinting that though God is slow in punishing, yet if such men continue undoing their own good actions by injuring the feelings of others, He would have to chastise them.

The clause, A kind word and forgiveness are better than charity followed by injury, signifies that it is better to refrain from spending at all, if spending is to be followed by injury. In that case one should say قول معروف i.e. a kind word of sympathy or excuse to the person who asks for help, rather than give him help and then follow it up with injury. One should also observe an attitude of مغفرة (forgiveness) which literally means "covering up", i.e. one should cover and conceal the want of the person who comes for help and refrain from talking about it to others so that he may not feel ashamed. Or مغفرة may signify forgiveness on the part of him who asks for help, i.e. he should forgive the person who expresses his inability to render help. Again, in case the spending spoken of in the verse refers to spending in national needs, قول معروف (kind word) would mean expression of good opinion, i.e. if one cannot spend without following it up with injury, i.e. without criticizing those responsible for national expenditure, one had better refrain from spending at all.

Important Words:

تیمموا (seek) is derived from یم or ام. They say یمه i.e. he sought it. یمم فلانابرمح means, he sought and singled out that person for attacking with his spear. تیمم الامر means, he sought and singled out the affair. تیمم للصلوة means, he performed what is termed تیمم for his Prayers, i.e. instead of performing the prescribed ablution with water he sought dust and touching it with his hands passed them over his face, etc. (Aqrab & Mufradat).

خبیث (bad) is derived from خبث i.e. he or it was or became bad or foul or abominable or wicked or filthy or impure (Lane).

تغمضوا (connive) is derived from اغمض which again is derived from غمض i.e. it became hidden and concealed. غمض فی الکلامmeans, he made his speech obscure, and abstained from making it clear in meaning. اغمض means, he closed, or shut his eyes; he connived at something so as to practically treat it as something unseen or hidden. اغمض فی البیع means, he demanded a lowering of the price of a thing owing to its badness. اغمض عنه فی البیع means, he connived at the bad quality of the thing and was not strict settling its price (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The verse implies that believers should not only spend in the cause of Allah but should spend what is good and pure; for even a lawfully-earned property might include things that are bad. They should not deliberately select worthless and worn out things for the purpose of charity. Old and second-hand things may indeed be given to the poor, but such things should not be specially selected or singled out for this purpose. Indeed, a believer can be said to have properly discharged his duty for "spending" in the cause of Allah only if he spends "good things".

2:126.

14:36; 28:58; 29:68.

22:28.

Commentary:

After alluding to the historical evidence in favour of the Ka‘bah, the Quran proceeds to state that reason also demands that the Ka‘bah should be adopted as the Qiblah. The verse gives reasons to show that the Ka‘bah is entitled to be adopted as the Qiblah or the centre of God’s religion.

The first reason, as hinted in the words, the place of Abraham, is that Abraham came and prayed here. Jews and Christians, to both of whom Abraham is worthy of great reverence, have to admit that Abraham visited the place. Therefore, it cannot be denied that it is a blessed place.

The second reason, referred to in the words whoso enters it enters peace, is that the Ka‘bah not only promises but also affords peace and security to those who enter it. This promise has been literally fulfilled. Temporally, God has ever protected it against wars and invasions both in ancient and modern times. The way in which Abrahah, ruler of Yemen, and his hosts were destroyed when they tried to invade the Ka‘bah and the way in which this territory, which then formed a part of the dominion of Turkey, was kept outside the conflict during the First World War (1914-18) afford remarkable instances of how miraculously God protects the Ka‘bah. Unlike the sacred places of other nations, it has never fallen into the hands of a people who would not revere it. Even in the Days of Ignorance when the different tribes of pagan Arabia were constantly at war with one another, the territory of the Ka‘bah was held to be sacred and no fighting was allowed therein. Spiritually, also, it is a place of security for those who enter it in the spiritual sense, i.e.embrace the religion of Islam. They become recipients of divine favours and enjoy security from the punishment of God.

The third reason which entitles the Ka‘bah to be adopted as the Qiblah is hinted at in the words, pilgrimage to the House is a duty which men…owe to God. The verse contains an implied promise on the part of God that the Ka‘bah shall ever continue to be the centre to which men of different countries and diverse nations will resort for Pilgrimage. The fulfilment of this promise is proof of the fact that the Ka‘bah has indeed been designed by God to be the Qiblah of all nations.

Every Muslim who can find a way to Mecca is bound to perform Pilgrimage to the Ka‘bah once in his lifetime. If he performs it more than once, it is regarded as a supererogatory act of devotion.

The words, who can find a way thither, embody three conditions: (1) one should have the necessary conveyance for performing the journey; (2) one should have the necessary money to bear the expenses; and (3) there should be peace and security on the way (Dawud). If a person is sick, he is supposed to have no "way" and Pilgrimage does not become obligatory on him.

The words, and whoever disbelieves (let him remember) that Allah is surely independent of all creatures, signify that whoever refuses to accept the Ka‘bah as the Qiblah, in spite of the arguments given in its favour, should remember that these commandments have been given for the good of man himself; so if he does not act upon them, he only harms himself and does no harm to God, Who is "Independent of all creatures".

The object of Pilgrimage is to accustom men to leave their home and country and suffer separation from relatives and friends for the sake of God. The Pilgrimage to Mecca is also a symbol of the respect shown to places where the will of God was specially manifested and a reminder of the incidents connected with that manifestation. It reminds believers of the long and hazardous journey of Abraham and Ishmael to the desert valley of Mecca and of Ishmael’s being left in that desert by Abraham; it tells them in speechless eloquence how those who make sacrifices in the way of God are protected and honoured by him; and it fosters their faith in the power and might of God. Again, the pilgrim, on finding himself near the place which has, from the beginning of the world, been dedicated to the worship of God, is sure to experience a peculiar spiritual association with those who have, through centuries, been bound together by the love and remembrance of God.

Beside this, the Pilgrimage to Mecca has great social and political significance; for Muslims from all parts of the world who meet here once a year can exchange views and establish and renew relations of love and brotherhood. They have opportunities of acquainting themselves with the problems that confront Muslims in different countries, of copying one another’s good points, profiting by one another’s experience and of cooperating with one another. It is, however, a matter of great regret that at present little advantage is being taken of this aspect of the Pilgrimage.

14:9.

Important Words:

شکر (is grateful). شکر الله or شکر لله means, he thanked God or was grateful to Him; or he praised God for His beneficence; and acted in the manner incumbent on him in rendering Him obedience. شکر (thankfulness) is of three kinds: (1) with the heart; (2) with the tongue; and (3) with the limbs, and consists in requiting the benefit received according to its desert. Man’s thankfulness to God consists in (a) his humility to Him; (b) his love of Him; (c) his knowledge of His bounties; (d) his eulogizing Him for it; and (e) his not making use of the benefits in a manner disliked by Him. شکر on the part of God consists in forgiving a person, or regarding him with favour and therefore rewarding him (Lane). See also 14:8.

Commentary:

Luqman seems to be a non-Arab, very probably an Ethiopian. He is said to belong to Egypt or Nubia. By some he has also been identified with the Greek "Aesop". From the beautiful moral precepts he gave to his son which are embodied in the present and the next few verses Luqman appears to be a Prophet of God. To know who Luqman was is not of importance so much as the principle that God sent His Messengers among all people and that all those Messengers deserve our respect and reverence and that Luqman was one of them. Islam was the first and the only religion to proclaim this principle which alone can form a sound and solid basis for peace among the followers of various faiths.

6:165; 35:19; 53:39.

Commentary:

شکر as explained elsewhere (14:8) denotes the proper use of Divine favours in a manner intended by God. کفر is the misuse of those favours. It is the proper or improper use of God-given powers, faculties, and of Divine favours, blessings and opportunities which is called شکر (thankfulness) or کفر (ingratitude) in the Quran.

Commentary:

As man has been endowed with great faculties of head and heart and as he has to render an account of his deeds in the life hereafter, God sent His Messengers to guide him to the goal of his life. But man, in his ingratitude and conceit, defies and opposes Divine Messengers, thereby incurring Divine punishment.