هَٰذِهِ

7:20, 23; 20:117, 118.

Important Words:

شجرة (tree) is the singular of شجر (trees). It is derived from the verb شجر. The Arabs say شجرالامربینھم i.e. the affair or case became complicated and confused so as to be a subject of disagreement and difference between them. شجرة means, a tree, because of the intermixing or confusion of its branches. شجرة also signifies, the stock or origin of a man. They say, ھومن شجرة طیبة i.e. he is of a good stock or origin (Lane).

ظالمین (wrongdoers) is the plural of ظالم being derived from ظلم which means: (1) he put a thing in the wrong place or in a place not its own; (2) he made one suffer loss; (3) he transgressed or committed a wrong. A ظالم is thus one who does an inappropriate or improper thing; or one who commits a wrong; or one who makes someone suffer a loss (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The word جنة (garden) occurring in this verse does not refer to Heaven or Paradise but simply to the garden-like place where Adam was first made to live. It cannot refer to Heaven: firstly, because it was on the earth that Adam was made to live, as the words, I am about to place a vicegerent in the earth, occurring in 2:31 clearly indicate.

Secondly, Heaven is a place from which no one who once enters it will ever be expelled (15:49), whereas Adam was made to quit the جنة (garden) spoken of in this verse. This shows that the جنة or garden in which Adam first dwelt was a place on this very earth which was given this name on account of the fertility of its soil and the abundance of its verdure. Recent researches go to show that the place where Adam was made to dwell was the garden of Eden which lay near Babylon in Iraq or Assyria.

According to the Bible, the forbidden شجرة (tree) was the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Gen. 2:17). But we learn from the Quran that after having eaten of the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve became naked which means that, unlike knowledge which is a source of goodness, the tree was a source of evil, making Adam exhibit a weakness. The Quranic view is evidently correct, because to deprive man of knowledge was to defeat the very purpose for which he had been brought into being. The Quran and the Bible seem, however, to agree on the point that the tree was not a real one, but only a symbol, because no tree with either of the above characteristics, i.e. making a man naked or giving him knowledge of good or evil, exists on the face of the globe. So the tree must represent something else.

As explained above, the word شجرة also means a quarrel. Says the Quran: But no, by thy Lord, they are not believers until they make thee judge in all that is in dispute between them (4:66).

Elsewhere, the Quran makes mention of two kinds of شجرة (1) شجرة طیبة (good tree) and (2) شجرة خبیثة (evil tree) for which see 14:25 & 27. Pure things and pure teachings are likened to the former, and impure things and impure thoughts are likened to the latter. In the light of these explanations, the verse would mean: (1) that Adam was enjoined to avoid quarrels; (2) that he was warned against evil things, because although the verse does not specify evil or good, yet the prohibition cannot but refer to impure and evil things.

The expression, eat therefrom plentifully wherever you will, indicates that the place where Adam lived had not yet come under the jurisdiction of anybody and was what may be termed "God’s land" which was given to Adam who was thus made lord of all he surveyed.

The concluding clause, lest you be of ظالمین or wrongdoers, means that the result of approaching the prohibited شجرة would be that Adam would become one of those who do not observe propriety in their actions for, as explained under Important Words, ظلم means, putting a thing at a wrong place.

30:44; 106:4.

Commentary:

One of the major causes of the opposition of Meccans to the Holy Prophet was that they believed that if idol worship disappeared from Arabia, Mecca (or the Ka‘bah) being the repository of all their well-known idols will lose its importance and consequently they will also lose the prestige and influence they had enjoyed in Arabia as the custodians of the Ka‘bah. The present verse disabuses their minds of this false notion and purports to say that being the centre of a world movement and of the last message for all mankind, Mecca, far from losing its importance, will, on the contrary, immeasurably add to its prestige and will continue to be respected and revered till the end of time.

7:162.

Important Words:

سجدا (submissively) is derived from سجد which means: (1) he showed submissiveness and humility. The Quran says ولله یسجد من فی السماوات والارض And to Allah submits whosoever is in the heavens and the earth (13:16); (2) he fell prostrate (Mufradat). In the verse under comment the word is used in the first mentioned sense; for, besides other reasons pointing to this significance, one cannot pass through a gate while fallen prostrate on the ground.

حطة (forgive us our sins) is derived from حط which means: (1) he descended or came down; (2) he brought down, or caused to fall, or removed a burden, etc. استحط فلانا وزره means, he requested that person to take down or relieve him of his heavy burden (Aqrab). As in theology, to seek relief from a burden is to seek forgiveness of sins, the expression حطة(literally the bringing down of a burden) would mean, remove our burden of sins or forgive us our sins.

نغفر (We shall forgive) is derived from غفر. They say غفرالشیء meaning, he covered or concealed the thing. غفرالمتاع فی الوعاءmeans, he put the things in the bag and thus covered and protected them. غفرالله له ذنبه means, God covered up his sin and forgave it. غفرالامر بغفرته means, he rectified or reformed the matter suitably (Aqrab & Lane). غفران and مغفرة both infinitives, signify God’s forgiveness or His protection of a person against the punishment of his sins (Mufradat).

Commentary:

The Bible is here again at fault and makes no direct mention of this incident. It, however, speaks of a battle which in those days took place between the Amalekites and the Israelites in Rephidim (Exod. 17:8) which shows that the Amalekites inhabited certain parts of this land. Though the land was a desert, yet here and there habitations were also to be found (Enc. Bib. IV. 4036, 37). In fact, the presence of a desert does not preclude the existence of habitations, because even wandering tribes make here and there small habitations which, serve as meeting places for their scattered clans.

As the Israelites were eager to live in inhabited places owing to the facilities they afforded and owing also to their previous mode of living, they were bidden to go to some neighbouring village where they would combine the life of the desert with that of a habitation and would be free to eat wherever they liked, as is usual in a desert place where there is no private ownership.

But as this change was to bring them in contact with other people and was likely to affect their morals, they were at the same time bidden to be careful about themselves and to be submissive and obedient to God and also to pray to Him that He might forgive them the sins they might commit. If they acted upon this injunction, God would be kind to them and would forgive them their sins. Nay, He would further bestow on those who acted righteously His added favours and blessings.

The words "this village" need not refer to any specified village. According to the Arabic idiom the words may mean "any village that may be near" or "the nearest village".

27:59.

Important Words:

رجزا (punishment) is infinitive-noun from رجز (rajaza) and means, punishment; dirt or filth; iniquity or sin; idol worship, etc. (Aqrab). See also 2:60.

11:61,100.

Important Words:

مقبوحین (deprived of good) is the plural of مقبوح which is passive participle from قبح (qabaha). They say قبحه اللّٰه (qabbaha) i.e. God removed him or may God remove him far from good or prosperity or from all that is good, or God rendered him or may God render him foul, unseemly, unsightly, ugly or hideous or despised. مقبوح means, removed far from good or prosperity or from all that is good or from success or the attainment of that which he desires or seeks, or driven away like a dog or despised or rendered foul, unseemly, ugly or hideous. قبح (qabuha) which is intransitive form means, it was or became bad, abominable, ugly or hideous. قبیح which means, bad, ugly, abominable, etc. is formed from this verb (Lane & Aqrab).

23:15.

Important Word:

خاویة (fallen) is derived from خوی. They say خوی البیت i.e. (1) the house fell down in ruins; (2) the house became empty and untenanted (Aqrab).

عروش (roofs) is the plural of عرش (roof). They say عرش i.e. he built a house. عرش البیت means, he raised the roof of the house. عرش means: (1) the roof of a house; (2) the throne or the ceremonious chair of a king; (3) the pillar, etc. supporting a thing; (4) honour and prowess; (5) leaders and chiefs among men; (6) tent, canopy, shed etc. affordingshade; (7) trellis supporting vines (Aqrab & Lane).

یتسنه (have rotted) is derived from سنه i.e. (1) it passed through a time extending over years; (2) it (food, etc.) became altered and rotten by the lapse of years or absolutely. تسنه gives the same meaning as سنه (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The preceding verse contained one illustration of how Allah brings His friends out of darkness into light. The present verse cites, as hinted in the words, or like him, another illustration of how He breathes new life into a people after they have fallen and become degraded.

The ruined town referred to in the verse is Jerusalem which was laid waste by Nebuchadnezzar. The person who, as the verse says, passed by it was Ezekiel, the Prophet; and the words which had fallen down upon its roofs hint that it was soon after its destruction by Nebuchadnezzar that Ezekiel passed by the town. Ezekiel was among the Israelite captives whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away to Babylon and who, in accordance with an ancient custom, were made to pass by the ruins of the town so that they might witness with their own eyes how their city had been laid in ruins by the conqueror. Ezekiel, who was a great well-wisher of his people, was immensely pained to see the ruins of the sacred city and pathetically asked God when the time would come when the ruined city would be restored to life, i.e. when its inhabitants, the children of Israel, would come back to it, rebuild it and make it prosperous once more. This prayer, it appears, was heard by God Who showed him in a vision that the restoration asked for would come in a hundred years.

The clause then Allah caused him to die for a hundred years does not mean that Ezekiel was actually made to die and then raised to life again. It was, in fact, a vision which Ezekiel saw (Ezek. 37). The Quran sometimes mentions scenes seen in a vision as if they had actually happened, without stating that they were witnessed in a vision or a dream (e.g. 12:5). What actually happened was that Ezekiel saw in a vision that he had died and remained dead for a hundred years and then had come back to life. As he was the representative of his people, his death signified the death of the Israelites. Thus God informed him through this vision that the children of Israel would remain in their state of captivity and lifelessness for a hundred years, after which a new life would be given them and they would return to inhabit their sacred city. And this dream or vision actually turned out to be true. For Jerusalem was first invaded by Nebuchadnezzar in 597 B.C. and again in 587 B.C., when after a long siege the city was totally destroyed by his general in 586 B.C. Ezekiel probably saw the vision in 586 B.C. The city was rebuilt about 100 years after its destruction and thus the vision came true.

It is wrong to think that God actually caused Ezekiel to die and that he remained dead for a hundred years and was then brought back to life; for that would have been no answer to his prayer, which did not pertain to the death and resurrection of any individual but to that of a town which was lying in ruins.

The words, which had fallen down upon its roofs; point out that Ezekiel saw the ruins soon after the destruction (not necessarily the complete and final destruction) of the town when the fallen roofs were still to be seen under the debris of the walls.

The words, I have remained a day or part of a day, are intended to express indefiniteness of time and mean, according to the Quranic usage, that Ezekiel did not know how long he had remained in that state. The words have been used in this sense in another passage of the Quran as well: They said, We have tarried a day or part of a day. Others said, Your Lord knows best the time you have tarried (18:20). Again, They will say, We tarried a day or part of a day, but ask those who keep count (23:114). In fact, یوم (day) here does not mean a day of 24 or 12 hours but time absolutely (see 1:4). The clause, I have remained a day or part of a day, may also refer to the time for which Ezekiel slept or the time he took in seeing the vision or the dream. Apparently Ezekiel thought that he was being asked about the duration of the time of the vision.

The clause, Nay, thou hast remained in this state for a hundred years, points out that although in one sense he had remained in that state for a hundred years (for he had dreamt that he had been dead for a hundred years), yet the statement that he had tarried for a day or part of a day, was also correct, for the time spent in seeing the vision was naturally very short. To bring home this fact to the mind of Ezekiel, God directed his attention to his food and drink and to the ass. That his food and drink had not become stale and that his ass was still alive, showed that he had really tarried only for a short time. The words and look at thy ass also indicate that Ezekiel saw the vision while sleeping in his fields with his ass by his side, for while in captivity the Israelites were made to work in the fields as farmers.

The words that We may make thee a Sign unto men show that Ezekiel was to be made a Sign to men inasmuch as his vision, according to which Jerusalem was to become re-inhabited by the children of Israel, was to come true. The words, look at the bones, are intended to echo the words used by the children of Israel in those days of misery, viz. that they had become like dry bones and there was no hope of their being ever endued with new life (Ezek. 37:11, 12). The words along with the accompanying clause meant that God had power to clothe the bones with flesh and to breathe new life into them. The bones were first to be set or placed in position and thereafter clothed with flesh, i.e. the Israelites, then like dead bones, were first to be brought back to their town and then the process of the clothing of the bones with flesh, i.e. the rebuilding of the town, etc. was to be completed.

The vision of Ezekiel has been mentioned in the Bible in chapter 37 of his book.

11:70-71.

Commentary:

The verse speaks of two things: (1) the glad tidings that the messengers brought to Abraham and (2) the warning that the people of the city of Lot were about to be destroyed. The glad tidings conveyed to Abraham were about the birth of a son and the cities to be destroyed were Sodom and Gomorrah. They were situated in the neighbourhood of the Dead Sea on the road from Arabia to Syria. The road has been called سبیل مقیم (a road that still exists) in the Quran (15:77). The Dead Sea is also called the Bahr Lut.

10:25; 68:18-21.

Important Words:

صر (intense cold). They say صر الباب i.e. the door made a sound or a creaking sound. صر الطائر means, the bird (hawk or falcon) uttered its cry. صر means, it (plant) became smitten with intense cold; or he (a person) had an iron collar put round his neck. So صر means: (1) intense cold; (2) cold that smites the herbage and destroys it; (3) sound or noise; (4) a wind with an excessively loud sound; (5) fire (Lane & Lisan).

Commentary:

The idea underlying this verse is that the efforts of the disbelievers against Islam will react only against themselves. Whatever they do and whatever they spend with a view to injuring or destroying Islam will only injure the disbelievers themselves. God sent Islam for the good of the people, but by rejecting it they are bringing about their own ruin.

6:33; 47:37; 57:21.

Important Words:

حیوان (life) is infinitive-noun from حیی which means, he or it lived or was or became in the state termed حیاة. They say حیت النار (hayyat) i.e. the fire was or became alive or burning حیی الطریق (hayiya) means, the road was or became apparent or distinct. حیاة means, life; faculty of growth, the faculty of sensation, and the faculty of intellect; freedom from grief or sorrow. حیوان is synonymous with حیاة but with an intensive signification and means, everlasting life or life which will not be followed by death; much or full life; real life (Lane).

Commentary:

The verse means to say that life without hardships and privations borne for a noble cause, and without sacrifices undergone for the sake of God, is "but an amusement and a sport," a useless and purposeless existence. The purposeful life is that which is spent in the quest of a sublime object, in preparation for everlasting life for which God has created man.

4:99.

Commentary:

The verse is a clear proof of the fact that Muslims were not the first to open hostilities. They only fought a war of defence with a view to protecting their religion and saving their weaker co-religionists.

Commentary:

The verse refers to another absurd custom of the Arabs. The Divine attributes "Wise" and "All-Knowing" have been mentioned here to point out that the people got entangled in these foolish beliefs and practices because they turned away from the Wise and Knowing God and followed false deities and their foolish devotees.

2:38; 20:118.

Commentary:

See 2:36.

2:37; 20:121.

Important Words:

وسوس (whispered evil suggestions) literally means, he spoke in a low voice; he whispered. They say وسوس له الشیطان i.e. Satan spoke to him something evil in which there is no good. وسوس الرجل means, the man’s reason was affected and he spoke in a disorderly manner. وسواس (wiswas) means, the act of whispering; evil suggestion. وسواس (waswas) with different vowel point means melancholia; Satan (Aqrab).

سوآتھما (their shame). سوآت is the plural of سوءة which is derived from ساء which means, it was or became evil, foul or abominable. سوءة means, any evil, foul, unseemly or abominable saying or action or habit or practice; any saying or action of which one is ashamed when it appears, and which one would like to hide; any disgracing action or thing; the external portion of the organs of generation of a man or of a woman; the anus; corpse or dead body; nakedness (Lane & Aqrab). The word is also sometimes figuratively applied to such weaknesses of a man as lie concealed within him.

Commentary:

As the place where Adam was made to reside has been metaphorically described in the Quran as a garden, therefore in the description that follows the metaphor is continued and Adam is represented as forbidden to approach a certain 'tree', which was not a tree in its literal sense but a certain family or tribe from which he was bidden to keep aloof, because the members of that family were his enemies and they would have spared no pains to do him harm. For the meaning of the word شجرة (tree) see 2:36.

Another reading of the word ملکین (malakain), i.e. two angels, is (malikain) ملکین i.e. two kings or rulers. This reading is corroborated by 20:121, i.e. Shall I lead thee to the tree of eternity, and to a kingdom which shall never become decayed.

The wicked man who is here represented as Satan worked his mischievous plan as follows: He came to Adam and said that the reason why God had forbidden him to have anything to do with the family referred to was none other than this that its members were inimically disposed to him and that they would have conspired to bring about his downfall, if he had then contracted intimate relations with them. But as the family had subsequently become friendly towards him, the danger no longer existed; nay, the family would now even prove a source of strength for him, God’s prohibition, he pleaded, was not meant for all time, and the condition attached to it having come to an end, the prohibition also ceased to operate. In this way, this Satan succeeded in deceiving Adam and he assured him on oath that he was his well-wisher (7:22). Adam wavered and was led into thinking that as the reasons for the prohibition had indeed ceased to exist, the prohibition itself was no longer operative. That was an error of judgement on Adam’s part. He did not wilfully disobey God’s commandment. Elsewhere the Quran says, He (Adam) forgot to observe Our commandment and We found in him no determination to do evil (20:116).

2:202.

2:285; 5:41.

40:8.

Commentary:

The sentence, so I will ordain it for those who act righteously and pay the Zakah and those who believe in Our Signs, consists of two parts. The first part, i.e. those who act righteously and pay the Zakah refers to those of the Israelites who sincerely believed in Moses and acted righteously, while the second part, i.e. and those who believe in Our signs, refers to the believers in the Prophets that were yet to come, particularly the Holy Prophet of Islam, as the following verse points out.

2:59.

Commentary:

See note on 2:59.

25:33.

Commentary:

This verse clearly proves that the accounts of the previous Prophets have not been narrated in the Quran merely as simple facts of history, but contain prophetic allusions to similar incidents that were to occur in the life of the Holy Prophet. If it had not been so, how could these accounts be said to bring satisfaction to his mind and "make his heart firm." It was only when these accounts were to be taken as future incidents of his own life, that they could bring satisfaction to the Holy Prophet. In these accounts he saw how his enemies were to behave towards him, how they were to be discomfited and how his cause was to triumph in the end. As he was the representative of all previous Prophets, therefore, more or less, he was to pass through all the experiences through which his predecessors in the prophetic office had passed.

28:43.

Important Words:

اتبعوا (was made to follow) literally means, they were made to follow. تبعه means, he followed him. اتبعه means, he followed and overtook him. اتبعه also means, he made him follow another (Lane).

Commentary:

The word لعنة (curse) when ascribed to God means "removing to a distance" or "casting away from mercy." In this sense the first sentence of the verse would mean that God will remove or cast away disbelievers from His mercy and they will not attain His nearness nor see Him on the Day of Resurrection.

The words, the tribe of ‘Ad behaved ungratefully to their Lord, comprise an extremely touching sentence and indicate how perverse and ungrateful were the ‘Ad that they refused to listen to the voice of their رب (Lord), Who brought them into being and then nourished and sustained them. Nobility of character demanded that they should have been grateful to Him, but by rejecting His Message, they set the seal not only on their ingratitude but also on their folly, because they consigned to oblivion the patent fact that He Who gave them greatness and glory could also degrade and debase them.

39:11.

6:33; 12:110.

Commentary:

V. 25 above stated what disbelievers thought of the revelation sent down to the Holy Prophet. The present verse gives the opinion of the Faithful regarding the Quran in the words, They say, 'The best'. It must be remembered that the Faithful gave this testimony in favour of the Quran at Mecca where they were being bitterly persecuted for believing in it. A testimony given under such circumstances is entitled to the greatest possible respect. The Faithful were asked what they had found in the Book worth believing for which they were undergoing so much persecution, and the reply they invariably gave was that they had found it to be the Ideal Book, i.e. all that was essential for a perfect code of laws to contain was found in it or that this Book exceeded all their expectations.

The words, For those who do good, signify that a change in one’s attitude and outlook brings about a corresponding change in one’s deeds and actions. Disbelievers looked upon the Quran as a mere collection of tales, therefore they disregarded its warnings and consequently became deprived of all good. But believers looked upon it as خیر viz. the Ideal Book, so they acted upon it and thus reaped a good reward in this world and خیر i.e. the ideal reward, in the life to come.

16:31.

3:58; 11:112; 16:97.

Commentary:

This verse warns believers that they will be made to pass through trials and tribulations and will have to leave even their hearths and homes for the sake of God. It is when they have successfully met the ordeal that they will find God’s earth wide and spacious for them and will have their reward from God without measure. The reference in the verse seems to be to the Holy Prophet’s Hijrah to Medina. It is in Medina that Islam found a congenial soil for expansion and consolidation and it is there that Muslims were given possession of God’s spacious earth.

26:51.

Commentary:

Mark the wonderful change that true faith works in man. The greedy and materialistic magicians who only a short while ago were asking for reward from Pharaoh, in the form of money, position or honour (7:114), became quite indifferent even to the most horrible form of death with which he threatened them when they found and accepted the truth.

6:75; 19:43; 26:71.

Important Words:

تـماثیل (images) is the plural of تـمثال which means, an image (Aqrab). See also 2:18; 2:107; 6:39; 13:7 & 14:46.

The particle ما (what) here denotes contempt and derision and not a question.

Commentary:

Everyone has his own style of speech. Abraham too had his peculiar way of talking. While talking to idol-worshippers he generally made use of irony. In the present verse he appears to be asking a question while in reality he is speaking contemptuously of the gods of his people. This special style of Abraham is also apparent from 6:77,78,79. In the present verse he seems to say to his people: "How useless and futile these images are which you worship!" While Abraham used to talk in ironical language, Jesus would talk in metaphors. Several of his sayings quoted in the Quran have been misunderstood because they have been taken literally.

In the expression لـھا (lit. to which) the letter ل is used to denote respect and reverence and also to express emphasis. The word عکف is not generally followed by ل. We say عکف فی المکان i.e. he stayed in the place. عکف علی الامر means, he stuck to the affair (Aqrab).

The word اب beside meaning 'father' also means paternal uncle. The person mentioned in the above verse was Abraham’s uncle and not his father who is said to have died before Abraham was invested with the divine mission of a Prophet. See also 6:75.

The verse points to a very close resemblance between Abraham and the Holy Prophet. The fathers of both had died before they were made Prophets. Both were brought up by their uncles. Both preached the message of Unity of God to their uncles. Both the uncles refused to accept the Divine Message with this difference that whereas Abraham’s uncle opposed and persecuted him, Abu Talib, the Holy Prophet’suncle, though he did not accept his message, stood by him through thick and thin to the last moment of his life and even suffered for him.

3:15, 198; 9:38; 16:118; 28:61.

51:15; 55:44.