ٱلشَّمْسَ

7:55; 13:3; 16:3; 31:30; 35:14; 39:6.

Commentary:

In the present and the next two verses the point has been further stressed that God is the Creator and Source of all life, and for the continuity of this life He has pressed into the service of man all the forces of nature. This is a self-evident truth which not even the most confirmed disbeliever, consistently with reason, has the courage to deny. When such is the case, the verse purports to say, the believers who leave their hearths and homes and fly to a foreign land for the sake of God should not think that they would be left unprovided and uncared for.

Commentary:

See collective note under 6:80 below.

22:62; 35:14; 57:7.

7:55; 13:3; 35:14; 39:6.

Commentary:

The verse under comment further develops the theme of its predecessor and says that nations and individuals advance and decay as they observe or ignore the laws that govern their rise and fall. Uniform prosperity or unrelieved misery has never been the lot of a people for all time. The condition of a people or individual changes with a corresponding change in their or his attitude and behaviour. The natural law of the day following the night, and vice versa operates with equal force in regard to the fate of nations as well as individuals.

25:62; 71:17.

17:13

Important Words:

ضیاء (brilliant light) is the substantive noun from ضاء i.e. it became bright. اضاءت النار means, the fire burned brightly or, transitively, the fire lit up (the surroundings, etc.). ضیاء means, light; bright or brilliant light. It is synonymous with نورthough, according to some, it has a more intensive signification than نور. Some lexicologists consider ضوء or ضیاء as signifying the rays that are diffused by what is termed نور. According to others these two words are synonymous in their original application but ضوء or ضیاء is more forcible according to usage. According to yet others ضوء or ضیاء signifies that light which subsists by itself, as that of the sun or fire, and نور that which subsists by some other thing as does the light of the moon i.e. reflected light (Lane & Aqrab). The truth appears to be that whereas ضیاء or ضوء signifies strong light, نور is a more general term denoting light as opposed to darkness. This is why نور is one of the names of God. نور is also more extensive and more penetrating as well as more lasting in its significance (Muhit).

Commentary:

The verse points to a very wise natural law. We can judge the amount of space traversed by a body only by the change of its position relative to other bodies. So this verse purports to say that God has appointed stages for the sun and the moon that we may be able to make a reckoning of time. In other words, He has caused these heavenly bodies to move and has appointed stages for their motion so that by observing the motion of these bodies we may be able to know that a certain amount of time has passed and that we have moved on from our original position. All reckoning and all calendars depend on the movements of the sun and the moon. The moon moves round the earth and thereby we are able to know the measure of months. The earth moves round the sun and also rotates on its own axis, thus enabling us to measure our years as well as our days. The Arabic words rendered here as, that you might know the number of years and the reckoning of time, may also be translated as "that you might know the number of years and the principles of mathematics." In fact all fundamental principles and basic rules of mathematics are based on and derived from the movements of heavenly bodies like the sun and the moon.

The verse is also pregnant with a deep spiritual import. Just as in the physical world the sun and the moon enable us to prepare our calendars and make a right estimate of our works and their results, similarly through the suns and moons of the spiritual universe, i.e. the Prophets, we can measure the value of our labour and its results. Without the Prophets of God there can be no true awakening and no realization of the spiritual progress made by man, just as without the sun and the moon it would be impossible to form an idea about time or to measure it. The Prophets of God are like the sun and the moon in the spiritual world. They reveal the capacity for spiritual progress that lies latent in human nature and make men understand and realize their inborn faculties and capabilities and the limitless field of spiritual progress that lies before them. Without Prophets, there could be no real spiritual progress in the world.

The words بالحق (in truth) signify that God has not created the heavens and the earth only to satisfy a caprice. He has created them to fulfil an eternal and noble object. The Prophets and Messengers of God are as much needed for the spiritual growth of man as are the sun and moon for that of the physical world.

31:11.

7:55; 16:13; 29:62; 31:30; 35:14; 39:6.

32:6.

Commentary:

The Arabic expression رفع السموات بغیر عمد ترونھا rendered as, Who raised up the heavens without any pillars that you can see, means: (1) you see that the heavens stand without pillars; or (2) the heavens do not stand on any pillars which you may see, i.e. they have supports but you cannot see them. Both these meanings are correct and agree with the sense of the text. If the word عمد (pillars) be taken in its ordinary sense, i.e. in the sense of material columns which bear the weight of other things, then the verse would mean that the heavens stand without the support of pillars. But if the word be taken in the figurative sense, i.e. in the sense of anything that helps to keep another thing in place, then the verse would mean that the heavens or, for that matter, the heavenly bodies do stand on supports but these supports are not visible to the human eye, e.g. the force of gravity, or magnetic power or the special movements of planets or other means which men of science have discovered so far or which may be discovered in future.

The verse seeks to disabuse the minds of disbelievers of the notion that because the Holy Prophet possessed no material support or means which are considered essential for success, therefore he could not succeed in his mission. The verse says that it is not necessary that all things should have material supports or that these supports should be visible to the human eye. It is, indeed, true that everything must have some sort of prop to support it; but all things need not have the same kind of support. Material things which are the result of man’s handiwork need material supports, for even a small roof cannot stand without walls or pillars. But such is God’s handiwork that heavy stars stand in their places without visible support or without any support which may be called "a pillar" in the ordinary sense of the word. Although long ages have passed since this system came into being, yet nothing has gone wrong with it. There lies a world of difference between the way in which God works and the working of man. Man cannot do without support but God can, and this is why He has caused millions of stars to stand in their places without support or at least without visible support. The same divine law operates in the spiritual realm. When God desires to make a man succeed, He needs no material or visible means for it. He works in subtle ways that remain hidden from human gaze till the end is reached; and that which man in his ignorance regards as impossible becomes possible.

The expression, Then He settled Himself on the Throne, means that just as God first created the celestial bodies without any visible support and then began to manifest His attributes in a perfect manner, similarly in the spiritual world He has brought to perfection the spiritual firmament through the Holy Prophet; and now through the perfect teaching given to him, God’s attributes are going to find their complete manifestation. The word عرش or Throne, for which see 7:55, is used in the Quran to express the bringing to perfection of spiritual or physical laws. The expression is analogous to the ways of worldly monarchs. The rulers and monarchs of this world make their important proclamations "from the throne." To keep up the metaphor the clause, He settled Himself on the Throne, is intended to express the perfect manifestation of Divine attributes, meaning thereby that when a new spiritual heaven and a new earth have come into being, Divine attributes will necessarily find their requisite manifestation. See also 10:4.

The words, pressed the sun and the moon into service, mean that God has not only caused the heavenly bodies to stand without the support of pillars, but has also subjected them to the service of man. Man’s paid servants may, and indeed sometimes do, shirk their duty, but these heavenly bodies, in obedience to divine laws, serve us with perfect regularity and faithful-ness. What wonder then if God should have enforced the same inexorable law in favour of the Holy Prophet and should have subjected everything to his service?

The expression, He regulates all affairs, is also intended to signify that God will make all things serve the cause of the Prophet. The whole universe will, as it were, become his servant.

7:55; 13:3; 16:13; 39:6.

Important Words:

دائبین (performing their work constantly) is derived from دأب. They say دأب فی العمل i.e. he exerted himself in the work and was constant in it. دائب means he who works hard and constantly. The term الدائبان is also applied to the night and day which go round so regularly (Aqrab). See also 3:12.

Commentary:

In this and the preceding verses the Quran has enumerated some of the favours of God. Its object in doing so is, firstly, to point out that all things have been created for the use of man. If he has been foolish enough to take them as objects of worship, rather than put them to the use for which they have been created, he would be deprived of their benefits.

Secondly, as these blessings come from God so naturally they will be given to those who act upon the Word of God and lead righteous lives. So it actually happened, because the entire universe stood up like a servant to help the cause of Islam.

The verse also warns Muslims that they should not look upon God’s gifts as their personal and private property but should let their fellow beings share in them, because the things created by God are meant for "you all" and all the creatures of God are entitled to a share in them. They are not meant to be enjoyed by particular individuals or particular classes or communities.

22:62; 31:30; 57:7.

7:55; 13:3; 26:29; 31:21; 39:6.

13:15; 40:21.

Important Words:

قطمیر (whit) means, the cleft of a date-stone or the integument that is upon it; the thin skin which is upon a date-stone between the stone and the date itself or the white point in the back of the date-stone from which the palm-tree grows forth. Hence a small, mean, paltry, contemptible thing. The Arabs say ما أصبت منه قطمیرا i.e. I did not receive anything from him.

Commentary:

The metaphor of the preceding verse is continued in this verse. The word النھار (day) here represents prosperity and power and اللیل (night) signifies loss of these things combined with national decline and decadence. Taking the two words in this sense the verse implies a prophecy that with the advent of the Holy Prophet a new order will come into being. The nations which have hitherto enjoyed temporal and spiritual sovereignty will, if they rejected his message, be debased and disgraced, and another people which have till now been looked down upon as scum of humanity because of their faith, will be raised to the highest pinnacles of power and glory. All the forces of nature will combine to work for the success of the new order and the forces of darkness led by those whom the disbelievers call upon besides Allah will utterly fail to impede or obstruct its progress, because the kingdom of the heavens and the earth is God’s Who has revealed the new Teaching and Who is its Protector and Guardian.

7:179; 17:98; 39:37-38.

Important Words:

تزاور (move away) is in reality تتزاور which is derived from تزاور (tazawara) which again is derived from زار. They say زارہi.e. he visited him. ازورعنه (izwarra) or تزاورعنه (tazawara) means, he declined or turned aside from it (Lane & Aqrab).

تقرض (turn away) is derived from قرض . They say قرضه i.e. he cut it. قرضت الوادی means, I passed through or across the valley.قرض المکان means, he turned aside or away from the place. The Quranic expression واذا غربت تقرضھم ذات الشمال means, when it set to leave them behind on the left; to pass by and beyond them leaving them on its left; to turn aside or away from them on the left (Lane & Aqrab).

فجوة (spacious hollow) is derived from فجا. They say فجا الباب i.e. he opened the door. فجا رجلیه means, he parted his legs wide or straddled to make water. فجوة means, an opening or intervening space or an intermediate wide space between two things; a wide tract or a wide or depressed tract of land; the court or yard of a house; the part between the two sides of the solid hoof (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The verse describes the position of the Cave. It appears that the people referred to above lived in very high regions in the north, and the Cave was so situated that it faced north-west, for the sun passes a place which has its face to the north from right to left.

The word فجوة (spacious hollow) shows that the Cave covered a vast area. The catacombs at Rome which still exist confirm this view. They enclose a vast area, which has been estimated variously as extending over as many as 870 miles. It also appeals that the catacombs admitted very little light. The Cave was made in such a way as to serve as a hiding place. St. Jerome who visited the catacombs in the 4th century says, "It is all so dark that the language of the Prophet (Ps. 55.15) seems to be fulfilled, 'let them go down quick into Hell'. Only occasionally is light let in to mitigate the horror of the gloom, and then not so much through a window as through a hole" (Enc. Brit., 11th edition, vol. 5, p. 491).

By pointing to the position of the Cave which faced northward, God intended to warn Muslims that they had an enemy in northern regions about whom they should particularly be on their guard. Muslims disregarded this timely warning and fell easy victims to the machinations of their enemy. Instead of presenting a united front they fell out among themselves and facilitated his task. The intrigues of the Abbasids of Baghdad and their unseemly approaches to the Byzantine Empire of Constantinople for help on the one hand and the intrigues of the Moors in Spain with the Vatican on the other, led to their progressive decline and ultimate destruction. The solidarity of Islam suffered a fatal blow from these internal dissensions.

16:49.

Important Words:

دلیلا (guide) is derived from دل. They say دل علیه i.e. he directed him or rightly directed him or guided him to it. دلیلtherefore, means, a director or a right director to that which is sought or desired; a guide; a thing by which one is rightly directed or guided i.e. an evidence, argument or a proof; a sign set up for the knowledge of a thing indicated (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

While the preceding few verses referred to the prophetic mission of the Holy Prophet, the verse under comment speaks in figurative language of the rise, progress and power of Islam and illustrates this fact by drawing attention to a phenomenon of nature. When the sun is behind an object, its shadow lengthens. Similarly, when God is at the back of a people, their power and influence increases. The present Surah was revealed at Mecca when Islam being yet in infancy, its very fate seemed to hang in the balance on account of the relentless persecution to which the weak and defenceless Muslims were subjected. In metaphorical language the verse seems to warn disbelievers that the weak state of Islam should not deceive them into thinking that they would succeed in exterminating it. God is at its back and therefore its shadow would continue to expand and extend till it would reach the ends of the earth and nations of the world will seek and find solace and comfort under it. "The sun" in the verse symbolises Islam or the Holy Prophet. For a fuller explanation of this verse see 16:49.

6:74; 14:20; 16:4; 29:45.

7:55; 13:3; 29:62; 31:30; 35:14.

Commentary:

This verse adduces as a further argument the creation of heavens and earth and the existence of perfect design and order in the universe in support of the belief that there is One Intelligent Designing Mind behind all existence. See also 36:41.

10:6; 25:62.