Verse 2
The Palm Fiber • makkah
View Aspects
108:4.
Important Words:
یدان (two hands), is the dual form of ید which among other things means, power, influence; assistance, help, protection; troops, host, army; possession; wealth (Lane). See also 5:65, & 38:46.
تب (perish) means, he suffered loss; he became lost; he perished; he died. تباب , تبیب and تب (tabbun) are all infinitive nouns meaning, loss; death; destruction; perdition. They say تباله i.e. may he perish; may perdition be his lot. تبت یدہ also means, may he perish (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
ابولھب (Father of Flame) was the nick name of ‘Abdul-‘Uzza, the Holy Prophet’s uncle and his inveterate enemy and persecutor. He was so called either because his complexion and hair were ruddy or because he had a fiery temper. The Surah recalls an incident during the early preachings of the Holy Prophet. On being informed by God to call together his relatives and to deliver to them the Divine Message the Holy Prophet stood on the Mount Safa and called the different Meccan tribes by name—the tribes of Lawwi, Murra, Kilab and Qussayy, and his near relatives, and told them that he was God’s Messenger, and that if they did not accept his Message and did not give up their evil ways, Divine punishment would overtake them. The Holy Prophet had hardly finished his speech, when Abu Lahab stood up and said, تبالک ألھذا جمعتنا ھذا الیوم i.e. ruin seize thee, is it for this that thou hast called us together (Bukhari).
The sobriquet "Father of Flame" may either refer to the Holy Prophet’s uncle or to any hot tempered enemy of Islam or better still it may apply to the western powers of the latter days who own and control atomic and nuclear weapons—one group of them repudiating God altogether, and the other denying His Unity but both being equally opposed to Islam. In this sense "the two hands" would signify these two groups.
The verse purports to say that all endeavours and machinations of the enemies of Islam, particularly of the two groups of western powers and their satellites, would utterly fail and all their nefarious designs would recoil on their own heads; they would burn with rage at seeing Islam progressing, and their own wealth, power and possessions (أید) perishing before their very eyes.
108:4.
Abu Lahab (Father of Flame) was the nickname of ‘Abdul-‘Uzza, the Holy Prophet’s uncle and his inveterate enemy and persecutor. He was so called either because his complexion and hair were ruddy or also because he had a fiery temper. The Surah recalls an incident during the early preaching of the Holy Prophet. On being commanded by God to call together his relatives and to deliver to them the Divine Message, the Holy Prophet, one day, stood on mount Safa and called the different Meccan tribes by name—the tribes of Luwayy, Murrah, Kilab and Qusayy—and his near relatives, and told them that he was God’s Messenger, and that if they did not accept his Message and did not give up their evil ways, Divine punishment would overtake them. The Holy Prophet had hardly finished his speech, when Abu Lahab stood up and said, 'Ruin seize thee, is it for this that thou hast called us together' (Bukhari)? The nickname 'Father of Flame' may either refer particularly to Abu Lahab or to any hot-tempered ene