Verse 2
The Clear Proof • madinah
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لَمْ يَكُنِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَٰبِ وَٱلْمُشْرِكِينَ مُنفَكِّينَ حَتَّىٰ تَأْتِيَهُمُ ٱلْبَيِّنَةُ
16:34.
Important Words:
منفکین is derived from انفک. They say انفک الشیء عن الشیء i.e. the thing became separated from another thing. ما انفک یفعل کذاmeans, he continued to do so or did not cease to do so or did not desist from doing so (Lane & Aqrab).
Commentary:
The Quran has divided all disbelievers into two categories—the People of the Book and the idolaters, i.e. those who do not believe in any revealed Scripture. The verse purports to say that before the advent of the Holy Prophet those who had received revealed guidance as well as those who were complete strangers to it were all sunk in immorality and iniquity and had held false beliefs and wrong ideals and principles, and that if the Holy Prophet had not come and the Quran had not been revealed, they would have continued to flounder in darkness. It is to this universal moral decline that the Quran has referred in the words ظھر الفساد فی البر والبحر i.e. corruption had appeared on land and on sea (30:42).
The Qur’an has divided all disbelievers into two categories—the People of the Book and the idolaters (those who do not believe in any revealed Scripture).