تَوَلّٰی

Important Words:

تولی (he is in authority) is derived, from ولی. تولی means: (1) he turned his back, he went away from one’s presence; (2) he held command, or he was in authority; he became a والی or ruler (Aqrab & Taj).

سعی (runs about) means: (1) he walked briskly or he ran; (2) he made an effort; or he strove to obtain an object (Aqrab).

الحرث (the crops) is the noun-infinitive from حرث i.e. he ploughed or tilled the soil; he sowed seeds or planted plants in it; he acquired or earned or laboured for wealth or sustenance; he worked or laboured for the goods of the world. حرث means: (1) a tilth or a piece of land ploughed for sowing, or land actually sown with some crop; (2) land under crop; (3) crop or produce of land whether field crop or garden crop; (4) gain, acquisition or earning; (5) reward or recompense; (6) worldly goods; (7) wife or wives, because a wife is like a tilth in which seed is sown to bear crop in the form of children; (8) a much used road or a beaten track (Lane).

النسل (progeny). نسل الولد means, he begot a child. نسل الرجل means, the man had many children; the progeny of the man increased. نسل means: (1) creatures; (2) children; (3) progeny, whether of man or beast (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

This verse further develops the idea contained in the preceding one. The type of man described in the previous verse (i.e. one whose talk about the affairs of this world is very pleasing but who is selfish at heart) becomes unmasked when he happens to be in authority, or when he goes away from the presence of the people and meets his associates in private. Thus both the meanings of the word تولی as mentioned under Important Words are appropriate here: (1) While he is in the presence of those who are sincere lovers of mankind, he says pleasing things; but when he goes away from them and meets his comrades in private, he strives to create disorder on the earth. (2) Similarly, when he happens to come to power, he becomes exposed and all his talk about improving the affairs of the world vanishes like smoke, and instead of acting like a reformer, he actually becomes a source of disorder.

The clause, destroy the crops and the progeny, means that all his efforts are directed towards harming people and their property. The words حرث and نسل have a number of meanings and all are applicable here. They refer to all kinds of damage relating to person and property.

The words, Allah loves not disorder, come as a fitting reply to the clause in the preceding verse, i.e. he calls Allah to witness as to that which is in his heart. Allah’s evidence goes against him, for the man is after disorder, and Allah loves not disorder.

24:49.

Commentary:

The expression, portion of the Book, may refer to (1) the prophecies contained in the Bible concerning the Holy Prophet which formed a portion of the Book; or (2) the genuine portion of the Bible, because only a part of it had remained safe from interpolation and this alone could be called a part of the true Book; or (3) the expression may also mean that as compared with the Quran, which is the Book par excellence, being the eternal and perfect Divine Book, the Bible is but a portion and a part. In view of these different explanations, the verse would give different meanings: (a) that when the attention of Jews and Christians is drawn to the prophecies embodied in their Scriptures, they refuse to be guided by them. Or (b) that if the People of the Book had adhered to the genuine portion of their own Scriptures, the criteria laid down therein for testing the truth of a claimant to prophethood would have surely led them to accept the Holy Prophet. Or (c) that if they had faithfully acted on the teachings of their own Scriptures, which was in fact a part of the perfect and eternal teachings contained in the Quran, they would have certainly recognised the truth of the new Faith.

5:48; 24:56.

Commentary:

The word فاسقون (transgressors) used in this verse may also be rendered as disobedient or breakers of promise. Both these meanings are applicable here.

7:4.

Commentary:

The verse means that people who oppose the Prophet openly or secretly and seek for themselves a way other than that of believers, in spite of the fact that the divine guidance has become clear to them, will be deprived of the means of guidance, and God will let them follow the wrong course they are pursuing, i.e. they will increase in their hypocrisy and disbelief.

Important Words:

حفیظ (keeper) is derived from حفظ. They say حفظ الشیء i.e. he kept the thing or preserved it or guarded it or protected it or took care of it; he prevented it from becoming lost. حافظ or حفیظ (the latter having more intensive meaning) means, keeper, preserver or guardian. When used about God, the attributive name besides giving the above meanings, also means, the Preserver of all things; One Who preserves the good and evil works of His creatures (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, Whoso obeys the Messenger obeys Allah indeed, further explain the meaning of the expression, Say, All is from Allah, occurring in 4:79 above. The verse purports to say that obedience to the Prophet is really obedience to God, and if Muslims get into trouble by obeying the Prophet, it is all subject to God’s own will and must not be attributed to the Prophet and such trouble can never result in evil; God’s dealings with the Prophet come under His special providence, and, therefore, he who finds fault with him really finds fault with God.

7:63, 69; 46:24.

Commentary:

Salih left the stricken city in grief, as he could no longer bear to see the appalling sight, uttering the pathetic words mentioned in the verse with a sad and sorrowful heart, as did the Holy Prophet of Islam at Badr.

7:69, 80; 46:24.

Commentary:

The words put in the mouth of Shu‘aib in this verse are full of pathos. Shu‘aib, like every true Prophet, feels deep grief and distress for his people, but then he tries to console his distressed heart by saying, How then should I sorrow for a disbelieving people, i.e. "These ungrateful people persistently refused to accept the truth from their Lord. They defied and disobeyed God’s Prophet and rejected His signs and thus drew upon themselves His wrath and brought about their ruin with their own hand. In spite of this my heart sorrows for them. Would that they had believed!"

Important Words:

ابیضت (became white) is derived from بیض which again is derived from باض. They say باضه i.e. he surpassed him in whiteness. بیض means, he whitened a thing or made it white. بیض السقاء means, he filled the skin with water or milk; or, contrarily, he emptied it. ابیض means, it was or became white. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن is used regarding a person who is stricken with grief and means, the world became dark for him or his eyes became white with grief. (Lane & Bihar).

Commentary:

In view of the meaning of the word ابیضت given under Important Words the verse cannot mean that Jacob became blind on account of excessive weeping. The expression ابیضت عیناه من الحزن only means that his eyes became white because of grief; or (according to one meaning of the word) his eyes became filled with tears on account of grief. The interpretation of these words that Jacob’s eyes became blind is evidently wrong for the following reasons: (1) Arabic idiom does not bear it out, for the becoming white of eyes never means their becoming blind. (2) The Quran represents Jacob as displaying extraordinary patience, hinted at in his words when told that Joseph had been devoured by a wolf and also when Benjamin and Judah failed to return to him (vv. 19 & 84). Now, it is a strange sort of patience if he became blind on account of weeping for his sons. (3) It does not at all become a Prophet of God that he should go on bewailing and weeping for any worldly thing, however great, till he becomes blind. (4) The present verse itself tells us that Jacob was کـظیم i.e. he had succeeded in repressing his grief. This shows that he neither wept excessively nor became blind on account of it. (5) The expression ابیضت عیناه is used in Arabic only to express a person’s great grief and sorrow, and is never used about a person’s becoming blind through weeping and wailing.

Commentary:

The expression جمع کیدہ besides the meaning given in the text may also mean: He mustered all his designs; he contrived all sorts of plans; he did all that he could do.