نَادَىٰ

2:37; 20:122.

2:169, 209; 6:143; 12:6; 20:118; 28:16; 35:7; 36:61.

Important Words:

دلھما (caused them to fall into disobedience) is derived from دلی or دلا. They say دلاالدلو i.e. he pulled or drew the bucket (of water) out of the well. دلاحاجته means, he sought or demanded the object of his want. ادلی الدلو means, he let down the bucket into the well to draw out water with it. دلی الشیء means, he let down the thing or he let it fall or he made it hang down. It also means, he brought or drew the thing near to another. دلاه بغرور means, he caused him to fall into disobedience by deceit; or he excited his cupidity with deceit and guile; or he caused him to fall into that which he desired without his knowledge and so exposed him to loss or injury (Lane). The expression, as used in this verse, shows that Satan deceived Adam and drew him and his wife to himself or to the forbidden tree by deceitful talk and thus caused them to fall into disobedience, while they knew not.

ورق (leaves) is both singular and plural and is noun from the verb ورق. They say ورق الشجر i.e. the tree put forth its leaves. اورق الرجل means, the man became rich; his wealth and money increased. ورق, therefore, means, leaves, foliage, parchment; sheet of paper; thin plate of metal; minted silver coins; the prime and freshness of a thing; the young lads of a community; any animal having life (Aqrab, Lane & Lisan).

Commentary:

Every person has certain weaknesses which are hidden even from himself but which become exposed at a time of strain and stress or when he is tempted and tried. For instance, some men are cowardly, but they are not generally conscious of their cowardice. When however, they encounter a danger, and their heart fails them, they realize their weakness. So it was when Adam was tempted and deceived by Satan that he became aware of his natural weaknesses. The Quran does not say that the weaknesses of Adam and his wife became known to other people, but that they became known to themselves.

The word سوأة (treated under 7:21 above) is not used here in the sense of "nakedness" but rather of "objects of shame" or "weakness", because no man’s nakedness is hidden from him. Some of Adam’s weaknesses were indeed hidden from him and he came to realize them when his enemy lured him away from his position of security. Before this he did his work, aided and helped by Divine grace which kept covered his failings and weaknesses; but when he allied himself with the family against which he had been warned, he was exposed and he realized, to his sorrow, how weak he was.

As Satan had succeeded in causing a split in the community and some of the weaker members had gone out of its fold, Adam gathered together the اوراق (leaves) of the garden, i.e. the youth of the community and began to reunite and reorganize his people with their help. It is generally the young men who, being mostly free from bias and regardless of dangers, follow and help the Prophets of God. Speaking of Moses, the Quran says: And none obeyed Moses, save some youths from among his people, because of the fear of Pharaoh and their chiefs (10:84).

It must be noted here that the being whom the Quran has represented as having refused to submit to Adam is called Iblis, while the person who tempted him is called Satan. This distinction is observed not only in the verse under comment, but in all the relevant verses throughout the Quran. This shows that, so far as this narrative is concerned, Satan and Iblis were two different persons. In fact, the word Shaitan (Satan) is applied not only to evil spirits but to certain human beings also who, on account of their evil nature and wicked deeds, become, as it were, fiends incarnate. Just as a man can advance in virtue and piety so as to become like an angel, similarly he may become morally so depraved and degenerate as to be called a devil. Thus the Shaitan, who tempted Adam and caused him to slip, was not an invisible evil spirit but a wicked man of flesh and blood, a devil from among human beings, a manifestation of Satan, and an agent of Iblis. He was a member of the family which Adam had been bidden to avoid. The Holy Prophet tells us that his name was Harith, literally meaning a farmer, (Tirmidhi, ch. on Tafsir) which is further evidence of his being a human being and not an evil spirit. See also 2:15 & 2:37.

Adam’s error lay in taking this man-devil for a well-wisher, although God had warned him against having anything to do with him.

Commentary:

A highly significant dialogue between the inmates of Heaven and of Hell begins from this verse.

The word, الظالمین (wrongdoers), may also be rendered as "idolaters" or "worshippers of false deities". See 31:14.

Commentary:

The occupants of the elevated places, i.e. the Prophets, shall call out to certain persons from among the people, to whom they had been sent and whom they will recognize by their marks, telling them to see the end of their opposition.

The particle ما (not) may also be taken in the interrogative sense, meaning "what". In that case the sentence would be rendered as, "of what avail was your multitude to you and your arrogance?" In this sense the sentence would constitute a very pointed rebuke by the Prophets to the dwellers of Hell.

Important Words:

افیضوا (pour) is derived from افاض which again is derived from فاض which means, it (water, etc.) overflowed, or poured forth from fullness. افاض means, he filled (a vessel) so that it overflowed; he made it (water, etc.) to flow or run; he poured out water, etc. (Lane).

Commentary:

The use of the words افیضواعلینا (pour on us) by the inmates of Hell implies that they would in a way flatter the inmates of Heaven by saying to them that they had enjoyed God’s blessings (which were virtually overflowing) to their heart’s content, and would then beg of them to give them a little of the abundant good that God had bestowed upon them. This condition of the inmates of Hell is well illustrated by the parable of Abraham and Lazarus in Luke 16:23-24.

Commentary:

Commentators differ as to whether the person referred to in this verse as Noah’s son was his real son or only a near relative. According to some, he was his stepson. Ibn Mas‘ud, Ibn ‘Abbas, ‘Ikrimah, Ad-Dahhak, Ibn Jubair and many other commentators, however, are inclined to view that he was Noah’s own son. But discussion of this subject seems to be super-fluous and unnecessary.

Christian annotators have question-ed the authenticity of this incident on the ground that it does not agree with the Biblical account. But the authenticity of the Bible itself as a historical record is open to doubt and it is unreasonable to accept or reject an incident on its authority alone.

Commentary:

This verse beautifully illustrates how the Prophets maintain a highly respectful attitude to God even under very hard trials. Noah had, by an error of judgement, thought that all the members of his family would be saved from the flood, but when he saw that his son was going to be drowned, he made his supplication to God in a most respectful way, appealing to Him in the name of His promise about the safety of his family. He was, however, careful to add that if his son was drowned, he would not think that God’s promise was false but that he himself had misunderstood the Divine Words, for God’s promise was ever true and His judgement always just.

3:39; 21:90.

Important Words:

نادی (called upon): نادی الرجلmeans, he called the man aloud. نادی بسرہ means, he disclosed his secret. نادی فلاناً means, he consulted him (Aqrab).

Commentary:

The words, when he called upon his Lord, crying in secret, signify that Zachariah had kept concealed in the inmost recesses of his heart a long cherished desire. When he heard Mary’s innocent reply to his query (3:38), he was deeply touched and he laid bare his heart before his Lord and Creator and his long-suppressed desire assumed the form of prayer that a good and righteous son like Mary might be born unto him to continue prophethood in the Israelite line. Zachariah had understood from Biblical prophecies and heavenly warnings that were administered to the Jews for their repeated rejection of God’s Prophets that prophethood was soon to be transferred from the House of Isaac to that of Ishmael. So he gave vent to his feelings in the form of prayer for the birth of a righteous son.

Important Words:

تحتھا (beneath her). تحت means, beneath, below or under; the lower part. The word also signifies the low, base, vile or ignoble or depressed persons. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said, لا تقوم الساعة حتی تظھر التحوت و تھلک الوعول i.e. the hour of resurrection will not come until the low or depressed people prevail and the rich and high-placed persons perish; or as some say, until the treasures that are beneath the earth appear (Lane &Taj).

The word تحت meaning beneath, below and also the slope and declivity of a mountain (Lane), the verse signifies that the voice came to Mary from the side of the slope of the mountain where the fountain was and not from beneath her own body as is popularly believed. As a matter of fact Bethlehem is situated on a rock 2350 ft. above sea-level and is surrounded by very fertile valleys. There are fountains in this rock, one of which is known as the 'fountain of Solomon'. Another fountain is situated at a distance of about 800 yards to the southeast of the town. From these fountains water is supplied to the town of Bethlehem. The words of the verse only mean that the angel called to Mary from the side of the fountain which was situated in the slope (تحت) of the mountain.

Mary stood in need of water for drinking and for washing herself and the swaddling-clothes. So the voice of the angel indicated to her the direction where the fountain lay. One of the fountains was flowing at a distance of about 800 yards to the south-east of Bethlehem and Joseph and Mary, we are told, finding no accommodation in the town had to lie in the open field at some distance from the town.

The verse seems to point to a beautiful likeness which Jesus had with another Prophet of God—Ishmael. We are told that when Ishmael suffered from extreme pangs of thirst in the wilderness of Mecca and his mother Hagar in vain searched for water, the voice of the angel came to her saying that God had caused a fountain of water to flow from under the feet of Ishmael (Bukhari). The verse thus entitles Jesus to no particular distinction. Apart from the fatherless birth of Jesus the significance of which has been fully explained in the Introduction to the present Surah, Jesus possesses no distinction. He was only one of so many Divine Messengers.

26:118-120; 37:76-77; 54:11.

Commentary:

It is worthy of note that this Surah makes a special mention of the trials and tribulations through which almost all the Prophets of God had to pass in their time and of the way in which God helped them and delivered them from their afflictions, the implication being that like those Prophets the Holy Prophet of Islam too will have to suffer hardships and privations and like them he too will come out of his ordeal with flying colours. Particular reference to Noah here signifies that if the Law were a curse as Christians say, then what would they say about Noah who came with a Law and among whose followers a great Prophet like Abraham appeared (37:84)? It may be said in passing that Prophet Noah was the first Law-bearing Prophet. The Holy Prophet is reported to have said about himاول نبی شرعت علی لسانه الشرائعi.e. he was the first Prophet to whom the Law was revealed. The Law first began to be revealed to Noah because in his time human mind had attained to such a stage of development as to have been able to understand and comprehend Divine attributes, and the evils which are the inevitable result of a civilized society had also begun to make their appearance in his time.

38:42.

Commentary:

Job is mentioned in the Bible as having lived in the land of ‘Uz. According to some authorities Mesopotamia was his native place. It appears, however, that ‘Uz was situated somewhere in the north of Arabia, between Syria and the Gulf of ‘Akaba. It is said that Job lived there before the departure of the Israelites from Egypt. According to some Jewish writers he lived about 200 years before Moses. According to some other authorities, however, he was a compatriot of Moses, but he was not an Israelite Prophet, having descended from Esau, the elder brother of Israel. Of all the books of the Old Testament, the Book of Job is unique in this respect that with the exception of the word Jehovah, which is the Jewish name for God, the whole history of the Mosaic Law and that of the Jews is conspicuous by its absence in it. See also 6:85.

The story of Job is said to bear a close resemblance with Harish Chander, a Hindu saint and a rich man. The language of the Book of Job which is Hebrew with various Armaisms and with a faint Arabic tinge is the language which was spoken by the Jews between the 9th and 4th centuries B.C. and that is the time (6th century B.C.) when some Israelite tribes after the Great Dispersion were banished to Afghanistan and Kashmir by Nebuchadnezzar and other Babylonian kings. There they came in contact with the Hindus, and studied their history, mythology and folklore. Whether or not the author of the Book of Job while writing this book borrowed from Hindu popular literature it is difficult to say. But Muslim commentators of the Quran extensively borrowed from the Book of Job, and drawing upon their own imagination added most fantastic and unbelievable details to Job’s account in their commentaries and ended by making the whole account a veritable fairy tale.

The Quran has confined itself to mentioning a few relevant facts about Job in the present and the next verse. It tells us that Job was a holy man of God, that he had to suffer great hardships and privations as a result of which he became separated from his family and followers who subsequently were made to join him, his followers having increased manifold in the meantime.

Job has also been mentioned in vv. 4:164; 6:85 & 38:42 and everywhere he has been mentioned along with the Prophets David and Solomon. This shows that like these two great Prophets he was a man of influence and affluence and like them he had to pass through trials and tribulations which he bore with exemplary patience and fortitude. The courage and fortitude displayed by Job under very severe affliction and distress has become proverbial. See also Jew. Enc., under "Job" and Enc. of Islam under "Ayyub" and explanatory notes under 6:85 & 38:42.