ROOT د ر ك

Important Words:

درك (depth). They say, درك المطر i.e. the rain fell in close consecutiveness. ادرك الشیء means, he attained, reached or overtook the thing; he sought or pursued and attained it. درك means, the act of attaining, or overtaking; the attainment or acquisition of an object; a consequence; an evil consequence; the bottom or lowest depth of a thing or of anything deep as of a well or sea. درك signifies, a stage counting downwards whereas درج is a stage upwards (Lane & Aqrab).

الاسفل (lowest) is both comparative and superlative degree from سافل meaning, low or base or vile. اسفل means, lower or lowest, both physically and in rank (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

The Quran’s strong denunciation of the hypocrites is a clear refutation of the charge brought against it that it exhorts its followers to spread Islam by means of the sword. If a man is forced to accept Islam against his will, he can never make a sincere believer. In other words, such a one will be a hypocrite and the last thing that can be alleged against the Quran is that it enjoins its followers to augment their numbers by admitting hypocrites into their fold.

The hypocrites will be placed in the lowest depth of Hell, because they combine the sin of disbelief with

that of hypocrisy. The lowest depth does not necessarily signify a depth which is the physically lowest, but a depth which is the hardest in torment and is meant for offenders of the lowest type.

22:64; 67:15.

Important Words:

لاتدرکه (cannot reach Him). تدرك is derived from ادرك which again is derived fromدرك . They say ادركه i.e. he or it attained, reached or overtook it. It also means, he perceived it; or he attained knowledge of it; or he attained perfect knowledge of it; or he comprehended it. The word also means, he or it attained puberty or maturity or ripeness (Lane).

ابصار (eyes) is the plural of بصر which means, eye or sight, or understanding or perspicacity (Aqrab).

لطیف (Incomprehensible) is derived fromلطف . They say لطف الشئی (latufa), i.e. the thing was or became small, thin or fine. لطف به i.e. latafa (with different vowel point on the central letter) means, he was kind, gentle and affectionate to him. لطیفmeans (1) gentle, gracious, and kind; (2) subtle, abstruse or recondite; (3) knower of the subtleties and obscurities of things. It is one of the attributes of God (Taj, Lisan & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Some persons may claim that they can know or reach God by means of reason or understanding alone. The Quran forcefully refutes this idea by saying, Eyes cannot reach Him, i.e. human reason alone, unaided by Divine help, is incapable of knowing or reaching God. It is God Himself Who reaches the eyes (viz. human understanding) and reveals Himself to man, i.e. God has, on the one hand, placed in human mind a power to search after and know Him, and, on the other, He sends down revelation to man, thereby making Himself known to him. Revelation also helps to kindle in human reason a light by means of which man is enabled to know God.

The two Divine attributes اللطیف (Incomprehensible) and الخبیر (All-Aware) furnish in a most beautiful manner the reason of the two claims made in the opening words of the verse. The first claim is that Eyes cannot reach Him, the corresponding reason being stated to be that He is Subtle and Incomprehensible, and being so, He cannot be comprehended by human reason alone. The second claim is that He reaches the eyes, the corresponding reason being stated to be that He is All-Aware, and being so, He knows that mankind stands in need of knowing Him without which there can be no spiritual life, so He Himself approaches man and reveals Himself to him. The two claims have thus been followed, in a perfect natural order, by two corresponding reasons. The reader should note what wise order governs the arrangement of the words of the Quran. They have not been put together at random, but each word has been put in the most appropriate place and is meant to fulfil a great purpose.

38:62.

Important Words:

ادارکوا (successively arrived) is derived from درك. They say درك المطر i.e. the rain dropped with close consecutiveness. ادرکهmeans, he attained, reached or overtook him. ادارکوا which is the same as تدارکوا means, they attained, reached, overtook or came up with one another; or the last of them attained, reached, overtook or came up with the first of them. The expression حتی اذا ادارکوافیھا جمیعا means, until when they have overtaken one another; or until they have successively arrived therein all together (Lane).

Commentary:

The words, For each preceding party there shall be double punishment, are explained in a saying of the Holy Prophet which is to the effect that he who starts a good practice, i.e. he who does a good deed in such a manner that others copy and follow him, shall have a double reward, and he who starts a bad practice shall have a double punishment. In fact, a person who does a good or a bad deed not only benefits or suffers by it himself, but leaves it as an example to follow for those who come after him. He, therefore, deserves a double reward or punishment as the case may be. The above-quoted words of the verse are also intended to point to the fact that each party that follows another also precedes the one that follows it. So there is no question of awarding double punishment to one and letting the other go with only single punishment.

7:139; 20:78.

20:79; 26:61; 44:25.

Commentary:

The verse throws interesting light on an important political question. Islam enjoins Muslims to obey their rulers. If, however, the latter deny to them religious freedom and resort to compulsion in matters of faith, Muslims are enjoined to migrate from their country rather than offer resistance to the established authority. But what should they do if the authorities do not even permit them to migrate and force them to remain in the country and suffer persecution? The verse under comment supplies an answer to this question by saying that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites "wrongfully and aggressively," which means that in preventing the Israelites from migrating Pharaoh was doing a thing to which he had absolutely no right. Thus if rulers prevent an oppressed subject people from peacefully leaving a country, the latter would be justified in resisting and opposing them by all legitimate means and in that case defiance of the authority will not be held as a breach of the law or an act of rebellion. Just as nobody is allowed to defy and break the law of the land in which he lives, similarly no Government has a right to compel any person to live under it while denying him freedom of religion and conscience.

The words, He in Whom the children of Israel believe, spoken by Pharaoh at the time of his drowning, show the utterly abject state of his mind at that time. If he had said that he believed in the God of Moses, he might be considered to have had some sense of dignity left in him because, having been brought up in the royal household and being the leader of his people, Moses was entitled to respect even from worldly considerations; but to say that he believed in Him in Whom the children of Israel believed—the very children of Israel whom it was his pride to trample under foot—bespeaks the great depth of abasement to which the proud Pharaoh had fallen.

26:53.

26:64.

Important Words:

لا تخشی (nor wilt thou have fear) is formed from خشیwhich means, he feared or dreaded or feared with reverence, veneration, respect, or awe. We have in the Quran وھم من خشیته مشفقون i.e. they fear their Lord, holding Him in reverence (21:29). خشی منه means, he feared or dreaded what might happen to him from him or it. خشیة is the dread, fear or awe resulting from the knowledge which one possesses about a thing or person. The Quranic expression انما یخشی اللّٰه من عبادہ العلماء(35:29) means, only those of His servants who possess knowledge fear Allah (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradat). The reference to the fear mentioned in the words لا تخشی is to the dangers of the sea and other hardships that lay ahead of the Israelites.

Commentary:

The incident mentioned in this verse relates to the time when, under God’s command, Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt into Canaan. The Israelites left secretly by night, and when Pharaoh learnt of their flight, he pursued them with his hosts and was drowned in the Red Sea.

In order to appreciate fully the nature and significance of this incident which indeed constituted a great divine sign, it is necessary to read the verse under comment along with other relevant verses such as vv. 2:51, 26:62-64 & 44:25. The Quran says:

And remember the time when We divided the sea for you and saved you and drowned Pharaoh’s people while you looked on (2:51).

And when the two hosts came in sight of each other the companions of Moses said, 'We are surely overtaken.'…Then We revealed to Moses, saying, 'Strike the sea with thy rod.' Whereupon it parted and every part was like a huge sandhill (26:62-64). When the Israelites were passing they had the sea on one side and the small lake son the other, which conformably to the natural laws of perspective appeared raised above the level of the land.

And leave the sea at a time when it is motionless. Surely, they are a host which is doomed to be drowned (44:25). i.e. pass through the sea quickly at a time when the tide has receded.

The Bible also refers to this incident in the following verses:

And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground; and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand and on their left. And the Egyptians pursued and went in after them to the midst of the sea…And the Lord said unto Moses, 'Stretch out thine hand over the sea'…And Moses stretched forth his hand over the sea and the sea returned to its strength…And the waters returned and covered the chariots, and the horsemen, and all the host of Pharaoh that came into the sea after them; there remained not so much as one of them (Exod. 14:21-28).

The following facts emerge from the above account of this incident as given in the Quran and the Bible;

(a) that Moses was commanded by God to take away the Israelites out of Egypt by night;

(b) that Pharaoh pursued the Israelites with his mighty hosts;

(c) that when the Israelites reached the arm of the Red Sea which lay across their route, they were greatly dismayed because Pharaoh was close behind with his hosts;

(d) that when on seeing Pharaoh’s hosts the Israelites exclaimed in fright that they were overtaken, God commanded Moses to strike the water of the sea with his rod;

(e) that when Moses struck the sea with his rod as the Quran says or stretched out his hand over the sea as the Bible says, it was the time of the ebb-tide and the sea was receding, leaving a dry bed;

(f) that Moses was commanded by God to cross quickly the dry bed to the opposite bank, which he did;

(g) that when the hosts of Pharaoh reached the sea, it was the time of high tide and that in their zeal to overtake the Israelites they took no notice of it and at once jumped into the sea behind them; and

(h) that, as it appears, being heavily equipped with big chariots and other heavy armaments the progress of the army of Pharaoh was greatly retarded so that while they were yet in the midst of the sea, the high tide returned and they were all drowned.

Historians differ as to the exact place from where Moses crossed the Red Sea from Egypt into Canaan. Some are of the view that on his way from the territory of Goshen, which is also called the valley of Al-Tamthilat or Wadi Tumilat and where the capital of the Pharaohs was situated (Enc. Bib. vol. 4, col. 4012, under "Rameses"), Moses passed by the Gulf of Timsah (Enc. Bib., cols. 1438 & 1439). Others think that he went much further to the north and going round Zoan crossed over to Canaan near the Mediterranean Sea (Enc. Bib., col. 1438). But what is most probable is the fact that from Tal Abi Sulaiman which was the capital of the Pharaohs in Moses’ time, the Israelites at first went to north-east to the Gulf of Timsah but finding that a net of gulfs barred their way, they turned south and crossed the Red Sea near the town of Suez where it is hardly more than 2/3 mile wide, and started for Qadas (Enc. Bib., col. 1437).

The following passage from Peake’s "Commentary on the Bible" (p. 64) may also be read with interest:

The Israelites fled with him (Moses) across the Goshen marshes into the Sinaitic Peninsula. The crossing of the "Red Sea" (yam suph, "sea" or "lake of reeds") was probably the crossing of the southern end of a lake a few miles N.W. of what is now called the Red Sea. A wind laid bare a wide stretch of shore, and when an Egyptian force pursued the fugitives, their chariot wheels stuck fast in the wet soil, and the water returned upon them when the wind shifted. Writers differ as to the route taken by the Israelites. Some think that they moved southward to the mountainous range of (the modern) Sinai, and then along the eastern arm of the Red Sea, now known as the Gulf of ‘Akabah, to its northernmost point at Ezion Geber. Others think that the evidence points to the route still taken by Mecca pilgrims, nearly due E. to Ezion Geber, and that thence they moved N.W. to the region of Kadesh (Barnea), to Mt. Sinai or southward along the E. side of the Gulf of ‘Akabah to Mt. Horeb. The traditions differ and certainty is impossible.

There are people who against all canons of history take particular delight in propounding most extraordinary theories that the Israelites never lived in Egypt. Some such theories are:

(a) No reference to the Israelites is to be found in the old Egyptian historical records.

(b) In the fifth year of the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah (or Mereneptah) when Moses is said to have taken the Israelites out of Egypt, some Israelite tribes were actually living in Canaan, therefore the theory of Moses having taken the Israelites out of Egypt to Canaan during his reign and their having settled in that country some fifty years later is all wrong.

(c) Though some trace is found of a few tribes having crossed over from Asia into Egypt but there is no proof that these were the Israelite tribes.

The propounders of these strange theories seem to ignore the patent fact that the Israelites were foreigners in Egypt and were a subject race and lived the miserable life of slaves under their cruel rulers. How could such people be considered worthy of any notice being taken of them by historians? Apart from this the fact may also be taken into consideration that when it is not quite possible for historians even in this 20th century to prepare a well-connected and harmonious narrative about a people from the remnants of its ruined civilization, it was much more difficult for historians in the past to reconstruct a consistent record from the fragmentary accounts of a people who lived in the hoary past and who were treated like beasts of burden by their rulers. This is why no reference to the Israelites is to be found in the old historical records of Egypt.

Secondly, the doubtful theory that certain Israelite tribes were found to be living in Canaan in the 5th year of the reign of Pharaoh Merneptah cannot disprove the fact that other Israelite tribes had remained behind in Egypt. Is it not possible that some of these tribes might have left Egypt for Canaan sometime before all of them were taken out of it by Moses. It is very strange that on the one hand these very writers say that Moses is an Egyptian name and that some of the companions of Moses also had Egyptian names, and on the other that the Israelites never went to Egypt. Moreover, the Bible gives a detailed and well-connected story of the Israelites having lived in Egypt. There was no compelling reason for the writers of the Bible to have done so, especially when the Israelites had lived there only as slaves and worse than beasts of burden. No people would feel any urge or pride in forging and falsely inventing such a miserable record of shame and sorrow of themselves. Last but not least, the Biblical details with regard to the customs, culture and mode of life of the Pharaohs of that time is another proof of the fact that the Israelites had lived under them. The Bible had no interest in the Pharaoh dynasty of Egypt apart from their being rulers of the Israelites. Besides, as stated by old Greek historians, the Egyptians themselves admitted that the Israelites had lived in Egypt for a long time and later on had left this country. The present Egypt, however, should not be confused with a territory which in ancient times was also known as Egypt but which formed a part of northern Syria or northern Arabia.

The date of the Exodus has also been much contested and there seems to be considerable difficulty in determining its exact date from the Biblical records alone. Neither the name of the reigning Pharaoh nor the place where he held his court is mentioned; the account given is not contemporary, but has been condensed and annotated by later editors, and fused by them into a general narrative; and the Biblical chronology of the period, though containing trustworthy material, is known to be largely artificial. Apart from the Biblical records any historical information on the subject is meagre. Various theories, however, are held about the Exodus. Some of these are as follows:

1. The view that the Israelites left Egypt with the Hyksos (1580 B.C.) at the beginning of the XVIIIth Dynasty, or shortly afterwards, and lived a nomadic life of about 200 years in the desert previous to entering Canaan. But evidently this view seems to do violence to genuine Hebrew tradition.

2. The theory which dates the Exodus in the XVIIIth Dynasty, but about 1445 B.C. just after the long despotic reign of Thutmose III and during that of his son Amenhotep II (1447-1420 B.C.). This theory too lacks the support of trustworthy historical material and Hebrew tradition.

3. The hypothesis which connects the Exodus with the religion’s revolution attempted by Amenhotep IV, otherwise known as Akhenaten (1383-1366 B.C.) This view would place the Exodus about 1350 or 1345 B.C. This seems to be more plausible than the first two views.

4. But the theory, largely prevalent which receives much support from historical data, archaeological research and Hebrew tradition is that the Exodus occurred in the Nineteenth Dynasty (1328-1202 B.C.), in the reign of Merneptah II or Mereneptah II (1234-1214) and still seems the most probable. It appears to have taken place about 1230 B.C. According to this view the Pharaoh of the oppression would be Rameses II and his successor Merneptah II, the Pharaoh of the Exodus (Peake’s Commentary on the Bible, pp. 119, 955 & 956).

Incidentally, it may be stated here that the striking of the water of the sea with his rod by Moses had no cause and effect connection with the actual parting of the sea. It was merely a sign or a Divine intimation that it was the time of the ebb tide and that the Israelites should hasten to cross. God had so arranged that when Moses reached the sea the tide was about to go back, so that as soon as he struck the sea with his rod in obedience to Divine command, it began to recede and a dry path was made for the Israelites. The striking of the water with his rod by Moses and the recession of the sea coincided. This constituted a miracle because God alone knew when the sea would recede and He had commanded Moses to strike its waters at the time of its recession.

Commentary:

This verse shows that the companions of Moses were generally men of very weak faith. This is also clear from several other verses of the Quran. See 5:22-23; 7:149; 20:87-92, etc.

Important Words:

ادارک (has reached its end) is derived from درک. They say درک المطر (darraka) i.e. the rain dropped with close consecutiveness. أدرکه means, he attained, reached or overtook him. تدارکو or ادارکوا means, they attained, reached, overtook one another so as the last of them met with the first of them. بل ادارک علمھم فی الاخرة means, their knowledge with regard to the meeting of the Hereafter has reached its end i.e. they have become devoid of knowledge about it. See also 7:39.

Commentary:

No amount of human knowledge and intelligence alone can satisfy the craving of the human soul after God, or can prove beyond doubt the existence of God and life after death, the two most fundamental of all religious beliefs, because their full comprehension is beyond human ken. It is divine knowledge acquired through Divine revelation that can and does actually engender certainty in human mind about these two basic religious problems. Man’s knowledge can, at best, lead to the conclusion that there must be a Divine Being and a life after death but it is Divine revelation alone that can change this "must be" into a certain "is."

25:63.

21:34.

Important Words:

یسبحون (float) is derived from سبح which means, he swam. They say تسبح النجوم فی الفلک i.e. the stars swim, float or glide along swiftly in the firmament (Aqrab & Lane).

Commentary:

The reference in this verse is to the floating of the heavenly bodies through space or ether. The Quran contradicted the view held for a long time that the heavens were solid in their formation. It is characteristic of the Quran that it uses expressions which not only contradict erroneous religious beliefs and scientific views but also anticipate new discoveries in the domain of science and philosophy. It has revealed, in plain simple language, scientific truths which were unknown to the world at the time of its revelation and which even remained hidden for centuries afterwards. This alone constitutes sufficient proof that the Quran is the revealed Word of Him Who is the Supreme Source of all knowledge and from Whom nothing is hidden.

The verse also points to the excellent design and order that pervades the entire universe; all the celestial and terrestrial bodies performing their allotted tasks regularly, punctually and unerringly, without trespassing on one another’s sphere of action. "The solar system is but one of hundreds of millions of systems, some of which are incalculably larger than it. Yet the countless millions of suns and stars profusely scattered over the immense void are so arranged and distributed in relation to one another as to secure the safety of one and all and to produce everywhere harmony and beauty. Each orb is reflecting the orbit of every other, yet each proceeds safely on its destined way, and all united, form a glorious harmony of structure and motion." This immaculate design and perfect order pervading the universe unerringly points to a Designer and Controller behind it.

21:89; 37:144-146.

Commentary:

The verse may also imply a subtle hint to the Holy Prophet’s Hijrah (Migration) to Medina.