ROOT و ح ي

11:50; 12:103.

3:38.

Important Words:

اقلامھم (their arrows). اقلام is the plural of قلم (an arrow). They say قلم الشیء i.e. he cut the thing. قلم الظفر means, he clipped the superfluous part of the nail (Aqrab). القلم means; (1) a reed used for writing after being pared or shaped into a pen, i.e. a reed-pen; (2) a headless arrow used for drawing lots; (3) an arrow or a dart (Aqrab). It was customary among Arabs to use arrows for drawing lots as well as in gambling, etc.

Commentary:

Many of the facts which the Quran has brought to light regarding Mary are not found in the previous Scriptures. Hence, they are here spoken of as "things unseen". As narrated in the verses that follow, Mary had become pregnant, while leading a life of dedication in the temple. The priests grew most anxious when they came to know of the startling fact. They feared scandal and disputed among themselves and cast lots to decide as to who should take charge of her and arrange her disposal in marriage with some suitable person. One Joseph, a carpenter, as mentioned in the Gospels, was hit upon as a suitable person to be her husband and was persuaded to accept the awkward situation. All this was naturally done in secret and so it was a غیب (a thing unseen) which the Quran has brought to light.

2:137; 3:85; 6:85-88.

17:56.

Commentary:

زبورا (a Book) signifies any writing or book; or a book that is confined to intellectual science exclusive of legal statutes or ordinances. الزبور signifies particularly the Book of the Psalms of David (Lane & Aqrab). See also 3:185.

Commentary:

Typical Prophets have been mentioned here and in the succeeding verse to point out that the mission of the Prophet of Islam was not a new thing, the specific mention of زبور, the Book of wisdom given to David, in the present verse and of the Law-bearing revelation vouchsafed to Moses in the succeeding one, being both "Law" and "Wisdom".

3:53-54; 61:15.

Important Words:

The verb اوحی (inspired) does not always mean verbal revelation. It sometimes simply means to inspire a person with an idea, or to suggest it to him; and it is in this sense that the word is used here. The word has also been used with reference to the bee (16:89).

الحوارین (disciples). See 3:53.

4:167; 13:44; 29:53.

Commentary:

God Himself answers the question which He has put in the beginning of the verse; for the disbelievers did not know how to answer. They could not think that God also could bear witness. The answer has been given by God in order to instruct and teach believers.

Now the question is, how does God bear witness? This verse and the next two mention three ways by which God bears witness to the truth of the Holy Prophet. The first is by means of the Quran. This Quran has been revealed to me, the verse calls upon the Holy Prophet to say, so that with it I may warn you and whomsoever it reaches. These words signify that whosoever opposes the Quran and obstructs it will be visited by Divine punishment. This punishment will constitute God’s testimony to the truth of the Holy Prophet. The second and the third ways by which God bears witness are mentioned in the verses that follow.

11:32.

10:16; 46:10.

Commentary:

The words, I do not say to you, I possess the treasures of Allah, imply that when the Quran says that the Messengers of God are the announcers of glad tidings, this should not be construed to mean that as soon as a person believes in a Prophet of God, he acquires wealth. He will have to wait for the favours of God to come at their appointed time.

The words, nor do I say to you, I am an angel, here imply that it is not in the power of the Prophet to bring down punishment, for he is not "an angel of punishment."

After the above declarations it might be asked what good there was in following the Prophet when worldly favours took time in coming and when the Prophet was so powerless against his enemies. The Quran answers this implied question by saying that the getting of a treasure was not the only boon which one could desire. The perfect guidance which was received through the Prophet was a great blessing in itself for those who accepted the guidance were like one who possessed eyes, while those who rejected it were like one who had no eyes, and the blind and the seeing could never be alike. These are matters to be reflected upon and pondered over.

6:22; 7:38; 10:18; 11:19; 61:8.

46:21.

Commentary:

The verse gives another reason of the fact that the Quran is the revealed Word of God. If this Book, says the verse, is not the Word of God, then he who has forged this lie against God is the most guilty of men and cannot escape Divine punishment. But the verse also reminds deniers or rejecters that if the Quran is not a forged Book but the Word of God, as it actually is, then they are as great offenders as the one who forges a lie against God. In this case, it will be they who will be visited with Divine punishment.

The second sentence, i.e. or says, It has been revealed to me while nothing has been revealed to him, may be taken as an explanation or elaboration of the first sentence, i.e. who forges a lie against Allah; or the first sentence is general, while the second is particular. For instance, falsely to ascribe any teaching to God will come under the first category, and to claim falsely that God has spoken to him particular words will come under the second.

By saying, I will send down the like of that which Allah has sent down, a disbeliever only borrows the phraseology of those whom he addresses, viz. believers. Being a disbeliever in Divine revelation, he does not believe that God sends down anything, so he only quotes the expression made use of by believers concerning Divine revelation. Another instance of such usage is to be met with in 5:44.

The words, if thou couldst only see, signify that if anyone should witness the torment which the deniers of Prophets undergo when their souls leave their bodies, he would at once realize how severe is the torment of those who reject a Divine Messenger. This torment is not to be identified with the ordinary agonies of death, which are shared, under the general law of nature, by righteous and unrighteous alike, but to the specific punishment that clings to the rejecters of Prophets from the very moment of their death. The "punishment of disgrace" mentioned in the latter part of the verse refers, as the words "this day" indicate, not to the punishment of Hell but to the punishment which sinners begin to undergo immediately after death and before the Day of Resurrection. This is known as عذاب القبر (‘Adhabul-Qabr), i.e. punishment in the grave, in Islamic religious terminology, قبر or grave being the name given to the place where souls are kept after death but before Resurrection. Says the Holy Prophet: "When anyone dies, a window is opened out for him in the grave facing Heaven or Hell as the case may be" (Majah, ch. on Qabr). This is, of course, not the final retribution but only preparatory to it.

10:110; 33:3.

25:32.

Important Words:

زخرف (gilded). They say زخرف البیت i.e. he adorned, decorated or embellished the house. زخرف الکلام means, he arranged or put into a right state the speech or language; he embellished it with lies, etc. زخرف means, gold; any ornament or decoration or embellishment; also anything adorned, decorated or embellished; anything embellished with false colouring or with lies (Aqrab).

For غرورا (in order to deceive) see 4:121.

Commentary:

The words, men and jinn, which occur in many verses of the Quran do not refer to two different species of God’s creatures, but only to two classes of human beings, i.e. "men" denoting the masses or the common folk, and jinn standing for the big people who often remain aloof from the common people and do not mix with them, practically remaining concealed from public gaze. See also 6:101.

Those of the common people and the big people who lead the opposition to the Prophets of God have been styled Shayatin (evil ones), for an explanation of which see note on 2:15. This word shows that those who lead lives of sin before the advent of a Prophet generally increase in sinfulness as a punishment for their evil deeds, so that when a Prophet makes his appearance, they assume the role of arch-enemies to him and become leaders of opposition. It is a law of God, in both the physical and spiritual worlds, that the powers of man develop in the direction in which they are exercised. So, as such men employ their powers in the wrong way, the result is that at the advent of a Prophet they become still greater sinners and become leaders of men in opposing the truth. Again, in order to augment their mischief, these leaders suggest, as hinted in the words, gilded speech, such arguments to one another as appear to be sound and true but are really false and hollow, and their object in suggesting such things is to deceive the weak-minded.

5:4; 6:146.

Commentary:

The verse points out that if believers eat of the flesh of those animals on which the name of God has not been pronounced, it will be an act of disobedience and transgression.

One sin leads to another. If a believer fails to pronounce the name of God on his food, his heart becomes devoid of reverence for Him and this gradually leads to شرك i.e. associating partners with God.

2:174; 5:4; 16:116.

6:122.

Commentary:

The verse points out that the laws made by pagan Arabs with regard to permissible and forbidden foods were arbitrary, without any wisdom underlying them; while the food-laws made by Islam were based on reason and deep wisdom. Fundamentally speaking, Islam forbids four things__ three on the basis of their being رجس i.e. unclean and impure, and one on the basis of its being فسق i.e. profane and irreligious. The three first-mentioned things are (1) carrion, (2) the blood which pours out when an animal is slaughtered or wounded and (3) the flesh of swine. All these are, as the verse says, رجسi.e. unclean and impure, i.e. they are harmful to the physical and moral health of man. The word رجس it must be noted, is to be read with each of the three first-mentioned forbidden things.

The fourth thing forbidden is that on which the name of one other than Allah is pronounced. The reason for the prohibition of this kind of food lies in the fact that such food is, as the verse calls it, فسق i.e. profane, viz. a source of disobedience or rebellion against God. The eating of such food will injure the spiritual health of man and will crush his feelings of love and jealousy for God. See also 2:174.