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The mention of God's messages, interpolated by me between brackets, is justified by the verses which precede and follow this passage. Moreover, it is only by means of such an interpolation that the symbolic purport of the above reference to "the winds that bear glad tidings" can be made fully obvious.
The theme of Allah's artistry in the physical and the spiritual world was placed before us above in xxx. 20-27. Then, in verse 28-40, we were shown how man and nature were pure as they came out of the hand of Allah, and how we must restore this purity in order to fulfill the Will and Plan of Allah. Now we are told how the restorative and purifying agencies are sent by Allah Himself,-in both the physical and the spiritual world.
Cf. vii. 57 and n. 1036 and xxv. 48 and n. 3104.
In the physical world, the winds not only cool and purify the air, and bring the blessings of rain, which fertilizes the soil, but they help international commerce and intercourse among men through sea-ways and now by air-ways. Those who know how to take advantage of these blessings of Allah prosper and rejoice, while those who ignore or fail to understand these Signs perish in storms. So in the spiritual world: heralds of glad tidings were sent by Allah in the shape of Messengers: those who profited by their Message prospered and those who ignored or opposed the Clear Signs perished, see next verse.
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Lit.. "did We send apostles to their [own] people": see note [96] on 10:74 .
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As in verse {46} above, the reference to "the winds" has here a symbolic significance, namely, spiritual life and hope; hence my interpolation.
Again the Parable of the Winds is presented from another aspect, both physical and spiritual. In the physical world, see their play with the Clouds: how they suck up the moisture from terrestrial water, carry it about in dark clouds as needed, and break it up with rain as needed. So Allah's wonderful Grace draws up men's spiritual aspirations from the most unlikely places and suspends them as dark mysteries, according to His holy Will and Plan: and when His Message reaches the hearts of men even in the smallest fragments, how its recipients rejoice, even though before it, they were in utter despair!
See last note.
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After the two Parables about the purifying action of the Winds and their fertilizing action, we now have the Parable of the earth that dies in winter or drought and lives again in spring or rain, by Allah's Grace: so in the spiritual sphere, man may be dead and may live again by the Breath of Allah and His Mercy if she will only place himself in Allah's hands.
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The particle la'in (lit., "indeed, if . . .") is often used in the Qur'an to express the recurrent, typical character of the attitude or situation referred to in the sequence; in all such cases it may be suitably rendered as "thus it is: if . . .", etc.
For a full explanation of this verse, see 11:9 and the corresponding notes [16-19].
Another Parable from the forces of nature. We saw how the Winds gladdened, vivified, and enriched those who utilized them in the right spirit. But a wind might be destructive to tilth in certain circumstances: so the blessings of Allah may-by the wrongdoers resisting and blaspheming-bring punishment to the wrong-doers. Instead of taking the punishment in the right spirit-in the spirit in which Believers of Allah take their misfortunes,-the Unbelievers curse and deepen their sin!
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The marvels of Allah's creation can be realized in a general way by every one who has a disposition to allow such knowledge to penetrate his mind. But if men, out of perversity, kill the very faculties which Allah has given them, how can they then understand? Besides the men who deaden their spiritual sense, there are men who may be likened to the deaf, who lack one faculty but to whom an appeal can be made through other faculties, such as the sense of sight; but if they turn their backs and refuse to be instructed at all, how can the Truth reach them?
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Cf. the identical passage in {27:80-81} and the corresponding note [72].
See last note. Then there is the case of men about whom the saying holds true, that none are so blind as those who will not see. They prefer to stray in paths of wrong and of sense-pleasures. How can they be guided in any way? The only persons who gain by spiritual teaching are those who bring a mind to it-who believe and submit their wills to Allah's Will. This is the central doctrine of Islam.
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In the original, this sentence is formulated in the past tense ("has created you" and "has ordained"), stressing the recurrent character of man's life-phases. In translation, this recurrence can be suitably expressed by using the present tense.
lit., grey hair.
What was said before about the people who make Allah's teaching of "of none effect" does not mean that Evil will defeat Allah. On the contrary we are asked to contemplate the mysteries of Allah's wisdom with another Parable. In our physical life we see how strength is evolved out of weakness and weakness out of strength. The helpless babe becomes a lusty man in the pride of his manhood, and then sinks to a feeble old age: and yet there is wisdom in all these stages in the Universal Plan. So Allah carries out His Plan in this world "as He wills", i.e., according to His Will and Plan, and none can gainsay it. And His Plan is wise and can never be frustrated.
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This interpolation - the meaning of which is elliptically implied here - shows the connection of the present passage with the preceding one, as well as with verses {11-16} and {27}.
The illusory character of man's earthbound concept of "time" is brought out in the Qur'an in several places. In the above context stress is laid, firstly, on the relativity of this concept - i.e., on the infinitesimal shortness of our life on earth as compared with the timeless duration of life in the hereafter (cf., for instance, 10:45 or 17:52 ) - and, secondly, on the resurrected sinners' self-deluding excuse that their life on earth had been too short to allow them to realize their errors and mend their ways. It is to this second aspect of the problem that the Qur'an alludes in the words, "thus were they wont to delude themselves" (lit., "to be turned away", i.e., from the truth). For an explanation of the verb yu'fikun, see surah {5}, note [90].
Whatever the seeming inequalities may be now-when the good appear to be weak and the strong seem to oppress-will be removed when the balance will be finally redressed. That will happen in good time,-indeed so quickly that the Transgressors will be taken by Surprise. They were deluded by the fact that what they took to be their triumph or their freedom to do what they liked was only a reprieve, a "Term Appointed", in which they could repent and amend and get Allah's Mercy. Failing this, they will then be up against the Penalties which they thought they had evaded or defied.
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See surah {16}, note [25].
Lit., "with regard to (fi) God's revelation (kitab)", i.e., that the dead shall be resurrected and judged by Him. It is to be noted that the verb labitha signifies "he waited [for something] or "he was tardy [with regard to something]" as well as "he stayed [in a place]" or "he remained". Evidently, in verse {55} ma labithu has the meaning of "they had not stayed" or "remained", while in verse {56} labithtum denotes "you have been tardy" or "you have waited".
Lit., "you were wont not to know" - i.e., "you persistently closed your mind to this promise".
The men of knowledge and faith knew all along of the true values-of the things of this ephemeral life and the things that will endure and face them at the End,-unlike the wrong-doers who were content with falsehoods and were taken by surprise, like ignorant men, when they faced the Realities.
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It will be no use for those who deliberately rejected the clearest warnings in Allah's Message to say: "Oh we did not realize this!" The excuse will be false, and it would be unreasonable to suppose that they would then be asked to seek Grace by repentance. It will then be too late.
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See note [33] on the first clause of 39:27 .
Things of the highest moment have been explained in the Qur-an from various points of view. as in this Sura itself, by means of payables and similitudes drawn from nature and from our ordinary daily life. But whatever the explanation, however convincing it may be to men who earnestly seek after Truth, those who deliberately turn their backs to Truth can find nothing convincing. In their eyes the explanations are mere "vain talk" or false arguments.
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For an explanation of God's "sealing" the hearts of such people, see note [7] on 2:7 .31_1 See Appendix II.
When an attitude of obstinate resistance to Truth is adopted, the natural consequence (by Allah's Law) is that the heart and mind get more and more hardened with every act of deliberate rejection. It becomes more and more impervious to the reception of Truth, just as a sealed envelope is unable to receive any further letter or message after it is sealed. Cf. also ii. 7 and n. 31.
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The Prophet of Allah does not slacken in his efforts or feel discouraged because the Unbelievers laugh at him or persecute him or even seem to succeed in blocking his Message. He has firm faith, and he knows that Allah will finally establish His Truth. He goes on in his divinely entrusted task, with patience and perseverance, which must win against the levity of his opponents, who have no faith or certainty at all to sustain them.
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