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The expression "God has willed upon Himself as a law" (kataba 'ala nafsihi) occurs in the Qur'an only twice - here and in verse {54} of this surah - and in both instances with reference to His grace and mercy (rahmah); none of the other divine attributes has been similarly described. This exceptional quality of God's grace and mercy is further stressed in 7:156 - "My grace overspreads everything" - and finds an echo in the authentic Tradition in which, according to the Prophet, God says of Himself, "Verily, My grace and mercy outstrips My wrath" (Bukhari and Muslim).
History, travel, human eperience, all prove the Mercy of God and the law that without it those who reject Truth tend to lose their own souls and destroy themselves.
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Sakan=(1) to dwell; (2) to rest, to be still, to stop (moving), to lurk; (3) to be quiescent, as a letter which is not moved with a vowel. If we imagine Night and Day to be places, and each to have (dwelling in them) things that are open and things that are concealed, things that move and things that are still, things that are sounded and things that are quiescent, we get some ida of the imagery implied. The mystery of Time (which seems more abstract than Space) is thus explained and illustrated by the idea of Place or Space, which also is a notion and not a concrete thing. But He Who has control of all these things is the one true God.
Throughout this section we have a sort of implied dialogue, of which one part is understood from the other part, which is expressed. In verse 11, we might have an imagery objector saying: "Why go back to the past?" The answer is: "Well, travel through the world, and see whether it is not true that virtue and godliness exalt a nation, and the opposite are causes of ruin. Both the past and the present prove this." In verse 12 the objector may say: "But you speak of God's power?" The man of God replies: "Yes, but Mercy is God's own attribute, and knowledge and wisdom beyond what man can conceive."
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Lit., "when it is He who feeds [others] and is not fed".
Lit., "and be thou not" - an elliptic reference to the words in which this commandment has been expressed.
Feedeth but is not fed: true both literally and figuratively. To God we owe the satisfaction of all needs, but He is independent of all needs.
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We continue the implied dialogue suggested in n. 846. In verse 14, the objector might say: "But we have other interests in life than religion and God." "No," says the man of God, "My Creator is the one and only Power whose protection I seek; and I strive to be first in the race." In verse 15, the objector suggests: "enjoy the good things of this life; it is short." The answer is: "The Hereafter is more real to me, and promises the true fulfilment of all desire; happiness or affliction comes not from the fleeting pettinesses or illusions of this life, but from the power and wisdom of God." In verse 19, the objector makes his final splash: "What evidence is there for all this?" The reply is: "I know it is true, for God's voice is within me, and my living Teacher awakens that voice; and there is the Book of Inspiration. God is one, and there is none other besides."
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The vulgar worship of false gods out of fear that they would harm them or hope that they would confer some benefit on them. These false gods can do neither. All power, all goodness is in the hands of the One True God. All else is pretence or illusion.
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Lit., "I am clear of that which you associate [with Him]."
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I.e., the truth of God's transcendental uniqueness and oneness, which is stressed in all authentic scriptures.
Cf. ii. 146 and n. 151. In both passages the pronoun translated "this" may mean "him" and refer to Muhammad the Apostle of God, as some commentators think.
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Lit., "those [God-]partners of yours whom you supposed [to exist]". Whenever the term shuraka' (pl. of sharik) is used in the Qur'an with reference to beliefs, it invariably denotes real or imaginary beings or forces to whom one ascribes a share in God's divinity: consequently, this concept - and its utter condemnation in Islam - relates not merely to the worship of false deities but also to the attribution of semi-divine qualities and powers to saints (in the liturgical sense of this word), as well as to abstract notions like wealth, social status, power, nationality, etc., to which men so often ascribe an objective influence on human destinies.
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This refers to beliefs which undoubtedly imply shirk ("the ascribing of divinity or divine qualities to beings or forces other than God") in the objective sense of this concept, but which the person concerned does not subjectively visualize as denying God's oneness (Razi): for instance, the mystical dogma of the "Trinity" which, in the Christian view, does not conflict with the principle of God's oneness inasmuch as it is supposed to express a "threefold aspect" of the One Deity, or the attribution of divine or semi-divine qualities to saints as supposed "mediators" between man and God, and so forth. All such beliefs are, of course, emphatically rejected by the Qur'an.
Fitnat has various meanings, from the root idea of "to try , to test, to tempt;" e.g. (1) a trial or temptation, as in ii. 102; (2) trouble, tumult, oppression, persecution, as in ii. 191, 193, 217; (3) discord, as in iii. 7; (4) subterfuge, an answer that amounts to a sedition, and excuse founded on a falsehod, as here. Other shades of meaning wll be noticed as they occur. Those who blasphemed God in imagining false gods will now see the vanity of their imaginations for themselves. What answer can they give now? In their perverisity they will deny that they ever entertained the notion of false gods.
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I.e., by allowing themselves to think, in their lifetime, that their beliefs did not offend against the principle of God's oneness (Razi). But see also 10:28 and the corresponding notes [45] and [46].
The lies whch they used to tell have now "wandered" from the channels which they use to occupy, and left the liars in the lurch. In denying the indubitable fact that they took false gods, they admit the falsity of their notions and thus are practically convicted out of their own mouths. A) It=The Qur-an.
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Regarding the problem of God's "causing" this spiritual blindness and deafness, see 2:7 and the corresponding note, as well as note [4] on 14:4 .
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