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See surah {6}, note [65].
Allah's attributes, then, may be summed up with reference to Knowledge, Power, and Mercy. Where our knowledge is partial and uncertain, His is complete and certain. Where our power often falls short of the carrying out of our will, or needs the help of Time, His is complete and conterminous with His Will. Where our mercy seems to be bounded by or opposed to justice, His is absolute and unconditioned.
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I.e., He fashions every detail of His creation in accordance with the functions intended for it, irrespective of whether those functions can be understood by us or are beyond the reach of our perception. In the text, the passage comprising verses {7-9} is in the past tense; but since it relates to a continuous act of creation, it signifies the present and the future as well as the past, and may, therefore, be suitably rendered in the present tense.
Cf. note [4] on 23:12 . In view of the next verse, this "beginning" of man's creation seems to allude to the basic composition of the human body as such, as well as to each individual's pre-natal existence in the separate bodies of his parents.
Adam (ﷺ).
Allah's creation in itself is good: it is beautiful, in proper proportions, and adapted for the functions it has to perform. There is no evil or disorder in it. Such evil or disorder as creeps in is due to man's will (as far as the world of man is concerned), and spiritual Teaching is directed to train and cure that will and bring it into conformity with the Universal Order and Plan.
Man is asked to contemplate his own humble beginning. His material body (apart from life) is a piece of earth or clay, which is another term for primeval matter. Matter is therefore the first stage, but even matter was not self-created. It was created by Allah.
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Lit., "He caused [i.e., as pointed out in note [6] above, "He causes"] his procreation [or "his begetting"] to be out of...", etc.
Then comes life and the reproduction of life. We are still looking at the purely physical aspect, but it is now a stage higher; it is an animal. Its reproduction is through the sperm or semen, which is a quintessence of every part of the body of man. Yet it issues from the same part of his body as the urine, and is therefore despicable in man's sight. It is a living cell or cells, summing up so much ancestral life-history. Cf. xxiii. 12, and n. 2872.
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As in 15:29 and 38:72 , God's "breathing of His spirit into man" is a metaphor for the divine gift of life and consciousness, or of a "soul" (which, as pointed out in surah {4}, note [181], is one of the meanings of the term ruh). Consequently, "the soul of every human being is of the spirit of God" (Razi). Regarding the verb sawwahu - rendered by me as "He forms him in accordance with what he is meant to be" - see note [1] on 87:2 and note [5] on 91:7 .
Lit., "hearts" (af'idah), which in classical Arabic is a metonym for both "feelings" and minds"; hence my composite rendering of this term.
The third stage is indicated by "fashioned him in due proportion". Cf. xv. 29. After fertilisation of ovum by the sperm, an individual life comes into existence, and it is gradually fashioned into shape, its limbs are formed; its animal life begins to function; all the beautiful adaptations come into play. The fourth stage here mentioned is that of distinctive Man, into whom Allah's spirit is breathed. Then he rises higher than animals.
As a complete man he gets the higher faculties. The five animal senses I understand to be included in the third stage. But in the fourth stage he rises higher, and is addressed in the second person, "you," instead of the third person "him". He has now the spiritual counterpart of hearing (i.e., the capacity of hearing Allah's Message) and seeing (i.e., the inner vision), and feeling the nobler heights of love and understanding the bearings of the inner life (both typified by the Heart). Yet with all these gifts, what thanks does unregenerate or corrupted man give to Allah?
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Sc., "and thus, by implication, they deny His existence". (Cf. notes [11] and [12] on 13:5 .)
Cf. xiii. 5. It has been the cry of Materialists and Sceptics through the ages not only to bound their horizon with this brief life, but to deny dogmatically that there can be a future life. Though this is against the professed principles of Sceptics, in practice they take up that attitude. Here "they" refers to those "who give little thanks" to Allah, mentioned in the last verse. The argument used against them is: if Allah can produce such a wonderful creation the first time, why can He not make it again? That points to the possibility: our own general inner hope and expectation of a future life, coupled with Faith in Allah's work, is the ground of our certainty.
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If death is certain, as it is, and this life by itself in no way satisfies our instincts and expectations, we may be sure that the agency which separates our soul from our body will bring us into the new world. If we believe in a soul at all-the very foundation of Religion-we must believe in a Future, without which the soul has no meaning.
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In life on the new plane, there will be no room for deception or self-deception. The most hardened sinner will see the truth and the justice of the Day of Account. He will wish he could be sent back, but it will be too late. The world as we know it will have already passed away.
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Lit., "We could indeed have given unto every human being (nafs) his guidance", i.e., forcibly: but since this would have deprived man of his ability to choose between right and wrong - and, thus, of all moral responsibility - God does not "impose" His guidance upon anyone (cf. 26:4 and the corresponding note).
See 7:18 as well as the last paragraph of 11:119 . As regards the "invisible beings" (jinn), see Appendix III.
Could evil have been avoided? Certainly everything is in Allah's power. If it had been His Will and Plan, He could have created a world in which there would have been no choice or will in any of His creatures. But that was not His Will and Plan. In the world as we see it, man has a certain amount of choice and free-will. That being so, He has provided Signs and means of instruction for man, in order that man's will may be straight and pure. A necessary corollary will be Punishment for the infraction of His Law. That Punishment must come to pass, for Allah's Word is true and must be fulfilled.
Cf. xi. 119. n. 1623, and vii. 18, and see last note. Jinns are the evil spirits that tempt men, and the men who will suffer punishment will be those who have succumbed to their temptations.
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"Forgot": Cf. n. 1029 to vii. 51. "Forget" is here in the sense of "to ignore deliberately, to reject with scorn". In the sense of mistake or defect of knowledge it is inapplicable to the All-Perfect Being, for we are expressly told: "My Lord never errs, nor forgets": xx. 52.
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"In adoration": Sujjadan, or in a posture of prostration, expressive of deep humility and faith. This is the keyword of the Sura, which bears the title of Sajda. All the Signs of Allah lead our thoughts upwards towards Him, and when they are expounded, our attitude should be one of humble gratitude to Allah. At this passage it is usual to make a prostration.
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Lit., "whose sides [i.e., bodies] restlessly rise".
Men and women "breathless with adoration" shun soft, comfortable beds, and luxurious sleep. Their limbs are better exercised in offices of devotion and prayer, especially by night. Commentators specially refer this to Prayers called Tahajjud, which are offered after midnight in the small hours of the morning.
In Fear and Hope: in spiritual fear lest their dedication to Allah should not be sufficiently worthy to be accepted, and a spiritual longing or hope that their shortcomings will be overlooked by the Mercy of Allah. And their adoration is not shown only in Prayer, but also in practical Service and Charity, out of whatever gifts they may have received from Allah.
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Lit., "what is kept hidden for them [by way] of a joy of the eyes", i.e., of blissful delights, irrespective of whether seen, heard or felt. The expression "what is kept hidden for them" clearly alludes to the unknowable - and, therefore, only allegorically describable - quality of life in the hereafter. The impossibility of man's really "imagining" paradise has been summed up by the Prophet in the well-authenticated hadith: "God says: 'I have readied for My righteous servants what no eye has ever seen, and no ear has ever heard, and no heart of man has ever conceived'" (Bukhari and Muslim, on the authority of Abu Hurayrah; also Tirmidhi). This hadith has always been regarded by the Companions as the Prophet's own comment on the above verse (cf. Fath al-Bari VIII, 418 f.).
Delights of the eye: an idiom for that which pleases most and gives most satisfaction. In our present state we can scarcely imagine the real Bliss that will come to us in the Future.
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The Future of the two classes-the Blessed and the Wicked-is described in verses 19-22.
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A home brings before our minds a picture of peace and happiness. When to it are added honour and hospitality, it adds further to the idea of happiness.
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Cf. xxii. 22. Just as the gardens is the type of Bliss, so is the Fire the type of Penalty and suffering. There will be no getting away from it. What will be the thoughts of those who had earned it? "We used to reject the idea of the Consequences as a mere chimera: and now we find it to be true!" What will be their feelings then? How will they like it!
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Lit., "nearer", i.e., in this world: for an explanation, see note [27] on 52:47 .
Lit., "so that they might return [to righteousness]".
The final Penalty is to come in the Hereafter. There is no doubt about it. But before it comes, a minor Penalty comes in this very life. It may be in some kind of misfortune, or it may be in the pangs of a tortured conscience or secret sorrow. But this minor Penalty may be really a mercy, as it gives them a chance of repentance and amendment.
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The worst and most hardened sinner is the man to whom Allah's Signs are actually brought home and who yet prefers Evil and turns away from the Light of Allah. The Signs may be in the words and guidance of a great Teacher or in some minor sorrow or warning, which he disregards with contumely. Or it may be in a catastrophic blow to his conscience, which should open his eyes, but from which he deliberately refuses to profit. The penalty-the Nemesis-must necessarily come eventually.
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With this passage the discourse returns to the theme enunciated at the beginning of this surah - namely, the divine origin of the revelation granted to Muhammad, which, as the present passage points out, proceeds from the same source as that granted to Moses (the last of the great apostles of God accepted as such by all the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam). Furthermore, the identity of the fundamental truths in all divine revelations, stressed in the above verse, implies an identity of the moral demands made of the followers of those revelations irrespective of period, race or social environment.
Other possible translations: 1. “Do not be in doubt that Moses received it.” 2. “Do not be in doubt of your meeting with Moses.”
"The Book" is not here coextensive with Revelation. Moses had, revealed to him, a Law, a shari'at, which was to guide his people in all the practical affairs of their life. Jesus, after him, was also inspired by Allah: but his Injil or Gospel contained only general principles and not a Code or shari'at. The holy Prophet was the next one to have a shari'at or "Book" in that sense: for the Qur-an contains both a Code and general principles. This Sura is a Makkan Sura. The Code came later in Madinah. But he is given the assurance that he will also have a Code, to supersede the earlier Law, and complete the Revelation of Allah.
"Its reaching (thee)" : liqa-i-hi. Commentators differ as to the construction of the pronoun hi, which may be translated either "its" or "his". I construe it to refer to "the Book", as that gives the most natural meaning, as explained in the last note.
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I.e., in accordance with the divine ordinances enunciated in and for their time in the Torah: an allusion to the decline of faith, frequently mentioned in the Qur'an, among the children of Israel of later times, and the tendency among many of their leaders and learned men to corrupt the text of the Torah and, thus, to "overlay the truth with falsehood" (see, e.g., 2:42 , {75}, {79}, and the corresponding notes).
This interpolation reflects Zamakhshari's commentary on the above passage, to the effect that the Qur'an is destined to provide guidance and light so long as the community's religious leaders are patient in adversity and steadfast in their faith: an interpretation which implies that the Qur'an will cease to be of benefit to people who have lost their moral virtues and their faith.
i.e., prophets.
The series of Judges, Prophets, and Kings in Israel continued to give good guidance, in accordance with Allah's Law, as long as the people continued in Faith and Constancy (persevering patience). When that condition ceased, Allah's grace was withdrawn, and the people broke up into wrangling sects and practically suffered national annihilation.
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Lit., "between them".
See surah {2}, note [94]; also {22:67-69}. In the present instance, this difference of opinion relates to belief in resurrection, on the one hand, and its denial, on the other.
These wrangles and disputes among them will continue until the Day of Judgment, but meantime a new Ummat (that of Islam) will arise and take its place, with a universal and unified Message for mankind.
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