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Whenever there is no clear indication that the term nafs has another meaning, it signifies a "human being"; hence, the personal pronouns relating to this term (which is feminine in Arabic) are masculine in my rendering.
Many kinds of sighs and regrets will then assail us. In the first place, we shall see our shortcomings: we were negligent when we should have been serious: we mocked when we should have tried to learn and understand. But it will be too late then to retrieve our position.
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In the second place, we might be inclined to say, 'I wish I had received warning or guidance'. But this would not be true, because the warning and guidance are being conveyed in the clearest manner in Allah's Revelation. "that is the force of 'lest it should say'. It could have said so, had it not seen that the objection is clearly anticipated in the call to repent and in the warning about the Hereafter.
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Cf. 2:167 and 26:102 , as well as {6:27-28} and the corresponding note [19].
In the third place, when we stand face to face with the Penalty of our own deeds, we might say, 'I wish I had another chance'. But not one, but many, chances are being given, especially when we are told (verse 53 above): 'Despair not of the Mercy of Allah: for Allah forgives all sins: for He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful'. The force of 'lest it should say' here is the same as explained in the last note.
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The reply explains how all such pleas have been anticipated and met. It was deliberate rejection that will deserve and meet its consequences. It is further explained that the motive of sin, as with Satan, was haughtiness and Self.
Cf. ii. 34. The example of the arch-sinner illustrates what happens in a minor degree in every kind of sinner.
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The phrase iswadda wajhuhu (lit., "his face became black", or "dark") is used idiomatically to describe a face expressive of grief or ignominy (cf. 16:58 ), just as its opposite, ibyadda wajhuhu (lit., "his face became white" or "shining") describes a countenance expressive of happiness or justified pride: cf. 2:106 - "some faces will shine [with happiness] and some faces will be dark [with grief]". Apart from this, both phrases have also a tropical significance namely "he became [or "felt"] disgraced", resp. "honoured". - As regards the "inventing of lies about God" spoken of in this verse, see note [37] above.
See note [38] on the last sentence of verse {32} of this surah.
As spotless white is the symbol of purity, honour and truth, so black is the symbol of evil, disgrace, and falsehood. Perhaps "black" in connection with Hell also refers to the scorching punishment of the Fire.
Cf. above, xxxix. 32, and n. 4292, where the subtle implication of the interrogative form is explained.
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Mafazat: place or state of safety or salvation, place or state of victory or achievement; accomplishment of wish or desire. This contrasted against the frustration, failure, and perdition of the children of evil,-what may be called damnation in theological phrase.
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For the meaning of the term wakil in this context, see note [4] on 17:2 .
Allah has not only created all the Worlds, but He maintains them and cares for them. He does not sit apart from His world. Everything depends upon Him.
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Allah has nothing to lose by the rebellion or disobedience of His creatures. It is they who lose, because they go counter to their own nature, the beautiful mould in which Allah created them.
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"Order me": there is great irony here. The Prophet of Allah turns to his critics and says: "You arrogate to yourselves the right to order me how to worship! But who are you? You are only ignorant men! My commission is from Allah. It is the same as came to Prophets of Allah before me in all ages, viz., (1) that the only Truth is in the Gospel of Unity; and (2) that if you worship other things and turn away from Allah, your life will be wasted and all your probation will have been of no account."
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I.e., "it has been conveyed to thee through the divine messages revealed to the prophets". The assumption of almost all the classical commentators that this passage is addressed to Muhammad does not make much sense in view of God's knowledge that neither he nor any of the prophets who came before him would ever commit the deadly sin (referred to in the sequence) of "ascribing divine powers to aught beside God". On the other hand, the above reminder becomes very cogent and relevant as soon as it is conceived as being addressed to man in general, irrespective of time and circumstance.
The Message of Unity, renewed in Islam, has been the Message of Allah since the world began.
Cf. v. 6. False worship means that we run after fruitless things, and the main purpose of our spiritual lives is lost.
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To "give thanks" is to show by our conduct that we esteem the gifts of Allah and will use them in His service.
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I.e., the whole universe is as nothing before Him: for this specific allegory of God's almightiness, see 21:104 . There are many instances, in the Qur'an as well as in authentic ahadith, of the clearly metaphorical use of the term "hand" in allusions to God's absolute power and dominion. The particular reference, in the above, to the Day of Resurrection is due to the fact that it will be only on his own resurrection that a human being shall fully grasp the concept of God's almightiness, referred to in the subsequent words, "limitless is He in His glory'' (subhanahu)".
Cf. vi. 91, and n. 909; and xxii. 74. In running after false gods or the powers of nature they have forgotten that all creatures are as nothing before Allah.
See last note. The whole earth will be no more to Allah than a thing that a man might enclose in the hollow of his hand, nor will the heavens with their vast expanse be more than a scroll, which a man might roll up with his right hand, the hand of power and action. Cf. xxi. 104, and lxxxi. 1.
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As is evident from 27:89 , the above is an allusion to the unbroken spiritual life in this world - and, therefore, happiness in the hereafter - of those who have attained to faith and have done righteous deeds. Cf. 21:103 - "the supreme awesomeness [of the Day of Resurrection] will cause them no grief".
Cf. 37:19 .
Saiqa implies the idea of a swoon, or loss of all consciousness of being: it implies a cessation of the normal functioning of the usual powers of life or feeling. With the first Trumpet of the Resurrection the whole world will cease to be in the form and the relations which we see now: there will be a new heaven and a new earth, see xiv. 48, n. 1925; human souls will for the time being be dazed and lose all memory or consciousness of time or place or personality. With the second one, they will stand in a new world; they will see with clearer vision than ever before; and judgment will proceed.
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I.e., with a clear revelation of His will. See also 14:48 , where it is stated that on Resurrection Day "the earth shall be changed into another earth, as shall be the heavens". A further allusion to this transformation (and not annihilation) of the universe is found in {20:105-107}.
Cf. {17:13-14} (and the corresponding note [18]); also 18:49 .
See 4:41 and the corresponding note [52]. Accordingly, the above phrase may well have the meaning of "all the prophets as witnesses", i.e., for or against those to whom they conveyed God's message. In all probability, however, the term shuhada, a' (or ashhad in 40:51 ) signifies here - as its singular shahid obviously does in 50:21 - man's newly-awakened consciousness, which will compel him to bear witness against himself on Judgment Day (cf. 6:130 , 17:14 , 24:24 , 36:65 , 41:20 ff.).
This refers to the place where the judgment will be held. The Prophet (ﷺ) is reported in a ḥadîth collected by Aṭ-Ṭabarâni to have said, “The Judgment will be passed on an earth where neither blood has been shed nor any sin committed.”
It will be a new Earth. All traces of injustice or inequality, darkness or evil, will have gone. There will be the one universal Light, the Glory of Allah, which will now illuminate all. Falsehood, pretence, and illusion will have disappeared. Everything will be seen in its true light.
It is in such a scene of Reality that Judgment will be held. Before the Throne of Allah, the book of each man's deeds and motives will be placed wide open, which all may see; the Prophets and Preachers of Truth and the martyrs who gave their lives or made their real sacrifices in the cause of Truth, will be in the Court, to give evidence; and the decision pronounced will be absolutely just, for the Judge will not only be just, but He will know every fact and circumstance, and His wisdom will give due weight to everything, great or small.
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Cf. {99:7-8}, "he who shall have done an atom's weight of good, shall behold it; and he who shall have done an atom's weiaht of evil, shall behold it".
In an earthly court, a decision may possibly go wrong because the judge is deceived; here no deceit or mistake will be possible, for Allah knows all, and knows it better than any one else can.
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