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Cf. viii. 30: "how the Unbelievers plotted against thee, to keep thee in bonds, or slay thee, or get thee out (of thy home)". They were always plotting against the holy Prophet in his Makkan period. But even if their plots had succeeded against human beings, they could not defeat Allah's Plan, nor escape the just punishment of their deeds. Cf. also x. 46, and n. 1438.
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Let the wicked rage, say what they like, or do their worst: the prophet of Allah is encouraged to go forward steadfastly in the Light given him, for he is on a Path that leads straight to Allah.
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For the above rendering of dhikr as "[a source of] eminence", see first half of note [13] on 21:10 .
The meaning is that on the Day of Judgment all prophets will be asked, metaphorically, as to what response they received from their people (cf. 5:109 ), and those who professed to follow them will be called to account for the spiritual and social use they made - or did not make - of the revelation conveyed to them: and thus, the "eminence" promised to the followers of Muhammad will depend on their actual behaviour and not on their mere profession of faith.
Zikrun: Message, Remembrance, Cause of remembrance, Memorial. Title for remembrance to posterity. Thus two meanings emerge, not necessarily mutually exclusive. (1) The Qur-an brings a Message of Truth and Guidance to the Prophet, and his people; (2) the revelation of the Qur-an raises the rank of the Prophet, and the people among whom, and in whose language, it was promulgated, making them worthy of remembrance in the world's history for all time. But the honour also carried its responsibilities. All who hear it must give an account of how far they profit by it spiritually.
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I.e.. "look into the earlier revelations and ask thyself".
That is, by examining their Message, and asking the learned among their real followers. It will be found that no Religion really teaches the worship of other than Allah.
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I.e., in pursuance of the principle, referred to above, that it is not permissible to worship anyone or anything but God.
For the story of Moses in detail, see vii. 103-137, but especially vii. 104, 130- 136.
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See note [94] on the last sentence of 6:109 .
For the mockery of Moses and his Signs see xvii. 101; also below, xliii. 49, 52-53.
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The concept of "returning" to God implies that the instinctive ability to perceive His existence is inherent in human nature as such, and that man's "turning away" from God is only a consequence of spiritual degeneration, and not an original tendency or predisposition: cf. {7:172-173}. The "suffering" ('adhab) mentioned above relates to the plagues with which the recalcitrant Egyptians were struck (see 7:130 ff.).
i.e., the hand and the staff (see 20:17-22).
The torments were: famine, shortage of crops, floods, locusts, lice, frogs, and blood (see 7:130-133).
Moses showed them nine Clear Signs: see n. 1091 to vii. 133; also xvii. 101. Each one of them in its own setting and circumstances was greater than any of its "Sister" Signs. The object was if possible to reclaim as many Egyptians as possible from their defiance of Allah.
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See 7:134.
This speech is half a mockery, and half a ruse. In spite of their unbelief, they had fear in their minds, and in order to stop the plagues, one after another, they promised to obey Allah, and when the particular plague was removed, they again became obdurate. See vii. 133-135.
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Lit., "beneath me", i.e., "at my command": a reference to the imposing irrigation system originating in the Nile and controlled by royal power.
Branches of the Nile.
The waw here in Arabic is the Waw haliya: the abundant streams from the Nile flowing beneath his palace being evidence of his power, prosperity, and sovereignty. The Nile made (and makes) Egypt, and the myth of the god Osiris was a compound of the myths of the Nile and the sun. The Pharaoh, therefore, as commanding the Nile, commanded the gods who personified Egypt. He boasted of water, and he perished in water,-a fitting punishment!
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An allusion to the impediment in speech from which Moses suffered (cf. {20:27-28} and the corresponding note [17]), or perhaps to the contents of his message, which to Pharaoh appeared unconvincing.
Moses used to have a speech impediment. But when he became a prophet he prayed to Allah to help him speak clearly, and his prayer was answered (see 20:25-36).
Being a despised Israelite in any case, and having further an impediment in his speech. See xx. 27, and notes 2552-53.
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In ancient Egypt, golden armless and necklaces were regarded as princely insignia (cf. Genesis xii, 42), or at least as evidence of high social dignity. This is apparently an echo of the pagan objection to Muhammad, mentioned in verse {31} above: "Why was not this Qur'an bestowed from on high on some great man of the two cities?" The same is the case with the subsequent reference to the "absence of angels".
Gold bracelets and gold chains were possibly among the insignia of royalty. In any case they betokened wealth, and the materialists judge a man's worth by his wealth and his following and equipage. So Pharaoh wanted to see Moses, if he had any position in the spiritual kingdom, invested with gold bracelets, and followed by a great train of angels as his Knight-companions! The same kind of proofs were demanded by the materialist Quraish of our holy Prophet. These were puerilities, but such puerilities go down with the crowd. Barring a few Egyptians who believed in Allah and in the Message of Moses, the rest of Pharaoh's entourage followed Pharaoh in his pursuit of revenge, and were drowned in the Red Sea.
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Allah is patient, and gives many and many opportunities to the most hardened sinners for repentance. But at length comes a time when His justice is provoked, and the inevitable punishment follows.
Cf. vii. 136.
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Pharaoh and his hosts were blotted out, and became as a tale of the past. Their story is an instructive warning and example to future generations.
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When 21:98 was revealed, warning the polytheists that all false gods will be in Hell, ’Abdullâh ibn Az-Ziba’ra, a poet who always attacked Islam, argued with the Prophet (ﷺ) that if what the verse says is true, then Jesus will be in Hell as well! The polytheists, who were present, laughed in agreement with this argument. The Prophet (ﷺ) replied that the verse was talking exclusively about idols, adding that Jesus himself did not ask anyone to worship him. Verse 21:101 was later revealed in support of the Prophet’s argument. Eventually, ’Abdullâh accepted Islam.
Jesus was a man, and a prophet to the Children of Israel, "though his own received him not." Some of the churches that were founded after him worshipped him as "God" and as "the son of God", as do the Trinitarian churches to the present day. The orthodox churches did so in the time of the holy Prophet. When the doctrine of Unity was renewed, and the false worship of others besides Allah was strictly prohibited, all false gods were condemned, e.g., at xxi. 98. The pagan Arabs looked upon Jesus as being in the same category as their false gods, and could not see why a foreign cult, or a foreign god, as they viewed him, should be considered better than their own gods or idols. There was no substance in this, but mere mockery, and verbal quibbling. Jesus was one of the greater prophets: he was not a god, nor was he responsible for the quibbling subtleties of the Athanasian Creed.
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Objecting to the Qur'anic condemnation of their idolatrous worship of angels - whom they describe here as "our deities" - the pagan Quraysh pointed to the parallel Christian worship of Jesus as "the son of God", and even as "God incarnate", and argued more or less thus: "The Qur'an states that Jesus was purely human - and yet the Christians, whom the same Qur'an describes as 'followers of earlier revelation' (ahl al-kitab), consider him divine. Hence, are we not rather justified in our worshipping angels, who are certainly superior to a mere human being?" The fallacy inherent in this "argument" is disposed of in the sequence.
Since the Qur'an condemns explicitly, and in many places, the deification of Jesus by the Christians, this unwarranted deification cannot be used as an argument in favour of the pagan worship of angels and, thus, against the Qur'an: in the words of Zamakhshari, such an argument amounts to "applying a false analogy to a false proposition" (qiyas basil bi-batil).
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A reference to the limited mission of the prophet Jesus, whose Gospel to the Jews only survives in uncertain fragmentary forms.
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Implying not only that Jesus was not a supernatural being, but that the angels, too, are mere created beings finite in their existence - as indicated by the phrase "succeeding one another" - and, therefore, utterly removed from the status of divinity (Baydawi).
Or “We could have easily produced angels from you …”
If it were said that the birth of Jesus without a father sets him above other prophets, the creation of angels without either father or mother would set them still higher, especially as angels do not eat and drink and are not subject to physical laws. But angels are not higher.
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