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Holy
Quran Section
>
Commentary
of the Holy Quran by Dr. Basharat
Ahmad
> Chapter 55 (Ar-Rahman - The
Beneficent) Commentary
of Chapter 55 (Ar-Rahman - The Beneficent) of the Holy
Quran: In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful. In the last chapter, Al-Qamar (The Moon), the following point was strongly emphasised -- those who opposed the guidance that Allah, Most High, revealed through the glorious Quran were sure to suffer destruction and failure whereas those who acted on that guidance would enjoy tremendous success both in this life and in the Hereafter. In this chapter, Ar-Rahman (The Beneficent), the reasons for the necessity for Divine revelation are disclosed, for, the full spiritual perfection for which man was created, could not be attained by human intellect alone. For example, we can clearly see that those who have achieved excellence in the physical sciences are bereft of spiritual knowledge. As a result, all the advancement in scientific knowledge has not been able to save the world from strife and dissension and tension and war; neither is there any hope for preventing calamities in the future, nor saving oneself from punishment in the next life despite all this progress in the material sciences. This is why Allah, through His boundless mercy and grace, has come to the assistance of man by granting to him an invaluable gift -- the Holy Quran -- which has the power to save man from pain and chastisement in this life and the next and also to enable him to achieve everlasting happiness, tranquillity, peace and contentment. The Beneficent Ar-Rahman means the most Beneficent, One Who gives gifts without any effort on man's part. Al-Insan (man) refers to the human race generally, or to perfect man, that is, one who has reached the pinnacle of humanity. Bayan (expression) means to describe the condition of a thing. Here it signifies the faculty of speech in man. But besides speech, the word bayan (expression) is used here because nutq (speech) is limited to speaking whilst bayan (expression) includes speaking, writing and giving signs to indicate what is in one's mind. Bayan also means explanation and elucidation, as we find in the following verses which speak of the Holy Quran itself: Surely on Him rests the collecting of it. So when We recite it follow its recitation. Again on Us rests the explaining of it (75:19-19). It has been mentioned several times before that a standing miracle of the Holy Quran is that many times a word bearing two meanings is used in a certain verse but both meanings are applicable with one meaning serving as proof of the other. And this is the case here. The verse states that it is only through the pure grace of Allah, and not as a result of any action of man, that Allah created man as a being possessing intelligence, understanding, insight and discrimination and also blessed him with the power of speech so that he could express what was in his mind and so convey his meaning and intention to others. Further, he can perform this function either by speech, writing or signs. In any case, in the absence of this ability no person could perceive what was in the mind of another, nor could he benefit from the latter's knowledge, nor act upon his teaching, nor obey his instructions. In the light of this, how could it be possible for Allah, Who created man to obey His commands so as to fulfil the purpose of his creation, not to provide him with a means of understanding His will? That medium of Allah is speech, that is, there was a crying need for language through which Allah could convey His will to man and bless him from His own perfect knowledge with such guidance as would enable him to travel along the path that would lead to the fulfilment of his creation, and to his attaining the summit of his humanity, for without speech it is impossible to comprehend the will of Allah or the intention of anyone else for that matter. So, the attribute of Rahmaniyyat (giving free gifts) demanded that Allah should favour man with His words and provide him with an eternal, comprehensive and perfect guidance in the form of the Holy Quran. By means of this Book, Allah has furnished him with knowledge of all the pathways to winning His pleasure. Should he follow this guidance he can render obedience to Allah to the furthest limits of his capacity and thus arrive at the highest rank of his human potential. But this is not the end of Allah's grace. Through His limitless mercy He created an extraordinary man who fittingly deserved to be called Al-Insan (The Perfect Man) so that the perfection of humanity should be fully actualised in him and in whom also, the nobility of the human race should attain its most glorious manifestation. That personality was the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) to whom He explained the teachings of the Holy Quran so that through his example man could find the right method of putting into practice all those pearls of guidance that are collected and preserved in the Holy Quran. Thus, the revelation of the Holy Quran was exactly in accordance with the laws of nature. It is a fact that a person cannot know what is in the mind of another person, neither can he understand the instructions of a person in authority until that person, himself, communicated his message through the medium of language. So, in accordance with this Divine law, man cannot be apprised of Allah's will unless Allah, Himself, gives him knowledge of it through language. However, we all know that it is possible that a person may misunderstand the words of another and can offer a very good excuse for doing so. To obviate this possibility, Allah, Most High, created a person who would serve as the embodiment of human perfection, that is, the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), through whom mankind was taught the true meaning and explanation of the words of Allah. In short, not only did He teach the Holy Quran to him but He also vouchsafed to him the real interpretation and explanation of its teachings. Further, the Holy Prophet himself lived his whole life according to those teachings with the result that he became a perfect example for the whole world and each individual could derive the fullest benefit from the guidance of the Holy Quran and the practical life of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) so that he could mould his own life on the pattern of that model. After this, Allah, Most High, gives us a further explanation of the philosophy behind the necessity for a revealed Law from heaven. The sun and the moon follow a reckoning Bi husban means under a reckoning, that is, the revolution of the sun and the moon, their rising and their setting, operate under such a strict systematic order that it enables man to derive great knowledge from this pattern. In fact, this has given birth to the science of astronomy. In this there is a sign that the knowledge of astronomy also follows an important law -- that of reckoning -- and those who know this law are able to compute the two kinds of months and years -- the lunar and the solar. They can also predict long beforehand the occurrence of lunar and solar eclipses and can also gain insight into many other fields of knowledge. An-najm (the herbs) refer to those kinds of shrubbery that do not have a trunk, for example, bushes, etc., which have to lean on other things for support, whilst by shajar (trees) are meant those kinds of vegetation that stand on their own trunk. The Holy Quran tells us that Allah's attribute of Rahman, through which man was taught the Holy Quran and a perfect man was created to expound it to the world, is not a strange phenomenon, for if we observe the physical world we can see the same attribute in operation throughout. For example, in order to sustain life on earth and to provide light and heat and other essential provisions, the Beneficent God has brought into existence wonderful heavenly means -- a sun and a moon. The sun is the real source of light whilst the moon borrows it and in the absence of sunlight it sheds its reflected light on the surface of the earth and dispels the darkness. And these two major orbiting planets work in such an amazing and perfect measure, regularity and supreme harmony that if in the revolution of the sun and the moon and their rising and setting there is slight deviation in this precise system the earth will suffer great devastation instead of receiving countless benefits. For example, if the sunlight falls short of its preordained measure there will be destruction and so, too, if it exceeds this measure. And the same is true of the moonlight. Thus, if these heavenly bodies do not function according to a precise measure and law, then there will be no possibility of life on earth. Similarly, in the spiritual world, which is a clear mirror of the physical world, there is a spiritual sun in the form of the Holy Quran, the light of which is destined to illumine the whole world and the beneficial rays of which burn away the chaff of falsehood and impart life to the dead soil of men's hearts. On the other, the spiritual counterpart of the moon is the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), who borrows light from the spiritual sun, that is, the Holy Quran. And just as the moon dispels darkness in the absence of the sun, so, too, the light of the Holy Prophet's practical life clarifies any questions that are not explicitly explained in the Holy Quran and this brings men from darkness into light. Thus, Allah, from His infinite and perfect source of knowledge has blessed man with the Holy Quran and the practice of the Holy Prophet and these are totally in consonance with his Divinely-ordained nature and his natural capabilities. If these things were not created on a basis of precise measurement and limits, they could not provide benefit for man. For example, if man should be allowed to exceed the limits and lead an unrestrained life, then he would destroy his own self. Again, if the responsibility entrusted to him is too great for him he will be crushed by it. Therefore, it was exigent for everything to operate on a strict and rigid line. Therefore, as regards the Holy Quran and the life of the Holy Prophet, whatever was prescribed for man in order to help him to achieve an eternal life was ordained according to an exact measure that catered for the requirements of human nature. Another point to which Allah draws our attention here pertains to the means of acquiring benefits from these heavenly lights. He informs us that whoever obeys the laws given to us in the Holy Quran and the Sunnah will profit from it to the extent of his obedience and will even be further rewarded. Accordingly, if we observe the laws of nature in the physical world we shall notice that nothing is as perfectly obedient to these laws as the herbs and the shrubs, so much so that it is they who profit most from the sun and the moon. As regards the world of man and animal we see that their observance of the laws of nature is perfect only when their actions mirror the obedience of the shrubs. However, as soon as they begin to yield to the dictates of their own volition, disobedience to the laws of nature starts to set in. For example, look at the functioning of man's stomach and liver. Like the herbs, they are so faithful to the laws of nature that they never swerve an iota from their limits, but as soon as man begins to follow his own will he breaks the natural laws and so brings disaster on himself. For instance, he eats whatever he feels to eat and this puts pressure on his stomach. And this is only one example of intemperate behaviour. In short, if man desires to gain everlasting life and wishes to derive true benefit from the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet's example, then he must follow their teachings as closely as the herbs obey the laws of nature. Just as the herbs never act out of their own volition but live under the command of the laws of nature as if they were lifeless things, in the same way it is incumbent on man to obey the Holy Quran and the Sunnah so as to attain that height of perfection where no movement, or word, or action is his but all are in complete unison with the teachings of the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet (pbuh). That is the station that is called fana (extinction of the ego) and also baqa (permanence of blessings) which is the ultimate limit of every seeker-after-truth who follows the Shari'ah (Law) and the Tariqah (Way). Hazrat Abdul Qadir Jilani (ra) has made the point that when man lays himself like an innocent baby in the lap of Allah and looks to Him for knowledge and guidance then Allah nurtures him just as a mother nourishes her baby. The Holy Quran has held out a better way when it points out that the perfection of a servant is in his obedience to the Holy Quran and the Holy Prophet's example as the herbs are subservient to the laws of nature. Trees and herbs are mentioned separately because trees can stand on their own trunk whilst herbs do not have trunks of their own and are dependent on the help of other things. Among human beings, too, there are two classes: the rich who can stand on their own feet, and the poor who depend on assistance from other people. Similarly, learned people are like trees whilst ignorant people are like herbs, and the same analogy applies to the elite or the leaders in comparison with the masses or the followers who depend on the help of the gentry, as well as to the capitalists and the working classes and the rulers and their subjects. The intention here is to emphasise the point that to whichever of the above groups we belong, the only way we can obtain spiritual sight is through perfect obedience to the laws of the Creator. And the heaven He raised it high, and He set up the measure Mizan (measure) means to maintain justice as is reported by a well-known companion of the Holy Prophet, Mujahid ibn Jabar. A pair of scales is only a representation of justice. Accordingly, on the halls of all the courts of the Mogul Emperors, there used to be a picture of a pair of scales regardless of whether the court was set up for judging matters concerning the masses or the aristocrats. But no one ever imagined that those scales in these courts were for weighing wheat. Instead everyone understood they were put there as signs of justice and impartiality. In short, the word mizan (measure) always stands for justice and fair play of all kinds and is not applied to a scale for weighing things. The verse states that Allah made the heavens high, that is, He raised it way beyond human power and He set up the measure for everything, from the largest heavenly bodies in comparison with which our planet, Earth, is like a ball, to the smallest atom. In fact, the whole universe is so bound and connected by heavenly laws that every single thing performs its function in the prescribed manner so that the whole universe operates with perfect harmony according to the interaction of the twin laws of balance and measure. It is also evident that all this is constructed on the basis of such consummate knowledge and perfect law that it is beyond the reach of human intellect and imagination. Whatever exists in creation works according to its own peculiar measure, and if there is the slightest deviation from its true course, then this whole universe will be thrown into convulsion. All these Divine laws are established far beyond human power because Allah does not want man, whose knowledge is deficient, to interfere in these matters and so bring destruction and devastation on himself. For example, if man should have power over rainfall, Allah alone knows what calamities would strike -- the fighting and killing over the distribution of rain over one's own land and the deprivation of one's rival. Already there are raging disputes over the rights for river water. Can one imagine what will happen if man can interfere in the distribution of rain? He will manoeuvre this in such a way that his land has sufficient water while other people's fields suffer drought, or he may cause floods to devastate his enemy's country. If the rising and setting of the sun were in the hands of man, then Europe will always have light while Asia will be bereft of it. Therefore, it is a great act of mercy on the part of Allah that man has no power over the heavenly laws which control the sun and the moon from which man derives so much benefit, for Allah has created them so far above human ability that man has not the slightest opportunity to interfere in their workings. The meaning of So that He may not exceed the measure is that if man had the power in this matter he would have gone to such extremes because of his imperfect knowledge and rebellious ego that he would have destroyed the whole universe. And whoever had the opportunity, because of his selfish desires, could have upset the balance on earth and turned the whole universe upside down. Thus, it is along the lines of these heavenly physical laws that for man's spiritual life he has been blessed with the Holy Quran and the example of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). If these were not beyond human ability then man would have engaged in such logical and dialectical disputes that he would not have been able to come to a consensus on a single point. Further, everybody would have devised whatever moral and social laws suited his will and egotistic desires. It is for this reason that Allah in His infinite mercy and perfect knowledge formulated His laws with such precision and balance that man can learn from them and so perform all his duties and obligations with great moderation. In addition, He has taught him through verbal revelation and hidden inspiration so it is the duty of man to obey those laws which are founded on balance and measure. So the Holy Quran continues: And keep up the balance with equity, nor fall short in the measure. That is, Allah, Himself, establishes the Divine laws which are necessary for man's spiritual existence. He did not entrust this task to man because man did not have the ability to maintain justice and equity in this function and so could not be equitable to mankind in general in this regard. However, after having made those laws, Allah imparted His knowledge to man through revelation and enjoined on him the following obligation: that whatever was entrusted to him and over which he had power and authority he should manage according to that mizan (measure) which Allah gave to him and he should do so on the lines of justice and equity and should never fall short in the measure. The word mizan here means the same as the mizan mentioned in another verse of the Holy Quran: Certainly We sent Our messengers with clear arguments and sent down with them the Book and the mizan (measure)… (57:25). What is the Book of Allah? It is a measure according to which there is justice and parity between the rights of Allah and the rights of His servants. If the morals of man are developed in moderation and harmony, he will achieve noble attributes and honourable actions. This harmony should be such that when he fulfils his obligations to the servants of Allah he does not fall short in his duties to Allah, Himself. For example, he should not become so engrossed in worldly business as to neglect his salah (prayer) and zakah (charity) and so on. On the other hand, he should not be so absorbed in his duties to Allah as to forget his obligations to people. The following example taken from the time of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) clearly explains the point. Once a lady got married and soon after entered into the service of Lady Ayesha (rta). Seeing her always in drab clothes, Lady Ayesha (rta) remarked to her: "Before you were married you always wore beautiful clothes. Why has this changed since your marriage?" She replied: "My husband does not take the slightest interest in how I look, so what is the use of embellishing my appearance? He keeps fast every day and prays all night. He does not have the time to spare even a glance at me." Lady Ayesha (rta) related the matter to the Holy Prophet (pbuh) who immediately summoned the lady's husband and very sternly admonished him thus: "I also pray at night but I sleep, too, and sometimes I fast and sometimes I do not. So go to your wife and show love to her." When the husband replied that he was fasting, the Holy Prophet (pbuh) ordered him to break the fast. This is what is meant by harmony and balance in our duties to Allah and to His servants and it is for this reason that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) said: "There is no monkery in Islam," because in monkery there is no proper balance and equity in our obligations to Allah and to man. In this way, if there is true moderation and justice in the morals of man he can rise to the highest rank in moral excellence. For example, the desire for reward or benefit is embedded in human nature and to satisfy this urge Allah created in man passions of ambition and sexual desire. If these are absent in man then worldly enterprise will cease and man will not be able to make any progress. Motivated by these two instincts man undertakes all kinds of business enterprises and works for money and marries and has a wife and children. If, according to the command aqimul wazna (keep up the balance) he acts with moderation and restraint, then on the foundation of ambition he will develop noble qualities like hard work and industry, perseverance and fortitude; and sexual desire will be sublimated into love and sympathy, kindness and sacrifice -- excellences which embellish man's status. On the other hand, if there is no moderation and restraint, ambition will breed evil qualities like greed and covetousness, treachery and embezzlement and outright theft and corruption, and sexual instinct will lead to adultery and drunkenness and all kinds of degenerate behaviour. Similarly, self-preservation is integral to man's nature and for this Allah has provided him with the emotion of anger without which man will not be able to survive on earth. If according to the command, aqimul wazna (keep up the balance), man should control and regulate his anger, then he can develop sterling qualities like bravery and courage, honour and self-defence, power and dignity, and law and order. However, if his anger is unrestrained he will contract ignoble attributes and habits like envy and malice, ferocity and beastliness, murder and plunder, and cowardliness and dishonour. A person once addressed Hazrat 'Umar (rta) thus: "In the days of ignorance you were a very hot-tempered person. What is your condition now?" 'Umar (rta) replied: "The temper is still there but whereas before it was unrestrained, now I use it only on the proper occasion." In short, whatever emotions and passions are given to man are really for his progress and perfection and if he uses them moderately and temperately he develops high moral excellences. If, on the other hand, there is deficiency or excess in any human emotion, sin results. Here the command, Do not exceed the measure, is given so as to ingrain in man the principle that he should not diminish the rights of others. If in repaying a person one should give more than what he owes, then that is considered an act of goodness. But if in giving this person less than is owed to him another person is deprived of his rightful due, then that is regarded as a sinful action because the measure has fallen short in this instance. For example, if a person should perform more than the compulsory salah (prayers) then it is not a sin but a cause for more blessings. But if his worship should cause him to neglect his duties to his wife and children then it is a reprehensible action as has been already explained in the earlier example above. A man can lavish as much love he wants on his wife but if in doing so he deprives his mother of her share, it is a sinful thing. And this holds good for every virtue. Thus the meaning of aqimul wazna bil qist (and keep up the balance with equity) is that every right and every virtue should be used according to Allah's command along the lines of harmony and justice. To limit this verse to the weighing of grain on a scale is to destroy its beauty and restrict its comprehensiveness. Thus it is essential for man to establish justice and parity in every branch of his rights, obligations and virtues. He should never deviate from the path of harmony and moderation for this is the true purpose of his religion, the commands of the Law and the exhortation to develop sublime morals. And the earth, He has set it for (His) creatures; Anam means every creature on earth including man. Akmam refers to the sheathes that enclose the flowers of fruits. Raihan means fragrance or fragrant flowers or edible foods. The Holy Quran tells us that man has control over the heavens but everything on earth is subservient to him so that he can benefit from those heavenly means to sow all kinds of seeds and reap fruits and grain. He cultivates gardens from which he obtains many varieties of fruits. The date palm is especially mentioned because of all fruit trees this is the one that is most beneficial to man: its trunk provides material for the pillars and the roof of houses, whilst from its leaves mats and baskets are woven; its fruit serves as sustenance and sugar is made from it also; and from its bark clothes are made. This is why the Holy Prophet compared a believer to a date palm explaining that a believer must be beneficial to mankind in every possible way. In short, a wise person may choose to plant in a certain area gardens from which he receives fruits; elsewhere he engages in agriculture and reaps corn and clustered grain and in another place he cultivates flower plants from which he harvests fragrant flowers and from them also he makes perfumes which refresh the brain of man. Similarly, man is given the soil of his heart and everything connected with it in order that he can work according to the heavenly laws contained in the Holy Quran and the example of the Holy Prophet so that through his deeds he can sow different kinds of seeds. In this way, he can grow spiritual necessities and fruits for the nourishment of his spiritual life and can gather thereby several varieties of spiritual perfumes and fragrant fruits. We must remember that all these things come into being only as a result of good deeds. In these verses a comparison has been made between the sowing of grain and fruit and the cultivation of good deeds by man. From this analogy we can learn a few lessons: 1. Man should not be remiss in doing his duty at the proper time. For example, we should perform our prayer service on time, and we should fulfil obligations to others without delay for just as seeds are destroyed when they are sown out of season so, too, our actions become futile when they are performed out of time. According to some of the commentators of the Holy Quran, the dual form in Rabbikuma is used because both species, man and jinn, are addressed here. As there is no doubt that jinns form part of Allah's creation and there are ungrateful ones among them as we find also among human beings, it may be correct to assume that both species are spoken to here. But there still remain some doubts concerning this interpretation. Firstly, the jinns are not mentioned above so we cannot take it for granted they are included in this address. Secondly, the benefits that are listed here are all blessings that are enjoyed by man -- fruits, grains, pearls, ships and so on. From this we can conclude that man and jinn refer to two classes of men as the Holy Quran mentions in several places, for example, rich and poor, or gentry and commoners, or leaders and followers, or capitalists and workers. Jinn can also refer to those invisible beings that excite man's passions (this point has been more fully argued in the commentary of chapter 51, section 3). Again, in using the dual form of Rabbikuma, the two parties addressed could be man as well as the instigator of his animal passions, and continually assailed by this evil prompting man often falls to its influence and so becomes guilty of ingratitude to his Nourisher and Cherisher. Another reason for the dual form is to lay emphasis. It was the custom of the Arab people, even when addressing or ordering a single person or group, to use the dual form solely for the sake of emphasis. This is why instead of using a word twice, the dual form is emphasised. For example, instead of saying Alaq! Alaq! (Throw! Throw!), Alqiya is used, meaning, Please, do throw. In this verse Allah, Most High, presents to man those blessings of His which were mentioned in the previous verses and which were granted purely through Allah's attribute of Rahmaniyyat and not through any effort from man. On the one hand, in the physical world, He has made the sun and the moon and the whole celestial system subservient to man so that through their influence he can maintain his existence and derive benefit from their light, heat, air and rain. The earth, too, is made to serve his needs so that he can engage in different kinds of cultivation to provide food for his physical survival. On the other hand, for his inner world he is blessed with a spiritual sun and moon, that is, the Holy Quran and the practice of the Holy Prophet (pbuh). Under this spiritual system the best provisions are made for man's welfare so that he can build his spiritual life on a firm foundation. Further, by following the commands of the Holy Quran and the Sunnah he can sow seeds of good actions in the soil of his heart and so make provision for peace and everlasting blessings in his next life. Now, if man should belie these favours which have been mercifully bestowed on him solely through Allah's Providence and should become ungrateful to Him, and further, if even with the evidence before his eyes of Allah's providence to him for his physical existence, he should still deny Allah's providential favours for his spiritual life, then who can be held more accountable to Allah than him? It is for this reason that this verse is repeated several times in this chapter. In other words, trying to make man discover the favours of the spiritual world by observing the blessings of the physical world is specially emphasised so that every moment of his life he will always be conscious of it. And this form of expression is particularly chosen to highlight and accentuate the importance of the subject matter. Thus, it is for the sake of emphasis that every time a single favour or a number of favours is presented, this verse is repeated for the sole purpose that man may derive a corresponding spiritual benefit from the favour. In this way, when this matter is repeatedly brought before man's eyes it may eventually sink into his heart. It is recorded in the Hadith that the Holy Prophet (pbuh) told his Companions (rta) that when they were reciting this chapter and they reached this verse, that is, Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny?, they should reply humbly to Allah thus: Laa bi-shayin min ni‘matika Rabbana nukazzibu fa-lakal hamd. ("Our Lord, we do not deny a single one of Thy favours. Indeed, we are grateful for Thy blessings and we praise Thee whole-heartedly for them.") He created man from dry clay like earthen vessels, Salsal is dry clay while fakhkhar are earthen vessels. Here the meaning is clay that is baked solid in fire. For this reason, earthen vessels are called fakhkhar because they are put into fire until they become hard. The creation of man is mentioned first and that of the jinn comes after with the explanation that man was created out of earth while the jinns were created out of fire. Thus, in this verse man can in no way be included among the jinns, for jinns really refer to invisible beings. With this meaning in mind, the word jinn can be applied to many different things. For example, the rich and the aristocrats can be called jinns for they are hardly seen by people, as well as those people who live on the mountains and in the wilderness for they, too, are usually hidden from the eyes of people. The bacteria that cause illnesses are also called jinns for without the aid of a microscope they cannot be seen. Similarly, those invisible beings that are created from fire and which inflame the passions of man are also called jinns. In the verse above, jinns refer to those invisible beings which arouse the animal passions of man because their nature is fire. Man was created from dry clay like a potsherd. The object here is to point out that although it is an established fact that man was created out of earth yet what must be remembered here is that that piece of earth was first baked in fire. The purpose of this is to draw attention to the fact that the present surface of the earth came into being after having passed through fire and today science has proven that this planet, Earth, was once a piece of burning fire which gradually grew cooler and cooler until the upper crust became solid. Regarding the fiery condition of the earth, the Holy Quran states elsewhere: And the jinn, We created before of intensely hot fire (15:27). And elsewhere it has been likened to fakhkhar (55:14), which means clay that has been baked showing that the earth’s surface itself has been baked in fire. It was undoubtedly a lump of fire originally. The word before is a sure indication that prior to its present condition the state of the earth was furnace-like and in accordance with this original condition some creatures of a fiery temperament called jinns were created. In these verses attention is drawn to the creation of man to demonstrate the point that if the earth did not have to pass through fire, then the dirt from which man originated would not have had the capacity to give birth to man and this after gradually progressing through several evolutionary stages. If we now carry the reasoning process a little further and make an inference concerning the hidden from our observation of the manifest, we shall see that to become perfect, man also has to experience the test of fire. Man's nature is like moist clay and the Holy Quran uses the word tin over and over to remind us of this. And moist clay is such that it can be moulded into any particular shape. Thus, when a utensil is fashioned out of soft earth it is put repeatedly into fire till it becomes hard and solid after which it remains permanently moulded in the same shape we choose for it. Similarly, in order for man to become perfect it is essential that his nature, which is originally weak and which like moist clay, can be moulded into an ugly or beautiful form according to choice, should be put into fire again and again. Only then will his inner self become solid and like a baked utensil, it will remain forever in the same shape that was intended for it. That fire into which man has to be thrown to be moulded like an unbaked piece of utensil is provided by those beings called jinns which are invisible creatures that serve to arouse man's animal instincts. It is because of their existence that man's passions are hot, for fire is the essential nature of jinns. We must bear in mind here that when these jinns arouse man's animal passions to such a pitch that he begins to overstep the limits of Allah, then in Islamic terminology they are called Satan. In other words, Satan is another name for the one who influences man's passions but as long as man remains within the limits set by Allah, this being is not called Satan but jinn. In short, the jinn or Satan wages a constant battle against man as either one strives to excite his emotions. This gives rise to a fire in which the seeker-after-truth falls as he attempts to transcend the many hurdles on the way to his destination. However, by Allah's grace, if he displays patience and perseverance he will emerge from this furnace as safe and sound just as a piece of utensil of moist clay emerges intact from the heat. But this is not all. Just as a piece of earthen utensil becomes solid after passing through fire so, too, the character of the spiritual traveller becomes like steel in the fire of Satan's assaults. In other words, satanic attacks on a righteous person only help to strengthen and improve his moral and spiritual powers. If there is no opposing evil force then man cannot advance in piety. For example, in order to develop his strength and power, a wrestler confronts other wrestlers in the arena and by exerting himself against them to the fullest he increases his power and ability. Similarly, if righteousness is not challenged by evil and man does not strive with might and main to save himself from iniquity, then he cannot improve his potential power to do acts of goodness. If a person is presented with opportunities to tell a lie, to do which, in the eyes of a worldly-minded person, is decidedly mandatory -- for example, to give false evidence in a court matter, or to save oneself from harm when people think they must speak untruth -- and a believer in such circumstances turns away from falsehood and holds fast to the path of rectitude, then the result will be that his power for telling the truth will continually increase. In short, when he falls in this fire of Satan's attacks, his utensil of righteousness, as it were, will be further solidified, and no matter how many times he is thrown into this furnace, each time his piety will be further reinforced. This is why Hazrat Shah Abdul Aziz, the Muhaddath from Delhi, once wrote that every time a believer lowers his gaze in the presence of a strange female, his faith grows a degree stronger. That is, if every time his desire is excited and temptation strikes, he lowers his eyes and protects himself from lustful glances, his moral qualities of modesty and chastity become correspondingly stronger. Similarly, if a person in time of dire necessity does not commit a dishonest act in spite of Satan's temptation and promise that no one will know and that his most pressing need will be fulfilled, and if, in spite of Satan's allurements and seductions, he is not overcome by this fire of temptation, then the consequence will be that his virtue of honesty will gain additional power and become more entrenched in him. Thus, by stating that the jinns were created from a blazing fire, the Holy Quran wants to establish the fact that that very fire was created in order to solidify man's nature which comes from soft clay just as an unbaked earthen jar is put into fire and is made hard. Therefore, the existence of jinns is essential for man's advancement and that is why it is one of Allah's greatest favours. Thus, the Holy Quran asks rhetorically: Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? People often raise the objection as to why Allah created jinns and Satan. Allah replies that they are indeed created as a blessing for man, for were it not for the fire that arises from their temptation and arousal of desires, then man's moral beauties cannot be transformed from the state resembling an unbaked utensil to that of a solidly moulded one. Thus man should not look askance at this favour but should be grateful instead. Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests. In the verse, Lord of the two Easts, and Lord of the two Wests, there is sure evidence that the earth is round, because two Easts and two Wests can come about only when the earth is round, for when the sun rises over one region it sets in another and when it sets in one sphere it rises in another. Thus the actuality of two Easts and two Wests can clearly be seen. Now let us look at the inner or spiritual world of man. It is an established fact in the physical world that the reason for the rising and setting of the sun is that in the course of the earth's revolution whichever half of the earth faces the sun gets the sunrise and becomes bright. Similarly, the other half of the earth which is turned away from the sun, or which, in a manner of speaking, has its back to the sun, experiences the setting of the sun and its consequent darkness. The same thing happens in the spiritual world. Any nation that turns its face towards guidance finds that the sun of guidance and progress begins to shed its rays on it, and this is so whether the enlightenment is physical or spiritual. In other words, to whatever kind of education a man directs his attention, the sun of that kind of guidance shines on him. On the other hand, if a nation turns its face away from guidance it will be enveloped in the darkness of decadence and perdition. Thus, there is one East that pertains to physical growth and perfection and another East that relates to spiritual advancement and perfection and these are the two Easts mentioned in the verse above. Similarly, there are two Wests -- one pertaining to physical decline and decay and the other to spiritual degradation and deviation from the true path. These conditions overtake nations in turns and this is so because of people's own deeds. From another vantage point, we find that today, too, the world is divided into two Easts -- a near East and a far East, and two Wests -- a near West, referring to Europe, and a far West, meaning America. In short, these verses tell us that Allah is the complete Lord of both Easts and both Wests. As proof of His physical Providence, His physical sun shines on people in the East as well as those in the West. Similarly, why should His spiritual Providence not allow the Holy Quran, His spiritual sun, to illuminate the nations of the East and the West as well? And why should the East and the West not live under the same spiritual law? This comprises the second East and the second West. In fact, these verses contain a prophecy that although at this time the sun of the Holy Quran shines on the Eastern nations, yet a time will come when that light will also irradiate the people of the West. But this has a resemblance to the physical system, that is, just as when the physical sun sets on the East it rises in the West, so, too, this spiritual sun of the Holy Quran will rise in the West just when the people of the East turn their backs on the Holy Quran and because of this abandonment of the Book all kinds of misery and darkness will overtake them. When this happens, this spiritual sun will rise over the Western nations who will then bow their heads before the verities of the Holy Quran and will be illuminated by its splendour. This is the meaning of the prophecy recorded in the Hadith that before the Day of Resurrection the sun shall rise in the West. Thus, there is a remarkable prophecy hidden in this verse that the sun of the Holy Quran which now shines through the grace of the Holy Prophet (pbuh) in the East will one day illumine the Western world. And why should this not be so when Allah is not only the Lord of both East and West but the Lord of both kinds of Easts and Wests, that is, the physical and the spiritual East and West, and His Providence encompasses the physical as well as the spiritual kingdoms? If the physical sun gives light to both the East and the West, why should the spiritual sun of the Holy Quran not illumine both East and West? Thus, how unjust it is to deny these marvellous bounties of the Almighty! He has made the two seas to flow freely -- they meet: We must bear in mind here that Allah, Most High, employs a particular system in this section of the Holy Quran in that He always puts forward the physical as proof of the spiritual reality. Therefore, if we look at the previous verses we will see that they all follow the same arrangement and in these verses under discussion we notice also that the physical is followed by the hidden or spiritual. In other words, the manifest provides evidence of the hidden. In the physical world, we can all observe that when the sweet river flows into the sea, the water of which is salty, it does not mix with the sea water for quite a long distance inwards. In fact, even the colour remains conspicuously distinct and if we drink it we will discover that there is a pronounced difference in taste between the sweet river water and the salty seawater. In fact, there is a barrier between these two kinds of water and in scientific terminology this is called "surface tension". Thus, they provide ample testimony of a spiritual reality in that as far as knowledge is concerned there are also two seas -- a sea of physical knowledge that is called science and this is salty, and a sea of spiritual knowledge called the Holy Quran which is sweet. Just as the physical existence of all living things depends on this sweet water, so, too, man's spiritual life depends on the sweet water of the Holy Quran. As there are great resemblances between the physical and the spiritual, for this reason the two seas of physical and spiritual science must meet and flow together. That is, there are countless similarities between them but in spite of that, just as there is a barrier between the physical and the spiritual, a similar veil exists between these categories of knowledge. In other words, it is not essential for an expert in one field of knowledge to be equally adept in another field. For example, a scientist is not required to be a religious scholar and vice versa. Indeed, this is a well-known fact for even today in the different branches of physical science we witness the spectacle everyday of an expert in one field of knowledge being totally ignorant in another area. For example, a doctor is quite unacquainted with the science of Engineering and vice versa. So in medical matters an engineer's opinion carries no weight whilst in engineering business a doctor's pronouncement is of no value. Similarly, however advanced Europe and America may be in the material sciences, when it comes to spiritual knowledge, they are no wiser than school children. A
Prophecy: It will be an act of ingratitude on our part if we do not proclaim the role played by Hazrat Mirza Ghulam Ahmad, the Mujaddid of the fourteenth century, in removing this barrier between religion and science. In today's world of rampant materialism he was the first to make religion a science and present it in such a way that highly respected and eminent scientific experts in scientific circles were forced to acquiesce. Space does not permit a more detailed explanation but whoever desires further information can peruse his books and satisfy himself of the truth of this observation. In short, we are fortunate to witness today a clear manifestation of this prophecy unfolding before our very eyes. At this juncture, there is another point worthy of consideration. Sometimes a certain matter is hidden behind an invisible veil and seems to be beyond human comprehension. Then a clear physical sign from the Almighty is established so that it may serve as proof of the spiritual point in question. An example of this is the good news that came to Prophet Zacharias of the birth of a son. This seemed so unlikely to him that he was struck with amazement and requested of Allah: My Lord, give me a sign (19:10), whereupon Allah gave him this sign: He said: Thy sign is that thou speak not to people for three successive nights being in sound health (19:10). It is common knowledge among doctors that very old people often lose their power of speech for a while and this is known as "temporary aphasia". Accordingly, before the birth of Prophet John this condition befell Prophet Zacharias and this furnished a physical sign of the miraculous birth. Similarly, a physical sign of the merging of the two seas of knowledge, the physical and the spiritual -- something which to all appearances seems to be an unbelievable astonishing event -- was created by the joining of the Red and the Mediterranean Seas, the former being an Eastern sea whilst the latter is a Western sea. These were the two seas, eastern and western, which should have flowed into each other but there was a barrier between them in the form of a piece of land called the Isthmus of Suez. Accordingly, in this age, that barrier was removed and the two seas, one eastern and the other western, were joined through the creation of the Suez Canal. This actuality was a manifest physical indication that the time has now come when the two seas of eastern spiritual knowledge and western physical science will freely mix. Now if this is read together with the earlier verse, Lord of the two Easts and the Lord of the two Wests, it becomes abundantly clear that when Allah will allow the sun of the Holy Quran to rise in the West, then that will be the time of the meeting of the sea of physical science which is flourishing in the West with the sea of spiritual knowledge which is dominant in the East. That will be the time, too, when science will become the handmaiden of religion. And the event which will usher in that auspicious period will be the meeting of the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea. So the time of the physical merging of East and West is an indisputable indication of a similar spiritual coalescence of East and West. How wonderful a blessing is this which Allah has destined for man and how sinful is it to deny these favours! There come forth from them pearls and corals. We are told here that whether it is a sea of physical or spiritual knowledge, from both innumerable priceless jewels are obtained. That is, just as divers go down into the physical sea and bring out precious stones like pearls and corals, so, too, spiritual divers bring out countless invaluable treasures of deep insights and subtle points from the sea of spiritual knowledge. If people with knowledge and expertise bring out from the sea of physical knowledge priceless pearls and corals of knowledge by which man is able to travel across the oceans and fly through the air and make use of electricity, a similar thing takes place in the spiritual world. Here, too, experts in the field of spiritual knowledge acquire precious pearls and corals of wisdom from the sea of spiritual science and through this man is able to traverse the ocean of divine gnosis, to soar high in the sky of spirituality and to make use of marvellous spiritual powers that make physical energy and lightning look like nothing in comparison. As a matter of fact, the power of physical science does not enable man to fly beyond the magnetic sphere of the earth, but the strength of spiritual power enables the spiritual traveller to traverse the sky and his spiritual powers transport him from the earth to the throne of his Creator. Thus man ought to be grateful to his Lord for these extensive spiritual favours which vastly outstrip all physical blessings and he should give full praise to his Creator for these spiritual bounties instead of denying them. A Significant
Interpretation: And His are the ships reared aloft in the sea like mountains, These verses tell us that the ships that sail on the seas are also favours granted by Allah, Most High, to man, for if there were no ships how could man cross the oceans? In the same way, Divine teachings perform the function of tall ships which come in the form of Divine revelation by means of which man is able to traverse the ocean of spiritual knowledge. Otherwise, if he is left to his own devices man will never be able to make this voyage. In addition, the similitude of the ship can be farther extended: just as ships transport provisions from one place to another for the maintenance of man's physical livelihood, so, too, will they come into use in order to carry the teachings of the Holy Quran, that is, spiritual sustenance, to the people of the West. By means of these very ships, literature and missionaries for the teaching and propagation of Islam will be carried from the East to the West and thus the sun of spirituality shall rise in the West. These ships, which are lofty like mountains and which were built for the transaction of worldly business, will also perform the service of Allah's religion. At the time of the revelation of the Holy Quran, ships as tall as mountains were not in existence. This was knowledge of the unseen which the Holy Quran vouchsafed to the world hundreds of years in advance, when it disclosed that ships high as mountains would be built and they would be pressed into the service of Allah's religion. Section
2: Every one on it passes away -- Jalal means the highest point of greatness whilst dhul jalal means the Lord of Majesty, that is, the One Who possesses such power that to disobey Him is to court punishment and destruction. Dhul ikram means the Most Generous One, obedience to Whom brings blessings and favours in abundance. Wajhu Rabbika signifies the Being or Person of our Lord. There is another meaning which Imam Raghib records in his Mufradat from ‘Abdullah ibn-i Al-Raza who says that by wajh is meant a certain thing by means of which a particular point is reached, that is, such good deeds that are done for the sake of seeing the countenance or obtaining the pleasure of Allah, or those things which Allah desire to make everlasting. And this is the significance that is applicable here. Allah, Most High, wishes to explain to us this point that there is no doubt that physical science is also a sea from which man acquires innumerable priceless treasures by means of which he can and does make astounding improvement in life. But ultimately all these things pass away and nothing remains of them. Thus, wise is the man who concentrates on those endeavours which are lasting, for these are the works that will remain with him forever and provide everlasting life for him. Indeed, in this transient world, the only permanent things are those with which Allah is pleased, for only Allah and His goodly pleasure are perpetual. Everything else vanishes. Thus, fortunate is the one whose good deeds are done for the sake of Allah's pleasure and who lives in such a way as if every atom of his being operates in total consonance with the will of his Lord. That is the death (fana fil-Allah) that heralds a new life which is everlasting. After this extinction of the self, the righteous servant reaches the lap of Divine Providence and becomes a recipient of perpetual life and then the paths of continuous progress are opened to him. This permanence is not something automatic but depends on the pleasure of Allah. Everything otherwise is transitory and will always be so. If, therefore, everlasting life is the cherished goal, then for the sake of our Lord we should subject our good deeds to the will of Allah to such an extent that our desires are completely annihilated and our whole life is made subservient to the pleasure of Allah. This reverence is deservedly due to our Lord for His glory and honour certainly demand that we should efface our own ambitions in preference to His will and that we should reach the ultimate limit in our obedience to Him in order to win His pleasure. It is only then that we can come under the umbrella of Allah's Providence and be blessed with everlasting life. Verse 29 reads: All those in the heavens and the earth ask of Him. Every moment He is in a state (of glory). Verse 30: Which then of the bounties of your Lord will you deny? The word sha’n means state, glorious manifestation. A depiction of the glory and greatness of God, the Majestic, the Lord of Honour, is given in this verse: He is one to Whom everything that is in the earth and the heavens turns for assistance. In other words, all are in need of His mercy and beneficence. Indeed, the very state of things portrays this need: whichever way we look, everything appears to be dependent on the nourishing attribute of Allah, whether they be the inhabitants of the heavens, like the angels, the spirits or some creatures that might live on the stars, or the human beings inhabiting the earth, all are dependent on His attribute of the Nourisher. Nothing is self-sufficient. Indeed, the existence of all entities and their survival depend on external factors. And for these factors all must look towards the nourishing quality of the First Cause, the One Who is the Lord and Master of all. Take man, for example. Is he sufficient unto himself? No, not at all. Rather, he is dependent on external resources for his birth, his living and for his survival. He needs the earth, the heaven, the sun, the moon, the air, the water, the food-grain, the fruits and thousands of other things. Every moment he needs them and is dependent on them. And all these needs of man, needs that are entreating their Ultimate Creator every moment by the very language of their circumstance, are all being fulfilled at every step by the nourishing God through His grace and beneficence. And as the needs of men continue to take on new and varied forms with the passage of time, so does that Ultimate Creator show His manifestation of nourishing and beneficence in ever-new forms. This very thing has been expressed in the Hadith thus: "One of His aspects or states is that He forgives sins, alleviates misfortunes, accepts the prayers of the supplicant, and He exalts some people and brings others low." It does not mean that all His manifestations end with these few states. How can that be, when He is in a new state of glory every second. Nay, what it meant here is that these are some of His manifestations out of His infinite manifestations. The word Allah implies the Entity Who is perfect in His beauty and beneficence. The word husn means beauty, whether it is in a visible, apparent, physical form or relates to one’s manners and morals, and the word implies a state when the benefit of such beauty reaches someone else. For instance, being generous and beneficent are forms of husn whilst the attribute of ihsan (the exercising of these qualities) becomes applicable when someone else benefits from these traits of a person. Similarly, bravery is husn, and when someone else benefits from this quality, the word ihsan can be added to his husn. Thus Allah, the High, is not only perfect in His husn but, in fact, the whole world is benefiting from His beneficent qualities, that is, He is also perfect in ihsan. Human nature is such that two things are necessary to engender love for something in man's heart: one is husn and the other is ihsan. The fire of love for someone is kindled in the heart either through the beloved’s physical beauty, or by beauty of character, or by the ihsan of the beloved. Thus, since Allah is perfect in both beauty and beneficence (ihsan), He deserves to be loved above everything in the world. The only drawback is that man does not have deep knowledge of His person. As his gnosis increases, so does his love for his Maker. If you wish to develop a deep knowledge of the husn of Allah, the High, then, apart from the portrayal of His beautiful attributes and His exalted qualities in the Holy Quran, cast a glance at the book of nature. The world looks so full of beauty -- the mountain ranges and the seas, the green meadows and the gardens, the flowers and the fruits, the singing birds with their colourful plumes -- all these present such a panorama of beauty that it leaves one wonder-struck. And even more than these, the beauty of the human form is so varied and of so many kinds that man is left wondering which to choose and which to discard. From these, one can make an estimate of how much endowed with beauty is the Creator of all these. So if a man wants to enjoy all types of beauty, he should accept and align himself with the Entity Who is the Fountainhead of all beauty, and the Creator of all beautiful things, whether animate or inanimate, or whether possessed of physical beauty or spiritual beauty. Not only that, with Allah there is no end to variety. As a rule, man’s nature is such that it is soon satiated with a single type of beauty because no novelty is left in it after one gets accustomed to it. But as for Allah's person, His nature is such that He is in a new state of glory every second, and a manifestation of His beauty always has a new angle to it. Furthermore, one should keep in mind that all the beauty of this world is ephemeral and temporary: many handsome and good-looking people eventually lose their beauty through age or sickness, or get annihilated after drinking the cup of death. But the beauty of the Lord is such that it is eternal. So, how fortunate is the person who adopts and seeks this unbounded and eternal Beauty, a Beauty manifesting a new glory every instant, and who abandons the pursuit of limited and ephemeral beauty. Now after His husn, ponder over His ihsan (beneficence), His bountiful nature. Apart from the portrayal of the divine attributes and the sacred works of Allah in the gracious Quran, if one looks at nature’s spectacle, we notice that there is not a thing in this universe that is not dependent on Him, under the dictum of the verse, All those that are in the heavens and the earth ask of Him. And who is it whose needs are not being met? Everything is benefiting, according to the verse, Every moment He is in a new state of glory, from a new manifestation of His perfect nourishing. And every individual is being pleased with His bounties and bestowal with an ever-new style and fashion. In short, each gets the Creator's attention according to his needs. Every particle, every animate thing, and every human being is beseeching Allah’s help for his birth, his life and for his growth, implicitly and explicitly. And when man gives thought to the fact that all the benefactors besides Allah, the High, in whatever form they may be, are deficient and that he, himself, is finite and his beneficence is always limited and deficient, and that it is only the Sublime Personage Whose beauty is perfect and Who is eternal in person and the cycle of His bounties unending, then how unfortunate a person who does not develop a loving relationship with the Entity Who is perfect in His beauty and beneficence, and who gives precedence to the love of others to the love of Allah. If it is true that it is human nature that beauty and beneficence engender love in man’s heart, then Allah, the High, Who is perfect in His beauty and beneficence, deserves that He should be loved most of all. But man does not ponder over the bounties of Lord the High. Indeed, when Allah, Most High, raises prophets and reformers who are blessed with God-gnosis and full realisation of His beauty and benevolence and who tell the world about it, and call them to Allah’s love and benevolence, ungrateful man starts to give them the lie. Indeed, if one thinks over it, the bounties of the Lord, bounties that should engender gnosis and love of God, are so many that it is not possible to count them. In fact, the Quran says: If you were to count the bounties of Allah you will not be able to number them (14:34). Once a man came to Hazrat Sultan Nizamuddin Aulia and brought some luddoos (sweets) for him. The latter gave one luddoo to Hazrat Amir Khusro also to eat. (Amir Khusro was one of his sincere disciples.) Amir Khusro ate it. Hazrat Sultan Nizamuddin Aulia was busy talking to someone. As soon as he had finished, he turned to Amir Khousroe and inquired: "What have you done with the luddoo?" He replied: "I ate it." Hazrat said: "So quickly?" Amir Kusro replied: "What is a little luddoo after all, and how long does it take to eat it?" Hazrat said: "Very well." Picking up one luddoo in his hand he asked Amir Khusro: "What ingredients are used to make a luddoo?" He replied: "Flour, butter, sugar, etc." Hazrat inquired: "From where did the flour come?" He said: "From wheat." Hazrat asked: "How was the wheat produced?" He said: "The farmers ploughed the land and sowed the seed; the sun shone on the sea causing vapours to rise; the winds blew and brought the rain-laden clouds from which rain fell. The seed sprouted, then the harvest was gathered; the chaff was separated from the grains; the grains were ground in the grinder; the flour was kneaded, and that’s how the luddoo was made." Hearing this, Hazrat took one bite from the luddoo and uttered: "Al-hamdu lillah (all praise to Allah). So many powers of the heaven and earth and so many of Allah’s creatures worked to put this luddoo into my mouth." He then inquired: "Now tell me, how was the plough with which the land was ploughed, made?" Amir Khusro replied: "The carpenter made it from iron and wood." He asked: "From where did the wood come?" Amir Khusro replied: "The hewers sawed the tree, etc." Hazrat inquired: "From where did the tree come?" Amir Khusro recounted all the natural factors that go in to make a tree. Hazrat inquired: "From where did the iron come?" Khusro said: "From a mine. Thousands of miners dug up the hills; the ore was melted in the furnace, and several more steps led to the production of iron." Hazrat took another bite and said: "Al-hamdu lillah. What a lot of God’s creatures worked to cause this morsel of food to reach my mouth." Similarly, he made Khusro recount the innumerable factors that go in to produce butter and sugar and hours passed in this dialogue and the luddoo still remained uneaten in his hand. In short, if one were to ponder over the bounties of the Lord and should start to count them, it would be impossible to do so. Thus, if a person is fair he will never refuse to acknowledge his Lord’s bounties. Otherwise, if anyone chooses to ignore these impertinently, we cannot help him. Soon shall We apply Ourselves to you, O you two groups. The words sa-nafrughu here means "to intend to call to account". This does not imply that We are at the moment busy elsewhere, and when We are free We shall turn to you. Not at all! Nay, this style of address is merely for the sake of admonition. Just as in the preceding verse the aim was to engender a sense of love in our hearts through recounting the beauties and bounties of the Lord, in this verse, a sense of awe is sought to be created in our minds. The meaning is, "If We have not punished you so far for your heedlessness, rejection and opposition to truth, the reason is that We have not yet decided to call you to account; but the time is not far off when we shall resolve to do so, and then you shall get your just deserts." Although this process of reckoning does go on even in this life, its full implementation will come about only on the Da | ||
