Say:
"If the future abode with Allah is purely for you to the exclusion of the
people then invoke death if you are truthful" (94). And they will never
invoke it on account of what their hands have sent before, and Allah knows
the unjust ones (95). And you will most certainly find them the greediest
of men for life, and (greedier) than even those who are
polytheists; every one of them loves that he should be granted a life of a
thousand years, and his being granted a long life will in no way remove
him further off from the chastisement, and Allah sees what they do (96).
Say: "Whoever is the enemy of Gabriel for surely he revealed it to your
heart by Allah's Command, verifying that which is before it, and guidance
and good news for the believers (97). Whoever is the enemy of Allah and
His angels and His apostles and Gabriel and Michael - so surely Allah is
the enemy of the unbelievers" (98). And certainly We have revealed to you
clear signs, and none disbelieve in them except the transgressors
(99).
********
COMMENTARY
QUR'AN: Say: "If the
future abode. . .": The Jews claimed, "Fire shall not touch us but
for a few days" (2:80). When they were told to believe in what
Allah had revealed, they declared: "We believe in that which was
revealed to us" (2:91). All this implied that only they would
be saved on the Day of Resurrection to the exclusion of all the others;
that their deliverance and happiness in the next world would be unmarred
by any unpleasant experience as the Fire shall not touch them but for a
few days equal in number to the day they worshipped the calf. To remove
that self-delusion and conceit, Allah put a challenge to them, to show
them their true face, to make them realize that their claims were without
any substance. He (Allah) told His Apostle to say to them: "If the future
abode . . . is for you . . . " The "future abode" points to the felicity
and happiness of that abode; the owner of a house arranges and manages it
in the best possible way, and decorates it according to his taste and
liking. "with Allah", that is, firmly established with Allah, by His order
and His permission; the phrase has the same import here as in the verse:
Surely the religion with Allah is Islam (3:19).
"purely", that is, unmixed with punishment or humiliation - utmost
that you think possible is a punishment of just a few days. "to the
exclusion of the people", because you presume that all religions, except
your own, are false. If you really think so, "then invoke death if you are
truthful ". This challenge is similar to the one given in verse: Say: "0
you who are Jews, if you think that you are the friends of Allah to the
exclusion of other people, then invoke death if you are truthful"
(62:6). The argument is very clear about which nobody can have
any doubt whatsoever. Any man (nay! even an animal having a limited
perception and sensitivity), if given total freedom to choose between
comfort and discomfort, will at once opt for the comfort, without any
hesitation, without any contemplation. Put before him a life polluted with
trouble and turmoil and another clean and pure, and tell him to take hold
of any one; naturally, and without any doubt, he will grab at the pure
one. If for any reason he is prevented from the life of his choice, he
will always dream of it, and will remain looking for any opportunity to
lay his hands upon it.
If the Jews
are truthful in their claim that the other world's pure happiness belongs
to them to the exclusion of others, then they must yearn for it with their
hearts, words and deeds.
"And they
will never invoke it on account of what their hands have sent before", for
example, the killings of the prophets, the disbelief in Musa (a.s.) and
breaking of the covenants, "and Allah knows the unjust ones".
QUR'AN:
on account of what their hands have sent before: It is a
metaphorical reference to the "deeds". Most of the external deeds are done
by hands; then the finished product is sent to the one who wants it or may
benefit from it.
The
sentence has two allegorical allusions: it counts every deed as having
been done by hands; and it ascribes the action of "sending" to the hands
while in fact it is the man who sends his deeds before.
Actions of
a man, and especially those done regularly, are a clear mirror of his
unconscious and sub-conscious personality. Evil deeds expose the evil
nature of the doer - and such a nature does not like meeting its Lord or
staying in the abode of His friends.
QUR'AN: And you will
most certainly find them the greediest of men for life: It is an
explanation of the divine word, "And they will never invoke it . . . "
They do not yearn for death because they are greediest of all men for the
life of this world. It is this greed and avid craving to remain in this
world which prevents them from looking forward to the next abode. The
word, "life", is used in this verse as a common noun - it is to show how
insignificant and trifling this life is; Allah has said: And this life
of the world b nothing but a sport and a play, and as for the next abode,
that most surely is life - did they but know (29:64).
QUR'AN: and
(greedier) that even those who are polytheists: Apparently the
conjunctive, "and", joins this clause to the word, "men", that is, you
will find them greedier than even the polytheists for life.
QUR'AN: and his
being granted a long life will in no way remove him further off from the
chastisement: The verse's literal translation: and it is not a remover
of him from the chastisement his being granted a long life. “ma”
(not, no, particle of negation); the pronoun "it" is that of sha'n*
and qissah "his being granted along life" is the subject
preceded by the predicate, that is, "is not a remover of him. . ."
The
sentence may also be syntactically analyzed in another way: the pronoun,
"it", may refer to the love each of them had of being granted a life of a
thousand years. It would accordingly mean that that love of theirs would
not ward off the Divine Chastisement from them; in this case, the clause,
"his being granted a long life" will be a description of that love.
Anyhow,
what the verse says is this: They shall never invoke the death, and I
swear that you will most certainly find them the greediest of men for this
base and insignificant life which prevents them from the happy and good
life of the next abode; you will find them greedier than even the
polytheists for this life, although the latter do not believe in the
Resurrection and the Day of Judgment, and consequently their love for this
fife should be unparalleled; every one of them loves that he should be
granted the longest life, but even the longest life cannot remove him
further off from the Divine Chastisement, because life, no matter how long
it is, is limited and has to come to an end.
QUR'AN: every one of
them loves that he should be granted a life of a thousand years: that
is, the longest life. "a thousand" is used to denote numerousness. In
Arabic, it is the highest denomination which is described by a single
word. Higher denominations are shown by repetition and combination, for
example, ten thousand, a hundred thousand, a thousand thousand (i.e., a
million).
QUR'AN:
And Allah sees what you do: "al-Basir" is one of the beautiful
names of Allah; it signifies that although He does not have a body or an
eye, He is fully cognizant of all things which we perceive with our eyes.
It shows a facet of the name, al-'Alim (= the Knowing).
QUR'AN:
Say: "Whoever is the enemy of Gabriel - for surely he
revealed it to your heart by Allah's Command: Apparently the verse was
revealed as a reply to something the Jews had said - they arrogantly
refused to believe in what was revealed to the Apostle of Allah
(s.a.w.a.), on the pretext that they were enemies of Gabriel who had the
charge of bringing the revelation to Muhammad (s.a.w.a.). Allah replied to
them in two verses - concerning the Qur'an and Gabriel both. Also the
traditions giving the background of the verses confirm it. The verses
contain four replies to their arrogance in denial of the Qur'an:
First: Gabriel has
revealed the Qur'an to your heart by Allah's Command, not by his own wish.
Therefore, even if they feel enmity towards Gabriel, it should not prevent
them from believing in a revelation sent down by Allah's Command.
Second: The Qur'an
verifies the Divine Book which was revealed before it and which they have
in their hands. How can they believe in a book and deny another which
verifies it?
Third:
The Qur'an is a guidance for those who believe in it.
Fourth:
It is also a good news for the believers. How can a sane person turn
his face away from guidance and good news, even if it is brought to him by
a supposed enemy of his?
So far as
their professed enmity towards Gabriel was concerned, they were replied as
follows:
Gabriel is
one of the angels of Allah; he has no authority except to follow and obey
the Divine Command - just like Michael and other angels. They are honored
servants of Allah; they do not disobey His command, and they do as they
are told. Likewise, the apostles of Allah have no authority except by
Allah and from Allah. To have enmity towards them, to harbor hatred for
them is enmity and hatred towards Allah Himself. Therefore, whoever is the
enemy of Allah and His angels and His apostles and Gabriel and Michael, so
surely Allah is his enemy.
All these
replies are clearly given in these two verses.
QUR'AN: for surely
he revealed it to your heart by Allah's Command: Apparently, it should
have been "to my heart"; instead, it says, "to your heart". The pronoun
has been changed from the first to the second person to draw attention to
an important factor: So far as the revelation of the Qur'an is concerned,
neither Gabriel has any choice or authority of his own in bringing it down
(he is subject to the Divine command, which he faithfully carries out) nor
the Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.a.) has any choice or authority of his own in
receiving it and conveying it to his ummah; his heart is the
receptacle of revelation, on which he has no control at all and which he
is bound to convey to his people.
The Jews
have been mentioned in these verses sometimes in the second person, and
sometimes in the third. Their admonition and condemnation has continued
for a long time; and the Speaker wants to show that they do not deserve
the honor of being addressed by Him. That is why He frequently changes the
styles, again and again going from the second to the third person
pronouns. The audience gets the impression that the Speaker does not like
to speak to them - because of their heedlessness and depravity, but at the
same time does not like to leave them as they are without pronouncing His
judgment against them.
QUR'AN: the enemy of
the unbelievers: Instead of saying, "their enemy", the verse uses the
word, "enemy of the unbelievers"; it serves to show also the reason of
that enmity. Allah is their enemy, because they are unbelievers, and Allah
is the enemy of the unbelievers.
QUR'AN: and none
disbelieve in them except the transgressors: It explains the cause of
their disbelief; they disbelieve because they are transgressors. Or, may
be the definite article "the", in "the transgressors" refers to the group
mentioned in the beginning of the chapter: but He does not cause to err
by it (any) except the transgressors, who break the covenant of
Allah after its confirmation . . . (2:26-27)
As for
Gabriel and how he brought the revelation to the heart of the Apostle of
Allah (s.a.w.a.), we shall explain it, God willing, in another place; the
same applies to Michael and other angels.
TRADITIONS
Ibn 'Abbas
explained the reason of the revelation of the verse, Say: "Whoever is
the enemy of Gabriel. . .", in these words: "When the Prophet came to
Medina, Ibn Suriya and some Jews of Fadak asked him (some questions). They
said: '0 Muhammad! How do you sleep? Because we have been told about the
sleep of the Prophet who would come in the last days?'
He said:
'My eyes sleep while my heart is awake.' They said: 'You are right, 0
Muhammad! Now tell us about the child whether it is from the man or from
the woman?' He said: 'As for the bones, the nerves and the veins, they are
from the man; and as for the flesh, the blood, the nails and the hairs,
they are from the woman.' They said: 'You are right, 0 Muhammad! Then why
is it that sometimes the child resembles his paternal uncles, without
having a least likeness of his maternal uncles? And sometimes he resembles
his maternal uncles without having any likeness at all to his paternal
uncles?' He replied: 'He resembles to that parent's (side) whose fluid
dominates the others.' They said: 'You spoke the truth, 0 Muhammad! Now,
tell us about your Lord, what is He?' Then Allah revealed (the Chapter
112): Say: "He, Allah is One. . . ", Then Ibn Suriya said:
'One (more) thing; if you tell (us) about it, I shall believe in you and
follow you. Which angel is it that brings to you that which Allah reveals
to you?' He said: 'Gabriel.' (Ibn Suriya) said: 'He is our enemy; he
brings the (order of) fighting, hardship and war. And Michael brings
comfort and happiness. Had it been Michael who came to you (with
revelation) we would have believed in you.' "
The
author says: Very many traditions (nearly mutawatir in number)
have been narrated by both Sunni and Shi'ah narrators, that (when) the
Apostle of Allah (s.a.w.a.) (slept) his eyes used to sleep but his heart
kept awake. Sleep did not make him unaware of himself; when asleep, he was
well aware that he was asleep; when he dreamt he knew that he was
dreaming. Not too often, this happens to some other good persons too when
their souls are clean and they keep in touch with the Divine sublimity.
When the soul rises to that level, it can never be oblivious of the
various changes occurring to itself in its worldly life, nor can it forget
its relation to its Lord. At this stage, it may look at the world and its
life taking the whole spectrum at one glance, as a man looks at a tree and
perceives it all at once. In this detached manner, it observes that all
human beings are asleep - not only those who are manifestly asleep, but
those too who are thought to be awake. Almost all men have taken shelter
under sensual perception; have bound themselves to the fetters of
materialism. They are in fact asleep, even when they think they are awake.
'Ali (a.s.) has said: "The people are asleep; when they die they will wake
up . . .
This topic
will be further explained in other place; other sentences of this
tradition too will be explained later.
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