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Or: "known [only to Him]" - i.e., the period of their lives on earth, during which they may reflect and repent.
For my rendering of sa'ah as "a single moment", see surah {7}, note [26].
Allah's decree works without fail. If He were to punish for every wrong or shortcoming, not a single living creature on earth would escape punishment. But in His infinite mercy and forgiveness, He gives respite: He provides time for repentance. If the repentance is forthcoming. Allah's Mercy is forthcoming without fail, if not, the punishment comes inevitably on the expiry of the Term. The sinner cannot anticipate it by an insolent challenge, nor can he delay it when the time arrives. Let him not think that the respite given him may mean that he can do what he likes, and that he can escape scot-free from the consequences.
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I.e., "daughters" (see verses {57-59} above): but this alludes also, as Zamakhshari points out, to the association with God of imaginary beings which allegedly have a share in His power and thus nullify the concept of His uniqueness: in other words, while the people spoken of here would hate to see their own legitimate spheres of influence encroached upon and curtailed by rivals, they do not extend the same consideration to their idea of God.
Lit., "that theirs is the supreme good (al-husna)" - i.e., in the sight of God - because they regard their own religious or anti-religious views, in spite of their absurdity, as good and true. This interpretation of al-husna in the above context (mentioned, among others, by Zamakhshari and Razi) connects logically with the statement in the next verse that "Satan had made their own doings seem goodly to them".
Lit., "theirs [or "their portion"] will be the fire, and they will be abandoned".
They say that Allah has daughters (i.e., the angels), although they themselves do not like to have daughters.
See above, xvi. 57-58 and notes.
The philosophy of Pleasure (Hedonism) assumes that worldly enjoyment is good in itself and that there is nothing beyond. But it can be shown, even on its own ground, that every act has its inevitable consequences. No Good can spring out of Evil. For falsehood and wrong the agony of the Fire is waiting, and the boastful votaries of Falsehood will be the first to fall into it.
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Or: "He is their patron [or "master"] today". It should be borne in mind that the noun wall is derived from the verb waliya, which primarily signifies "he was [or "became"] close [or "near", i.e., to someone or something]". It is in this sense that the term wali is used in the Our'an with reference to God's nearness to the believers (e.g., in 2:257 or 3:68 ), or their nearness to God (see 10:62 and the corresponding note [84]). Similarly, the "powers of evil" (at-taghut) are spoken of in 2:257 as being "near unto those who are bent on denying the truth (alladhina kafaru)".
In all ages and among all Peoples Allah sent His Messengers to teach the Truth and point the way to righteousness. But the allurements of Evil seemed always attractive, and many men preferred their own ways and the ways of their ancestors to the more difficult path of rectitude. This happened again in the time of Al-Mustafa, and will always happen as long as men succumb to Evil.
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But the path of duty before Allah's Messenger is clear. He is sent with the Revelation (the Qur-an) for three express purposes; (1) that he should bring about unity among the jarring sects, for the Gospel of Unity, while preaching the One True God, leads also to the unity of mankind; (2) that the revelation should be a guide to right conduct; and (3) that it should show the path of repentance and Salvation, and thus be the highest mercy to erring sinners.
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As so often in the Qur'an, a reference to the spiritual life engendered by divine revelation is followed here by a reference to the miracle of organic life as another indication of God's creative activity.
When the earth with all its vegetation is well-nigh dead, parched and shrivelled up, a vivifying shower of rain from above gives it new life. This natural phenomenon is a sign of Allah's infinite power, especially of His power to resurrect the dead, and thereafter muster them for judgment.
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Milk - in itself a glandular secretion - is not necessary for the mother-animal's life (or, as it is here metonymically described, its "blood"); on the other hand, it is not just something that the body eliminates as being of no further use to its metabolism: hence it is referred to as a substance "between that which is to be eliminated [from the animal's body] and [its] life-blood".
lit., pleasant for those who drink.
The spiritual sustenance which Allah gives is typified by the wonderful ways of sustenance in the physical world, which figure forth Allah's providence and loving care for His creation. And the wonderful transformations in the physical world, which all tend to the benefit of man, are also Signs of His supreme wisdom. In the previous verse rain was mentioned, which gives new life to dead nature. In this and the following two verses our attention is drawn to milk, the products of the date and the vine, and honey.
Their; in the Arabic, it is "its", in the singular number, for two reasons: (1) cattle is the generic plural, and may be treated as a singular noun; (2) the instructive Sign is in cattle collectively, but the milk is the product of each single individual.
Milk is a secretion in the female body, like other secretions, but more specialised. Is it not wonderful that the same food, eaten by males and females, produces in the latter, when they have young, the wholesome and complete food, known as milk? Then, when cattle are tamed and specially bred for milk, the supply of milk is vastly greater than is necessary for their young and lasts for a longer time than during the period they give suck to their young. And it is a wholesome and agreeable diet for man. It is pure, as typified by its whiteness. Yet it is a secretion like other secretions, between the excretions which the body rejects as worthless and the precious blood-stream which circulates within the body and is the symbol of life itself to the animal which produces it.
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The term sakar (lit., "wine" or, generically, "intoxicants") is contrasted here with rizq hasan ("wholesome sustenance"), thus circumscribing both the positive and the negative properties and effects of alcohol. Although this surah was revealed about ten years before the Qur'anic prohibition of intoxicants in {5:90-91}, there is no doubt that their moral condemnation is already implied in the above verse (Ibn 'Abbas, as quoted by Tabari; also Razi).
Intoxicants were later prohibited in the Quran in three stages: 2:19, 4:43, and finally 5:90-91.
There are wholesome drinks and foods that can be got out of the date-palm and the vine: e.g., non-alcoholic drinks from the date and the grape, vinegar, date-sugar, grape-sugar, and dates and grapes themselves for eating. If sakar is taken in the sense of fermented wine, it would refer to the time before intoxicants were prohibited, for this is a Makkan Sura and the prohibition came in Madinah. In such a case it would imply a subtle disapproval of the use of intoxicants and mark the first of a series of steps that in time culminated in total prohibition.
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The expression "He has inspired" (awha) is meant to bring out the wonderful quality of the instinct which enables the lowly insect to construct the geometrical masterpiece of a honeycomb out of perfectly-proportioned hexagonal, prismatic wax cells - a structure which is most economical, and therefore most rational, as regards space and material. Together with the subsequently mentioned transmutation, in the bee's body, of plant juices into honey, this provides a striking evidence of "God's ways" manifested in all nature.
Auha: wahyun ordinarily means inspiration, the Message put into the mind or heart by Allah. Here the Bee's instinct is referred to Allah's teaching, which it undoubtedly is. In xcix. 5, it is applied to the earth; we shall discuss the precise meaning when we come to that passage. The honey-comb, itself, with its hexagonal cells, geometrically perfect, is a wonderful structure, and is well called buyut, homes. And the way the bee finds out inaccessible places, in the hills, in the trees, and even among the habitations of men, is one of the marvels of Allah's working in His Creation.
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Lit., "thy Sustainer's paths".
The bee assimilates the juice of various kinds of flowers and fruit, and forms within its body the honey which it stores in its cells of wax. The different kinds of food from which it makes its honey give different colours to the honey, e.g., it is dark-brown, light-brown, yellow, white, and so on. The taste and flavour also varies, as in the case of heather honey, the honey formed from scented flowers, and so on. As food it is sweet and wholesome, and it is used in medicine. Note that while the instinctive individual acts are described in the singular number, the produce of "their bodies" is described in the plural, as the result of their collective effort.
Zululan: two meanings are possible; (1) ways easy and spacious, referring to the unerring way in which bees find their way from long distances to their combs; and (2) the idea of humility and obedience in them.
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Lit., "is reduced to a most abject age, so that he knows nothing after [having had] knowledge": alluding to the organic curve of man's growth, his acquisition of bodily strength, intelligence and experience, followed by gradual decay and, in some cases, the utter helplessness of senility, comparable to the helplessness of a new-born child. See also 22:5.
Besides the mystery and beauty of the many processes going on in the working of Allah's Creation, there is the wonderful life of man himself on this earth; how he is created as a child; how he grows in intelligence and knowledge; and how his soul is taken back and his body suffers dissolution. In some cases he lives so long that he falls into a feeble old age like a second childhood; he forgets what he learnt and seems almost to go back in Time. Is not all this wonderful, and evidence of the Knowledge and Power of Allah?
Our attention having been called to the remarkable transformations in life and nature, by which the Knowledge and Power of Allah work out His beneficient Plan for His creatures, we are reminded that man at best is but a feeble creature, but for the grace of Allah. We then pass on in the next Section to the differences in the gifts which men themselves enjoy, distinguishing them into so many categories. How much greater is the difference between the created things and their Creator?
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The phrase "to share their sustenance with...", etc., reads, literally, "to turn over their sustenance to". The expression "those whom their right hands possess" (i.e., "those whom they rightfully possess") may relate either to slaves taken captive in a war in God's cause (see surah {2}, notes [167] and [168], and surah {8}, note [72]) or, metonymically, to all who are dependent on others for their livelihood and thus become the latters' responsibility. The placing of one's dependents on an equal footing with oneself with regard to the basic necessities of life is a categorical demand of Islam; thus, the Prophet said: "They are your brethren, these dependents of yours (khawalukum) whom God has placed under your authority [lit., "under your hand"]. Hence, whoso has his brother under his authority shall give him to eat of what he eats himself, and shall clothe him with what he clothes himself. And do not burden them with anything that may be beyond their strength; but if you [must] burden them, help them yourselves." (This authentic Tradition, recorded by Bukhari in several variants in his Sahih, appears in the compilations of Muslim, Tirmidhi and Ibn Hanbal as well.) However, men often fail to live up to this consciousness of moral responsibility: and this failure amounts, as the sequence shows, to a denial of God's blessings and of His unceasing care for all His creatures.
In other words, if the pagan slave-masters are not willing to be equal to their slaves, why would they make anyone equal to Allah—the Supreme Master and Creator of all things?
Even in the little differences in gifts, which men enjoy from Allah, men with superior gifts are not going to abandon them so as to be equal with men of inferior gifts, whom, perhaps, they hold in subjection. They will never deny their own superiority. How then (as the argument is pursued in the two following verses), can they ignore the immense difference between the Creator and created things, and make the latter, in their thoughts, partners with Allah?
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Lit., "has made [or "provided"] for you mates out of yourselves". The term zawj denotes not only "a pair" or "a couple" but also - as in this instance - "one of a pair" or "a mate" of the opposite sex; hence, with reference to human beings, the plural azwaj signifies both "husbands" and "wives".
Lit., "they", i.e., those who deny the truth of God's existence and/or oneness.
Ḥafadah means grandchildren, but can also mean children-in-law.
Of your nature: or of yourselves. Cf. iv. 1 and n. 504, Self, or Personality, or Soul, all imply a bundle of attributes, capacities, predilections, and dispositions, which we may sum up in the word Nafs, or nature. Woman was made to be (1) a mate or companion for man; (2) except for sex, of the same nature as man, and therefore, with the same moral and religious rights and duties; and (3) she is not to be considered a source of all evil or sin, as the Christian monks characterised her but rather as a blessing, one of the favours (Ni'mat) of Allah.
Hafadat: collective plural, grandchildren, and descendants. The root hafada also implies obedient service and ministration. Just as the sons (first mentioned) should be a source of strength, so daughters and grandchildren should serve and contribute to the happiness of fathers and grandparents, and are to be looked upon as further blessings.
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For the comprehensive meaning embodied in the term rizq, see the first sentence of note [4] on 2:3 .
"Sustenance" (rizq) in all this passage (xvi. 65-74), as elsewhere, implies all that is necessary for man's life and growth, physical, mental, moral, and spiritual. Milk, fruit, and honey are examples of physical gifts, with a metaphorical reference to mental and moral health; family life is an example of moral and social and (ultimately) spiritual opportunities in the life of man; and in xvi. 65 is an example of rain in the physical world as a type of Allah's revelation in the spiritual world.
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I.e., "do not blaspheme against God by regarding anyone or anything as comparable with Him, or by trying to define Him in any terms whatsoever" - since "definition" is, in the last resort, equivalent to a delimitation of the qualities of the object thus to be defined in relation to, or in comparison with, another object or objects: God, however, is "sublimely exalted above anything that men may devise by way of definition" (see last sentence of 6:100 , and the corresponding note [88]).
Cf. xvi. 60 above, and n. 2086. One instance of false similitudes is where Pagans say their gods are mere types of symbols, or where men pray to men as Intercessors.
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The obvious answer is that they cannot. The implication is equally clear: if even these two kinds of man cannot be deemed equal, how could any created being, with its intrinsic, utter dependence on other created beings, or any force of nature conceivable or imaginable by man, be thought of as possessing powers comparable with those of God, who is almighty, limitless, unconceivable - the self-sufficient fount of all that exists? (This argument is continued and further elaborated in the subsequent parable.)
The first parable is of two men, one of whom is a slave completely under the dominion of another, with no powers of any sort, and another a free man, who is gifted in every way, and is most generous in bestowing out of his opulent wealth (material as well as intangible), privately and publicly, without let or hindrance; for he is his own master and owes no account to any one. The first is like the imaginary gods which men set up,-whether powers of nature, which have no independent existence but are manifestations of Allah, or deified heroes or men, who can do nothing of their own authority but are subject to the Will and Power of Allah; the second describes in a faint way the position of Allah, the Self-Subsistent, to Whom belongs the dominion of all that is in heaven and earth, and Who bestows freely of His gifts on all His creatures.
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