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Lit., "brought near to".
In this life, the ideas of the spirit, the accomplishment of the things in our hearts and our hopes, seem to be ever so far, seem even to recede as we think we come nearer. Not so in the Hereafter. The fruits of righteousness will no longer be in the distance. They will be realised. They will seem themselves to approach the Righteous.
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The description of the Righteous is given in four masterly clauses: (1) those who turned away from Evil in sincere repentance; (2) those whose new life was good and righteous; (3) those who in their innermost hearts and in their most secret doings were actuated by Allah-fearing love, the fear that is akin to love in remembering Allah under His title of "Most Gracious"; and (4) who gave up their whole heart and being to Him.
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See last sentence of 24:31 and the corresponding note [41].
This can also mean that they are in awe of their Lord as much in private as they are in public.
Cf. xxxvi. 11 and n. 3952; and xxxv. 18, and n. 3902.
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Lit., "the Day of Abiding".
The true meaning of Islam: peace, security, salutation, and accord with Allah's Plan in all Eternity.
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i.e., looking at the Face of the Almighty (see 10:26 and 75:22-23).
To get all that our purified wishes and desires comprehend may seem to sum up final Bliss; but there is something still wanting, which is supplied by the sight of Allah, the Light of His Countenance.
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This connects with verses {12-14} above. It should be borne in mind that in ancient Arabic usage the term - qarn - here rendered as "generation" - often denotes "a period of time succeeding another": hence, a "century", or "people of one and the same period" and, finally, a "civilization" in the historical sense of this word. That this last significance is intended here becomes evident from the sequence.
Lit., "they wandered searching (naqqabu) in the lands: Is there any place of refuge?" - implying that after the destruction of their civilization they could do no more than strive for bare survival.
While virtue and righteousness will accomplish their final goal, what will be the End of Sin? Let the past tell its story. Many powerful and arrogant generations were swept away, to stray in the paths of misery, without any way of escape from the consequences of their sin. This was already seen in the life of this world. In the world to come, it will be worse, as already stated in verses 24-26 above.
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Thus Zamakhshari; literally, the phrase reads, "who has a heart".
Lit., "or lends ear and is withal a witness (wa-huwa shahid)", which latter phrase Zamakhshari explains as meaning "is present with his intellect", i.e., with a conscious mind. (Cf. the same use of the term shahid in verse {21}.) The conjunctive particle "or" (aw) which precedes the above clause does not signify an alternative but has - as is often the case in Qur'anic usage - an explanatory function, similar to phrases like "that is" or "in other words", followed by an amplification of what was said before.
As Christ said (Matt. xi. 15), "he that hath ears to hear, let him hear". These are matters of high moment. Many spiritual lessons can be learnt from these things by any one who has the heart and understanding to apply to Allah's teaching and can give genuine thought to what he sees, as a witness does who has to swear to the facts on his oath.
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The whole of this passage (verses {36-38}) stresses God's omnipotence, which can be perceived by "anyone whose heart is wide-awake". The above reference to God's having created the universe "in six aeons" is the oldest in the chronology of Qur'anic revelation. In this connection it is to be noted that in ancient Arabic usage the term yawm does not always denote the twenty-four hours of the earthly "day", but is also applied to any period of time, however long or short. In the cosmic sense in which it is used here and elsewhere in the Qur'an, the plural ayyam is best rendered as "aeons". The mention of the impossibility of God's ever being "wearied" by the process of creation connects the present passage with verse {15} of this surah and, thus, alludes to God's power to resurrect the dead.
See footnote for 7:54.
Some scholars believe this verse comes in response to Exodus 31:17, which says, “The Lord made the heavens and the earth in six days, but on the seventh day He rested and was refreshed.”
Allah's creation of the heavens and the earth in long stages or periods of time, as we count time, shows how things evolve in their own good time. We must therefore be patient if Good does not seem to come to its own according to our ideas. Our will should merge itself in Allah's Will, and we should praise Him, realising that He is All-Good, and that all adjustments will be in the Hereafter.
Cf. vii. 54, n. 1031; and xli. 12. n. 4477.
Cf. xxxv. 35.
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Sc., "regarding the alleged 'impossibility' of resurrection".
I.e., "remember His almightiness at all times of day".
Allah should be remembered at all times. But the best time for individual adoration is early in the morning before sunrise, late in the day before sunset, and a portion of the night, when there is stillness in the air, and man's spirit loves to commune with things spiritual. Those who would connect this with the five canonical prayers, instituted at a later stage in Madinah, would take the Fajr for the prayer before sunrise, the Zuhr and, the Asr for the afternoon prayers before sunset and the Magrib and the Ishaa for the night prayers.
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Lit.. "at the ends (adbar) of prostration".
This verse refers to the times of the five daily prayers.
The general meaning of "after the prostration" would be the contemplation and remembrance of Allah after prayers. Those who would connect this passage with the five canonical prayers understand these further prayers "following the sujud or prostration to mean the extra or supernumerary prayers known as nafl.
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Lit., "from a place nearby" - i.e., from within man himself: an echo of verse {15}, "We are closer to him than his neck-vein". The "call" spoken of here is evidently the call of death, for which man should always be prepared.
The Day of Resurrection, when the Call to the souls to arise and come to the Judgment-Seat will be immediately answered, and they will all arise and come forth. Cf. xxxvi. 49-53, and notes 3997 and 3999.
In the life of this world it seemed all so remote. In the new life at the Resurrection it will all be so near; for there will be neither time nor space as we know them here.
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See footnote for 50:20.
The word "saihatun" (mighty Blast) is used for the Resurrection (as here) or for the sudden punishment of the guilty on this earth, as in xi. 67, where see further references.
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Men will hurry out from all corners of the earth to answer the call, and the earth itself will be rent asunder. In xxv. 25 the imagery used was the heaven being rent asunder, and angels coming out in ranks: see n. 3082. Cf. also lxxxiv. 1-4.
It may seem to our material imaginations a difficult task to collect together the souls of all sorts of men, who died in all sorts of conditions at different times, but it will be a different kind of world and creation altogether, and to Allah all things are not only possible but easy.
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People may throw all sorts of doubts about the Judgment and the Hereafter. The Prophet's task is not to force them to accept anything. His task is to deliver the Message of the Qur-an, and admonish those who are spiritually fit and ready to receive admonition and to prepare themselves for the new and higher life destined for man.
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