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Chronologically, the above is the second occurrence (after surah {68}) of one of the disjointed letter-symbols which precede some of the Qur'anic surahs. For the theories relating to these symbols, see Appendix II. As regards my rendering of the adjurative particle wa which opens the next sentence as "Consider", see first half of note [23] on 74:32 , where this adjuration appears for the first time in the chronological order of revelation.
This is an Abbreviated Letter. For Abbreviated Letters generally, see Appendix I. This particular Abbreviated Letter Qaf occurs only here as a single letter, and in combination at the beginning of S. xlii.
Majid (translated "Glorious") is one of the beautiful appellations of the Qur-an. Its glory is that of the rising sun: the more it rises on your mental and spiritual horizon, the more you are lost in admiration of its glory. Its meanings are manifest and inexhaustible. The greater your experience, the more light is your spiritual eye able to bear. And in that glory is a beauty that none can tell who has not experienced it in his soul. It is in itself the proof of the mission of the holy Prophet.
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This is the earliest Qur'anic mention - repeated again and again in other places - of people's "deeming it strange" that a purportedly divine message should have been delivered by someone "from their own midst", i.e., a mortal like themselves. Although it is undoubtedly, in the first instance, a reference to the negative attitude of the Meccan pagans to Muhammad's call, its frequent repetition throughout the Qur'an has obviously an implication going far beyond that historical reference: it points to the tendency common to many people, at all stages of human development, to distrust any religious statement that is devoid of all exoticism inasmuch as it is enunciated by a person sharing the social and cultural background of those whom he addresses, and because the message itself relies exclusively - as the Qur'an does - on an appeal to man's reason and moral sense. Hence, the Qur'an explicitly mentions people's "objections" to a prophet "who eats food [like ordinary mortals] and goes about in the market-places" ( 25:7 , see also note [16] on 25:20 ).
In a sense their wonder is natural: do we wonder at the glorious sun? In another sense it is unnatural: what should we say of a man who fails to see in broad daylight?
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Cf. xxxvii. 16.
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Lit., "what the earth diminishes of them" - implying that God's promise of resurrection takes the fact of the dead bodies' decomposition fully into account. Consequently, resurrection will be like "a new creation" (cf. 10:4 , 21:104 , 30:11 , 85:13 , etc.), recalling the recurrent process of creation and re-creation visible in all organic nature (cf. 10:34 . 27:64 . 30:27 ).
Or a Record preserving ˹everything˺.
The earth only corrupts and takes away the body when they are dead; it has no power over the soul. The full account of the soul's doings is in Allah's Record.
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Since they reject a priori all thought of life after death, they are perplexed by the lack of any answer to the "why" and "what for" of man's life, by the evident inequality of human destinies, and by what appears to them as a senseless, blind cruelty of nature: problems which can be resolved only against the background of a belief in a continuation of life after bodily "death" and, hence, in the existence of a purpose and a plan underlying all creation.
Meaning, they are confused about the Prophet (ﷺ): some say he is a poet, some say he is a fabricator, while others say he is insane. They also rejected the Quran as poetry, magic, or ancient fables.
If they deny what has been made clear to them, their minds must necessarily get into confusion. All nature declares the glory and goodness of Allah. Revelation explains the inequalities of this life and how they will be redressed in the Hereafter. If they do not accept this, they are not in a logical position. They cannot reconcile the known with the unknown.
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Lit., "and it has no gaps [or "breaks"] whatever".
The greatest philosophers have found a difficulty in understanding the sceptical position when they contemplate the wonder and mystery of the skies with all the countless beautiful stars and planets and light in them, and laws of order, motion, and symmetry, that respond to the highest mathematical abstractions without a flaw. Can blind Chance give rise to such conditions?
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Cf. xiii. 3; and xv. 19 and n. 1955. The earth is round, and yet it appears stretched out as a vast expanse, like a carpet kept steady with the weight of the mountains.
Cf. xxii. 5, and n. 2777. Sex in plants may be hinted at: see n. 1804 to xiii. 3.
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For all these things go into his very heart and soul. He loves to contemplate them, to remember them for himself as evidence of Allah's goodness and glory, and to mention and proclaim them.
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A beautiful nature passage. How graphic and unforgettable to any one who has seen a spring and summer in an Arabian oasis!
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See note [33] on 25:38 .
Ar-Rass means “well” or “water-pit”. This refers to a pagan people, along with Midian, to whom Allah sent Prophet Shu’aib (ﷺ).
Just the names of the peoples of Arabian tradition who were punished for their sins are mentioned; their stories will be found elsewhere. For the People of Noah, see xi. 25-48 and other passages. For the Companions of the Rass, see xxv. 38 and n. 3094; for the 'Ad and the Thamud, see xxvi. 123-158, and other passages; for Pharaoh and his People, see ii. 49-50 and other passages; for the Brethren of Lut, see vii. 80-84, and other passages; for the Companions of the Wood, see xv. 78-79, and n. 2000; and for the People of Tubba', see xliv. 37 and n. 4715.
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The term "brethren" (ikhwan) is used here metonymically, denoting a group of people who share the same views or, alternatively, the same environment. Since the people referred to formed Lot's social environment (cf. 7:83 or {11:77-83}), they are described as his "brethren" although his moral concepts and inclinations were entirely different from theirs.
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Regarding "the people of Tubba'", see 44:37 and the corresponding note. The "dwellers of the wooded dales" are the people of Madyan (the Biblical Midian), as is evident from 26:176 ff. Their story is found in the Qur'an in several places; for the most detailed version, see {11:84-95}.
The people of Shu’aib (ﷺ).
Tubba’ Al-Ḥimiari was an ancient righteous Yemeni king whose people persisted in disbelief and were destroyed, although they were superior to the Meccans in strength and manpower.
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I.e., by the creation of the universe or, more specifically, of man.
Lit., "they".
Cf. xlvi. 33, and n. 4912.
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