RENAISSANCE NOVEMBER 2020

Qur’ ā nic Exegesis 9 Monthly Renaissance November 2020 ﴿ ۡ نۡ ﻛﻨۡﺘﻢۡ ﻣﻮۡﻗﻨ R رب ﻟﺴﻤٰﻮٰتو ﻵۡﻹرۡضو ﻣﺎ ﺑﻴۡﻨﻬﻤﺎ ٧﴾ ﻵ D ﻹۤ ﻟٰﻪ ﻵﻹ ﻫﻮ ﻳ\ۡ[ٖ و ﻳﻤﻴۡﺖ ﴿ ۡ رﺑﻜﻢۡ ورب ٰﺑﺂ]ﻜﻢ ﻵۡﻹوﻟ ٨﴾ ۡ 45 ۡ ﺑﻞۡ ﻫﻢ ﺷﻚٍ ﻳﻠۡﻌﺒﻮۡن﴿ ٩﴾ ۙ ﴿ ٍۡ ﻟﺴﻤﺂءﺑﺪﺧﺎنٍ ﻣﺒ 4dۡ ﻘﺐۡ ﻳﻮۡمﺗﺎ hۡ ﻓﺎر ١٠ D ﻟﻨﺎس klۡ ﴾;ﻐ With the mercy of the Lord who is the Lord of the heavens and the earth and all that lies between them, if you have conviction. There is no deity except Him. He alone gives life and He alone gives death; your Lord and the Lord of your forefathers before you. (1-8) No, [they are not ones who will believe;] in fact, inflicted with doubt they are frolicking about. 8 So, wait for the Day [O Prophet!] when the sky will appear with manifest smoke 9 and will overspread explained at several instances in this exegesis that they come to set up God’s court of justice on earth and after deciding the fate of their respective nations depart from this world. A little deliberation shows that found in this is a reference to the prophecies that have been handed down from Abraham (sws), Moses (sws) and Jesus (sws) regarding the arrival of the last messenger. It is thus said that for them this great favour and blessing of God manifested itself in a night which is fixed for such important matters. The words رﺣۡﻤﺔً ﻣﻦۡ رﺑﻚ occur as a warning that if they do not attest to the messengerhood of Mu ḥ ammad (sws), they will not harm him in any way; they will only deprive their own selves of the greatest blessing of God. 8. Ie., in such a serious matter, they are adopting an attitude which only a megalomaniac or a careless person can adopt. 9. This signifies a tempestuous storm through which nations of messengers were generally destroyed. It is called ٍۡ دﺧﺎنٍ ﻣﺒ (manifest smoke) because in the initial stages such a storm appears like a cloud or smoke. Im ā m Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī writes: In this punishment, a tall column of smoke is seen rising towards the sky. In this smoke, until the sun is fully hidden in it, the rays of the sun mingle with its particles as a result of which to onlookers it seems as if in some jungle a fire has erupted and its smoke is rising to the sky. Then when the wind picks up and the storm heads in some direction, it seems as if black clouds are enveloping the place and are about to burst with rain. The storm then takes on a very horrid shape and engulfs whole cities with sand and stones. (Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī , Tadabbur-i Qur’ ā n , vol. 7, 275)