26. Surah Ash-Shu'araa

Commentary لَعَلَّكَ بَاخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ Seemingly you are going to let yourself collapse in grief - 26:3). The word بَاخِعٌ (bakhi" )is derived from بَخعٌ (bakh' ) which means to reach up to Bikha`, an artery of the neck, while slaughtering. In this verse baki` is used in the sense of putting oneself into trouble and toil. "Allamah ` Askari has said, ` Although at such places the sentence appears to be informative but in fact it means to prohibit or prevent'. What it conveys is that, ` O Messenger, do not be so despondent because of your people's disbelief and rejection of Islam that you cause yourself to collapse'. One learns from this verse that even if it is apparent that a disbeliever would not convert to Islam, still it is not right to stop preaching to him. The second thing one learns is that the efforts one makes for a certain objective must be balanced and moderate, and if someone is adamant not to be guided to the right path, one should not be over-grieved.

إِن نَّشَأْ نُنَزِّلْ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ آيَةً فَظَلَّتْ أَعْنَاقُهُمْ لَهَا خَاضِعِينَ If We so will, We can send down to them a sign from the sky before which their necks will stay bent in submission. - 26:4 Allamah Zamakhshari has explained that the real intent of the text is to say that the disbelievers themselves will stay in submission, but the act of submission is attributed in the verse to their "necks", so that the initial object of submission is pinpointed, because yielding or bowing in humility initially appears on the neck. The substance of the message of this verse is that Allah Ta’ ala also has full authority and control to evince any sign of His Oneness and Omnipotence which brings forth the religious injunctions and the Divine Truth in such a self-evident manner that no one would have the ability to reject it. But the wisdom demands that these injunctions and the understanding of God are not made self-evident but remain visionary, so that they are dependent on deliberations and pondering. This pondering and deliberation is actually the test of man on which the reward and punishment is adjudged. Acceptance of self-evident things is a natural and involuntary phenomenon which lacks the quality of deliberate obedience. (Qurtubi)

زَوْجٍ كَرِ‌يمٍ (noble pair - 26:7). The word زَوْجٍ (zawj) literally means a pair. That is why man and woman, and male and female are called Zawj. Many species of trees have male and female among them. On this basis they can also be called Zawj (زَوْجٍ ). Sometimes the word Zawj is also used for a special kind. On the basis of this meaning all species of trees can be called Zawj. The meaning of Karim is a nice and favourite thing.

Commentary Request for favourable conditions for obedience is not tantamount to making excuses قَالَ رَ‌بِّ إِنِّي أَخَافُ أَن يُكَذِّبُونِ ﴿12﴾ وَيَضِيقُ صَدْرِ‌ي وَلَا يَنطَلِقُ لِسَانِي فَأَرْ‌سِلْ إِلَىٰ هَارُ‌ونَ ﴿13﴾ وَلَهُمْ عَلَيَّ ذَنبٌ فَأَخَافُ أَن يَقْتُلُونِ ﴿14﴾ He (Musa) said, "My Lord, I fear they will belie me. [ 12] And my heart gets straitened and my tongue is not fluent; so send for Harun. [ 13] And they have a charge of offence against me and I fear they will kill me;" [ 14] This verse indicates that Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) requested Allah to provide him with some resources to help them in carrying out his mission. It leads to the principle that so far as the objective is to obey Allah's command, praying for some helping resources cannot be regarded as seeking ruses and excuses to escape from the required act. The request of Sayyidna Musa علیہ السلام was only to facilitate the implementation of Allah's command which is quite lawful. The meaning of the word dalal used for Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) قَالَ فَعَلْتُهَا إِذًا وَأَنَا مِنَ الضَّالِّينَ He said, "I did that at that time when I was one of the unaware people. (26:20) This was the answer of Musa (علیہ السلام) to the objection of the Pharaoh that Musa (علیہ السلام) had killed an Egyptian. The gist of the answer is that it was not a deliberate murder; in fact the Egyptian was killed by mistake, because Musa (علیہ السلام) had only struck him with a blow which, by accident, caused his death. The word used, by the present verse, for this mistake is derived from ضَلَال (dalal) which is commonly used for intentional error. But the word is also used for 'unawareness' (which includes unintentional mistakes) It is this meaning that is intended here. This interpretation is supported by Qatdah and Ibn Zaid رحمۃ اللہ علیہم . It is impossible for man to comprehend fully the entity and reality of the magnificence of Allah Ta’ ala قَالَ فِرْ‌عَوْنُ وَمَا رَ‌بُّ الْعَالَمِينَ Pharaoh said, "And what is the Lord of the worlds?" (26:23) This verse proves that it is not possible to know the exact reality of Allah's Being. Since the Pharaoh had asked a question regarding Allah Ta’ ala's intrinsic-self and reality, Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) instead of giving a direct answer to his query, described the attributes of Allah Ta’ ala in reply. He hinted in his reply that it is not possible for a man to perceive the essence and reality of Allah Ta’ ala. Hence, it was a futile question. (Ruh)