Ayah 36:4138 "A laden vessel" : the Ark of the Prophet Noah. As to boarding of the progeny of man in it, it means that although apparently a few companions of the Prophet Noah had boarded it, in reality all human beings who are to be born till Resurrection were boarding it; all the rest of mankind had been drowned in the Flood, all later human beings arc the children of those who were rescued in the Ark.
Ayahs 36:42–4339 This indicates that the first vessel ever to be made in the world was the one made by the Prophet Noah. Before that time man did not know any method of crossing the rivers and the seas. This method was first of all taught by Allah to the Prophet Noah, and when some servants, of Allah were rescued in it from the Flood, their future generations started making boats and ships for their sea journeys.
Ayah 36:4440 The signs till now were mentioned as arguments for Tauhid. This sign has been mentioned to make man realize that whatever powers he has been given over the forces of nature, have been given him by AIlah and are not of his own acquirement. And whatever methods he has discovered of exploiting these forces; have been discovered also through the guidance of Allah and not solely by himself. Man did not havc the power and strength to have subdued these great forces by his own power, nor the capability to have discovered the secrets of nature himself and known the methods of taking service from them. Then he can use and employ the forces over which he has been given control by Allah only till the time that Allah wills them to remain subdued to him. For when Allah wills otherwise the same forces which were serving man turn against him suddenly and he finds himself utterly helpless before them. To call man's attention to this reality Allah has presented the case of the sea journey only as an example. The whole human race would havc perished in the Flood had Allah not taught the method of making the vessel to the Prophet Noah and had his followers not boarded it. Then the scattering of the human race over the whole earth became possible only because the people learnt the principles of building vessels from Allah and became able to cross the rivers and oceans. But from that humble beginning till today in spite of making great strides in the art of building huge ships and attaining every possible perfection in the science of navigation, man cannot claim that he has brought the rivers and the oceans fully under his control and power. Even today the water of God is still in God's own power alone and whenever He wills He drowns man along with his ships in it.
Ayah 36:4541 "Which you havc left behind": Which the peoples before you have seen and experienced.
Ayah 36:4642 "Revelations" : Verses of the Divine Book by which man is admonished, and the Signs which are found in the universe and in man's own self and in his history which serve as object lessons for man, provided he is inclined to learn any lesson.
Ayah 36:4743 This means to show that disbelief has not only blinded their intellect but has destroyed their moral sense, too. They neither have the right thought about Allah nor do they adopt the right attitude towards the people. They react adversely to every admonition, follow a perverse philosophy in respite of every deviation and immorality and have a ready made pretence for escape from every good.
Ayahs 36:48–4944 After Tauhid the other question about which a dispute was raging between the Holy Prophet and the disbelievers was the question of the Hereafter. Rational arguments about this have been given in the end of the discourse. Here, before giving the arguments, the Hereafter has been depicted with all its horrors so that the people should know that what they are refusing to believe in cannot be averted by their denial, but they have to meet and experience it one day inevitably.
45 The question did not mean that they wanted to know the exact date of the coming of the Hereafter, and if, for instance, they were told that it would take place on such and such a date in such and such a month and year, their doubts would have been removed and they would have believed in it. Such questions, in fact, were put as a challenge only for the sake of argument. What they meant to say was that there would be no Resurrection whatever, as if to say, "You are threatening us with Resurrection without rhyme or reason. " That is why in reply it has not been said that Resurrection will take place on such and such a day, but that it shall come and shall be accompanied by such and such honors."
Ayah 36:5046 That is, "The Resurrection will not take place piecemeal so that the people may leisurely watch its coming, but it will come all of a sudden when thepeople will be engaged in their daily business and they will have no idea whatever that the end of the world had approached. There will be a terrible blast and everyone will fall dead at the spot. " Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Amr and Hadrat Abu Hurairah have related a Hadith from the Holy Prophet saying: "The people will be walking on the roads as astral, will be buying and selling in the markets, will be disputing matters in their assemblies, when suddenly the Trumpet shall be sounded. Thereupon the one who was buying cloth would collapse and he would not have the time to put down the cloth from his hand; the one who was filling a cistern to water his animals would not have the time to water; and the one who was going to eat, would not have the time to Iift the morsel to his mouth and Resurrection will take place. "
Ayah 36:5147 For the explanation of the blowing of the "Trumpet" , see E. N . 78 of Surah Ta Ha. As for the length of the interval between the first blowing of the Trumpet and its second blowing, we have no information. The interval maybe of hundreds and thousands of years. Hadrat Abu Hurairah has related that the Holy Prophet said: "Israfil has put the Trumpet to his mouth and is looking up to the Divine Throne, awaiting orders for blowing it. The Trumpet will be blown thrice:
On the first blowing (called nafakhat al-faza) everything in the earth and heavens will be struck with terror. On the second blowing (nafakhat as-Sa'q) everyone will fall down dead. Then, when none shall remain except Allah, the One, the Everlasting, the earth will be changed altogether and will be spread flat and smooth without a crease or wrinkle in it. Then Allah will administer a rebuke to His Creation, whereupon everyone will rise at the spot where he had fallen dead, on the changed earth, and this will happen on the third blowing of the Trumpet (nafakhat al qiyam li-Rabbil- `Alamin). This is supported by several allusions in the Qur'an also. For example, see Surah Ibrahim: 48; Surah Ta Ha: 105-108, and the E.N.'s thereof.
Ayahs 36:52–5348 That is, "At that time they will not realize that they had been dead and had been raised back to life after a long period, but they will be thinking that they had fallen asleep, and had been woken up suddenly by some terrible catastrophe, and were running away from it." (For further explanation, sec Ta Ha: 103, AI-Hajj: 1-2).
49 Here, it is not clear as to who will give this answer. It may be that they themselves would realize after some time to their horror that it was the same thing of which the Messengers of God used to inform them and they used to belie them. It may also be that the believers will remove their misunderstanding and tell them that it was not waking up from sleep but the second life after death. And it may also be that they will understand this from the general conditions prevailing on the Day of Resurrection ar the angels might tell them this.
Ayah 36:5450 This is what AIlah will tell the disbelievers and the polytheists, the sinners and the culprits, when they will be presented before Him.
Ayahs 36:55–5851 To understand this one should remember that the righteous believers will not be withheld in the Plain of Resurrection, but in the very beginning they will be sent to Paradise without accountability, or after a mild reckoning, because their record will be clean. There will be no need to keep them waiting during the hearing by the Court. Therefore, Allah will tell the culprits, who will be required to render their accounts, in the Plain of Resurrection: "Look ! the righteous people whom you used to mock and regard as foolish in the world, are today enjoying the pleasures of Paradise because of their wisdom, and you, who in your own judgement were very prudent and sagacious, are being condemned to accountability for your misdeeds."
Ayahs 36:59–6052 This can have two meanings:(1) "Get you apart from the righteous believer:, for in the world even if you belonged to the same community and the same clan and the same brotherhood, here you have no connection and relationship left with them;" and (2) "get you apart from one another: now you can no longer remain a group: all your parties have been disbanded: all your relations and connections have been severed. Now each of you will be held answerable in your personal capacity for your actions and deeds."
Ayah 36:6153 Here again Allah has used `ibadat in the sense of ita at (obedience). This subject has already been explained above in Al-Baqarah: 172, An-Nisa': 117, AI-An'am: 121, 137, At-Taubah; 31, Ibrahim: 22, Al-Kahf: 52, Maryam: 42, AlQasas: 63 and E.N. 63 of Saba. In this connection, the fine explanation given of it by Imam Razi in his Tafsir Kabir is also noteworthy. He writes: "Do not worship Satan means: Do not obey him, the reason being that only falling prostrate before him is not forbidden, but following him and obeying his commands also is forbidden; therefore, ita et (obedience) is ibadat (worship). " After this, the Imam raises the question: If `ibadat means ita'at, then have the Muslims been commanded to worship the Prophet and the rulers in the verse: Ati `ullaha wa ati '-ur-rasula wa ulil--amr-i min-kum? He himself answers it thus: "If obedience to theta is in accordance with the Commands of Allah, it will be Allah's worship ('ibadat) and His obedience (ita`at. Did not the angels fall prostrate before Adam i» obedience to Allah's Command ? This was nothing but worship of Allah. Obedience of the rulers will be their worship only in cases where they are obeyed in matters in which Allah has not given leave to obey them." Then he writes: "If a person comes to you and commands you to do something, you should see whether his command is in accordance with the Command of Allah or not. If it is not, Satan is with him; and if you obeyed him in this, you worshipped him and his Satan. Likewise, if your self urges you to do something, you should see whether it is permissible to do it according to the Sahari'ah or not. If it is not permissible, your self is Satan itself, or Satan is with it. If you obeyed him, you in fact became guilty of worshipping him." Further on, he writes: "But there are different degrees of the worship of Satan. Sometimes it so happens that a man dces a work and his limbs and his tongue also join him in this, and his heart also cooperates. At another time it so happens that a man uses his limbs to do a work but his heart and tongue do trot cooperate in this. Some people commit a sin while their heart is disagreeable and their tongue is invoking Allah for forgiveness, and they confess that they are committing an evil. This is Satan's worship with external limbs. There are other people who commit a crime with a cool mind and express pleasure and satisfaction with the tongue also. ..........Such people are the worshippers of Satan from outside as well as from inside. (Tafsir Kabir, vol. VII, pp. 103-104).
Ayahs 36:62–6454 That is, "If you had been deprived of reason and you had served your enemy instead of your Lord, you could have the reason to offer an excuse. But you, in fact, had been blessed with reason by Allah and you were using it to advantage in all the affairs of the world, and you had been warned by Allah through the Prophets as well, yet, when you were deceived by your enemy and he succeeded in leading you astray, you could not be excused from the responsibility of your folly."
Ayahs 36:65–6655 This command will be given in respect of the stubborn culprits, who will refuse to confess their crimes, will belie the witnesses, and will also not acknowledge the genuineness of their conduct-book. Then will Allah Almighty conunand: "Well, stop your babbling. Just see what your own limbs say about your misdeeds. " In this connection, here only the evidence to be given by the hands and the feet has been mentioned. But at other places it has been said that their eyes and their ears and their tongues, and the very skins of their body, will tell how they had been employed in the world. "They should not forget the Day when their own tongues and their own hands and feet will bear testimony to their misdeeds.' (An-Nur: 24) "Then, when all will have reached there, their ears and their eyes and their very skins will bear witness against them concerning what they had been doing in the world." (Ha Mim Sajdah: 20). The question arises: On the one hand, Allah says: "We shall seal their mouths," and on the other, in the verse of Surah An-Nur, He says: "Their tongues will bear testimony against them." How can these two things be reconciled ? The answer is: "To seal the mouths means to deprive them of their power of speech. That is, after this they will not be able to say whatever they like with their tongue. The testimony of their tongues mans that their tongues themselves will tell how the wicked people had used them, what blasphemies and lies they had been made to utter, what mischiefs they had invented and what falsehoods they had been made to say on different occasions. "
Ayah 36:6756 After depicting the scene of Resurrection, the people are being warned to this effect: "The Resurrection may seem yet far off to you, but even if you consider seriously your life in this world of which you are so proud, you will see how helpless you are in the powerful grip of Allah. Your eyes by virtue of whose sight you are carrying out all your obligations in the world can be blinded at one conunand of Allah. Your legs on whose strength you are showing All this activity can become paralyzed as and when Allah wills. As long as the powers and capabilities granted by AIlah continue to function, you remain lost in the arrogance of your self, but as soon as one of them fails to function, you come to understand how helpless you are!"
Ayah 36:6857 "Reverse him in nature," means that in old age Allah turns him back to the state of childhood. He becomes unable to stand and walk without the help and support of others; he is fed by others; he urinates and defecates in bed; talks childishly and is laughed at by others. In short, towards the end of life he returns to the same state of weakness with which he had started lift in this world."
Ayah 36:6958 This is a rejoinder to the disbelievers, who slighted the Holy Prophet and his message by branding him a poet when he preached Tauhid and talked of the Hereafter, life-after-death, and Hell and Heaven. (For further explanation, see Ash-Shu'ara: 224-227 and the E.N.'s thereof).
Ayah 36:7059 "Every living person" : Every person who is capable of thinking and understanding, who is not like a stone, which neither hears nor understands nor moves from its place however rationally and sympathetically one may explain the distinction between the truth and falsehood and give admonition before him.
Ayahs 36:71–7260 The word "hands" has been used metaphorically for Allah. This dces not mean that, God forbid, Allah has a body and He works with the hands like human beings, but it means to impress that Allah has made these things Himself, and none else has any share in the matter of their creation.
Ayahs 36:73–7461 It is ingratitude to regard a blessing as a gift of someone outer than the donor, to be grateful to another for it, and to cherish the hope of receiving it or to seek it from another than the donor. Likewise, it is also ingratitude that one should use a blessing against the will of the donor. Therefore, a mushrik or a disbeliever or a hypocrite or a sinful person cannot be regarded as a grateful servant of God when he utters words of thankfulness only with the tongue. The disbelievers of Makkah did not deny that the cattle had been created by Allah; none of them said that the other deities had any hand in their creation. Hut despite knowing All this when they paid homage to their deities for the blessings granted by Allah, presented offerings before them and prayed to them for more blessings and offered sacrifices for their sake, their verbal gratitude became meaningless. That is why Allah has regarded them as guilty of ingratitude and thanklessness.
Ayah 36:7562 That is, the poor false gods themselves are dependent upon their worshippers for their survival and their safety and their needs. But for their multitudes they could not survive as gods even for a day. These people are behaving as their humble servants. They are setting up and decorating their shrines; they carry out propaganda for them; they fight and quarrel with others for their sake. Then only arc thay recognized as gods. They are not the teal God, Who, whether someone recognizes Him or not, is ruling over the whole universe by His own might and authority.
Ayah 36:7663 The address is to the Holy Prophet. Here the allusion is to the campaign of vilification which the chiefs of the disbelievers of Makkah were carrying on against him. They knew in their hearts and acknowledged in their private assemblies that the charges they brought against him were absolutely baseless. In order to create suspicions against him in the minds of the people, they branded him a poet, sorcerer, magician, madman, etc. But their consciences recognized, and they also acknowledged before one another, that whatever they were uttering Was false, which they were forging only to frustrate his mission. That is why Allah says to His Prophet: "Do not grieve at their absurd and meaningless talk. Those who are opposing and resisting the Truth with falsehood shall ultimately meet with failure in this world and see their evil end in the Hereafter, too. "
Ayah 36:7764 Here the disbelievers' question cited in verse 48 above, is being answered by reason and argument. The question, "When will the threat of Resurrection be carried out?" had not been asked with a view to find out the exact date of the coming of the Hereafter. But they asked it because they thought it was impossible, rather irrational, that human beings would be raised back to life after death. That is why, in reply to their question, arguments are being given for the possibility of the Hereafter.
According to the traditions related by Ibn 'Abbas, Qatadah and Said bin Jubair, one of the chiefs of Makkah, on this occasion, came up with a rotten bone of a dead person, from the graveyard. He broke and crushed it into pieces before the Holy Prophet and acattering its particles in the air, said.-"O Muhammad, you say that the dead will be raised back to life. Tell us who will give life to these decayed and rotten bones?" The answer was given immediately in the form of these verses.
65 That is, "We caused the sperm-drop which contained nothing but the basic germ of life to develop to an extent that it started moving and eating like the animals. Furthermore, it has developed such powers of intellect and reasoning and disputation and speech, which arc not possessed by any animal; so mu ch so that now he dares stand up as an adversary before his Creator !"
Ayahs 36:78–7966 That is, "He regards Us powerless and weak like the creation, and flunks that just as man cannot raise the dead back to life, so also can't We."
67 "Forgets his own creation": "Forgets that We created the basic germ of life from dead matter, which became the means of his creation; then We caused the germ to develop to such an extent that now he stands before Us as a disputant."