Al Islam

3223. The addition of the qualifying word, Al-‘Azim (mighty) to An-Naba’ which itself means a great news or event, suggests the tremendous import of the event referred to here. (close)

b. 38:68. (close)

4525. Important Words:

النبأ (the great Event) among other things means, an announcement of great utility which results either in great knowledge or predominance of opinion and which inspires awe and makes the heart tremble with fear (Lane, Kulliyyat & Raghib).

Commentary:

The addition of the qualifying word العظیم (great) to النبأ which itself means, a great news or event, bespeaks of the tremendous import of the event referred to here. The words النبأ العظیم are taken to signify either the Day of Reckoning or the predominance of the Quran over all revealed Scriptures and that of Islam over other Faiths and religious systems. The disbelievers (the verse purports to say) persuade themselves to believe that the predicted event will never take place. So they ask half-mockingly and half in doubt, when that event, so loudly proclaimed, will happen. (close)

3224. The disbelievers do not believe that there will ever be a Day of Reckoning. (close)

c. 38:69-70. (close)

4526. Commentary:

The disbelievers do not believe that there will ever be a Day of Reckoning, or that Islam will ever predominate over other religions. Or the verse may mean that they hold divergent views about these things. Some of them call the Quran a jumble of ancient stories, others dub it as magic, yet others say that it is a forgery or at best the creation of the Holy Prophet’s own heated imagination. About the Holy Prophet also their views differ. Some call him a mad man, others a magician, and yet others a poet. (close)

b. 102:4, 5. (close)

d. 102:4-5. (close)

4527. Commentary:

The verse means that disbelievers are indulging in wild conjectures about the Resurrection, the Quran, and about the Holy Prophet’s future. But time will show that they suffered from illusions, and that the Holy Prophet was bound to succeed in his mission and, as a corollary, that what the Quran has said about the Day of Reckoning is also sure to happen. (close)

c. 2:23; 20:54; 51:49. (close)

a. 2:23; 20:54; 27:62; 51:49. (close)

d. 36:37; 51:50; 75:40; 92:4 (close)

b. 36:37; 51:50; 75:40; 92:4. (close)

4528. Commentary:

In these verses (vv. 7-9) we are told that God has created the earth and in it all physical needs of man have been provided, and that He has created the mountains which constitute a storehouse of mineral wealth and serve as great reservoirs of water, and that God has created for man his mate in order that his progeny may continue. This shows that man’s life for whose sake all this machinery has been made is not without a definite purpose and that death is not the end of man; it is followed by a better and fuller life where human soul will make everlasting progress. (close)

4529. Important Words:

سبات (rest) is derived from سبت which means, he rested; he abstained from work. سبات signifies rest and hence sleep, or light or heavy sleep. It also means, a period; a long period, being syn. with دھر (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Nations and communities, after undergoing heavy sacrifices are disposed to take rest. Consequently there comes upon them a period of forgetfulness. This period is sometimes very long. Then a Divine Reformer appears and they are required again to make sacrifices for the cause of truth. Thus the circle continues. In fact, سبات (rest) is a great Divine gift. After a day’s hard work, sleep gives rest to man’s jaded nerves and tired limbs, and thus he is refreshed and replenished for the next day’s work. (close)

e. 6:97; 25:48; 28:74. (close)

c. 6:97; 25:48; 28:74. (close)

4529A. Commentary:

As it is difficult to distinguish between different things in the darkness of night, similarly, in the period of spiritual darkness, before the advent of a Divine Reformer, good and bad people remain mixed up, and it is after a Reformer’s appearance that the good people are separated from the bad people. (close)