The Poets — Verse 2

Which was revealed in Makkah بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. The Qur'an and the Disbelievers turning away; They could be compelled to believe if Allah so willed At the beginning of the explanation of Surat Al-Baqarah we discussed the letters which appear at the beginning of some Surahs. Allah's saying: تِلْكَ ءايَاتُ الْكِتَـبِ الْمُبِينِ (These are the Ayat of the Book Mubin.) means, these are the verses of the Clear Qur'an, i.e. the clear and unambiguous Book which distinguishes between truth and falsehood, misguidance and guidance. لَعَلَّكَ بَـخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ (It may be that you are going Bakhi` yourself,) means, destroy yourself -- because of your keenness that they should be guided and your grief for them. أَلاَّ يَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (that they do not become believers.) Here Allah is consoling His Messenger for the lack of faith of those among the disbelievers who do not believe in him. This is like the Ayat: فَلاَ تَذْهَبْ نَفْسُكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَسَرَتٍ (So destroy not yourself in sorrow for them) (35:8). فَلَعَلَّكَ بَـخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ عَلَى ءَاثَـرِهِمْ إِن لَّمْ يُؤْمِنُواْ بِهَـذَا الْحَدِيثِ أَسَفاً (Perhaps, you would Bakhi` yourself, over their footsteps, because they believe not in this narration) (18:6). Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Qatadah, `Atiyyah, Ad-Dahhak, Al-Hasan and others said that: لَعَلَّكَ بَـخِعٌ نَّفْسَكَ (It may be that you are going Bakhi` yourself,) means, `kill yourself.' Then Allah says: إِن نَّشَأْ نُنَزِّلْ عَلَيْهِمْ مِّنَ السَّمَآءِ ءَايَةً فَظَلَّتْ أَعْنَـقُهُمْ لَهَا خَـضِعِينَ (If We will, We could send down to them from the heaven a sign, to which they would bend their necks in humility.) meaning, `if We so willed, We could send down a sign that would force them to believe, but We will not do that because We do not want anyone to believe except by choice.' Allah says: وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا أَفَأَنتَ تُكْرِهُ النَّاسَ حَتَّى يَكُونُواْ مُؤْمِنِينَ (And had your Lord willed, those on earth would have believed, all of them together. So, will you then compel mankind, until they become believers.) (10:99) وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً (And if your Lord had so willed, He could surely, have made mankind one Ummah...) (11:118) But Allah's will has acted, His decree has come to pass, and His proof has been conveyed to mankind by mission of Messengers and the revelation of Books to them. Then Allah says: وَمَا يَأْتِيهِم مِّن ذِكْرٍ مِّنَ الرَّحْمَـنِ مُحْدَثٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ عَنْهُ مُعْرِضِينَ (And never comes there unto them a Reminder as a recent revelation from the Most Gracious, but they turn away therefrom.) meaning, every time a Scripture comes from heaven to them, most of the people turn away from it. As Allah says: وَمَآ أَكْثَرُ النَّاسِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتَ بِمُؤْمِنِينَ (And most of mankind will not believe even if you desire it eagerly.) (12:103) يحَسْرَةً عَلَى الْعِبَادِ مَا يَأْتِيهِمْ مِّن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ (Alas for mankind! There never came a Messenger to them but they used to mock at him.) (36:30) ثُمَّ أَرْسَلْنَا رُسُلَنَا تَتْرَى كُلَّ مَا جَآءَ أُمَّةً رَّسُولُهَا كَذَّبُوهُ (Then We sent Our Messengers in succession. Every time there came to a nation their Messenger, they denied him...) (23:44). Allah says here: فَقَدْ كَذَّبُواْ فَسَيَأْتِيهِمْ أَنبَـؤُا مَا كَانُواْ بِهِ يَسْتَهْزِءُونَ (So, they have indeed denied, then the news of what they mocked at will come to them.) meaning, they denied the truth that came to them, so they will come to know the news of the consequences of this denial after a while. وَسَيَعْلَمْ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ أَىَّ مُنقَلَبٍ يَنقَلِبُونَ (And those who do wrong will come to know by what overturning they will be overturned) (26:227). Then Allah tells those who dared to oppose His Messenger and disbelieve in His Book, that He is the Subduer, the Almighty, the All-Powerful, Who created the earth and caused every good kind of crop, fruit and animal to grow therein. Sufyan Ath-Thawri narrated from a man from Ash-Sha`bi that people are a product of the earth. So whoever enters Paradise is good and noble, and whoever enters Hell is base and vile. إِنَّ فِى ذَلِكَ لآيَةً (Verily, in this is an Ayah,) meaning an evidence of the power of the Creator of all things. He spread out the earth and raised the canopy of the heavens, yet despite that the majority of people do not believe, rather they deny Him, His Messengers, and His Books, and they go against His commands doing the things He had prohibited. His saying: وَإِنَّ رَبَّكَ لَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ (And verily your Lord, He is truly the All-Mighty,) means, the One Who has power over all things, to subdue and control them, الرَّحِيمِ (the Most Merciful. ) means, towards His creation, for He does not hasten to punish the one who sins, but He gives him time to repent, and if he does not, then He seizes him with a mighty punishment. Abu Al-`Aliyah, Qatadah, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Ibn Ishaq said: "He is Almighty in His punishment of those who went against His commands and worshipped others besides Him." Sa`id bin Jubayr said: "He is Most Merciful towards those who repent to Him and turn to Him."

Those namely these signs are the signs of the Manifest Book the Qur’ān the genitive annexation āyātu’l-kitābi conveys the partitive meaning of min the Manifest meaning the one that manifests what is truth from what is falsehood.

هذه آيات القرآن الموضِّح لكل شيء الفاصل بين الهدى والضلال.

وقوله تعالى "تلك آيات الكتاب المبين" أي هذه آيات القرآن المبين أي البين الواضح الجلي الذي يفصل بين الحق والباطل والغي والرشاد.

واسم الإشارة ( تِلْكَ ) يعود إلى الآيات القرآنية التى تضمنتها هذه السورة الكريمة أو إلى جميع آيات القرآن التى نزلت قبل ذلك .والمراد بالكتاب القرآن الكريم الذى تكفل - سبحانه - بإنزاله على نبيه صلى الله عليه وسلم .والمبين : اسم فاعل من أبان الذى هو بمعنى بان ، مبالغة فى الوضوح والظهور .قال صاحب الصحاح : " يقال : بأن الشىء يبين بيانا ، أى : اتضح ، فهو بين ، وكذا أبان الشىء فهو مبين " .أى : تلك الآيات القرآنية التى أنزلناها عليك - أيها الرسول الكريم - والتى سننزلها عليك تباعا حسب حكمتنا وإرادتنا ، هى آيات الكتاب الواضح إعجازه ، والظاهرة هداياته ودلالاته على أنه من عند الله - تعالى - ، ولو كان من عند غيره - سبحانه - لوجدوا فيه اخلافا كثيرا .

تأويل الكلام على قول ابن عباس والجميع: إن هذه الآيات التي أنـزلتها على محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم في هذه السورة لآيات الكتاب الذي أنـزلته إليه من قبلها الذي بين لمن تدبره بفهم, وفكر فيه بعقل, أنه من عند الله جلّ جلاله, لم يتخرّصه محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم, ولم يتقوّله من عنده, بل أوحاه إليه ربه.

( تلك ) أي : هذه الآيات ، ( آيات الكتاب المبين )

تِلْكَ آَيَاتُ الْكِتَابِ الْمُبِينِ (2)الإشارة إلى الحاضر في الأذهان من آيات القرآن المنزّل من قبلُ ، وبيَّنه الإخبارُ عن اسم الإشارة بأنها آيات الكتاب .ومعنى الإشارة إلى آيات القرآن قصد التحدّي بأجزائه تفصيلاً كما قُصد التحدي بجميعه إجمالاً . والمعنى : هذه آيات القرآن تقرأ عليكم وهي بلغتكم وحروف هجائها فأتوا بسورة من مثلها ودونكموها . والكاف المتصلة باسم الإشارة للخطاب وهو خطاب لغير معيّن من كل متأهل لهذا التحدي من بلغائهم .و { المبين } الظاهر ، وهو من أبان مرادف بَان ، أي تلك آيات الكتاب الواضح كونه من عند الله لما فيه من المعاني العظيمة والنظْم المعجز ، وإذا كان الكتاب مبيناً كانت آياته المشتمل عليها آيات مُبينة على صدق الرسل بها .ويجوز أن يكون { المبين } من أبان المتعدي ، أي الذي يُبيّن ما فيه من معاني الهدى والحق وهذا من استعمال اللفظ في معنييه كالمشترك .والمعنى : أن ما بلغكم وتلي عليكم هو آيات القرآن المبين ، أي البيّن صدقه ودلالته على صدق ما جاء به ما لا يجحده إلا مكابر .

يشير الباري تعالى إشارة, تدل على التعظيم لآيات الكتاب المبين البين الواضح, الدال على جميع المطالب الإلهية, والمقاصد الشرعية, بحيث لا يبقى عند الناظر فيه, شك ولا شبهة فيما أخبر به, أو حكم به, لوضوحه, ودلالته على أشرف المعاني, وارتباط الأحكام بحكمها, وتعليقها بمناسبها، فكان رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم ينذر به الناس, ويهدي به الصراط المستقيم، فيهتدي بذلك عباد الله المتقون, ويعرض عنه من كتب عليه الشقاء، فكان يحزن حزنا شديدا, على عدم إيمانهم, حرصا منه على الخير, ونصحا لهم.

قوله تعالى : تلك آيات الكتاب المبين رفع على إضمار مبتدأ أي هذه تلك آيات الكتاب المبين التي كنتم وعدتم بها ; لأنهم قد وعدوا في التوراة والإنجيل بإنزال القرآن . وقيل : تلك بمعنى هذه .

The call for Truth reveals itself with total clarity. The sign of a call being Divine is that everything is clear and based on clear arguments. One may deny it, but nobody would be in a position to say that he has not grasped its message. ‘It may be that you will destroy yourself.’ These words show the very strong feelings of well-wishing that a preacher has towards his addressees. The desire to spread the word of God gushes forth from such pure feelings. So, when God’s envoy observes that an addressee does not accept his message, he worries about him as a mother would worry about the welfare of her child. This sentence of the Quran is the confirmation of the benevalent feelings of the preacher and does not indicate criticism of his addressee. The call for Truth is the call of God. God is that Being who is all-powerful but who nevertheless may be denied or rebelled against. But, this present position is in accordance with God’s own plan. God wants such human beings to settle in paradise as are able to recognise the Truth in this world full of deception, and who bow down before Him without any compulsion. The selection of such individuals may be made only under conditions where everyone enjoys complete freedom of thought and action.

قُلْ مَا يَعْبَأُ بِكُمْ رَ‌بِّي لَوْلَا دُعَاؤُكُمْ (Say (0 Prophet) My Lord will never care about you, if you will not invoke Him - 25:77). Different versions are given in the interpretation of this verse, but the one given in the text above is the simplest and straight forward; that is you would have no value or importance before God if you do not call Him and pray to Him. It is because the very purpose of man's creation is that he should worship Allah as mentioned in the verse وَمَا خَلَقْتُ الْجِنَّ وَالْإِنسَ إِلَّا لِيَعْبُدُونِ (I have not created Jinn and mankind except to worship Me - 51:56). After declaring the principle that man has no value and importance without worship, the infidels and disbelievers are addressed: فَقَدْ كَذَّبْتُمْ that is "since you have belied (the truth) " you are of no consequence before Him." فَسَوْفَ يَكُونُ لِزَامًا (the punishment will be inseparable from you - 77). That is now this rejection and disbelief have become an integral part of your being and will keep clinging to you until you are thrown in the Fire of Hell forever. Al-hamdulillah The Commentary on Surah AI-Furqan Ends here.

(These are revelations of the Scripture that maketh plain) He says: I swear by this surah, the verses of the Qur'an, which make plain the lawful and the unlawful, the commands and prohibitions.