124. After death, man’s soul remains in the world of Barzakh, till the Day of Resurrection. It is a world between this world and the world of Hereafter. A man might have spent a very very long period in this world, but on the Day of Resurrection he will feel that he has spent only a few days there, and among the deniers the person, who would be the best judge of the time spent will say that their stay was that of only one day. The experience of being unconscious of the passage of time is felt by us in the life of this world also. After sleeping for hours when we get up we feel that we had gone to sleep only a little while ago. When this is the condition of our sensitivities about the passage of time, then to consider Doomsday to be far away and to indulge in pleasure seeking and luxuries is folly and self-deception and nothing else.

125. For explanation see Surah Kahf, Note No. 66 and Surah Qari’a Note No.5.

126. That is: The shape of the earth will be completely changed. There will be no curves or juttings, nor will there be high and low spots. Manmade buildings would have been destroyed earlier, and the mountains would have been crushed to dust and scattered in the air. Trees and all vegetations and jungles would have disappeared. There will be such a geographical change, that there will be no trace of any country on the earth. Thus the earth will be turned into a plain and even maidan that innumerable people may gather before their Lord.

127. By summoner is meant the angel. Every person will stand at the place fixed for him, he/she will follow the angel obediently, having no power to resist, and will go to the place fixed.

128. This gathering of the people will be an endless ocean of the people, but there will be no disturbances and no noises. Nobody dare raise his voice. Voices of all would have been lowered before the Gracious Lord. At that time only the noises of steps will be heard.

129. For explanation, see Surah Baqarah Note No.412, and Surah Maryam Note No.111.

130. It means that who deserves for being spared the punishment of the Hereafter and who does not deserve it is known only to Allah, for He knows the past, the present and the future, of the seen and unseen, and He is aware of the intention and condition of each and every person. Therefore, general permission for intercession will not be given to anyone that he may intercede on behalf of anybody he may like, but this permission will be conditional with this condition that intercession should be on behalf of those about whom Allah will like intercession to be made.

131. By ‘zulm’ (wrong-doing or sin) is meant, as is clear from the following ayah, that attitude which is against faith and good conduct. Polytheism, denial and sinning are included in this.

132. This has been explained in Note No.3, Surah Yusuf.

133. Warnings by various means: by mentioning Allah’s penalizing attributes, by reminding about the chronicles of the past nations, warning by pointing to the whip of His punishment which cracks down over the transgressing individuals and nations in this world, by relating the hardships accompanying the dying moments of men and by announcing the threat of the Hell in the Hereafter.

134. That is: The purpose of the revelation of the Qur’an is that people should lead a life of piety and God-fearing. But if the people have forgotten it, then Qur’an should remind them of their forgotten lesson so that Allah’s argument be carried home to them.

135. The meaning of Allah’s being the True King is that the real ruler of the universe is Allah and only Allah. As for the worldly kings their authority is granted to them by Allah, therefore, they are kings only as a working measure, in name and they are not Dejure Kings to have their decrees being enforced in place of those of Allah.

136. These are the directions to the Prophet (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) that when the Qur’an be in the process of being revealed, he should not make haste to recite the verses, he should wait till the revelation is completed, that is, first he should carefully listen to the revealed words and when the revelation is complete, then only he should recite it. It gives an idea how enthusiastic he was about getting the revelation from God. It also shows that Qur’an is totally the pure revealed word of God and in its authorship there is absolutely no contribution by the Prophet.

137. By knowledge is meant the knowledge that is gained from the Divine revelation.

This knowledge is the right means of knowing the secrets of the universe and the realities of the Unseen as well as the likes and dislikes of God. Therefore, its superiority over the other sciences and knowledge of the world is obvious. The seeking of this knowledge is the right seeking, and the prayer for increase in this knowledge is the sign of appreciating its value. This knowledge is available to us in the form of Qur’an, and by reflecting on this, avenues of sciences and knowledge of various kinds open up for man. But from this solid knowledge only a few are deriving benefit. The world as a whole is unaware of it.138. Now some aspects of Prophet Adam are being presented. The purpose is to explain what is the real weakness of man, and how he is being deceived by Satan.

139. Emphatic command for not going near a particular tree. -(Surah Baqarah, ayah - 35).

140. That is: Adam had no strong determination or will power, and for this reason he committed this fault and was deceived by Satan, and since he forgot the command of God he ate the fruit of the tree which was forbidden.

It is, therefore, learnt that man’s basic weakness is forgetfulness and weakness of the will power or determination.