28. The deniers of prophethood, instead of trying to understand the divine wisdom under which messengers have been sent for the guidance of mankind, have been raising absurd objection; they maintained that if angels came down to the Prophet, then why could they not come to them. They had gone to the extent of saying why were not the veils of the unseen lifted for them so that they could see their Lord with their own physical eyes! That is: they wanted to see the reality, not with the heart’s eye (insight) but with physical eye, although the whole test of man depends on the fact whether he is able to see the reality with his insight and intelligence or not. But those who are conceited enough to think that their place is not to be a slave of the Almighty but to be free and independent men, such people speak about God and His messenger. They go on adding to their transgression.

29. Today they are demanding to see the angels, but that day is not far off when the angels will appear before them, and when they will see them they will realise that their doom has arrived and then they will cry for refuge which will be beyond their reach.

30. That is: When they are deniers of the Hereafter, then all their acts of religiosity or of worldly adventure will be of no avail in the Hereafter, All their acts will be like a pile of dust or ashes, and Allah will blow it away like scattered dust. Today the deniers of the Hereafter take pride in their worldly and national deeds and on account of them they become the heroes of their nation, but on the Day of Judgment they will realise all these deeds of theirs were as weightless and trash as a pile of dust. For further explanation, please see Surah Ibrahim. Note No.26, and Surah Kahf, Note No.130.

31. The word ‘Ghamam’ used here means grey or white cloud. On the Doomsday the sky will be rent asunder and from therein the cloud will appear. It is possible that this cloud may be the same, which is mentioned in the Surah Baqarah thus: “Are they waiting for Allah to come to them in the canopies of clouds, with angels and the matter is decided.” -(Ayah No.210).

32. On the Day of Resurrection all unreal or worldly kingdoms will come to an end, and people will see that all power and all sovereignty is for Allah, who is the true Ruler.

33. Biting of hands is used idiomatically to express a sense of remorse and self-reproach, and on the Day of Judgment it will not be unlikely if the disbelievers will bite their hands in their remorseful and frustrated mood

34. This is one more pointer which teaches that man should select his friends and companions after careful thinking, for a person generally accepts his friend’s advice easily and follows his path. Generally if the friend is astray, his companion will also go astray. In the world what a large number of people are there who are wrong-doers because they are under the influence of their evil friends. They will realise their mistake on the Day of Judgment. On that day they will feel sorry for their deprivation. As against this if a person selects a sincere and faithful slave of Allah for a friend, who is leading his life in constant fear of Allah, then the good qualities of his companion cannot fail to infuse good qualities in that person. A person keeping company of a dealer of scents cannot avoid enjoyments of good fragrance.

35. That is : That Reminder and guidance which Allah has sent down and revealed for the guidance of mankind.

36. That is: Satan used to show golden dreams to people and lead them up the garden path, but when the time of reckoning and results came, he ditched his followers and ran away. Satan’s being disloyal to every one will be clearly manifested on the Only of Judgment.

37. This will be the messenger’s appeal in the court of Allah, that he had tried to guide his nation to the right path, but the people forsook Qur’an and persisted in acting according to their sweet will.

The Arabs were the first addressees of the Prophet to whom Allah’s message was convincingly conveyed, Therefore, in the court of Allah they will be the first to account for their acts. As for the other nations to whom Allah’s (i.e. Quran’s) message reached through the Prophet or his followers, and they did not accept it, they will also have to face the consequences, for as is mentioned in the Ayah No.1, the messenger is sent to warn all the nations of the world, and the revelation of Qur’an was made with this end in view.

Today the condition of a large number of Muslims is that they claim to believe in the Qur’an but only as a formality; they neither try to understand it nor do they make it a guide in their beliefs and actions. They have forsaken Qur’an from every aspect, and they are under this wrong impression that in the Hereafter they will not have to answer in the court of Allah.

38. This points at those leaders who rise from among the guilty and oppose the Prophet and his teachings. All this happens according to Allah’s law of straying, therefore, it has been stated as We have appointed an opponent from among the guilty.

For further explanation, please see Surah An’am, Note No.210.

39. That is: Inspite of all the activities of the opponents the path of guidance will be opened up for you, and while treading this path at every turn guidance will be provided for you, and at every difficult stage Allah will help you.

40. The big objection of the deniers was that if Qur’an is Allah’s Book, then why Was it not revealed or sent down in its entirety at one time. Why was it sent down in bits and parts, gradually?

41. That is: The great benefit of revealing the Qur’an in parts gradually was that on every occasion timely guidance could be provided, which strengthened the heart and mind. For further explanation, please see Surah Bani Israil. Note No.140.

42. In the text the word ‘Tarteel’ is used which means beauty of order, beauty of compilation, beauty of composition, (See Al-Qamoos. Vol. III, page 292,). It means that although We have revealed Qur’an in bits and parts, it did not make it non- coordinated, nay, but in its arrangement beauty of order has been employed. Accordingly those people who ponder over the words of Qur’an, appreciate the beauty of its well-arranged composition and believe in its being a divine composition.

43. That is : Whenever any objection is raised by the opponents, its right answer is presented in the Qur’an in a very lucid manner, This is one more advantage of revealing the Qur’an in parts, which Allah has mentioned in the ayah.