Surah Al-'Ankabut 29:31-44 - Quran Translation Commentary

31. And when Our messengers brought Ibrahim the good news, they said: “Verily we are about to destroy the people of that township, for its people are wrong-doers.”⁶⁰

32. He said: “Verily, Loot is also there.” They said: “We very well know who is there. We will deliver him and his kinsfolk except his wife, who is of those who will stay behind.”⁶¹

33. And when Our messengers came to Loot, he was grieved on their account and felt himself powerless ⁶² (to protect them,) They said “Have no fear, nor grieve. Verily, we will deliver you and your kinsfolk except your wife, who is of those who will stay behind.

34. ”Surely we will bring down on the people of this township a scourge from heaven for they are disobeying people.”⁶³

35. And verily We have left a clear sign⁶⁴ of that for people who have sense.

36. And to Madyan (we sent) their brother, Shuaib.⁶⁵ He said: “O my people! worship Allah,⁶⁶ and look forward to the Last Day,⁶⁷ and do not corrupt on the earth with wickedness.”⁶⁸

37. But they denied him, so the dreadful earthquake took them, and they lay prostrate in their dwelling places.⁶⁹

38. And A’ad⁷⁰ and Thamud⁷¹ (We also destroyed),and it is manifest to you from (the ruins of) their dwellings.⁷² Satan made their foul deeds look beautiful to them, and debarred them from the right path, though they were observers.⁷³

39. And Qaroon,⁷⁴ and Firaun and Haman ⁷⁵ (also We destroyed). Moosa came to them with clear signs, but they were boastful in the land, though they were powerless to escape Us.

40. So each of them We seized for his sin; of them was he on whom We sent a hurricane, and of them was he who was overtaken by the dreadful Cry, and of them was he whom We caused the earth to swallow and of them was he whom We drowned.⁷⁶ It was not for Allah to wrong them, but they wronged themselves.⁷⁷

41. The likeness of those who choose other guardians than Allah is as the likeness of the spider that has made its house, and verily the frailest of all houses is the house of the spider, if they but knew it.⁷⁸

42. Verily, Allah knows what thing they invoke instead of Him. He is the Mighty, the Wise.⁷⁹

43. And these example We relate for ( the understanding of ) the people, but none understand it except the men of knowledge.⁸⁰

44. Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth.⁸¹ Surely there is a great sign⁸² in this for the believers.

Commentary

60. At that time Prophet Ibrahim was in Hibrun (Palestine) and at a distance of a few miles from it was Siddom, where the community of Prophet Loot was living. The angels had gone to Prophet Ibrahim with the glad tidings of the birth of Prophet Ishaq and Yaqub. On this occasion they also informed Prophet Ibrahim that they would be destroying the community of Loot, i.e. on one hand they gave him the good news of Allah’s mercy for him, and on the other hand they informed him of the destruction of a wicked community.

61. for explanation, please see Surah A’raf Note No.132

62. This has been explained in Surah Hood. Note No.108.

63. Accordingly a rain of stones fell on the community of Loot, and Allah had appointed these angels for effecting this punishment. For further explanation, see Surah Hood, Note No.119.

64. That is: Some signs of this township have been left, which provide a lesson for others. These signs existed for a long time and afterwards this portion drowned in the sea, which is called the Dead Sea, and its other name is Sea of Loot, which reminds us how wrong-doers are wiped out from the page of existence. The water of the Dead Sea is so much saline that no fish, etc., can survive in this water. (See Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. V, P.525).

65. For explanation, please see Surah A’raf, Note No.134.

66. That is: Worship and serve only Allah and none else.

67. Worshipping Allah, look forward to and hope that a Day of Recompense will surely come when you will be meeting Allah, and He, for the reason that you had been worshipping Him and had lived as His faithful slave, will reward you fully for that.

68. In human society corruption and mischief are caused only by those who have no interest in worshipping Allah nor have they any hope of getting rewards from Him in the Hereafter; they are desirous of only worldly benefits, in whatever manner and by whatever methods they may be got.

69. For explanation please see Surah A’raf Note No.147.

70. For explanation please see Surah Fajr Note No.8

71. For explanation please see Surah Fajr Note No.13

72. The ruins of the dwelling places of the tribe of A’ad existed till the time of the revelation of Qur’an, but they have now perished. But the ruins of the dwelling places of the tribe of Thamud still exist in the north of Madina at a place known as Al-’Ula.

73. In their worldly matter they were very keen observers and clever, but wherever there arose the question of religion and God their keenness of observation and cleverness failed them. Same is the case of the present day people. They have used their intellectual capabilities to achieve great material progress, but in the matter of their achievements for the Hereafter they have remained blank.

74. For explanation please see Surah Qasas Note No.143.

75. For explanation please see Surah Qasas Note No.11

76. Different nations were given different kinds of punishment. The events of the destructions of these transgressing nations have been narrated in the Qur’an at various places.

77. Whoever will place himself in fire will get ,burnt, because that is the natural outcome of going against the laws of nature, therefore, he himself is responsible for his own destruction and not God. Similarly those nations who rebel against Allah, they challenge the law of justice of Allah. If, therefore, the whip of Allah’s punishment cracks down on them, then for that they themselves are responsible for they had offered themselves for destruction. No responsibility for that devolves on Allah. In fact Allah is ruling over this world with perfect justice.

78. This is the example of the worshippers of the beings other than Allah, that the deities on whom they keep their reliance have no power of their own. They can neither fulfill their needs nor can they relieve them of distress, nor can they intercede on their behalf with Allah and get them any relief. Therefore, these supports have no better position than the cobwebs of a spider. The spider’s web is so frail and weak that the slightest breeze is enough to blow it away. Similarly those who put their faith in others for fulfilling their needs of relieving them in distress, instead of on Allah, they build their house of hopes and expectations on mere superstition, but when the time for declaration of results will come, they will find that their house does not exist at all. How many hopes have thus been dashed! The example of the spider also occurs in the Bible:

“the hope of the atheist shall perish, His confidence breaks in sunder, and his trust is ‘a spider’s web. He leans against his house, but it does not stand; he lays hold of it, but it does not endure. (job 8 : 13-15) -

79. Whomsoever they invoke besides Allah for fulfilling their needs what is their reality is very well known by Allah. It means that the polytheists may claim all kinds of divine powers or their ability to intercede before Allah on their behalf in respect of these deities or saints, Allah knows well that all these claims are false and none deserves to be invoked for redressing their distress.

It may be noted that a group of Muslims which indulges in polytheism and innovations (bid’at) considers the applicability of these ayat in which the invocation of others besides Allah is limited to gods and goddesses only. As for invoking the saints, etc., they do not consider it as polytheism. They say to invoke saints, etc., is like calling police or other government officers for help, but this argument is irrelevant and untenable. If in reply to this point that we should not bow before anybody besides Allah, some one says that we have to bow before the barber, then it is merely an irrelevant and foolish answer. Every statement and point has a place and an occasion, and if it is removed from that place and the occasion it would lose its original sense. Every one knows that to call the police or any government official and to invoke a saint who is buried miles away is a lot of difference. The first thing belongs to the material and existing world, and the second thing pertains to the world of Unseen. For the first thing there is no concept of there being any divine power, while for the second thing this concept is always there. For this very reason they are supposed to posses the divine attributes which are exclusively meant for Allah, e.g. ‘Ghauth’ (answering the appeals for help), ‘Mushkilkusha’ (reliever of suffering), etc. In fact to deal with anybody as one deals with Allah is to consider that being equal to Allah. To consider saints everpresent and ever-seeing like Allah is nothing else but polytheism.

80. That is: Those who do not live in the darkness of ignorance but live in the light of knowledge, for such people the teachings of Qur’an are understandable.

Allah created the heavens and the earth with truth.Surely there is a great sign in this for the believers. Recite from the Book that has been revealed to you, and establish salat. Verily salat prevents from lewdness and evil. And Allah’s remembrance is great.And Allah knows what you do.(Al-Quran)

81. For explanation please see Surah An’am Note No.124.

82. That is: The sign to show that monotheism is true which negates polytheism.