Surah Ar-Rum 30:1-10 - Quran Translation Commentary

8. Have they not pondered¹² upon themselves? Allah did not create the heavens and the earth, and that which is between them, except with (the purpose of) truth¹³ and for an appointed term¹⁴. Yet truly many people are disbelievers in the meeting with their Lord.

9. Have they not travelled in the land and seen what was the fate of those who were before them ¹⁵? They were stronger than them; they tilled the land and built upon it more than these have built.¹⁶ And their messengers had come to them with clear signs (of Allah’s greatness). Then Allah was not to wrong them, but they did wrong themselves.

10. Then evil was the consequence of the evil-doers, because they had denied the revelations of Allah and scoffed at them.

Commentary

1. For separate letters or abbreviations, please see Surah Baqarah Note No.1. Surah Yunus Note No.1 and Surah Ankaboot Note No.1.

In this Surah “Alif” hints at Ayat (signs) towards which attention is repeatedly drawn, e.g. ayat Nos. 10, 20, 21, 22, 24, 35, 46, etc.

“Lam” hints at (meeting with their Lord) (Ayah No.8) and also (meeting with the Hereafter-ayah No.16).

And Meem points to Mumineen (believers), a promise for whose help is given in ayat Nos. 4,5 and 35, as if this Surah contains three important subjects: arguments in favour of monotheism, belief in the Hereafter and the promise of help to the believers.

2. At the time of Prophet Muhammad (Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam) there were two great kingdoms, one was the Persian Empire, comprising of Iran and Iraq, and the other was the Roman Empire, comprising of Palestine, Syria, Turkey, etc., and whose capital was Constantinople. The Romans were people of the Book and were the followers of Prophet Jesus. Because of their internal dissents their kingdom had become very weak. The people of Iran were fire-worshippers. They got the opportunity of taking advantage of the weakness of the Romans and after carrying on repeated attacks on their territories they annexed Syria and Palestine, so much so that in the seventh year of the Prophet’s declaration of his prophethood, i.e. in 616 Christian era the Persians reached up to the northern border of Arabia, which part of the territory was under the Roman Empire. The defeat of the Romans gladdened the hearts of the people of Makkah and they got the opportunity of taunting the Muslims that the believers in the divine scriptures have been disgraced, if they were followers of the truth, they would not have faced defeat. Their sympathy was with the Persians as the religion of both was polytheistic.

3. Nearby territory means border between Syria and Arabia, which was called ‘Azra’at’. This territory is above Tabuk. It was under Roman rule, and fighting in this region means that the war was knocking at the Arabian door. This was a very disturbing situation. And when the Romans were defeated by the Persians the Makkans were overjoyed, and in the defeat of the Romans they saw the defeat of the Muslims and in the victory of the Persians they saw their own victory. But these ayat gave a jolt to the people by prophesying the events that were to take place in future. In this ayah a prophecy has been made that although the Romans have now been defeated but in the near future they would be victorious.

4. In the text the word ‘biza’ is used which is used to indicate a period of three to nine years. In other words with this statement the time for the victory has been fixed that the Romans would be victorious within nine years.

It may be noted that till then the message of the Prophet had not reached the Romans, and they claimed to be believing in the Torah and Injeel, and therefore, their position was that of a Muslim group only. And for this reason the Quran made a prophecy about them and for this reason too the people of faith of Makkah supported them. It gives us a guiding principle that if the Non-Muslims of a country attack the Muslims of that country then the Muslims of the world should help the Muslims of that country, against whom the Non-Muslim unbelievers or idolaters have committed the aggression, because Muslims, however corrupt they may be, their being defeated by the Non-Muslims is not a desirable thing. Moreover it also puts the religion of Islam in a bad light. Another guidance we get from this is that the occupation of any Muslim country by the Non-Muslim and infidel people is against truth and justice, for it gives polytheism and non- belief a chance to spread its bad influence and the society is likely to suffer corruption. Therefore, such an arrangement cannot be tolerated.

5. That is: In the beginning the Romans who were defeated by the command of Allah and that afterwards they will be victorious, with His command only. It means that victory and superiority is within Allah’s power only. He gives it to whomever He will and deprives whomsoever He will. The decisions of victory and defeat that come from Him are based on justice and wisdom. Romans had introduced new things in their religion (Islam) and were involved in in-fighting, Because of this their enemies were made to defeat them so that they might come to their senses and reform themselves. Similarly later on when the people of Iran were defeated, it was for weakening the tyrants.

6.This is the glad tidings for the people of faith that very soon they will be rejoicing the victory of the Romans. But in this there was a hint of a still greater cause for celebration, and that was the prophecy of the people of faith overcoming the people of Makkah. Accordingly in the year 02 H.(624 Christian Era) the battle of Badr took place and the people of faith defeated the people of Makkah. The Romans also defeated Persia that same year. The Roman emperor, Hercules, who was confined to Constantinople, re-formed his army and in 623 (Chr.Era) attacked Iran through Azerbaijan, and entering that country destroyed their biggest fire-temple. At that time Khusrow II was the King of Persia. He could not convert his defeat into victory. This victory was achieved by the Romans in the year 623 or 624 Christian Era, and thereafter within a few years they took back Palestine and their other territories from the Persians, (For historical details, please see Encyclopedia Brittanica Vol.8, page 781, and Vol. 10, p. 454).

Briefly the year 02H. (623 Ch. E.) is that year in which on the one hand the Romans defeated the Persians and on the other hand the companions of the Arabian Prophet, Sallal Lahu Alaihi Wa Sallam, made the disbelievers of Makkah bite the dust.

In this way the prophecy of Quran proved to be true, word by word, and the Muslims had two causes to rejoice.

The coming true of this Quranic prophecy within nine years is the greatest proof of its and the Prophet’s truthfulness. It is stated in a hadith on the fulfillment of this prophecy that many persons embraced Islam.

7. That is: the rejoicing of the people of faith will be on account of the help from Allah, Not on account of the fighting quality or acumen of the Romans, for the people of faith believe in Allah’s power, and are hopeful of His help. The victory that the Romans achived over the Persians and the observation of the Divine assistance which they experienced in the Battle of Badr was the cause of great pleasure and rejoicing.

8. Allah is Supreme and Mighty, therefore, whomsoever He wills to help, none can stop Him. He is Merciful, therefore, He will show mercy to the people of faith definitely and will bless them with His help.

9.The promise which Allah made of the victory of Romans and of rejoicing by the people of faith over the Divine help will essentially be fulfilled. And history is a witness that this promise was fulfilled, and the Quran’s being the word of God and His revelation proved to be an irrefutable fact.

10. The prophecy of the victory of Romans in the Quran is an example of Allah’s promise being fulfilled, so that the people may understand it clearly that all His promises made in the Quran will definitely be fulfilled, but most people are so careless that they do not heed it.

11. In this ayah a very deep thing has been stated. The knowledge of the people about the life of this world is very superficial, because their sight has been limited to its external aspect only, but its internal aspect is hidden from their eyes. If their sight had been far-seeing they would have seen the truth about the Hereafter. But they are happy with the outer cover of the world and are regardless of the kernel or inner truth. Therefore, their share is only the outer skin. They are unable to see the realities that are behind the rise and fall of the nations of the world and their victories and defeats, they form only a superficial opinion about them.

Modern Science has shown that a minute particle is not merely a particle, but it is a complete system of electron, proton and neutron, and great energy is hidden in it. The atomic energy is the result of this discovery only. It is amazing that even after these experiments and observations, their eyes do not open, and they are allured so much by the external glitter and glamour that they are not prepared to look beyond it into the innards. Had man tried to search for the realities of the inside of the life of the world, the reality about the Hereafter would have become manifest to him, and in the light of the Divine Revelation he would have seen the realities of the inner life in such a way as if he is seeing the inside of the human body through the X- Rays, nay, but he would have seen it even in a better way.

12. That is: Why do the deniers of the Hereafter not peep into their inner selves and find out what their own inner feelings tell them: Whether there is no purpose of their creation, or is there a purpose of the creation of the universe, or may man do good work or bad, the result is zero, or that by nature man is a responsible creature, therefore, there is a purpose behind his creation; and since this universe is being run on wise lines, there is, therefore, a purpose and objective behind his creation, and that the result of man’s good work should be good, and of his bad and evil work should be bad and evil. If man ponders upon his own inner feeling, then he will find it in favour of the second thing, and this is the witness of man’s own inner feeling in support of the divine system of reward and punishment.

13. For explanation, please see Surah An’am Note No.24 and Surah Yunus Note No.15.

14. That is: As this universe does not exist from the very beginning, so also it will not be eternal. It has a beginning, and it also has an end. This factory will run for an appointed period only. Its period of running has been fixed by Allah only, and He alone knows how long it will run.

Looking to its exterior people thought that the universe will run forever in the same way. Accordingly they based their religious concepts on this idea, but modern science has proved these concepts to be wrong, for if it is possible by bursting of an atom great energy can be released, then why it is not possible for this universe to experience such a big explosion, and after this explosion a new world may come into existence?

So recite glory of Allah when you enter the evening and rise in the morning. (Al-Quran)

15. For explanation, please see Surah An’am Note No.20, and Surah Hajj, Note No.82.

16. Nations in the past had shown more progress than the Arabs but as a result of denying the messengers of Allah, they were seized by great punishment and all their progress and civilization turned to dust.