Verse:10 Commentary In verse 10, it was said: وَأَرْ‌ضُ اللَّـهِ وَاسِعَةٌ (and the earth of Allah is wide).In the sentence previous to this, Good deeds had been enjoined. This might prompt someone to come up with the excuse, 'The city or country in which I live, or the social milieu I am stuck with around me stops me from doing good deeds.' This sentence carries an answer to this excuse - 'if you find adherence to Islamic legal injunctions difficult while living in some particular country, city or social setup, then, leave it. The earth of Allah is wide enough. Go and live at a place and in a surrounding that is conducive to remaining obedient to Divine commandments.' This persuades one to migrate from a place living in which one cannot dutifully follow and observe what has been enjoined by his religion. Some rules relating to hijrah (emigration) have already appeared in the commentary on Surah An-Nisa' (Ma' ariful-Qur' an, Volume II, Index p. 659, see under Hijrah).

In the last sentence of verse 10, it was said: إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُ‌ونَ أَجْرَ‌هُم بِغَيْرِ‌ حِسَابٍ (Certainly those who observe patience will be given their reward in full without measure.) The expression: بِغَيْرِ‌ حِسَابٍ (bighayri-hisab: without measure) means that the reward of those who endure ordeals will not be given to them under some pre-determined calculations or measures, instead, it will be sans-calculation, sans-reckoning, in a spirit of generosity at its most sublime as mentioned in a Hadith narration that follows. Some others have interpreted this expression in the sense of request, or claim, that is, in this worldly life, should someone have some right due on someone, he has to initiate the claim for it. But, with Allah, those who observe patience will be given their reward without any request or claim.

Qatadah reports from Sayyidna Anas ؓ that the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم said, 'On the Day of Judgment, a Scale of Justice will be set in place. When people who had given Sadaqah (charity) come forward, whatever they had given will be weighed, and they will be given their full reward against it. Similarly, the acts of worship such as Salah and Hajj will be weighed, and its reward would be duly given to those who had performed these. And when come those who had stood patient against trials and tribulations, for them, there will be no measure and weight, instead, their return and reward will be rolled down towards them without calculation, measure or reckoning - because, Allah Ta ala has said: إِنَّمَا يُوَفَّى الصَّابِرُ‌ونَ أَجْرَ‌هُم بِغَيْرِ‌ حِسَابٍ (Certainly those who observe patience will be given their reward in full without measure. - 39:10). So much so that people who had lived their life of the mortal world in perfect peace and comfort would wish, 'alas! Had our bodies been shredded with scissors during our life in the mortal world, we too would have earned a similar return for our endurance and patience against trials.'

Imam Malik (رح) has taken: صَابرین (as-sabirun) in this verse to mean people who endure hardships and remain patient over sorrows of the mortal life. Some elders have said that it means people who hold their self in check against acts of disobedience and sin. Qurtubi says, 'when the word: صَابِر (sabir: patient) is uttered unaccompanied by some other word, it invariably means a person who observes patience against hardships caused during the process of making one's desiring self abstain from sins. And when the word: صَبر (sabir) is used for a person who remains patient against distress, it is coupled with some other words: صَابِرت علی کَذَا (one who is patient against such and such distress). وَاللہ سبحانہ و تعالیٰ اَعلَم Allah knows best. Verse:11 Commentary - - - Verse:12 Commentary - - - Verse:13 Commentary - - - Verse:14 Commentary - - - Verse:15 Commentary - - - Verse:16 Commentary - - - Verse:17 Commentary - - - Verse:18 Commentary Commentary

In the Tafsir of verses 17 and 18: فَبَشِّرْ‌ عِبَادِ ﴿17﴾ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ أَحْسَنَهُ ۚ أُولَـٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ هَدَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ ۖ وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمْ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (So, give the good news to My servants who listen to what is said, then, follow the best of it. Those are the ones whom Allah has guided, and those are the ones who possess understanding), there are several views expressed by learned commentators. One of these is what Ibn Kathir has opted for. Maulana Ashraf ` Ali Thanavi has also gone by it. According to this view, the word: القول (al-qawl:what is said) used here means Qur'an, the Word of Allah, or it means the Qur'an inclusive of the teachings of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم - and all of it is but the best. Therefore, the obvious dictate of the occasion was to say: يَسْتَمِعُونَ الْقَوْلَ فَيَتَّبِعُونَ (who listen to what is said, then, follow it). But, that is not how it was said, instead, the word: أَحْسَنَ (ahsan) was added which indicates that these people did not follow the Qur'an and the teachings of the Holy Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم with any lack of discernment as is the way of some common people who hear something from someone and start following it without any inquiry, deliberation or insight. In fact, these are believers who have followed the Word of Allah and the teachings of His Rasul after having found it true and best. As a result, towards the end of the verse, they have been praised as being: أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (ulu-l-al-bab) that is, the people of understanding, (the wise, the farsighted, and the discerning ones). Another example of this appears in the Qur'an itself when Sayyidna Musa (علیہ السلام) is being addressed about the Torah in the following words: فَخُذْهَا بِقُوَّةٍ وَأْمُرْ‌ قَوْمَكَ يَأْخُذُوا بِأَحْسَنِهَا (So hold it firm, and ask your people to hold on to the best things in it - Al-A` raf, 7:145). Here too, the word: اَحسَن (ahsan) means the entire Torah and its injunctions. Similarly, in the verses cited above, 'listening to the word' means 'listening to the Qur'an' and 'following the best' means 'following the entire Qur'an' which has been referred to as: أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ (ahsan al-Hadith: the best thing said). In connection with this very Tafsir - that 'al-qawl' should be taken to mean the Qur'an particularly - some elders have also said that in the Qur'an as well there are many injunctions that have degrees of (hasan: good) and حَسَن (ahsan: better, best). For example, retaliation and pardon are both permissible, but pardon is better and more graceful: وَأَن تَصْبِرُ‌وا خَيْرٌ‌ لَّكُمْ (and that you be patient is better for you - An-Nis' - 4:25). There are many things in which the Qur'an gives one the choice to take to what one likes without any apprehension of sin, but, on occasions, it has also pinpointed one of these as being the best and most graceful thing to do, for example: وَأَن تَعْفُوا أَقْرَ‌بُ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ (And it is closer to taqwa that you forgive - Al-Baqarah, 2:237). There are many things in which concession has been granted, but opting for the way of courage and determination has still been called better and more graceful. Thus, the verse comes to mean that these people listen to the injunctions of the Qur'an - those relating to concession (rukhsah) as well as those relating to the courageous determination (` azimah) - but elect to follow the course of determination instead of concession. And in everything where they have a choice between two things, one being good and the other, better, then, invariably they elect to do what is better.

Then, there are many commentators who take 'al-qawl' at this place to mean what is said by common people that includes things about tauhid, shirk, kufr, Islam, haqq and batil, even about the refinements of truth as good, better, weightier and outweighed. If we were to follow this Tafsir, the verse would mean that, as far as listening is concerned, these people do listen to what everyone has to say - be they disbelievers or believer, be it truth or falsehood, good or bad, everything - but, when it comes to following, they follow only that which is the best. Thus, they follow tauhid, not shirk; haqq (truth), not batil (falsehood), and if they have to choose between the degrees of haqq, they follow that which is better and weightier. Therefore, these people were credited with two attributes: (1) Firstly, by virtue of: ھَدٰبھُمُ اللہُ (Allah has guided them - 39:18), therefore, they do not go astray after having listened to so many different things. (2) Secondly, by the compliment of: وَأُولَـٰئِكَ هُمْ أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ (and they are the ones who possess understanding - 39:18), that is, they are sensible people, and their good sense, insight and discernment helps them draw the line between good and bad, true and false. Thus, when such people have the ability to distinguish between good and better and when it comes to opting for one of the two, they would opt for the better.

Therefore, it has been said that this verse was revealed about Sayyidna Zayd Ibn ` Amr Ibn Nufayl, Sayyidna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and Sayyidna Salman al-Farisi ؓ . Sayyidna Zayd Ibn ` Amru Ibn Nufayl ؓ used to hate shirk and idol worship even during the days of Jahiliyyah. The other two Sahabah, Sayyidna Abu Dharr al-Ghifari and Sayyidna Salman al-Farisi ؓ listened to people of different religions, to the mushriks, the Jews and the Christians, and saw their ways of life, and it was only then that they embraced Islam and, finding the teachings of the Qur'an as the best, they preferred them. (Qurtubi) Verse:19 Commentary - - - Verse:20 Commentary - - - Verse:21 Commentary Commentary

The word: يَنَابِيعَ (yanabi in verse 21: فَسَلَكَهُ يَنَابِيعَ فِي الْأَرْ‌ضِ (made it penetrate into the earth [ and gush forth ] in the form of springs) is the plural form of: یَنبُوع (yanbu) which means springs that gush out from the soil. The sense is that the act of sending down water from the sky is by itself a great blessing, but also crucial was the arrangement to conserve it underground. But for this arrangement to save this blessing of water, its users would have derived benefit from it only at the time of rains, or for a few days following it. Although, on water depends their life, and it is the kind of need one cannot stay free from, even for a day. Therefore, Allah Ta' ala did not consider it sufficient to just send down this blessing, instead, made elaborate and very unique arrangements for its conservation. Some of it gets deposited in ditches, ponds, tanks and reservoirs. Then a huge supply is turned into ice and made to sit on mountain peaks and its ridges, an arrangement that takes care of the danger of water going bad. Then ice melts and water travels through veins in the mountains until it reaches the land and gushes out in the form of streams, all over, on its own, without any human input, and finally finds its way through the land in the form of rivulets and rivers. Rest of the water keeps flowing underground which can be retrieved by digging a well almost anywhere.

Details of this water supply system as they appear in the noble Qur'an have been given in the commentary of Surah Al-Mu'minan under the verse: (then We lodged it in the earth, and of course, We are able to take it away - Al-Mu'minun, 23:18). (Please see Ma ariful-Qur' an, Volume VI, under 23:18, pages 311 to 313).

Later in verse 21, it was said: مُّخْتَلِفًا أَلْوَانُهُ (the crops of different colours). At the time the crops grow and ripen, colors keep changing from one to the other. Since these colors change, therefore, the word: مُّخْتَلِفًا (mukhtalifan), in terms of its grammatical analysis, has been used in the form of: حَال (ha state, circumstantial condition) which denotes change.

In the last sentence of verse 21, it was said: إِنَّ فِي ذَٰلِكَ لَذِكْرَ‌ىٰ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ (Surely, in that, there is a lesson for the people of understanding), that is, in this process - when water is sent down, is conserved, is made available to human beings to grow all sorts of crops and trees the colors of which change following which they turn yellow and dry making grains separate from chaff - there is a great lesson for people of understanding, because they provide the proof of the infinite power and wisdom of Allah Ta' ala. These are visible signs that could lead human beings to discover the reality behind their own creation, and that in turn, could become the means through which one succeeds in recognizing his or her own creator and master.