58. The word dalil has been used in the sense of the pilot, who is a person trained to take ships safely in or out of a harbor, or along a waterway. The sun has been made the pilot of the shadow because the lengthening out of the shadow and its being rolled up depends on the rising, declining and setting of the sun.
59. We annihilate it or cause it to disappear, for everything which is annihilated returns to Allah, because everything comes from Him and returns to Him.
The Quran has used the phenomenon of the shadow caused by the sun for two purposes. (if it is taken literally, it is meant to warn the disbelievers that they should learn a lesson from this and should not behave like cattle, as if to say: If you had considered the benefits of the shadow in regard to your everyday experience, you would have accepted without any hesitation the doctrine of Tauhid. Had the shadow been constant, there would have been no life on earth, for life depends on the light and heat of the sun. On the other hand, if there had been no shadow at all, the constant heat and light of the sun would have made life impossible. Besides this, if there had been sudden changes in the sun and the shadow, they would not have been able to endure it for long; therefore you should reflect on this phenomenon and understand it well that it has been so ordained by the All-Wise and the All-Powerful Creator so that it always increases or decreases gradually in accordance with fixed natural laws. Thus it is obvious that it could not have come into existence by itself nor produced by blind mechanisms nor functioned so regularly and continuously under many independent gods.
But if it is taken in the metaphorical sense, there is between the lines a subtle suggestion, and it is this: Just as the shadow does not remain in one and the same state, likewise the shadow of disbelief and shirk, which appears to have spread far and wide, will begin to shorten as the sun of guidance gradually rises; but it requires patience, for Allah never brings about sudden changes.
60. The night is a garment in the sense that it covers and hides things.
61. This verse has three objects:
(1) It provides a proof of Tauhid.
(2) It furnishes a proof of the possibility of life-after-death from everyday human experience.
(3) It bears the good news that the night of ignorance has come to an end and now the bright day of knowledge and guidance has dawned. It is therefore inevitable that those who were sleeping in ignorance, will sooner or later wake up, but those who have slept the sleep of death, will not wake up and will themselves be deprived of life, while the business of the day will go on thriving even without them.
62. That is, such water as is pure and free from all sorts of impurities, germs and poison, which cleanses and washes away filth and becomes a source of life for men, beasts as well as all kinds of plant life.
63. This verse also gives proofs of the doctrine of Tauhid and the Hereafter. Besides, it contains a subtle suggestion that the period of the drought of ignorance has been replaced through Allah’s mercy by the blessed rain of Prophethood, which is showering the life giving knowledge of revelation from which many servants of Allah will certainly benefit, if not all.
64. “We have repeated it among them” may have three meanings:
(1) We have cited the phenomenon of rainfall over and over again in the Quran in order to make plain to them the reality.
(2) We are time and again showing them the wonderful phenomenon of the heat and drought, seasonal winds and clouds, rainfall and its life producing effects.
(3) We go on changing the system of the distribution of rainfall throughout the world year after year, so that the same place does not receive the same amount of rainfall every time. Sometimes a place is left completely dry, another has more or less of rainfall than usual, while some other is flooded with rain water. They see all these different phenomena with their countless different results in their daily life.
65. The verse means to impress that the wonderful system of rainfall is by itself a proof of the existence of Allah, of One Lord of the universe, and of His attributes. Its wonderful distribution during the year and over different parts of the earth is a clear proof that there is an All-Wise Designer. But the obdurate disbelievers do not learn any lesson from it, and persist in their ingratitude, though this has been cited in the Quran repeatedly for this purpose.
It is also a proof of the life-after-death, for the disbelievers themselves see that rainfall brings to life dead land year after year. This clearly shows that Allah has the power to bring the dead back to life, but the disbelievers do not learn any lesson from it and persist in their irresponsible ways.
If verse 48 is taken in the metaphorical sense, the pure water of rain will mean the blessings of Prophethood. Human history shows that whenever this blessing has been sent down, ignorance has been replaced by knowledge, injustice by justice and wickedness by righteousness. The coming of Prophets has always proved to be the harbinger of a moral revolution. But only those who accepted their guidance benefited from it. This is the lesson of history, yet the disbelievers reject it because of their ingratitude.
66. That is, if We had willed, We could have sent a separate Prophet to every habitation but We did not do so, because like the sun, Our Last Prophet suffices to enlighten the entire world.
67. The Arabic words jihad-i-kabir imply three meanings:
(1) To exert utmost for the cause of Islam.
(2) To dedicate all the resources to this cause.
(3) To fight against the enemies of Islam on all possible fronts with all the resources in order to raise high the “Word of Allah”. This will include jihad with the tongue, the pen, wealth, life and every other available weapon.
68. This phenomenon has been perceived in many places in the sea and on the land that sweet water and bitter water has existed side by side. Turkish Admiral Syedi Ali Rais, in his book Mirat-al-Mamalik, written in the 16th century, has mentioned a place in the Persian Gulf, where springs of sweet waver exist under the bitter waters of the sea, where he could get drinking water for his fleet. The American Oil company at first obtained water from the same springs in the Persian Gulf, before they dug up wells near Dhahran for the supply of the drinking water. Near Bahrain also there exist springs of sweet water at the sea bed from which people have been taking water until quite recently. Besides this apparent meaning which gives a rational proof of Allah’s being the One and the only Lord of the universe, the verse contains a subtle suggestion as well: When Allah wills, He can raise up a righteous community from among a large wicked society just as He can cause springs of palatable and sweet water to gush out from under the salty waters of the sea.
69. Here the miracle of the birth of man from a mere sperm drop and the procreation of his offspring from man and woman have been cited as a proof of Tauhid. Though both man and woman belong to the same genus, they are two species, having important common human characteristics but different physical structures and psychological traits. It is a proof of Tauhid that the All- Powerful Allah has used this difference for making the two as complements and not antagonists. It is also the design of the All-Powerful Creator that He is creating sons and daughters in the world in due proportion Then the sons marry and create blood relationships, and the daughters are married and become means of forming new relationships. This process goes on widening to produce families, tribes and nations belonging to the same race and bound by the same civilization.
The verse has also a subtle suggestion: The entire life is being run on the principle of difference. For example, the difference between the night and the day, the summer and the winter, etc. Therefore, O Muslims, you should patiently endure the differences you are having with your opponents for these are certain to produce good results.
70. This is a characteristic of the typical disbeliever. He is a helper and defender of all those who are rebels against Allah and an enemy of all those who may he striving to raise Allah’s Word and enforce His Law in the world. He is associated directly or indirectly with all the works of Allah’s disobedience and opposes and resists in one way or the other every effort that is made to bring people to the path of Allah’s obedience and service.
71. This (verse 56) was meant to comfort the Prophet (peace be upon him) and to warn the disbelievers who opposed him and obstructed his work, as if to say: Your duty is only to convey the message of good news to the people and to warn them of the consequences of disbelief. You are not responsible as to whether they accept your message or reject it, or to reward the believers and punish the disbelievers.
Such words occur in the Quran at other places also and are obviously directed to the disbelievers, as if to say: The message of the Prophet is meant to reform the people without any tinge of selfishness. As he does not force the people to accept his message, there is no reason why you should feel offended. If you accept the message, it will be for your own good, and if you reject it, you will be harming yourselves alone. For after conveying the message, he is relieved of his duty and responsibility; then the matter will be between you and Us.
Although this is a very simple and clear interpretation of (verse 56) (and of similar other verses), yet some people erroneously conclude from it that the only duty and responsibility of the Prophet (peace be upon him) is to convey the message and nothing else. They forget that the Quran has stressed over and over again that the Prophet (peace be upon him) is not only a giver of good news to the believers but he is also their teacher, their lawgiver, judge and guide, a purifier of their morals and a model of life for them, and that every word which he utters is law which they have to obey and follow willingly in all walks of life and for all times to come.
71a. For explanation, see (E.N. 70 of Surah Al-Mominoon).
72. For explanation of Throne, see (E.Ns 41, 42 of Surah Al- Aaraf); (E.N. 4 of Surah Younus), and (E.N. 7 Surah of Houd). It is difficult to say what exactly is mean by six days. Here a day may mean a period of time or an ordinary day of this world. For explanation of the day, see (E.Ns 11 to 15 of Surah HaMim Sajdah).
73. This they said due to their arrogance and stubbornness just as Pharaoh had said to Prophet Moses: What is the Lord of the universe? For the disbelievers of Makkah were not unaware of the Merciful (Rahman), nor was Pharaoh unaware of the Lord of the universe. The wording of the verse itself shows that their question about the Merciful was not the result of their ignorance of Him but was due to their rebelliousness. Otherwise Allah would not have punished them for this but would have informed them politely that He Himself is Merciful. Besides this, it is well known historically that the word Rahman (Merciful) for Allah had been in common usage in Arabia since the ancient times. Please see also (E.N. 5 of Surah As-Sajdah) and (E.N. 35 of Surah Saba).
74. All scholars agree that here a prostration of recital (Sajdah Talawat) has been enjoined, which means that every reader and every hearer must prostrate himself on reciting or hearing the recital of this verse. According to traditions, the one who hears this verse being recited should say: Zadan Allahu khuduan - aenama - zada liladaai nufura: May Allah increase us in humility - even as - the enemies are increased in their hatred.