21. For comparison, see (Surah Aal-Imran: Ayats 33-34), (Surah An-Nisa: Ayat 163), (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayat 84), (Surah Al-Aaraf: Ayats 59-64), (Surah Yuuns: Ayats 71-73), (Surah Hud: Ayats 25-48), (Surah Al-Anbiyaa: Ayats 76-77), (Surah Al-Muminun: Ayats 23-30), (Surah Al-Furqan: Ayat 37), (Surah Ash-Shuara: Ayats 105-123), (Surah As-Saffat: Ayats 75-82), (Surah Al-Qamar: Ayats 9-15), (Surah Al- Haqqah: Ayats 11-12), Surah Nuh: Entire Surah. One should keep the initial verses of this Surah in view in order to understand the relevancy of these stories in this context. There, on the one hand, it has been said to the believers, “We have put to the test all those believers who have passed before you”, and, on the other, the wicked disbelievers have been warned to the effect: “You should not have the misunderstanding that you will outstrip Us and escape Our grasp.” It is to impress these two things that these historical events are being related here.

22. This does not mean that the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him) lived for 950 years, but it means that after his appointment to prophethood till the coming of the flood, he went on making efforts for 950 years for the reformation of his wicked people, and he did not lose heart even though he suffered persecutions for such a long time. The same is the aim of the discourse here. The believers are being told: “You have been suffering persecutions and experiencing stubbornness of your wicked opponents hardly for six years or so. Just imagine the patience and resolution and firmness of Our servant who braved such afflictions and hardships continuously for nine and a half centuries.”

The Quran and the Bible differ about the age of the Prophet Noah (peace be upon him). The Bible says that he lived for 950 years. He was 600 years old when the flood came, and lived for another 350 years after the flood. But according to the Quran, he must have lived for at least a thousand years, because 950 years is the time that he spent in preaching his mission after his appointment to prophethood till the coming of the flood. Evidently, he must have been appointed to prophethood after he had attained his maturity, and must have lived some life after the flood also.

For some people such a long life is inconceivable. But in this world of God strange happenings are not rare. Wherever one may look one will see extraordinary manifestations of His power. The occurrence of certain events and things in a usual form and manner is no proof that the event or thing cannot happen in an unusual and extraordinary way. To break these assumptions there exists a long list of unusual events and things that have taken place in every kind of creation in every part of the universe. In particular, the person who has a clear concept of God’s being All- Powerful, cannot be involved in the misunderstanding that it is not possible for God, Who is the Creator of life and death, to grant a life of a thousand years or so to any man. The fact is that man of his own will and wish cannot live even for a moment, but if Allah wills, He can make him live for as long as He pleases.

23. That is, the flood came when they still persisted in their wickedness. Had they desisted from it before the coming of the flood, Allah would not have sent this torment on them.

24. That is, the people who had believed in Noah (peace be upon him), and who had been permitted by Allah to board the Ark. This has been elucidated in Surah Hud: Ayat 40, thus: “Until when Our command came to pass and at- Tannur began to boil up, We said, (O Noah), take into Ark a pair from every species, and embark your own people save those who have already been specifically marked, and also those who have believed; and those who had believed with Noah (peace be upon him) were only a few.”

25. It can also mean this: “We made this dreadful punishment or this great event a sign of warning for the later generations.” But from the way this has been mentioned here and in Surah Al-Qamar, it appears that the object of warning was the Ark itself, which remained on the top of the mountain for centuries and continued to remind the later generations that a flood of such magnitude had once come in that land because of which the Ark had risen up to rest on the mountain. In (Surah Al-Qamar: Ayats 13- 15), it has been said: “And We bore Noah upon a thing (Ark) made of planks and nails, which floated under Our care. This was a vengeance for the sake of him who had been slighted. And We left that Ark as a sign. Then, is there any who would take admonition?”

In his commentary on this verse of Surah Al-Qamar, Ibn Jarir says on the authority of Qatadah that during the period of the companions when the Muslims went to the land of al-Jazirah, they saw the Ark on mount Judi (according to another tradition, near the habitation of Baqirwa). In the modern times also news appear from time to time in the media that expeditions are being sent to search out the boat, because something resembling a boat has been sighted many time from airplanes during flights over Mount Ararat. See (E.N. 47 of Surah Al-Aaraf )and (E.N. 46 of Surah Hud).

26. For comparison, see (Surah Al-Baqarah: Ayats 122-141, 258-260); (Surah Aal-Imran: Ayats 64-71); (Surah Al-Anaam: Ayats 71-82); (Surah Hud: Ayats 69-83); (Surah Ibrahim: Ayats 35-41); (Surah Al-Hijr: Ayats 45-60); (Surah Maryam: Ayats 41-50); (Surah Al-Anbiyaa: Ayats 51-75); (Surah Ash- Shuaraa: Ayats 69-104); (Surah As-Safftat: Ayats 75-113); (Surah Az-Zukhruf: Ayats 26-35); (Surah Az-Zariyat: Ayats 24-46).

27. That is, “Fear disobeying Him and associating others with Him.”

28. That is, “You are not forging idols but a lie. These idols are in themselves a lie. Then your beliefs that they are gods and goddesses, or they are incarnation of God, or His offspring, or His favorites, or intercessors with Him, or that someone of them is bestower of health, or giver of children or jobs, are all lies, which you have invented from your own whims and conjecture. The fact is that they are in no way more than idols, lifeless, powerless and impotent.”

29. In these few sentences the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) has put together all rational arguments against idol worship. There must necessarily be some reason for making somebody or something a deity. One such reason can be that somebody should be entitled to being a deity due to some personal excellence. Another, that he should be the creator of man, and man should be indebted to him for his existence. Third, that he should be responsible for man’s sustenance, his food and other means of life. Fourth, that man’s future should be linked up with his support and bounty, and man may be afraid that annoying him would mean bringing about his own ruin. The Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) said that none of these four things favored idol worship, but they all favored and demanded pure God worship. Saying that “You worship other than Allah only idols”, he demolished the first argument, for a mere idol could have no excellence to entitle it to be a deity. Then, by saying that “And you invent a falsehood”, he refuted the second argument, and “They have no power to give you provision” destroyed the third reason. Lastly, he said, “To Him you will be brought back” and not to the idols; therefore, it was not in their power to make or mar your destiny, but in the power of God alone. Thus, after a complete refutation of shirk, the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) made it clear to them that all the reasons for which man could regard somebody as a deity only applied to Allah, Who alone should be worshiped without associating anyone else with him.

30. That is, if you reject my invitation to Tauhid and deny my message that you have to return to your Lord and render an account of your deeds, it will not be a new thing. In the history of mankind many Prophets like Noah, Hud, Salih (peace be upon them) have also brought the same teachings, and their peoples denied them likewise. Now you may judge for yourselves as to whether they harmed the Prophets or only themselves.

31. From here to the end of (Ayat 23 )is a parenthesis, which has been interposed in the story of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and addressed to the disbelievers of Makkah. The relevance of this interposition in the story, which is being related for the admonition of the disbelievers, is that they were basically involved in two kinds of deviation: shirk and idol worship, and the denial of the Hereafter. The first of these has been refuted in the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) speech as related above. Now the second is being refuted in these few sentences by Allah Himself.

32. That is, On the one hand, countless new things come into existence from non existence, and on the other, similar new members continue coming into existence to take the place of the dying members of every species. The polytheists acknowledged that that was all due to Allah’s power of creation and invention. They never denied Allah being a Creator, just as the polytheists of today do not do. Therefore, the argument has been based upon what they themselves acknowledged as a reality, as if to say, “How do you think that God, Who, according to your own belief, brings things into existence from non existence, and does not create things just once, but goes on bringing into existence similar things in place of the dying things repeatedly in front of your very eyes, will not be able to raise you back to life after death?” see (E.N. 80 of Surah An-Naml).

33. That is, “When you yourselves are witnessing things being created in the first instance by God’s competence and skill, you should understand it well that re-creation shall also take place by the same competence and skill. Such a thing is not beyond His power nor can it be.”

34. That is, you cannot escape Allah’s grasp wherever you may flee. Whether you descend into the depths of the earth or climb into the heights of the sky, you will be apprehended in any case and brought before your Lord. The same thing has been said in Surah Ar-Rahman as a challenge to the jinns and mankind: “O company of jinns and men! If you have the power to escape across the bounds of the earth and heavens, then do escape! You shall not escape, for it requires a great power,” (Ayat 33).

35. That is, neither you yourselves have the power that you should escape Allah’s grasp, nor are any of your guardians or patrons or supporters so powerful that they should give you refuge against Allah and save you from His punishment. None in the entire universe can dare rise as a supporter of those who have committed shirk and disbelief, or who have refused to submit before divine commands, or who have dared disobey Allah impudently, and raised storms of wickedness and mischief on His earth. And withhold enforcement of the divine decree of torment, or have the nerve to say in God’s court: They are my followers, therefore, whatever they might have done should be forgiven.

36. That is, they have no share in My mercy, and they should entertain no hope whatsoever of getting any share of My mercy. When they denied the revelations of Allah, they themselves gave up their right to benefit by the promises Allah has made to the believers. Then, when they have denied the Hereafter and do not at all believe that one day they will have to stand before their God, it only means that they cherish no hope at all of Allah’s pardon and forgiveness. After this when they will open their eyes in the- Hereafter, against their expectations, and will also see the truth of those signs of Allah, which they had denied, there is no reason why they should expect to receive any share from Allah’s mercy.

37. From here the discourse again turns to the story of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him).

38. That is, they had no answer to the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) rational arguments. The only answer they gave was: “Cut off the tongue that talks the truth and let not the person live who points out our error and tells us to give it up.” The words, “Kill him or burn him”, indicate that the whole crowd was unanimous that the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) should be put to death. However, they differed about the method. Some said that he should be killed, and others said that he should be burnt alive, so that no one in future should dare say the sort of the thing he said.

39. This sentence by itself shows that they had at last decided to burn the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and he was cast into the fire. Here it has only been said that Allah saved him from the fire; but in Surah Al-Anbiyaa it has been elucidated that Allah commanded: “O fire! Be cool and become safe for Abraham!” (Ayat 69). Evidently, if he was not at all cast into the fire, the command to the fire to become cool and safe would be meaningless. This proves that properties of all things are dependent on Allah’s command and whenever He pleases He can change the property of anything He likes. Normally fire burns and every combustible thing catches fire. But this property of the fire is not of its own acquisition but given by God. And this property has in no way tied up God that He may give no command against it. He is the Master of this fire. He can command it at any time to give up the property of burning. At any time, He can turn a furnace into a bed of roses. But events contrary to the course of nature occur only rarely to serve some great purpose or cause. However, the usual phenomena to which we are accustomed in our daily lives cannot be made an argument to say that Allah’s power has been tied up with these, and nothing unusual can take place even by Allah’s command.

40. “Indeed, in that are sure signs for a people who believe”. Signs for the believers in this that the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) did not follow the religion of his family, community and country but followed the true knowledge through which he came to know that shirk is falsehood and Tauhid is the reality. And that he went on exhorting his people to accept the truth and to desist from falsehood in spite of their stubbornness and prejudices. And that he was even prepared to suffer the horrible punishment by the fire, but was not prepared to give up the truth. And that Allah did not even spare the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), His friend, from the trials and tests. And that when the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) got successfully through the tests set by Allah, then did come Allah’s succor, and in such a miraculous way that the bonfire was turned cool for him.

41. The Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) must have said this after his safe deliverance from the fire.

42. That is, you have built up your collective life on the foundation of idol worship instead of God worship. This can keep you bound together as a nation only to the extent of mundane life. For here in this world people can get together around any creed, true or false. Any kind of agreement and concord on any belief, however wrong and ill conceived, can become a means of the establishment of mutual friendships, kinships, brotherhoods, and all other religious, social, cultural, economic and political relationships.

43. That is, the collective life that you have built on the false creed in the world cannot endure in the Hereafter. Only those relationships of love and friendship and cooperation and kinship and mutual regard and esteem will endure there, which have been based on the worship of One God and virtue and piety in the world. All relationships founded on disbelief and shirk and deviation will be severed, and all kinds of love will change into enmity and hatred. The son and the father, the husband and the wife, the saint and the disciple, all will curse each other, and each will blame his deviation on the other, and will say, “This wicked person led me astray: he should be given a double punishment.” This thing has been stated at several places in the Quran. For example, in Surah Az-Zukhruf, it has been said: “Friends on that Day shall become enemies of one another, except the righteous,” (Ayat 67). In Surah Al- Aaraf: “As each generation will be entering Hell, it will curse its preceding generation till all generations shall be gathered together there: then each succeeding generation will say regarding the preceding one; O Lord, these were the people who led us astray; therefore, give them a double chastisement of the Fire,” (Ayat 38). And in Surah Al- Ahzab: “And they will say; Our Lord, we obeyed our chiefs and our great men, and they led us astray from the right path. Lord, give them a doable chastisement and curse them severely,” (Ayats. 67-68).

44. The context shows that when the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) came out of the fire and spoke the preceding sentences, only Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) from the entire crowd came forward to proclaim his belief and adopt his obedience. It is just possible that many other people also on this occasion might have been convinced of the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) being a true prophet, but in view of the violent reaction that had been shown openly by the entire community and the government against Abraham’s faith, no one else could muster up courage to affirm faith in such a dangerous truth and follow it. This good fortune fell to the lot of only one man, the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him), the nephew of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), who at last accompanied his uncle and aunt Sarah in their migration also.

Here, the question may arise: Was the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) a disbeliever and a mushrik before this, and did he believe only after witnessing the miracle of the Prophet Abraham's (peace be upon him) emerging safe and sound from the fire? If it is so, can a person who has been a mushrik be appointed to prophethood? The answer is this: Here the Quran has used the words fa-amana la-hu Lut, which do not necessarily imply that the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) disbelieved in God before this, or associated other deities with Him. They only show that after this he confirmed the Prophethood of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him), and adopted his obedience. Possibly the Prophet Lot (peace be upon him) was a young boy then and this might be the first very occasion when he became acquainted with the teachings of his uncle and his prophethood.

45. That is, “I shall leave my country for the sake of my Lord and go wherever my Lord may take me.”

46. That is, “He possesses the power to help and protect me, and whatever He decides for me will be based on wisdom.”

47. The Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him) was his son and the Prophet Jacob (peace be upon him) was the grandson. The other sons of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) have not been mentioned here, because from his Midianite descendants only the Prophet Shuaib (peace be upon him) was appointed a Prophet, and no Prophet was born among his Ishmaelite descendants for 2500 years or so till our Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him). Contrary to this, the descendants of the Prophet Isaac (peace be upon him) continued to be blessed with the prophethood and the Book till the Prophet Jesus (peace be upon him).

48. This covers all the Prophets who were raised from all the branches of the Prophet Abraham’s (peace be upon him) progeny.

49. What is meant to be said is this: The rulers and the learned men and the priests of Babylon who tried to defeat the mission of the Prophet Abraham (peace be upon him) and the polytheistic people who had followed their wicked chiefs blindly, have since been blotted out and no trace of them is to be found anywhere in the world, but the person whom they had wanted to annihilate by burning in the fire only because he had proclaimed the word of Allah, and who eventually had to leave his country empty handed, was so blessed by Allah that his name has been well known in the world since the past 4,000 years and will remain so till the Last Day. All the Muslims and the Christians and the Jews unanimously recognize that friend of the Lord of the worlds as their spiritual leader. Whatever guidance mankind has received during the past 40 centuries has been received through this one man and his righteous descendants. The unique reward that he will get in the Hereafter is assured, but the place of honor that he has gained even in this world has not been gained so far by any of those who have exerted themselves in pursuit of the worldly benefits and advantages.