Essence of the Holy Qur’an — Page 52
Essence of the Holy Qur’ ā n 52 decay. It is only the Qur’ a n which has been granted continuity of life and which will, therefore, continue to provide spiritual sustenance to all of humanity for all times to come. The S u rah then recounts some of the favours which God has bestowed upon man and which are necessary for his physical sustenance, and then draws the moral lesson that when God has taken so much care to provide for man’s physical needs, He must have taken equal, even greater, care to provide for his spiritual requirements. Next, it is stated that the most essential prerequisite to ensure spiritual progress is belief in the Unity of God that since the inception of the world the Prophets of God have taught and preached. Noah preached and propagated the Oneness of God. After him came a galaxy of Prophets, all of whom taught that God was One, and those Divine Teachers who came after them also emphasized and stressed this point. The devotees of darkness, however, always opposed and persecuted these Prophets. The result of the struggle between truth and falsehood invariably was that the believers were successful and those, who disbelieved and rejected the Divine Messengers, suffered defeat and came to grief. The righteous servants of God fear their Lord and believe in His Signs and have firm faith in His Unity and do good deeds to the best of their abilities, and yet consider that they have not fully discharged their duties and responsibilities. They strive to vie with one another in doing good deeds. After this, disbelievers are warned that they will be punished if they persisted in their rejection of the Divine Message. But they do not desist from their evil course and continue to indulge in iniquitous deeds till when the hour of punishment arrives, they beg and beseech that they might be granted one last opportunity to reform themselves. But then it is too late, and they are made to realize that pain and punishment even for a brief period after a whole life of ease and comfort are doubly mortifying. The S u rah ends by stating the great spiritual truth that man is not created without purpose. His life has a noble aim. He should not, therefore, doubt or dispute the truth of Divine Law and of God’s Messengers and should realize that he will have to render account of his deeds before his Lord.