The Light of the Holy Qur'an — Page 43
Fo o T N o T e F r o M PAG e 25 Fo o T N o T e F r o M PAG e 25 43 piety and purity! If those verses from al-Akh t al, D i w a n H am a sah, As-Sab‘ul-Mu‘allaq a t , 1 and the Agh a n i collection composed by the poets of the age of Ignorance before Islam and recorded in old books like Lis a nul-‘Arab and S i hah Jauhar i are kept in view and studied in comparison with Islam, it will become evident that in that dark age, Islam suddenly rose like the sun out of impenetrable darkness. This comparison shows such a spectacle of Providence that our hearts exclaim that Great indeed is Allah! How desper- ately the Holy Qur’an needed to be revealed at that time! In point of fact, this powerful argument has crushed all opponents under its feet. To return to the subject at hand, it is possible that some naive person may ask why it is improbable for al-Akh t al to have wed many beautiful women in his old age and in that case how could he be blamed for adultery? The answer to this is that al-Akh t al did not at all express in his verses that those beautiful women were his wives, rather he spoke of them the way a debauchee and an evil- doer usually does. That is why he has mentioned fine wine along- side beautiful women, because wine is one of the prerequisites of debauchery. Besides, it is no secret that the Christian religion only permits one wife, so how was it possible that his people gave him beautiful girls against their religion and customs? True, he was the best of his people in respect of knowledge and scholarship, just as in our age a senior bishop is revered among his people. He enjoyed the same reverence, or perhaps even more, and he was the leader, guide, and elect of his people. However, it is in no way possible 1. The Suspended o des, or Mu‘allaqah, are seven famous masterpieces of Arabic poetry that were hung in the Ka‘bah during pre-Islamic times. [Publisher]