The Mirror of the Excellences of Islam — Page 131
130 Ā'ĪNA-E-KAMĀLĀT-E-ISLĀM―DĀFI‘UL-WASĀWIS Quran by the lexicons composed in accordance with the usage of their times, hundreds of years after the Holy Quran. The Noble Quran is self-sufficient for [conveying] the meaning of its expressions and some of its verses explain some others. Clearly, the word iṣṭifā' [i. e. God's choosing of someone]—which bestows honour-has never been used by God Almighty in favour of the other [type of] zālim people. On the contrary, they have been described as rejected, accursed, and subject to the wrath of God. Here, however, God has declared these zalim people as His exalted ones who deserve His grace. It is clearly proven by this verse that just as the one in the middle group is an eminent servant of God because he is following the middle path, and just as the one who is [who excel in goodness] is spiritually eminent in the eyes of God because of being so must the zālim be an eminent person because he is harsh upon himself. AUTHOR'S MARGIN NOTE A companion of mine is interested in researching the praiseworthy aspects of ,harsh] ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا the words ,Surah al-Ahzab) كَانَ ظَلُومًا جَهُولًا unmindful] in the verse Now, is there any deficiency left in prov- ing that, here, the word zulm refers to the harshness that is pleasing to God Almighty; namely, the force and compulsion upon one's self for the sake of God Almighty, and curbing and controlling one's passions for gaining the pleasure of Allah, His emi- nence be glorified? Elsewhere, the Noble Quran also refers to this category of zālim people as tawwābin [those who repent], whom Allah the Glorious loves. 33:73)—the above-men- tioned friend should read this discussion carefully In short, it would be a great blunder—God forbid—to take the word zalim here to mean those who are vehemently disobedient to God Almighty, are guilty of disbelief and polytheism, are transgressors and sinners, who approve of these sins, and are enemies of goodness and virtue; rather, the word zālim here means the people who, despite the storms of passions intensifying inside them, struggle to find some way of running towards Almighty God.