The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page cxliii
GENERAL INTRODUCTION name of the One God, the One Creator of the Prophet and of all others- Who has made man and sowed the seed of His own love and that of fellow men in his nature. The Prophet was commanded to proclaim the Message of this God, and was promised help and protection by Him in the proclamation of this Message. The verses foretold a time when the world would be taught all manner of knowledge through the instrumentality of the pen, and would be taught things never heard of before. The verses constitute an epitome of the Quran. Whatever the Prophet was to be taught in later revelations is contained in embryo in these verses. The foundation was laid in them of a great and heretofore unknown advance in the spiritual progress of man. The meaning and explanation of these verses will be found in their place in this Commentary. We refer to them here because their revelation constitutes a great occasion in the life of the Prophet. When the Prophet received this revelation, he was overwhelmed by the fear of the responsibility which God had decided to place on his shoulders. Any other person in his place would have been filled with pride-he would have felt that he had become great. The Prophet was different. He could achieve great things but could take no pride in his achievement. After this great experience he reached home greatly agitated, his face drawn. On Khadijah's enquiry, he narrated the whole experience to her and summed up his fears, saying, "Weak man that I am, how can I carry the responsibility which God proposes to put on my shoulders. " Khadijah replied at once: God is witness, He has not sent you this Word that you should fail and prove unworthy, that He should then give you up. How can God do such a thing, while you are kind and considerate to your relations, help the poor and the forlorn and bear their burdens? You are restoring the virtues which had disappeared from our country. You treat guests with honour and help those who are in distress. Can you be subjected by God to any trial? (Bukhāri) Having said this, Khadījah took the Prophet to her cousin, Waraqah bin Naufal, a Christian. When he heard the account, Waraqah said: "The angel who descended on Moses, I am sure, has descended on you" (Bukhari). First Converts Waraqah evidently referred to the prophecy in Deuteronomy 18:18. When the news reached Zaid, the Prophet's freed slave, now about thirty years of age, and his cousin, ‘Alī, about eleven, they both declared their faith in him. Abū Bakr, a friend of his childhood, was out of town. As he returned, he began to hear of this new experience which the Prophet had had. He was told cxvii