The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 335
PT. 2 AL-BAQARAH CH. 2 فَإِن زَلَلْتُمْ مِنْ بَعْدِ مَا جَاءَتْكُمُ But if you slip after the. 210 clear Signs that have come to meaning, he was or became safe from danger or disease or defect, etc. all means, he made peace with him. he means, submitted; he embraced Islam. therefore, means (1) submission; (2) peace; (3) the religion of Islam (Aqrab). اسلم السلم Individually they should come into submission or, in other words, they should enter Islam, wholly. Partial and half-hearted submission obedience will not do; and collectively they should try to offer submission all together, allowing no member to stand aside and remain outside the circle. (2) They should eschew the ways of Satan, who is an open enemy of Islam and is out to cut all holy ties asunder (2:169). . كف wholly) is derived from) كافة They say meaning, he filled the vessel to the full. means, he collected the thing all in one place. 5 means, he turned him عن الامر فكف away from it and consequently he (the latter) kept back; he prevented or restrained him from the affair, so that, as a result thereof, he (the latter) desisted from it. Thus is both transitive and intransitive. a is the feminine from and means: (1) all together with none standing aside (Aqrab); (2) wholly or completely, not partially or half-heartedly (Lane); (3) preventing the enemy and turning him back; and (4) restraining oneself, or restraining the people from sin and digression (Mufradāt). Commentary: Having completed the description of the two classes of men along with their sub-divisions in the previous verses, the Quran now fittingly addresses believers generally and those weak in faith particularly, calling upon them to try to be reckoned among the best and noblest type of men. To attain this end they should do two things, one positive and the other negative: (1) 335 Besides the above two meanings, come into) ادخلوا في السلم كافة the clause submission wholly) is capable of yet another meaning. As ab also means, restraining or turning one back, the clause may be translated as, "come into submission wholly, shutting all such doors through which sin may enter". This is indeed comprehensive advice and can save many a soul, if people only care to act up to it. a most The word (footsteps) in the clause, follow not the footsteps of Satan, apparently seems to be superfluous, for, "following Satan" seems to give the same meaning as "following in his footsteps", but it is not SO really. The word (footsteps) has been very wisely added to hint that those who follow Satan do so slavishly and blindly. Just as a blind man who cannot see his way, finds it convenient to place his hand on the shoulder of any passer-by and then blindly tread on in his footsteps, so do they.