The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 1) — Page 436
CH. 2 R. 40. AL-BAQARAH PT. 3 لِلهِ مَا فِي السَّمَوتِ وَ مَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَإِنْ To Allah belongs whatever. 285 is in the heavens and whatever تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنْفُسِكُمْ اَوْ تُخْفُوهُ is in the earth; and whether you disclose what is in your minds يُحَاسِبُكُمْ بِهِ اللهُ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ or keep it hidden, Allah will وَيُعَذِّبُ مَنْ يَّشَاءُ وَاللهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ call you to account for it; then will He forgive whomsoever He pleases and punish whomsoever He pleases; and Allah has the power to do all that He wills. 291 "21:48. 5:19, 41; 48:15. same care and the same honesty with which property deposited as a trust is returned on demand. The words, and conceal not testimony, either refer to the testimony of such witnesses as may be present at the time of the pledge, or it may refer to the testimony of the parties themselves. When no other witness is available, the parties are themselves treated as such and may be called upon to give a true account of the affairs on oath. The expression, his heart is sinful, signifies that he who conceals testimony commits a sin which has not a temporary effect but vitiates the innermost recesses of his heart. Nay, it is a sign of the fact that his heart has already become vitiated. 291. Commentary: In this and the following two verses, with which the present Surah concludes, the subject of (tazkiyah) or purification has been dealt with as promised in the prayer تزكية قَدِيرٌ of Abraham (2:130). By reminding us that to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, the Quran teaches us that, since everything is God's, we must avoid all those things which He requires us to avoid and adopt all those which He requires us to adopt. If we obey the commandments of God, which are meant for our own good, He will cause us to thrive and prosper, for He is the Controller of all causes and all effects. The verse embodies the great secret of attaining purification. That secret is, that if you wish to become pure, you should begin with the root, i. e. you should make your hearts pure. Says the Holy Prophet: "In the body of man there is a piece of flesh; if this piece of flesh is sound, the whole body becomes sound; if it is corrupt, the whole body becomes corrupt. Behold! It is the heart" (Bukhārī). The particle (for) in the Arabic clause rendered as, Allah will call you to account for it, means: (a) by means 436