The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 276
CH. 4 AN-NISA' The Surah in which the above- quoted verse occurs was revealed at Mecca, i. e. before the present Surah which is a Medinite one. This clearly shows that the present order of the verses and the Surahs of the Quran is not the same as that in which they were revealed. The reference in the words, He has already revealed to you in the Book, is, as stated above, to 6:69 which was revealed prior to the verse under comment; yet the former has been placed after the latter in the existing arrangement of the Quran. PT. 5 not, after recollection, with the unjust emerges from this verse is that when people. an address is made to the Holy Prophet, it is not always meant for him personally but is often meant for his followers, i. e. Muslims in general. In 6:69, the commandment appears to have been addressed to the Holy Prophet, because in that verse all the pronouns and verbs have been used in the second person singular number; but the verse under comment, while referring to the commandment contained in 6:69, clearly addresses Muslims generally, for the words used are, He has already revealed to you in the Book that, when you hear the Signs of God being denied and mocked at, sit not with them, which establishes the fact that the addressees in the commandment embodied in both these verses are the same, i. e. Muslims. If the pronoun "thou" in 6:69 was meant for the Holy Prophet himself, the present verse, while referring to the selfsame commandment, could not address Muslims generally by using the pronoun "you", particularly when besides 6:69 there is no verse in the Quran to which the verse under comment can possibly refer. It is also worthy of note here that while referring to a verse already revealed, the verse under comment uses the words to you) and not (has revealed (is recited to an you). The latter expression, i. e. "is recited to you" has been used in 4:128 with reference to 4:4 which had not only been already revealed but has also been placed before the former, i. e. 4:128, in the existing order of the Quran. Again 6:146 makes allusion to 16:116 in the words 33 (has been revealed to me). Thus, the fact that the Quran uses the words J and for alluding to verses that were revealed earlier but were to be placed later and the word for alluding to those verses that were not only revealed earlier but were also to be placed earlier, clearly shows that the present order was not devised by the Holy Prophet but was devised and revealed by God Himself. The substitution in the present verse of the words) (sit not with them) for the words (turn away from them), occurring in 6:69, indicates that the latter expression as used at some places in the Quran is meant to convey the sense of "severing connection with". The underlying principle in the Another noteworthy point that injunction contained in the present 716