The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 23
PT. 3 ĀL-E-‘IMRĀN with Whom is an excellent home. 306 less than their actual number but in a state of actual wakefulness, which naturally proved more heartening than would have been the case if they had seen them so only in a dream or vision, which very often has an interpretation other than what actually appears. 306. Important Words: (desired things) is the plural of being derived from 4. They sayi. e. he desired it; he desired it eagerly and intensely; he longed for it. means: (1) desire, or intense desire or longing for a thing; (2) the thing desired, or the object of desire. Sometimes the word is used in a bad sense indicating a low desire or gratification of venereal lust (Aqrab & Lane). stored-up are) مقنطرة & heaps) القناطير both derived from They say i. e. the man possessed, or came into possession of, great wealth. means, he tied up the thing, or he vaulted it. b is the plural of meaning, heaped-up wealth. It also signifies a measure varying in weight and value at different times and in different countries. when added to intensifies the meaning, pointing to the greatness of heaped- up wealth. It also means, collected together or stored-up, giving also the sense of completeness and perfection (Aqrab & Lane). Commentary: CH. 3 الدُّنْيَا وَاللهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَابِ. things of this world which engross man's attention and often turn him away from God. These are particularly the things to the acquisition of which men, more specially in Christian countries, have applied their time and energy. As already pointed out, it is the Christians that are chiefly addressed in this Surah. Islam does not prohibit the use, or even the seeking, of the good things of this world; but it certainly condemns the action of those who become engrossed in them and make them the very object of their life. Elsewhere the Quran refers to the Christian people as "those whose efforts are all lost in the life of this world" (18:105). As to the question, who is the "beautifier" referred to in the clause, beautified for men, it may be noted that though the natural beauty in all things comes from God, yet here the "beautifier" is Satan, for in the present verse the question is not of "simple beauty" but of "engrossing beauty", not simply of the desired things of the world but of the abnormal love for them; and it is certainly Satan who endows the things of this world with engrossing beauty and creates in the hearts of men special love for them. God is only the Beautifier of good deeds and good things, and the Creator, in the heart of man, of dislike for evil ones The verse enumerates some of the (49:8, also 16:64). 463