The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 418
CH. 6 AL-AN'ĀM PT. 7 إِنَّمَا يَسْتَجِيْبُ الَّذِينَ يَسْمَعُونَ Only those can accept who. 37 listen. And as for the dead, of وَالْمَوْتُى يَبْعَثُهُمُ اللهُ ثُمَّ إِلَيْهِ : Allah will raise them to life يُرْجَعُونَ then to Him shall they be brought back. 784 (sullam) means, a ladder or series of stairs or steps meant for ascending. It is so called because it delivers one to the place to which one desires to go. The word also signifies a means to a thing (Lane). Commentary: The words, to seek a passage into the earth, signify using worldly means, i. e. preaching and propagating the truth in the earth in order to strengthen the faith; and the words, a ladder unto Heaven, imply using spiritual means, i. e. offering up prayers to God for the guidance of disbelievers, etc. Prayer is indeed the ladder by which a man can mount to Heaven. The Holy Prophet has been told here that God is not going to compel men to embrace Islam; if he desires their wholesale conversion he should assiduously follow the two prescribed courses, one earthly and the other heavenly. He should, on the one hand, devote himself vigorously preaching and propagating the truth; and, on the other, he should fervently pray to God that He may guide mankind and help the cause of Islam. to It goes without saying that the Holy Prophet acted upon both these methods to the fullest extent, as a result of which God helped the cause 858 of Islam, so much so that within a small space of time the whole of Arabia was converted. The word Job (one lacking knowledge) is here used only in the sense of one not knowing or unacquainted, and not in the stronger sense of ignorant. It has been also used in this sense in other verses of the Quran. For instance, we read in 2:274; "One who does not know them (the needy) thinks them to be free from want", i. e. those who are unacquainted with the real condition of the poor, think them to be well off. In the verse under comment, the Holy Prophet has been exhorted not to remain unacquainted with the law of God in this respect. It should also be noted that it was not by way of rebuke, as some have thought, that the Holy Prophet was asked to seek a passage into the earth or a ladder into the sky. The words become meaningless, if taken in that light. What is meant is simply the suggestion of two ways of success which, when acted upon, proved wonderfully effective. 784. Commentary: The verse signifies that those who are good of heart and are willing to listen will readily accept the truth as the result of preaching. As for those