The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 435
PT. 7 AL-AN'ĀM CH. 6 قُلْ هُوَ الْقَادِرُ عَلَى أَنْ يَبْعَثَ عَلَيْكُمْ Say, “He has power to send. 66 punishment upon you from عَذَابًا مِنْ فَوْقِكُمْ أَوْ مِنْ تَحْتِ اَرْجُلِكُمْ above you or from beneath your أَوْ يَلْبِسَكُمْ شِيَعًا وَيُذِيقَ بَعْضَكُمْ splitting you into sects and b feet, or to confound you by make you taste the violence of بَأْسَ بَعْضٍ أَنْظُرْ كَيْفَ نُصَرِفُ one another. See how We الأيتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ يَفْقَهُونَ. may that they وَكَذَبَ بِهِ قَوْمُكَ وَهُوَ الْحَقُّ قُلْ thy people have expound the Signs in various ways understand! 811 67. And "thy people rejected it, though it is the truth. signify that Allah may deliver you not only from the afflictions from which you pray to be rescued, but also from other troubles for the removal of which you do not pray. This and the preceding verse give the third reason why none beside God is in a position to send down punishment. We are told that none but God hears the prayers of men and delivers them from the afflictions which befall them. Now the Being Who hears prayers and removes afflictions should also be the Being Who can send down punishment; for if there be two different beings, then there is sure to be opposition and conflict between them. 811. Commentary: This verse gives the fourth reason why no mortal possesses the power to bring down punishment upon men for their sins, and that it is God alone Who possesses that power. This reason consists in the fact that the a6:6. punishments which mortals inflict upon others are merely external and are limited in their character; while the punishments that come from God are varied and far-extending. For instance, man can at most kill another man and end his life, but the God inflicts punishment which sometimes grows in the very heart of man and causes him great heart- burning and uneasiness of mind. Such punishments, which are often greater than mere killing, cannot be inflicted by man. The Quran here refers to some of the kinds of punishment which God may send down on men. Punishments "from above" signify famines, earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, the oppression of the weak by the powerful, mental agony, etc. And punishments "from beneath" signify diseases, pestilences, revolt by subject peoples, etc. Then there is the punishment of discord, disunity and dissension which sometimes end in civil war. This is hinted in the 875