The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 572
CH. 7 AL-A'RĀF PT. 9 وَلَوْ أَنَّ أَهْلَ الْقُرَى أَمَنُوا وَاتَّقَوْا And if the people of those. 97 لَفَتَحْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ بَرَكَةٍ مِّنَ السَّمَاءِ have وَالْأَرْضِ وَلَكِنْ كَذَّبُوا فَأَخَذْتُهُمْ بِمَا towns had believed and been righteous, We would surely blessings from heaven and opened for them كَانُوا يَكْسِبُونَ earth; but they disbelieved, so We seized them because of that which they used to earn. 993 أَفَأَمِنَ أَهْلُ الْقُرَى أَنْ يَأْتِيَهُمُ بَأْسُنَا Are the people of these. 98 towns, then, secure from the coming of Our punishment upon them by night while they are asleep?994 بَيَاتًا وَهُمْ نَا بِمُوْنَ "2:104; 5:66. 7:5. the afflictions and miseries which come upon a disbelieving people as a result of their rejection of a Prophet of God pass away and ease and comfort take their place, then instead of improving their condition and turning to God in repentance, they refuse to recognize past afflictions as heavenly visitations and as signs of the truth of their Prophet, but, on the contrary, begin to say that they were merely normal occurrences of nature which even their forefathers experienced in their time but which then passed away. 993. Commentary: In this verse the words, the people of those towns, refer to all the different peoples mentioned in the foregoing verses. The verse is thus intended to sum up the given narration with a view to introducing the case of the people of the Holy Prophet's time. The words rendered as, We would have surely opened for them blessings from heaven and earth, may signify: "We would have taught them wisdom or granted them knowledge from heaven as well as from earth". By earthly wisdom or knowledge is meant that wisdom or knowledge which a person acquires from personal observation or from his fellowmen; but the wisdom or knowledge from Heaven is that wisdom or knowledge which comes directly from God. The word "blessings" may also be taken in the physical sense. In this case blessings from heaven would mean, for example, timely rains, extraordinary success, the removal of diseases, etc. , while blessings from the earth would signify, for example, abundant produce of land, peace and order, etc. 1012 994. Commentary: In this and the following verse the