The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 2) — Page 616
CH. 7 AL-A'RĀF PT. 9 وَقَطَعْنُهُمْ فِي الْأَرْضِ أَمَمَّا مِنْهُمُ And We broke them up. 169 into separate peoples in the الصّلِحُونَ وَمِنْهُمْ دُونَ ذَلِكَ earth. Among them are those وَبَلَوْنُهُمْ بِالْحَسَنَتِ وَالسَّيَّاتِ لَعَلَّهُمْ that are righteous and among يَرْجِعُونَ فَخَلَفَ مِنْ بَعْدِهِمْ خَلْفٌ وَرِثُوا them are those that are otherwise. And "We tried them with good things and bad things that they might return. 1058 170. Then there has come an evil generation after them who الكتبَ يَأْخُذُونَ عَرَضَ هَذَا الْأَدْنى inherited the Book. They take the paltry goods of this low وَيَقُولُونَ سَيُغْفَرُ لَنَا ۚ وَإِن يَأْتِهِمْ world and say, It will be عَرَضُ مِثْلُهُ يَأْخُذُوهُ اَلَمْ يُؤْخَذُ forgiven us. ' But if there came to them similar goods again, they the covenant of the Book taken عَلَيْهِم مِّيْثَاقُ الْكِتُبِ اَنْ لَّا يَقُوْلُوْا عَلَى would take them. Was not اللهِ إِلَّا الْحَقَّ وَدَرَسُوْا مَا فِيْهِ وَالدَّارُ from them, that they would not الْآخِرَةُ خَيْرٌ لِلَّذِيْنَ يَتَّقُونَ أَفَلَا truth? And they have studied say of Allah anything but the what is therein. And the abode a7:164. 19:60. 6:33; 12:110. with grievous torment, is to those people who throughout the ages have persecuted and tormented the Jews. The degradation of the Jews holds a lesson for us. Those who neither act righteously nor try to reform their environment gradually drift more and more into evil practices, with the result that finally they lose their independence and are subjugated by other nations who trample them under their feet. This and the following verses also show that the people who are spoken 1056 of as "apes despised" in the preceding verse were not actually transformed into apes but continued as human beings, though they led a miserable existence and were looked down upon by others. See also 2:66. 1058. Commentary: The prophecy contained in this verse has met with a remarkable fulfilment. No people has been so much harassed and SO widely dispersed over the face of the earth as the Jews have been.