The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 102
CH. 11 HŪD PT. 11 then surely, I fear for you the punishment of a dreadful day. 1385 inasmuch as he pointed to them the way and provided for them the means of attaining both spiritual bliss and material prosperity. 1385. Important Words: كبر dreadful is derived from) كبير which means, he or it was or became great in estimation or rank or dignity; or he or it became big or large in corporeal substance or in years. They sayi. e. the affair was or became of great moment. means, the affair was or became difficult, hard, severe, grievous, distressing or burdensome to him. * means, great in corporeal substance; or in estimation or rank or dignity; great and noble; a lord or chief; greatest or oldest ancestor; old or advanced in age; also full-grown and adolescent; the most knowing or learned of a people; difficult, severe, grievous, distressing and burdensome. It is synonymous with with the difference that, whereas the latter word generally means great in comparison with others, the former means great in itself. ✓✓ as an epithet applied to God is generally considered to be synonymous with which means, the Incomparably Great (Lane). Commentary: In the previous verse, the attention of man was drawn to the object of his creation. But as he has to face many obstacles and impediments which hinder the realization of his ideal, he has therefore been advised in the present verse to seek God's help for the removal of those obstructions and hindrances which, in the form of the dross and rust of sin, continue to accumulate round his heart and eventually completely cover it. The Arabic word used here is plea (seeking forgiveness), which literally means "to pray to God that He should cover up". In this sense of the word the injunction embodied in the verse signifies that we should always pray to God that He should cover up and suppress those of our evil inclinations and desires which hinder us from attaining His nearness. suppressed The expression, then turn to Him, means that when we have successfully and overcome our evil desires, we should turn to God that He may engender in our hearts such love for Himself as may help us to attain His nearness. This shows that it is only when evil desires, which excite the displeasure of God, have been successfully suppressed and the love of God becomes engendered in our hearts that we can truly turn to Him. Incidentally, the verse also shows that the stage of a (turning to God) comes after (seeking forgiveness and praying to God for the removal of the evil effects of our sins and the suppression of our evil inclinations). 1310 Those who think that the Islamic