The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 197
PT. 12 HŪD example. This dual responsibility equally lay on his Successors, even on all the Faithful who are not only themselves required to act upon Divine commandments but are CH. 11 take the Holy Prophet as their exemplar and have to try to come up to his standard. The far-reaching effect which this verse had on the Holy Prophet expected to make others attain a high himself is clear from his own words. standard of spiritual progress. The magnitude and heaviness of this responsibility is self-evident. It is tremendous both as regards its depth and vastness. It is no easy task to observe faithfully all the commandments of God and at the same time to make one's companions do the same. But the importance of this injunction becomes all the more augmented when the fact is taken into consideration that the commandments are to be acted upon in the way in which God requires, as hinted at in the words, as thou hast been commanded. Another inference which can be drawn from this verse is that the Faithful are to take the Holy Prophet as their model and to follow his example. The words, So stand thou upright as thou hast been commanded, and also those who have turned to God with thee, mean that the Faithful are to act uprightly in the same way as the Holy Prophet is commanded to do. The high moral standard to which believers are required to rise is thus the one set up for the Holy Prophet himself. It is clear that the verse does not say that believers are to be upright in the way in which they themselves are commanded but that they have to act uprightly in the way in which the Prophet is commanded. This definitely shows that believers are to He is reported to have said: "The Surah Hūd and its sister-Surahs have rendered me aged before my time" (Manthūr). Abū ‘Alī Sirrī is reported to have said that he once saw the Prophet in a dream and asked him whether he had really said that the Surah Hūd had made him old? The Holy Prophet replied in the affirmative, upon which Abū ‘Alī further asked whether it was the stories of the Prophets and the destruction of their peoples that had aged him. The Holy Prophet said: "No, but the words, So stand thou upright as thou hast been commanded, have done it" (Baihaqī). The reason why this verse weighed so heavily on the Holy Prophet's mind was that it was not only his immediate followers but the generations that were to come long afterwards whose spiritual progress he was made responsible for. It was the full realization of this grave responsibility that weighed heavily on him and rendered him old prematurely. But it appears that this high sense of responsibility SO pleased God that He took upon Himself the fulfilment of this responsibility and promised the Prophet that He would continue to raise from among his followers men who, by following in his footsteps, would attain nearness to Him and would reform his people in his name. 1405