The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 279
PT. 13 AR-RA'D CH. 13 وَاِنْ تَعْجَبْ فَعَجَبٌ قَوْلُهُمْ وَإِذَا كُنَّا ,And if thou dost wonder. 6 then wondrous indeed is their تُربَّاءَ إِنَّا لَفِي خَلْقٍ جَدِيدٍ أُولَبِكَ saying: What! when we have الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا بِرَبِّهِمْ ۚ وَأُولَبِكَ ? in a state of new creation الْأَغْلُلُ فِي أَعْنَاقِهِمْ ۚ وَأُولَبِكَ become dust, shall we then be These it is who disbelieve in their Lord; and these it is who "27:68; 37:17; 50:4. 36:9; 76:5. to have said, aci. e. the paternal uncle of the man is the of his father (Takmilah fis-Siḥāḥ) meaning that the stock of both is one. The Quranic words mean, palm-trees having one root and others having separate roots (Lane). (fruit) is derived from 6 (akala). They say a i. e. he ate it. (ak) which is the noun-infinitive means, the act of eating. ✓ (ukul) means, what is eaten; any eatable; food; fruit; means of subsistence or ample means of subsistence; worldly good fortune; intelligence; judgement; firmness of intellect (Lane). Commentary: Disbelievers are told here that they should not think that, because the Holy Prophet is one of them and belongs to the same stock as they, he enjoyed no superiority over them. Do they not see, the verse says, that adjoining tracts of the same land possess different capacities and properties and produce different kinds of produce? A certain tract of land, for instance, grows one thing while the piece adjacent to it cannot grow it. Similarly, trees of one stock or one species growing in the same garden, 1487 not unoften, grow fruits of different quality. Why cannot the same thing happen among human beings? The expression, they are watered with the same water, signifies that when trees watered with the same water bear fruits vastly different in taste and colour, why cannot the Holy Prophet, even though he lives in the same town and among the same people, excel them, especially when he is nourished in the elixir of Divine revelation and his opponents are brought up under the inspiration of Satan? The words also point to the fact that the same means employed by persons of different capabilities often produce different results. A sword in the hands of a person who does not know its use will be quite a different weapon in the hands of a seasoned and skilful warrior. So the superiority of the Holy Prophet over his opponents lies not only in his superior capacities but also in the way he makes use of the means at his disposal. Abū Bakr and ‘Umar were ordinary citizens of Mecca who would have ended their days in oblivion but the magic touch of the Holy Prophet lifted them to the highest pinnacles of usefulness and glory.