The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 13
PT. 11 YŪNUS CH. 10 اِنَّ فِي اخْتِلَافِ الَّيْلِ وَالنَّهَارِ وَمَا خَلَقَ Verily, in the alternation of. 7 اللهُ فِي السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ لَايْتٍ لِقَوْمٍ has created in the يتفو OÛ night and day, and in all that Allah heavens and the earth there are God-fearing Signs for people. 1282 a "2:165; 3:191; 23:81. other bodies. So this verse purports to say that God has appointed stages for the sun and the moon that we may be able to make a reckoning of time. In other words, He has caused these heavenly bodies to move and has appointed stages for their motion so that by observing the motion of these bodies we may be able to know that a certain amount of time has passed and that we have moved on from our original position. All reckoning and all calendars depend on the movements of the sun and the moon. The moon moves round the earth and thereby we are able to know the measure of months. The earth moves round the sun and also rotates on its own axis, thus enabling us to measure our years as well as our days. The Arabic words rendered here as, that you might know the number of years and the reckoning of time, may also be translated as "that you might know the number of years and the principles of mathematics. " In fact all fundamental principles and basic rules mathematics are based on and derived from the movements of heavenly bodies like the sun and the moon. of and make a right estimate of our works and their results, similarly through the suns and moons of the spiritual universe, i. e. the Prophets, we can measure the value of our labour and its results. Without the Prophets of God there can be no true awakening and no realization of the spiritual progress made by man, just as without the sun and the moon it would be impossible to form an idea about time or to measure it. The Prophets of God are like the sun and the moon in the spiritual world. They reveal the capacity for spiritual progress that lies latent in human nature and make men understand and realize their inborn faculties and capabilities and the limitless field of spiritual progress that lies before them. Without Prophets, there could be no real spiritual progress in the world. The words (in truth) signify that God has not created the heavens and the earth only to satisfy a caprice. He has created them to fulfil an eternal and noble object. The Prophets and as much Messengers of God are needed for the spiritual growth of man as are the sun and moon for that of the physical world. 1282. Commentary: The verse is also pregnant with a deep spiritual import. Just as in the physical world the sun and the moon In the present verse the words, for a enable us to prepare our calendars | God-fearing people, have been 1221