The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 413
PT. 14 AL-HIJR CH. 15 فَأَخَذَتْهُمُ الصَّيْحَةُ مُشْرِقِيْنَ 74. "Then the punishment seized them at sunrise. 1777 فَجَعَلْنَا عَالِيَهَا سَافِلَهَا وَأَمْطَرْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ ,We turned it upside down. 75 حِجَارَةً مِّنْ سِجِّيلٍ and We rained upon them stones of clay 1778 "11:82. 11:83. bin ar-Rabi. The relevancy of the present verse to the previous one is that the Holy Prophet felt grieved by the reference to Lot's daughters having been married among his opponents, for this reminded him of his own daughters who were married among disbelievers and of their being likely to suffer at the hands of their husbands. God has therefore here consoled the Holy Prophet by saying to him, "Your enemies have indeed proved more wicked than the people of Lot, who at least abstained from persecuting his daughters. But We offer your whole life as a witness that even as Lot's people were punished by God, your people, who are the greater sinners, will not escape God's punishment for persecuting you who are by far a greater Prophet. " It may also be briefly mentioned in passing that God's swearing by His creatures is quite different from man's swearing by them. When a man swears by a thing other than God, he does so to express his special reverence for it, which is denounced by the Quran. But God swears by a thing in order to offer it as a witness for establishing the truth of a certain claim and He, being the Creator of all things, has the right to offer anything as a witness. But man cannot do so. It is therefore not allowed to him to swear by anything except God. For a full discussion of the subject of "oaths" in the Quran and their significance see under 75:2. 1777. Important Words: (the punishment) which is derived from the i. e. he cried aloud or shouted. means, a vehement crying; an evil or mischief that comes on one suddenly; punishment; a hostile incursion by which a tribe is surprised (Lane). See also 11:68. Commentary: which was to overtake Lot's people is In v. 67 the time for the punishment indicated by the expression (by it is expressed by (at sunrise). the morning) but in the present verse This may appear to be a discrepancy in the words used by the Quran. But there is no real discrepancy, because the expression (by the morning) signifies those entering on the period from dawn till sunrise, and means, at sunrise. It is thus clear that there is no real conflict in the meanings of the two words. The calamity actually occurred at sunrise. This is supported by the Bible (Gen. 19:23, 24). For the nature of the calamity see the following verse. 1621 1778. Important Words: J (clay). See 11:83.