The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 424
CH. 15 AL-HIJR 90. And say, "I am, indeed, a plain Warner. '1793 91. Because We have decided to send down punishment on those who have formed themselves into groups against thee; 1794 PT. 14 وَقُلْ إِنّى أَنَا النَّذِيْرُ الْمُبِينُ كَمَا اَنْزَلْنَا عَلَى الْمُقْتَسِمِينَ ) "22:50; 29:51; 51:51, 52; 67:27. disbelievers whom God had blessed with such prosperity were going to be destroyed for their disobedience. He had wished and prayed that they should have believed in him and thus have inherited the spiritual blessings promised to his followers. But instead of this they disobeyed God and defied His Prophet and therefore were going to be destroyed as God had informed the Holy Prophet in the words: and the hour is sure to come (v. 86). This naturally caused much grief to the Holy Prophet who has been here bidden not to grieve for the Meccans, for they had made themselves deserving of this fate, but to devote his merciful attention to the up- bringing of the small community of believers and to look after their moral and spiritual welfare. Incidentally, this injunction also implied a veiled hint about the impending migration of the Holy Prophet and his followers to Medina; for it was not possible to train and bring up the small band of believers as pioneers of the new world order so long as they were in Mecca, where they had no freedom of action. The verse also hints that the Holy Prophet desired to delay and postpone his departure from Mecca out of a heartfelt desire to save the disbelievers, if possible. He is bidden here to wait no longer and prepare for departure. The words, Stretch not thine eyes towards what We have bestowed on some classes of them, do not refer even to the Companions of the Holy Prophet, as suggested by some commentators, who assert that these words depict the mental condition of some of the Muslims at the time when they saw the caravans of the two Jewish tribes of Banu Quraizah and Banu Naḍīr laden with jewels, scents, etc. The fact that the whole Sūrah has been admitted by the consensus of scholarly opinion to have been revealed at Mecca, where there were no Jews, knocks the bottom out of this baseless insinuation. 1632 1793. Commentary: The Holy Prophet is here bidden to announce openly and publicly the impending destruction of the Meccans and leave no ambiguity about it. 1794. Important Words: 1 (because) is usually interpreted as "just as," but the more appropriate meaning here is "because. " The word has been used in this sense in 2:152 and 8:6.