The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 441
PT. 14 CH. 16 AN-NAHL b وَعَلَى اللهِ قَصْدُ السَّبِيلِ وَمِنْهَا جَابِرُ And upon Allah rests the. 10 وَلَوْ شَاءَ لَهَدُكُمْ أَجْمَعِينَ showing of the right way, and there are ways which deviate from the right course. And if He had enforced His will, He would have guided you all. 1811 "6:150; 10:100; 11:119. should enable him to achieve true liberty. (5) It should serve as a means of conveyance, i. e. it should help man speedily to attain nearness to his Creator by understanding and realizing His attributes, and should save him from a long and fatiguing spiritual journey. (6) It should impart vigour and strength to man, i. e. by acting upon it, its followers should lead a respectable and honourable life in both worlds, their organization should become strong, and they should win the esteem and regard of nations by living up to their ideals and teachings. These are the six essential qualities which the word of God must possess and without which it forfeits the title of being called Divine. 1811. Important Words: (qasdun-right) is derived from (qaṣada) which means, he betook himself to it; he aimed at or sought after it. means, he pursued a right or direct course in the affair; he followed the middle and most just way in the affair; he kept within due bounds in the affair. (qasd) therefore means, aim or course of a person or thing that is right; conforming or conformable to the just 1649 mean. They say hi. e. he is following a right way or course (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: The words, And upon Allah rests the showing of the right way, mean that God has made it incumbent upon Himself that He should show man the right way; or that God has taken upon Himself that He would show man the right way by following which he may attain to Him. This idea has also been expressed in 92:13 which says, Verily it is for Us to guide. The verse under comment means to say that God alone can show the way which is characterized by moderation and is free from excesses or extremes. Man, unaided by God, cannot devise such a way for himself. This verse further tells us that, excepting those who enjoy special protection of God, every person has his prejudices and predilections. It is impossible for man to be quite free from bias or favouritism. Man-made laws therefore suffer from the defect that they tend to incline to one extreme or the other and deny some their just rights and give others more than their due. Hence a Law which has equal regard for the rights of all