The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 455
PT. 14 AN-NAHL CH. 16 لَا جَرَمَ أَنَّ اللهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يُسِرُّونَ وَمَا Undoubtedly, Allah knows. 24 what they conceal and what يُعْلِنُونَ إِنَّهُ لَا يُحِبُّ الْمُسْتَكْبِرِينَ they disclose. Surely, He loves not the proud. 1825 وَإِذَا قِيْلَ لَهُمْ مَّاذَا أَنْزَلَ رَبُّكُمْ قَالُوا And when it is said to them. 25 أَسَاطِيرُ الْأَوَّلِينَ 'What think ye of that which your Lord has sent down?', b. "they say, 'They are mere stories of the ancients, '1826 See "16:20. 8:32; 68:16; 83:14. of disbelievers, leading them gradually to folly and ignorance and the inability even to recognize things which are quite obvious. Another result of the denial of life after death on the part of disbelievers is the growth of conceit and arrogance born of a sense of irresponsibility and of reckless refusal to admit the existence of things which, their reason tells them, are true. Thus the clause speaks of two kinds of idolaters (1) the foolish and the ignorant; and (2) the proud and the conceited. 1825. Commentary: The verse points out that God is One and Omniscient as proved in the preceding verses and that He will not leave disbelievers without punishing them for their evil deeds. But since He knows the overt actions as well as the inner motives of man, He will differentiate between those who defy Him through ignorance and those whose defiance of His authority is the result of their conceit and arrogance. The latter will deserve and receive a severer punishment than the former. 1826. Commentary: The verse reverts to the original theme and says that when deniers of the Unity of God and Resurrection listen to arguments in support of these doctrines, instead of giving them proper consideration they make light of them by saying that these arguments are a mere repetition of the sayings of the ancients. By such remarks they seek to divert the attention of their followers from the truth. This is a common device of the opponents of truth. They always assert that there is nothing new in the teachings of their Prophet, and think that this assertion alone constitutes a sufficient refutation of his claims. As a matter of fact, Prophets of God come to remind men of the old truths that the latter had forgotten. If the later Prophets had taught what had not been taught by their predecessors they would indeed be impostors. Of course, every Prophet presents old truths in a new garb and, if necessary, makes some additions or alterations as required by the circumstances and conditions of his age. 1663