The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 464
CH. 16 AN-NAHL PT. 14 لِيُبَيِّنَ لَهُمُ الَّذِى يَخْتَلِفُونَ فِيْهِ وَلِيَعْلَمَ He will raise them up that. 40 He may make clear to them that wherein they differed, and that those who disbelieved may know that they were liars. 1841 الَّذِيْنَ كَفَرُوا أَنَّهُمْ كَانُوْا كَذِبِينَ إِنَّمَا قَوْلُنَا لِشَيْءٍ إِذَا أَرَدْتُهُ أَنْ نَقُولَ لَهُ Our word to a thing, when. 41 كُنْ فَيَكُونُ We will it, is only that We say to it, 'Be!', and it is. 1842 "2:118; 3:48; 36:83; 40:69. of the leaders of disbelief to deceive their followers. Seeing the ground giving way from under their feet and their followers wavering, they, in order to reinforce their weak position, resort to affirming repeatedly on solemn oaths that they are in the right. They resort to this device to hearten their vacillating and wavering followers whose faith in them becomes undermined by strong and unanswerable arguments that they hear from their Prophet and believers about the untenability of their views. 1841. Commentary: This verse gives the reason why there should be a life after death and a Day of Resurrection. In that life the veil would be lifted from all things and their reality would become manifest. If human life were limited to this world, then the truth of the Prophets and their teachings would ever remain a matter of controversy and the deniers of the Prophets would also forever remain deprived of guidance which is inconsistent with God's Dignity and Mercy because He has created man to attain His nearness. A life after death is therefore necessary that man may realize the truth in that life which he could not realize in this life. Elsewhere in the Quran (verse 65 below) the same purpose of creating an infallible faith in the existence of God has been declared to be the object of the advent of Prophets and Divine Books. The fact is that in the present life such matters as pertain to belief can be explained by reason and argument only to those who honestly seek after truth. They cannot be so demonstrated and established as to be beyond doubt. This is possible only in the life after death. But when in the afterlife truth will become quite manifest there will be no merit in accepting it; such acceptance may only be helpful in exciting God's Mercy. 1672 The clause, "that they were liars", confirms the above interpretation. Realization of the truth on the Day of Resurrection will be so complete that disbelievers will have to admit that they were foolish to deny Resurrection. Indeed, it would be a full and complete realization. 1842. Commentary: The previous verse mentioned the