The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 470
CH. 16 AN-NAHL PT. 14 أَوَلَمْ يَرَوْا إِلَى مَا خَلَقَ اللهُ مِنْ شَيْءٍ Have they not seen that the. 49 shadows of everything which يَتَفَيَّو ا ظلله عَنِ الْيَيْنِ وَالشَّمَابِلِ سُجَّدًا Allah has created shift from the لِلَّهِ وَهُمْ دُخِرُونَ right and from the left, prostrating themselves to Allah, while they are being humbled?1850 is derived from which means, he feared, he was afraid. means, he took by little and little from it or from its sides or he took from its extremities. They say i. e. the year of drought took from us by little and little. he diminished to me by little and little my right or due. The Quranic ,means تخوفنا حقی means, or are او يأخذهم على تخوف expression they secure from His destroying them by causing them to suffer loss (by little and little) in their bodies and their possessions or cattle, and their fruits, etc. ? (Lane). Commentary: The verse mentions another form of the punishment that would overtake the disbelievers of Mecca, viz. the tribes and territories which formerly owed allegiance to them would gradually break off their alliance with them and would join Muslims. This happened immediately before the conquest of Mecca. The verse may also mean that even before their final overthrow, the Meccans would be seized with a consuming fear of the growing power of Islam and its ultimate triumph. This fear of the fast-increasing power of Muslims unnerved disbelievers and led to loss of the will to resist on 1678 their part which eventually brought about their complete downfall. Mention of the Divine attributes of "Compassionate" and "Merciful," after referring to different forms of punishment that were to overtake disbelievers looks rather strange. The fact that the verse refers to Divine punishments which overtook disbelievers gradually and in stages, thus affording them many opportunities to save themselves by accepting Islam justifies the placing of the words "Compassionate" and "Merciful" at its end. Or the expression, Your Lord is indeed Compassionate, Merciful, may apply to Muslims, suggesting that whereas God was punishing disbelievers for their rejecting His Prophet, He was Compassionate and Merciful to Muslims because they had accepted him. 1850. Commentary: In this verse disbelievers are told to consider and reflect that everything is subject to decline. Nations rise and fall. Flourishing cities and prosperous towns fall into ruin. Governments change and powerful countries fall victim to decay and decline. The poor become rich and the wealthy are reduced to poverty. So does the shadow of everything after reaching a