The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 489
PT. 14 AN-NAHL CH. 16 عَلَى شَيْءٍ وَمَنْ رَّزَقْنَهُ مِنَّا رِزْقًا حَسَنًا :having no power over anything and a free man whom We have from Ourself, and "he spends فَهُوَ يُنْفِقُ مِنْهُ سِرًّا وَ جَهْرًا هَلْ provided with a fair provision يَسْتَوْنَ اَلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ بَلْ أَكْثَرُهُمْ thereof secretly and openly. Are لَا يَعْلَمُونَ they equal? Praise be to Allah! But most of them know not. 1876 وَضَرَبَ اللهُ مَثَلًا رَّجُلَيْنِ اَحَدُهُمَا And Allah sets forth another. 77 اَبْكَمْ لَا يَقْدِرُ عَلَى شَيْءٍ وَهُوَ كَلٌّ عَلَى parable of two men: one of them is dumb, having no power 1876. Commentary: "2:275; 13:23. The previous verse pointed out that when God uses an endearing term for some of His beloved servants, it connotes something quite different from such an expression when used by idolaters. The present verse presents the Holy Prophet as one whom God loves, and gives the reason of God's love for him. It deals with this subject in a parable. It likens disbelievers to a person who has lost his freedom and is the slave of his own lust and, being in the possession of another, has lost all freedom of will and action. Can such a person in any way be like him who, being free from all sorts of superstitious beliefs and evil practices, spends his great God-given powers in the service of His creatures? Evidently the latter person is by far superior to the former in every respect and deserves in a far greater degree to be blessed with Divine revelation. The implied reference is to the Holy Prophet. The words, secretly and openly, may be understood in three senses: 1697 (1) The (3) His service, Holy Prophet served mankind secretly i. e. by praying for them at night and openly i. e. by tangible acts of service. His whole life was, as it were, a continuous and uninterrupted act of selfless service. (2) He served mankind day and night i. e. he served mankind with might and main at all hours of the day and night. though generally unrecognized by those whom he served, did sometimes receive approbation and recognition from them. The verse means to say that all the great natural powers of the Holy Prophet were fully and completely employed in the service of humanity and in this service he gave no thought to his own comfort and it made no difference to him whether or not his service was acknowledged. The verse also suggests that there are some good deeds which remain unknown to men in this life and hence go without recognition. Such good deeds demand that there should a "day" when they may be be