The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 491
CH. 16 PT. 14 AN-NAHL earth; and the matter of the promised Hour is but as the أَمْرُ السَّاعَةِ إِلَّا كَلَمْحِ الْبَصَرِ أَوْ هُوَ اَقْرَبُ اِنَّ اللهَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ twinkling of an eye, nay, it is وَاللهُ أَخْرَجَكُمْ مِنْ بُطُونِ أُمَّهَتِكُمْ And Allah brought you. 79 nearer still. Surely, Allah has power over all things. 1878 forth from the wombs of your mothers while you nothing, and gave you ears and لَا تَعْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا وَ جَعَلَ لَكُمُ السَّمْعَ knew وَالْاَبْصَارَ وَالْاَفْدَةَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تَشْكُرُونَ eyes and hearts, that you might be grateful. 1879 1878. Commentary: a7:188; 54:51. b39:7. 23:79; 67:24. The verse purports to say that as disbelievers have stood in the way of the Holy Prophet whom God has chosen for the bestowal of His favours, they will be visited with sudden and terrible punishment. This prophecy will certainly be fulfilled because it has been made by God Who has power over all things. It is interesting to note how the verse anticipates future critics of Islam who say that the unprecedented success which attended the Holy Prophet and Muslims was due only to natural causes. The verse forestalls this objection by saying that it is God, the Almighty and Knower of all secrets, Who is speaking of the imminent destruction of disbelievers. The fulfilment of this prophecy will not be a chance occurrence but one that will be brought about by the Almighty God. This prophecy was made towards the end of the Prophet's stay in Mecca. And it is well-known that shortly after the 1699 power of the idolatrous Arabs was broken, it was followed by the overthrow of the Persian and Roman Empires, the two great military powers of the time. All this was foretold at a time when the Prophet and his followers were being persecuted in Mecca. Who can say that all this was only the inevitable result of natural causes and was not due to a special decree of the All- Powerful God? The words, the twinkling of an eye, mean, "within a short time". The prophecy implied in the words, "the matter of the Promised Hour," met its remarkable fulfilment in the Battle of Badr and finally in the conquest of Mecca. 1879. Commentary: The verse makes a most moving appeal to the gratitude of man. It says that God has endowed him with faculties of sight, hearing and understanding so that by their proper use he might fulfil the great object of his creation. But it is a pity that he