The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 597
CH. 17 وَإِنْ كَادُوا لَيَسْتَفِرُّونَكَ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ PT. 15 BANI ISRĀ'ĪL 77. And indeed they are near to unsettling thee from the land therefrom; but in that case they لِيُخْرِجُوكَ مِنْهَا وَإِذَا لَّا يَلْبَثُونَ that they might expel thee خِلْفَكَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًا themselves would not have stayed after thee save a little. 2006 سُنَّةَ مَنْ قَدْ اَرُ سَلْنَا قَبْلَكَ مِنْ رُّسُلِنَا This has been Our way. 78 وَلَا تَجِدُ لِسُنَّتِنَا تَحْوِيْلًان with Our Messengers whom We sent before thee; and thou wilt not find any change in Our way. 2 2007 A "8:31; 60:2. 33:63; 35:44; 48:24. revelation; without such revelation he was no more than an ordinary mortal. 2006. Important Words: (after thee). is derived from which means, he succeeded or remained after another. means, he remained behind us or after us. means, I remained behind him or after him. means, after or behind; the contrary or opposite, the sleeve of a shirt, etc. The Quranic ,means اذا لا يلبثون خلافك الا قليلا expression in that case they should not have remained after thee but a little while (Lane). See also 7:70, 170; 9:87. Commentary: As the Arabic expression means, he expelled him from the land (17:65), the words (that they might expel thee) occurring immediately after evidently do not imply simple expulsion because in that case there would have been useless repetition of the same meaning. They signify legal banishment which entails loss of rights of citizenship. Disbelievers wanted to brand the Prophet with the stigma of legal banishment so that he might lose all dignity with his people, but God Himself commanded him to leave Mecca and thus saved him from this stigma which involved loss of citizenship of that town. 2007. Commentary: The verse means to say that it is invariably God's way with His Messengers that whenever anyone of them is expelled from his native land by his people with indignity and dishonour, that people is visited with Divine punishment. A striking illustration of this divine law is to be found in the case of the tribe of Thamud and the Jews. The former sought to put obstacles in the way of the Prophet Ṣāliḥ's missionary expedition by killing his she-camel and the latter put Jesus on the cross. The Thamūd met with the destruction 1805