The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 622
In short, the guarding of the Surahs by angels does not mean their protection when they are being revealed to a Prophet of God. The real work of guardianship begins after they have been revealed and continues till the time when the prophecies mentioned therein are fulfilled. As regards immunity of Quranic revelation from satanic or human interference, every chapter, every verse, every word, even every letter and vowel-point of the Quran is equally safe and under Divine protection and no particular part of it enjoys this protection in greater measure than others. As the present Surah contains prophecies about the destruction of such powerful nations as Gog and Magog and about the nullification of Christian false propaganda against Islam, thousands of angels have been on duty to bring about the fulfilment of these mighty prophecies from the very day when the Surah was revealed. Western scholars assign this Surah to the sixth year of the Holy Prophet's ministry at Mecca, but most probably it was revealed in the 4th or 5th year of the Call. Connection with the Preceding Sūrah According to Muslim commentators of the Quran, the connection of this chapter with the previous one consists in the three questions that the Jews had asked the Holy Prophet about human soul, the Dwellers of the Cave and Dhul-Qarnain. The answer to the first question, they say, was revealed in Surah Bani Isrā'il, whilst answers to the second and third questions were revealed in the present chapter (Muḥīt). But this view does not accord with actual facts. The present Surah deals with some other important subjects besides the account of the Dwellers of the Cave and of Dhul-Qarnain e. g. the parable of two men (vv. 33-44) and the Isrā' or Spiritual Journey of Moses (vv. 61-83). As to why this Surah contains these accounts along with the account of the Dwellers of the Cave and of Dhul-Qarnain, these commentators have no answer to give. Wherry, however, remarks in his "Commentary on the Quran", that 'this chapter might be called the chapter of wonderful stories. ' But this very novel explanation of the reverend gentleman is as far from truth as that given by some Muslim commentators. These far-fetched explanations, in fact, are born of a lack of proper realization by these gentlemen of the real significance and purpose of the Surah. As a matter of fact, on the basis of some traditions of doubtful authenticity the idea had got into their heads that the Jews had put three questions to the Holy Prophet which this Sūrah seeks to answer. So they came to entertain this baseless notion and made no attempt to ponder over and understand the contents of the chapter. It is incredible that an event should have been mentioned in the Quran at length merely because the Jews had asked the Holy Prophet certain 1830