The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 3) — Page 672
CH. 18 60. "And these AL-KAHF PT. 15 وَتِلْكَ الْقُرَى أَهْلَكْتُهُمْ لَمَّا ظَلَمُوا towns We destroyed them when they committed iniquities. And We & appointed a fixed time for their destruction. 2100 R. 9. وَجَعَلْنَا لِمَهْلِهِهِمْ مَّوْعِدًان وَإِذْ قَالَ مُوسَى لِفَتْهُ لَا اَبْرَحُ حَتَّى And remember the time. 61 ابْلُغَ مَجْمَعَ الْبَحْرَيْنِ أَوْ أَمْضِيَ حُقُبًا companion, I will not stop until when Moses said to his young I reach the junction of the two seas, or I will journey on for ages. "2101 "11:101. destructive punishment comes upon them and then they can find no refuge from it. 2100. Commentary: The verse means to say that it is not the nations of the west who alone have attained to great power and influence. There have been other nations in the past who also rose to great power. The Prophets of God came to them and invited them to truth and warned them against their wicked ways. But in their conceit and arrogance they refused to see reason and paid no heed to the voice of their Prophets. So Divine punishment descended upon them and destroyed them. The nations of the West are the most powerful nations in the world today. In the intoxication of their might and material resources, their wealth and prestige, they have cast the warning of nature to the winds and have given themselves up wholly to the acquisition of material wealth and the pursuit of sexual pleasures and physical comforts. The whole Surah constitutes a warning to these people to mend their ways and to desist from their present evil course for the day of their reckoning is fast approaching; and they should remember that when Divine punishment descends upon a people they are destroyed. 2101. Important Words: حقب ages) is the plural of) حقبا i. e. the means, the (huqbun) which is derived from (haqiba). They say rain was delayed. affair became marred or impeded. (huqbun) means, time; indefinite time; long time; an age; a year or years; seventy years; eighty years or more (Lane, Aqrab & Mufradāt). Commentary: 1880 With this verse begins the very important subject of the (Spiritual Night Journey) of Moses. As stated above, the followers of Jesus Christ achieved great material power and prosperity and in their chequered career left their imprint twice on