The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 107
PT. 16 ṬĀHĀ CH. 20 قَالَ عِلْمُهَا عِنْدَ رَبِّي فِي كِتَبِ He said, “The knowledge. 53 لَا يَضِلُّ رَبِّي وَلَا يَنْسَى thereof is with my Lord preserved in a Book. My Lord neither errs "nor forgets. '2272 الَّذِي جَعَلَ لَكُمُ الْأَرْضَ مَهْدًا وَ سَلَكَ It is He Who has made the. 54 earth for you a cradle, and has caused pathways for you to run through it; and Who sends down لَكُمْ فِيهَا سُبُلًا وَأَنْزَلَ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ مَاءً فَأَخْرَجْنَا بِهِ أَزْوَاجًا مِنْ نَبَاتٍ شَتَّى rain from the sky and thereby We bring forth various kinds of vegetation in pairs. 2273 "19:65. b43:11. him (Pharaoh), so he adroitly turned away from the subject which he himself started and presented Moses with a new question. He asked Moses whether his God knew anything about the former generations who were dead and gone, meaning how they would fare when they had not had the benefit of receiving guidance from him (Moses). Thus, in a subtle manner Pharaoh sought to incite his people against Moses by making an oblique hint that he (Moses) regarded their forefathers as bereft of heavenly guidance and therefore deserving of Divine punishment. 2272. Commentary: Moses gives a crushing reply to Pharaoh's evasive tactics. He tells Pharaoh that he should not bother about the former generations. His God knew all about them and every detail concerning them was well preserved in His knowledge and on the Day of Resurrection He would requite them all according to their deeds and actions, taking into 2021 particular consideration their conditions and circumstances. 2273. Commentary: The word (in pairs) points to a profound scientific truth which has only recently been discovered, viz. that there are pairs in the vegetable world as there are pairs in the animal world. Long before this scientific truth was discovered the Quran had stated it. It has further stated that all objects have been created in pairs (51:50). Science seems to be moving in the direction pointed by the Quran. Its discoveries in organic and inorganic matter have been and increasingly supporting substantiating the truth enunciated by the Quran centuries ago. The verse under comment continues the argument begun in the previous verse, viz. that just as physical rain gives life to plants and vegetation, similarly water of Divine revelation is indispensable for the spiritual life of man.