The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page xiii
PREFACE (1988 Edition) The First Half of this Commentary comprising the first eighteen chapters of the Qur'an was published several years ago. The present book which is Volume II (Part II) deals with the next 27 chapters-from Surah Maryam to Surah Al-Jathiyah. The preparation of the Commentary was originally entrusted to a Board of Editors Consisting of the late Maulawi Sher ‘Alī, Mirzā Bashir Ahmad, M. A. , and Malik Ghulām Farīd, M. A. , present Editor of the Commentary. The Commentary is based mainly on the material culled and collected from the writings and speeches of Ḥaḍrat Mirzā Bashīr-ud-Dīn Maḥmūd Aḥmad, present Head of the Aḥmadiyya Community. The first Volume had hardly appeared when, with the Partition of India, in 1947, the whole work was thrown out of gear. The Headquarters of the Movement had to be shifted to Pakistan, and much of the very useful religious literature produced by the Community in the past five decades was left behind, Immediately after, Maulawi Sher Ali died and Mirzā Bashir Aḥmad was called to other important duties, adding greatly to the Editor's difficulties. However, with Allah's grace and mercy the book is seeing the light of the day, after several years' waiting on our readers' part. The Arabic text has been given side by side with the English translation. A mere translation without the text is likely to endanger the purity of the text, besides depriving the reader of the opportunity of comparison, verification, and of making a critical study of the Holy Book. The annotations of the text have been generally divided into two parts. The first deals with Important Words in the verse under comment. These words, along with other words derived from the same root, particularly those occurring in other parts of the Qur'ān, have been explained and examples given to illustrate their different uses. These explanations are based on the standard lexicons of the Arabic language, such as the Lisān al-‘Arab, the Tāj al-'Arūs, the Mufradāt of Imām Rāghib, the Arabic-English Lexicon by E. W. Lane and the Aqrab al-Mawārid. As regards the translation, our procedure has been to base the meaning of every word first on the corroborative testimony of other parts of the Qur'an and secondly on the context. The words printed in italics have been introduced to explain the meaning of the text, there being no words corresponding to them in the original.