The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 157
PT. 17 AL-ANBIYA' CH. 21 وَمَا جَعَلْتُهُمْ جَسَدًا لَّا يَأْكُلُونَ العام And We did not give them. 9 وَمَا كَانُوا خَلِدِينَ ) bodies that ate no food, nor were they to live forever. 2350 ثُمَّ صَدَقْنَهُمُ الْوَعْدَ فَأَنْجَيْنُهُمْ وَمَنْ Then We fulfilled to them. 10 Our promise; and We saved them and those whom We pleased; and We destroyed the transgressors. 2 2351 "25:21. Prophets; (b) their followers; and (c) the Muslims, i. e. the followers of the Quran because it has also been called S (15:10; 16:45; 21:51 & 36:70). This and the following verse contain the answer to the objection embodied in the words, Is this man aught but a human being like yourselves (v. 4 above). The verse purports to say that the former Prophets were also ordinary mortals like the Holy Prophet and yet they (the Meccans) believe in them. It further implies that in spite of being ordinary men they succeeded in their mission and their enemies were destroyed. The opponents of the Holy Prophet should not therefore delude themselves into the false satisfaction that as he is an ordinary human being his rejection will do them no harm. For a fuller explanation of the present verse see 16:44. 2350. Commentary: Though disbelievers of all the Prophets believed them to be ordinary mortals, yet curiously enough the objection was invariably repeated to every Prophet that like ordinary mortals "he eats and drinks and walks نَّشَاءُ وَأَهْلَكْنَا الْمُسْرِفِينَ about the streets and is subject to all human needs and demands of the body" (25:8). An implied reference is made in the present verse to this inconsistent attitude of disbelievers. It purports to say that disbelievers in the time of the Holy Prophet cannot, or do not wish to, understand this simple fact that Prophets are raised as 'models' for men, and how could they be models for them if they were not men like them and were not like them subject to the demands of the body but belonged to any other species of creation? As human beings they were not and could not be immune from the demands of the flesh or from decay or death. 2071 2351. Commentary: The verse embodies an effective answer to all the objections that were raised in v. 6 above, viz. , (a) "these are but confused dreams," (b) "nay, he has forged it;" (c) nay, "he is a poet. " The answer consists in the fact that every Prophet receives from God certain promises and prophecies about the ultimate success of his mission and the defeat and discomfiture of his enemies, and that