The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 160
CH. 21 AL-ANBIYA' PT. 17 وَمَا خَلَقْنَا السَّمَاءِ وَالْأَرْضَ وَمَا بَيْنَهُمَا And We created not the. 17 لعبين heaven and the earth and all that is between the two in play. 2357 لَوْ أَرَدْنَا اَنْ نَّتَّخِذَ لَهُوًا لَّاتَّخَذُنْهُ If We had wished to find a. 18 pastime, We would surely have found it in what is with Us if at all We were to do thing,2358 الحمى خمدت such a "15:86; 38:28; 44:39. from They say i. e. the fire subsided. means, the vehemence of the fever became allayed. also means, he (a sick man) fainted or swooned; or he died. means, silent; from whom no voice is heard; silent and dead or silent, having died, and become like extinguished ashes (Lane). (mown down). See 10:25. Commentary: The verse gives a graphic description of the people who are visited by the wrath of God. They are completely ruined. They lose all power and capacity for revival. The surest sign that the decline and downfall of a people has begun is that all their ambitions and aspirations become extinguished. The very will to live dies in them. They despair of their future and lose all initiative and thus to all intents and purposes become a dead people. 2357. Commentary: The verse means to say that when the universe has not been created as a mere pastime and sport and a little reflection over its creation reveals the great wisdom underlying it, the مِنْ لَّدُنَّا إِنْ كُنَّا فَعِلِينَ creation of man who is its axis and centre must also have been designed to serve a grand and sublime object. At another place the Quran says that man is God's vicegerent on earth and he has been created to serve as a mirror to reflect the beautiful image of his Creator (2:31). 2358. Important Words: (pastime) is here taken by some (in the dialect of Yemen) to mean a 'son' or 'wife'. Taken in this sense of the word, the verse would mean, "If We had wished to take a son or wife, We should have made them of Our kind and not of human species. " The verse constitutes an effective argument against the sonship of Jesus. The particle & means both 'if' and 'not,' and the clause mean (a) if We would do this; (b) We would not do this. Commentary: 2074 may The substance of the verse is that it is inconsistent with the Dignity and Majesty of God that He should have created this universe without a great object. If its creation had not been intended to serve a great and sublime purpose, God would not have sent