The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 172
CH. 21 AL-ANBIYA' PT. 17 وَمَا جَعَلْنَا لِبَشَرٍ مِّنْ قَبْلِكَ الْخُلْدَ We granted not everlasting. 35 أَفَأَبِنْ مِّتَّ فَهُمُ الْخَلِدُونَ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ ذَابِقَةُ الْمَوْتِ life to any human being before thee. If then thou shouldst die, shall they live here forever?2375 36. Every soul shall taste of death; and We prove you with Commentary: Spiritually speaking the sun stands for the Law-bearing Prophets, particularly the Holy Prophet of Islam, and the moon for those Reformers and Prophets who borrow their spiritual light from the Law- bearing Prophets. 'The day' represents the time when a new Prophet makes his appearance in the world and fresh revelation comes down from heaven and 'the night' represents that period when there is spiritual darkness all round and no revelation comes from God. The verse means to say that the night and the day, the sun and the moon have all been created by God and serve a definite purpose. They all fulfil human needs and are indispensable for man's existence on earth. The significance of the present and the preceding verse is that when God has taken so much care to provide for the physical and material needs of man, it is impossible even to think that He should have neglected to make a similar provision for his spiritual needs. 2375. Important Words: is syn. with infinitive noun from which is (khalada) means, he stuck to the earth. means, he inclined to him. als (khuld) or means, the immunity of a thing from speedy decay or deterioration and its remaining in a certain condition for a long time. The mountains are called (khawalid) on account of their long life (Lane & Aqrab). Commentary: The verse seems to signify that all the different Dispensations and religious systems before the Holy Prophet were decreed and destined to suffer spiritual decay and death and that it was only the Dispensation of the Holy Prophet-the Islamic Dispensation, which was to live and continue till the end of time. That is to say that all avenues to spiritual progress are closed after the Holy Prophet and only the door of Islam is left open to mankind to attain salvation and nearness to God. The words, "if then thou shouldst die shall they live forever," also seem signify to that if the Islamic Dispensation were to die, which is inconceivable, then there will be no spiritual light left and all humanity will suffer spiritual death. The implication of the verse may also be that no human being is immune from or death, not even the Prophet. Eternity and which means, he stayed for long. decay Holy | خلد. means, he stayed in the place بالمكان 2086