The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 183
PT. 17 AL-ANBIYA' CH. 21 BARJE قَالُوا مَنْ فَعَلَ هُذَا بِالِهَتِنَا إِنَّهُ لَمِنَ They said, “Who has done. 60 this to our gods? Surely, he must be a wrongdoer. '2397 61. They said, 'We heard a young man speak ill of them; he is called Abraham. '2397A SIEJŲ الظَّلِمِينَ قَالُوا سَمِعْنَا فَتًى يَذْكُرُهُمْ يُقَالُ لَةَ ابرهيمة قَالُوْا فَا تُوْا بِهِ عَلَى أَعْيُنِ النَّاسِ لَعَلَّهُمْ They said, “Then bring him. 62 يَشْهَدُونَ before the eyes of the people, that they may bear witness. '2398 قَالُوا وَ اَنْتَ فَعَلْتَ هذا بالهَتِنَا Then they said to Abraham. 63 يابُرُ هِيمُ 'Is it thou who hast done this to our gods, O Abraham?' قَالَ بَلْ فَعَلَهُ كَبِيرُهُمْ هذَا He replied, “Well, somebody. 64 لا تذکری فرسى وما أطعمته فيكون جلدك مثل جلد الا جرب has surely done this. Here is the people so that when they should see them broken into pieces they should realize their complete powerlessness and uselessness and so turn to God. It may be noted here that the idols belonged to Abraham's own family. Otherwise it was not right and proper for him to break other people's idols. 2397. Commentary: :may mean من فعل هذا The clause (a) Who has done this? (b) Whosoever has done this. 2397A. Important Words: i. e. do not thou speak ill of my horse and of what I have given him for food or thy skin will be like the skin of the scabby (Lane & Aqrab). 2398. Commentary: was The reason why Abraham summoned to appear in public was either that those who had heard him speak ill of the idols should bear witness against him that he had broken the idols, or that after listening to the evidence against Abraham they might decide what | ذكره. (speak ill of them) يذكرهم means, (1) he mentioned it, told it, related it; (2) he spoke well of him or he spoke ill of him and mentioned his faults. They say i. e. if thou speak ill of me, thou wilt assuredly repent. An Arab poet says: 2097 punishment should be meted out to him. Or the reason might be that all people should witness the punishment that was to be inflicted on him. This is the significance of the words "that they may bear witness. "