The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 259
PT. 17 AL-HAJJ CH. 22 وَهُوَ الَّذِي أَحْيَاكُمْ ثُمَّ يُمِيتُكُمْ ثُمَّ And He it is Who gave you. 67 life, then He will cause you to die, then will He give you life again. Surely, man is most ungrateful. 2496 يُحْيِيكُمْ إِنَّ الْإِنْسَانَ لَكَفُورٌ لِكُلِّ أُمَّةٍ جَعَلْنَا مَنْسَاهُمْ نَاسِكُوهُ For every people have We. 68 kristiksašijej فَلَا يُنَازِ عُنَّكَ فِي الْأَمْرِ وَادْعُ إِلَى رَبَّكَ إِنَّكَ لَعَلَى هُدًى مُسْتَقِيمٍ appointed ways of worship which they observe; so let them not dispute with thee in the matter; and call thou the people to thy Lord, for surely, thou followest the right guidance. 2497 a 2:29; 16:71; 30:41; 40:69. or those of man's own fancy. Secondly, when God has pressed the whole universe into the service of man and has made him the lord of the whole creation and His own chief handiwork, it is foolish on his part to degrade himself so low as to worship anything besides God. The verse possesses another significance. The realization that all things are created for the service of man draws our attention to the uses and properties of different objects and urges us to study them and then turn them to our benefit. It is this study of natural objects that led to new discoveries and inventions and consequently to the great material progress which the early Muslims made in the heyday intellectual glory. 2496. Commentary: of their The verse speaks of another Divine favour. God gave us life, then He will cause us to die and then will He give mentioned here as a Divine boon because it is the door through which man passes to a fuller life, which is eternal and is of growing and unending progress. That life which knows no end is described here by the words ui. e. then will He give you life again. In yet another sense death is a great Divine blessing. If there had been no death, human life would have become intolerable and there would have been disorder, confusion and chaos on earth. The words, "then He will cause you to die; then will He give you life," further signify that the process of life and death continues simultaneously. Every death is followed by and brings the message of a new life. A few Muslims killed at the battlefields of Badr, Uhud, etc. , brought about the spiritual resurrection of the whole of Arabia. 2497. Important Words: (ways of worship) means, rites us a new life again. Death has been of sacrifice; religious rites and 2173