The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 328
CH. 23 AL-MU'MINÜN PT. 18 أَفَحَسِبْتُمْ أَنَّمَا خَلَقْنَكُمْ عَبَنَّا وَ أَنَّكُمْ Did you then think that We. 116 إِلَيْنَا لَا تُرْجَعُونَ had created you without purpose, and that you would not be brought back to Us?'2587 فَتَعَلَى اللهُ الْمَلِكُ الْحَقُّ لَا إِلَهَ إِلَّا هُوَ Exalted then be Allah, the. 117 True King. There is no God but He, the Lord of the Glorious Throne. 2588 رَبُّ الْعَرْشِ الْكَرِيمِ "20:115; 22:63; 24:26. 2587. Important Words: (for no purpose) is infinitive noun from ('abitha) which means, he indulged in amusement; he joked and jested. means, to do a thing which has no known good or benefit and has no object or purpose. They sayi. e. he did a thing which had no purpose or object in it (Aqrab & Lane). Commentary: After bringing home to disbelievers the iniquity of their behaviour and of their persecution of Divine Messengers and joking and jesting with their followers, God reprimands them by reminding them that the manner in which they lead their lives shows that they think that man's life has no object or purpose and that this great universe of which he is at once the axis and centre and the aim and object, has been created without purpose. The reprimand implies the answer that man has been created to serve a great purpose, a noble object. It is to become God's Vicegerent on earth and to develop and reflect in his person Divine attributes, particularly the four attributes mentioned in the next verse. He has been endowed our with a divine personality and is manifestly the central point of creation or at least that part of creation which is related to universe and it is to help him to reach the great goal which he is destined to attain that God sends His Messengers. The verse further signifies that man's life having a great purpose to fulfil will not end with his departure from this world and with the soul's flight from its physical habitat. The human soul will continue its never-ending journey in a new world, a new form and in a new body. The very idea that with the dissolution of its physical tabernacle the human soul suffers death militates against God's wisdom and against His whole design and purpose in creating universe. 2588. Commentary: 2242 This verse expressly supplies the answer to the vital question as to what is the aim and object of man's creation. It is this that man should develop in himself and demonstrate in his behaviour Divine attributes, particularly the four basic ones mentioned in the present verse, viz.