The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 762
sons- -Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was faced with a severe trial. In fulfilment of his vision Abraham prepared himself to slaughter him, then his only son. He asked Ishmael if he was ready to give his life to fulfil the Divine command. Ishmael did not evince the least hesitancy in laying down his life. The only answer he gave to his father's query was in words full of pathos. "My father," he said, "do as thou art commanded, God willing, thou wilt find me of those who are steadfast in their faith. " But God had willed otherwise. Abraham was told that he had already fulfilled his vision and had carried out the Divine command and that he should slaughter a ram instead of sacrificing Ishmael. This noble act of Abraham and Ishmael stands as a unique and imperishable testimony to the goodness and greatness of both the father and the son. They secured a certificate of Divine pleasure embodied in the words; "they were among Our believing servants. " Abraham's account is followed by a brief reference to Moses and Aaron how God saved them and their people from the clutches of Pharaoh and how the wicked tyrant was drowned with his mighty hosts before their very eyes and how as a reward for their steadfast loyalty in the face of grave trials, God blessed Moses and Aaron with a Book which was a great source of spiritual light and guidance for the Israelites. Next are mentioned Elijah and Lot and last of all a somewhat detailed description is given of Prophet Jonah. We are told that Jonah fled from his people because they rejected his Message, and sailed in a boat full of passengers. He was thrown overboard and was swallowed by a fish which later on disgorged him on a bare tract of land. He then went back to his people who eventually believed in him. After giving a brief account of some of the Divine Prophets and their enemies with the object of showing that those who seek to frustrate God's plans and thwart His designs meet with frustration and failure and that truth eventually triumphs and prospers, the Sūrah, in the concluding verses, winds up its central theme-the repudiation and condemnation of idol worship, particularly, the worship of angels. The idol worshippers are reprimanded that they are foolish enough not to understand the simple fact that the ascription of Divine powers and attributes to weak human beings or to forces of nature or even to angels who themselves are created beings offends against human reason, common-sense and conscience. They are further told that the angels are only God's creatures who have specific duties to perform and who praise God and glorify Him. The Surah ends on the note that it is an unalterable Divine decree that when forces of darkness are pitted against God's Prophets and His chosen servants, the latter receive Divine succour, and being God's own chosen servants succeed in their mission, while the votaries of Satan meet with defeat and discomfiture. This fact has been proved again and again in the lives of Divine Messengers and it leads to but one conclusion that "all praise belongs to God, the Lord of all the worlds. " 2676