The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 894
CH. 41 ḤĀ MĪM AS-SAJDAH PT. 24 حَتَّى إِذَا مَا جَاءُوهَا شَهِدَ عَلَيْهِمْ ,Till, when they reach it. 21 "their ears and their eyes and them as to what they had been سَمْعُهُمْ وَأَبْصَارُهُمْ وَجُلُودُهُمْ بِمَا their skins will bear witness against كَانُوا يَعْمَلُونَ doing. 3572 وَقَالُو الِجُلُودِهِمُ لِمَشَهِدْتُمْ عَلَيْنَا And they will say to their. 22 قَالُوا انْطَقَنَا اللهُ الَّذِى اَنْطَقَ كُلَّ شَيْءٍ :against us? They will say skins: 'Why bear ye witness ‘Allah has made us to speak as speak. And He it is Who created هُوَ خَلَقَكُمْ أَوَّلَ مَرَّةٍ وَ إِلَيْهِ He has made everything else to تُرْجَعُونَ you the first time, and unto Him have you been brought back. 3573 وَمَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُونَ أَنْ يَشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ And you did not fear while. 23 committing sins that your ears سَمْعُكُمْ وَلَا أَبْصَارُكُمْ وَلَا جُلُودُكُمْ and your eyes and your skins would bear witness against you, "17:37; 24:25; 36:66. i. e. I saw him forming the army into groups and stationing them in lines for fighting (Aqrab). 3572. Commentary: The ears and eyes of the guilty will bear witness against them in three ways: (1) The evil consequences of the actions of disbelievers will take physical form in the next world and thus will be quite apparent for anyone to see. (2) The very organs of the bodies of disbelievers having been vitiated by misuse, their vitiate condition will bear witness against them; and (3) the words uttered by them and all the movement of the organs of their bodies, having been preserved, 2808 will be reproduced on the Last Day. 3573. Commentary: In the previous verse it was mentioned that the ears, eyes and skins of the guilty will give evidence against them. In this verse the first two organs have been omitted and only "the skins" are mentioned as having been given the power to speak. This is because the skin plays the most important part in man's actions. It includes not only the sense of touch but also all the other senses. While the sins of the eyes and the ears are confined to seeing and hearing, the sins of "the skin" extend to all organs or limbs of the body.