The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 933
complete chaos, God would have given to disbelievers tons of gold and silver, so much so that even the stairways of their houses would have been of gold! These things were nothing in God's sight. The disbelievers are further warned that if indulgence in these things made them oblivious of God, they will fall into the Satan's trap which will bring about their ruin. Next, the Surah tells the Holy Prophet that his duty is confined to the preaching of the Message of Islam. The disbelievers have persistently shut their eyes and ears to this Message, and by deliberately choosing to grope in the dark and to sink deeper and deeper into sin, they have drawn Divine wrath upon their heads. They will be seized with punishment but only after the Prophet's departure from among them. The Holy Prophet is comforted that the treatment he has received at the hands of his people is just like the treatment which disbelievers in the past meted out to their Prophets. Like him, the earlier Prophets preached Unity of God and like him they were rejected, opposed and persecuted. Moses was one of those Prophets. He was sent to Pharaoh and his chiefs, with the message of truth. He showed them many signs, each being greater than its forerunner. But, for all the signs shown by him, Moses only received derision and mockery. Pharaoh mockingly asked his people whether he (Pharaoh) was not the monarch of the whole of Egypt and the possessor of great wealth and position? Was he not better than Moses, who was poor and unable to even express himself properly? Did Moses possess any wealth, or did angels descend from Heaven to bear witness to his truth? What, after all, was Moses' claim to their allegiance? This is how by rejecting Moses, Pharaoh excited God's wrath, and his destruction served as an object- lesson for those who might dare oppose Divine Messengers, or reject them. As stated above, the main theme of this Surah is the unsparing denunciation of idolatry and false gods. But while Jesus is worshipped as God by Christians, the Quran not only does not condemn him but actually mentions his name with great respect. At this exception of Jesus the disbelieving Quraish naturally took great offence. To explain this exception, the Surah towards its close makes a little digression. It says that the reason for this exception is that Jesus was a noble Prophet of God and that he invited his people to worship Allah alone Who was his and their Lord. But his people ignored his teachings and deified him. So the fault lay with his people and not with him, so the people will be punished for their idolatry and polytheistic beliefs. Towards the end, the Surah holds out a warning to disbelievers that if they did not give up wrong beliefs and evil practices they will burn in the fire of Hell. It gives to the righteous the glad tidings that they will go to "Gardens of Eternity" wherein they will have what they desire, and that the Divine blessings and boons they will enjoy will know no end. The Sūrah ends on a brief but most clear and convincing discourse on the Unity of God, which is its main subject. 2847