The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 4) — Page 956
CHAPTER 44 AD-DUKHĀN (Revealed before Hijrah) Introductory Remarks This is decidedly a Meccan Surah. All authorities including Ibn 'Abbās and Ibn Zubair agree on this point. It belongs to the Middle Meccan period. Nöldeke assigns its revelation to the sixth or seventh year of the Call. It has 60 verses including Bismillah, and takes its name from v. 11. Connection with the Preceding Surah In the closing verses of the previous Surah had been made a pathetic reference to the agonised outpourings of the Holy Prophet's lacerated heart, that in spite of his best efforts his Message had failed to evoke adequate response in his people. In answer to his cries of agony, the Prophet was told to overlook their faults and invoke God's mercy on them, for thus his prayer would draw Divine grace and would make them realise their mistake and listen to him. In the present Surah we are told that the Quran which fully explains the truths and realities of life has been revealed by God, the Lord of all Honour and Praise, and that it has been revealed in a period of spiritual darkness, which nevertheless is blessed. It will lead people to the right path. The revelation of the Quran is in accordance with the invariable practice and unalterable decree of God, that when mankind gropes in the Cimmerian darkness of moral turpitude, God raises a Messenger to guide and reform them. He has now sent the Holy Prophet that he might reclaim mankind from sin and evil. Summary The Surah is the fifth of the Ḥā Mīm group. Like its predecessors it opens with the subject of revelation of the Quran, though in a different form and context. It commences with the theme that whenever darkness enshrouds the face of the earth, and humanity is stuck fast in the quagmire of moral turpitude, God raises a Messenger and gives him a new Message to reclaim and regenerate the world. Prophets of God had been appearing at such decadent times, and now that moral need of humanity was the greatest and spiritual darkness was most intense and overwhelming, God has raised the greatest of His Messengers and has given him the Last and Perfect Law-the Quran. This dark period in which the Holy Prophet has made his appearance has been called the blessed night, humanity's "Night of Destiny". In it the foundations of man's moral and spiritual future have been laid for all time to come. The advent of the Holy Prophet is indeed a great mercy of God. God 2870