The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 195
eventual victory of truth over falsehood is in sight. The Surah opens with a declaration of the power, might and knowledge of God, the Revealer of the Quran. "His is the kingdom of the heavens and the earth (v. 2)," says the Surah, "and it is He who causes the light of truth to penetrate the darkness of falsehood and the darkness of falsehood to disappear" (v. 7), hinting thereby that the hour of the Victory of Islam had approached near. But there were essential conditions to be fulfilled before that consummation could take place, i. e. there must be on the part of Muslims a firm and invincible faith in the truth of Islamic ideals and a preparedness to make necessary sacrifice of life and property for the furtherance of the cause of truth. This is how, the Sūrah proceeds to say, God gives life to earth after it is dead (v. 18), i. e. He raises a people morally corrupt and politically unsettled to spiritual eminence and material power and greatness. The believers, however, are warned that after they have acquired power and prosperity they should not neglect moral ideals and should not indulge in the pursuit of transitory material pleasures because that would lead them to a life of sin and vice. The Surah continues the theme namely, that from time immemorial God's Messengers have been appearing in the world to lead men to the goal of their lives and that God has created "iron" (v. 26) which of all metals is perhaps of greater utility for mankind and which causes great violence and destruction. Next, the Surah very briefly traces back the account of Divine revelation to the time of Noah and the Prophets of Israel and closes by warning Muslims that God's pleasure is not to be sought by leading a life of renunciation or flight from the world, as Jesus's followers had mistakenly thought and practised, but by making proper use of powers and faculties bestowed by God on man, and of the things God has created for his benefit. 3091