The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5)

The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 394

General Remarks CHAPTER 78 AN-NABA' (Revealed before Hijrah) This Surah is entitled An-Naba' (news of tremendous import or great event), because it deals with a subject of exceptional importance, i. e. certainty of the Resurrection, predominance of the Quran over all other revealed Scriptures, and of Islam over other faiths. The Day of Decision, i. e. the day when this Quranic claim will become an established fact, is mentioned twice in the preceding Surah and is repeated in the present Surah. The Surah, according to Muslim scholarly opinion, was revealed very early in the Holy Prophet's ministry at Mecca. Nöldeke agrees with this opinion. The Surah opens with an enumeration of great Divine gifts upon man, and directs his attention to the implied suggestion that man has been placed upon this earth to serve a certain object and that his life here is the seedbed of an eternal future and will be followed by a Day of Reckoning. The Surah then gives a brief but awe-inspiring picture of that Day, and a graphic description of the heavenly blessings that await the righteous and of the punishment which will be meted out to the rejecters of truth, in this and in the next life. 3290