The Holy Quran with Five Volume Commentary (Vol 5) — Page 30
CH. 47 MUHAMMAD 17. And among them are some who listen to thee till, when they say to those who have been E PT. 26 وَمِنْهُمْ مَّنْ يَسْتَمِعُ إِلَيْكَ حَتَّى إِذَا خَرَجُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ قَالُوا لِلَّذِينَ أُوتُوا they go forth from thy presence قف الْعِلْمَ مَاذَا قَالَ أَيْفًا " أُولَيكَ الَّذِينَ given knowledge, “What has he طَبَعَ اللهُ عَلى قُلُوبِهِمْ وَاتَّبَعُوا Those are they whose hearts" أهْوَاءَهُمْ been talking about just now?' Allah has sealed, and who follow their own inclinations. 3801 evil 9:93; 16:109; 63:4. and rivers of clarified honey. The word which has been used four times in the verse, besides other senses, signifies light and amplitude; and among other things, means a good or righteous deed which wins for the doer the love and esteem of men. In view of the signification of these two words the verse may mean that the four things mentioned will be given to the righteous in plenty: viz. water which is the source of all life (21:31); milk which, besides giving health and vigour to the body, stands for spiritual knowledge; wine which gives pleasant sensations and forgetfulness of worries; and honey, being the means of curing many a disease, represents good righteous deeds which make the believers beloved of men. Taken in the physical sense, i. e. pertaining to the present life, the verse would signify that in the present life the believers will have in plenty all those things which make life pleasant, delightful and useful; and taken symbolically and in a spiritual sense, it would mean that believers will have a full life, they will be endowed with spiritual knowledge, will drink the wine of God's love and will do deeds that will win for them love and esteem of men. 3801. Commentary: As the principal subject of the Surah is war, it naturally deals with three categories of men, viz. true believers, firm disbelievers and the hypocrites who vacillate between faith and disbelief. The verse under comment deals with the third category of men. has a ما ذا قال آنها The expression twofold meaning. A hypocrite being a double-faced person generally uses of and language susceptible double meaning. This he does in order to extricate himself from an awkward position, wherein, should one construction of his speech land him in trouble, he might be able to avoid that consequence by putting quite a different construction on it. The above expression is an appropriate instance of the equivocal language used by the hypocrites of Medina. If 2926