{"id":484,"date":"2021-11-14T23:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-11-14T19:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iqralaan.wordpress.com\/?p=484"},"modified":"2022-12-30T09:27:33","modified_gmt":"2022-12-30T05:27:33","slug":"welcome-friends-day-83-quran-7-96-116-pages-163164","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iqraprinciple.com\/ar\/welcome-friends-day-83-quran-7-96-116-pages-163164\/","title":{"rendered":"HQ 7:96-116, pages 163+164"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Welcome Friends:  Ahlan wa sahlan<\/em>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the last Post we noted that Verses 94-95 spoke of communities in general, without specifying any single community, showing us the consequences that follow a certain course of COMMUNAL action. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here we learn valuable lessons regarding the alternation of relief and adversity, each serving to shed light on the other; we know the full meaning and value of something, not only by experiencing it, but by experiencing -or at least knowing- its opposite:[1]<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018By their opposites are all things known \/<\/em> \u0628\u0623\u0636\u062f\u0627\u062f\u0647\u0627 \u062a\u064f\u0639\u0631\u064e\u0641 \u0627\u0644\u0623\u0634\u064a\u0627\u0621\u064f<\/em>\u2019 <\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s what Arabs have traditionally understood, and that\u2019s what we spoke of on Day One when we started by showing how we recovered the meaning of Taqwa from its opposite in the Qur\u2019an (Udwaan is not mentioned in any lexicon). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Below you can see what a 10th<\/sup>. Century scholar, Ibn Qutaybah said about opposites.[2]<\/sup><\/strong><\/sup><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let us never discount the value of a negative experience!  All experiences have value, and we do hope and pray that we come to recognize and appreciate our positive experiences well enough, without needing their opposites to help us.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Back to our verses:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The verses we are discussing show us the consequences that follow the course of a community\u2019s actions, which continues until Verse 100, when the particular story of Prophet Moses, peace upon him, unfolds in Verse 103.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yusuf Ali\u2019s<\/a> Translation of this Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Muhammad Asad\u2019s<\/a> Translation of this Chapter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their commentaries can only be read in verse by verse view.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

COMMENTS:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAGE <\/strong>163<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Verse 96 gives us a powerful statement starting with, \u2018If only the people of the townships had faith and Awareness\u2026 \u2018 which makes us stop to see what would transpire after that?<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    Here we learn of the Abiding Bounty\/Blessings\/Barakaat that would be released from the Exalted Expanse and the Earth to benefit such communities; communities who have both Eman\/Faith AND Taqwa\/Awareness.[3]<\/sup><\/a>  Faith and Awareness seem to be the two requirements by which a community not only acquires -but holds onto- God\u2019s abiding bounty.    When communities belie and repudiate what God sends them, rather than have faith in it (and by having lost a chance at awareness remain in udwaan) God allows them to taste what they have earned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This is indeed food for thought in our world today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This helps us realize that we, who have faith and trust, should be actually out there, working harder, performing more good deeds to counter the harmful deeds that are taking place in our communities.  But we should do so with Taqwa\u2026 not Udwaan .. or else we\u2019d become part of their construct as well, albeit dressed in different colors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    2.  <\/strong>Each of the next four Verses (97-100) when read in Arabic is literally heart-stopping!  They begin with the same word -with slight rhetorical variation- asking the people of such communities (devoid of faith and awareness) whether they feel safe from getting what\u2019s coming to them?  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Indeed, how can they  feel safe when it is God Himself delivering to them the consequences of their deeds when they least expect that!  The consequences might come while they are asleep, or while they are frolicking or seeking their pleasures\/drooling \u0644\u0639\u0628 (we spoke of \u2018yal3ab- \u064a\u0644\u0639\u0628\u2019 on Day 70).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Verse 99 in Asad\u2019s explanation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cCan they, then, ever feel secure from God\u2019s deep devising? But none feels secure from God\u2019s deep devising save people who are [already] lost.\u201d<\/strong>[4]<\/sup><\/strong><\/sup><\/strong><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Verse 100 speaks to all generations that follow one another! We shall discuss what Ali and Asad describe as \u2018sealing the hearts\u2019 shortly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    As Ali says in his comment:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \u201cThe stories which have been related should give a warning to present and future generations which have inherited the land, the power, or the experience of the past. They should know that if they fall into the same sins they will meet with the same fate: when through their contumacy[5]<\/sup><\/strong><\/sup><\/a> their hearts are hardened, they do not listen to the advice that falls on their ears.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3. <\/strong>Verses 101-102 begin by addressing Prophet Muhammad in particular \ufdfa before they become general.  The stories of previous Messengers and their people served to remind the Meccans of their past, themselves being descendants of Prophet Abraham from his son Ishmael, peace upon both.  The Qur\u2019an was showing them (and Prophet Muhammad) their part in the full circle of Revelation.  But what a warning this was to Qureish -and especially their elders- in whose midst these verses were being revealed!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In fact, these verses are a warning to anyone who belies God\u2019s Message for all time.  That is because the Qur\u2019aan is superior in its attribute, delivering its principled Message in every aan (every moment\/ \u2018in the now\u2019), teaching us here about:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The danger of habitualization which grows as we age:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    When a person belies something outright, calling it false again and again, it becomes difficult to change one\u2019s heart\/mind, and when one is older (or arrogant), it becomes very difficult to admit one was wrong. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the end, there comes a time, after all the opportunities have been missed, that the \u2018qalb,\u2019 the \u2018heart\/mind\u2019 earns the \u2018Tab3\/\u0637\u0628\u0639\u2019  upon it, becoming \u2018sealed\u2019 due to the person\u2019s repeated performance of the same habit, (\u2018habit\u2019 in Arabic literally means \u2018Tab3\/ \u0637\u0628\u0639\u2019[6]<\/sup><\/a> a term which appears derogatively in the Qur\u2019an).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What this means is that due to prolonged persistence, one\u2019s heart\/mind cannot abandon what it has long habituated for another habituation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This information serves us well, especially if we are young enough (at heart!!) to change our habits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In these verses the habituation mentioned was belying and denial, and we shall see other habituations as we progress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    What about the rare opportunity some people had of actually KNOWING a Messenger of God, yet -due to habitualization or arrogance- persisting in denial until they finally earn themselves the God-given title of \u2018The Deniers?\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    These verses were a consolation to Prophet Muhammad \ufdfa in that his effort would not make the difference between their faith or denial; he only had to make sure the Message itself was delivered. He was one of their own; one who -before this Message- they had loved, trusted, and respectfully called \u2018Al Ameen\/The Trustworthy.\u2019  Their denial is on them.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    3.  <\/strong>Verses 103-104 begin the narrative of Prophet Moses, peace upon him, with Pharaoh and his people.  Moses starts by introducing himself as the Messenger of the Lord of the Worlds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We notice the length of this narrative in comparison to the preceding summaries<\/em> of the narratives of Prophets Noah, Hud, Saleh, Lot and Shu\u2019ayb, peace upon them all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Earlier, each of these Prophets was dealing with a group of people who were \u2013all together- committing one or more of the Inviolables \u0627\u0644\u0645\u062d\u0631\u0651\u0645\u0627\u062a \/AlMuHarramaat which deviate from the \u2018Straightened Path.\u2019 Each prophet\u2019s mission was to introduce or reinstate the particular commandment\/s he was entrusted to deliver, which would be one or more of these \u2018Inviolables,\u2019 attempting to raise people to a higher level of accountability relative to humanity\u2019s advancement at the time. Moses, on the other hand, was reinstating them all (see \u2018Straightened Path\u2019 and <\/em>Blog Post Day 77<\/a>).<\/em>[7]<\/sup><\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In earlier posts, Readers would have noticed the skill with which Prophet Abraham, peace upon him, took his people from worshipping the corporeal to the transcendental, from revering idols and celestial bodies to worshipping God (as seen in Blog Post Day 69<\/a>).[8]<\/sup><\/a>  By Prophet Moses\u2019 time however, peace upon him, humanity was ready for higher accountability, therefore his mission was to entrust them with so much more.  Many of the Straightened Path\u2019s Inviolables are still found in the Commandments of today\u2019s Old Testament, as we saw in above Posting of Blog Post Day 76<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    4.   <\/strong>In Verse 105 Prophet Moses affirms his truthfulness and integrity, stating that he has \u2018clear evidence\u2019- bayyinah \u0628\u064a\u0650\u0651\u0646\u0629 -and informs Pharaoh of his request: \u201c.. so send with me Bani Isra\u2019eel!\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the following verses (106-108) Pharaoh challenges him to show what Sign \u2018Aayah- \u0622\u064a\u0629 \u2019 he might have, so Moses flings his staff which becomes an evident serpent, and puts out his hand, which is observed to be shining white and luminous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    5. In Verses 109-112 we hear the discussion that took place between Pharaoh and his court, who immediately judged Moses in terms they could relate to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n