Allah created man with both good and evil in him, and also gave him wisdom to always choose the good and dispel evil. But He also knew that devil will always be playing his dirty tricks on man and luring them into his fold and mislead them form the straight path of truth and blessings.
He thus sent down many a prophets and messenger to tell the man how to distinguish between goo and evil and how not to follow the machinations of the evil forces. The following verse quoted in the Qur'an is attributed to Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) who in his last days advised his followers to be always thankful to their Lord and be not ungrateful for then they would draw the wrath of their Lord which will be very painful and everlasting:
وَاِذۡ تَاَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمۡ لَـئِنۡ شَكَرۡتُمۡ لَاَزِيۡدَنَّـكُمۡ وَلَـئِنۡ كَفَرۡتُمۡ اِنَّ عَذَابِىۡ لَشَدِيۡدٌ
Also call to mind when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks, I will certainly grant you more; but if you are ungrateful for My favours, My chastisement is terrible. (Surah Ibrahim 14:7)
That is, "If you are grateful, you will appreciate Our favors and make right use of them, and will not rebel against Our Commandments, but will surrender and submit to Us to show your gratitude to Us."
Deuteronomy (Bible) contains a long and detailed discourse to this effect. According to it, Prophet Moses, on the eve of his death, reminded the Israelites of all important events from their history, and reiterated all the Divine Commandments of the Torah which Allah had sent to them through him. Then he told them in a long speech that if they obeyed their Lord, they would be given great rewards. But if they adopted the attitude of disobedience, they would get a terrible punishment. This discourse spreads over chapters 4, 6, 8, 10, 11 and 2830. Some of these passages arc so impressive and instructive that it will be worthwhile to quote a few of them:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. . . . " (Deut. 6: 47)
"And now, Israel, what doth the Lord thy God require of thee, but to fear the Lord thy God, to walk in all his ways; and to love him, and to serve the Lord Thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul, to keep the commandments of the Lord, and his statutes, which I command thee this day for thy good ? Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens is thy Lord's thy God, the earth also, with all that therein is." (Deut. 10: 12-14)
"And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth: And all these blessings shall come on thee, and overtake thee, if thou shalt hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God. Blessed shalt thou be in the city, and blessed shalt thou be in the field. The Lord shall cause thine enemies that rise up against thee to be smitten before thy face....The Lord shall command the blessing upon thee in thy storehouses, and in all that thou settest thine hand unto....The Lord shall establish thee an holy people unto himself....And all people of the earth shall see that thou art called by the name of the Lord; and they shall be afraid of thee....and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the Lord shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath...." (28: 1-13).
"But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all those curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.. . . The Lord shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do. . . . The Lord shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, . . . . And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron....The Lord shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them :....Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof. Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes....Therefore. shalt thou serve thine enemies which the Lord shall send against thee, in hunger, and in thirst, and in nakedness, and in want of all things: and he shall put a yoke of iron upon thy neck, until he have destroyed thee....And the Lord shall scatter thee among all people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other :...." (Deut: 28: 15-64).
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(وَإِذْ تَأَذَّنَ رَبُّكُمْ And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed) means, proclaimed and made known His promise to you. It is possible that this Ayah means, your Lord has vowed and sworn by His might, grace and exaltness.
Allah said in a similar Ayah: (And (remember) when your Lord declared that He would certainly keep on sending against them (i.e. the Jews), till the Day of Resurrection.) [7:167]
Allah then said,( لَئِن شَكَرْتُمْ لأَزِيدَنَّكُمْ If you give thanks, I will give you more;) meaning, `if you appreciate My favor on you, I will give you more of it,
(وَلَئِن كَفَرْتُ but if you are thankless) if you are not thankful for My favors, covering and denying, them, ( إِنَّ عَذَابِى لَشَدِيدٌ verily, My punishment is indeed severe), by depriving you of the favor and punishing you for being unappreciative of it.'
A Hadith states that, (A servant might be deprived of a provision (that was written for him) because of a sin that he commits. )
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The various shades of meaning in Shakara are explained in verse 14:5 as under:
وَلَـقَدۡ اَرۡسَلۡنَا مُوۡسٰى بِاٰيٰتِنَاۤ اَنۡ اَخۡرِجۡ قَوۡمَكَ مِنَ الظُّلُمٰتِ اِلَى النُّوۡرِ ۙ وَذَكِّرۡهُمۡ بِاَيّٰٮمِ اللّٰهِؕ اِنَّ فِىۡ ذٰ لِكَ لَاٰيٰتٍ لّـِكُلِّ صَبَّارٍ شَكُوۡرٍ
(14:5) We indeed sent Moses with Our Signs, saying: "Lead your people out of all kinds of darkness into light, and admonish them by narrating to them anecdotes from the Days of Allah." Verily in it there are great Signs for everyone who is patient and gives thanks (to Allah).
Sabbar is the intensive form, and includes all the ideas implied in Sabr (ii. 45 and ii. 153) in an intensive degree. Shakur and Shakir have in them the idea of appreciation, recognition, gratitude as shown in deeds of goodness and righteousness. Both terms are applied to Allah as well as to men. A slight distinction in shades of meaning may be noted. Shakur implies that the appreciation is even for the smallest favours and response on the other side; it is a mental attitude independent of specific facts. Shakir implies bigger and more specific things.
Kafara implies: (1) to reject Faith, as in ii. 6 and n. 30; (2) to be ungrateful for mercies and favours received, as here; (3) to resist Allah or Faith, as in iii. 13; (4) to deny (the Signs of Allah), as in iii. 21, or deny the mission of Messengers, as in xiv. 9. Kafir in the most general sense may be translated "Unbeliever".
Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs:
(And when your Lord proclaimed) when your Lord said and informed you in the Scripture: (If ye give thanks) for your success, safety, favour and blessings, (I will give you more) success, safety, favour and blessings; (but if ye are thankless) if you do not believe me or are ungrateful for the blessings bestowed upon you, (lo! my punishment is dire) for the one who disbelieves.
May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
- The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
- The exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [2]
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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