Revelations Well Expounded (Fussilat)
Verses 44 GROUP_1265 41.44
44
وَلَوْ جَعَلْنَاهُ قُرْآنًا أَعْجَمِيًّا لَّقَالُوا لَوْلَا فُصِّلَتْ آيَاتُهُ أَأَعْجَمِيٌّ وَعَرَبِيٌّ قُلْ هُوَ لِلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا هُدًى وَشِفَاء وَالَّذِينَ لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ فِي آذَانِهِمْ وَقْرٌ وَهُوَ عَلَيْهِمْ عَمًى أُوْلَئِكَ يُنَادَوْنَ مِن مَّكَانٍ بَعِيدٍ
Had We sent this as a Quran [in a language] other than Arabic, they would have said, ‘Why are its verses not clearly explained? What! An Arab Prophet, and a scripture in a foreign tongue?’ Say, ‘It is a guide and a healing to those who believe; but for those who do not believe, there is a deafness in their ears, and a covering over their eyes: they are [as it were] being called from a very distant place.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) When the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language, opponents of Islam said that this was the Prophet Muhammad’s mother tongue, and therefore it was not difficult for him to write some sort of book in Arabic and present it as holy scripture. They further said that had he really been a prophet, he would have delivered discourses in a strange language with the help of God. Non-serious and insincere people alone indulge in such talk, and such people can never be satisfied. For example, if it had happened that the prophet had approached the Arab people and started talking to them in Greek or Syriac or Persian language, the people would have had grounds for saying; ‘How strange is this prophet! He says that he has come to guide the people, but he speaks in a language which is not understood by his audience.’ The fact is that only those people are able to accept the Truth who are serious about it. Those who are not serious about the Truth are unable to understand even the clearest of its points. The analogy befitting them is that of a person who is called from a very far-off place. Such a person will hear some voice, but he will be unable to make out its real sense.