The Heights (Al-A‘raf) الأعراف 203–206
203
وَإِذَا لَمْ تَأْتِهِم بِآيَةٍ قَالُواْ لَوْلاَ اجْتَبَيْتَهَا قُلْ إِنَّمَا أَتَّبِعُ مَا يِوحَى إِلَيَّ مِن رَّبِّي هَـذَا بَصَآئِرُ مِن رَّبِّكُمْ وَهُدًى وَرَحْمَةٌ لِّقَوْمٍ يُؤْمِنُونَ
When you do not bring them a sign, they say, ‘Why do you not invent one?’ Say, ‘I follow only what is revealed to me by my Lord. This Book is an enlightenment from your Lord and a guide and mercy to true believers.
204
وَإِذَا قُرِىءَ الْقُرْآنُ فَاسْتَمِعُواْ لَهُ وَأَنصِتُواْ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ
When the Quran is read, listen to it with attention, and hold your peace, so that you may receive mercy.
205
وَاذْكُر رَّبَّكَ فِي نَفْسِكَ تَضَرُّعاً وَخِيفَةً وَدُونَ الْجَهْرِ مِنَ الْقَوْلِ بِالْغُدُوِّ وَالآصَالِ وَلاَ تَكُن مِّنَ الْغَافِلِينَ
Remember your Lord deep in your very soul, in all humility and awe, without raising your voice, morning and evening—do not be one of the heedless—
206
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ عِندَ رَبِّكَ لاَ يَسْتَكْبِرُونَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِهِ وَيُسَبِّحُونَهُ وَلَهُ يَسْجُدُونَ
[even] the ones [angels] who live in the presence of your Lord are not too proud to worship Him: they glorify Him and prostrate themselves before Him.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) The Makkans used to ask the Prophet that if he was a Prophet of God why he did not bring miracles from God. It would indeed have been very easy for God to send His messenger with miracles. But if the Prophet had come with miracles, the real purpose of his coming would have been defeated. For instance, let’s suppose he was given a modern car with loudspeakers fixed to it in order to facilitate the communication of his message. One thousand five hundred years ago such a car would surely be a breathtaking miracle. Had this been so, people’s attention would have been diverted from the message. The real purpose of the coming of the prophet was that God’s word should serve to produce deep thinking in the people so that they might use their mental faculties to give deep thought to the words of God in order to purify their souls and establish contact with God. But given miracles, their attention would have been diverted, and they would have been lost in miracles instead of in God. True religion consists of paying attention to the word of God, in order to establish a profound relation with God. The devotee’s heart is softened. He becomes one who always remembers God. His heart and mind are overwhelmed with God’s majesty, making him truly modest and fearful of God. We are told to develop an angelic character in order that we may find the company of angels in the next life. When man frees himself from arrogance, he is so engrossed with God’s marvels expressed in creation that he cannot but remember God always from the innermost recesses of his heart. He attains the level of angels. The highest point for human achievement in his world is that, being a human being, one comes to develop an angelic character.