The Rocky Tract (Al-Hijr)
Verses 51-56 GROUP_544 15.51-56
51
وَنَبِّئْهُمْ عَن ضَيْفِ إِبْراَهِيمَ
Tell them about Abraham’s guests:
52
إِذْ دَخَلُواْ عَلَيْهِ فَقَالُواْ سَلامًا قَالَ إِنَّا مِنكُمْ وَجِلُونَ
when they came to him they greeted him with: ‘Peace.’ He said,‘We feel afraid of you.’
53
قَالُواْ لاَ تَوْجَلْ إِنَّا نُبَشِّرُكَ بِغُلامٍ عَلِيمٍ
They said, ‘Do not be afraid. We come to you with good news. You shall have a son who shall be endowed with great knowledge.’
54
قَالَ أَبَشَّرْتُمُونِي عَلَى أَن مَّسَّنِيَ الْكِبَرُ فَبِمَ تُبَشِّرُونَ
He said, ‘Do you bring me such news despite my old age? What kind of good news are you bringing me?’
55
قَالُواْ بَشَّرْنَاكَ بِالْحَقِّ فَلاَ تَكُن مِّنَ الْقَانِطِينَ
They said, ‘We have, indeed, given you glad tidings in truth; do not therefore despair.’
56
قَالَ وَمَن يَقْنَطُ مِن رَّحْمَةِ رَبِّهِ إِلاَّ الضَّآلُّونَ
He said, ‘Who but the misguided despair of the mercy of their Lord?’
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Commentary
(a) Angels visited Abraham in the shape of human beings. In an exchange of questions and answers, they said that they had come with the command of God. What was this command for which the angels had come to Abraham? This was the good news of an extra-ordinary reward which could not be expected under ordinary circumstances. When God wants to confer an extraordinary benefit on man, He sends His special angel to him in order to accomplish the task. Angels of this kind come to prophets as well as to ordinary mortals. The difference is that when a prophet is visited by angels, he sees them and consciously grasps that those are angels, but ordinary men do not have this kind of certain knowledge or consciousness. However, the close proximity of angels may evoke unusual feelings in him. Such feelings can convey hints of the fact that at that time he is possibly in the company of the special angels sent by God.