The Night Journey (Al-Isra’) الإسراء 107–109
107
قُلْ آمِنُواْ بِهِ أَوْ لاَ تُؤْمِنُواْ إِنَّ الَّذِينَ أُوتُواْ الْعِلْمَ مِن قَبْلِهِ إِذَا يُتْلَى عَلَيْهِمْ يَخِرُّونَ لِلأَذْقَانِ سُجَّدًا
Say to them, ‘You may believe in it or not. Those to whom knowledge had been revealed, fall on their faces in prostration when it is recited,
108
وَيَقُولُونَ سُبْحَانَ رَبِّنَا إِن كَانَ وَعْدُ رَبِّنَا لَمَفْعُولاً
and say, “Glory to our Lord! Our Lord’s promise is bound to be fulfilled.”
109
وَيَخِرُّونَ لِلأَذْقَانِ يَبْكُونَ وَيَزِيدُهُمْ خُشُوعًا
They fall down upon their faces weeping, and [the Quran] increases their humility.’
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) Divine words require humility from man, for God does not come Himself to the present world to convey His message to man. He selects a human being for this purpose. Now those who are filled with ego and arrogance think that surrendering to the truth is tantamount to surrendering to a human being. That is why they refuse to accept it. On the contrary, those who are free of arrogance can see God in the words falling from the lips of His messenger. So through these words they come in contact with God. They discover their humility vis-à-vis God’s greatness. This experience moves their hearts. They fall prostrate before Him with tears in their eyes. The leaders of the Quraysh are examples of the former, while the People of the Book who believed in the Prophet in the first phase, are examples of the latter. The virtuous people mentioned in this verse are the People of the Book. They had learnt from their ancient divine scriptures that a final prophet was going to come, and that those who believed in him and supported him, would be held deserving of special divine succour. Therefore, they had been eagerly waiting for the advent of the final prophet. That is why they took no time in recognizing the Prophet Muhammad. They were so greatly moved by the words of the Quran that, while reciting it, they would fall down in prostration before God with tears in their eyes. However, this is not a matter of just one group. The same applies to all human beings. God has already vested in the soul of every human being born on this earth the ability to recognize the truth. It is as if every individual is already waiting for the call of truth. Now those who live in a state of awareness can undergo the same experience as that of the People of the Book mentioned here. Consciousness at the level of nature will enable them to recognize the truth and rush towards it wholeheartedly.