The Heights
Bismillaahir Rahmaanir Raheem
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful.
Name
This Surah takes its name from vv. 46-47 in which
mention of A'araf occurs.
Period of Revelation
A
study of its contents clearly shows that the period of its revelation is about
the same as that of Al-An'am, i. e., the last year of the Holy Prophet's life at
Makkah, but it cannot be asserted with certainty which of these two was sent
down earlier. Anyhow the manner of its admonition clearly indicates that it
belongs to the same period. As both have the same historical background the
reader should keep in view the preface to Al-An'am.
Topics of
Discussion
The principal subject of this surah is "invitation to
the Divine Message sent down to Muhammad" (Allah's peace be upon him), which is
couched in a warning. This is because the Messenger had spent a long time in
admonishing the people of Makkah without any tangible effect on them. Nay, they
had turned a deaf ear to his message and become so obdurate and antagonistic
that, in accordance with the Divine Design, the Messenger was going to be
commanded to leave them and turn to other people,. That is why they are being
admonished to accept the Message but, at the same time, they are being warned in
strong terms of the consequences that followed the wrong attitude of the former
people towards their Messengers. (Now that the Holy Prophet was going to"
migrate from Makkah the concluding portion of the address has been directed
towards the people of the Book with whom he was going to come into contact. This
meant that the time of migration was coming near and the "invitation" was going
to be extended to mankind in general, and was not to be confined to his own
people in particular as before.
During the course of the address to the
Jews, the consequences of their hypocritical conduct towards Prophethood have
also been pointed out clearly, for they professed to believe in Prophet Moses
but in practice opposed his teachings, disobeyed him and worshiped falsehood and
consequently were afflicted with ignominy and disgrace.
At the end of the
Surah, some instructions have been given to the Holy Prophet and his followers
for carrying out the work of the propagation of Islam with wisdom. The most
important of these is that they should show patience and exercise restraint in
answer to the provocations of their opponents. Above all, they have been advised
that under stress of the excitement of feeling, they should not take any wrung
step that might harm their cause.
Subject: Invitation to the
Divine Message
Topics and their Interconnection
In this
passage, the people have been invited to follow the Message sent down to them
through Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) and warned of the consequences of
its rejection. 1 - 10
The story of Adam has been related with a view to
warning his descendants against the evil devices of Satan who is ever ready to
mislead them as he did in the case of Adam and Eve. 11 - 25
This passage
contains some Divine instructions, and contrasts these with Satan's
instructions, and depicts a graphic picture of the results and the consequences
of the two. 26 - 53
As the Message has been sent down by Allah (Who is
the Creator of the heavens and the earth and everything in them), it should be
followed, for it is like the rain He sends down to give life to the dead earth.
54 - 58
Events from the lives of some well-known Prophets - Noah, Hud,
Salih, Lot, Shu`aib, Moses (Allah's peace be upon them all) -- have been related
to show the consequences of the rejection of the Message, and the addressees of
Prophet Muhammad (Allah's peace be upon him) have been admonished to accept and
follow the Message in order to escape perdition. 59 - 171
As the Covenant
with the Israelites was mentioned at the end of the preceding passage, the whole
mankind has been reminded very appropriately of the Covenant that was made at
the time of the appointment of Adam as the Vicegerent of Allah so that all of
his descendants should remember it and accept and follow the Message that was
delivered by the Holy Prophet. 172 - 174
The example of the one who had
the knowledge of the Message but discarded it, has been cited as a warning to
those who were treating the Message as false; they have been exhorted to use
their faculties to recognize the Message; otherwise Hell would be there abode.
175 - 179
In this concluding portion of the Surah, some deviations of
those who do not use their faculties properly to understand the Message have
been dealt with and they have been admonished, reproved and warned of the
serious consequences of their antagonistic attitude towards the Message of the
Holy Prophet. 180 - 198
In conclusion, instructions have been given to
the Holy Prophet, and through him to his followers, about the attitude they
should adopt towards those who reject the Message and deviate from it. 199 - 206