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the ancestral idolatry of Ur of the Chaldees; he had been tried and he had triumphed over the persecution of Nimrud:
he had now taken up his residence in Canaan, from which his newphew Lot (Lut) was called to preach to the wicked
Cities of the Plain east of the Dead sea which is itself called Bahr Lut. Thus prepared and sanctified, he was now
ready to receive the Message that he was chosen to be the progenitor of a great line of Prophets, and that Message is
now referred to. Can we localise Nimrud? If local tradition in place-names can be relied upon, this king must have
ruled over the tract which includes the modern Nimrud, on the Tigris, about twenty miles south of Mosul. This is the
site of Assyrian ruins ofgreat interest, but the rise of Assyria as an Empire was of course much later than the time of
Abraham. The Assyrian city was called Kalakh (or Calah), and archaeological excavations carried out there have
yielded valuable results, which are however irrelevant for our Commentary. A) Abraham received the strangers with a
salutation of Peace, and immediately placed before them a sumptuous meal of roasted calf. The strangers were
embarrassed. They were angels and did not eat. If hospitality is refused, it means that those who refuse it meditate no
good to the would be host. Abraham therefore had a feeling of mistrust and fear in his mind, which the strangers at
once set at rest by saying that their mission was in the first place to help Lut as a warner to the Cities of Plain. But in
the second place they had good news for Abraham; he was to be the father of great peoples! (11.69)
51:26 - Then he turned quickly to his household brought out a fatted calf. 5008
5008 They seemed unusual strangers, but he said nothing and quietly proceeded to perform the rites of hospitality. He
brought a roast fatted calf and placed it before them to eat. But the strangers did not eat (xi. 70). This disconcerted
him. According to the laws of hospitality, a stranger under your roof is under your protection, but if he refuses to eat,
he refuses your hospitality and keeps himself free from any ties of guest and host. "What were their designs?" thought
Abraham, and he felt some distrust. But they were angels and could not eat. They declared themselves, and
announced the birth to Abraham of a son endowed with wisdom,-in other words that Abraham was to be the head of a
long line of Prophets! (xv. 53). (51.26)
4:153 - The people of the Book ask thee to cause a book to descend to them from heaven: indeed
they asked Moses for an even greater (miracle) for they said: "Show us Allah in public" but
they were dazed for their presumption with thunder and lightning. Yet they worshipped the
calf even after clear signs had come to them; even so We forgave them; and gave Moses
manifest proofs of authority. 657
657 Cf. ii. 55, for the thunder and lightning which affected those who were presumptuous enough to ask that they should
see Allah face to face, and ii. 51, and n. 66, for the worship of the golden calf. The lesson is that it is presumptuous on
the part of man to judge of spiritual things in terms of material things, or to ask to see Allah with their material eyes
when Allah is above material forms and is independent of time and space. (4.153)
CAMELS:
7:73 - To the Thamud people (We sent) Saleh one of their own brethren: he said: "O my people!
worship Allah; ye have no other god but Him. Now hath come unto you a clear (sign) from
your Lord! This she-camel of Allah is a sign unto you: so leave her to graze in Allah's earth
and let her come to no harm or ye shall be seized with a grievous punishment. 10431044
1044 The story of this wonderful she-camel, that was a sign to the Thamud, is variously told in tradition. We need not follow
the various versions in the traditional story. What we are told in the Qur-an is: that (1) she was a Sign or Symbol,
which the prophet Salih, used for a warning to the haughty oppressors of the poor: (2) there was scarcity of water, and
the arrogant or privileged classes tried to prevent the access of the poor or their cattle to the springs, while Salih
intervened on their behalf (xxvi. 155, liv. 28); (3) like water, pasture was considered a free gift of nature, in this
spacious earth of Allah (vii. 73), but the arrogant ones tried to monopolise the pasture also; (4) this particular shecamel
was made a test case (liv. 27) to see if the arrogant ones would come to reason; (5) the arrogant ones, instead
of yielding to the reasonable rights of the people, ham-strung the poor she- camel and slew her, probably secretly (xci.
14, liv. 29): the cup of their iniquities was full, and the Thamud people were destroyed by a dreadful earthquake, which
threw them prone on the ground and buried them with their houses and their fine buildings. (7.73)
54:27 - For We will send the she camel by way of trial for them. So watch them (O Saleh) and
possess thyself in patience! 5149
5149 See n. 1044 to vii. 73, for the she-camel as a trial or test case among selfish people who tried to monopolise water
and pasture as against the poor. (54.27)
88:17 - Do they not look at the Camels how they are made? 6103
6103 In case men neglect the Hereafter as of no account, they are asked to contemplate four things, which they can see in
every-day life, and which are full of meaning, high design, and the goodness of Allah to man. The first mentioned is
the domesticated animal, which for Arab countries is par excellence the Camel. What a wonderful structure has this
Ship of the Desert? He can store water in his stomach for days. He can live on dry and thorny desert shrubs. His limbs
are adapted to his life. He can carry men and goods. His flesh can be eaten. Camel's hair can be used in weaving.
And withal, he is so gentle! Who can sing his praises enough? (88.17)
100:1 - By the (Steeds) that run with panting (breath) 6241
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