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3950 When the stage just described is reached, revelation or spiritual teaching ceases to have any value for them. Why
then preach? The answer is given in the verses following. (36.10)
70:20 - Fretful when evil touches him;
70:21 - And niggardly when good reaches him 5689
5689 In adversity he complains and gets into despair. In prosperity he becomes arrogant and forgets other people's rights
and his own shortcomings. Cf. xli. 49-50. (70.21)
75:39 - And of him He made two sexes male and female.
76:2 - Verily We created Man from a drop of mingled sperm in order to try him: so We gave him (the
gifts) of Hearing and Sight. 5832
5832 Mingled: the female ovum has to be fertilised with the male sperm before a new animal can be born. Man as an
animal has this humble origin. But he has been given the gift of certain faculties of receiving instruction (typified by
Hearing) and of intellectual and spiritual insight (typified by Sight). His life has therefore a meaning: with a certain
amount of free-will, he is to be vicegerent on earth (ii. 30). But he must be trained and tried, and that is the whole
problem of human life. (76.2)
76:3 - We showed him the Way: whether he be grateful or ungrateful (rests on his will). 5833
5833 Besides the gift of the faculties, Man has been shown the Way by means of Revelation, through men of the highest
spiritual standing. If he is grateful, he will accept Guidance, be of the Righteous, and join the company of the Blessed.
If not, he puts chains round himself, thus burdening himself with sin, and gets into the Blazing Fire of Punishment. See
next verse. His choice rests on his will. (76.3)
79:27 - What! are ye the more difficult to create of the heaven (above)? (Allah) hath constructed it:
5934
5934 If man grows arrogant or forgets his accountability to Allah, in his ignorance or thoughtlessness, he is reminded that
he is only an insignificant speck in Allah's spacious Creation. All the excellence that man acquires is the gift of Allah.
Who has bestowed on him a high Destiny if he fulfils the purpose of his creation: ii. 30-39. Then follows a nature
passage, pointing to the glory of the heavens and the earth, and how they are both made to subserve the life of man.
(79.27)
95:4 - We have indeed created man in the best of molds 6199
6199 Taqwim: mould, symmetry, form, nature, constitution. There is no fault in Allah's creation. To man Allah gave the
purest and best nature, and man's duty is to preserve the pattern on which Allah has made him: xxx. 30. But by
making him vicegerent, Allah exalted him in posse even higher than the angels, for the angels had to make obeisance
to him (ii. 30-34, and n. 48). But man's position as vicegerent also gives him will and discretion, and if he uses them
wrongly he falls even lower than the beasts. See next note. (95.4)
90:4 - Verily We have created Man into toil and struggle. 6133
6133 Cf. "Man is born unto troubles as the sparks fly upward" (Job, v. 7); "For all his days are sorrows, and his travail grief"
(Ecclesiastes, ii. 23). Man's life is full of sorrow and vexation; but our text has a different shade of meaning: man is
born to strive and struggle; and if he suffers from hardships, he must exercise patience, for Allah will make his way
smooth for him (lxv. 7; xciv. 5-6). On the other hand no man should boast of worldly goods or worldly prosperity (see
verses 5-7 below). (90.4)
67:2 - He Who created Death and Life that He may try which of you is best in deed: and He is the
Exalted in Might Oft-Forgiving 555655575558
5556 "Created Death and Life." Death is here put before Life, and it is created. Death is therefore not merely a negative
state. In ii. 28 we read: "Seeing that ye were without life (literally, dead), and He gave you life: then will He cause you
to die, and will again bring you to life; and again to Him will ye retum." In liii. 44, again, Death is put before Life. Death,
then, is (1) the state before life began, which may be non-existence or existence in some other form: (2) the state in
which Life as we know it ceases, but existence does not cease; a state of Barzakh (xxiii. 100), or Barrier or Partition,
after our visible Death and before Judgment; after that will be the new Life, which we conceive of under the term
Eternity. (67.2)
5557 Creation, therefore, is not in mere sport, or without a purpose with reference to man. The state before our present life,
or the state after, we can scarcely understand. But our present Life is clearly given to enable us to strive by good
deeds to reach a nobler state. (67.2)
5558 All this is possible, because Allah is so Exalted in Might that He can perfectly carry out His Will and Purpose, and that
Purpose is Love, Mercy, and Goodness to His creatures. (67.2)
76:1 - Has there not been over Man a long period of Time when he was nothing--(not even)
mentioned? 58305831
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