[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:1] Nun is an abbreviated letter. See commentary of Baqarah: 1. According to some commentators it would be an appropriate link with pen, mentioned in this verse, if nun is taken as ink or ink-holder. They imply knowledge and learning. The wisdom of countless men from the beginning of civilisation is available today and will be there in every age in future in the form of written words. It is a continuous source of knowledge importance of which might have been referred to here. Some commentators say that the pen and the writing refer to the source of knowledge revealed through revelation to the Holy Prophet who only spoke words, revealed to him, full of meaning which unfolds itself in innumerable aspects to countless generations in all ages. The Holy Prophet was the living grace and mercy of Allah and he was exalted above abuse and persecution of ignorant men like the heathens of Makka. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: Nun, according to some traditions from the Ahl ul Bayt and Ibn Abbas, is ink or ink-holder because of the mention of pen. However neither the pen nor the ink, mentioned in this verse, refers to the tools of writing used by man. They refer to the recording of events taking place in this world by the angelical agencies. By inference it lays great emphasis on learning and knowledge. The Holy Prophet, as said by Imam Ali, ever since his birth received guidance, wisdom and inspiration from Allah to condition and regulate all aspects of his life.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:2] (see commentary for verse 1)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:3] A continuous and abundant flow of Allah's grace and mercy always surrounded the Holy Prophet from all sides in every moment of his life. It was a reward not like an earthly reward that is used up or depleted, but one that was interwoven as part and parcel of the very core of his being which enabled him to do that which was right and proper in any circumstances. He stands on a most exalted standard of character and his life is an incomparable living illustration and explanation of the Quran. It is more appropriate if said that the Quran is a mirror of his most honoured being. His life pattern is now the standard for his followers. The life account of the "mercy unto the worlds" cannot be reported in few pages. In the light of the recorded events of his life, even the worst enemies of Islam, accept the fact that no man better than him ever lived on the earth. Refer to the commentary of Baqarah: 190 to 193 to the answer to the criticism; based upon prejudice and conjecture, by the enemies of Islam. The sublime moral and spiritual excellences of the Holy Prophet manifested in every aspect of his private as well as public life. He lived among the people without making known his ministry for forty years in order to first establish his truthfulness, reliability, kindness, highmindedness, tolerance and wisdom, so that when the announcement of his prophethood would be made, they should have no hesitation in accepting the invitation given by him to worship one God, but those who called him al amin and al sadiq vehemently opposed his mission. Al amin bears a comprehensive range of meanings. Al in the Arabic language denotes exclusive distinction and refers to the person who alone owns the quality mentioned after it. Amin refers to a person who can be trusted beyond any suspicion in whatever he does or undertakes to do. So it was a divine plan to bind the people with their own judgement. The Quran is the only scripture which asserts that its teacher is the perfect model or ideal for the whole mankind, therefore the people must believe in the message he has conveyed to them. See commentary of Ahzab: 21 and 22. Since he was the last prophet, perfection in every aspect of life, material as well as spiritual, was illustrated in him. Refer to the commentary of Ali Imran : 81, Baqarah: 253 and 285, and Bani Israil: 1, to know about the superiority of the Holy Prophet over all other prophets of Allah. See commentary of Baqarah: 2 and Ya Sin: 12 to know that the Holy Prophet and his Ahl ul Bayt are the reflection of the Quran or the Quran is the reflection of their lives. Refer to the hadith al thaqalayn on page 6. Also refer to the commentary of Baqarah: 143; Nisa: 41; Ahzab: 45 and 46 to know that the Holy Prophet is a witness over all other witnesses.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:4] (see commentary for verse 3)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:5] It is mentioned in Minhajus Sadiqin that Abdullah bin Masud and Kab bin Alzah were present in the company of the Holy Prophet when he enumerated the following excellences of Imam Ali: (i) Ali is the foremost Muslim among you. (ii) Ali's highest degree of faith is much greater and superior than the combined faith of all of you. (iii) None among you comes near him in self-control and forbearance. (iv) He is severe only in matters of faith, never on account of his personal dislike, and in this none of you is equal to him. (v) I have taught him all the aspects of wisdom. His knowledge is my knowledge. (vi) All that concerns the faith has been entrusted to him by me. (vii) He is my successor, my executor and my vicegerent. The hypocrites among the listeners whispered to each other that in love of Ali, Muhammad has lost his balance of mind. Then these verses were revealed. The enemies of the Holy Prophet were ultimately duped and deluded, and became the laughingstock on account of their disbelief. Men set up false standard of judgement about men and matters. The right standard is that of Allah, because His knowledge of every thing in the universe, seen and unseen, is complete, perfect and all-embracing. He knows all hidden motives. He knows the past history in which the roots of present actions are planted as well as the future consequences of present actions. For example people praise whom they like without taking into consideration the actual worth of those who are praised. Allah praises those whom He has thoroughly purified. So, in all fairness, intelligent men must follow those whom Allah has purified and glorified.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:6] (see commentary for verse 5)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:7] (see commentary for verse 5)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:8] The enemies of truth, in order to save their skin and to cling to their fast disappearing privileges, try to make compromise with the upholders of truth, but the rightly guided believers who submit their wills to the will of Allah do not ever choose the easy path of compromise. The hateful qualities mentioned in verses 10 to 13 made the enemies of the Holy Prophet peculiarly despicable, as was Walid ibn Mughayra, a ringleader of those who used to belie and slander the Holy Prophet. Zanim means the son of an adulteress. When this verse was revealed, Walid, very proud of his high position among the Quraysh, in anger and desperation, went to his mother and demanded the truth about his birth. His mother said: "Your father was a very rich man, but as he was impotent we did not have any child; and I did not want his brother's sons to own our wealth, so I cohabited with a slave and you were born."

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:9] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:10] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:11] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:12] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:13] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:14] Pay not attention, if you are a true believer, to despicable men simply because they happen to have wealth, influence and man-power (children), on account of which they became violent, cruel and arrogant. In the eyes of Allah such men are condemned transgressors.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:15] Refer to the commentary of An-am: 25.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:16] To have a mark of stigma on the nose, the most prominent part of the face, is a sign of utmost ignominy. The term khurtum, which signifies the proboscis of an elephant, is applied to its nose because it is regarded as ugly. The culprit is contemptuously compared to a beast. It refers to Walid bin Mughayra on whose nose a wound he received in the battle of Badr remained as a mark of shame and disgrace till his death.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:17] In a township near Yemen, there was a garden owned by a God-fearing man who used to distribute its fruits among the poor and the needy. When he died two of his sons decided not to give to the poor and the needy any portion from the produce they would collect next day. They even did not say: "If Allah wills," at the time of making plans to gather the harvest. The third son, who disagreed with them and wanted to do as their father used to do, was silenced by his two brothers. They kept the whole operation a closely guarded secret lest the needy came for taking what they used to get. As they did not subordinate their will to the will of Allah and decided to have all the produce exclusively for themselves, ignoring the needs of their fellow beings, the garden was destroyed altogether. Then the third son who had warned them before hand reminded them that had they remembered Allah and acted as commanded by Him they would not have lost everything. Then they turned to Allah in repentance. If the repentance is sincere, there is hope. Allah turns evil into good. If repentance is not sincere, it becomes hypocrisy. Ibn Abbas says that their repentance was true and Allah gave them a better garden which yielded abundant produce. The points allegorised in the parable of the people of the garden not only illustrate the conduct of the hypocrites but also demonstrate how Allah gives respite to the wrongdoers so that they may have the opportunity to repent and make amend at any stage before the mercy shown to them is withdrawn after which there is no remedy save eternal punishment in the hereafter.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:18] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:19] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:20] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:21] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:22] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:23] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:24] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:25] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:26] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:27] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:28] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:29] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:30] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:31] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:32] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:33] (see commentary for verse 17)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:34] The greatest spiritual joy for those who safeguard themselves against evil with full awareness of divine laws, in the garden of delight, is the sense of nearness to Allah and obtainment of His pleasure.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:35] The disbelievers reject faith in Allah and set up their idols-priests, gods, or godlings, even God-given faculties like intellect and achievements of intellect. It is clearly against rational judgement that men of wisdom, righteousness and belief should have the same end as men of sin, ignorance and disbelief. It is impossible under the rule of a just and truthful Lord. Neither Allah has made a promise to the disbelievers nor is there any who will come to their rescue.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:36] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:37] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:38] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:39] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:40] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:41] (see commentary for verse 35)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:42] "The shin shall be laid bare" means all pretences shall vanish and all secrets will be made public. Every individual will stand fully exposed. According to Ibn Abbas the Holy Prophet said that on the day of judgement every oppressor will be examined in front of those whom he had oppressed, persecuted or defrauded. As said in Bani Israil: 71, every people will walk behind their leader unto hell or paradise. When the light of the glory of Allah will manifest the sincere believers will bow in adoration but the disbelievers whose past deliberate refusal, when they had freedom to believe and yet disbelieved, will stand in their way and their past memories will fill them with deepest dismay and humiliation, and the sure punishment shall surround them from all sides. Salimuna (whole) indicates that the disbelievers were in full possession of the power of judgement in their lives on the earth, yet they did not believe. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: "Uncovering the shin" also means "a grievous and terrible calamity reaching its decisive stage." It refers to the day of resurrection.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:43] (see commentary for verse 42)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:44] As "mercy unto the worlds" the Holy Prophet desired all human beings to follow the right path and attain salvation, therefore the obstinate deviation, hypocrisy and disbelief of the people made him unhappy. He is advised by Allah not to grieve over the fate of such people. Allah shall deal with them as He wills. He may give them respite for a while (see Ali Imran: 178) or ruin them step by step, as mentioned in Araf: 182. Allah's plan is so decisive that they will never be able to escape from it.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:45] (see commentary for verse 44)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:46] See Tur : 41 and 42. It cost the disbelievers nothing to hear the preacher, for the Holy Prophet not only did not ask for any recompense for guiding them to the right path but also suffered many hardships for bringing them into the fold of the true religion of Allah. Neither the disbelievers were burdened with any obligation to pay a price for obtaining the benefits of following the right path, nor had they the knowledge of the unseen and the divine guidance save what was revealed to the Holy Prophet. So they must have followed what the Holy Prophet told them because he said and did only that which was revealed to him (Najm: 3 to 6).

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:47] (see commentary for verse 46)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:48] "The companion of the fish" refers to Zun-nun, known as Yunus-(Jonah in the Bible). See commentary of Anbiya: 87 and Saffat: 139 to 148 for the account of Yunus. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: Law la (had not) in verse 49 is used not only to clear prophet Yunus from all possible blames but also to choose him and give him yet greater rank and station.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:49] (see commentary for verse 48)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:50] (see commentary for verse 48)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:51] When disbelievers found themselves helpless against the force of the Quran, in the intensity of their hatred, they looked at the Holy Prophet as if they would "eat him up" or trip him up, or disturb him from his position of stability. They used all sorts of terms of abuse in frustration-mad, possessed etcetera-but the true message of Allah prevailed, and it is made an eternal source of guidance to all mankind.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 68:52] (see commentary for verse 51)