al-Balad

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:1] As stated in the commentary of Ali Imran: 96 Makka was a sacred city on account of the house of Allah (ka-bah) long before Ibrahim was commanded by Allah to go there with his wife Hajirah and their son Ismail, and to rebuild it. See commentary of Baqarah : 124 to 129. In his prayer Ibra-him requested Allah to send to them a messenger, from among them, to deliver Allah's message to them and teach them the book and the wisdom and purify them (Baqarah : 129). The Holy Prophet was born in Makka. The adjuration in the name of Makka manifests the thoroughly purified holiness of the Holy Prophet in the opinion of Allah. Aqa Mahdi Puya says: Hillum in verse 2 means an unrestrained resident or inhabitant who was given unfettered freedom to exercise divinely delegated authority to do what he liked (and the Holy Prophet always did what Allah liked) in order to purify the people and the place. The Holy Prophet at last entered Makka with full authority to purify it from all idols and abominations, reestablished the worship of one true God, overthrew the rule of the pagan autocracy, and restored the honour of the righteous.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:2] (see commentary for verse 1)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:3] Aqa Mahdi Puya says: The begetter refers to Adam as the divinely chosen vicegerent of Allah and "that which he begot" refers to the divinely chosen representatives of Allah sent to guide mankind.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:4] Man's life is full of toil and struggle, hardship and distress. No man is free from worries, mental as well as physical. If man exercises patience and keeps in mind the ultimate accountability on the day of reckoning, "Allah grants him relief after hardship" as stated in verse 7 of Talaq.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:5] Allah gives man His bounties to try him. He who bestowed them on him can take them away. Verse 14 of Fajr warns him that his Lord is watching. The man who thinks that none has power over him and he can do what he likes forgets that on the day of reckoning Allah will punish him for his arrogance, disbelief and transgressions. He boasts of his wealth and spends it to turn men away from Allah as also stated in verse 35 of Anfal. The reference is to the hypocrites and opponents of Islam who squandered large means at their disposal to oppose the mission of the Holy Prophet.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:6] (see commentary for verse 5)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:7] (see commentary for verse 5)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:8] Islam shows the way of righteousness which is steep and difficult and also points out the easy and alluring path of vice and disbelief. Allah has given us not only the faculties implied in the eyes, the tongue and the lips, but also given us the judgement to distinguish between good and evil so as to choose the right way by following the thoroughly purified teachers and guides He has appointed (see Ahzab: 33). Dahr: 3, Shams: 8; verse 10 of this surah assert that man has been given the faculty of reason to distinguish between good and evil, right and wrong, so that he may identify the true teachers and guides sent by Allah and follow the path shown by them. To walk on the steep and difficult path of righteousness man has to tame, control and discipline his nafs ammarah (see commentary of Fajr: 27 to 30; Yusuf: 53 and Qiyamah: 2). The difficult path of virtue is described as the unselfish service in the cause of Allah. Freeing the bondmen, feeding the hungry orphans and looking after the poor down in the dust are some of the virtues mentioned in verses 13 to 16. To practice such virtues man must have patience which implies self-restraint and constant reliance upon Allah, along with compassion and kindness towards fellow beings; and those who walk on the steep path of righteousness are known as the people of the right hand (see Waqi-ah: 27 to 40). These are the people who achieve salvation. The people of the left hand (see Waqi-ah: 41 to 56) are those who choose the alluring path of vice and disbelief and they will be enveloped in the fire of lasting penalty and punishment, heaped over them and all round them.

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:9] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:10] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:11] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:12] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:13] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:14] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:15] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:16] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:17] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:18] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:19] (see commentary for verse 8)

[Pooya/Ali Commentary 90:20] (see commentary for verse 8)