126.
" and (remember) when abraham said: ` my lord,
make
this a secure city and provide its people with fruits such of them
that
believe in allah and the last day.' he said:
` and
whoever disbelieves, i shall let him enjoy himself
for
a little while, then i shall drive him to the punishment of
fire
and an evil destination it is ! ' "
commentary :
abraham's (a.s.) petition
to allah !
in this verse abraham (a.s.)
asks allah two great requests in
favour of the inhabitants of
this holy land, one of which was referred to
in the previous verse. the qur'an
says:
" and (remember) when abraham
said: ` my lord,
make this a secure city ..."
as it was pointed out in the
previous verse, allah accepted this
invocation from abraham (a.s.)
and set this holy land as a secure
center, both outward and inward
security.
his second petition was thus:
"... and provide its people
with fruits such of them that
believe in allah and the
last day.'...."
it is interesting that abraham
(a.s.) requested ` security 'first , and
then he asked for material gifts
which itself is a reference to the fact
that a safe and soundeconomic
status is not possible unless there exists
security in a town or country.
the opinions are divided amongst
the commentators as to the
meaning of the term ` fruits
' here. on the whole, it seems that the
word has a vast meaning, so
broad that it includes any material bounty
whether it is fruits or other
nutritious substances, as well as spiritual
bounties.
concerning the meaning of this
term in the above verse, imam
sadiq (a.s.) in a tradition
has said: " it is the fruits of hearts."
1
this
indicates that allah attracts
the attention and affection of human
beings to the people of this
holy land.
this is also noteworthy, that
abraham (a.s.) invocates this petition
only for the believers in allah,
the only true god, and the last day,
because he might have realized
from the statement: " my covenant does
not include the unjust,"
cited in the former verse, the fact that some
groups of his future offspring
would follow the path of polytheism and
injustice; then, to show reverence
in a courteous manner, here, he did
not include them in his petition.
however, allah's answer to this
invocation of abraham (a.s.)
was:
"... he said: ` and whoever
disbelieves, i shall let him enjoy himself
for a little while, ..."
"...then i shall drive him
to the punishment of fire
and an evil destination it
is ! ' "
this is, in fact, the same `
general mercy ' of allah by which his
unlimited bounties are available
to all creatures so that good doers and
evildoers equally enjoy from
his vast bountiful table in this world, but
in the next world, where his
` specific mercy ' comes forth, wrongdoers
will have no share of it and
also they will have no way to rescue
themselves.
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1 bihar-ul-anwar,
vol.12.86 @ 100
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