118. " and the ignorant said: ` why does allah not speak to us
or a sign comes not to us? ' even thus said those before them,
the like of what they say; their hearts are all alike.
indeed we have made clear the signs to people
who are sure."
119. " verily, we have sent you ( o' muhammad) with the truth
as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner
and you shall not be questioned about the inhabitants of the blazing fire."

commentary :

another pretext

similar to the pretexts of the jews, in the initial verses of the
above group of verses, another party of pretext-seekers are referred to,
whom, apparently, were the arab pagans. it says:

" and the ignorant said: ` why does allah not speak to us
or a sign comes not to us? '..."

this group of unbelieving people, whom the qur'an has referred
to as / allaoina la ya`lamuna / ` the ignorant ' had, indeed, two illogical
demands:

1. why does allah not speak to them ?
2. why does a sign not come to them ?

in answer to these selfish demands, the qur'an says:

"... even thus said those before them, the like of what they say;
their hearts are all alike. indeed we have made clear the signs to people
who are sure."

if they truly intend to understand the truth, these very verses
revealed to the prophet (p.b.u.h.) are clear signs to the rightfulness of
his call. why should some verses be independently and directly
revealed to each individual separately? and, what does it mean that a
person insists that allah must speak to him, himself, directly?

a similar idea to this is also stated in sura al-muddaththir,
no. 74, verse 52, thus: " forsooth, each one of them wants to be given
scrolls (of revelation) spread out! "

this manner, in principle, besides that it is not necessary, contrasts
with divine wisdom, because firstly, the rightfulness of the
prophethood of prophets has been proved to all peoples by way of the
verses which were revealed to them themselves. secondly, it is not
possible for verses and miracles to be revealed to every individual, for
this needs a special kind of eligibility, preparation, and purity of soul. it
closely resembles to a situation in which all the wires of the vast
electrical system of a city (the strong thick wires and the very thin ones)
be expected to receive the same extraordinarily high amount of
electricity that immediately arrives into the initial thick wires directly
from the main generator. this expectation is certainly a vain, incorrect
expectation. the engineer who has arranged these various wires for
different purposes has calculated the capability of each wire. some of
them convey the electricity directly and immediately from the
generator, while some others do it by means of some intermediary wires
and with a variety of voltages.  

* * * *

the next verse addresses the holy prophet (p.b.u.h.) and defines
his duty regarding their demands for miracles and other pretexts. it says:

" verily, we have sent you ( o' muhammad) with the truth
as a bearer of glad tidings and a warner ..."

that is, o' muhammad (p.b.u.h.) your responsibility is that you
proclaim our commandments to all people, to illustrate the miracles,
and to express the facts logically and with clear statements. this action
should coincide with persuading the good doers and warning the evil
doers. this is your duty.

"... and you shall not be questioned about the inhabitants
of the blazing fire."  

* * * *

explanation :
their hearts are all alike !

in the above verses we learnt that the qur'an declares: " even thus
said those before them, the like of what they say; their hearts are all alike."
this idea points to the fact that the passing of time and the instructions
of prophets (p.b.u.h.) should have had such an effect that the later
generations could gain a larger portion of knowledge so that they would
put aside vain statements which are a sign of ignorance. but
unfortunately, this group of people usually have no share in the process
of development. they are always retrogressive so that it seems as if
they belonged to thousands of years ago, and the passing of time has
not affected the least change in their minds.

* * * *

two instructive principles

` glad tidings ' and ` warning ' or ` encouragement ' and ` threat '
form a great part of the motives of educational and social affairs. a
person should be both encouraged for his good deeds and punished for
his wrong actions, in order to be prepared for paving the first path and
avoiding the second route.

mere encouragement is not enough for the attainment of
improvement in an individual or a society, because in this condition the
individual is sure that committing sin does not harm him.

the present followers of christ (a.s.), for example, believe in
`ransom'. they think that jesus (a.s.) has been sacrificed for their sins.
even their clergymen sometimes promise them heaven, and forgiveness
for their sins on behalf of the lord. it is evident that such a group of
people may easily commit sins.

in a guide to christian workers of the new american standard
version bible (pg. 1295), it is cited about christ (a.s.):

" he tasted death for me, thus he bore the supreme
penalty of my sins."

surely this incorrect idea makes its followers bold in committing
wrongs and corruption.

in short, those who think mere encouragement is enough in
training men (irrespective of children or adults) and threats,
punishment and revenge have no place and should be completely put
aside, are completely wrong. on the other hand, those who, neglecting
the encouraging aspect, think that training is based only on threats and
terror are on a wrong path as well.

these two groups have a mistaken conception of man, because
they do not have this fact in mind: that man is made up of a
combination of hope and fear, love of living and hatred of destruction.
his nature is to attract gain and to repel loss.

observing the parallel between these two principles is particularly
essential since if encouragement and hope goes beyond limits, it results
in boldness and negligence. and when threats and punishment is
abundant, it produces despair and extinguishes the flames of love and
vitality.

for the exact same reason, in the verses of the qur'an, the terms
` glad tidings ' and ` warning ' have occurred in conjunction with each
other. it has happened that the term ` glad tidings ' has sometimes
preceded the term ` warning ', like in the verse under discussion; and
sometimes it is vice versa, as in sura al-a`raf, no. 7, verse 188,
which says:
"... i am a warner and a bringer of glad tidings to those who have faith."

in fact, in the majority of these verses of the qur'an, `glad tidings '
has preceded ` warning '. this may be because, in general, the
mercy and grace of allah have preceded his wrath and punishment,
as we call him in supplications: " o' he whose mercy precedes his
wrath."